Journey Update #2

Today is December 13, 2025. Which marks one year and one month since I had surgery. Let’s talk…

I have no regrets. Although, I have seen many people talk about how they regret it. How it was the worse decision of their lives. How, if they could rewind time, they’d never do it again. I don’t feel like that.

To date, give or take, I have lost 140 pounds. I say “give or take” because I do wobble between 187 and 191 pounds – which for anyone that didn’t know, I have no memory of ever weighing less than 205 pounds. ((Miracles happen))

I have days where I can eat more than others. I also have days where I can’t eat anything. Some days I feel great! Some days I feel like utter trash. Some days my stomach feels fine. Some days my stomach hurts.

Sugar makes me hurt. && when I say hurt, I’m talking hurting. Small amounts are fine, but if I “indulge”, for whatever reason, I hurt. (Just an FYI, I don’t eat sugar as often as most people think I do/did. But you can believe whatever you want. Sugar didn’t make me overweight. Carbs did. I went downhill when I figured out how to make ramen in the microwave.)
I can still eat carbs. Pasta. Rice. Bread. I can eat it. Not as much as I used to be able to. Three bites of pasta. Three bites of rice. I’m done. However, I always eat protein before I even attempt rice or pasta – && I’ve never been a huge fan of breads – so I can go without it.
I miss gulping water. But if I gulp water, it makes my stomach hurt for a few minutes.
I still make my plate like the old Barb. I do love leftovers, though.
Grape propel has become my best friend. I actually thought it would be Gatorlyte, the red one, but I have come to buy Propel more often when I’m out and about && want something other than water. (I’m a bottled water snob.)
I’ll never get used to being cold. Being overweight my entire life, I got used to being hot – all the time. Snow on the ground wandering around in shorts, short sleeve shirt, and flip flops. Sleeping with a fan on full blast. It hits 50 degrees and I’m putting on a sweater. Sitting under a heated blanket. Buying a heated mattress cover for my bed. I usually just joke with people that my padding disappeared.
I feel like I look old now. I understand that skin is only so elastic, after a while, your skin cannot bounce back. I am 38 years old, and I feel that I look in my 50’s. Logically, I know that’s probably not true. People tell me it’s not true. But it’s also the people who always told me I’m not “fat”. It’s also the same people who told me “You have a great personality” – which for future reference, that’s you telling them they are ugly.

I would do the surgery again. Sometimes I wish I had done it 15 years ago – when I thought about it the first time. But I honestly believed I could get the weight off myself. It wasn’t until I start dating TheBoyfriend that I realized I was doing the correct things – my body wasn’t. It also helped talking to co-workers (which is another conversation that people have I don’t understand) after they started watching what I consumed on a daily basis. I never lied to them. Didn’t fake what I was eating at home. But when you drink water or eat a cucumber and your blood sugar hits 500 – something isn’t working correctly. Did I ever have a doctor tell me this? No. Because they always said the same thing, “you need exercise and drink more water”. Remember that time I was drinking so much water on a daily basis that I ended up getting hospitalized because my body couldn’t get the amount I drank out? Then was followed up with having kidney disease and heart disease? I’m sure I’ve mentioned that. If not, I was drinking SEVEN GALLONS of water a day && still had doctors tell me I needed to drink more. That was their way through everything. Exercise && water. That will fix everything.

I started noticing things. All the small things I was ignoring. When I was hospitalized in 2021 is when it hit me – hard – like a cement brick to the face – I have to do something. I started listening to my body. It’s cues. The small things it would do or wouldn’t do. In 2021 is when I decided that I don’t have much of a choice – I have to do this surgery or I’m going to be the second girlfriend he buries before he is 40. && let’s be honest, I wasn’t/am not ready to die. I still have things to do/accomplish.

But it’s been a year. One year.

Recipe #1: Tuna Salad

Let us discuss tuna salad. (Know that I hate when I am looking up recipes && have to go through one million words just to get to the bottom, && sadly, I don’t have the “skip to recipe button”.)

