Melissa's Protein Cookies

Have you enjoyed reader submission week? Good! Just remember, though, you don't have to wait for me to ask you for recipes. If you make a great recipe you want to share, write it up, snap a picture of the finished product and email me at bariatricfoodie@yahoo.com!


Our final offering this week is from Melissa R., who is from Pittsburgh.  I've actually met Melissa in real life. And one of her twin sons has actually been published on this blog before for making uber-nummy and WLS-friendly mozzarella sticks. 


Melissa loves to get her boys involved in the kitchen and believes (as I do too) that having them help is a great way to get them to open their minds to healthy eating!

With that said, Melissa set out to make some cookies. She reports the results are absolutely delicious!

Melissa's Protein Cookies

• 3/4 c. no-calorie sweetener (Melissa used Splenda, which measures 2:1 with sugar [for every two cups sugar, 1 cup Splenda], check your sweetener's website to get the conversion for 1.5 cups sugar)
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. vanilla why protein powder
• 1/2 c. soy flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 can (10 oz) pumpkin puree
• 3 tbsp 0% plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp flax seeds (ground)
• 1 c. chopped fresh cranberries
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together Splenda®, oats, protein powder, soy flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Stir in pumpkin, yogurt, and eggs. Stir in flax seeds, cranberries, walnuts, if desired. Roll into 48 large balls, and flatten on a baking sheet, or use mini muffin tin and make mini muffin.  I have done both and they turned out well both ways!.
3. Bake for 9-12 minutes in preheated oven. DO NOT OVERBAKE: the cookies will come out really dry if overbaked.

I applaud Melissa, as I have never attempted protein cookies before. Hers look fabulous! If you have any questions for Melissa about her cookies, leave them in the comments and I'll get them answered for you!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

You ever had an aversion to trying something but you can't really verbalize why? 


That's how I feel about cauliflower crust pizza. I have not tried it because...I don't want to try it. I don't have any better reason. Don't get me wrong. Search the term on Pinterest and you'll see wonderfully yummy pictures of it and I am sure it is very tasty. But I'm not going to make it. 


However, what's WONDERFUL about Bariatric Foodie is that we are a community. If I am not making something, one of you guys probably are. Such was the case here. Interestingly enough, I asked my friend Wendy, who makes the pizza often, to go over the basics for me but then I also got a completely unsolicited email from someone with their version.


The two have the same outcome but different prep methods, so I'm going to give you both!


Amy R.'s Cauliflower Crust Pizza
(Makes a pizza to share)

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp Italian or pizza seasoning, halved
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder
olive oil 

pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of precooked toppings

Directions:

Make some cauliflower rice (here's how) and make sure it is well drained.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. 

Add oregano, half of the Italian/pizza seasoning, minced garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings, cheese, remaining Italian/pizza seasoning, and garlic powder. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes). 

Even my non-veggie eating, picky 9 year old ate it and liked it.   There is NO way anyone would ever guess this crust is made from a vegetable!

Wendy D.'s Cauliflower Pizza Crust

(which I have affectionately dubbed the "Weeknight" version - makes one personal sized pizza)

Ingredients:

1/4 c. raw shredded cauliflower

2 oz, 75% fat free cheese (can use any cheese)

1 egg white

4 slices turkey pepperoni

1 tablespoon pizza sauce

Italian spices

Directions:

Mix together the cauliflower, 1 ounce of the cheese,  egg white and italian seasoning.

Spray a small frying pan with non-stick cooking spray and spread the mixture out on it.  Cook it for a few minutes on each side until it's golden on each side. 

Add a bit of pizza sauce, 4 slices pepperoni, and top with the remaining cheese.  

You can cover the pan to let the cheese melt or you can pop it in the oven for a few minutes.  

So now we have not one, but TWO, versions of cauliflower crust pizza, made by Foodies for Foodies.

Thanks Wendy and Amy!

Carissa's Cinnamon Muffins

Ok, I just have to say...you guys are cooking up some yummy stuff! I am IMPRESSED with what I've received.

There's still room if YOU have a recipe to submit for the Foodie Nation. I always make good use of submissions but this week is devoted to what YOU are cooking! Email me at bariatricfoodie@yahoo.com for details on submitting a recipe.

Today's offering is from Carissa. She got the idea for her Cinnamon Muffins from our girl Shelly at The World According to Eggface. She liked the protein muffin idea and decided to play with it and make it her own!

Here's how it goes down.

Carissa's Cinnamon Muffins


Ingredients

3/4 c. whole wheat pancake mix
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp splenda brown sugar
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2 c milk
1/4 c. sugar free pancake syrup

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine pancake mix, baking soda, cinnamon, brown sugar, protein powder and milk in a medium bowl.  Stir until smooth.
3. Fold in syrup.  I like to not completely mix in the syrup as it adds a little extra syrup surprise in the final product...but its up to you! :)
4. I pre-grease my muffin tins so they come out easier after...but again, your prerogative!
5. Pour mixture into muffin tins until they are about 3/4 full
6. Bake for approximately 16 minutes

Carissa really likes these muffins but report that they sometimes flatten out on her. For that, I have this to offer. Whenever making baked protein goods, investigate using double-acting baking powder. I could get into a lengthy chemistry explanation, but these guys do it better than me. 

