The pureed food part of my Gastric Bypass journey is getting BORING. There is only so much you want to eat pureed and then it is the same thing over and over. I think I am losing my mind a little.
So as you know I am on the Pureed Stage which will last until I have my first post op appointment on the 21st. Yup 12 days to go until I can move on to soft foods. I know you can puree pretty much anything, but let me tell you it is not that easy. Some foods are just not meant to be pureed – just sayin’.
I have hardly found any Pureed Recipes out there, but I am gonna have to dig a bit deeper to get through these 12 days. I have tried to switch things up here and there, but I tend to be a creature of habit and end up eating the same ol’ things.
Here are some of the Pureed Foods I have been eating often:
Refried Beans with Low Fat Sour Cream
Egg Salad (starting to get sick of)
Mashed Potatoes (made my own from the flakes then broke down and bought some Bob Evans as a treat)
Corned Beef Hash (had this a few times)
Those are the things I have been having a lot – especially the Refried Beans. Of course I eat other things, but these seem to be the ones I eat over and over. I just want to chew something already.
Ya know what I have been craving so badly? Salad. I miss a big bowl of salad soooo much. I cannot wait until I can have a salad again. Today I bought a bag of frozen Broccoli – tomorrow I will cook it up and, oh I hate to say it – puree it. I am craving my veggies.
I am only 2 1/2 weeks post op and I cannot wait to eat again – I mean I am eating, but I just want more of a variety back. I am not looking to pig out – just want more food choices is all I am sayin’.
If you are reading this and have been through this stage and have a Pureed Recipe that is yummy – please share it in the comments below cause I could sure use it !!
So I made it through the first week after surgery with no problems at all. Now I was ready for week two and also the change of menu with the new items I can have on the pureed food part of my journey. I was very excited for a change, but how did I do with it? Well I am gonna tell you.
I have to explain again that every doctor has a different schedule of what foods they want you to eat and when. For me the Bariatric Pureed Foods start at Day 10 – 30. Pureed foods are smooth blended and have a consistency of Stage 2 Baby Foods.
Now if you read my post on My First Week after Surgery you will remember I cheated and jumped ahead a couple days and started eating Part Skim Ricotta Cheese. I do not recommend cheating like I did, even though I did not have any issues does not mean you will not.
Before I get into what I ate all week I have to share a couple of items that I purchased that I love and you may want to get as well. First I got myself some Nuby Baby Spoons – I liked these because they were small in size and not rubbery on the end. OH and the bonus – they will change color when my food is too hot – lol. I decided to get baby spoons because it would make me eat smaller bites and it has worked !! Mind games !!!
The next item I got was a new water bottle. I wanted something I could take on the go and carry around the house. I ended up finding this really cool Quench Sports Bottle (could not find it online – sorry) at Walmart. It was perfect because it did not have a straw and the top flips open and when you drink it comes out very slow – perfect. It holds 24 ounces and I usually fill it with my Crystal Light and can drink one a day so far. I did find these Tupperware Quench Bottles that are similar and may work just like mine.
As you can see in the last photo I use little Dipping Cups to eat my pureed food out of. They hold less than 1/2 cup and I find them the perfect size and once again great for those mind games to feel as though you are eating a lot. You can buy them online or I found mine in Walmart for about $1.00 each.
I could not wait to get to the pureed part of this process – I was so sick of the liquids and the thought of any soups just turned my stomach. To think I was going to be able to eat different foods was so exciting even if they were pureed. I wanted food that had flavor because it almost seemed everything on the liquid part was sweet and I am a salt girl. So what was I going to try out first?
Here is what I ate so you can see each day for the second week:
(I am not gonna add the times on – just the order in which I ate)
January 31st (not really suppose to be on puree just yet- I cheated)
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
1/2 cupish Part Skim Ricotta Cheese
Protein Shake
1/2 cupish Part Skim Ricotta Cheese with a tsp. Tomato Sauce on top
1/2 cupish of Vanilla Cheery Ice Cream spitting out the Cherry Chunks
Now that I am typing this I guess I did not eat that much this day, but to me at the time I did. Funny how quick we change.