My manager at work && I talk about tuna salad a lot. Not because we are obsessed with tuna salad, we just: one, like to talk about food, two, enjoy a good tuna salad. However, our ideas of tuna salad differs, a lot. For her she uses tuna, Hellman’s mayonnaise, pepper, and pickle relish. For me?

Tuna Salad Ingredients – in my humble opinion.

Tuna, Mayonnaise (usually whatever jar I have that is almost empty), mustard, purple onion, dill relish, salt (not pictured), pepper && eggs.

The way I make it usually becomes a very high talked about subject. I’m not sure if it’s the eggs, mustard, or the fact that I don’t always use name brand mayonnaise.

We also get on the subject of goulash – which she said she has never had, && most tell me “you make it differently than I do”. That’s okay.

It’s okay if we don’t cook the same. It’s what makes food interesting. Seeing how one person differs from another, even if we are making the exact same dish. Tuna salad, for example, is one. Last Tuesday we got on the subject because I had wondered over to the bakery at work && got their tuna salad, which is tuna and mayonnaise. Which is fine. It gets me protein, and I like mayonnaise and tuna.

One of the topics of discussion is the fact that I put egg in mine. Here’s the issue, I think I’ve discussed it before, but I don’t know where or why I got the idea to scramble my eggs. I will put butter in a skillet, drop the eggs in and scramble them before adding them into the tuna. The only thing that I can think of is that one day I was making myself tuna salad, too lazy to boil them, so I just scrambled them? Possibly. I do know that no one in my family has ever scrambled their eggs, they boil them – but they do say different people cook differently. Maybe this is just something I do?

Future-ex-boyfriend doesn’t complain. I just have to let it sit in the icebox for a bit because he doesn’t like hot tuna.

I did eight cans of tuna, eight eggs, 2/3 purple onion (yes, I refuse to call it red, it’s not red, it’s purple), eight tablespoons of dill relish (don’t do sweet), eight tablespoons of mayonnaise (which you can do more if you like it creamier). I normally top it off with pepper, but I made this batch for work (because they all said they’ve never eaten it like I make it, so I made it, && cooking for people makes me happy – which I need a little of lately) and one of my employees can’t eat pepper. I figure I’ll tell them to pepper it when they get some. I pulled future-ex-boyfriend some in his own bowl for tomorrow, which I peppered for him, && tasted – perfect!

Then just mix it really well.

&& for anyone curious, the bottle is Milo’s Zero Calorie Sweet Tea (yellow bottle). I approve that tea. Them && sriracha, if I ever became a popular blogger, they could sponsor me. (Please note, I’m chuckling while typing that.)

So, in conclusion, maybe I do make my tuna salad weird. But I have yet to really have a complaint. Only ones who complain are the ones who don’t like tuna, && I don’t know why they be eating it when they don’t like it. Ya’ know?

Hey! At least it doesn’t have raisins in it, right? Because that’s apparently a white person thing to do. Just add raisins to everything. && yes, I know that was a joke from Saturday Night Live that people took way too seriously.

1 Can Tuna
1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise
1 teapsoon mustard
Small Handful of diced PURPLE onion
1 Tablespoon DILL relish
1 Egg, I scramble, feel free to boil
Salt && Pepper to taste. I really LOVE pepper, so I probably use more than you will.

Mix all ingredients really well. Serve cold.

Y, tho?

I have upset myself once again.

Driving down the main road the other day in my town I see that the only restaurant we had is up for sale. That particular restaurant has been here, being the only place to grab a quick bite, for years. The individual that owned it, last year, decided they were tired, and wanted to retire. They shut it down and it sat there for about a year without a for sale sign out front, I wasn’t even sure if they were going to sale, it or not.

Ever since I saw the sign, it’s all I can think about. At first when I saw the sings, I looked up the website && it wasn’t there on there yet. Yesterday, however, when I looked it up, there is was: $275,000 – full restaurant with kitchen still attached – it needs work, though.

So, how did I upset myself again?

