Columbus Foodie

As most of you know, I had a revision to my gastric bypass back in January, to an extremely malabsorptive surgery that means that my body doesn’t absorb much of what I take in. Because of that, what I take in has an order of priority - protein first, then veggies, then carbs, and I should be avoiding sugar. I have been kind of blowing that off a bit in recent months, and now my health is starting to suffer for it. My weight loss has stalled, and I’ve been running into issues where my levels of protein and iron are really much lower than they should be. So much so, that I’ve been losing hair like crazy. So with my health in mind, I’ve really got to change to focus of the way I’ve eat, concentrating on that which is good for me, and cutting out (or at the very least, cutting down on) that which is hurting me.

Not only that, but the downturn in the economy is hitting us especially hard, and we’ve been trying to cut costs as much as possible. I’ve been participating in a lot of weekly/biweekly/monthly events, like Tuesdays with Dorie, Taste and Create, the Barefoot Bloggers and Whisk Wednesdays, where I’ve made a committment to make certain things at a certain time. Often, because of that, I end up having to make things I would normally never make or eat, and then the results get given away or thrown away - a huge waste that I just can’t afford anymore.

So from here on out, the focus is going to be on eating what I need to eat - high protein, lower or better carb, lower (or no) sugar, fat doesn’t matter. I’m pulling myself out of all the recurring events like the ones mentioned above. I’ll cook along (since the recipes are listed for the groups) when I can, or when it fits into my plans or lifestyle. The change will be gradual, as I still have a ginormous backlog of posts (like 40+) that will be sprinkled throughout intermittently. Does this mean I’ll never make pasta? Or desserts? Or cook with sugar? Or eat out? On the contrary. I’ll still be doing that, but on my terms, and what fits into my lifestyle. I’ve been so obsessed with blogging events that I’ve let it take over my menu planning. If something in my backlog happens to fit in with an event, or a planned dish coincides with an event, sure I’ll still participate.

Gluttony got me where I am now. And with all of the desserts and rich foods I’ve been making, I’ve fallen back into bad habits. Right now my health is the most important thing. And this food blog still fits into the equation, but as with me, it evolves. It still has a Columbus focus, it still is about what I cook and where I go out to eat, it’s still about eating local and visiting the farmers markets, just in a different (more healthy and frugal) way. I hope to cook my way through my huge pantry and freezer stores by the end of the year (gotta clean house in order to make room for the more healthy stuff). I hope those of you who come here for my event posts will still visit, as I will still visit (and comment when I can) on all of your blogs.

And for those of you who aren’t into that sort of thing, and who won’t visit anymore because of the change of focus (and I hope that there aren’t many of you), I want to give you a hearty and hearfelt goodbye. Your visits and supportive comments over the course of this blog have meant the world to me, and I’m sad to see you go. Please do take the time to say goodbye, as I’ll miss you.

Meanwhile, onward and upward, and hopefully I’ll see the numbers on the scale go down while the protein and iron climb up.

Just a heads up that at the request of my web host, I’m going to be updating Wordpress today and adding spam plugins. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull this off without any problems. If I do, however, screw the pooch during the update, you know why and rest assured I’ll try my best to get things running smoothly as quickly as possible. Keep your fingers crossed!

If you’re reading this, looks like everything went smoothly. I’m still trying to get used to the updated interface, since it looks completely different. Since I’m knees deep in code, I’m thinking of updating the look of the site at the same time. Wish me luck!

It looks like the storm the other night caused a surge that wiped out the power supply on my PC. We’re still trying to get the technical issues worked out, so in the meantime I’m only able to access the site from my laptop. Will get caught up on posting hopefully by tomorrow when he’s got the new power supply installed.

