So I went for my 1 mo appt yesterday (I'm 3 wks 1 day) and confessed to the dr that the puréed stage just didn't work for me, and cream soups make me feel awful. So weighed down and it always felt like it wanted to come back up. I told him I had been eating meat for the last couple of days (instead of at 30 days out) and he told me fine. Just do what's comfortable. He said the reason for prolonged mushy foods is that most people just can't tolerate the regular food. I'm so relieved. I was expecting a lecture.

So today I'm finally going to start making meals, starting with my turkey southwestern burgers but made into 1oz meatballs that I can just grab out of the freezer. I'm wondering if others have batch cooking type of meals they freeze up? Also I am thinking about using half turkey and half tvp, but I have never tried it. Does anybody have experience with tvp? Thanks so much. I'm excited!

Hi, im only 4 days out of surgery but I love your idea of Turkey balls. That is something I will try. Good luck

I love meatballs (beef or turkey) but oh my- for some reason I can only get down 2 very small ones, less than any type of meat/protein I have tried! I don't know why that is...LOL Great idea to make & freeze. I have been thinking about buying store-bought meatballs, but I eat so little that I am still trying to eat up things I bought a month ago! Expensive surgery but you certainly save on your grocery bill!

-Kendra

I hear Trader Joe's has some good frozen turkey meatballs.

I have bought frozen meatballs. They are great cause each is 1 oz so I can easily just grab and go. I want to make mine cause they are so much better. Flavored with green chilis, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder. So yummy.

Can you give me the recipe for you meatballs? They sound yummy!!

Yesterday I heated up two turkey meatballs (they were from a bag of frozen Farmer John from Costco) and poured two tablespoons of marinara and topped it with one ounce of mozzarella cheese and heated up in the microwave for 2 minutes. Soooo good. And it wasn't too much or too little. It's my new fave meal. I think I'll have it for breakfast right now.

I'm planning on making some mini crust less quiches in muffin tins and then freezing them individually for breakfast or other meals. Also I was going to make meatballs and cook in my slow cooker so they are really tender and then freeze them. if you have some mind of Seal A Meal machine it works great too. I think the slow cooker will be a big help to make sure the meats are really tender and juicy.

I'm planning on making some mini crust less quiches in muffin tins and then freezing them individually for breakfast or other meals. Also I was going to make meatballs and cook in my slow cooker so they are really tender and then freeze them. if you have some mind of Seal A Meal machine it works great too. I think the slow cooker will be a big help to make sure the meats are really tender and juicy.

My breakfast every morning for months before surgery was 2 turkey sausages, sliced thin. One in each muffin cup. And 1/4 c eggbeaters divided into both, then baked. I would make a few dozen at a time and put 2 in snack size bags. Just grab out of the freezer and add a fruit and I had my breakfast. Now I guess it will just be the egg muffins. What do you put in the quiche? Can you post the recipe?

I'm planning on making some mini crust less quiches in muffin tins and then freezing them individually for breakfast or other meals. Also I was going to make meatballs and cook in my slow cooker so they are really tender and then freeze them. if you have some mind of Seal A Meal machine it works great too. I think the slow cooker will be a big help to make sure the meats are really tender and juicy.

Can you give me the recipe for you meatballs? They sound yummy!!

I made them today. I divided the raw meatballs into 1.3oz balls, hoping they would be 1oz after cooking. They turned out to be about .9oz. I put 2 in each bag and they weighed between 1.7-1.8oz for 2.

20oz lean ground turkey

16oz chub chicken Italian sausage (isernos brand from Safeway)

4oz diced green chilis

4tsp cumin

1tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Combine well and divide into meatballs. Bake on cookie sheet until done. I baked mine at 275* on the bottom rack because I had ribs in the oven already. Worked well cause the outside of the meatballs didn't get all hard. Probably cooked for about 1/2 hr. I didn't time them. Here's nutrition info per meatball. (1/32 of the batch)

Calories- 42

Fat- 1.8g

Carbs- .1g

Protein 5.8g

Thank you. I am going to try them.