This was something I thought I'd never do again but I was out last night and drove by a smorgasbord and saw a sign that they had a carry out. I actually wasn't a big smorgasbord eater before now so didn't know this. Well, I don't cook. And since my surgery, "cooking' has amounted to a lot of blending. So I'm 2 months out and eating the same things (baked white fish, tuna, eggs, fake eggs, yogurt, greek yogurt....) over and over again. Some day I know I will be out in public and need to eat "real food" with people around. So after I'd passed the smorgasbord and went to a store for a bit, I swung back around and went in and got a carry out. This may be the only time in US history that the smorgasbord won. I went around and looked for the healthy items and took on small scoop of them. My only disappointment was that they didn't have any meatloaf which was going to be my one little splurge. So yesterday and today I've had 2 or 3 bites of each item with my meals so I know how things are going to sit on my stomach. I live alone and have found this to be a very economical way to test things. I took a tiny bit of salad, a single piece of broccoli, a spoonful of sloppy joe. I moved past the baked white fish pretty fast. I'm getting very tired of that! It's been fun tasting the bits of things and not having to go buy a bag of lettuce to know whether I can take it or not.

Much to my surprise the 3 bites of lettuce and the piece of broccoli went down fine. The sloppy joe, I knew from the first bit was a no-go. It had a bit of a kick to it and I seem to be very sensitive to anything spicy. It wasn't much, but I stopped after the first mini-bite. But I'm so sensitive to spicy that even Wendy's chilli tasted terribly spicy so it was probably not the sloppy job but me. So good to know!

dinner tonight will be a small piece of baked chicken with a sweat and sour sauce and about a teaspoon of raisins. I loved raisins before and just wondered if they will knock me over. I'm betting they will be very sweet.

I'm glad I did this. Even though it's only been a couple of bites at a time, it's given me some hope that there's a light at the end of the baked white fish tunnel.

And the best part is that I was in my car and driving away before I even realized I'd forgotten to walk over to the desert bar that's separate from the meal food! Didn't even occur to me I was so excited they had three skinless baked chicken things to try!!!

Cheers to no more baked white fish ! ! ! If you're not one that likes to cook or have tons of leftovers, I have some simple crock pots meals that are for 1-2 people. I would split up the portions and freeze half for meals later. If you're ever up for getting a tiny crock pot, I have a mini one I use for potlucks for dips and cocktail weinies and it's been great when I want something different than the family.

And, I have a mini meatloaf and an egg/cheese/spinach recipe you can bake in muffin tins.

OregonDaisy doesn't cook either, but she gets pretty creative with her "blending" LOL.

Good idea for you!

FYI- most butchers and meat departments sell a meatloaf mix that you can just bake and eat- all you would need is probably some gravy for moistening. Maybe you can find a hofbrau that sells gravy (I have one near me).

Tiffy - I would love to know about some of your crockpot recipes for 1 or 2. I'm single and have always had a hard time cooking for just myself - it was always so much easier to hit fast food (which is why I'm now in this boat).

That was a great idea 1-4-many. Although, I don't trust myself yet to stopping at a place like that. I'd be too likely to get the "bad for you" foods. I'm sure that would change after I'm sleeved, but I don't want to try it yet.

Tiffy - I would love to know about some of your crockpot recipes for 1 or 2. I'm single and have always had a hard time cooking for just myself - it was always so much easier to hit fast food (which is why I'm now in this boat).

That was a great idea 1-4-many. Although, I don't trust myself yet to stopping at a place like that. I'd be too likely to get the "bad for you" foods. I'm sure that would change after I'm sleeved, but I don't want to try it yet.

It really will. It's amazing the difference in how my brain processes things now. As I went past all the foods, there were some I didn't even fully look at because I knew they were not something I could tolerate or should not have. And as I took each tiny measures of food, what quite frankly would have been 1 or 2 bites max before, I was thinking of it as 1/2 of my meal. That's why I took so little. I had 3 meals left today and 4 tomorrow where I can eat this food. So basically I needed to find 14 to 21 small bites of food. And there was absolutely no sense in taking any more. Pretty amazing. (I did take one full piece of baked chicken to share with my doggy tomorrow.)

So tonight is a good night for me. I had actual raw veggies and they sat well on my stomach. I ate 3 bites of lettuce and a piece of raw broccoli at only 2 months out. For me, this is a big deal. I've heard a lot of people can't eat lettuce and it's a favorite of mine. And as I get ready for bed, no heartburn even with the bit of sloppy joe that bit back.

Light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I'll have room for a piece of cantaloupe yet this summer!