Grillin and Chillin

Summer is upon us, and with that comes the time to fire up the old grill.  My tried and true items on the gill are chicken and corn.  For post-ops, the summer season is a great time.  Grilling was made for high protein low carb meals, plus being outside is a great way to get exercise.  Go for a walk or a run, play tennis or hit the pool.  

How to Grill Chicken:

I admit, I stole this from Bariatric Foodie, but I will repeat it for you here.  Marinate your chicken in greek yogurt.  I like to mix different marinades with the yogurt.  That's it.  That's the trick to perfectly tender chicken on the grill.  

How to Grill Corn:

Step one, get some butter.  Step two get some spices, I like simple salt and pepper.  Seasoned salt works well too.  Mix spices into butter.  Peel back the husks of the corn and remove the stringy bits.  Rub the corn with your compound butter (fancy name for butter with stuff in it).  Pull the husks back up over the buttered corn and warp in aluminum foil.  Cook the mess out of it.  The butter essentially steams the corn and leave the spices on the surface.  So tasty!

Happy Dining!

Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes

I had been craving really good pancakes for a while.  One morning I found a stash of my pumpkin ricotta pancakes in the freezer, so I defrosted them and served them up with some scrambled eggs.  Yuck.  The freezer had killed them... or else I had frozen my worst ones and that's what we were eating.  Craving definitely not satisfied.  I had some blueberries on hand at school one morning and tossed a few into my oatmeal.  Delish.  The decision was made, blueberry pancakes would be had... and soon.

I was really pleased with the end result.  Since a lot of carbs are not a post-op's friend I went super heavy with the blueberries to add bulk.  I used Heart Smart Bisquick, but I doubled the number of eggs and added ricotta to the mix to up the protein levels.  I use a sugar free syrup, but if sugar is not your enemy then definitely go for the real deal, but sparingly please.  If you make your pancakes my way the syrup should only be there to moisten them a bit and add a punch of sweetness, you have to get the sweetness into the pancake itself to really have an amazing breakfast. 

As with everything I cook, I have to give a lot of credit to the internet.  I never take a whole recipe from anyone, but I read lots and lots of people's versions and take my favorite bits.  Heavy kudos go out to Michelle over at eggface though, most of my ideas come from tweaking something I read on her blog.  

Ingredients:

2 cups Heart Smart Bisquick (reserve a half cup, you can use regular as well)

2 Eggs

1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (I use part skim, you can use whatever kind you like)

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (I use this cause it is easier than owning cinnamon and nutmeg)

1 Cup Milk (I use skim, again your preference)

3 Tablespoons of Splenda (you can use sugar if you like)

Blueberries Galore!

Directions:

In a bowl combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, Splenda and 1.5 cups of the Bisquick.  Add the ricotta and break it apart with a fork or a spoon.  Whisk the ricotta into the batter and make sure to get all the lumps.  Give the batter a taste and make sure it is sweet with a bit of a tang.  At this point you can make these your own.  I love a thick pancake, I like it to be so dense that you get a little layer of uncooked batter in the middle, so I would add in the remaining Bisquick until I had a mixture that was almost a solid.  If you like thinner pancakes you can add less of your reserve Bisquick.

Heat a skillet and add a pat of butter, add in about a fourth cup of your batter, then top with blueberries.  I like about 8 blueberries per pancake.  When you start to see the edges of the pancake form up then you flip it.  You don't get bubbles on top with the ricotta in there like you normally would, so take care not to burn your breakfast.  You don't need much time at all on the second side to get perfectly brown and delicious pancakes!

Happy Dining!