voiceomt2002

I'm going to assume you read yesterday's post about the chicken, and you now have in front of you the meat you liberated from the bones. Meal #1 was the Roast Chicken. These are the leftovers and meat removed from the carcass frame and stored while you made Chicken Broth from the bones. Time for a meal from those scraps you almost threw away. I recommend not bothering with a tomato cup or lettuce leaves when on the mushie stage, unless you feel like the extra work. Certainly I did indeed enjoy my chicken salad rolled up in a romaine lettuce leaf and consumed in a similar way to a burrito, but the choice is entirely up to you. Okay! Tomorrow, we'll make the ubiquitous soup that shows up in almost every casserole in America-- Cream of Mushroom (or several other cooked veggies.) To save yourself time and trouble, I suggest you do a fast inventory of the fridge. Any leftover cooked veggies hanging around? I found two-cup container filled with broccoli! What'd you find?

They'll give it to you when it's the least convenient. Not only is that Murphy's Law, but I think doctors and insurance bean counters work for Murphy too.

I set up the next week with you in mind, BG. You asked for mushies, and I posted them for you. You're getting all I learned while I was in the liquids and mushies phase. Once I'd had the band installed, I wasn't starving. Far from it! I could barely choke down my soups and other foods recommended by my doctor. However, I knew I could have done better in the way of preparation. Now in 20/20 hindsight, I'm helping you by doing what I didn't think of then-- gathering up delicious mushies recipes so that phase is a treat to the taste buds, even if only a few ounces are consumed.

Hey, Max! I'm about to drown in my work, but physically doing well. LOL! What I wouldn't do for a quiet bungalow on some South Sea Isle, with no phones and no one beating on my door. Lena

My eyes are on the prize, that's for sure. It's been grand so far! I'll include a link to a picture of me wearing a historical costume for a Scottish Festival this past weekend. We had to alter the costume twice, and it still ended up too big! I kept losing weight. LOL! Re-sewing those darn pearls down was a nightmare. http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u323/voiceomt2002/Costumes%20and%20Crafts/HPIM0967.jpg I was good at the Festival, though. Despite a terrible longing, I avoided the Sally Lunn cakes, scones, and other Scottish treats in favor of 1/2 of a Scottish Egg. (sigh)

I'm up and down like a yo-yo on my food log. One day, I'm a good girl and eat less than 30g of carbs, below 1000 calories, and I'm a happy camper. The next day, some idiot who doesn't understand the problems of a bandster shoves something under my nose, and I go for it like a shark after a seal. I know it's my choice, but darn it, it's hard to resist a wheedling friend begging, "..just a teensy piece of this cake I baked myself. Won't you try just a little bit, Lena? Just this once..." (I'm beginning to hate that phrase, Just This Once.) However, this weekend I can blame only on myself. Yep, there's nothing so joyous as eating too quickly and finding yourself yakking up your lunch under the bleachers at a festival. What I ate was a good thing, I just ate too quickly and didn't chew well. Makes a great impression on passersby. I'm still losing weight, but it's coming off very slowly now. I'm eating the right amounts of mostly the right foods, but once in awhile there's an "oops." Sigh! And then last night Dante and I were too tired to cook. We stopped at the grocery store and bought a pre-made beef roast au jus. Just heat and eat. Delicious, nutritious, and within my carb count. I was so proud of myself when I filled out that entry in my food log. Until about an hour later when the itching began. I'm allergic to nuts. Nothing on the package said anything about nuts, but the signs are unmistakable. I've got a case of Franken-hives, which incidentally is also on top of the sunburn I earned over the weekend. Hint: Don't scratch a sunburn, no matter how bad your hives are! (whimper!) Thank goodness the Benadryl pills pass my stoma without so much as a squeak.

