how to cook for your families after wls (long)

Everyday I am always faced with the age old question what to cook for dinner. My mind is always calculating protien ,servings,carbs, and fat grams. My DH is a BIG eatter in fact I have never known anyone that can eat as much as he does. I have given him the Dr. Annie lecture of health ect.. but he is a cowboy and a man and does what he wants to. So if anyone wants to share with me what do you do when cooking for a family after wls? Fortunatly it is just Lee and I. BTW Lee is a meat cutter and loves his steaks. He brought home two huge steaks yesterday very happy about them because they were on sale and he cut them himself. He came into show me the steaks while I was on the treadmill LOL I looked at them and said they look nice and yes they did but I just am unable to do steak. Ground beef no problem pork no problem but cant do steak. So we agreed that when the time comes for him to grill his huge steak he would grill some chicken for me. I try to be creative with dinner ideas but I am running out of ideas.                                        Annie

Annie -  it's just me and my two teenage sons and we talked about this very thing this past week. I made sure early on that they knew how to cook and we've been known to have "fend for nights" as in you fend for yourself. There are a few things that I'll be cooking prior to surgery and freezing so they'll have some quick dinners. For the most part they're willing to eat whatever. There are 2 things I've told them I won't be cooking anymore - mac and cheese and donuts. I have no self restraint when it comes to either one of those and they've agreed to limit them to when I'm not around. My oldest son is doing Adkins with me preop. He's a big boy (6 foot and 315 lbs). He's named himself the official cook for the family and he's reading cookbooks and anything he can find. He and I have gone through the freezer and cabinets so we know what we have and we've made a generalized menu. Monday it's chicken, Tuesday it's Tuna etc. First one home starts dinner. My youngest is 6'2" and probably 175 lbs. He thinks that anything on a plate is great but would rather eat cereal. He eats everything and never gains - it's sad but he eats twice as much as my oldest. They oth love fruits and veggies so that's a plus. I'm so glad that they're behind me in my decision to have WLS. I can't imagine doing this without their support. Tell Lee to send some steaks this way. Have you tried using     www.thedailyplate.com  for tracking carbs, calories, proteins and the like. I started using it this past week and I absolutely love it. - Iris

Hi Iris, I like your style. Organized very good I love it. We used to have fend for yourself nights before my surgery but I have this compulsion about feeding my family no matter how small. I love it on the nights Lee cooks but I have to remind him to try to keep it by pass friendly LOL I just found a great site where I am able to track my fittness and food intake called sparkpeople.com tracking my fittness seems to be top of my list these days. As far as mac and cheese my guy would eat it all the time if he could loves the stuff. I avoid pasta like the plague it swells in my pouch and Bubbles and I dont want it in there nor rice. Sounds like you are doing a GREAT job getting ready.                                  Annie

My pouch is pretty tolerant of most foods, but I'm with you on the pasta Annie.  It just swells up immediately and is so not worth it!  Sometimes I still make spaghetti (it's a great meal for company, because everyone loves it), but I always make meatballs in the oven.  Then I just have the meatballs and sauce (no pasta) and a veggie.  I also like mexican.  Chicken or ground beef tacos, fajitas, etc.  I usually skip the tortilla and just have a few chips with it for the crunch.  We grill a lot too.  Steak, (pre-op medium well, post-up medium), chicken, burgers, etc.  Sometimes we do breakfast for dinner (eggs are always good).   Oh, how about a pot roast?  Do you think your pouch might do OK with that?  Because that's a lot more moist.  You could even make a gravy out of the juices.  I make it in the slow cooker with potatoes and carrots all covered with a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix.  It's super easy, yummy for me, and Ryan loves it too. Hope you can find some things that will work for both you and Lee!  I know we want to take care of ourselves, but still want to feel like we're taking care of our guys too.  :)

Thanks for the ideas Deb, Lee loves spagatti and like you I just eat the sauce and ground meat. In fact I saw a picture of a pot roast and thought that would be good LOL. Last night we had very simple we had deviled ham sandwiches with cheese. I am hooked on my Elekiel bread so I usally just have a slice and make an open faced sandwich. BTW Lee bought 3 grills this spring OMG .                                 Annie

Annie, I wanted to expand on the pot roast recipe.  There's a guy on the Recipe board that makes his the same way I make mine, but he mentioned adding a Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar over the top for the last 30 minutes.  Just let it sit...you don't have to baste with it or anything.  I tried it tonight and it was fabulous!!! 3 grills...that's funny!  I guess you'll have plenty of opportunity for grilling, won't you?  :)

Deb, I havent done the pot roast yet but plan on doing it soon. I love balsimic viniger so I will have to give it a try. BTW we grilled last night LOL Lee had his huge peice of steak and I had some wonderful marinated lamb. The lamb worked. Not everyone likes lamb but I always have and I know Dr. Atkins talks about lamb alot. The left overs I am going to make lamb curry. I wont have mine over rice but should be just as good.                                             Annie

I hate to cook now.  I am burned out on ideas and I hate cleaning up the mess and putting away left overs.  My husband I believe thinks I should be back to normal and eat alot but I can't and he can't get it through his head.  I don't think he is thrilled that I do not want to be in the kitchen at all but SORRY.  His thing is a woman should work and do the domestic stuff too.  If you don't work out side in the elemtents doing manual things you have no excuse for being tired.  At least that is what I have concluded is his mental aspect for woman.  I can do steak but not much.  Chick can be an issue unless it is thigh meat.  I have no creative ideas becuause I hate cooking anymore.  My creative idea for me would to hire a cheff!!  But I don't have no money for tha t LOL.

I don't know if I am lucky or spoiled but I really don't have to cook at all if I don't want to. I do prepare dinner only on the nights my DH has to go to work but my girls have learned to fend for themselves if Daddy isn't going to work and doesn't cook. Its good for them since they are adults and plan on moving into their own place sometime during the next year. Since they have jobs I don't even shop for their favorite foods anymore unless its what Dad and I eat because they can buy those themselves should they want to have it. I only purchase what DH and I usually eat and always make enough for them if I am cooking as a courtesy. Yeah I know....I'm a tough love mom but they are healthy adults and I did feed them very well until they left home. The two here are returnees which is delightful but the rules have changed cause they are adults and not even teenagers anymore. PS I don't do their laundry either ever! SO after surgery I think DH will cook for himself and sometimes for the girls and I am going to be responsible for shopping and preparing what I eat at least for the first few months since my diet will be limited in what foods I will be able to eat. I won't even shop for their groceries for a while either.

I have to say that I'm probably better about making a sit down dinner now than I was before. I only make what I can eat. If they want something else, they can make it. That said, I can eat just about anything, including steak, chicken breast, pork chops, etc. Though I must say that I do all meats so that they are fork tender. That means that grilling or broiling is just done until 160 to 165 degrees. This is hot enough to be cooked through and safe, but keeps the meats moist. I tend to a salad with fresh vegi's every night and I'll also do a potatoe, pasta or rice to go with, I just have a tablespoon or two and it doesn't bother me. I don't have that until I've had my protien and vegi's so I don't get or need much and still am able to enjoy. I have subscription to Cooking Light and truly enjoy it. It gives me plenty of ideas for lightening up old favorites as well as trying some new things. I also look at other light cooking cookbooks for ideas all the time. I focus on cookbooks that support a South Beach, low carb approach to cooking. Try looking at the websites for Cooking Light and South Beach. Also try 'Eggface's' blog, she's always got some great ideas ... So did Deb!

Barb