The bottom line: Double-acting baking powder gives you more time to work with your batter (which you may need when incorporating protein). Also remember that, as a general rule, baked protein goods require about double the leavening agent of their non-protein counterparts. So if a recipe calls for 1/2 tsp baking powder, for a protein version you'd use a full tsp and so on. Reasoning: it's heavier. It takes a bit more "muscle" to get it to rise! (I know we can ALL understand that analogy!)

So in the above recipe, I'd suggest 1 full teaspoon of double-acting baking powder. You can find it in Wal-Mart (Great Value even makes it!) and it costs less than $2. 

If you want a "smack yo momma" good topping for this, here's something I've used on cinnamon stuff in the past:

Nik's Cinnabon Topping

1/4 c. Lowfat (Neufchatel) cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp. unflavored Greek yogurt

1 - 2 tbsp either sugar-free caramel syrup or sugar-free brown sugar cinnamon syrup

No calorie sweetener, to taste

Optional: A "splick" of apple pie spice

Mix it all in a bowl then refrigerate for about 30 minutes before smearing onto a muffin. It's best with this one if you "smear as you go."

Thanks Carissa for sharing your muffin recipe. Keep playing with your food!

Foodie Submission: Lois's Banana Butterscotch Protein Blizzard

So last week I promised reader submissions! This one came in from Lois. We actually ended up having a really good and productive email conversation stemming from her emailed recipe and she has given me permission to share that conversation with you.

I've said it a few times and I will say it again: be CAREFUL of protein shake additives. It's fine to add some stuff to your shake to make it more enjoyable but pay attention to the stats! Protein shakes should always be mostly protein. If what you are adding changes that, then it should probably be in the "extreme moderation" category. If you're ever unsure if your additions are helping or hurting your shake, my Protein Shake Check-Up tool is a great place to start to find out!

Such was the case with Lois' Blizzard. She reports she only has this every once in a while (cuz, as a Foodie, she is learning moderation!) so it's all good on her end. In this post I will show you her recipe and then a few modifications I made to it in order to get it more toward being an everyday shake.

Here is Lois' original recipe from her blog, Thoughts Along Life's Highway:

Banana Butterscotch Protein Blizzard (Original version)

1 ripe or overripe banana
10 oz milk
1 Tbsp Sugar Free Butterscotch Instant Pudding mix
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 cup ice
8-10 vanilla wafers
1 Tbsp Sugar Free caramel syrup (Torani or DaVinci)

Mix all ingredients in a blender.

Makes 2 servings

Now if you've read this blog for a while, you know I don't post stats (nutrition information) on my recipes for a variety of reasons (click here to read them all!) but what you may not know is that I do RUN stats on the recipes I post so that I can know where they are on the protein:carb:fat spectrum. From eyeballing this recipe, I thought it might be in order to run some stats and I did. The basic stats for the recipe above (for each serving) are:

342 calories, 44g carbs, 31.5g protein (which differs from the 28g or so she quotes on her blog).

When I told Lois she was a bit surprised, but since she only has this every now and again as a treat she said she'd play around with it to see what could be done. It makes me very happy when Foodies take food information and use it to their advantage!

So here's my suggested recipe for making the same sort of shake with a few less calories.

Banana Butterscotch Protein Blizzard (Every Day version)
(I say "every day" version as this is a more sensible treat version but if you want an "every day" every day version, you might just make the shake and skip the chunky additives)
8 oz milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp (or two pumps) Davinci sugar-free Butterscotch syrup
1 tbsp sugar-free, fat-free banana cream pudding powder
1 low-sugar graham cracker, smashed into large-ish pieces
1 cup ice
No-cal sweetener, to taste

Optional: Since there are already a lot of flavors going on here, you can choose if you want to add caramel to the mix. If so, use Davinci or Torani sugar-free caramel syrup.

Ok...so here are the "why's." If you read the Protein Shake Check-Up tool, you'll see that I hardly ever advocate for whole bananas in protein shakes. Half? Yes. Whole? Not so much. Read the Check-Up to find out why! By replacing with a tablespoon of pudding, we've come down about 75 calories and 20+ grams of carbs.

Lois' original recipe calls for Butterscotch pudding. Well, since I added banana, I didn't want to use two different kinds of puddings. Pudding mix doesn't have bad stats, but every gram of carbs counts and if you can avoid adding them to a protein shake, you should!

Lastly, I replaced the Nilla wafers. Even if you get the sugar-free kind, they're still pretty carb heavy. Instead, I went with a graham cracker, which gives you a nice, lightly sweet chunky additive for a fraction of the calories and carbs. So it still feels like a treat!

Also, try using the Triple X method to blend a smooth, thick, creamy shake. Just remember that you don't add your graham cracker until the end and then only whiz a second or two to keep it chunky!