I don’t understand how people get the money/funds to open a restaurant when they don’t have anything to begin with. Where do they get the money? It’s literally… LITERALLY… all I can think about. It made it worse when I saw the pictures of the inside. At that point, I had never even entered that building, so I didn’t know what it looked like. I do now.

I have fallen in love with the bar.

I see other things for sale, but I never actually look at them. But the thought of that restaurant, being empty, for sale, && if I just had the money. I could own it.

I know it’s going to sale quickly. It probably won’t be on the market for a month before someone swoops in && buys it. I don’t blame them. It’s an ideal location in a small town that used to not have anything but that building. We now have a Sonic (who in Oklahoma don’t have a Sonic?), a Mexican restaurant (heard nothing good about them, but I haven’t eaten there), && an Indian place (this one is terrific!). Then of course, if you want to calculate the places inside the casino, we have a few more. But I don’t count them.

I would make a killing. Now you’re thinking a little cocky, aren’t we? Yes, yes I am. Through the years I have been trying to figure out what I’m good at. (Most will tell me writing, but I’m not so sure anymore. Yeah, I can write an essay && get an A, but that’s not that hard.) Cooking. COOKING. That’s my thing. That’s the thing that I feel I was meant to do.

But… where do they get the money from?

I know the ones who come from money get it there. But the ones who don’t? The ones who struggle? The ones who have a full-time job, && still can barely make ends meet, where do they get the money to just go out && open a restaurant? Because they do it. All the time.

Then there is me.

That’s how I upset myself again.

Frozen Can-Can

I haven’t always known how to cook – some might even say I still don’t know how to cook, which is fine. I like my cooking – so does Boyfriend, so that’s all that matters. I learned how to cook by watching food television shows, which also include food competitions. Normally when they cook on them, they explain what they are doing, what they are expecting, what it should look like – you end up learning a lot.

For example, I have been watching “Guys Grocery Games” on Max a lot lately. I learned that the reason mushrooms get slimy is because you don’t remove the ribs in the back of the mushroom. That has stuck with me since Guy mentioned it. I didn’t realize that – don’t get me wrong, I’ve always removed the ribs, so my mushrooms aren’t slimy, but it was something I learned on a cooking competition show.

So, basically, I have taught myself to cook. Normally people say my mother or grandmother, or aunt taught me how to cook. I didn’t get that luxury. I taught myself. Honestly, it’s fine, just means it took me a little longer to learn things, so I used cookbooks (yes, I honestly have read cookbooks), and television shows. Rachael Ray was a huge one I would use, through the years, though, it has changed. I don’t miss any show of Gordon Ramsay.

Back to Guy’s Grocery Games: for anyone who doesn’t watch it – he picks three to four people and put them in his grocery store, give them games, and they cook – the winner will win 10,000 dollars if they can get all the ingredients at the end. If you don’t watch it, but like fun and goofy game shows, you would enjoy it.

He has one game, my favorite to watch, called “Frozen Can-Can”. The rules are simple, you can only shop in the frozen section and anything in a can. && every time they end up playing this game everyone starts freaking out. I’m not talking like a little freak out then calm down, through the whole episode they do nothing but complain about not having fresh foods, how canned foods are gross, how frozen foods are nasty.

Here’s my thing.

All kinds of different people watch these shows. People who can afford to go out and buy fresh foods, people who have to use frozen foods, people who have to buy canned foods. Some people don’t have the luxury of being able to purchase fresh foods all the time. Then there are people who don’t know how to cook with fresh foods – which seems strange to anyone who knows how to cook fresh foods, but I didn’t at the beginning of my journey. I have had to google, read cookbooks, watch television programs, ask a lot of questions. I still have a few fresh items I have never cooked with && wouldn’t know where to begin.

I think what bothers me the most watching them freak out is the people that are watching the show that have no choice but to stop in canned or frozen food. Families on food stamps, for example, have to buy canned or frozen so it lasts longer. My household is just Boyfriend and me and I tend to stay away fresh (I’m not talking about meat just fruits and vegetables) because fresh food goes bad very quickly. I can buy $100 worth of cans and fresh food that last me months. Fresh vegetables would last me about three days, just long enough for them to go bad.

