Another Post-op Plate

This morning I was craving for fruits, other than mango pleeese! which I've been drinking (as smoothies) since day one of  my post operative saga. It has been a week since then and last night husband brought home some apples for me. I was supposedly dunk them into the blender and create another variety of smoothie. But I want some texture now! I had too much smoothies, I would vomit.
Ignoring the blender this time, I picked another kitchen tool  _ a peeler and  scraped for some apple meat. Failed! My maxilla is not yet ready for any solid food no matter how thinly sliced.



Above was resolved with tasty passion fruit pudding and strawberry flavored yogurt. Hmmm, not bad. That would do for now.

Nilupak na Saging

After almost a week , I'm still recuperating from a recent surgery. Surgical sites, still swelling with manageable pain. Meals are still stressfully soft and preferably liquid-y. Although I can't still go back to my regular activities, I'm happy that I could cook atleast one meal of the day for my family. Husband takes care of the rest. Another thing that I'm able to do now is prepare my own soft diet food. Yesterday, while my girls and hubby were enjoying their banana cue and turon, I thought I ought to enjoy some bananas too. Left were two pieces of large saging na saba (plantain). I boiled them. Peeled off. Mashed. Mixed with butter, sugar and condensed milk.



Sprinkled with grated cheese and voila_ I got nilupak na saging (mashed banana)!!! I worked from my own vague memory of nilupak na saging of my teens in my hometown. From my region it was called "niyubak". Vaguely, I remember attending some social gatherings in the province with my peers over this dish as the main call. The party was all about preparing this particular dish in bulk for everyone to enjoy. The procedures were similar to what I did (above) except we used giant mortar and pestle to pound the banana mixture. The tool is locally known as "lusong".

I'm not sure if I got the exact ingredients, maybe I missed some. Yet, my humble version of this soft banana dish had filled me up with sweet memories and nutrients.

Accidental Diet

You are looking at my lunch today. It was also my breakfast, and would only be the only meal available for the rest of my day. It's a home made fruit shake ( fresh ripe mango) prepared by my ever loving husband. He made lots of it. Left in the fridge for me, before he went to work this morning.



No, I'm not undergoing a self-inflicted dieting (although before this happened, I was onset to go through one cos I'm really really fat now). I had a surgery and still in pain of recuperation. The surgery wounds ( yah, plural with s) won't allow me yet to eat hot solid foods. No eggs, chicken and fishy seafoods yet. I could only take cold soft foods. Which only left me icecream and shakes. Last night I tried cold choco porridge for dinner. It was ok, but I preferred hot champorado, so I didn't enjoy it.
For a foodie like me it's a sad period of not being able to enjoy my food. I'm actually one of those who find pleasure in lingering the food in my mouth, savoring each flavor before letting it down to my tummy. I'm not allowed yet to chew and sip. I could only swallow straight down through my throat. This is very sad.
On the brighter side, this accidental diet would surely benefit my goal to fit in my bikini this summer. Now I'm excited about it!
Being a bed ridden also gives me more time to blog. Sometimes when in pain, I would divert my attention by   tinkering the computer and it helps to alleviate the pain. My other blog site is already benefiting from my medical condition. It has been so updated since my surgery. Well for my foodie friends here, this blog will surely be updated too. I actually have tons of food photos that are lazily piling up.
If I can't eat real food yet, I'd rather share them to you.
later.
or maybe I can share my soft diet inventions straight from my kitchen onto my recuperating dining bed.
maybe.
see ya.

Sushi Lab

One time I was badly hit by sushi craves. Haven't I mentioned that I live in a suburb. It's not like being in Makati where everything is just few walks away. In my planet, a grocery was relatively accessible than a Japanese resto.



In the grocery, a regular one and not a Japanese specialty store, I grabbed sushi rice, kikkoman, rice vinegar, nori and wasabi paste. I was looking for a sushi rolling mat but there was none. Instead I found some sushi shaping plastic tools.  I was looking for ripe mangoes as well  cos I wanted some california maki. Again negative.
From my fridge, I found crab sticks, cream cheese and kiwis.

It was my initial sushi experiment. Excited. I thought I got lucky to buy nigiri sushi making plastic boxes instead of a rolling  mat. When I started shaping the rice, I got lost! I didn't know how to use them. The instruction was written in Japanese characters, haha. Neither, I got the patience to scroll over the internet (after all my hands were already soiled from  the rice cooking and preparing the toppings).
I almost made a pass on taking photos (that's why I only got 3 photos here) but did anyway.



Above is the photo of the results of my sushi experiment.  I made kiwi+crabstick+creamcheese toppings and partially wrapped them with nori sheets. I also made a creamy dip mixed with wasabi paste.



I made more and pack them to bring to my friend who was attending her son in the hospital. She said it was good! Hmmm, well that would be a biased comment, don't you think?
Personally thu', I think they tasted okey and could do better next time. I would have to downsize the sushi rice thu', cos that size was overly mouthful for me.
For now, I would rather not share my experimental recipe of this. Until I make it perfect next time.