Your BF 4th of July Menu Haz Arrived!

Ahhh...the fourth of July. The fireworks. The pageantry. The barbecues.

Fear not, my faithful foodies! I'm hear to help! Is your family hosting the BBQ this year? If so, great! I have menu options galore. If not, you might want to give my "surviving the family barbecue" survival guide a read just to ensure you don't take away someone's life, liberty or pursuit of happiness.

Here's just a few of the lovely, crave-worthy treats that exist right here on this lovely blog for your barbecuing pleasure.

Meats:

Chicken skewers - You don't have to go Thai with it but be sure to use the marinating technique. It works!

Flatten them out a bit and my magic meatballs become protein-packed sliders!

What would a barbecue be without a hot dog? Here are my favorite post-op picks.

Sides

I would be lying if I told you they will mistake this for potato salad. BUT...it is very tasty! Customize any way you want: Add crumbled bacon and ranch dressing mix or some curry powder, raisins and a little cayenne for a kick. There are so many options it's CRAZY!

I am a late convert to cole slaw. But now I love the stuff. If you want to make a variation, you can easily make an Asian slaw with brocolli slaw mix by omitting the creamy stuff and using a light Asian Sesame dressing (watch the sugar amounts on some varieties).

Speaking of brocolli, this brocolli salad will have your fam clamoring for the veggies!

Lastly, I kid you not...I have a friend who comes to functions where I am in hopes of me bringing my Mexican Dip. It's that addictive. Try it!

Dessert

I don't know about you but dessert seems to be a separate meal from dinner for me. No matter. I get it in when I can fit it in. In the summertime I turn off the oven and turn on my blender to make yummy protein frozen pies like my peanut butter, cookies 'n cream  and rocky road pies. If you're a fruity kind of person, try my no-bake protein key lime pie.

Or you could go for a low-carb funnel cake, although that's best achieved if you are hosting the barbecue.

So there you have it folks. Some solid, WLS-friendly suggestions for your next barbecue. Be careful of your nutrient combinations though peeps...else you'll have firework sounds that have NOTHING to do with independence ;)

Your Best Hot Dog Options After WLS

Barbecue season is coming. Now aside from the mental preparation of surviving a family barbecue, I thought it might be nice for us to…contemplate our options with regards to traditional grilling choices.

First up…the hot dog. I looooooove a good hot dog. Especially that one that the cook left on the grill too long so it looks like a fourth degree burn victim? Yep, that’s my dawg!

Did you know you CAN have a hot dog after weight-loss surgery? Honestly, you can. You can even have a chili dog.

These days I go for a regular dog (or polish sausage) and split it with one of the divas (regular hot dogs = animal fat = my pouch doesn’t like more than a few bites). But if you want to watch the content of your dogs, you also have options. Here are a few of my favorites.

Nik’s “Best in Class” Dog Competition

Best beef frank: Hebrew National 97% Fat Free hot dog

That's not how much they cost at my local grocery store, by the way. This is not my image. I am sort of afraid to lurk the grocery store with a camera. To me that says I've taken this whole thing a bit too far...

I liked this dog a lot. The only thing is it is about as skinny as I WANT to be. I like a plump dog. Flavor-wise, this grills up nicely and SMELLS like a hot dog. To me, the pleasure of a hot dog is about 75% in the smell of it. There is just nothing like it. For my non-American readers…if you don’t grill hot dogs you can’t get this one. But trust me…it is heavenly. At any rate, it is 40 calories a dog, 6g protein. Not bad for a hot dog. Not bat atall...

Best "Junk in the Trunk" Beef Dog: Ball Park Fat-Free Franks



Normally I am diametrically opposed to fat free hot dogs. It just seems wrong. Like fat free peanut butter. But these are actually good. These I actually tried specifically FOR this post because I wanted to give an option that wasn't a skinny dog (it's the dog in yesterday's chili dog post). I was pleasantly surprised. The flavor is nice, the skin crusts up nicely when I "put the burn on it" and under all the stuff I put on hot dogs, it held its own. Nice job, Ballpark! At any rate, it is 50 calories, 6g of protein.

