Question:
Menu Suggestions?

Starting tomorrow I get to eat solids (yahoo!) and for two of my meals each day I need to come up with combinations that consist of the following: One Tablespoon each of meat/protein, potato or other starchy thing, cooked veggie, fruit. total of 4 tablespoons. I'm hoping that some of you out there are creative about these food choices. I'm about as creative as a slug about this stuff. My inclination would be to just eat a tablespoon of broiled chicken, potato, carrot, and follow with canned peach. But there must be some combos, normal foods, something that meets these guidelines. Help? Please?    — Diane M. (posted on February 26, 2003)

February 26, 2003
Early on I made ground turkey in the Foreman grill (or cook on the stove top with some Pam spray). After it was cooked I still whirred a bit in the food processor to make it smaller but not pureed, I mixed it with some mashed potato and mashed squash that I had added Splenda and cinnamon and dessert was a teaspoon or so of nonsugar applesauce. I also used ground chicken to make meatballs (ground chicken seems to be "softer" than ground turkey or beef), I used EggBeaters, milk (Lactaid), Ketocrumbs (available at some low carb sites or just use regular bread crumbs), and whatever spices you can handle right now. Preop I made my meatballs kinda solid but post op I add extra egg beaters and milk to make them softer and mushier. As time has gone on, I have been able to add more spices to them and dip them in tomato sauce and top with low/no fat mozzarella cheese but in the beginning I had them with mashed potatoes and mashed peas.
   — susanje

February 26, 2003
Congratulations! You are such a new pre-op I would just concentrate on eating what ever you can or what sounds good to you. I liked scrabled egg(s) whipped up with a little milk and cooked very lightly. Then I would top with a spoon of cream cheese. I found that really early post-op, you need things really soft, slippery (gravy, etc.) and as light as possible. I also got nauseas after eating as a early post-op. One thing that I found helped was to suck on a hard candy after a meal. I used mint lifesavers or jolly ranchers, if you are worried about sugar, use any of the sugar free hard candies! Good Luck.
   — CJ B.