Things Normal People Wouldn't Tell You - The Sausage Ball Incident

So in my quest for protein I came up with the thought of trying sausage balls. Sausage, Cheese, Cream Cheese. Bisquick not the best.
But a girl's gotta do something.
So I get a recipe that my friend Melissa was kind enough to e-mail me. She is always posting something insanely good it seems like. These guys were no different.

Anyhoo.. the recipe was super but is besides the point of the story.
Let me start off by explaining some things.
I cook. But I tend to cook the same things over and over again. Right now, I can only eat about 1/2 cup of food at a time. So whatever I cook it either needs to work for me or be something that I can can give away.

You should also know that I've just recently discovered the wonders of cooking things on parchment paper. If you are cooking bread-less things it helps stuff not stick.

Now on to the sausage balls. Since I'm all in love with the parchment paper I decided to cook them on a cookie sheet covered with it.

An important thing to note is that parchment paper begins to get all crispy and burned at certain temperatures... one of which I found last night.

About 5 minutes into cooking the sausage balls I began to smell the paper burning.
No problem at all really. I'll just pop that out and take the parchment paper out.

The real moment of truth in most of my stories is the moment where my sense of humor and ingenuity meet. Such is the case with this story.

I decide that it would be easier/quicker/more fun to just yank the parchment paper out from underneath those cute little culinary delights. Certainly they will end up neatly on the cookie sheet.
Not so much

We could also call this the story of the flying sausage balls. Cause baby... that's what happened next.  :O)
Several of them ended up in salvageable places.
At least two of them ended up underneath the dishwasher. ewwwww.

Lesson learned and I now pass it onto you.
Never yank parchment paper off of a cookie sheet with  food on it.
Just. Don't.  :O)

Here ends the lesson.
-Gina the non-chef.

Oh - and for those of you who will most likely be asked to consume these guys. NONE of the next batches ended up on the floor.

One Month - Surgerversery. :O)

Well we made it to the 1 month mark. It's been one month since my surgery.
We've had some interesting ups and downs.
I know some people will find these posts because they are considering having a weight loss surgery.
That's what I did. I scoured the web for people's stories.
So in all fairness I have to say a few things.
It's been a tough month.

Just days after I began eating actual food (about 2 weeks ago) I ended up in the emergency room.
When several things in your abdomen have been messed with, you decide pain of any kind is worrisome.
So extreme pain is not a good sign. After hours of intensifying pain I gave up and went to the ER.
Verdict - Kidney stone.
Oh. My. Goodness. Please merciful Lord let me never do that again.
I've lived with some pretty extreme pain over the last two years with all the back issues.
This little stone put those in their place.
What it also did was skew my eating experience.
Nausea is a side effect. So I soon discovered that a big part of those first few days of problem eating (and subsequent hurling) was coming from the stone and not the surgery.

I reminded myself tonight that today marks two weeks of solid foods.
I'd be lying if I said it hadn't been a challenge.
My body has changed. My stomach has definitely changed.
My tastes have changed.
I'm having to relearn some very basic things.

I think my biggest lesson was to slow down.
Now that I'm a ways into this deal I know to take a small bite - chew it for a minute. Then wait another whole minute before another bite. It seems extreme. But it is the only way to really pay attention to how much is going in.
My total volume at each meal is 1/2 cup. It doesn't sound like much to you but it's an overwhelming amount most times.

I'm sitting at around 31 pounds total loss still. While the scale has not moved much in 2 weeks my body has. I knew there would have to be some catching up.

I'm guessing I'll start losing again in the next week or so.

Meanwhile - I have a wedding dress to try and buy.
I have to find a new place for future hubs and I to live come 9/1.
I have a ton of things to get rid of to make way for my new life.
I have almost a wedding shower a weekend.

Summary - I have a LOT to do.

If I had it to do over again, I think I might have tried to space out the whole marriage and drastic surgery just a tad.  :O)

Live and learn people.

-Gina