What's for Dinner? Onion Frittata with Green Salad

Friday, at last. The Man actually has tomorrow off, which will be the first weekend day we've had off together for a month or so now. We're talking about going to see a movie - if the ones we're interested in are still in theaters. I discovered while we were on vacation that I can actually eat movie popcorn - limited in volume of course - so I'll have to take that into consideration for my calorie totals for tomorrow.

I've been thinking about making a quiche or some other egg dish. Quiche is somewhat problematic as the crust tends to be heavy in fats, and frequently heavy cream is used mixed in with the eggs. As you know I'm not afraid of such ingredients, but portion sizes do need to be taken into account. So rather than struggle with substitutions or other modifications, I looked for a recipe that didn't have a pastry base and found the onion frittata. We love caramelized onions, and fresh herbs are always a nice edition. I cut the recipe in half, and then my portion was a quarter of that. I think it turned out pretty tasty.

I ended up really low on protein for the day - I'll probably have a frozen yogurt bar before bed, but that won't get me into range. I'll need to plan better!

My Meals

Breakfast

• Dannon Light & Fit raspberry yogurt
• 4 mini tuna melts (2oz albacore tuna, 1 tsp mayo, 1/2 oz cheddar, 4 multigrain  crackers)

Lunch

• 3 left-over gyoza from our hibachi tak-out
• 1 cup mixed fresh veggies left-over from last night (corn, carrots, snap peas, snow peas)

Dinner

• 1 serving (out of 4 in a half-recipe) Onion Frittata 
• 1.5 cups romaine lettuce, 1 roma tomato, 2 radishes
• 1.5 tbsp Ken's Buttermilk Ranch dressing

Water - 50 oz

Daily Totals: 850 calories, 44.7g fat, 74g carbohydrates, 24.4g sugars, 39g protein

What's for Dinner? Baked Herb-Crusted Chicken

As I suspected, I really wasn't feeling up to going out for dinner and bowling. I did go to  my emergency management advisory council meeting, where finally my weight loss got noticed. As it turns out, the county administrative assistant in that office had consulted with Dr. Fuzz a while back, but chose not to go forward with surgery. She was very impressed, and actually told me I looked like I've 'de-aged' 20 years. I'll take that compliment!

For dinner we've had a lot of beef lately, so I was wanting to have chicken - something fresh and light. I found tonight's recipe that made use of lemon and fresh herbs. Just the ticket!

My Meals: 

Breakfast

• Dannon Light & Fit raspberry yogurt
• 1 serving mini cauliflower cheese gratin left over from last night (what??)

Lunch

• Mini tuna melts made with: 
• 6 Wheat Thins toasted chips - Multigrain
• 2.5oz albacore tuna (water pack)
• 1 tsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Dinner

• 4oz serving Baked Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts 
• 3/4 cup sauteed fresh mixed veggies (snap peas, snow peas, carrots, corn)

Water - 50oz

Daily Totals: 793 calories, 33.7g fat, 54.2g carbohydrates, 18.3g sugars, 67.1g protein

What's For Dinner? Hamburger Steak w/Mini Cauliflower Cheese Gratin

 Rough day today with the incision - I ended up in the recliner at 9am - thankfully my work is that flexible - the laptop on a table that slides over the arm of the chair makes it possible for me to work in more comfort than I can get at the desk.

I'd been craving something cheesy lately, so I decided to do a cheesy cauliflower dish. Not wanting a huge amount of left overs, I knew it was the perfect situation for my little square Le Creuset baking dish. Four WLS-friendly servings was perfect - I had one, the Man had two, and one is left over.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to feel better. I have a meeting I have to go out to attend in the afternoon, and I can't miss it. I'm currently the chair of the Forsyth County Emergency Management Advisory Council - a volunteer post I took on 3 years ago to keep me connected to my old life as a police dispatcher. We meet bi-monthly, and tomorrow's our next session - I missed the last one due to the abscess surgery, so definitely have to go this time.

My Flying Squirrels, an informal sub-group of my WLS support group, is meeting for dinner and coffee at 6pm, then bowling at 8. I'm really wavering on whether to go - I wasn't impressed with the dinner destination the last time we went, though granted it was during my "I'm throwing up nearly anything" phase (Dickey's BBQ, for the curious). Definitely not feeling up to the bowling, but we'll see how I feel about dinner when late afternoon rolls around.

My Meals

Breakfast

• Dannon Light & Fit raspberry yogurt
• Sargento light string cheese

Lunch

• 3oz sirloin steak
• 3/4 cup broccoli and carrots
• 1/3 left over fried rice

Dinner

• 3oz grilled hamburger patty
• 1 serving mini cauliflower cheese gratin
• 1 tbsp Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce

Water - 50 oz

Daily Totals: 802 calories, 40g fat, 42g carbohydrates, 16.6g sugars, 68.4g protein

Recipe: Mini Cauliflower Cheese Gratin

Some time back I found a little 4-inch square Le Creuset ceramic baking dish that I just love. I decided to use it tonight to make a cheesy comfort dish but in a WLS friendly size.

• approximately 1.5 cups steamed cauliflower (best from fresh - half a small head)
• 1/2 cup sharp NY Cheddar cheese - shredded
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup toasted fresh bread crumbs (or dried, panko, or crushed crackers)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• pinch of salt

Steam the cauliflower using a steamer insert in a sauce-pan until just tender - about 5 minutes. Remove to bowl to cool, then arrange in small florets in the baking dish.

Melt butter in heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add flour and salt, whisk constantly until mixture turns a light nutty brown color, 2 or 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the milk in slow stream, whisking constantly. Sauce should be slightly thick, but still pourable (roughly a thick chowder consistency). If it becomes to thick, add remaining milk a tablespoon or so at a time. When sauce is at appropriate consistency, whisk in 1/4 cup cheese until incorporated.

