Is avian flu going to affect milk and beef? and more sourdough success

It already has. See egg prices.

I've been trying to eat more beans and legumes, but thanks to my EPI it's been next to impossible since I can't digest legumes well. Tofu looks to be a good source of protein, but not iron. Any vegetarians out there that can't eat legumes? I'm interested to hear about it. Comment and let me know!

As for my sourdough adventure, I finally have a fool proof perfect loaf consistently. Making the starter is easy, and so is getting an insanely high oven rise. I bought a digital scale, and got a great recipe that I altered to accomodate my flour and my kitchen, it wasn't hard. If you're struggling with your loaves being flat, cut back on the water, don't let it proof for more than two hours, and preheat your pan and lid for a half hour at 500. Put one ice cube under your parchment paper when you put your dough in to bake, cover and follow the recipe. I've been leaving the temp at 500 for ten minutes, then turning it down, since opening my oven door releases so much heat. Twenty minutes after first putting the loaves in, I remove the lids. I get even more rise after that, my last loaf was almost pointy. I'm using a banneton and for my second loaf I use an oil smeared bowl to let the loaves rise in. Both are very tasty.

I recently learned that sourdough is a great choice for diabetics since the way the natural yeast that cause it to rise eat the sugars in the wheat and make those lovely CO2 bubbles in the finished bread is very, very different from using yeast in the way most bread is made. Adding sugar to feed added yeast for a fast rise leaves all the wheat basically undigested by the yeast, where as is sourdough, the yeast has nothing else to eat except the wheat (flour). So the finished sourdough has so much less sugars in it and is a better choice for diabetics looking to watch their glycemic index. Amazing! I love chemistry and science! Happy eating!