Basically, stop food shaming people. You’re making the people who have no choice but to purchase cans and frozen items feel bad when they shouldn’t be. Because frozen items are just as good as fresh items if prepared correctly.

Stop. Food. Shaming. People.

That includes talking about what people eat. Just because you don’t like canned tuna, doesn’t mean the woman next to you needs to hear about your hatred. && I’ll never understand people who don’t like vegetables.

Welcome to 2025!

Happy New Year!

It’s been a little bit, I think I began an entry a few weeks ago, but I never finished it. Then forgot. So, I haven’t posted in a bit. That’s okay.

It’s 2025, January, and here I sit. Normally I would do a recap of the previous year and tell what my resolutions are, but let’s be serious, no one ever keeps their resolutions – so, why make them?

I will at least update on my progress. It has been two months and three days since surgery. I have lost 49 pounds. A BMI change of 8.9 – which the paperwork they gave me at preop says in three months I should be down 10 points on the BMI charts. I guess I’m just grooving along.

Luckly, I haven’t had any complications. I prayed hard before surgery not to have complications – that was my biggest fear. I read stories of individuals who have had this surgery previously and they talk about all of their issues. One – that a lot seem to have – is puking for the first 4 months, every time they eat. Or having foods that they try not settle well and they end up with excruciating pains from gas. I have been lucky so far, I will say so far, I’m only two months in, but I haven’t had anything horrible. I have had raw vegetables and cooked – they settle well. A lot of people talk about lettuce and cabbage not settling well and that they give them horrible gas pains – I did get gas from the cabbage, but let’s be honest here – y0u and me both get gassy from cabbage.

I think if I pick any type of issue that I have would have to be not hitting protein or water on my days off. You’d think being at home it would be easier to hit but for some reason I am more religious about stuff at work. I have put a lot of reminders on my cell phone for “drink water”, “vitamins”, && “protein drinks”. So far, they have been working.

I would like to say that I am going to write more this year, but I attempted that last year. && as y’all know, that didn’t work. Although, I did a wonderful job starting out last year but then fell off the wagon.

I think if I pick any resolutions this year would be to write more, read more and not get overwhelmed with planning my wedding. Yeah! That’s this year. July of this year! Right now, every time I think about it I feel like my head is going to explode because I have never done this.

I have never helped anyone plan a wedding.
I never had thoughts about a wedding because I didn’t think I would be getting married.

The only things I have made decisions about is who is making the cupcakes, the officiant (which is going to get ordained just for us), the DJ, the food, and the location. That seems like a lot, but now it’s to the part that involves money – the only thing I am close to having is the money for the DJ.

&& I still kind of, sort of, a little bit of me, wants to turn this blog into a food blog. Even if the other day I told Boyfriend that people don’t make the money off food blogs anymore because it is so popular to do. The only question I ask myself, will I do a huge life story before I put anything about the food?

People do that.

Just for one day.

What’s a job you would like to do for just one day?

This is silly. But I would like to work in a Chinese restaurant for just one day.

My reasoning? I really, really, really want to know how Chinese restaurants make their egg drop soup.

I have found a few recipes I like. One more than the others. But it still doesn’t taste or feel like theirs. Theirs is creamy, thick && oh so delicious. Mine comes out good, but doesn’t have that creamy factor that the restaurants have.

Or… a bakery.

I try to do a side hustle of making desserts – who doesn’t love or buy desserts. (Besides me). But I can’t make icing and would love to work in a bakery just to learn how to make it properly.

Journey Restarted: Part 2

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

I don’t want to look at it like a challenge. But at the same time, I know there will be challenges included into it. My biggest challenge in the next six months will be the weight loss surgery. I know I will be great && do just fine, but there will be challenges.

