I know I am 100% Italian, but sometimes I really think I am adopted and Greek. I love Greek food, but I love nothing more than Grape Leaves they are a true love of mine.
Have you ever had Stuffed Grape Leaves also known as Dolmas? The Grape Leaves I love are stuffed with a mixture of rice, spices and packed in a oil. I love the ones that come in a can and I eat them cold just as is. Ohhhh so good, but an acquired taste none the less.
Me and Grape Leaves go way back to when I lived in NY. There was the best Greek restaurant there I would frequent often (very often) – I am also a HUGE fan of Greek Salads as well as Gyros. Boy do I miss that place. When I moved from NY to Florida I missed my Greek food fix so much I would have my father who still lived there ship me their special dressing and cans of the Grape Leaves since they were very hard to find where I was living. Crazy right.
The worst was when I was prego with my son – of course I had to crave them of all things. My hubby found a place about 40 minutes from where we lived and would drive there to buy cans so I could get my fix and my father would also ship them to me as well. That is how much I love them.
The first time I ventured to have some was a couple weeks ago when out shopping with my son. They had them at my grocery store at the salad bar so I got a couple to see how I would handle them as a treat. I handled them well, but did not handle the fact I did not get more – they were sooo yummy.
So they other day I went out for a day of shopping with my sister and she took me to this Greek Place here in PA where I live now. I got myself a Gryo – did not eat it all at once, but boy was it tasty (not as good as NY, but tasty). On the counter they had cans of Grape Leaves, so I got one – how could I walk away from it.
I opened that can the next day and they were completely gone in just 2 days. I was in heaven – complete bliss with every bite !!! OH how I have missed eating them. While they are not high in protein I did not care one bit !! 4 Grape Leaves had 8 grams of fat, 160 calories, 20 carbs and only 2 grams of protein. Ya know what that did not matter – what mattered was that I was able to indulge on an old favorite with no issues. I am now sad because I have no more, but it was a treat and ya know what I will do it again for sure!!
So just because you have Gastric Bypass Surgery does not mean that you will never be able to eat some of your favorite foods ever again. In time you can try them while you hope and pray you have no bad reaction. I am just glad my old favorites are not sweets and chocolate or I would probably be in trouble. I have yet to have anything high in sugar and for all I know I will be able to handle it, but high sugar items scare me. I so do not want to experience the “I want to die dumping”.
Have I mentioned how much I love Grape Leaves? I really really do !!
See we can still have love affairs with our food, even after surgery.
