Dr. Robert C. Atkins Would Not Like Me

Before writing on the topic of my title, I must clarify something. My computer is still not ready for use. However, my husband (tired of hearing me complain that we have no computer in the house), conjured up an old, archaic workable computer for the time being. But...it is slow, and because we don't have the proper type of video card for it, our graphics are horrible, and my screen is over-sized! I'm constantly having to scroll to the end of a line before going on to the next one. Talk about weird. So due to the frustration of having to use this "dinosaur" for blogging, I may or may not blog too much again until I get my real computer back. I guess it all depends on how desperate I get to blog.

Back to Dr. Atkins. I'm going to assume that most of my readers know what the Atkins diet is all about, and not bore you to death with the details. But from my knowledge, it basically means no carbohydrates, or at least a reduction of carbs in one's diet. I'd never survive on this diet, nor would my family.

My former boss (when I worked at the office) was on this diet for years. He seemed to enjoy the weight loss, but I can't imagine that he was actually enjoying his meals. We'd go out for lunch and he'd constantly be "revising" the menu's description of what he ordered, and the cook would have to "customize" his platter to accommodate his diet. What he brought to heat up in the microwave didn't look too appealing. And he ate some type of cereal drink (I'm not sure what it was, exactly) for breakfast each day. I felt so sorry for him. Of course, he'd always tell me not to try it, otherwise I might shrink away into nothing (I've never really had a reason to diet). I asked him once what he thought would happen to my metabolism in the event that I changed my eating habits to his . . . he told me not to mess with my metabolism.

Back to my family--we all like carbs. We eat them in moderation as part of a balanced diet. I try to adhere to the Canadian Food Guide recommendations for healthy eating. But there is one thing that we all really, really enjoy, and that is freshly-baked buns. I bake buns on a weekly basis, and it seems that no sooner have I made them, they're gone. I remember growing up, walking into our garage (which was attached to our house) and smelling fresh buns emulating from the house. My mom strategically planned the baking of her buns so that the finished product coincided with our arrival home from school. I've sort of carried on that tradition now with my own family, and my boys are pretty excited when it's bun-baking day.

I ran out of buns yesterday, and my family isn't too impressed with the idea of having sandwiches made from bread for their lunches tomorrow. They'd all prefer buns. So tonight I decided to try a new recipe for 2-Hour Buns. Well, I'm one hour into the process and I soon get to start baking. We'll see how they are. I'm a bit skeptical, mainly because I normally let my buns rise for 2 - 3 hours after I put them on pans prior to baking. These only get 45 minutes. The interesting thing is the recipe called for twice as much yeast as I normally use. That must be the secret . . . but I hope they won't taste gross because of the double-dose of yeast.

Back to Atkins . . . I just couldn't imagine denying myself the utter joy of sinking my teeth into a warm, fresh-baked bun topped with butter and jam, or Cheez Whiz or whatever my palette desires.

My boys are going to be so happy when they wake up tomorrow morning to discover they get bun sandwiches for their lunch!