I’m seriously not wanting to flake on this month’s Daring Bakers challenge, so this is acting as a placeholder for the entry, which will be late for two reasons: first, I seriously have no fridge space or freezer space at the moment, and need to use a few things up to make a bit of room, and second, I’m trying to find a way to scale down the recipe as well, so I don’t end up with more than a dozen or so pops - with my surgery and my lactose intolerance, the existing recipe would send me into a sugar coma. Have any of you other Daring Bakers been able to scale it down to like 25% of the original recipe successfully?

Stay tuned…

It’s come to my attention that I’ve been a really bad blogger, pretty much flaking on everything blog related for the past week or so, in lieu of food taking a back seat to pretty much everything else going on right now. I apologize profusely.

However, my absence doesn’t mean I didn’t eat or cook - I certainly did, and do have so much to talk about. So in the next few days, keep your eyes peeled for:

• my Tuesdays with Dorie assignment this week, making marshmallows! (Actually, I’ll be posting this in a couple of minutes)
• my Jewish inspired meal from this weekend
• my trip report (unfortunately, no pics - I forgot the camera) of my trip to G&R Tavern in Waldo for fried bologna
• my (almost) local German meal that I made here at home
• an update on my progress with the Kitchn’ Cure 2008 - I’m combining the first few weeks together, and am getting there slowly but surely
• and the results of my first attempt at using a pressure cooker!

Thanks for checking up on me, I’m AOK.

Just a quick note to let you all know that I’m not dead…yet. I’m having major setbacks with healing from my surgery, and will be heading to the ER and probably the operating room later today. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in the hospital - could be 2 days, could be 6 weeks, depending on whether or not they can get out all the infection or if there are any complications. I will try to have Paul bring the laptop so I can update, but can’t guarantee it. If you want to keep abreast of what’s going on with me medically, keep an eye on my surgery journal. Either Paul or I should be updating it regularly. Thanks everyone for your well wishes, and for your patience while I’ve been a very lax blogger.

Update: Apparently the antibiotics are doing their job, and when I went to the ER, they told me that I had no infection and as long as the wound heals properly, I’ll be fine. Thank goodness for better living through science.

As I’ve suffered through the worst of the last week, some words of wisdom from my Oma, tucked away years and years ago, echoed in my head. “There will come a time in your life, Rebecca, when you’ll try to eat and be unable to tolerate any food at all. When that time comes, the only thing you can eat and tolerate will be saltines.”

Apparently, when she came over on a big ship from Germany in the 1940’s, she got one hell of a case of seasickness, and had said the only thing she ate for 3 weeks (and would stay down) was saltines and water. How right she was.

Having an iron stomach, I never thought I would see the day where it would revolt on me, rejecting pretty much anything I gave it, even water. But apparently, one of the side effects of migraine medication was severe nausea, so in addition to feeling like I was hit by a baseball bat, I got sick as a dog whenever I tried to eat or drink anything.

I’m happy to say things are much better now. The headache (other than some minor ache behind the eyes that feels a bit like eye strain) has been gone for about 2 days now, and the nausea has been gone for about the same amount of time. I have been able to eat little things other than saltines now, like scrambled eggs, cream of wheat, soup, etc. with no problem.

I’ve had serious buyers remorse in the past week. After my first weight loss surgery (a RNY in 2001), I never had the level of restriction that was supposed to come with it. In the end, I was happy about that - even though I didn’t lose all my weight, I had kept off over 100 lbs. And was able to eat like a normal person who hadn’t had weight loss surgery. This surgery was supposed to be completely malabsorptive - he wasn’t touching my pouch at all, and it was supposed to be an easy recovery - I just had to let the intestines rest for a couple of weeks, and would be back up to eating to my previous capacity, just not absorbing it all.

I hadn’t bargained on the hernia repair and the mesh that comes with it bringing a level of restriction that I didn’t even have with the first surgery. Everything in my abdomen is so tight at the moment (and add to it the fact I’m pretty much corseted in a binder for the next 3 months), that my actual capacity is 2-4 oz. at a time. Think of a meal for me as ordering a cup (not bowl) of soup, and only being able to eat half of it before I’m uncomfortably full. I know this level of restriction won’t last forever, but for the time being, it sucks.