Best non-beef frank: Jennie-O Turkey Franks

I got a pack of these at Save-A-Lot and, having gotten them from that particular store, didn’t have very high hopes. (Sorry…I’m on team Aldi!) But I was pleasantly surprised. Jenny-O managed to come up with a pretty good dog on the overall. This, to me, is a good dog to top with stuff. It doesn’t have that strong of a smoky aroma or flavor that you’d get with a beef or pork dog but the seasoning is nice and at 70 calories, you can put other stuff ON it and still come out with a meal of reasonable calories. My suggestion? Some kickin’ hot dog chili and a sprinkle of cheese. I skip the bun but if you feel like you can handle it, I suggest Arnold flat hot-dog buns. It gives you the bun experience without all the extra stuff in the middle.

Best vegetarian dog: Smart Dogs

How in the WORLD does a soy dog manage to beat out a meat one in protein AND calories? I know not, but Smart dogs does it. 45 calories and 8 grams of protein (and it’s fat free)! I’ve had these once and wasn’t told it was a soy dog. I couldn’t really tell (this, arguably, could be because me eating a hot dog is really like me eating toppings with a SIDE of hot dog). It even sort of smells like a hot dog. Mind you, it isn’t the oily, smoky, savory-ness that is a traditional hot dog, but I liked it very much. And my pouch did not hurt from eating a whole one. As with the Jenny-O hot dog…you can pile stuff on this one and be ok calories wise.

Chili Dogs (WLS Style)

I'm not playing with your emotions. Tomorrow I am going to go over my picks for the best nutritional value for hot dogs but first we have to discuss something important. Chili. Hot dog chili. As in...to make...a chili dog.



I know, I know what you're thinking. "Chili dogs, Nik??? Frickin' chili dogs???"

No, I promise I am NOT playing with your emotions. There IS a way for you, too, to enjoy chili dogs. (But not the way I have shown above...sorry...)

My thoughts on hot dog chili are simple. It's not a horribly objectionable thing to eat hot dog chili from a can, if that's what you like. There are some good varieties out there. I came up with this one on a day when I THOUGHT I had some in the cupboard and found that I did not (don't you hate it when that happens?). Now, I make it because I like it better than any canned I've tried. And it takes like 15 minutes to make. Here's how I do it.

Nik's WLS-friendly Hot Dog Chili

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground meat (I used turkey, you use whatever your heart desires)
2 lean turkey Italian sausage links, casings removed (Hot or Sweet. Doesn't matter but I really must insist on the turkey to cut down on saturated fat which is, and always will be, be bad for your heart)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 c. water
2 tbsp chili powder
1 can of tomatoes (I used tomatoes & chiles)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions



Brown up your turkey and sausage in a pan, breaking it into very fine bits (no big chunks).

Once cooked, drain of any excess fat (there won't be much) and drop in tomato paste. Mix thoroughly before adding water, then chili powder.



Drain tomatoes and chiles (or tomatoes if you're just using them) and add to your pan. Bring the whole thing to a boil (this will happen quickly as you don't have much water in your pan) then reduce to a simmer and simmer about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat. If there is excess liquid, it will thicken upon standing.

Now the above dog belonged to one of the divas. It is sandwiched in a 100% whole wheat hot dog bun and sprinkled with some cheese. I served it alongside a garden salad with some light ranch dressing and they were happy.

But me and buns? A different story. But check me out:



YES! I made a chili dog ramekin!!!



Basically I cut my hot dog into pieces (for newbies you might use half a dog and dice it instead of slicing it), put those pieces into my ramekin, covered it with chili, covered that with some cheese and let it melt then covered the whole thing in diced onions. NOM!



So like I said...you too can have a chili dog at the Memorial Day barbecue.

Tomorrow we discuss what dogs are worthy of your premium pouch space. No...seriously we will. I know I've been flaky about posting lately but I already scheduled the dang post. It's coming!