I've received my dietary options. In addition to the below I will need to take 1/2 an ounce of Medium Chain Trigliceride (MCT) oil per meal. Apparently it is very difficult to come by. The street value of this stuff is $30/ounce. So here are all of my options for all meals:
- All Fruits and Vegetables
- Skim Milk
- Fish (grilled or broiled)
- Baked Potato
- Rice
- Fat Free Sour Cream
- Fat Free Cottage Cheese
- Fat Free Salad Dressing
And that's it. I suggested Atkins as an alternative and after a great deal of consideration they decided against it.
So, please play along from home. Give me your creative suggestions of how to combine the above and I may just have it as my next meal.
~Joe
10 days post-op
PS. Damn it. I should have had that burger when I had the chance.
16 comments:
That's not so bad, Joe. We can work with this. Sing along, everyone:
Two all-fish patties,
special MCT sauce,
lettuce,
(fat free cottage)cheese,
hold-the-pickles,
onions,
on a baked potato bun!
ALMOST like you had the burger, eh?
Stef
Remember that Simpsons episode where Homer said "Mmmm....medium chain trigliceride oil" and then made that drooling sound? Yeah, neither do I.
Is this diet only for while you're being observed, or are they suggesting this forever? Forever ever ever?
Blend on hi
long straw
nose plug
enjoy
Pork
The humble pig gives us so much — roasts, cracklings, chops, sausages, and, joy of joys, bacon —
When buying pork chops, choose those that are at least an inch thick; it's very difficult to keep thinner chops from drying out.
Recipes that call for pork butt are actually referring to pork shoulder. The meat on the upper part of a pig's rear legs — near its true butt — is known as pork leg or ham.
Uncooked pork chops and roasts can be stored for up to four days in the refrigerator and six months in the freezer. Ground pork, however, should be stored for just two days in the refrigerator and up to three months in the freezer.
SAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN "CASSOULET"
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
4 sweet Italian sausage links (about 10 ounces total), skins pricked all over with a fork
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 medium onions, halves and sliced thin lengthwise (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1 1/2 teaspoon mixed chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and/or sage or 3/4 teaspoon mixed dried herbs, crumbled
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup chopped scallion greens or fresh parsley (wash and dry before chopping)
a 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes including juice
19-ounce can white beans such as cannellini, navy, or Great Northern, drained and rinsed
For topping
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices firm white sandwich bread, crusts discarded, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small garlic clove, chopped fine
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (wash and dry before chopping)
In a medium skillet cook sausages in oil over moderate heat, turning them, until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes, and transfer to paper towels to drain.
In fat remaining in skillet cook onions and garlic, stirring, until golden, and stir in herbs (including bay leaf), scallions or parsley, tomatoes with juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Boil mixture, stirring, 5 minutes. Cut sausage into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Add sausage and beans to tomato mixture and cook, stirring, until heated through. Discard bay leaf and keep "cassoulet" warm, covered.
Make topping:
In s small skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté bread until pale golden. Stir in garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste and sauté, stirring, 1 minute.
Transfer "cassoulet" to a 1-quart serving dish and cover evenly with topping.
Serves 2.
Joe,
I just realized the real reason behind all this. This is all meant to be training for you to kick butt on a reality tv show this winter.
Amazing race - yup, flying with a newborn, 'racing' from hotel to OR to ICU to what is it now, 5 different rooms..., trying to understand the different medical 'languages' you are hearing the physicians speak...I'm picturing the host saying "17 floors, 7 rooms, 85 different doctors...Joe Salvati, you are the million dollar winner of the amazing hospital race!"
Fear Factor - Geez, where do I start? Would it be the 'event' where you get fluids suctioned from your chest until you can't stand it anymore? Or the event where you get needles with accupuncture frequency/quantity? I swear, if you do end up eating that trigliceride casserole that you are threatening to ingest, you'll be the winner, hands down!
Survivor - ummm...goes without saying, after all you've been through. Kinda makes you laugh when you think of these wimpy show contestants whining about how mentally tough it is to be without a change of clothes...(at least they aren't wearing polka dots)...having to eat bugs...(I bet you'd savor some protein-filled bugs right now, instead of cardboard?)...having to bathe in the river (don't want to know the details, but I imagine the sponge baths make a river sound pretty nice)
Joe, you're amazing. Keep it up.
Karen
Joe! Welcome to the dark side! I pretty much stick to the foods on your list all the time (except for the no salt part, which I will now consider in solidarity). It's really not that bad being an aquatarian. I haven't tried the recipe below, but it sounds good. Maybe we can have it at our next Open Air party.