Pour sauce over cauliflower. Top with bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup cheddar. Bake for 20-30 minutes until sauce is bubbly and top is browned.

Serves 4 WLS friendly portions. 

Nutritional information (based on toasted fresh bread crumbs): 133 calories, 9g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 29mg cholesterol, 145mg sodium, 7.2g carbohydrates, 1.1g dietary fiber, 3.2g sugars, 6.2g protein

Back Under the Knife

Saw the doc that did my abscess surgery today, and indeed the incision hasn't completely healed (no surprise there). He says it's a very small opening, but given how much it's still draining and the associated pain, he's scheduling me for surgery to try and locate the source fistula (fancy word for hidden pocket of infection).

His nurse was trying to get me a late slot on Thursday the 19th - with the Man's work schedule changing every week, it's difficult to plan such things, but late afternoon generally works. I'm waiting for the call with the actual appointment time - and until then, best I can do is hope it doesn't get too inflamed before then.

I guess I should be thankful I've met my annual out of pocket maximum already? Shouldn't cost me a penny (sarcasm, that was).

Fun, fun, fun.

UPDATE: Surgery scheduled for Monday, August 6 - 4 weeks away (sigh). 

Take Out in a Post-Op World

There are days that you just don't feel like cooking. Today, with ongoing incision pain, was one of those for me. Pre-op, that would probably have meant we'd have gone out to dinner or done some form of take-out. We certainly had our favorite spots, and one of them was a little hibachi place across the street called Bonsai. They don't do the flashy table-side cooking, but serve typical hibachi style meals: a meat or combo, fried rice, veggies, and if you eat in, a salad along with an onion consomme.

The hard part of eating take-out post-op is both portion control and cooking methods. For Bonsai, the fried rice is heavy on the soy, surely has some form of fat in it, and the carrots are boiled in some form of sweet liquid. For me - portion control is relatively easy - my small stomach really doesn't allow me to over eat, at least not without very unpleasant consequences. So the challenge here is figuring out just what I've eaten (which looks like nearly nothing!)

Tonight I ordered the filet mignon with broccoli. I'm pretty good at eyeballing a WLS-friendly serving of meat, so I'm confident I had about 3oz of beef. I had a couple pieces of broccoli, about 1/3 a cup of the carrots, and maybe 1/3 cup of the rice (where I'd have scarfed the whole container pre-op). We ordered a gyoza appetizer as well, which is a little harder to judge on nutritional value. The site I use to track my eating and nutrition does have commercial foods in it - both prepared foods you would purchase at the grocery and popular chain restaurant foods. I had 1.5 pork gyoza, so I found a comparable product that had nutrition values that seemed reasonable given the size of our portion. Sometimes you just have to guess a bit.

My Meals

Breakfast

• Dannon Light & Fit raspberry yogurt
• Sargento Low-Fat string cheese

Lunch

• Salad including: 
• 1.5 cups mixed romaine and cabbage
• .5 oz sliced almonds
• 3 oz grilled chicken
• 3 radishes
• 2 tbsp Old Cape Cod non-fat toasted sesame, soy, and ginger dressing

Dinner

• 3oz filet mignon 
• 1/3 cup carrots
• 1/3 cup fried rice
• 1.5 pork gyoza

Water - 60oz

Daily Totals: 864 calories, 38g fat, 58g carbohydrates, 23g sugars,  71g protein


 

What's for Dinner? Steak with Mustard Cognac Sauce

Today's not been the best day - yesterday the infamous Ass Incision was acting up - and I woke up at 3am with both the runs and some pretty intense pain. I drew a bath, but it didn't provide much relief. I had a few oxycontin left from the surgery, so I took one and went back to bed - it took until about 6am to get back to sleep. As tends to happen with me on oxy, I was in and out of sleep for hours - we finally got up about 10:45 - which put my schedule completely off kilter.

I thought I might not be able to eat three full meals with enough protein starting that late, so I did have a shake for breakfast.

Dinner is a recipe I will write up soon - it's a variation of the classic Steak Diane - steak served with a sauce that includes shallots, liquor (cognac or bourbon), white wine, chicken broth, grainy dijon mustard, heavy cream, and fresh chives. Post-ops should not be overly afraid of the alcohol or the cream! Most of the alcohols burn off in cooking (though some do remain), and there's just 1/4 cup of cream in a recipe that generously serves 4 (probably 6 if all were post-ops).

As it turned out, I was right about not being able to eat three full meals on this shortened day - I only managed 2oz of the 3oz steak, barely any of the potatoes (small yellow potatoes sauteed with a chopped onion in a bit of butter), but I did eat all my peas.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday and my follow-up with the surgeon who treated my abscess. If for any reason he chooses not to take any action (wait and watch, vs. antibiotics or further surgical clean-out), we'll be asking for a referral from the colonoscopy doc to a colo-rectal surgeon - he offered if one became necessary. I'm hoping not, but I'm not willing to let this go on much longer - it's been irritated and draining for over 2 months now - that's enough.

My Meals

Breakfast

•  Syntrax Nectars Chocolate Truffle Shake made with 2% Lactaid milk

Lunch

• Wrap made with: 
• Whole Grain Ole tortilla wrap
• 2.5 oz grilled boneless chicken breast
• 50g avocado
• 1 tsp Ortega Mild taco sauce

Dinner

• 2oz sirloin steak
• 3/4 serving Mustard Cognac Sauce
• 1/2 serving potatoes and onions
• 1/3 cup peas
• 1/2 tsp butter

Water - 50oz

Daily Totals: 825 calories, 29g fat, 53g carbohydrate, 17g sugars, 81g protein