Right now, I am just zooming through the objectives I have to accomplish before I can even have surgery. I went to the first of three dietician appointments this month. She basically said the same thing the last one did – although, I was a little surprised to see that it wasn’t the same dietician as it was last year. && good news! She didn’t yell at me. She wants me to walk daily, for thirty minutes, to get in the habit because I’ll need to do so after surgery. One of the first things that you lose is muscle mass, so I have to be on top of that. What else did we talk about?

Last week I had the appointment with the, pardon me for what I call it, crazy doctor. This was the same one I spoke to in 2022 when I started the first journey. She asked the same questions and was excited about the same things when I talked about them. Mostly, the fact that I love to cook – she said that is one step in the right direction. She does have a lot of faith in me though. She said she can see me doing really well at this journey && has no worries about approving me to do it.

Next month will be my second of third dietician visits, && then I have a few more things I have to do. But I’m just cruising right along so far.

Fun Foods.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

I didn’t write yesterday. I have no excuse. I just didn’t want to. Instead, I just went to bed. Today is a new day. We’ll start again.

I don’t think I have a favorite thing to cook. Boyfriend would probably say pasta. But when it comes to cooking, I just enjoy every part of it. Everything I cook I enjoy cooking.

I have mentioned before how much I love cooking. Anything and everything. I love finding new recipes and trying something that I have never tried before.

************I started this a couple of days ago && I was looking at drafts I had so I figured I would clear them out.****************

Lately, I would probably say my favorite thing to cook is any form of soup. That’s because lately, all I crave is soup. Chicken soup. Egg drop soup. Wonton soup. I just cannot seem to get enough soup. I had soup last night for dinner && then I had some for breakfast today. I have been going to the local Chinese restaurant a lot lately just to get some egg-drop soup. Yes, I can make it, but as I’ve said in the past, it just doesn’t taste as good as theirs. Sometimes I think I just need to go work part-time at a Chinese restaurant so I can learn to make it properly. I don’t think I use enough cornstarch.

Normally I want to try && make anything I can possibly make. But the funds haven’t been there to do that. So, I end up just making what I can afford. I have been enjoying a buffalo chicken and cheesy cauliflower. I take chicken thighs and pan fry them with some buffalo seasoning, pepper, garlic && onion powder in butter. I take cauliflower and cut it up into bite sized pieces and bake it until it’s fork tender with some of the buffalo seasoning, pepper, onion && garlic powder with extra virgin olive oil. The last step is a creamy cheese I found at Wal-Mart, I usually use two boxes of it (we really like cheese), I pour some buffalo sauce into the cheese and warm it up. I don’t measure when I cook, so I just pour the buffalo sauce into the cheese until my ancestors tell me no more. Once everything is finished – I put the cauliflower onto the plate, put some cheese, top it with the chicken, and add a tad bit more cheese. It’s so delicious. && if you’re low carb, there you go.

I cook a lot of chicken and pork – they are both extremely cheap. So, I can afford that. My next chicken dish I’m going to figure out is the chicken on a stick you get at Chinese restaurants.

Oh! I can’t forget the kimchi and tofu stew that I LOVE to make. It has an actual name… let me google it… “Kimchi jjigae”. Now, before someone comes at me saying “you’re white, you can’t cook that stuff”. Yes, I am white. Yes, I know I am not Korean, and it’ll never taste the same. But when I make things like this I never… NEVER say it’s authentic. Nothing I make is technically “authentic”. You’re probably wondering why. America is a boiling pot of different people. Different foods. America shares food – you can go north and taste something, south and taste something different. Other than a hot dog and hamburger (which might not even have started here), what is “American”. && I personally find Korean dishes interesting. Most, I’ve noticed, seem to be into Japanese food more, but me… bring me the Korean dishes. Then of course the Americanized Chinese food. Or is it called Westernized Chinese food? I just know what we have here in America that we call “Chinese food” isn’t what the people of China eat.