Curried Barley with Portobellos
Serves 4
Barley and mushrooms are natural flavor partners, and giant-sized portobello caps are the ideal container for this delicious curry. Start your meal with a chilled yogurt soup. Hot chai (spiced Indian tea) complements all the flavors.
4 large portobello mushroom caps
1/2 cup uncooked quick-cooking barley
2 Tbs. vegetable oil (or Medium Chain Triglyceride Oil? What's its heat capacity?)
1 onion, diced
1 Tbs. minced garlic, or to taste
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 tsp. curry powder, or to taste
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt to taste (I'm assuming you'll have to leave the salt out--have you tried salt free Mrs. Dash?)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms, clean off dirt and chop the stems. Set aside. Scrape away the gills from the undersides of the caps, spray the tops of the caps with nonstick cooking spray and put the caps into a large baking pan, rounded part up. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are tender to the touch.
3. Meanwhile, cook the barley in 1 cup of boiling water or according to package directions. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and sauté the onion, garlic and pepper for about 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to turn translucent. Stir in the curry powder, cumin and salt, and reduce the heat to low. Remove the mushroom caps from the oven, turn them over so gill sides are facing up and set aside.
4. Add the cooked barley and yogurt to the skillet, and stir. Continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat, spoon equal amounts of the barley mixture into the caps and serve.
PER SERVING:
180 CAL
6 G PROT
8 G TOTAL FAT (0 SAT. FAT)
25 G CARB
0 MG CHOL
30 MG SOD
4 G FIBER
6 G SUGARS
Since I know very little about cooking , and even less about eating a healthy diet, I decided to ask an expert. So I just went over to Bobby Flay's website (bobbyflay.com). (Bobby is the guy from "grillin and chillin" on the food network, he owns several four star restaraunt in NYC including my fave: Mesa Grill)
So, I went to the "ask Bobby" section of his website and I posted this:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hi Bobby -
I guy from my office (Joe) has some complications following open heart surgery. His doctors have put him on a VERY restrictive diet. He is still in the hospital and has challenged the gang here at the office to come up with recipies based on his limited food choices:
Check out his what the doctors told him:
http://stateoftheheart.blogspot.com/2005/10/play-along-from-home.html
It would be SO great if you could jot down a recipe for him so that he can have something decent to cook when he gets home from the hospital.
Thanks,
Jeff in CT
-=-=-=-=-=-
Let's wait and see if Bobby writes back.
:-)
mmmm.... cassoulet...
nice! bobby flay! he'll definitely whip up something good with that handful of ingredients... after all, he's the iron chef!
-martinez
Sushi! Eat LOTS of Sushi!
You get the rice, you get the fish, can even a little veggies.
And if you dip your sushi in Fat Free salad dressing, well, I guess if you do that, you're going to far.
Joe -
well... you could always mix the fat free sour cream with a decent fat free dressing (ranch or italian perhaps???) and heap it on top of the baked potato. you could mash it all together and make mashed ranch potato's! lol :-)
Joe
You need something to wash this all down with!
PINEAPPLE SHAKE
2 1/4 cups ginger ale - chilled
2 cups pineapple sherbet - softened
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Lime slices - (garnish)
Combine the first 3 ingredients in blender, and blend until creamy.
I would definitely add some tequila or maybe some rum at least 2 or 3 shots! Or better yet Margarita! No fat in that! :)
Hi Joe. Thanks for passing along the food list. In sympathy for you our family had salmon broiled in lemon juice, baked potato filled with butter buds and fat free sour cream, white rice (with some sort of seasoning), and a salad with Newman's fat free dressing. Funny thing, when we were all through and Joan asked what we all wanted for dessert, out 12-year-old, Jake, said, "No dessert for me, mom, but could you stick a small needle between my toes and inject me with dye?" Our oldest, 15-year-old Luke, said, "Forget that! What I CRAVE is to have a knitting needle forced through my liver!"
So, instead of fat free chocolate cake, we took out Joan's sewing stuff and had a blast.
I have to say it was the most fun we've had in awhile.
Joe
Oh my God! How can your story get anymore dramatic????? I wish my sense of humor was as much in tact as yours is over this newest procedure which is to be done Thursday AM, Joe! As always, you are in our thoughts ALL the time! Love, Judy and Steve
Nothing noted in Sunday's notes re the Giant's win over the Broncos??? Very decent of you!! Let me tell you, we were weaping in Denver after our one point loss. Other than the fact that we knew you'd be very happy by the win, Denver was in shock!! Relieved to hear that your 'Echo' went well yesterday and trust that you'll be given your walking papers today. Love, Judy and Steve
Post a Comment