Any Foodies out there?

[Aquameliza 0]

This is a great thread. One of my girlfriends told me that she was worried about me getting this surgery becuase going out to different restuarants and trying new things is my very favorite thing to do. I adore ethnic foods - eating out and learning how to cook them. Some people have a spice rack - we have spice closet. I have at least 8 kinds of oils and 10 kinds of vinegar in the cabinet next to the stove. On top of that I am an oenophile!

But, I keep thinking that I have to change my frame of mind and remember how blessed I am that abundance is my problem and that this surgery will give me the tool that I need to do what I know is right - sample the foods, enjoy the small bit that I can have and truly appreciate it. I am getting my brain around looking forward to it. Right now, my problem is that the monster is out of the box and I have my next 2 weeks of meals planned out to ensure that I can get in a FEAST of my favorites before I go on a 3 week liquid diet and then into surgery.

:purplebananna:

[luluc 6]

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So, what are you cooking? <o:p></o:p>

Juli - I've always been a big fan of wine:tongue: & good food. I was never one to hit fast food, usually every wkend we have a bunch of company and DH and I made HUGE meals w/lots of wine! Since we both got banded we're at our Farmers Market every Saturday after the gym, buying our Fruits / Veggies for the wk - and try to come up with meals w/variety; compared to my meals that always had Pasta / bread.< /p>

Last night I took spaghetti squash, baby spinach, parmesan cheese and made risoto. Hubby grilled a filet, but I was too full w/the above:)

[chica 2]

Are y'all really foodies? :thumbup: If so, why am I not hearing all the juicy delicious details of what you ate at various restaurants or what wonderful dishes you've made at home?? Please, please help me out by giving me some descriptions! I need to eat vicariously because I'm just getting to soft foods now... I had a sushi roll for lunch today (brought it home so I could pick off most of the rice) -- it had tuna on the outside, salmon, white tuna and avocado on the inside. YUM! :Dancing_wub:

[OH Juli 15]

I'll be eating broccoli Soup made from scratch with lovely thyme for dinner tonight.

I need to find some Protein to go with it. Perhaps some smoked salmon rolled with laughing cow cheese.

Not gourmet, but yummy.

[Winegoddesstx 0]

This is a great thread. One of my girlfriends told me that she was worried about me getting this surgery becuase going out to different restuarants and trying new things is my very favorite thing to do. I adore ethnic foods - eating out and learning how to cook them. Some people have a spice rack - we have spice closet. I have at least 8 kinds of oils and 10 kinds of vinegar in the cabinet next to the stove. On top of that I am an oenophile!

But, I keep thinking that I have to change my frame of mind and remember how blessed I am that abundance is my problem and that this surgery will give me the tool that I need to do what I know is right - sample the foods, enjoy the small bit that I can have and truly appreciate it. I am getting my brain around looking forward to it. Right now, my problem is that the monster is out of the box and I have my next 2 weeks of meals planned out to ensure that I can get in a FEAST of my favorites before I go on a 3 week liquid diet and then into surgery.

:ohmy:

Hi Aquameliza - fortunately I did not have to go on a pre-op diet. The time between insurance approval and scheduling my surgery on April 1 was so short and full of work travel that I really did not have time to plan the big feast. It did cross my mind....but I think not having time to dwell on it was better for me. I had some misgivings over the weekend prior to the surgery but managed to talk myself off the ledge and go through with it. So far, so good - I am looking for reassurance from the other foodies that I can still enjoy food and wine since that is what I do for a living. Of course, all that will be in very small amounts.....

Cheers!

[Winegoddesstx 0]

Are y'all really foodies? If so, why am I not hearing all the juicy delicious details of what you ate at various restaurants or what wonderful dishes you've made at home?? Please, please help me out by giving me some descriptions! I need to eat vicariously because I'm just getting to soft foods now... I had a sushi roll for lunch today (brought it home so I could pick off most of the rice) -- it had tuna on the outside, salmon, white tuna and avocado on the inside. YUM! :ohmy:

I'm really sad that all that sounds great to me right now...I'm still on week one liquids. I really don't like all these pre-fab, processed Protein Shakes. Yuk!