So, see! I am a huge fan of trying different foods and making different styles of food. My big thing though, I want to find actual restaurants that serves these foods, so I know what they are supposed to taste like. Let’s use the kimchi jjigae for an example. I know the recipe calls for tuna – I have gout, and I’m scared to eat tuna – so I use pork ribs. That’s not how it’s made. But it’s how I make it. Plus, I don’t have a Korean market close by me – sadly – so I buy kimchi at Wal-Mart in the vegetable section. That will make it taste different too. I know where a Korean market is – there is an H-Mart in Carrollton, Texas – however, that’s nearly two hours away from me. Then there is one north of me in Norman, Oklahoma, but that is also two hours away from me. I’m just in a horrible spot to live in for my creative taste buds.

But boyfriend really loves it when I make chicken fried steaks. Which is an Oklahoma favorite – which I actually love making those too. But with diabetes it’s hard to really enjoy them because in the back of my mind all I’m thinking about it how high is my blood sugar going to get tonight. Having the issues I have, it’s hard to do much when it comes to food. Rice. Pasta. Breaded foods. Some of my favorite things && I just can’t do it. && yes, I do know after the weight loss surgery they’ll still be off limits. But to be honest, I don’t think they’ll be quite as off limits as they are right now. But still off limits.

So, I’ve been trying to do a lot more cauliflower-based dishes. I enjoy me some cauliflower. I have another favorite that I may share with you on another day for another post.

Take Two.

Tuesday the sixth.

I was called back by the surgeons office this afternoon. Woo! 🧑🏻‍⚕️ They were willing to set my appointment for tomorrow, but I can’t do that – I work tomorrow. So I told them Tuesday’s are best for me and I am free for whenever. So next Tuesday it is…

Normally I would ramble on and on about thoughts, worries, etc. But today will be short because I’m using my cell phone to write this. Why? Don’t laugh! 👀 One of my cats, Odis, was asleep in my computer chair && I didn’t want to wake him up. So I left the room to use my phone. ☎️

But I will say this much. My “fat brain” is freaking out && I know that it’s going to take a lot to calm it down. However, I know I need to do this to survive – I’m just, probably like everyone else on the planet that has done this surgery, scared of how it’s going to change me.

The thought of taking an hour to eat one scrambled egg terrifies me. Although, I’m pretty sure by 30 minutes in, I’m going to get bored of eating. 🍽️

I did have a check up with my doctor today. We didn’t do much so I have nothing new to go by. I did tell him that when I eat I sweat, which is weird – asked if I should be worried. He said no – he is pretty sure it’s because of my Trulicity. I also asked for a prescription of antacids because BOY! Woo! All I get anymore is heartburn. Sucks. I have an appointment next month to check my A1C. Hopefully it has gone down. I know my daily numbers are lower. Send a prayer up for me on that.

I will stop on that note && will pick it back up again later on.

WHY A TATO?

It’s not a secret that I want a food truck. I’m actually very vocal about it. Have been for years. But I have some thoughts.

Tonight I took my brother, his girlfriend && their two year old to dinner – including boyfriend. So it was four adults, one two year old child. Children, usually under a certain age, is free. They don’t eat much. We got the bill, I looked at it – $72.00. I sit for a moment thinking why is this so high? This is with the understanding that we went to a buffet. (I’m possibly still living with the mindset of someone in the late 90’s to early 00’s where one person was $7.50 at a buffet.)

Let’s get out of that mindset.

I understand food prices have gone up. I would never try to deny that. So I understand the price per adult is going to be higher than $7.50 now. What I wasn’t understanding – four adult drinks & a child drink – $15.00. First – if a child eats free, their drink should be free. Am I wrong for thinking like that? Especially if they order a tea. Tea is CHEAP. All tea is cheap. But let’s say that a child drink is half the price of an adult drink – four adult drinks && one kid drink – $15.