I’ve compared it to that episode of The Twighlight Zone where after a nuclear war, the person had all the time in the world to read, their passion in life, only to break their glasses and be unable to read at all. In a way, I had this surgery so I could live to enjoy food on a more healthy level for the rest of my life - at least at the moment, I feel as if I’ve broken my stomach. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony - finally getting to a healthy weight, but unable to ever enjoy food again? If it turns out that way, I think I would have rather been fat and happy.

But things are on an upswing. We’re leaving Brazil for home on Tuesday. I’m finally reading and enjoying food blogs again. I’ve been able to branch out a little bit food-wise (will be posting about the wonderful soup we got here soon), and I should be back to normal, at least blog-wise, in the next week or so. Thank you all for your well wishes, and for bearing with me during the hiatus where food was the last thing I wanted to think about.

Just a quick administrative post to let you all know that I’m still alive (barely), and that I’ve been having a few complications in my recovery - they punctured my dura layer during the epidural part of my anesthesia so I’ve been having to suffer with migraine headaches so severe all week (this coming from someone who never gets headaches ever) that I’ve been unable to do anything but lie prone trying to block out all light and sound.

Eating, at best, makes me nauseated at the moment. I’ve been starting at the same plate of salmon all day and night willing myself to take a bite. And considering this is food blog, I cannot write with excitement about food until I feel excitement about food again. Maybe when the headache goes away and I’m feeling better? Right now I’m having buyer’s regret. I’ll check back in, about a week and a half or so from now, back on US soil. In the meantime, I’m taking a tiny hiatus. See you all soon.

Here it is the new year, and the next time you hear from me I should be coming to you from Brazil, feasting on churrascaria, struggling to speak Brazilian Portugese, and resting up in preparation of the big day! I won’t be posting here as much as usual (since I’ll be recovering, and for the most part won’t have much interest in food), but I’ve got a few entries saved up, and plan on doing some restaurant reviews and other things (coverage of what farmers markets are like down there, etc).

You won’t hear me talking about the nitty gritty of my surgery though; if you’re interested in that, I’ll be posting on my surgery journal the full details of that aspect of my trip, and updates of how I am post-op.

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish the best for all of you in the coming year!

If you’ve come here by way of the Dispatch article, welcome! Have a seat and look around.

I’m pretty casual, as you can see. As the article says, I’m a thirtysomething woman who likes to eat - what you see here is a reflection of what I eat. Whether it’s something I cook at home, a new discovery of a local gem, or a really good restaurant, I’ll try anything once.

Current entries will appear here in the center. You can see my archives by clicking on the dates, or clicking on a subject to narrow down entries by categories.

As for the other sections of the blog:

The Central Ohio Restaurant Menus section has a constantly updated list of menus for various Columbus area restaurants. If you don’t see your favorite here and they have a web presence, let me know and I’ll add it!

In Eating Local I have a comprehensive listing of local farmer’s markets. Later, I’ll expand this section to show my favorite independent retailers and places to get local products.

The Food Blog Directory has a comprehensive listing of over 2,500 food blogs from all over the world. It is broken down by geographical area, which you can access directly by clicking on a continent.

The Ohio Food Event Calendar has a listing of current food-related events at both the local and state level.

The Recipe Index is a list of recipes that I’ve featured in my blog entries, for easy access.

All of the Restaurant Reviews I’ve done are also grouped together so you can access them more easily. I generally, on a good month, review 3 or 4 restaurants.

One recent development was the formation of a Meetup Group comprised of Columbus food bloggers and food lovers alike. The next meetup is January 6th at Little Dragon, so please feel free to join in!.

Further down the sidebar is a list of other Ohio bloggers and Columbus-centric links so you can find other blogs similar to mine. Once again, welcome - and I love your feedback. Send any comments or suggestions to me at columbusfoodieATgmailDOTcom.