Meal Plan Monday & Lab Work Results

Meal this week are going to be mostly simple and from my freezer/pantry to save money for Thanksgiving stuff. We are having the main Thanksgiving stuff at MiL's, and then we're going to my sister's house this weekend and having more. Isn't that the American way - extra meals? ;) My family was happy to hear that we were able to make it there - although I'm not sure if it was for the holiday meal or more for the fact that my hubby would be able to fix their computer woes (the joy of having a computer geek in the family). Since my sister's hubby wouldn't be getting off work on Thurs until late, and then us being able to come up this weekend - they decided to go ahead and hold the meal on Saturday. I thought we would be able to get away with only having the one meal, and I could then fix just a little meal here of our own. Nope. I have since decided that I'm not going to bother picking up a turkey breast - which will save me having to make room for one in the freezer.

I got good news from the doctor on Friday. My liver may still be funky - but it works fine now, those values were finally all normal. They could also finally calculate my cholesterol levels without having to run a special (expensive) test, just the normal one, for the first time in YEARS. The numbers are still high, but measurable, and should continue to come down. My A1C (the measure of my blood sugars over the past 2-3 months) is 5.6 which is that of a normal non-diabetic person. And I weighed 199 lbs! *happy jig* He was very, very happy with me. Basically he told me to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm going to stay on the meds I'm on. The Byetta helps to control my appetite as well as my blood sugars, so we'll keep me on it but I don't have to worry so much about it when I go somewhere and don't bring it with me, and if money gets tight I can start to wean myself off of it. The metformin is also for my blood sugars, they think it will help to protect my liver from the fatty liver and keep me from going too low blood sugar-wise too. Instead of up-ing my Topamax he added Imitrex pills again (he doesn't feel comfortable up-ing the Topamax since he's not a neurologist). We'll see how it goes. If that doesn't work, we've got a few more pills we can try and then we'll find a neurologist.

As for my liver - he asked me about what the liver doc said I should do- if he told me what to expect or anything. I told him the doc didn't tell me a darn thing but to get the lap band (which his group did) to lose weight or I'd die. I told Dr. G (my GP) that I figured I'd lost weight before, I could do it again, and if I couldn't do it my way I'd go the liver doc's way then. He agreed with me, and told me I was doing well, and even before all this thought the Lap Band was a bit extreme. As to checking my liver - I couldn't see doing more CT scans and being exposed to all that radiation (and barium) once more (I had anywhere from 6-9 CT scans before my surgery) unless I was having a problem. I was planning to do a recheck once I got down to my goal weight though. He was fine with that, and could see no reason to be subjected to all that radiation either. I told him that what I knew about the fact that the tumors could burst and bleed out, or that later on down the road become malignant, or that my liver could become cirrhotic came from the first liver doctor and not from the one that did the surgery. Quite frankly, if I have problems and what to find out my choices I imagine I will go back to the first one I saw first- if I want something done I'll go to the second one. The first one was more of what I'd consider a clinician, the second one more of a surgeon if that makes any sense.

Anyway - the meal plan for this week:

Monday: Pinto Beans with cornbread
Tuesday: Chicken breasts with Mrs Dash Southwest Chipotle Lime Marinade and then served with leftover beans and tortillas.
Wednesday: Canned Chicken Noodle Soup w/ homemade Cheese & Garlic Biscuits
Thursday: Thanksgiving I'm making - Mashed Potato Casserole, Split-Top Buttermilk Bread, Stuffing (Pepperidge Farm), Gravy and Cappuccino Biscotti. I'm making double bread and biscotti to take to my sisters.
Friday: My hubby works so it's Homemade Pizza night like normal.

For more Menu Plans visit: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Cappuccino Biscotti

Source: Cooking Light March, 1995
Servings: 30
Posted by: Emily (EJWyatt)
December 14, 2004

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 egg white
Vegetable cooking spray

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine coffee granules and hot water in a small bowl. Stir in vanilla and next two ingredients, and add to flour mixture, stirring until well blended.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 7 or 8 times. Shape dough into a 16-inch-long roll. Place roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, and flatten roll to 1-inch thickness.

Bake at 325° for 30 minutes. Remove the roll from the baking sheet to a wire rack, and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut the roll diagonally into 30 (1/2-inch) slices, and place, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over, and bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove cookies from the baking sheet, and let cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

CALORIES 75 (16% from fat); FAT 1.3g (sat fat 0.2g, mono fat 0.4g, poly fat 0.6g); PROTEIN 2g; CARBOHYDRATE 13.7g; FIBER 0.3g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; IRON 0.6mg; SODIUM 67mg; CALCIUM 10mg;