On the way home I was talking to Boyfriend about the prices. He told me it’s because most people don’t look at the price of drinks so it’s an easy up sale (y’all should pay more attention to how much your drink is). More profit. I understand the concept of profit. People need a profit or their business doesn’t work. I get that. I understand that. But at the same time – 3$ for a drink. I even will take in consideration it’s a buffet so people sit there for a while drinking. But even tonight, I ordered a Diet Pepsi, I drank half the glass, the waitress refilled it – then I drank that whole glass. $3.00

Then we started talking about selling 20 ounce bottles. I told him I don’t understand why people sell those for $3.50 – he said “up sale” again. Let’s discuss that for a moment. You can buy a 6 pack of bottles at Wal-Mart for $8.00. I sell each for $1.50. That’s a $10 profit. Why do I need a $34 profit?

Maybe with my whole mindset it’s a good thing I don’t have a business. From the sounds of it I may go bankrupt very fast. I just figured – let’s say I get the food truck && I sell bottles of soda/water. I sell them for $1.50 – shouldn’t my food make up the costs of what I may or may not lose? Especially if I just buy bottled drinks. I mean I’m not going to argue about prices of food. I understand the reason behind the hike in food prices in businesses && I also understand I would have to have a good profit off those. But at the same time, why would someone sell a baked potato for $10.00?

The place I work has restaurants inside of it. One of them I used to go to and buy a loaded baked potato. I would like to mention it wasn’t that long ago. I could get a baked potato with sour cream, green onions, butter, cheese && bacon bits for $4.50 with my work discount. ((I’ll make sure to add that I get a 20% discount eating at the restaurants are my job. Small perk, if you will.)) So with that discount – $4.50 for a loaded baked potato. Last month, a co-worker went to that place && got a loaded baked potato. The potato was smaller than it used to be with the same toppings – $10.00 with our 20% discount.

Potatoes are cheap. It’s probably one of the cheapest vegetables you can buy. You can get a 10 pound bag of potatoes right now, for $5.00 at Wal-Mart. Logically, I know that the company doesn’t shop at Wal-Mart. So I understand that the company they purchase through is going to go up a little on the price. So let’s say 10 pounds for $10.00. There is usually about 25 potatoes in the bag. Let’s do math. You spent $10.00 on a bag of potatoes that have 25 potatoes in the bag – you sell the potatoes for $4.50 (&& that’s included with the toppings I mentioned). That is approximately a $113.00 profit with just potatoes. Let’s take in the sour cream, green onions, cheese… what else did I say? Sour cream… oh! Butter.

Humor me. Let’s do some math. Now, keep in mind, I’m using Wal-Mart prices because it’s where I shop.
Potatoes – $10.00 a bag – approximately 25 potatoes – which means each tato is $0.40.
Sour cream – $1.88 – it’s 16 ounces/so we’d do half an ounce per tato – gives 32 servings for $0.06 each.
Shredded Cheese – $7.48 for 32 ounces/so we’d do half a ounce – gives 46 servings for $0.16 each.
Butter (I buy imperial sticks) – 4 sticks per box/each box is 32 ounces so you’d have 36 servings for $0.04 each.
Green Onions – they come in bunches usually of about 5 onions, half an onion each, 10 servings for $0.09 each

$0.40+$0.06+$0.16+$0.04+$0.09=$1.56 – price per tato with toppings.
25 tatos x 1.56= $39.00 for the whole bag of tatos with toppings.
Let’s say we sell them for $4.50. 25 x $4.50= $112.50 for 25 servings of tatos.
$112.50-$39.00= $73.50 profit

I’m not business major (although I was in college for business && did really well in accounting) so I could be totally wrong on how the profit works. I also realize, there’s more to it. I know there are other bills and other factors, but I’m just looking at the tato. I’m just saying I don’t understand why a company would sell a baked tato for $10. Yes, I know people want the bigger profit. I understand that. I just don’t understand…

Let’s say I make the best baked tato ever! Word gets out about how good that baked tato is. It’s fantastic. Brings me in more people – so I sell more tatos… my profit is higher. Or am I dense for thinking like that?

I don’t know, maybe I just shouldn’t look into having my own business? It’s not like I’m going to try to sell a cheese burger, fries & a drink for $1.50 – I understand how prices are. I understand that it would need to be at least $10 for that. BUT WHY A TATO?