What makes this complicated

How many here have to cook for families? For me- that is one thing that complicates things. And I imagine it'll be just as hard (if not harder) after surgery (if I go there) as it  now. 

IE- I know ground turkey is leaner than ground beef. Whenever I can I use ground turkey. I made spaghetti for the family yesterday. Its the one meal I can cook that everyone {usually} eats w/o me having to play "short-order cook" to three different tastes. Even my pickiest will eat the noodles w/o sauce. So I give up on whole wheat noodles since he has sensory issues-  I dare not mess w/ one of the few things he eats. Next son actually eats noodles & sauce. Husband comes home- says he prefers his spaghetti w/ground beef. UGGG!! Well I'm not giving up any more b/c then I lose any semblance of what would be good for me! He also points outs that I bought diet Snapple instead of regular. (He's smarter than I thought ). And lets not even get into the 3 different types/% of milk in the fridge!

This is the typical story of my household. Thankfully my kids are not sweet eaters (not even cake/ice cream...I often wonder if they're really *mine*) so I'm not challenged b/c I "have" to have things in the house "for them" (aka me). I know my limits and am good about avoiding them.  And while I'm less inclined to feed into my DH's wants (after all, he's grown & knows where the stores are) it weighs on my conscience a little. But I also know his weight is up too...so diet snapples for him is like securing my future right ?;-)

Maybe I've watched to many episodes of Leave it to Beaver where the family practically nominated Mom for an Oscar for her awesome meal. Four people, one healthy meal..is it too much to ask?!?!

My kids are grown and launched and my husband is NOT into any kind of food, so I don't have your problem, but sounds like you are handling it great. I'd just BUY them some foods that they like (and you don't) and everyone will have to compromise on what you cook. If they don't like the WW pasta or whatever, just say cheerfully, "this is what we eat because it's better for our bodies." Pretty soon they'll catch on that you are not budging and they can't push your buttons and get a reaction, so they'll eat or not eat. My husband eventually quit whining about whole grain pasta but he won't eat brown rice so now we know, but it took a while.

Good luck!! 

Me, me, me -- I cook for a family!

My kid is a picky eater, but she's not real big on sweets. Her favorite food is tofu.
My husband is Asian, so he's okay without the heavy, fat laden meat and potatoes American diet. (It was tough when my MIL visited -- she can feed 6 people with 1/4 pound of ground beef and ton of veggies and rice. Ate a lot of cottage cheese/yogurt for that month.)
But then there's my mother! OMG! She is a diabetic carb addict with health issues. She was in the hospital two weeks ago and for the first time ever figured out how to call home -- with an order for take out fish and chips! She is my biggest challenge.
I tried being the food police when she was first diagnosed with diabetes. I gave up when she made a bundt cake from scratch and tried to hide the evidence.
Yesterday she made corn chowder for dinner. The only protein in it comes from bacon and milk. I had a couple of sips to be polite and then ate some tuna salad.

My doc/nut didn't have any grand plan for no carb or whatever. They said protein first and no grazing. So, consider your docs/nuts advice while you read below.

Anyway, some tips:

There isn't much helpful I can say about preop/postop liquid diets. This was the hardest part for me. I made pork chops for the family one night and went into my bedroom when they were eating. At the time, I remember wishing they made pork-flavored jello. Try to find really good quality broths. The TELMA cubes saved me. Since I've found pork stock granules.

DREAMFIELDS pasta. Postop you are not going to be able to down a lot of pasta (I still can't eat much spaghetti now - 11 months out - couple of bites). But the Dreamfields tastes and has the same texture as regular pasta. Try that. The elbow macaroni works wonderful in mac and cheese (slider food for me - be careful). If your local markets don't carry it, you can buy individual boxes at Netrition dot com.

Taco night for me is a little pile of meat with some cheese, salsa and some greek yogurt with a couple corn chips.

My favorite pasta alternative is putting some ricotta cheese in a custard cup, then some sauce, and some parmesan and a little bit of mozzarella cheese. Bake it in a 350 oven until heated through. It's even better the second day. Like lasagna.

I used to have three kinds of milk in my fridge. Now we're down to two because I finally convinced my Mom that lactose free, full fat milk tasted the same as the full fat.

Try to avoid "complaining" about your new tiny tummy or eating issues in front of your picky eater. I don't know his/her age, but I hear things coming back from my preschool kid that have come out of my mouth. "Oh, my stomach." Stuff like that.

When you do buy sweets for the family, try to find stuff you don't like, but they do. I hate fake strawberry flavor -- so I buy strawberry ice cream.

Stock up on greek yogurt for those times when the family wants something especially carb laden. Eat that before you eat any of the carb laden stuff. Yogurt first, then try to eat a pancake. You won't get far, I promise.

Tweak things you make normally. I made lasagna using the Dreamfields noodles and extra ricotta cheese. No one noticed the difference, even though it had 1/3 less noodles in it than normal. I use skim milk in the mac and cheese sauce. Sneak spinach into stuff. I've even cut the salt in the salt shaker 50/50 with Benefiber (Mom's not supposed to have extra salt.) Put ground flax seed into pancake batter.

I didn't try to change my family's drinking habits. We keep my husband's full sugar Starbucks drinks in the garage fridge. We have OJ and lemonade in the house fridge. They don't appeal to me. Maybe you can drink homemade iced tea? You're going to be drinking protein drinks postop, so maybe you transition to Isopure or some other ready-to-drink protein thing. I am drinking a lot of tea now. I put vanilla protein powder into a lot of hot drinks. Maybe you can make Kool Aid with Splenda (tell hubby you're trying to economize -- koolaid IS cheaper than Snapple)?

You will get to the point where you can probably eat everything again. Then you must be mindful about what you eat. Protein first, then a couple bites of healthy carbs, then if you want, a bite of something evil, but eat it SLOOOW. When we go out to Red Lobster, I don't have one of those devil biscuits until after I've eaten the protein off my entree. They don't taste as good when you're nearly full and they are room temperature.

Best of luck!!

I guess I would also add that it might be helpful for your husband to share in some of the dinner cooking responsibility. One, because it is good for you. HA! Second, after your surgery you may find that you have a super sensitive sense of smell. Dinner is completely my husband's domain until I get to the point where I can eat real foods. It isn't very natural for him (thank goodness for family and church family who have brought him and the kids meals), but he is willing to do it because a) he doesn't have a choice. HA! and b) he totally freaks him out to see me get sick and c) he is supporting what I am doing.

Good luck!

Amanda

Oh Patti, you do make me smile!  So, I found your custard recipe.  One question:  what kind of custard cup are you talking about?  Like a non-stick muffin pan? 

And...although I haven't been to the Red Lobster since surgery, I knew immediately what you were talking about when you mentioned those 'devil biscuits'!  Too funny!  And I will try your tip about leaving things that are not good for me till after I've had my protein.  Excellent suggestion!  Thanks for sharing!  connie

I cook for a family as well, my post op diet fits in pretty well with how my family ate before my surgery. Dreamfields Pasta is a lifesaver!! It tastes EXACTLY like regular pasta with tons less carbs. If family doesn't like whole wheat, they do have multigrain pastas that are pretty good. Make sure you factor in your eating habits, likes/dislikes, ideal diet etc...when you are looking at surgery choices. The DS seems, to me at least, to have the most "normal" post op diet. High in protien, limit the simple carbs, you can use real ground beef instead of ground turkey (though I happen to like both :) ) Good luck! By the way, my kids would so want you for a mom, I don't do the short order thing, you either eat what is put in front of  you....or you will be an awfully skinny kid!!