Anyone have any ideas for making stage 2 more interesting.  I'm one week post-op and tummy is telling me it doesn't like milk , so protein shakes aren't working too well.  Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks guys.

Dawn in DE 

Ok. My stance is to eat healthy without sacrificing flavor. This recipe is for a bold barbecue sauce that is preservative and chemical free, but big on flavor. All of my ingredients come from the natural un-messed with spectrum in their simplest form, which your body knows how to manage and metabolize, unlike high fructose corn syrup that doesn't exist in nature but does exist in anything that used to have unprocessed sugar in it. So here goes...

You'll need a good sauce pan...4 quarts or better.

Ingredients:

• 1 jar molasses
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 4 large tomatoes-pureed
• 4-6 cups Bourbon (I prefer Jim Beam's honey bourbon, but any good quality bourbon will do just fine )
• 2 cups peeled garlic or 1 cup minced garlic
• 1/4 cup onion powder (not onion salt)
• 2 cups raw brown sugar (optional)
• 1/4 cup each basil, oregano, thyme
• 5 tbsp black pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup smoked paprika
• 5 tbsp cinnamon (saigon cinnamon is my choice)
• 1-2 tbsp cayenne pepper 

Heat sauce pan on medium and add pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, molasses, brown sugar, and bourbon. Stir together and bring to a soft boil then immediately down to a simmer. Add spices and garlic and cook on low stirring very often for 30 minutes. If too spicy or sweet, add more cinnamon a tbsp at a time. It'll also add a bit of a smokey flavor too. After 30 minutes the alcohol should be completely cooked out and the bourbon flavor remains. The honey bourbon adds a sweetness that makes the brown sugar optional. Experiment with the spices, especially the peppers. You may like it hotter or milder. 

You can use this as it is for a marinade, or baste it onto meats on the grill as they cook. When using as a marinade I like to add a little more bourbon to thin it out after its cooked and cooled down.

I love broccoli but my kids don't.  I made this salad and my kids even liked it and wanted a second serving. 

Crunchy Broccoli Salad Recipe

• 10 Servings

• Prep/Total Time: 20 min.

  Ingredients

• 8 cups fresh broccoli florets

• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 3 tablespoons canola oil

• 3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/4 cup sunflower kernels  (I used 1/8 cup)

• 3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I used Turkey Bacon)

  Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, onions and cranberries. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar and sugar; drizzle over broccoli and toss to coat. Chill until serving. Sprinkle with sunflower kernels and bacon.

• Yield: 10 servings.

  Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (3/4 cup) equals 121 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 233 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.

I recently tried a few recipes from the "Protein Pow(der) Cookbook" by Anna Sward and they were pretty good! I love to cook and there are many recipes for a variety of foods and using several types of protein powders. I highly recommend it :-)

dry soup mix - or dry ranch and then eat with veggies.