This shake clocks in at 260 calories, about 23g arbs (12 of which coming from the milk) which is pretty darn decent if you do this as a meal replacement.

If you want to cut that down even further and are willing to gather a few extra ingredients, here's another version:

1/2 c. unflavored Greek yogurt
1/2 c. water
1 scoop vanilla whey
1 tbsp banana pudding mix
1 tbsp sugar-free Butterscotch syrup
1 cup ice
1 low-sugar graham cracker crushed

Same directions as above.

So there you have it...THREE different variations of the same shake! It really goes to show how a few ingredient swaps can change everything!
Thanks, Lois, for sharing your shake, your blog and for allowing me to make over your shake! I have another Protein Blizzard recipe here on the blog along with my general thoughts about Blizzard additives. Check it out!

And check back for more reader submissions this week!

Veggie Tales (part 5): A day in the life of a post-op vegetarian

So now that we've gone over what a vegetarian is, whether post-ops can even be vegetarians, how to make the transition and how to make good food choices, I figured I'd give you a day in the life of a post-op vegetarian.

Let's start in the pantry.

Here are some of the staples you’ll always find in my kitchen:

• Greek yogurt (usually homemade; vegans could substitute soy yogurt)
• Soy milk and/or raw milk (regular skim milk from the grocery store would work, too)
• Shredded cheese (vegans can buy soy cheese)
• Canned beans (dried beans are cheaper but I like the convenience of canned beans)
• Canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas) for roasting for snacks
• Nuts and/or nut butters
• Tofurky Italian sausages (I use them in dishes like jambalaya but also eat half of one sliced up with spaghetti sauce on it for a quick and easy  meal)
• Morningstar Farms fake meat products, like fake ground beef, fake chicken and fake bacon
• Protein powder and protein bars (the ones I usually use contain whey isolate but there are soy isolate options available for vegans)

With these staples, I can throw together a quick meal like black beans with a little salsa and shredded cheese on top or a stir fry make with Morningstar Farms fake chicken and whatever veggies I happen to have in the house.

A couple other items you might want to keep on hand are cottage cheese and tofu; I just don’t care for either of those things myself.

Sample Menus

Here are a couple days’ worth of sample menus, which are pretty typical for what I eat.  These menus give me plenty of protein as well as other nutrients.

Day One

Breakfast – protein shake with soy milk and protein powder

Lunch – pumpkin spice Greek yogurt (plain Greek yogurt mixed with sugar free cheesecake pudding mix, pumpkin puree, a little Splenda and a splash of sugar free caramel syrup, topped with Cool Whip Free and sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg; vegans can use soy yogurt)

Snack – roasted chickpeas (see recipe to follow)

Dinner – sausage and beans (see recipe to follow)

Snack – protein bar

Day Two

Breakfast – protein bar

Lunch – Island Red Beans (see recipe to follow)

Snack – almonds

Dinner – scrambled egg with cheese (scramble tofu with vegan cheese if preferred), Morningstar Farms breakfast strips, apple cinnamon muffin

Snack – Greek yogurt (or soy yogurt) with sugar free banana pudding mix and Splenda, topped with half sliced banana

Recipes

Roasted Chickpeas

Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans).

Put a towel on a baking sheet, spread the beans on the towel and pat dry.  Remove the towel, drizzle with olive oil (or just spray with cooking spray), stir, and spread out in a single layer.

Bake for about 50 minutes at 400 degrees.  Yeah, they take a while.  Stir three or four times during baking.

Take out of the oven, season however you like, stir and eat. 

Sausage and Beans

4 Tofurky Italian sausages, sliced
2 cans kidney beans
1 onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
minced garlic (I use about a tablespoon)
Franks’s sweet chili sauce (by the hot sauce in the grocery store; I use about ¼ cup)
tomato sauce (a couple tablespoons)

Sauté the diced onion and garlic in a little olive oil in a big pot until slightly soft.  Add the beans, sausage and diced tomatoes.  Stir and add tomato sauce and sweet chili sauce (a little of the chili sauce goes a long way).  Simmer for about 20 minutes.  You can cut this recipe in half if you don’t want to eat leftovers all week.

Island Red Beans

4 cans kidney beans
1 onion, diced
minced garlic (I use about a tablespoon)
2 habanera peppers, diced (this makes it really spicy; use just one pepper if you want it less spicy; these peppers are small but a little goes a long way)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 or 2 cups water (depends on how saucy you like your beans)
½ teaspoon dried cilantro
½ teaspoon dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste

Sauté the diced onion and garlic in a little olive oil in a big pot until slightly soft.  Add the diced habanera peppers and cook for a couple minutes.  Add beans, tomato sauce, water and seasonings. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 25 minutes.  You can cut this recipe in half if you don’t want to eat leftovers all week.

Well...that about wraps up this BF Basics series. Thanks for allowing me to share a bit about my life as a vegetarian with all of you. Nik has assured me that there will be a version of this series for download within the next few days, so look for that soon!

Until then...play with your food!


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