Snack Snack Snack-aroo

I am a believer in snacking. It keeps me from getting so hungry that I make terrible decisions at meal times.  With that being said, snacking can be dangerous as it packs on calories if you are not making smart decisions.  I have a daily food routine at work.  I have a cup of coffee on my way to work, breakfast when I get in around 8, a snack at 10:30, lunch at 12:30, afternoon snack between 3 and 4.  My morning snack is usually a little more hearty as I usually don't fill up too much at breakfast.  I tend to reach for some fruit or veggies and some cheese.  I like to have a little protein with my snacks, it helps keep the snack working so I am not getting too hungry too early.  In the afternoon I usually crave something salty and I have been known to grab for some cheesy crackers or peanut butter from the vending machine.  I always feel yucky after this.  If I am on my game I pack some nuts or some carrots and hummus for the afternoon.  This past week I discovered two new products that I adore for snacking.

Number One: Skinny Pop
One of our salesmen brought in some bags of this to the office.  I tried a few pieces and I fell in love.  I am not usually a fan of pre-popped popcorn.  I think it tastes stale.  This popcorn is nice and fresh.  There are three ingredients: popcorn, sunflower oil and salt.  No preservatives.  It is filling and satisfies that salty crunch that a lot of people look for in the afternoon.  The best news is you can have like 2.5 cups of the stuff for only 100 calories.

Number 2: Dole Banana Dippers
This one probably isnt a snack I would take to work, but it is great for that after dinner before bed I am hungry again feeling.  100 calories and only 7 grams of sugar.  It is simply slices of banana dipped in dark chocolate and frozen in packs of 4.  Frozen bananas are really something special.  They are creamy and taste a little like ice cream.

What are your favorite healthy snack options?

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

We had a function at work today.  It was a cookout.  The company provided hamburgers, hot dogs, sausages, buns, and chips.  We were asked to bring side dishes and desserts.  Usually at this type of event there will be a lot of carb loaded side dishes, so I thought I would offer something a little on the healthier side.  It comes it a little under 200 calories for a serving of about a half cup.  This is a rough estimate, I should use my food scale and actually figure this stuff out, but who has the time for that?

Ingredients:
1 pound raw broccoli (or more, go nuts if you want to)
2 cups uncooked Quinoa
1 can "Cream of XYZ" soup (I used chicken and mushroom, 98% fat free)
1/2 cup of Mayo (I used the olive oil kind)
8 Ounces of Shredded Cheese (Plus more for sprinkling on top)
Pepper, Tony Cachere's (or seasoned salt, or your own spices)

Directions:
Steam Broccolli and set aside
Cook Quinoa according to your packages directions
Add broccoli to your casserole dish and break apart with kitchen shears or a spatule
Mix in quinoa, soup, mayo and cheese.
Add pepper and other seasonings to taste.
Place in oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges start to get crispy
Sprinkle cheese on top and bake until cheese is nice and melty.

Serve and Enjoy!

Sorry about not having pictures.  Again, not the prettiest dish ever, but quite tasty.

Chili - My Post Op Twist

Wow, sorry friends, I have been MIA for a while now.  Truthfully I have not done a lot of cooking in the past month or so.  I have no excuse for July, but August was full of visits from friends and family and a lot of going to restaurants.  All the dining out was not do great for my waistline or my wallet.  Thankfully I have not gained weight, I managed to keep it in check.  This month of crazy eating habits and locations has shown me that I really have learned to live a healthier lifestyle when it comes to food.  I make better choices now, it becomes second nature.  I will be posting later about some of the decisions that I encountered during my dining out month, as well as a few pins that I tried out when I did get the chance to cook.  If you are not already on it, check out pinterest, there are a lot of great ideas out there for making tasty and healthy food.

Anyway, back to the point at hand, chili.  A coworker mentioned that her family had chili and cornbread recently, and the thought of it made my mouth water.  (A note on cornbread a little later, but for now let's focus on the chili)  So I had to set out to make myself some chili, but chili itself would not cut it...

My love affair with this spicy meaty goodness started when our church in Missouri had a chili cook off.  Prior to the cook off chili was just a bowl of tomato based soup with beans and meat, it was alright but nothing special.  At this cook off, though, we discovered something strange.  Next to all the crockpots were bowls of rice, and at the tables there was sour cream and cheese.  Interesting, no?  My dad did a little reconnaissance and discovered that you put the rice in the bowl first, top it with the chili, the add a sprinkle of cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  Oh My Word.  It is good.  If you haven't ever had chili like this, and you are allowed to eat rice, please go out and try it.  I swear you will never eat the straight stuff again.  The rice adds bulk and texture, the sour cream makes it smooth, the cheese coats the spoon... excuse me while I wipe drool off my keyboard.  Rice is a no go for me now, sour cream as well, and chili can be pretty fatty.

