Meal Planning Monday - 17th February 2014

So I'm officially back in action, gallbladder removed, no serious side effects, had my 2 weeks of recovery and it's driven me insane, so I'm back in the kitchen this week cooking. I am pleased to report that I did lose a little bit of weight following the restricted diet so I'm eager to continue but not to that extreme. I'm going to try calorie counting which will allow me to still eat what I like but with smaller portions.

So my plan for this week is as follows

Monday: Fish fingers, mash & alphabet spaghetti

Tuesday: lamb steaks, mash and peas

Wednesday: lemon chicken & rice

Thursday: child free night so off out somewhere!

Friday:  slow cooker day will raid cupboard and see what sauces I have lurking in there

Saturday: possible leftovers from yesterday

Sunday: Roast dinner with all the trimmings

For more inspiration or to join in with meal planning Monday follow MrsM's! blog

Craft Nomination

I must say I have been lucky enough to escape the stupid Nek Nomination craze that is currently doing the rounds, for those of you who don't know what this is, I'll explain as best I can. You nominate a 'friend' to drink a pint of alcohol in one go ( i.e. neck it ), they have to do this within 24 hours of being nominated and film themselves doing it. Once completed the Nekker become the Nominator and picks one of their friends, and so it goes on and on. I used the word 'friend' loosely because why anyone would ask a friend to do such a stupid thing is beyond me but some of my friends have partaken in this craze. I am of course excluded on medical grounds, my pancreas just won't allow it.

However I am all for being RAK nominated ( Random Acts of Kindness ) and a new one which I received yesterday - Craft Nomination.

I was nominated to do something crafty within 24 hours. Now this is just the kick up the back side I need to get back into card making & paper crafting. My News Years resolution was to make more this year, I think I managed to make just a single card last year, which was a pretty poor effort on my part.

I bought some cute Forever Friends London/British papers and stickers in the New Years sale but up until tonight I hadn't got round to using them. I decided to take up the challenge and make a card.

Chosen items from Docrafts Best of British &
Papermania Portabello Road collections

End result!

I was so impressed with my effort that I went on to make another card from the same packs.

On a roll!

Two cards in one night is enough for me! It's 100% more than I made last year and it's only February, so I think I can safely say that my New Years resolution of making more cards this year is well and truly in the bag!

I'm off to sit down and congratulate myself with a cuppa, but for those of you reading this I now nominate you to do something crafty within 24 hours and post about it. It can be big or small, card making or cake baking, you could do something you're already good at or try something new, something simple like following a step by step guide to origami or if you fancy something more challenging try painting a full blown self portrait, the only limit is your own imagination. 

Come back and let me know what you've done.

Meal Planning Monday - 27th January 2014

Last week wasn't too much of a struggle, in fact I felt like I'd eaten more food than I normally would, just purely because unlimited amounts of salad and vegetables fill you up but with hardly any calories. The only downside was the after effects of my Portabello mushrooms, it seems I may be intolerant to them, by heck I've never experienced cramping and bloating like it before in my life!, so this week will be more or less the same as last weeks, only it's a short week as I am in hospital on Thursday having my gallbladder removed, but until then the plan is:

Breakfast

30g cereal 

or 

1 slice of bread with a scraping of low fat spread

Lunch

4oz meat or fish or cheese or 2 eggs

1 slice of bread or 2 Ryveta

Unlimited salad or tomatoes

Dinner

4oz meat or fish or cheese or 2 eggs

4oz potato or 2 tablespoons rice or pasta

unlimited vegetables

Plus

an apple & a banana

a low fat yoghurt

200ml milk

unlimited diet/low calorie drinks, tea or coffee ( using daily milk allowance)

So my plan for the week is the same as last week ( just because these were my favourite meals from last week! )

Monday: chicken thighs with butternut squash and rice with veg

Tuesday: Lamb steaks with mash, peas, and carrots

Wednesday: child free night so carvery at the pub and I am going to indulge in a Yorkie pud this time!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, play it by ear may be hospital food or the delights of whatever my husband can cook or buy from the takeaway!

For more inspiration see MrsM's! blog

Meal Planning Monday - 20th January 2014

OK, So I've been out of action for a little while, but I'm back.... but for how long long I'm not sure, I have an operation planned for the end of the month so might be offline for a few days or a few weeks, hopefully not months like the last time I was in hospital.

Anyway prior to my operation I have to do a liver reduction diet and it doesn't look interesting at all.
Basically everyday for the next 2 weeks I can have

Breakfast

30g cereal 

or 

1 slice of bread with a scraping of low fat spread

Lunch

4oz meat or fish or cheese or 2 eggs

1 slice of bread or 2 Ryveta

Unlimited salad or tomatoes

Dinner

4oz meat or fish or cheese or 2 eggs

4oz potato or 2 tablespoons rice or pasta

unlimited vegetables

Plus

an apple & a banana

a low fat yoghurt

200ml milk

unlimited diet/low calorie drinks, tea or coffee ( using daily milk allowance)

So my plan for the week is

Monday: chicken thighs with butternut squash and rice with veg

Tuesday: Lamb steaks with mash, peas, and carrots

Wednesday: Spaghetti Bolognaise

Thursday: child free night - carvery at pub

Friday: Use the leftovers of the Spag Bol

Saturday:  Portabello mushroom pizza ( see below for the recipe )

Sunday: roast dinner with all the trimmings ( minus a yorkie pud for me! )

I've decided to use my fruit and yoghurt to make a nice pudding in the evening but if I do get peckish during the day then I will have my banana then.

I came across a recipe for Portabello Mushrom Pizza in a magazine in the hospital waiting room, it looks really quick and easy to make.
Heat oven to 180 degrees C
Take 2 large Portabello mushrooms, remove the stems and bake for 5-10 minutes, then fill with chopped tomatoes and top with buffalo mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

For more inspiration check out out MrsM's! blog

Gastroenterologist visit

So I got my blood test results back from my pre op last week and my LFT's and amylase levels are raised. They were referred to a doctor who said they were fine for me and that I could still go ahead with my gallbladder operation in 2 weeks time.

Today I finally got to see a gastroenterologist to try and get some answers about why I cannot control my bodily functions. He had no real answers, non of my previous tests showed any serious conditions like Chrones or colitis so he says it's going to have to be trial and error and possibly long term use of medication like loperamide or codeine which should hopefully 'bung' me up. The codeine should also help with the cramping. He also said I feel  the bloating, cramping and pain more than other people because of my soft abdomen and split rectal muscles which means my insides are nearer to the surface and not protected by my abs.

Unlike the surgeon who reviewed my blood tests, he was concerned with them and wants my bile duct stent replaced as soon as possible. He nearly fell off his chair when I said it had been in for 20 months, he protested that surely it had been changed since the as they are only designed to last for 3-6 months, but I reiterated that I had asked for it to be removed but had been denied this by my surgeon.

He wants me in next week to have an urgent emergency ERCP to replace the stent, I've just got to wait for a time slot.