About Me

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Hi! I'm Cat. I'm a mother, animal lover/activist, vegetarian, witch, pagan, future kindergarten teacher and reptile lover. I'm always hyper and talkative and otherwise an eccentric person. I love to cook and I love coming up with creative recipes. I had gastric bypass surgery on June 20, 2011.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Did you miss me?

So let me update you on my recent news and eats. Last week I received a message from my nutritionist that they needed to reschedule my last nutrition appointment. I called first thing in the morning hoping to prevent a delay in my surgery. Luckily for me - she had someone cancel that same morning! So, since it had already been 30 days since my last surgery (as required by my insurance company), she scheduled me for that same morning. I made it there in 20 minutes - right on time! We spoke about my supplements, food, and my thoughts and feelings on surgery. She is excited for me. She thinks that I'm ready. She said that I am obviously taking this seriously, I have already committed to changing my diet before surgery. I'm already taking the vitamins I need for after surgery. And most of all, she thinks that I seem emotionally ready. She told me that she thinks my positive, determined attitude will help get me through those first few rough months. I also found out that I lost 6 pounds. :) Yay!!! Now I know that 6 pounds isn't much when I have to lose just over 100, but it's a start. :)

In food news . . . here are some of my recent eats.


This was absolutely delicious! I used two cans of Rotel chopped tomatoes with green chilies, 2 cups of frozen lima beans, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, fajita seasoning (otherwise known as my crack - I put in almost everything), 1 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth, and three frozen tilapia filets. I just put it all in the stove and let it simmer until the fish and lima beans were cooked all the way (this would be a great crock pot dish). I was going to make lettuce wraps (which I would recommend) with it. Instead, I put it on flour tortillas with some fat-free cheese. My boyfriend loved it. I loved it. I call it a success. I would make this again in a heart beat - but with lettuce instead of flour tortillas. This is my own recipe out of the old noggin. :)








This was one of my lunches recently. I had a sandwich that included sandwich thins, Tofurkey Oven Roasted Deli Slices, lettuce, tomato, a slice of pepperjack cheese, dijon mustard, and a little mayo. I also had fresh cut watermelon and sugar free pudding.


Let me tell you more about that pudding . . . Mmmm . . . 

I call it my Reese's pudding. I used Jello Sugar-free chocolate pudding. I mixed it with peanut butter, 1% milk, and Reese's Peanut Butter chips. It was great. I think that next time I would like to try using PB2 instead of regular peanut butter and I would like to mix in a chocolate protein powder to "protein it up." 




So that's all for now. I promised my boyfriend that I would get all up close and personal with you all next time. You know, all that emotional weepy stuff that some women *coughs* are prone to. . . ;)

Friday, May 6, 2011

What's in my tummy?

So I'm going to jump in a little late on the bandwagon and post my eats for the day. This morning I had a protein shake when I woke up. I mixed about 8 oz of 1% milk, 1 packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast - No Sugar Added, and 1 scoop of Click Expresso Protein Drink Vanilla Latte. OMG. I think I found my morning heaven. It was delicious. I previously tried the Click by itself with two full scoops, but not being a coffee drinker, it was not for me. It was way too strong and thick. 


Later in the morning I had an egg mug and a portion of cottage cheese. For lunch I had leftover cheese ravioli in alfredo sauce (I know, not good.) and half a large cucumber with a little roasted red pepper hummus.


For dinner we went to Surf Rider's. I wanted a healthier option so I had a black and blue tuna wrap and a side of lima beans. Mmmm. I was only going to eat half of the wrap, but it was so good that I ate the whole thing. The wrap was great. It had blackened tuna, blue cheese crumbles, tomato and lettuce. It was light and flavorful. The lima beans were ok. I make them MUCH better. They gave me the biggest container of butter for them. NO thank you. The butter went untouched. 












Anyways, that wraps up today's episode of "What's in my tummy?". :P


Happy Friday!












Some others who posted their eats earlier this week:


Nik from Bariatric Foodie
Michelle from The World According to Eggface
Rob of Former Fat Dudes
Andrea from WLS Vitagarten
Pam from Journey to a Healthier Me
Tom of Beariatric
Beth at Melting Mama
Patrina at Patrina Stripped Bare

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Mmmmmm . . . Lasagna . . .

I tried a new recipe from my book: "Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories" by Lisa Lillien. The recipe is Lasagna Cupcakes. It was absolutely delicious! I love that the servings are small individual servings to help with portion control. It was so easy. It took my 15 minutes to make including prep time. I adjusted the recipe to be vegetarian. Instead of ground turkey I used frozen spinach and my own blend of spices.




On other news, I got my new book in the mail: "703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life." It's on sale on Amazon right now for $10.38. I have read many reviews on this book and it is recommended by most of the big gastric bypass bloggers. It sounds very interesting. I look forward to reading it. I did buy a Nook, but I will buy physical books for books that I want to keep for inspiration or reference.


Well, that's all folks! :P


- Gastric Kitty

Sunday, May 1, 2011

"The key to change . . . is to let go of fear." -Rosanne Cash

Change. My life is all about change right now. I'm at a point in my personal development that I feel compelled to make drastic changes in my life. I haven't been satisfied with my life and where I was. Instead of whining or bitching about it, I am going to change it. If I don't like something about my life I want to be able to either change it or learn to accept it. One step at a time . . .

So this week I made a change. I chopped off 10 inches of my long, naturally curly hair. It was so freeing! I feel so alive. It's amazing how such a little thing can have such an effect on a person. My boyfriend is the one who gave me the idea. He brought up that it would be easier to deal with after surgery. Very good point. I love it when I chop my hair off. It always feels great, so I went for it.

Before:                                              After:



I also received a cookbook in that I ordered. The cookbook was made by Hungry Girl. I am a huge fan of Hungry Girl. They have a daily email that gives healthy, but hearty recipes, healthy swaps for fast food and restaurant food, and tons of other good info. They even include weight watchers points for all their recipes. They also having a TV show on The Cooking Channel if you get that channel. The book is called

"Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories" by Lisa Lillien. I love this book! The recipes are low calorie, low carb usually, and easy to make. The ingredients lists are simple and items you are most likely to have at home. I love their Egg Mugs. Egg Mugs are quick recipes for cooking eggs in the microwave using just one dish - a large soup mug. They are low calorie, quick, easy, and you can do anything with them.  















One last update. I received my Nook this week. I bought it on Woot.com. I love this site because you can find great daily deals. I bought a refurbished Nook 3G and Wi-Fi for $100. I love it. This will be great to alleviate boredom while I'm home for two weeks recovering from surgery. I can't wait to accessorize it and make it all pink and girly.