Struggling a bit

Ok, I have a week of pureed foods left to go and I am starting to worry I am not properly  calculating the protein in the foods I have made.  I am struggling much more with meeting protein goals now that I am having 3 pureed meals. I am using unflavored protein powder in everything, but I am worried I am not estimating the proper protein but I don't want to live my life on ready made items just because the lable is clear. 

Since I am ranting anyway, I am also getting sick of pureed chili, pureed ricotta with sugar free tomato sauce and pureed fat free beans and salsa.  I plan on trying scramble egg with cheese this weekend, I just can't manage much in the way of cooking during the work week.  I tried pureed tuna but I don't think my pouch likes it very much-- I didn't feel quite right eating it.

Does anyone have any suggestions for high protein pureed meals? 

Dawn,

I made a lot of meals in the crockpot during phase 2 & 3 and then pureed the food in phase 2. I always had to add liquids (like broth, ff gravy, or even water) so it would mix better. I made egg salad (cut really fine) and mixed that with a bit of light mayo and I was able to tolerate that. I'm not sure how you feel about oatmeal, but I used the Quaker Oats weight control instant oatmeal and made it with ff milk for added protein. During phase 2 I could tolerate about a 1/2 pack which was about 6.5 grams protein (you could add unflavored protein to boost the count). I even made meatballs and pureed them with some SF sphagetti sauce and added a bit of low-fat mozzarella cheese. I have discovered from past experience that FF cheese gets rubbery when melted.

Most of my meals are made from scratch so I do my best to calculate the protein. For instance, the other night I made a mock lasagna (with zucchini instead of pasta) and figured out the protein count for the entire pan, then I figured out how many servings I made to compute the protein per serving. I'll look through my journal tomorrow and send you a PM with other ideas. Have a good one.

Hey Holly, don't PM Dawn, post it here --- I could use the info -- I'll be there in a couple months!

Dawn,

One of the reasons I use SparkPeople for my food tracking is that it has a wonderful recipe calculator.  You input the ingredients and number of servings, and it generates the full nutrition label for you so you can track more accurately.

It also lets you set your own very specific protein, fat, carb, and calorie goals (as well as goals for other nutrients) and you track against those goals. 

During pureed foods, I really liked pureed meatballs with some ricotta and sugar free spaghetti sauce.  Also greek yogurt with cucumber and onion and garlic (like tzatziki sauce), chicken sausage pureed with greek yogurt (YUM!), etc.   There were numerous soups (like italian wedding soup) that lent themselves well to pureeing.  You're almost done with pureed and will be moving along - you're making great progress so just keep your eyes on the prize.

Hang in there!
Karen

Karen I hadn't discovered that feature on sparkpeople yet! I do like their recipes though, and the tracker is amazing.

(BTW, should I print out some of my daily logs there for the NUT to review at my 6 month check up in January? Or print out the summaries? Or print all of them?)

I print the last 3 - 5 days of my logs for my checkups - gives them everything they need.  They like to see the details of what foods you're eating as well as the summaries, which help them see "totals."  It was very easy to give them precisely what they wanted that way.

Karen

This too shall pass!

As you move through the food phases, you will be able to more properly estimate your protein in your servings.  As long as you are coming somewhere in the ballpark of your estimate at the moment, you should be ok :)

Take whatever you want as far as meat is concerned and puree it up!  LIke the other posters said, add water/broth etc to help thin it out.

Pam

I too am struggling.  I saw the nut on Tuesday, she gave me some recipes.

Super Milk Pudding
1 Pkg sugar free pudding
2 Cups evaporated skim milk or two cups fortified Skim milk (add 2/3 cup powdered skim milk to fortify)
Mix and chill 1 hr
4- 1/2 servings at 10.5g of protein each with evap. skim milk, or 9g with fortified skim milk.
Custard
1/4 egg sub
1/4 cup milk (again evap or fortified provides more protein per ounce)
nutmeg, cinnamon,artificial sweetener to taste
Mix all ingredients together with whisk or fork.  Microwave on medium high for 1 minute
protein: 10-13g depending on milk used

You can mix pudding and freeze for pudding pops

Egg Drop Soup
1/2 c Chicken broth
1/4 c egg substitute
pepper, soy sauce as desired
Heat broth just until boiling, then whisk in egg substitute and add seasoning.
protein:8g

Simple Egg Nog
6 oz of skim milk
2 oz egg substitute
artificial sweetener,rum/vanilla extracts to taste
several ice cubes
Put everything in blender and blend until smooth
proteins:12g

Hope this helps.  Trust me we are struggling together, although it sounds like you are doing better than I am.
Hugs Ena

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!

Take a Lean Cuisine and put it in the blender.   Ravioli, chicken or beef, in the blender.   It's almost too simple.  That craziness you're feeling is probably your head rebelling a little that this isn't what you are used to.   The mental games begin!   Hang in there, you'll notice it goes away once you can eat what your brain recognizes as real food (aka, the way you are used to seeing it) in a few weeks.