@stella .. Good for you. I remember being a little afraid of food after all my surgeries. I don't want you or anyone to feel that way. Foods are so good & healthy for us all, even our eyes and hair benefit from eating correctly.  Remember our intestines were created to process foods of all kinds. Just keep going slowly in amounts & add a bigger variety of food as you go. I love veggies & last night because fresh green beans are in season I cut three raw ones  in small circles and put then on my salad then steamed a serving for my dinner. I do the same with asparagus & other veggies I love because I need that fresh green taste. Maybe I have some "Goat"  in my genetic  makeup!! Lolol! 

How did your fruit smoothie go for you? Have you tried adding veggies like spinach to it? Yum!  Sometimes when I'm not feeling too well I'll make a whole blender full and drink it throughout the day or even the next day.  I put the blender bottle in the fridge so I can stick it on the motor part & give it a good whiz up or add something I'm craving.  

If you or anyone else need any other ideas to do with food that I might be able to help with?? Please just ask. I am having some vision issues & sometimes I just can't be on electronics but know I will eventually get back to you & if not feel free to send me a private message, so I can find this column again & answer your questions,  that will work too. 

@jeff...Hi Jeff...I eat popcorn a few times a week. Its always been a huge fav. of mine. I started eating it but removing the little pieces of shell from the kernels on them & any of the hard kernel as well.  Yes, you can mock me if you wish, I can take it...lol, it was a pathetic move on my part but I did eat popcorn again & was thrilled!!  Lol.  I was desperate for popcorn & to me not eating it was just not in the equation.  one by one, little shell remants were removed...Lololol! 

A while back I discovered that if I stopped using microwave popcorn &  I popped the corn in oil in a designated pot, I found the kernel pieces were actually so fried crisp from the oil that I could eat it without removing the pieces. The kernal shells just crumbled in my finger & to me I figured they could pass thru my cranky guts!! Lol! 

I will warn caution here...this is not on the advice of Eric or VO.  This is all my own doing & trying.  

As a teen growing up with 4 siblings popcorn was the go to cheap evening snack. I was the designated popcorn popper in the family & no microwaves back then. I started with some Canola Oil in the bottom of a pot with a good lid.  I Popped only 1 tablespoon of kernels to start then eventually over 1 year carefully moved up to popping about a 1/4 cup of kernels.  Its for snacking on the next day as well. So don't eat all of it & risk trouble. If you never popped your own corn before use caution. The oil will burn your skin if you get hot oil on you. I wear  hot mitts to hold the pot handle & one to vent the steam by tipping the lid a little. One tablespoon of seeds should have enough oil in the pot to swish the seeds a little around the pot. Plastic bowls will melt if there's excess oil so choose something that can handle the heat. When the corn starts popping give the pot a little gentle movement, either a shake or swish circles gently. It pops fast once it starts going.  If there's a lit of steam splatter tip the lid a little & pop till there's no more popping. Remove from heat. Pour into designated bowl. You can melt butter in the same pot if you like. *Everything in modersation*. 

@jeff ...lolol...I can honestly say that I haven't had a blockage due to popcorn. But if this is a huge concern, which it is if its a financial one then by all means eat only the ends with the bubbles on them. Lol! 

Chocolate pudding gives me the affects of a laxative without the pain & I remembered after writing the above & after eating some of my 1st bigger amounts of popcorn that I followed it up with chocolate pudding hoping to surround the suckers with slippery action to avoid a possible blockage & ER visit!  Lol. 

I was pleasantly surprised after eating about 2 cups of popped corn & having no pudding around that it passed through in an uneventful cooperative manner!! Lolol! Yayyyy popcorn! I do have a glass of milk while eating it though & I still eat it in moderation.  So just guard yourself on the amounts you eat.  To me, some is better then none. Let us know how it goes!