Need some food ideas

[mark540]

My wife had a VSG on January 18th and is doing quite well physically but not as well as we would like in the protein department. She has reached a point where the shakes make her gag at the smell of them, many varities, and is still only able to consume about 1 oz or so of protein at a meal, usually fish which she loves or occasionally chicken or tuna.

She gets in a good amount of water daily.

Does anyone have some good high protein food ideas for early out on a VSG both for dinners and snacks?

Last night I made her a fat free hummus which she really enjoyed but there was not too much I could serve it with other than roasted red pepper strips which were very good to her. our big problem stems from her need for lower fat and my need for higher fat content. I don't have low fat experience yet.

And before you say it, she has an account but is not the world's biggest fan of online contact with strangers. I'll try to get her to post something. Her moniker is catwoman on this board.

[michellemj]

Hi Mark-

Unfortunately, she's going to need to treat the shakes like medicine if that's what forces her to get them in. She needs protein, just like you did, and shakes are the best way to get them in. Tastes will change and she's newly out so...she'll need to be patient. Greek yogurt is another big one too. and to be honest, I never worried about fat. If you focus first on high protein and low carb, fat isn't really that much of an issue.

What has her surgeon progressed her diet to given that she had surgery 2 weeks ago? Early op, I lived on protein shakes (sorry...) and ricotta bake. and probably didn't start more solid foods like chicken and fish til 4ish weeks.

Shelly's Baked Ricotta (from the Eggface blog)
8 oz of Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 large Egg, beaten
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan, beaten egg, seasonings together and place in a oven proof dish. Pour marinara on top and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake it in the oven @ 450 for about 20-25 minutes (best) or nuke it till hot and bubbly. I usually made it first in the oven and heated the leftovers in the microwave.

If she can tolerate fish this early, here's a recipe that you both should enjoy.

Shrimp cakes (you can omit the peppers for her as it might be rough on her new sleeve):
1 lb raw shrimp roughly chopped
1/4 c. coconut milk
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp minced jalapeño or Thai pepper

Mix the above ingredients in a food processor. Pulse 10-15 times until ingredients are mixed, but texture is still chunky. Heat several Tbsp of oil in pan over med. heat. Use a small spoon to scoop up shrimp batter and drop it into the pan. Cook each side 2-3 minutes until nicely browned.

[Girlrocker]

Ya, I think one equalizer in whatever procedure we have is that early post-op it's pretty hard to get in protein without using shakes. I did two a day for months, and honestly, I still do now over a year out, but that's because of the malabsorption.

She's VERY new post op, it's barely two weeks! So she needs to stick with protein shakes and softer proteins - I ate peanutbutter, cottage cheese, greek yogurt with a scoop of chocolate protein, scrambled egg with cheese or hardboiled egg, oatmeal, soup with pureed tofu. It might be hard for you both to eat the same meals right now, the fat will provide a some challenge later, but right now it's that she's new post op and you're 'seasoned'.

[Deleted]

Try Beneprotein. It's the closest thing to a truly taste and odor free supplement I found. It dissolves with just stirring and mixes into almost anything that has a little liquid. It probably would go into hummus, even. I used it in stuff like oatmeal and mashed potatoes just fine.

A lot of people do really well with ricotta cheese (which can be found in low fat and fat free versions), like in the recipe above, or just topped with a dribble of pasta sauce. There's also the Ricotta Fluff thing, where you mix ricotta, instant pudding and enough milk (could use almond or soy milk if needed) to thin it to a palatable consistency. Package of pudding mix (instant of course), 2 cups of ricotta, mix, then thin it down after it has a chance to set up a bit.

You might want to thin just her portion each time rather than the whole batch at once.

[janet]

Unflavored protein powders worked for me. I mixed it into everything that passed the lips at first.

[pktwatch]

See my thread on Carbmaster, many good flavors.

[xr7conv]

I found through a DS friend locally a thing called New Whey Protien Shots. Available at Walmart. They are about 4 oz. of 'drink' in a few fruit flavors. They don't taste so great but not too bad (the grape was like cough syrup flavor). I settled on the fruit punch flavor as OK. The good thing is from what I can tell it is quality 42 grams of whey protein and in a small package. Easy to get down.

I am trying to find another source that is cheaper but have not found one yet.

Good luck.

[Girlrocker]

Feb 1, 2013 15:28:53 GMT -5 xr7conv said:

I found through a DS friend locally a thing called New Whey Protien Shots. Available at Walmart. They are about 4 oz. of 'drink' in a few fruit flavors. They don't taste so great but not too bad (the grape was like cough syrup flavor). I settled on the fruit punch flavor as OK. The good thing is from what I can tell it is quality 42 grams of whey protein and in a small package. Easy to get down.

I am trying to find another source that is cheaper but have not found one yet.

Good luck.

Very good, I used something similar for awhile called protein bullets, were easier for me to get down or were a good alternative when I just didn't feel like having a protein drink.

[Happy DSr]

shrimp is high protein/low fat (unless you cook/smother them in garlic butter and parmesan!). A little cocktail sauce or tartar sauce will add more flavour, if needed

crab meat

eggs - any way

canned tuna

smoked salmon

cooked chicken

Sometimes a small amount of a relish or sauce helps to get the protein down

[Undoing]

Feb 1, 2013 5:40:15 GMT -5 pktwatch said:

See my thread on Carbmaster, many good flavors.

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I had VSG with DR. K on 9-25-12.

Carbmaster's are good and soft for her.

Also, I nibbled all day long on Costco smoked salmon (kirkland) at a very good price. I happen to like it very much - it is thin and high in protein. I mashed up avocado to eat with it. Later, I had it on a very thin cracker, with a bit of any soft cheese. The avocado helped with digestive issues. Has she tried Premiere protein drinks ? I mix them with creamer and coffee that has been iced. I could tolerate it much better.

Sorry she is struggling. Give her my best wishes for a speedy solution.

[mark540]

Thank you to everyone for the ideas.

I made the protein pancakes for breakfast and they were well received by all at home.

No place to buy Carbmasters in Upstate New York unfortunately.

Shrimp and scallops on the menu for tonight.

As much as she hates the shakes Catwoman was able to choke down one yesterday and add some protein powder to her pudding snacks for a total of 900 calories and 80 grams of protein for the day Saturday.

[holyoke91]

I realize this post is over 3 years old, but for any newbies reading it looking for ideas, I mixed 1 scoop of Isopure creamy vanilla zero carb powder (25g protein) into some greek yogurt (18g protein) and added sugar free Torani syrups (the kind of syrups your favorite coffee shop adds to flavored coffees) for a very easy and tasty high protein breakfast. Once I could do some nuts, I added some slivered toasted unsalted almonds for crunch and even more protein. Yum!