Simple pleasure = a slice of bread

Oh man, just had a total enjoyable moment! Since the doctor put me on the strict diet - absolutely no sugar in any form, no potatoes, no starch, no gluten - I've been trying to adapt and make do. Having brown rice instead of white was no problem, just had to tweak the rice cooker a bit in order to get it nice and soft. But -- missing a simple slice of bread, sometimes just with peanut butter (no peanuts allowed either) - that became a physical pain now and then. It was so easy to come home from work, and have a slice of whole-wheat toast sometimes since we would seldom have supper before 7:30 pm or later.

Now, the pure diet of proteins and greens missed something. Sure we found crackers, but they don't fill the hole! Nice for a snack now and then, but not a meal.

A while ago we visited the celiac store here in town, called Melissa's. With the owner's help we went through everything, trying to find a bread or a loaf mix without sugar, yeast or gluten. Not easy!

We found one, but have been putting off baking it. Today, I was desperate for something more solid to eat. Fruit and plain yogurt for breakfast, black rooibos tea -- by 10 am I needed something more. So, mixed up the bread, adding a packet of Stevia (sweetener), an egg and milk to the mixture.

The loaf baked up beautifully and sliced cleanly, without crumbling like some other of the gluten-free loaves we've seen before.

Last night, caring, dear friend Carolyn gave me a jar of almond butter since I'm not allowed peanut anything. So --- toasted up a slice of this loaf, slathered nut butter on top, and tasted carefully .... only to almost swoon with the joy of it!

Arno promised me toast, bacon and eggs for tomorrow morning so two slices in the fridge and the rest frozen to be used as needed.

Who knew that a simple slice of bread would make my day?