My take on the strawberry pretzel salad May 18, 2009

 

Looks yummy, huh?  Couldn’t tell you how it came out though because it’s still chilling.  I have faith that it’s wonderful.  What you won’t get with this is that wonderful salty flavor of the pretzels.  So I’m thinking it’ll be more cheesecake-ish.  Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:

2 cups fiber one twig cereal

1/3 cup of butter melted

4 packets of splenda

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

2 packages of reduced fat cream cheese

2 scoops of EAS vanilla protein powder (or whatever kind you use)

1/4 cup of sugar free torani syrup – vanilla flavor

8oz container of sugar free cool whip

one small box of sugar free strawberry jello mix

1 cup of frozen blueberries (this is what I had, I would have used sliced strawberries if I had them)

 

Process the fiber one cereal until it’s mostly crumbs.  Mix in a bowl with the melted butter, splenda, and walnuts.  Press that into the bottom of a 9×9 baking dish.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Using a mixer or electric beaters mix the cream cheese with the protein powder and vanilla syrup.  Fold in the cool whip.  Spread it on the crust after it has cooled.  Mix the jello mix with one cup of boiling water and set in fridge to cool.  Chill the crust and cream cheese dish and the jello for about a half hour.  Remove from the fridge and pour the jello mix on top of the cream cheese mix.  Drop the frozen blueberries on top.  Return to fridge to set up.

This is not a low cal dessert. But hey, it has fiber and protein, right??  With my ingredients these are the stats:

Nutrition Facts
12 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		251.4
Total Fat		18.1 g
	Saturated Fat	8.1 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	3.8 g
Cholesterol		41.7 mg
Sodium		207.6 mg
Potassium		170.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		20.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	5.4 g
	Sugars	1.8 g
Protein		8.2 g

Vitamin A	8.7 %
Vitamin B-12	12.5 %
Vitamin B-6	11.5 %
Vitamin C	4.0 %
Vitamin D	0.9 %
Vitamin E	2.4 %
Calcium	9.8 %
Copper	7.3 %
Folate	11.6 %
Iron	13.5 %
Magnesium	8.0 %
Manganese	37.3 %
Niacin	9.5 %
Pantothenic Acid	1.6 %
Phosphorus	13.9 %
Riboflavin	15.8 %
Selenium	4.0 %
Thiamin	10.3 %
Zinc	11.5 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Photographic evidence December 2, 2008

Preplanning and Freezing post bariatric meals November 6, 2008

Definition of an Egg Dish October 27, 2008

Recently I was discussing the differences of quiches and omelets with eat in calgary . I realized that I had my own loose translations of what these were, but decided to find an official definition. So, from the food dictionary at epicurious I obtained these definitions.

quiche
[KEESH]
This dish originated in northeastern France in the region of Alsace-Lorraine. It consists of a pastry shell filled with a savory custard made of eggs, cream, seasonings and various other ingredients such as onions, mushrooms, ham, shellfish or herbs. The most notable of these savory pies is the quiche Lorraine, which has crisp bacon bits (and sometimes GRUYÈRE cheese) added to the custard filling. Quiches can be served as a lunch or dinner entrée, or as a first course or HORS D’OEUVRE.
** I have made traditional quiches before and they are delicious. Now, to keep the carbs lower I usually make it crustless. I often use about 6 eggs and mix in veggies, cheeses, meats, whatever and bake it. **

omelet; omelette
[AHM-leht]
A mixture of eggs, seasonings and sometimes water or milk, cooked in butter until firm and filled or topped with various fillings such as cheese, ham, mushrooms, onions, peppers, sausage and herbs. Sweet omelets can be filled with jelly, custard or fruit, sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar or flamed with various LIQUORS or LIQUEURS. For fluffy omelets, the whites and yolks can be beaten separately and folded together. They can also be served flat or folded. See also FRITTATA.
** I always make an omelet by scrambling it in a bowl and cooking it flat in a pan. Flip it over, put toppings on one side, then flip the other half over the top.**

