Starwarsandcupcakes

If I don’t finish something and I know I won’t eat it later I offer it to a kid before tossing if no one wants it. Usually it makes it into a stomach and not the bin. The only things I find myself really saving are quart jars of soup from when I make it and on occasion the random stuffed pepper or beans as I’m the only one who eats those in my house.

Things I still use almost 2 years out- protein shakes- I have one almost daily in my coffee as creamer food scale- if I’m not confident in portion or need a reset to stay in maintenance then I use it, otherwise I’ve gotten pretty good at eyeballing it (I’ve used a scale for years before surgery for baking and portioning dough). blender- I use it almost every day. I make a green smoothie with spinach, kale, almond or soy milk, frozen fruit and protein powder. Travel mug- I enjoy warm liquids more than cold so I have broth almost every day along with coffee (not mixed together) so the mug keeps things warm. My C3PO thermos- holds 10oz so it’s perfect for soups (I eat soup a lot!) and it fits great in my lunchbox standing up. Blender bottles- these are more for portability than mixing as I might have the balls somewhere in a drawer ?‍♀️ They just make it easy to take my smoothie or a blended coffee with me on the go. As you go along you’ll eventually find what works for you and keeps you successful. I think it varies a bit by person but the end goal is the same- being healthy.

More eggplant because it’s a new favorite. So it’s either mini eggplant pizzas or eggplant parms without breading. Sliced eggplant into 1/2” slices, sprinkled with onion and garlic powders and some black garlic sea salt, roasted at 400 for 12 minutes. Topped with a mixture of 1 cup jarred sauce and way too much basil for a sane person (1/2 cup). Then topped with Parmesan, ramano, and some vegan provolone that was hanging around in the cheese drawer. Baked at 350 for 15 (I think) minutes. Served mine with some leftover sauce. They were good but next time I’ll skip the provolone (the lumpy pile on the after plate) and use something else as that provolone is better on sandwiches. A kid is currently eating the one leftover on my plate. ??‍♀️

? Chinese food for dinner. This is a reenactment of what I ate. Turns out redoing your living room doesn’t make for increased stomach space no matter how hungry you are. Also, turns out that for my family of 5 we only need a large sweet and sour chicken (kids) and a combo plate of what I want and there will still be leftovers even with 2 teenagers! ?

Oh, so easy! I used canned crushed tomatoes (what I had in hand), left out the peppers, and roasted the eggplant and zucchini (tossed with garlic and onion powder and some olive oil and sea salt) at 425 while making the sauce with the other ingredients after browning the ground beef. But the rest is about the same(ish) as this recipe. Oh and I probably used a half cup of Thai basil because this plant is insane (on the left)! https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/ratatouille.html#tabbox

I worked almost all of this past week but the most interesting thing was a skillet version of ratatouille I made with ground beef added. I mean that and I’m still on a green smoothie kick- this one is unsweetened vanilla almond milk, kale, spinach, frozen strawberries and bariatricpal protein one peanut butter meal replacement powder (has daily vitamins in it). Tastes like a PB&J!

Varied up the veggies in the zuppa toscana I made. Added green peppers, carrots, and subbed half the potatoes for sweet potatoes. Had with a copycat Olive Garden salad. My mistake was snacking on 3 olives, a pepperocini, 4 pickle slices, and 3 tater tots while making and plating dinner for kids. I can’t wait to have more soup though. ?

I tend to eat a lot of plant based meals now. I do have the occasional animal protein but it’s mostly grains, dairy, and veggies now. Plant based proteins just sit a whole lot better for me since surgery. I know I’m not the only one on this thread who does the same thing.

Ordered a salad for dinner before work and I’ll be taking at least part of it with me. Romaine, iceberg, and carrot blend with mandarin oranges, strawberries, dried cranberries, candies pecans, blue cheese, and grilled chicken with balsamic dressing.

