less ice cream - more cake!

The new healthy low cholesterol lifestyle hasn't taken off as well as I'd planned.

Yesterday started out well, with the standard - soy latte, spelt toast with (Omega 3 transfat-free non-hydrogenated) margarine and strawberry jam (made by mom last week so it's almost like fresh fruit), steel-cut oats with raisins, cinnamon, blueberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

No cholesterol there!

Went a little downhill at lunch - working at home, wanted something quick and easy - two egg omelette, with parmesan cheese and a whole lotta sea salt (yum!) and another slice of spelt toast.

Well, two eggs are better than three... and no butter.

Afternoon snack, one hour later, a very healthy banana and yogurt, with some raisins and pistachios (leftover ingredients for Christmas biscotti that never got made). But wait - what's this on the yogurt label... 10 mg cholesterol per serving?

Afternoon snack two, two hours later - I go to the pastry shop with Karen. We resist the cookies and get muffins instead. Hers has chocolate, mine has blueberries and cranberries. The muffins look like they might be whole wheat.

Three hours later, 6 pm, I'm squeezed into a pew with about half my family at the Tsawassen Baptist Church, waiting for my nephew's graduation ceremony to start at 7 pm. Already getting the hungry growlies, and I haven't brought anything to snack on. I ask my sister if she has a cake for afterwards (yes, of course). Phew, good. Scanning the program , I notice there are refreshments after the ceremony. I look at the list of speeches, processions and musical interludes and try to estimate how long it will take 300 grads to file across the stage. Best case scenario, I'm in that pew for a good 3 hours.

I get my niece to come with me out to my car and get my water bottle, commenting on the way back in that the church could use a concession stand. She rolls her eyes and reminds me of the time I drove us to Seattle and insisted on stopping at all the "Free Coffee" rest areas. I remind her how much she enjoyed all the home-made cookies that came along with the coffee.

Three hours later, processions walked, diplomas collected and pictures taken, we seek out the refreshments. An apple juicebox (what are you, in kindergarten? asks my niece, as I ask her to open the impossible straw for me), stoned wheat thins and cheddar, pepperoni, chocolate chip cookies, two-bite brownies, nuts'n'bolts, lemon loaf... and three kinds of cake.

I take a brownie, lemon loaf, cracker and cheese (no pepperoni). My niece gets us all a piece of cake - chocolate for her, carrot for me (no cholesterol in carrots).

Back at the house, I'm still hungry; my sister gives me a big plate of meatballs and rice. The sauce? Chili sauce, grape jelly, and mustard.

Well... no cholesterol in chilis, grapes or mustard seeds.

Grand finale - more cake! This one from the local bakery; layers of butter cake, pastry, and raspberry jam, smothered in creamy icing, congratulating Reid on his graduation.

Congratulations cakes don't count as cholesterol, do they?