soufflé
[soo-FLAY]
A light, airy mixture that usually begins with a thick egg yolk-based sauce or puree that is lightened by stiffly beaten egg whites. Soufflés may be savory or sweet, hot or cold. Baked soufflés are much more fragile than those that are chilled or frozen because the hot air entrapped in the soufflé begins to escape (causing the mixture to deflate) as soon as the dish is removed from the oven. Savory soufflés are usually served as a main dish, are almost always hot and can be made with a variety of ingredients including cheese, meat, fish or vegetables. Dessert soufflés may be baked, chilled or frozen and are most often flavored with fruit purees, chocolate, lemon or LIQUEURS. Both sweet and savory soufflés are often accompanied by a complementary sauce. Soufflés are customarily baked in a classic soufflé dish, which is round and has straight sides to facilitate the soufflé’s rising. These special dishes are ovenproof and come in a variety of sizes ranging from 3 1/2-ounce (individual) to 2-quart. They’re available in kitchenware shops and the housewares section of most department stores. Foil or parchment “collars” are sometimes wrapped around the outside of a soufflé dish so that the top of the foil or paper rises about 2 inches above the rim of the dish. Such collars are used for cold dessert soufflés so that the sides of the frozen or molded mixture are supported until they set. Once the collar is removed, the soufflé stands tall and appears to “rise” out of the dish.
** I don’t think I’ve ever made a souffle in this sense. The only thing I make that is called a souffle are Shelly’s Apple Raisin Protein Souffle . I’ve made about 4 or 5 batches of these because they are so delicious! To me they are bread pudding.**

custard
A puddinglike dessert (made with a sweetened mixture of milk and eggs) that can either be baked or stirred on stovetop. Custards require slow cooking and gentle heat in order to prevent separation (curdling). For this reason, stirred custards are generally made in a DOUBLE BOILER; baked custards in a WATER BATH. A safeguard when making custard is to remove it from the heat when it reaches 170° to 175°F on a CANDY THERMOMETER. Custards may be enhanced with various flavorings such as chocolate, vanilla, fruit and so on. Stirred custards are softer than baked custards and are often used as a sauce or as an ice cream base.
** I just made my first baked custards from the recipe below and they are so good! The recipe gives quite a short bake time. I needed to about double it. I will be making these again. They are very firm when chilled and just so creamy and good**

So, that is what I learned from my exploration of all the wonderful things you can do with the beloved egg. Quite interesting if you are a hopeless foodie like me. Of course, don’t forget about the ever popular deviled egg. We made a Halloween version of it yesterday for a party
~ Spider Deviled Eggs

Hello Beautiful October 15, 2008

We took the family apple picking this past weekend. So now I have apples to use up! Course, us RNY’ers need their protein, so I had came up with a way to eat apples AND protein. Check it out – here are the main players:

First I chopped up one apple and one ripe pear. Sauteed them in a pan with a tablespoon butter, sprinkle of salt, cinnamon, and a chug of sugar free torani carmel syrup. Then I tossed in a handful of chopped walnuts. Cook until browned and softened. Then I blended together 1/4 cup ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese with a splash of sugar free torani vanilla syrup. Blend till creamy. Put that in a pretty desert cup, top with 1/4 cup of your apple/pear/walnut mix and squirt some sugar free whipped topping on top. Oh. MY. Yum. AND the cheese mixtures give you a combined total of 13 grams of protein.

I think I’ll call it ‘Apples and Cream’

I *HEART* the seventies!! September 23, 2008

Yesterday I weighed in at 179!  woohoo!  Today I weighed in at 180.  HA!  It’s like the scale was saying – SIKE!

 

Anyway, I made a fun fall protein drink this morning.  A cup of vanilla soy milk, scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1/4 c pure pumpkin puree, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, and a dash of sf carmel syrup.  Blend it up and drizzle some smuckers sf carmel sauce on the sides of a pretty glass, pour in your shake and drizzle more carmel on top and add another sprinkle of nutmeg.  Yum! and so filling.