Made the kids pizza rolls for dinner. I had part of a bag of sad looking Caesar salad that I added some equally sad looking kale to. ? Topped it with some sesame, pumpkin, and hemp seeds. Ended up eating a total of 2 pizza rolls with the salad one of which was eaten screaming hot out of the oven while serving kids dinner. ??‍♀️

I’m usually never hungry when I wake up for work but I’d already been up a couple hours before making the kids dinner. They had sweet stuffed sweet potatoes and sloppy joes made with TVP. I chose a savory loaded sweet potato instead. The black beans are tossed with cumin and tajin and the sweet potatoes had pumpkin pie spice on them when roasting. I’ve only managed 4 bites so I'm packing the rest for work along with some roasted bell pepper strips.

Kids had pigs in a blanket and since I haven’t willingly ate a hot dog made from an animal in years so I had about half an imitation crab stick, 1.5tsp honey mustard dressing, and 1/4 cup Brussels sprouts tossed in Parmesan and olive oil. Included is a rough estimate of the calories. After dinner I’m still about 500 calories short for today ? so who knows what I’ll have for a late night snack.

If you’re on synthroid make sure to take them at separate times as the synthroid causes a reaction that makes the pantoprazole ineffective so it needs about 4hrs of spacing between the 2.

Today I packed the almonds, the jerky, and the pineapple from last night. Pepper stuffed with chopped jalapeños, salsa, and lightlife veggie crumbles (I cooked the whole pepper with 1/3 cup crumbles, 1/2 cup salsa, and a jalapeño and topped with 2 slices of pepper Jack. Only packed a half with a cup spinach topped with almonds and cranberries and roasted red pepper dressing). Then we have soup, a protein shake, a boss cookie, peatos, and not pictured is my smoothie with handful each spinach and kale, a cup frozen mixed berries, 10oz unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a scoop lemonade flavored Syntrax protein powder. We’ll see if the pineapple, jerky, and almonds get eaten. ?

Well thank you! If I don’t plan for work then I don’t eat because vending machines are too expensive to eat out of.

Another work day, another photo of packed meals! The red blender bottle is home to 6oz organic soy milk, 4oz unsweetened almond milk, 1 fistful each spinach and kale, 1 cup mango chunks and a scoop syntrax matrix orange creme protein powder. Then we have in the blue container a boca chik’n patty with a cup roasted asparagus and 5 cherry tomatoes in 1tsp homemade garlic olive oil (just garlic powder, roasted garlic salt from Amazon, and olive oil left to sit on the counter). Then we have my protein shake for coffee (GNC Girl Scout chocolate peanut butter cookie flavored! ?), a packet of beef bouillon, a packet of tomato soup (I ❤️ soup!!), beef jerky, an orange, a 100 calorie pack of dark chocolate almonds (delish!), apple chips, a pineapple in 100% juice cup, and finally some sriracha sunrise hippeas snacks (it’s 200 calories but they’re sooooo good!). I’m betting the pineapple will make it to another lunch along with either the almonds or beef jerky. We’ll see how hungry I get tonight. ?

I had to get a new badge at work and when he pulled up my profile he said, “girl you need new photos. Want to do that while you’re here?” Felt good to get new photos on something I wear every shift that looks like me.

Found some Camembert on sale while picking up more kale and spinach today so had that for dinner with garlic olive oil crostini, 1/3 a croissant and snow peas. The one piece of cheese is from the kids trying it and they aren’t a fan so more for me ? Ended up eating a total of 5 crostini, about one whole wedge of Camembert, the 1/3 croissant, and 3 total snow peas. I’m still working on the raw veggies not blended thing. Getting there though! Also, I may have impulse bought several hydroponic systems over the last month and finally started germinating seeds in 2 of them today! Growing cherry tomatoes, Genovese and Thai basil, thyme, curly parsley, big daddy peppers, pak Choi, curled cress, red fire lettuce, dwarf kale, Chinese cabbage (2 kinds), baby leaf mustard greens, arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, and I think Chinese lettuce. Waiting on another aerogarden ?‍♀️ to arrive Thursday to grow some salad greens and move the herbs from the one they’re in now. No one seems as excited about my recent adventure as I do! ?

