Sorry, I haven't posted on here for a while. There has been a lot going on and I have been staying extremely busy. Not only am I keeping busy with School, My kids are keeping me busy with their activities as well.
So what's been going on in my life since my last post. Well on April 1st, I had to have Emergency Surgery to fix my Lap Band. I wish it would of been an Aprils Fool Joke but it wasn't. I think what happened is that last time I had fluid put in my band it made it too tight, because I was so busy I didnt make it into the Dr. to have it fixed right away l like I should of. Part of that was probably because it's a 2 and 1/2 hour Drive to see him and so I kept putting it off, so I had to pay the consequences. This then caused my stomach on top of my band to expand which then caused it to slip. I wish I could blame someone else but it truly was all my fault. Everyone keeps asking me how did you know it slipped. The first indication was I was not able to even get water down, and the 2nd was everytime I did try to eat or drink anything I was in terrible pain. It was not fun. Lucky me I have a really great surgeon and he was able to fix it right away. Actually Dr. Holloway wasnt even in the Office the day I went in. I seen another Dr. but when she called him and told him what happened he came in just to do my Surgery, I wish there were more Dr's Like him, because just knowing he was there put me totally at ease. The Surgery to fix my band was similiar to the original surgery, so recovery was not to bad. Went into Surgery at about 5 pm at night and was realesed from the hostpital by 10 am the next morning. The worst part was being Stuck on a Liquid Diet for a week, but I recovered fairly quickly and was back to myself in no time. The only problem is that my band does not have any fluid in it and I am struggling with choosing the right things to eat, when there is fluid in the band it's easy because you cant eat that much and some foods you cant eat at all.Without the fluid you can eat pretty much anything. So I need to stay away from those french fries and I think I will be ok.
So with all the excitement in my life I have been looking for new crockpot recipes that are healthy and my kids will eat. On Tuesday's and Thursday's I leave my house at 12:30 and dont come back til 7 pm so to avoid eating unhealthy food I really do rely on my crockpot so the meal is ready when I get home. Browsing through some cookbooks I found a recipe for crockpot meatloaf, and thought I can do that, but how do I make something in the crockpot to go with it. So I decided to make the meatloaf and put it on one side of the crockpot and scrubed 4 idaho potatoes I left the skin on just like if you are baking a potatoe and I put them on the other side of the crockpot. I turned the Crockpot on low at about 10 am this morning and Had my son turn it on to warm at 6 pm..The meatloaf was ok. But the potatoes where awesome, They honestly tasted like oven baked potatoes and where 100% better than microwaving them by far. Since I put the meatloaf in one half I didnt want the potatoes setting in the grease from the meatloaf so I lined the bottom of the crock with carrots and used them as a platform. I can definetly see me making potatoes this way again. Its so benefical because you dont have to heat the house up with the oven. It will be great for the summer when you know you are going to BBQ then you can throw potatoes in crock in the morning and they will be ready when you take the Chicken off the Grill.
Heres the best part a Medium Baking Potato with the skin on is 161 Calories. Instead of topping it with butter. Green Giant makes Brocolli and Cheese in a just for one size they have about 40 calorie in each one. Heat one of these up and top your baked potato and you have a yummy main course or side dish. If you pair it with something like the meatloaf I made. As long as you use 97% lean ground beef or ground turkey you can have a 4 oz slice for around 200 calories. So you are looking at about a 400 calorie meal which is not that bad.
CROCKPOT BAKED POTATOES
Scrub Potatoes
Put in Crockpot
Set Crock pot to Low
Put Lid on Crock
Cook 6 to 8 hrs. on Low. If Cooking on High can probably do in abot 3 to 4 hours.
DONT PUT WATER IN CROCKPOT IT WILL MAKE POTATOES SOGGY.
My meatloaf recipe that I used was fairly simple
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup oatmeal
1 package instant brown gravy mix
Pepper
Salt if needed.
Dash of Worcetishire
Mix all together, then shape into a loaf and put in crockpot. Any meatloaf recipe will work but I was trying to cut calories when I made this recipe and I think it turned out ok. It still needs a little tweaking but hey thats what recipes are for right to change them and make them better. This recipe should make 8 4oz servings.
Well I am going to get busy and get some homework done, so I can go to NE this weekend. Hopefully It wont be so long til my next post.
Happy Eating to you