 

Saturday September 14, 2008

The scale gave me a nice surprise this morning. I was 184 all week long. Today, I was 182.5 ! Wahoo!

Today’s eats:

protein coffee
Michelle’s spinach quiche (whole family LOVED it)
turkey, cheese, laughing cow rolled up in carb control tortilla (ate half) with a pickle
4 sugar free chocolate almonds
protein coffee
chicken and salad

A few days ago I made these individual quiches. They turned out yummy and reheated so well.

Mix eggs, ricotta cheese, cream, spinach, tomatoes, green onions, and some seasonings.

Divide the mixture into four little baking cups, put them in a dish and fill that half way with hot water.

Bake until firm in the middle.

 

70 pounds September 10, 2008

That’s how much I’ve lost since July 07. Today I weighed 184. Down from 254. I’m amazed. I’ve never been able to say that I’ve lost that much weight. Nice feeling to have since I’ve been bummed about staying the same weight.

I haven’t been very hungry the last couple of days. I have my protein coffee first thing in the morning. Then around 9-10 am I figure I’d better eat breakfast. Today it was 1/3 cup cottage cheese (I really do like cottage cheese!) topped with peaches that I diced and cooked with sf torani vanilla syrup, pecans, and cinnamon. Tastes like a peach cobbler. Then around 12:30 I made some roasted eggplant spread. I used a fajita sized mission carb balance tortilla, topped it with the eggplant spread and mozzarella cheese and toasted it. I ate a little more than half. And then I get really hungry around 3:30 – 4 pm each day! So I had the rest of my little pizza, a little protein brownie that I made last week and some Fage topped with the peaches! Funny, I can barely eat half the pizza for lunch, but then I can eat all that in the afternoon. For dinner I had a veggie and bean salad with chicken breast and a few mini rice cakes. That’s my day. When I figure it out, it seems that I’m getting about 1000 calories a day. Some might say that’s high for a 5 month post op, but I feel good at this amount. I may not be dropping weight like crazy, but at least I don’t feel like I’m going to drop dead from exhaustion or weakness. I try to concentrate on healthy, high protein foods that taste GOOD.

Menu Monday September 8, 2008

Week 3 of menu planning! This week I wrote all the dinners on my refridge chalkboard. Everyone here loves looking at a weeks worth of dinners to look forward to.

Monday – pork tacos on corn tortillas, black beans, avocado (took some bone in pork chops from the freezer and cooked them in the crockpot today – tomorrow I’ll shred it and season with taco seasoning) For me – shredded pork, beans, avacado

Tuesday – tuna melts and tomato soup. For me – cold chicken breast with tomato and cucumber

Wednesday – meatloaf, real mashed potatoes, some type of veggie. For me – meatloaf and veggies

Thursday – Beef and black bean crockpot stew (I was going to make this last week, but had a change of plans)

Friday – Grilled rosemary ranch chicken, rice and veggies. For me – chicken and veggies

Here’s some garden goodness. I work really hard not to let any of it go to waste. Last week most of this stash went into a turkey chili. I’ve pureed squash to freeze, diced tomatoes to freeze, and cooked some awesome eats!

A pizza I had for lunch today. Eggface gave me the idea to use mission low carb tortillas. So I topped it with some pizza sauce, torn basil leaves, sliced tomato, turkey pepperoni and cheese. I ate 3/4 of it. YUM! This week I’m going to make some eggplant spread and that will probably end up on a pizza too.

Garden salad September 3, 2008

Lunch today. I LOVE tomato and cucumber salad. I went out to my garden this afternoon and picked me one giant cucumber (it was well hidden), some vine ripened tomatoes, basil, and chives. Chopped it all up, drizzled some olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder and balsamic vinegar and tossed it up. Course, no RNY patients meal is complete without the prerequisite protein. A few oz of chicken breast. This may look like a large amount, but the plate is actually a tea cup saucer. I’ll be sad when my garden dies out, but I’ve already started prepping and freezing with the extras. That will give me warm fuzzies all fall and winter when I cook with my garden stash.