Have you ever bought one of those already seasoned and ready to roast birds from the grocery store? Or better yet, one of the already roasted birds? I highly recommend starting this three-part series that way, depending on your personal confidence levels. You absolutely could roast your own chicken, and for those willing to do so, please feel free. I did, but there's no shame in letting someone else do the work. For the purposes of this series, it doesn't matter how you ended up with a "frame" of a chicken, meat removed and leftovers stored for future consumption. We'll use that lovely meat tomorrow. Now, you could be wasteful and throw away that frame of bones, but you're foregoing a very tasty opportunity for two more meals from those bones and tattered remains. You see, those bones contain a very essential ingredient called collagen. It's a thickener for soups! You know it. You've seen that disgusting jelled substance on cooled plates just before you threw it out with the garbage. That was the collagen. You have on that counter the ability to make your own "Condensed Cream of" soups for your recipes. Incidentally, you eliminate quite a bit of the excess carbs, calories, preservatives and sodium. How do you know when you've cooked out all the collagen from the bones? They'll practically crumble when you try to break them. The fact that you can break a leg bone all by yourself is a clue you've gotten all the condensing collagen out. Remember, you can use the frame in place of the bony meat in the recipe. Here's the recipe: Tomorrow, I'll post the recipe for using that chicken meat. It's mushy enough for Chicken Salad! Remember! This is the basis for many recipes. Freeze it in about 10 ounce increments. You should end up with about 4 containers. Double the batch if you like, and add el cheapo chicken wings if you just need broth. See you tomorrow!

I'm sorry I never saw this. I never got a fill. Doc says I don't need one. Lena

I didn't need a fill when I went in, and I'm fairly sure I still don't need one when I see the doc on the 9th. I still have a restriction, and I'm still losing weight at about 1-3 pounds a week. Doc said some folks never need a fill. He's content as long as I lose somewhere between 4-9 pounds a month. I can live with that as a goal. (grin)

I'll take you up on that challenge, Peanutband. I don't have an elliptical, but I do have an exercise bike. I can do 20 minutes, but at the end I'm a sweating wreck. My goal is to do 30 minutes by the end of the month.

1. I'd like to be in the 230 lb range by the end of March. I don't care where in that range, as long as it's below 239. (That's 5 pounds from now, so it's reasonable.) I'm hoping to be at 230 or less, but that's pushing. 2. This is a more difficult goal, but I'd like to be below 200 lbs by the end of June. That's my birthday, and I'll be turning the big 5-OH. I could be at goal by next Christmas. Now that would be a real miracle to Celebrate.

So have your cake early. Remember, you'll be on a pre-op diet soon. I'm trying to figure out what to do for my own birthday cake now that I'm post-op. Obviously, the cakes I normally would make are out.

All total, I've lost about 50 pounds from last year at this time. I was happy and proud to wear a brand new gown I had to have for the Scottish Festival here locally. My old ones were either so huge as to look like tents or too hot for the Florida spring-like 80-degree temperatures. Dante, Karen, JJ and I walked around all day from opening until late afternoon just before closing. I've never had the energy to walk, dance, and shop all day before. I'm still considered obese at a 39 BMI, but darned if I didn't feel wonderful! That is, until my feet let me know that they weren't used to this kind of abuse. I expected them to hurt. After all, they're still carrying around a little more than 75 pounds more than they should. What I didn't expect were blisters. OMG! I've got blisters in places I've not had blisters since childhood. I had dirty, blistered feet from all that fun I had. :smile: I can't remember the last time I exerted myself to the point where my feet were dirty and I had big blisters from my shoes rubbing through the stockings! That takes some serious abuse! I'm proud of my blisters and sore feet. I'm grinning as I wear my flip-flops so my shoes don't rub those very tender spots on my toes and heels. I earned them by walking, shopping and dancing! Woohoo! I'm also sunburned. I wore something that showed lots of shoulder and didn't have to be hustled into the shade or a cool building to recover when my heaving, fat, sweaty body couldn't bear the awesome job of walking around the merchant booths another moment. I'll swallow the aspirin and rub aloe on my burns with joy today. I earned these blisters and burns in the best way possible.

As with all of these Jell-o treats, I do advise using ingredients like sugar free Jell-o products, Splenda, and Cool Whip Free.