Nik, over at Bariatric Foodie, always says to play with your food.  Thankfully I was pretty good at this before I ever had surgery.  I have never met a recipe I stuck to entirely.  My calorie saving / carb saving / fat saving tricks for chili the way I wanted it were as follows: Quinoa for Rice, Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream, Ground Turkey for Ground Beef.  Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

To make Quinoa:
Rinse quinoa in a mesh strainer until water runs clear.  Combine in pot, 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa.  Bring to a rolling boil, then drop to low and simmer until done.  Fluff with a fork.  How do you know it is done? Look for the ring.  If you need more info than that, check out Nik's post about cooking quinoa.

To make Chili:
1 pound ground turkey (I get the package that is a little more than a pound)
1 onion
1 can Kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel (I used the Hot, but be warned, it really kicks it up a notch)
1 packet McCormick Chili Seasoning (or your own seasoning mix)
1 cup of beef broth

Drain and rinse your beans in a strainer, don't wash it right away you will use it again later for the meat. Add the tomatoes, rotel, beans, broth and seasoning packet to your crockpot and set to high (if you will be gone all day set it to low).  Stir to combine.  Dice your onion and saute it until translucent, add onions to your soup.  I added a little garlic salt to my meat before I started cooking it.  (yeah i know this is a salt heavy meal, thats why I drain and rinse the beans, if you are watching your sodium you can use garlic powder, and make your own seasoning mix, add jalepenos and fresh tomatoes instead of canned rotel)  Brown your meat, drain the fat and add to your soup.  Let it simmer for at least 30 minutes.  I let mine go a couple of hours in the crock pot.

To Serve:
Scoop a half cup of the quinoa into the bowl.  Ladle a few scoops of chili on top.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Top with a dollop of greek yogurt.  Sit back and look at that beautiful creation you have made.  Isn't is pretty?  Ok, enough of that.  Mix that bad boy together and dig in. Delicious no? I loved it!  I got the comfort of home that I was craving, without eating items that are so bad for me.  I win!

Oh yeah, the cornbread.  I miss cornbread.  It is one of those things that I just don't eat any more.  I loved it, but I have not found a way to convert it into something not bad for me.  That is not to say I never have cornbread.  One thing I have done on this journey is to deny myself nothing.  Oh sure I have rules that I follow, but I know myself well enough to know that I like to break rules.  Especially rules that I have set for myself.  On that note, nothing is completely off limits.  I can have a bite of a brownie, or a nibble of cornbread, even a tiny sip of grape soda.  I don't keep things like this in my home as I know I will take advantage of that one bite rule and eventually eat the whole thing.  But if someone has a dessert that looks yummy, I can have a bite.  One good thing is that I know that if I have more than one I will greatly regret it.  Dumping is awful people, avoid at all costs.  This method works for me, I don't feel like I am always on a diet, I feel like I am making healthy choices.  Plus, mentally, the first bite of anything is the best, all other bites are just trying to recreate that sensation that you had on the first one.

Sorry no pictures this time around, my camera phone is bad... plus chili isn't really attractive as a food in general.  Stay tuned for my thoughts on summer movies, dining out in the post op world and other things.

Lasagna!

No my friend, you did not find a typo, the topic of the day is lasagna.  Each of has to make decisions about our diet in life.  No matter if you are reading this because you have had weight loss surgery or because you try to lead a healthy lifestyle, or because you are my friend and wanted to see what I am up to.  We all have to decide what our diet will look like.  A lot of people cut out all white bread and carb products from their diet.  I have not gone that route, I don't want to make hard and fast rules because I know myself well enough to know that I like to break rules.  I allow myself bread products and potatoes on occasion.  I always try to make sure to incorporate protein into these things though.  

I do not allow myself to have pasta or rice of any kind though.  I miss pasta on occasion, I miss rice all the time.  Replacing pasta with zucchini though has changed my life.  I had heard of this before, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  I follow the blogs of two fellow gastric bypass recipients and one of them posted about making spaghetti out of zucchini.  I tried it on a whim.  I fell in love.  I started toying with the idea of replacing the noodles in lasagna with zucchini and it worked really well.  You don't miss the noodles, no seriously, you don't miss the noodles.  Here is a picture of my first attempt (my second one was smaller).