February 1st (Ok to start pureed foods – Whoops, my bad – lol)
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
Protein Shake
1/2 cupish Refried Beans with a sprinkle of low fat Cheddar Cheese melted topped with some Low Fat Sour Cream
1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge
1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes
1 SF Ice Pop
OMG the refried beans were to die for – although the cheese was a bit stringy (I will leave that off the next time). I also love Cauliflower so that was just as good as well. I made a whole head of Fresh Cauliflower mashed it up really good, added some Skim Milk, I cannot believe it is not Butter and Salt & Pepper to taste. I had a whole container to eat up for the rest of the week – YUM YUM YUM.
February 2nd
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes
Protein Shake
Pureed Stir Fry
2 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedges
Ok so this night my hubby had cooked up a Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry with Rice a Roni Fried Rice for him and the kids. It smelt soooo good. So I decided I had to try some for myself. I took one piece of meat and then the broccoli and Rice and placed it into my Magic Bullet Blender and pureed it up. I thought the refried beans were good – this was like heaven. Some have trouble with rice – me Nope none at all.
February 3rd
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
Protein Shake
Egg Salad
1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge
Egg Salad
1/2 cupish Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes
So today I tried Eggs and once again OMG so good. I took one egg mashed it up and added about a tsp of so of Low Fat Mayo and then a squirt of Gulden’s Mustard. I pureed it up in my Magic Bullet and it was beyond delish !! As you can see I had it twice. Major Protein meals !!!
February 4th
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
Protein Shake
Egg Salad
1/2 cupish Corned Beef Hash
1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge
1 Lit and Fit Vanilla Yogurt
1 SF Ice Pop
So I was doing some reading online to find other things that I could eat. I had read some were having Corned Beef Hash – the kind that comes in a can some call dog food. It just so happens I love that stuff. So I checked with my nutritionist to make sure it was ok to have being it is high on fat and they said yes as long as it is not a daily thing. So I cooked some up pureed it a tiny bit in my Magic Bullet and chowed down – with my baby spoon of course. I had no problems with this and it was soooo good.
February 5th
Crystal Light Iced Tea (drank over the course of the day)
Protein Shake
Cup of Coffee with SF Coffemate Hazelnut Creamer – maybe 20 sips
1/2 cupsih Refried Beans with Low Fat Sour Cream
1 Laughing Cow Low Fat Swiss Cheese Wedge
1/4 Cup Fresh Cauliflower (pureed) made into faux mashed potatoes
1/2 cupish Mashed Potatoes
1 SF Ice Pop
Today I tried some Mashed Potatoes – they were made from the box with Skim Milk, I cannot believe it is not Butter and Salt & Pepper to taste. I LOVE Mashed Potatoes and even though these were not my creamy buttery potatoes I am use to they were still yummers. I had no issues with them – me so happy !!!
I think my second week post op has gone great – to be honest with ya, I almost feel like I never had surgery. I have had no issues, but gas and that is nothing a Gas X cannot fix. I keep saying I have to be careful by saying that so much cause you never know, BUT as of right now there has been no dumping syndrome, no vomiting, no diarrhea or anything else for that matter. Call me lucky – I will take it !!
Now you see my photo in the upper left of Baby Food Jars – well prior to this stage my sister bought me some and I did as well thinking I will eat it. On Wednesday the 1st I opened a jar of the Chicken with Gravy and almost vomited by the smell of it. I was already a bit grossed out by the flesh color, but the smell was horrible. It was at that moment I declared myself a vegetarian through the pureed stage of this and I had extreme guilt that I ever fed that to my babies.
Obviously I did not last as a vegetarian with the Stir fry and the Corned Beef Hash. I refuse to eat pureed Baby Food Meat. I do have some Fruit and Vegetables, but have yet to be adventurous and open any of those – I am scared – lol
My mood has been a bit up and down, as well as my energy level. I am still waiting for that big boost of energy everyone talks about. I am not exhausted – maybe it is just a bit of depression. I have a lot going on in my life right now and it has been very hard to not go back to smoking. I would love a cigarette again, but I will not give in.
Yesterday I felt pretty crappy and down. I also had back pain which I get time and again. I just bummed around the house, watched TV and worked on the computer a bit – totally uneventful. I cannot wait until it is Spring and I can go outside – that will definitely help.