[KathyT]

I just have to share about the AWESOME SEMINAR that I attended yesterday.
The Bariatric Program that I went through for my surgery (at Froedert Hospital in Milwaukee) brought in Chef David Fouts who comes from Palm Beach, Florida.
David's story is that he had gastric bypass three years ago. After having surgery he could not find any decent recipes out there which he felt were suitable for the needs of a gastric bypass patients such as high in protein and easy to digest.
He has a website which is http://www.baribites.com and a wonderful cookbook entitled Culinary Classics Essentials of Cooking for the Gastric Bypass Patient. The ISBN is#09712601-9-2 in case anyone is interested in checking it out through your local bookstore. I am sure that they offer it on the baribites website.
Also the hospital gave each of us a copy of their new cookbook especially for Gastric Patients which I am just so pleased with. I already made a crustless spinach quiche which was fantastic Chef David did a cooking demonstration (sort like Emiral does) but he only cooked for nine people. The reat of us dined on the same food but prepared by the kitchen staff at the place where the seminar was held.
We had this Valencia Chicken (yum!) A Citrus Salad (a little tart) and this angle hair pasta with stir fry veggies it was so good.
I ended up sitting and eating with some people who I met there. The gal I was sitting next to told me that she had her surgery three years ago and that she had reagined 50 lbs of the 125 she lost She admitted to me that all she does is eat garbage and that she NEVER exercised at all. Oh and btw that was her second GB, her first one was done in the late 80's.
There was another gal who was a vegetarian who had surgery a couple of years ago and she said that she had reagined weight as well. That was kind of depressing to hear. The other gal who I met had surgery 6 mos ago and was very very positive so that was nice.
Tonight I recreated that chicken recipe and pasta so I would have some half way decent meals to eat this week.
One thing that Chef David stressed is that the way that we cook our meat is so important. His rule of thumb is that if it walks on land us a dry method of cooking. For instance chicken breasts should be sauted in a pan with olive oil or a little butter. He suggested pounding them out with a meat mallet until they are less than 1/2" thick. This tenderizes the meat and makes it cook easier.
I could go on and on. I would love to post some of these recipes when I have time. And share his other tips. For those of you who love to cook (or eat) like me this was such a great opportunity. I also had the chance to see the surgeon who did my GB, I usually see his nurse. After watching Dateline on Friday I once again had to thank God that I received such great care and had such a wonderful doctor.
I shared this with him and told him that the surgery he performed on me had changed my life. I thanked him I am sure that people do this all the time but for me it was important to say I appreciated what they had done for me.
Sorry for the length here but I had a lot to say