Everything in this recipe stays the same as a normal lasagna, just replace the noodles with zucchini.  By an interesting twist of events I was making this dish outside of my own home.  My plan had been to use the awesome mandolin that my mom got me for Christmas to make really long thin slices of the zucchini. I left the mandolin in the drawer at home though.  So I got the bright idea to use a vegetable peeler, as I did not trust myself with a knife, to get the thin slices that I wanted.  It worked beautifully.  My trick was to leave a chunk of green at the end of the zucchini to hold on to and then slowly pull the peeler down the length of the squash to get a slice that was just the right thickness.  It will have a big scoop in it but thats ok.  I probably would have set the mandolin too thick had I remembered my magical tool.  As it was the zucchini was just right to stand in texturally for the noodles.  In fact it worked so well that an unsuspecting diner (my brother) stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth and exclaimed "Wait, so there are no noodles in here?"

I have made this dish twice now.  If you want a pretty lasagna, you probably want to look elsewhere.  If you want a low carb Italian treat, this is definitely for you.  It does not serve up in a tidy little stack like at a restaurant.  It is best served in a bowl.  But it is damn tasty.

Ingredients:

1 Pound Italian Sausage

2 Cans Tomatoes

1 Can Tomato Paste

2 Eggs

1 Small Tub Ricotta

Italian Seasoning or Basil

Mozzarella Cheese (2 - 3 Cups)

Zucchini (3 Small or 2 Large)

How To:

Brown sausage in a skillet, drain and return to pan.  Drain the canned tomatoes and add to the skillet with the sausage.  Add in about half of the can of tomato paste and stir together.  Let the sauce simmer while you prep all the other ingredients.

In a food processor, blend together the eggs and ricotta.  Blend in a cup to a cup and a half of the mozzarella and a big dash of the Italian seasoning.  Allow to sit while you work on the zucchini.

Using the vegetable peeler, peel long strips of zucchini and place aside in a bowl or or on a plate.  

Assemble your lasagna in layers.  Sauce goes down first, them zucchini followed my cheese mix and repeat.  To make sure that I don't run out, I mentally divide my ingredients into fourths and only take a portion for each layer.  I was only able to do three layers in my second attempt, but it still tastes great.  You need one less layer of cheese mix than of sauce, so plan ahead.  The last set of layers should skip the ricotta and just have a heap of mozzarella on top.  

Bake at 375 for half an hour to an hour.  You want it to get bubbly on the edges and have nicely golden brown cheese on top.  

Modifications:

Try spicy sausage, swap in fresh tomatoes (squeeze the seeds and juice out first), try eggplant or squash, try an Alfredo sauce instead of red on a few layers, try chicken sausage, add mushrooms, blend in spinach to the cheese mixture.  Make it yours!

Happy Dining!

100 Calorie Blueberry Muffins!

Blueberry Muffins!  Only one hundred calories a piece.  And these are not mini-muffins either.  I a not ashamed to say that as a kid my family dug on the muffins from the packet.  You know the kind with the dried blueberries, you add milk and oil to it throw it in the oven and voila!  Loved em.  I looked up the fancy kind of muffin mix (the kind with the blueberries in the little tin).  220 calories in a muffin, and only one gram of protein.  I started playing with the idea of adding ricotta to my muffins like I do my pancakes... the result was pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

The ricotta adds a good deal of moisture to the muffins and the blueberries add volume without adding lots of calories.  I tried two different versions, one version had ricotta and eggs on top and added a cheesecake like topping, but the inside was a bit dry.  Mixing the ricotta into the batter made the muffins much more moist.

Recipe:

3 Cups Heart Smart Bisquick

1 Cup Skim Milk

2 Eggs

1 Cup 0% Greek Yogurt

15 oz. Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

1 Pint of Blueberries

Splenda to Taste

In a large bowl, combine the bisquick, milk and eggs.  Stir until everything is nicely blended.  Whisk in the yogurt and the ricotta cheese.  Really whisk it to get those lumps to dissolve into the batter.  Give it a taste at this point and add splenda to sweeten it to your liking.  I think I used 3 Tablespoons or so.  Rinse the blueberries and pat dry with a paper towel.  Fold in the blueberries to the batter.  I used a a 1/4 cup to scoop the batter into muffin tins.  I used muffin wrappers, but I would spray the pan and skip that step as they really stuck to the wrapper.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until a fork comes out clean and you are starting to see the beautiful golden brown color on top.

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!