Hi, I'm Sherri...SAHM to JT a very active 4yo boy (why do we always say 'very active'?, like we've ever seen an especially calm 4yo!!)

We live in Texas, just south of Dallas.

My surgery is Thursday, September 11th. DH is taking that day off of work and he and JT will take me for surgery. The next day he'll have to return to work as he needs to save his sick days for his own banding later this fall!!

JT attends mother's day out at a church a few blocks from our home and he'll need to be there at 9am on Friday. I thought that I'd just drive him myself...it's not far and I dont' even have to leave our little neighborhood streets to get there.

I've been thinking that I might ask another mom to stop by and pick him up though, just to be safe.

The weekend will be better because DH will be here to parent while I heal. After that? we'll just have to play it by ear!

I'd love to meet some more SAHMs that are new to lap-band and are willing to discuss meal planning and entertainment (for the children).

I have those meetings on the 9th (two days pre-op) and they told me to expect to be there for 3-4 hours.

Is anyone doing any freezer cooking for your family? I thought that I might do that this week. A few casseroles, maybe some chili or gumbo? I have a freezer meal cookbook, so I may check it out for some ideas.

I am also going to make myself a couple of small batch Soups to freeze in small portions (I ordered the baby food storage containers from One Step Ahead).

Been thinking of that too. I have 3 little ones, and no other adult in the house. So I have to be the cook. Sampling what I cook is probably not a great idea post op.

teri

today I got the ingredients to make a few things for freezing...

chicken breasts & thighs for chicken creole (from my freezer cookbook). They can have it a few different ways.

ground beef for taco meat, sloppy joes, spaghetti, etc

DH requested crawfish etouffee, so I'm making a big batch.

Care to share some of those recipes? I've got the makings for homemade mac and cheese, and to freeze it I put some broken up lays potato chips. It works up nicely to reheat it. I've done spaghetti sauces. I've taught my oldest son how to tell if the noodles are done. I'll have to help with the hot stuff, but he can "sample" to feel the texture now.

Thought about making chicken and dumplings, minus the dumplings, but not sure how that freezes up. May just get a bunch of the crockpot frozen stuff. My family loves them.

teri

Recipes:

chicken Creole (from Frozen Assets)

(20 servings)

4 Tbsp Butter

2 cups chopped Onion

2 cups chopped Celery

1 6oz can tomato paste

1/2 cup Water

2 16oz cans diced tomatoes

3 Tbsp worcestershire

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tea salt

2 tea sugar

Tobasco to taste

1/4 tea unflavored Gelatin, dissolved in 2 Tbsp cold water

2 cups cooked chicken, diced (or 2 lbs shrimp, cooked)

Saute onion and celery in butter until tender. In separate bowl, stir together tomato paste and water until smooth. Add tomato paste and water to saucepan. Stir in tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, salt, sugar, chili, and tobasco. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir in dissolved gelatin. Remove from heat; cool. Stir in chicken and divide into freezer bags.

To Serve:

Thaw and heat in saucepan until warmed through. Serve over rice.

I also thought that they could eat it in tortillias or baked casserole style with some Pasta.

For the taco meat I just cook the meat in a sauce pan with some V-8 and taco seasoning (store bought or homemade). The liquid helps the meat to really break up and be loose (and it adds some nutritional value!)

For the etouffee...I don't have a recipe. I just saute some onion, bell pepper & celery in butter...add tomato sauce and simmer for a bit. Then I add the crawfish tails, some sausage and maybe some chicken. They eat it over rice.

mmmmmmm now im hungry