This Week In My Home: Changing Lifestyle

While her wake-up call is for the family to come down for coffee, my wake up call wasn't half so pleasant, lol.  However, meal plans are not only necessary but will be followed rigidly for a bit, until I get used to this whole thing.  Some of the menus posted this week are actually some that I had in hospital and am adapting.  A few are meals I've planned for us this week.  Most of the vegetables you see here are limited to 1/2 cup serving.  However, you can easily add a salad or skip bread and add another 1/2 cup to your vegetable serving.

By the way: Sarah's protein news last month was very much in evidence in all the menus I took note of over the past week and I was told it was best to eat meat at least once every day, as it balances the carbs.  Keep that in mind.

I'm not planning projects this week, not just yet, but I do have some goals I'll share at the end of this post.

Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Butter beans, Blackberries with Whipped Cream
Serving portions are the standard ones.  Meat the size of a deck of cards (about 3 ounces), 1/2 cup each of the potatoes and butter beans, 1/2 cup of the berries with fat free whipped cream dolloped on top.  That's the meal I made today and it was very good, very filling.  Measuring my food is interesting.  I think 1/2 a cup doesn't sound like much but it's really a quite generous serving.
* an addendum here:  butter beans and mashed potatoes are both carb heavy and will cause a spike in blood sugars.  Choose one or the other and have a salad or steamed broccoli, etc which does not have starches.



Cheese Sandwich, Raw Carrots and Broccoli with Salsa, Cantaloupe, Milk
Toasted or plain for the sandwich.  Toasting adds no carbs and does actually increase the fiber slightly.   I can't eat a commercial Ranch or Blue Cheese dip or dressing due to the heavy fat content.  I was shocked at how good salsa was on these vegetables.  Cantaloupe serving is 1 full cup and so is the milk.  I'd been in the habit of having my milk at night but I find it very satisfying to add to breakfast or a sandwich meal if I'm not having soup.  You may substitute pudding (sugar free for me) or yogurt for the milk.

Hamburger Steak, Corn On the Cob, Steamed Broccoli, Gelatin
One of the best meals at hospital was a broiled hamburger steak with a light sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce and Montreal Steak Seasoning.  They served it with mashed potatoes which was just lovely, unbuttered, as the juices flowed around the potatoes like a sort of thin gravy, adding more flavor to them.  Sugar free flavored gelatin, with a teaspoon of whipped cream.

Lemon Baked Chicken, Rice,  Steamed Green Beans, Fresh Peach
John is not fond of tart lemon tastes and loathes an overdose of lemon pepper, but I find a light sprinkle is just as flavorful and never overpowers.  I like to squeeze fresh lemon juice over the meat too before baking. A friend used to slice lemons and bake right along with the chicken in the pan. It made a lovely dish.

Black Bean and Rice Soup, Fiesta Chicken Salad, Strawberries
The soup served at hospital was thin with just a bit of onion, cumin and the rice and black beans. Plan on 1 cup serving.  It was unbelievably delicious and I look forward to attempting it here at home.   A chili powder and lime seasoned chicken (about 2 ounces) is sliced over lettuce, bell peppers (red and green) and red onion bits.  A very light sprinkling of shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese.  The dressing?  A lovely light one that is made up of sour cream, lime juice and chili powder.  A full fat sour cream is actually recommended in this diet, rather than fat free.

Six Inch Turkey Sub with Vegetables, Oil and Vinegar, Banana Smoothie  
My dietitian assured me that convenience food eating was possible.  Choose a whole wheat high fiber bun, add on more vegetables and skip the mayonnaise.  A sprinkling of oregano adds a world of flavor to plain old oil and vinegar and if you're a spicy person you can  add pepper flakes as well. I opt to use my fruit serving to make a smoothie.   Typically I keep my smoothies sweet and simple.  Using either yogurt or milk and frozen banana (1/2 banana is a serving and just right to thicken a cup of milk), sweetener is unnecessary and not missed.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Green Salad, Gelatin
I think one of the most surprising things to me was that pasta was not 'off' my diet.  A half cup serving or if you skip bread you can have 3/4 cup.  When I make meat sauce I load it with vegetables, but you can certainly add another 'free' vegetable to the meal if you feel you haven't enough.  My dietitian recommended following South Beach Diet guidelines on eating certain vegetables and as long as you stay under 3 cups they don't count as a carb.


Goals This Week

  No big projects, no big plans to deep clean.  I'm still trying to get back on my feet and I reckon it's gonna take me a week or two.  I took advantage of the ability to sit and actually did the filing that's been piling up for months now.    I suspect I'll do more little tasks like that as the week goes on but I have some real goals to work towards as well:

#1.  Find a new primary care provider.  I've actually found someone.  I just need to make sure my insurance will transfer me and that the doctor is indeed taking new patients.

#2.  Set up new and follow up appointments with doctors.

#3.  Get blood work done.

#4.  Get a pharmacy error corrected.  They gave me the wrong lancets for my diabetic kit.

#5.  Pay bills.

#6.  Buy groceries.

#7.  Copy 'plate guide' for easy kitchen reference.  Make a smaller copy on index cards to carry in my purse for when I'm away from home.  I'm visual and need those reminders.

#8.  Keep a food dairy and finger stick log.