The method I’ve been using for pickles for a while now and can’t remember where I learned it but- Slice cucumbers (I use English cucumbers) and place in a large bowl. Heavily salt with your choice of salt (I’ve used pickling, pink Himalayan, and kosher before) and let sit for 20 minutes. Lightly rinse and drain. Stuff those bad boys as tightly as you can into a jar (I always use quart size canning jars). Mix together equal parts your choice of vinegar (I’ve used apple cider, rice wine, balsamic, and white vinegar or a mixture) and water, any sugar to add sweetness and help preserve (I haven’t used a substitute so unsure how that would be but I have used only a tablespoon before and they were good), and any seasonings you want to add. Microwave (or heat) until the sugar dissolves and then pour over the cucumbers. I usually let mine lacto-ferment the counter overnight before refrigerating. As long as the brine is over the pickles they won’t go bad because of the acid and sugar. The longer they sit the better they taste but you can really eat them at any stage (I have sneaky kid hands that try to eat them while they’re still salting!). The longest pickles have ever lasted in my house was a week but that’s because they get devoured by then. The batch I made yesterday was salted in pink Himalayan salt and the brine was straight apple cider vinegar (no water… they’re very bright and sour this go around), sugar, a giant pinch of pink Himalayan salt, cracked black pepper, ground mustard, and celery seed. To answer your other question duxelles is classically a mixture of mushrooms, onions, shallots, butter and herbs reduced to a paste like consistency. It’s great on toast, in omelettes, and used in beef Wellington preparation. Also great in mixed with whipped cream cheese or goat cheese and used on bagel thins or to dip vegetables in!

Been busy meal prepping today. Duxelles for omelettes, meatless no bean “meat” chili (made with TVP), salsa chicken, put another 2lbs of chicken in teriyaki marinade for tomorrow, roasted vegetables, ham and cheese egg muffins, and started salting some cucumbers for quick pickles. Had some of the chili for dinner and it’s SO good!

I have been craving chili cheese ALL the things the last week. Working nights means I usually don’t stop for fast food on the days I worked but today I stayed up to have a chili cheese burrito, a beef burrito, and cheese fiesta potatoes from Taco Bell. They left the rice out of my been burrito so I’ve only taken a bite from that and 2 (maybe it was 3?) for the chili cheese burrito I added extra ground beef to. Didn’t even touch the potatoes. In a past life I’d have eaten it all and then more. Today though restriction kicked in HARD and I’m SO ready for bed now. ?

Breakfast from earlier today. It started out as 2 eggs, 6oz sirloin and 2 slices of buttered wheat toast. I almost ate an entire egg and a half slice of toast! I can’t wait to eat more eggs now. I did end up eating about 2oz of steak for lunch but the texture threw me off so I just ended up throwing the rest away.

It’s been awhile since I’ve tried actual bread and since the kids wanted subs I went with a Reuben on multigrain. 3 bites and 2 small French fries and I’m absolutely full.

A bariatric surgeon I watched on YouTube once referred to the first 6 weeks as “the buyer’s remorse stage”where you wonder if it was worth the pain, discomfort, and the gradual shift back to puréed and soft foods. I agree with the suggestions above. See if you can tolerate icy liquids. Soon you’ll be able to have coffee and it’ll be amazing but most importantly right now you want to avoid any strain on those internal sutures. Try to rest as much as possible and walk if you can, even short distances help. Maybe pick up a hobby that you’ve long forgotten or find a new one to help distract you from food for the time being.

It’s called simple truth. It’s a natural/organic Kroger brand. But if you can find Amy’s Margherita pizza it’s pretty much the same thing. I think I’ll try and make it at home with some oven roasted cherry tomatoes, creme fraiche basil and mozzarella so shouldn’t be too hard.