Nikki's random poll o' the week...

What was your last real dinner pre-op (last real food...so for those of you who had to do liquids, what was your last meal before that)?  Knowing what you know now...if you could go back what would you change about that meal?

My last pre-op meal was 2 slices of pizza at 6 p.m. on the night before my surgery.  It wasn't even good pizza.  I'd been out buying the last of my vitamins and such and just picked up something from the local greasy pizza joint cuz the kids were hungry.

Knowing what I know now, I prolly woulda had something like a fried chicken thigh with some cornbread and butter.  I miss fried chicken but the greasy skin messes with my pouch.  I miss real sweet cornbread (with the sugar mixed into the batter) and maybe some baked mac 'n cheese and some collard greens (I can eat collard greens fine just not in the quantity that I want to eat them).  Yuuuuuuummmmmmm....

Part of me, though has some healthier things I woulda rathered eat.  Like oranges.  Me and oranges have a precarious relationship and I tend to stay way from them.  Or a baked sweet potato.  I have no idea why I can't tolerate sweet potato but I can't (in fact my pouch seems to take issue-both large and small-with anything orange these days).

Since I had mine last night I'll answer the first half.  I had a GREAT meal last night at home.   I had a chicken breast that was marinated and cooked on the George Fourman.
I had whole grain rice, a huge pile of green beans, 2 dinner rolls, and a bowl of Pastina.
For dessert I had a bowl of multi grain cherrios with skim milk.

It was a superb meal. 

My last "Pig out meal"  was an indian food feast!  I wont even go into detail because I thought I was going to pop after all the food I ate.  This was about 3 weeks ago.

Tony...especially for you I am going to work on some RNY friendly Indian dishes.  I should have a couple by the time you are able to eat regular food.  I'm especially thinking tandoori would lend itself well to post-RNY life.  If you can't tell I'm not the biggest fan of traditional American fare, so I love to learn to cook international dishes.  We'll see what comes of it.

I LOVE Indian food but have not had any since surgery.  Nik, i'd LOVE some recipes!!  Rajastani potatoes, red curry, ANYTHING!!   I love tandoori chicken too.  I miss my Thai and Indian.  Problem is, I wish I could eat Indian at an Indian restaurant.  Making good authentic Indian is SOOOO time consuming.  If you know some shortcuts, PLEASE share!!!

I recently made aloo gobi using the following recipe, but substituting 1 can chick peas for the potatoes, and no coriander (don't like it....)

SERVES 8

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1 bunch fresh coriander, separated into stalks and leaves and roughly chopped
• 1 small green chilies, chopped into small pieces (or one teaspoon chili powder)
• 1 large cauliflower, leaves removed and cut evenly into eighths
• 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into even pieces
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• fresh ginger, peeled and grated(I used powdered)
• fresh garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seed (I used powdered)
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons garam masala

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan.
2. Add the chopped onion and one teaspoon of cumin seeds to the oil.
3. Stir together and coo****il onions become creamy, golden, and translucent.
4. Add chopped coriander stalks, two teaspoons of turmeric, and one teaspoon of salt.
5. Add chopped chillis (according to taste) Stir tomatoes into onion mixture.
6. Add ginger and garlic; mix thoroughly.
7. Add potatoes and cauliflower to the sauce plus a few tablespoons of water (ensuring that the mixture doesn't stick to the saucepan).
8. Ensure that the potatoes and cauliflower are coated with the curry sauce.
9. Cover and allow to simmer for twenty minutes (or until potatoes are cooked).
10. Add two teaspoons of Garam Masala and stir.
11. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves on top of the curry.
12. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave for as long as possible before serving.

STATS
1 cup
cals: 160
fat: 6g
carbs: 23g
fiber: 6g
protein: 5g
sodium: 437g
potassium: 383g

:-)
Im going to try to make my own Paneer post op.  It's basically just cottage cheese.  

How do you make your greens post op?  I make mine with TLC aka tons of ham hocks... don't think I'll be doing it that way post op.

Pre-op I used corned pig tails.  Post-op I use smoked turkey wing portions.

I had a steak: fillet minion, medium rare.  And i would have done it again.  It was wonderful, and.. until last weekend my pouch  did not tolerated steak, or even beef stew. Ground beef was fine (in moderation).  So i was really happy I got the steak.

another meal (one of the last ones) was fried shrimps - and it was horrible.  The shrimps were cooked on the outside and raw inside. Gross.  And I got sick the day after.  I was never "fried food" person, but that incident made me an enemy of deep fried food.  Funny - no?

Pizza and i were never friends, so I did not miss that at all. 

The last of the last meals - were all dessert (instead of a meal): tiramissu, chocolate, etc.  i probably ate 2000-3000 cal in last afternoon - the day before the beginning of a 4-week liquid diet, but at the time it felt so good, and so nauseating at the same time. 

When I think of anything else that I really miss: is a grilled french bread sandwich with ham, Swiss cheese, etc.   all the stuff, crispy nice fresh bread....
i know I do not need it - but that is the only thing I miss...

(I have to remember to do the spell check before I post...)

My "last meal" was Christmas dinner. I had to start my pre-op diet on December 26th.
We had prime rib, baked potatoes with loads of sour cream and butter and bacon bits, Ceasar salad all downed with a few glasses of red wine.
Dessert was chocolate mousse.
This was in addition to all the homemade candy and cookies I ate ALL DAY LONG. By 9pm I told myself I didnt care if I never ate again  lol
What a way to go out in style  lol

I was busy tying up loose ends at work the weeks before I went into hospital so didn't have a chance to really treat myself to a wonderful meal. I suppose my most memorable meal was the day I went for my consult one month before bypass surgery and one month after my band removal and I had lunch at a restaurant in Lyon which is owned by a very famous chef in France called Paul Bocuse. His restaurants have Michelin stars and I really enjoyed a perfectly cooked main course of lamb and a a fabulous apple tart. Sounds simple stuff but it was very good.  Thing is I can still enjoy all that stuff as eating in quality restaurants here you just get the best of food and I can resist the desserts because they always have the most amazing cheese boards. The French aren't big on quantity preferring quality every time and that suits me.

Goodness, I would be very unhappy if I couldn't eat oranges, I have several every day and love them to bits. Me and fruit are the best of friends, I do however understand your problems with sweet potatoes, I struggle with regular potatoes,  they really seem to bloat me.