Liquid Living

 Originally, I was told I would be on a liquid diet for 2 weeks after my abdominal surgery. The morning after the surgery, the surgeon said I could try some soft foods like scrambled eggs or mashed potatoes after 10 days of the liquid diet. Looking forward to that.

I want to distinguish the meals some by what I eat. For example, I am sticking to Greek yogurt and fruit juices in the morning. Chicken broth or beef broth or creamed soups for lunch or supper. 

I had the red pepper and tomato soup this afternoon. I really liked it. The butternut squash we have eaten before. At least these have a bit of texture unlike the clear broths.

Stocked up on Ensure and Muscle Milk to make sure I am getting some of the nutrients not available in soup. I bought those at Costco. The Muscle Milk is really chocolatey. The Ensure is palatable but not great. 

Jello and pudding and ice cream and sherbet also allowable on my diet. But I have a yearning for something crunchy or chewy which won't happen until around the 4th of July.

Meanwhile, my husband is in charge of his own meals. He is not handy nor experienced in the kitchen, but I have stocked a few microwaveable items in the freezer. He will go to restaurants or Grace Village dining room some of the time as well. Maybe in another week I will have reduced pain and more stamina to fix some things for him. 

It is over 90 degrees today so the popsicles I stocked up on look good, too. Keep cool if you are part of this heat pattern.

48th Wedding Anniversary

 

Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. We had talked about going to a seafood restaurant in Fort Wayne, but we have been to that city so many times in the past month (and still more to come) for medical appointments and procedures that we decided to eat closer to home at Noa Noa Wood Grill in Warsaw. Though the food is a bit on the expensive side, the dress code allows casual items like jeans and shorts. However, I decided to dress up a bit.

We had a reservation for 6 p.m. We could not believe how full the parking lot was. The restaurant was mobbed for a Wednesday night. Turns out that because it is close to the Wagon Wheel Theater, people dine there before going to the show. Things emptied out some and got much quieter around 7 p.m.

I wanted the halibut, but they did not have halibut available tonight. So, I ended up with snapper. It had a mango sauce, but it did not taste like nor look like mango. It looked like brown gravy. It came with rice, summer vegetables, and a piece of grilled pineapple. I thought we would share a piece of Key lime pie, but my husband said he wanted us to each have our own.

It was delicious. It must have had coconut added into the graham cracker crust as well as toasted coconut on top. I was pretty full after the entree even though I did not eat all of the rice. I finished the pie. 

Just a smear of whipped cream, a few crumbs, and the lime garnish were all that remained. And happy memories of celebrating our 1977 wedding.

Pink Flocking

 

Yesterday evening my neighbor across the street was "flocked". A church youth group put pink flamingos on her lawn. This a fund raiser. About 8 p.m. I glanced up from my newspaper reading and noticed bright pink out my sidelight windows. I didn't hear or see when they were planted. When I took a close look, I was greeted by these flamingos.

 When the lawn mowing crew came this morning the flamingos were moved up on the porch, and I was disappointed I had not taken a picture. This neighbor is a good sport. She put them back out on the grass. I didn't waste any time with this second opportunity.

Gorgeous Flowers

 My housecleaner (who is also in a Bible study with me) has a knack for growing beautiful flowers. Today she brought me a bouquet with flowers from her yard/garden featuring peonies with their lovely fragrance. What a blessing.