I had a grand time! Thanks!

Here you are, OregonDaisy. This recipe is very versatile. Use it plain, add fruit, cubed gelatin, or layer two flavors. 1 3-oz package Jell-O Gelatin, any fruit flavor 1/4 cup sugar (you may substitute an equal amount of Splenda) 1 cup boiling water 3/4 cup cold water or non-citric fruit juice 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip or Cool Whip Free Dissolve Jell-O and sugar in boiling water. Add cold water. Chill until slightly thickened, about one hour and 15 minutes. Stir in the Cool Whip until blended. Pour into a 1-quart mold, or 6-8 individual serving dishes. Chill until firm, at least 3 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

I found this great recipe among all my grandmother's diabetic cookbooks. I altered it by using SF Jell-o and Cool Whip Free, but it works just the same. Tomorrow, I'll post variations. This is so versatile, I had to share.

Absolutely you should use Sugar Free products and Splenda! I wouldn't use regular products in this.

I can't believe it! I found not one, but two substitutes for ice cream, just when the weather is warming down here in Florida and I'm missing those cool, creamy treats. Here's the lower calorie and carb one: Jell-o Milk Sherbert. (Bless you, Grandma!) By simply using sugar free Jell-o and Splenda, I can make this practically a "freebie" on my diet. Woohoo!

All total, I've lost about 50 pounds from last year at this time. I was happy and proud to wear a brand new gown I had to have for the Scottish Festival here locally. My old ones were either so huge as to look like tents or too hot for the Florida spring-like 80-degree temperatures. Dante, Karen, JJ and I walked around all day from opening until late afternoon just before closing. I've never had the energy to walk, dance, and shop all day before. I'm still considered obese at a 39 BMI, but darned if I didn't feel wonderful! That is, until my feet let me know that they weren't used to this kind of abuse. I expected them to hurt. After all, they're still carrying around a little more than 75 pounds more than they should. What I didn't expect were blisters. OMG! I've got blisters in places I've not had blisters since childhood. I had dirty, blistered feet from all that fun I had. :cursing: I can't remember the last time I exerted myself to the point where my feet were dirty and I had big blisters from my shoes rubbing through the stockings! That takes some serious abuse! I'm proud of my blisters and sore feet. I'm grinning as I wear my flip-flops so my shoes don't rub those very tender spots on my toes and heels. I earned them by walking, shopping and dancing! Woohoo! I'm also sunburned. I wore something that showed lots of shoulder and didn't have to be hustled into the shade or a cool building to recover when my heaving, fat, sweaty body couldn't bear the awesome job of walking around the merchant booths another moment. I'll swallow the aspirin and rub aloe on my burns with joy today. I earned these blisters and burns in the best way possible.

I'm back and sunburned half to death. I'm so proud of Dante! He got to be the standard carrier for his Clan Keith in the Parade of Tartans! We're both sunburned and footsore, but we had a grand time! I lost enough weight to last the whole day! My blisters are reminding me my feet aren't used to that amount of walking, dancing, and shopping! LOL! Hmm...I feel a blog coming on.

I'm off to another chance to show off today! I'm a member of Clan Forrester, and today is the local Scottish Festival and Games! For the past few weeks, my roomie Dante and I have been working on my costume, since my old ones don't fit or don't match the local climate. Here's a picture. Hope I made the image small enough.

You aren't alone on both topics-- the birthday or the access issues. If I remember correctly, we'll turn 50 together, BG. Mine's June 25. Not looking forward to it mainly because it's a blow to the ego. I still feel young inside!

As with all of these Jell-o treats, I do advise using ingredients like sugar free Jell-o products, Splenda, and Cool Whip Free.

I'm off to another chance to show off today! I'm a member of Clan Forrester, and today is the local Scottish Festival and Games! For the past few weeks, my roomie Dante and I have been working on my costume, since my old ones don't fit or don't match the local climate. Here's a picture. Hope I made the image small enough.