I'll be looking for suggestions on mushy food soon....

Cheers!

[NukeChik 1]

Also, I’ve discovered www.stashtea.com as a favorite tea retailer. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

I'm a tea freak. My fave brand right now is Zhena's Gypsy Tea. Zhena's Gypsy Tea | A Tea for All Your Senses

[OH Juli 15]

I'm a tea freak. My fave brand right now is Zhena's Gypsy Tea. Zhena's Gypsy Tea | A Tea for All Your Senses

Thanks for the link!

[NukeChik 1]

My fave is Passionate Peach, A spicy Black Tea for Savoring Life's Sweet Nuances.:biggrin2:

The Gypsy King Chai is really good too and the Sense of Peace, oh my its endless.....

[GenaO 0]

I'm a chef and cook for others eveyday, and have an amazing food source to pull from. It has been hard for me to not just grab anything I want out of the pantry and eat it.

I'm definately a foodie too, I love gourmet stores, different and new things not your average run of the mill foods.

My post band foodie adventure has been exploring Organics and clean simple foods and how I can make these foods taste like it came from a top notch restuarant.

[OH Juli 15]

What's cool is you can make fantasic things like (good) meatloaf and make them mushy!

You will eat again. And be amazed that half a sandwich does fill you up. Wine is part of my life. It's all really great. The thing you'll probably not do is bother eating questionable food if you ever did before. Really if you only get a cup of something you're going to go for something delicious, not just available.

Cool!

Edited April 8, 2008 by OH Juli

[taz 2]

You are very right. I try to decide if I really like something before I eat more than a bite or two. What is the use of taking up valuable room in my reduced stomach for something that I only find okay.

[kbinaz 0]

Being banded has made it even better being a foodie, because now I can indulge my passion without giving myself a guilt trip. I eat everything I ate before banding - love exotic cuisine, my vacations revolve around food - and now I don't have to constantly berate myself for enjoying too much of the food I love. I used to watch restaurant critics and see the massive amounts of food they'd try at a restaurant. I couldn't figure out how they could do it. Obviously they take small portions of each thing so they can review it. I was never able to eat like that. If I ordered an appetizer, I finished it. Same for each course. No wonder I have a weight problem! Now I eat like a food critic! I try stuff, share with others, have one bite of dessert, and walk away feeling like I just ate a ten course meal because I am stuffed! It's awesome!!! I wish I had been banded years ago. And I still enjoy cooking new things, too. It has allowed me to enjoy food as always without the struggle of overdoing it.

[bebe719 0]

food is an occupational hazard for me. I'm a culinary school graduate and pastry chef (I own my own biz)... and boy is this going to be hard. We are taught in culinary school to "Taste, taste, taste!" which adds up to so many extra calories at the end of the day (I gained 30 lb. in 9 months during school).

I just recently had surgery (3 weeks ago today) and hope that it's going to make all that "tasting" a little easier (a bite instead of two or three... heh.)

I'm already planning monthly dinner parties for my friends so that I can start cooking very healthy meals for them as well. I like to go all out (appetizers, salad, meal, dessert, etc.) and having people over and doing this in a healthy manner will now replace going out to restaurants I think.

[OH Juli 15]

Bebe,

Where do you live? I want to come to your parties!

I'm not a chef but I've worked in food service all my life, as a server, a cook, a baker, manager of an independantly owned restaurant. Now I'm the cafeteria manager for a state school. So, yeah! no weekends and evenings and state benefits, but boo, I'm still around food 45 hours a week while I work.

I'm working on my MBA to get out of the part of the industry where food is produced. I can't walk away from food entirely because I've got 20 years in, but it's hard.