[invisigoth]

Does anyone know where I can find good, quick recipes for us people who have recently had the surgery?

I have never cooked very much, being single and working a lot. My meals have basically been consisting of soup, cream of wheat, tuna sandwiches, eggs, and this soft taco with charbroil chicken (no cheese or oil) I've been getting at the Mexican Restaurant below my office.

Needless to say, it's getting very boring. I'm particularly looking for crockpot recipes (with no cream or cheese) since I have one and I could prepare it in the morning.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[jiffypop]

hmmmmmm. cooking?????? an interesting thought!!! i cook things that either take a long time or take 15 minutes or less.

seriously, though. what i found worked early on was thinly sliced meats - scallopini - whatever you'd like to call it. they cook fast, and are tender. add some sort of a sauce or gravy to make it easier, and you're good to go.

i'm also a big fan of roasted veggies. make a pan and use them in a variety of ways over several days.

fish is often a good choice, as it's soft and high protein/low fat. season, wrap in foil and bake for awhile. that way, it's nice and soft, and hard to overcook [but not impossible to overcook!]

and there's always chili! white chili made with ground turkey or chicken might be a good choice.

i'm sure others will have some great ideas...

[missmeliss]

Emeril's Egg drop soup
(Might want to reduce the amounts)

6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chiffonade spinach leaves
4 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean, and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Pinch finely ground white pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer. Add 6 tablespoons of the green onions, the spinach, mushrooms, soy and white pepper. Return to a bare simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Stirring with a fork or chopstick, gradually add the eggs in a slow steady stream. Cook until the eggs are set, stirring to create shreds or ribbons of the eggs, 1 minute.
Remove from the heat. Ladle into bowls, garnish with the remaining 2 tablespoons of green onions, and serve immediately.

[missmeliss]

Paula's cheddar cheese soup

1 small onion, diced
2 large pimentos, diced
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (you can use unbleached if you prefer)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups cream ( non fat or regular)
3/4 cup grated sharp Cheddar (non fat or regular)
1/2 cup green onions
Salt and black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper, (optional)


In a saucepan, saute onion and pimentos in butter for 5 to 7 minutes. Blend in flour. Add stock and cream. Cook until thick. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add 1/4 cup green onions, salt and pepper, to taste, and cayenne if desired. Garnish with remaining green onions.

Both of these soups you can make before and seal them in frezzer baggies and then put the soup in a bowl and re-heat them in the microwave.

[Leenie]

There's 600 crockpot recipes here:
http://www.cookingcache.com/cat/crockpot_recipes

400 crockpot recipes:
http://www.dvo.com/cooknfixnforget_recipes.html

And a slew of them here:
http://www.ebicom.net/kitchen/page/cpidx.htm

I love my crockpot....gotta use it more

.

[jiffypop]

ummmm. as wonderful as they taste, soups aren't hte best choice for us because we can't mix liquids and solids. a little gravy is one thing because it moistens the meat, but soup basically washes all the solid food through our systems.

[LessLori]

I am trying to find ways to cook for the family and incorporate my food needs, so I have improvised some crock pot things here is one I did last week...

Season a pork roast with salt/pepper, whatever seasonings you like, place in crock pot, add 2 cans of campbells healthy request cream of mushroom soup, cook on high 4-6 hours. Vrey nice, tender and moist.

I have not tried it yet, but I imagine you could do the same thing with chicken breasts?

Hope this helps!
Lori

[hubs]

I think food textures are probably the most significant factor in food preperation. I agree that while soups are gentle and easy to tolerate in terms of comfort, there are problems with relying on anything too liquid. Crockpot stuff can be a godsend and provide better food density than soups.

For me, if it hadn't been for soup I would have starved over the years I must admit. My tolerance for solid foods is very, very poor and I have to be so careful. Sometimes I'm just so hungry. I don't mean appetite hungry, or want to have food in my mouth hungry, or even stomach empty hungry. I mean nutrient hungry. You know that crazed, desperate feeling where you know you're missing something in a big way and your body needs it and its just driving you? Sometimes soups are the only thing that get me past it. I tend to dehydrate very quickly too so soup can help with that.

The egg drop soup is an awesome recipe btw.

I was in Chapters about a month ago and noticed a Weight Loss Surgery cookbook but I don't remember what the title was or who wrote it. I'll check next time I'm there...

[missmeliss]

Originally Posted by jiffypop

ummmm. as wonderful as they taste, soups aren't hte best choice for us because we can't mix liquids and solids. a little gravy is one thing because it moistens the meat, but soup basically washes all the solid food through our systems.

I was suggesting soups for the original post who asked if anyone had any recipes for people who have RECENTLY had the surgery. And for a few weeks recentley after surgery you can't eat solid food.

[missmeliss]

And also since she had been having other soups already I wanted to offer maybe some new soup suggestions she might not have.

[missmeliss]

Thanks for the support that SOME have given.....this will be my last post on this website. I do not feel I am benifiting from 3fc. I'm getting to much negative support and not enough positive and its not good for my progress towards wls.
melissa

[hubs]

I'm sorry you feel this way missmeliss and truly I don't believe anyone is trying to be negative. Just realistic and concerned. I hope you'll reconsider.

[indigo child]

I just wanted to clarify also...I have been on solid foods since 5 days post-op.

[invisigoth]

Hey thanks everyone for their input. I'm sorry that missmeliss has decided not to return. I hope that she reconsiders. I'm definately going to try that egg drop soup. (As for cheese, I'm still very afraid of it since my refried bean incident. Which is probably a very good thing since I love cheese.)

My mom made this wonderful chicken burgandy dish in her crockpot for Christmas. I'm going to have to get the recipe and put it on this thread. Thanks for the link to all those websites Leenie!

My doctor has always offered soup as an option for my meals. I've been told not to drink water a half hour before and an hour afterwards. His WLS patients have monthly support group meetings and his RN who heads the meetings suggested having soup when going out to eat because its easier to keep up with the rest of the table. (She's a WLS patient herself.)

It makes sense not to solely rely on soups, particularly with our absortion problems. But if my doc says its ok, then I believe that it should be ok.

[jiffypop]

high-protein soups are generally decent choices - things like lentil and split pea with ham. the ones that get us into trouble are things like chicken noodle or cream soups that are made with too much fat or that use flour as thickening agents [the carbs can cause dumping]

one of the worst dumping episodes i had, however, was with split pea with ham soup. there were just too many carb grams in it for me at the time!!!

sooooo, proceed with caution with the soup, and keep extra close watch on your protein for the rest of the day. i realize that many other people have different view on this. my info also came from the clinic director - an RN who had the surgery.

bottom line: do what works. watch carbs. make sure you get the protein in.