About me
Hi there! I am a person of passions. One passion is stitching. Another is reading. And, of course, there is cooking which goes hand in hand with eating! One problem, though. I have been a Type II Diabetic for about 20 years. Up until about a year ago I managed this poorly with medications. I was what was called a "brittle diabetic," no matter how we switched meds and juggled food, my blood sugar just wouldn't get below the diabetic range. This did not surprise me, as one of the first docs I worked with told me my condition was genetic and would never be cured. The best I could do is try to be as healthy as possible and that one day there might be treatments to help people like me, although the genetic condition would always be present.
Two years ago I decided to look into bariatric surgery, sometimes called bypass surgery, but most accurately called Roux En Y. (Cool how Roux is in the name--one techniques that I'm quite good at!) I won't go in to all the gory details, but will say that as a result I can't eat more than 1 1/2 to 2 cups of food at one time. I can't drink when I eat. I must not finish my "meal" in under 20 minutes. I must not go more than 6 hours without eating when awake. I must always eat proteins first, then veggies, then fruits. I should keep my sugar consumption to 5 gm or less per serving (but I can tolerate up to about 20 without feeling so sick I want to die.) The first and last meal of the day is a fist full of vitamins and supplements in mega doses to try to ensure I might get all the nutrients possible as I only access about 1/2 of my small intestine now and it's not the part that absorbs most vitamins and minerals. I also cannot tolerate any kind of carbonation and since my gall bladder was healthy (i.e. no stones found, but who cares about the "bile sludge"?!), I need to be careful about fats.
How does someone so compromised in the eating part of life still manage to cook and eat good food that is nourishing to both body and soul? That's what I'm trying to find out. And I'm taking you on the journey with me. In this blog I will revamp my favorite recipes to be "bariatric friendly." I will try other people's recipes and fiddle with them til they fit my eating style.
Even if you haven't had bariatric surgery, you can still eat these foods, too. My partner does and says that many of the recipes I've modified are quite delicious and he doesn't miss the sugar. Maybe that's because he snacks on M&Ms, Hershey bars and assorted stuff that I can only have a sniff or mini-bit of. But the point is, you need not be on a diet ever again!
United States Chef
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