S'mores Protein Pudding Pie



Even though we've been experiencing fall-like weather in Baltimore over the past week it is still, in fact, summer. Which means my gut instinct is to NOT turn on the oven if I can avoid it. I have one big cooking day a week where I make or "start" a bunch of things and then finish them off throughout the week (Dear Rachel: I had the idea first!)

So once the Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake and a batch of my Curried Chicken were all squared away, it was time to think about dessert. Now dessert is mainly a notion for my family. Even at six years post-op, anything more than a bite of something sweet directly after a meal is not happening.

For me, like so many other post-ops, dessert is another meal entirely. That's part of what makes it problematic for me. I love protein shakes and I've made all manner of desserts (especially cheesecakes!) weight loss surgery friendly, but here's a true fact: Nik cannot stand too much sweet stuff! Nope, I can't. A few bites and I'm good to go. This makes it imperative that I make things my children (and now, my boyfriend) also like. Because there's no way in hell I'm finishing a dessert by myself, short of being able to freeze it.

ANYWHO.  Protein Pudding is often a favorite dessert of mine but I decided I'd like a protein pudding pie. Since the children are still gone for the summer, I rightfully should have made these in ramekins but...I didn't. What can I say? I don't always have a good explanation for why I do the things that I do!

Nik's S'mores Protein Pudding Pie
(This yields a family-sized or share-able pie. If you'd like smaller portions, this also makes about 8 ramekins worth of pie, which can be frozen for up to two months, if wrapped properly.)

Ingredients:

• 2 (1 oz.) boxes sugar-free chocolate pudding mix
• 3 scoops (doesn't matter the size of the scoop) unflavored protein powder (NOTE: I highly suggest an unflavored protein powder, like BiPro USA, but you can use either a vanilla or chocolate based protein powder. But your pie will be SWEEEEEEEET.)
• 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 -1/4 c. milk (NOTE:  must be cow's milk. Traditional pudding mix won't set up with almond or soy milk)
• 1/4 c. Torani Sugar-free S'mores flavored syrup
• 1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping (low-fat, fat-free, your choice)
• 1 crumb pie crust (you can either do a Fiber One/high protein or fiber cereal crust OR you can do what I did and splurge on a pre-made graham cracker crust...it truly was a lazy evening!)

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together pudding mix, protein powder and cocoa powder until thoroughly combined.

Add milk and syrup and blend whatever way you see fit (that particular evening I didn't feel like breaking out the mixer so I just whisked by hand). The mixture will be thick and it may appear slightly gritty. If so, add a bit more milk (try adding 2 tbsp. at a time) until it gets better. In my experience, protein pudding is always at least slightly gritty. And did I mention the mixture would be THICK?

Spread the mixture in your pie crust evenly. It should only come about 3/4 of the way up the crust. Then top with whipped topping. Cover it (that's where the premade crust comes in handy as it has a plastic dome top) and refrigerate an hour before serving.

As is quickly becoming my new custom, here are a few more shots I took of the pie, for your viewing pleasure!

Just a little slice is all you need!



So I had a mishap with the crust. It sort of broke up on me. Doesn't affect the taste one bit!

For more yummy, protein-packed ideas, check out The Bariatric Foodie Guide to Perfect Protein Shakes, available in hardcopy and Kindle eBook on Amazon, as well as on Smashwords for iPad and Nook. The book not only gives you ideas for great shakes, but teaches you how to make other protein treats like protein ice cream and protein pudding (which is the base of this pie!). 

Get your copy today!

Thanksgiving Covert Cooking: Nik's Sweet Veggie Pie

Forgive the crust. It was a quick job!

When you all get your copies of the “Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Guide” you’ll read all about a concept I call “covert cooking. (Side note: For folks who snagged one of the now sold-out Survival Kits, your copy of the book is coming with your kit! Otherwise, I know the rest of you are planning on ordering it from Amazon, right???)

Long story short, covert cooking is taking a dish your family loves and making it healthier but doing so in a way where it looks, smells, tastes and feels like the original. And then not telling your family (at least not when they are eating it) that it’s healthier. I go into the topic in more length in the book (as well as why you have to be REALLY careful how you change holiday recipes!) But the bottom line is this: to successfully covert cooke, you have to make smart (and believable) swaps.

This pie is an example of covert cooking, although an accidental one. What I mean by accidental is that I didn’t go into this with the intention of withholding any information from my children. They know me. They know a pie is never just a pie.

The accidental part came in because they got to the pie before we had any conversation about it. They tasted it and decided maybe, for once, I just let a pie be a pie and made pumpkin pie (my kids have such discerning pallets that they can quickly and easily tell a pumpkin pie from a sweet potato pie from sight alone).

Little did they know, the pie was not made out of pumpkins but out of these:

Check out my Basset Hound, Benji, trying to photo bomb!!!

“What the HELL is that, Nik?”

I’m glad you asked. I have a friend. Her name is Margaret and she runs a blog called "Feed My Sleeve." Margaret is everything I want to be someday because she produces a lot of the food she and her hubby eat on her very own property! This year she had a bumper crop of round zucchini and earlier this summer she gave me some. One cool day I decided to roast them and noticed the insides of the larger ones were similar to butternut squash in color, texture and flavor. So when she gave me another boatload of them recently I decided to see if I could pass the flesh from the zucchini off as pie.

The above picture is the result.

For those of you who don’t happen to have access to a round zucchini, the same could be done with the yield of butternut or acorn squash. Just make sure it’s orange! Here’s the rest of the recipe, including an option to make a protein pie (although this one is not).

Nik’s Sweet Veggie Pie

Ingredients:

• 15 oz. of some sort of orange veggie (Veggies in the gourd family work best: butternut squash, acorn squash, etc.), cooked soft and pureed
• 1 c. no-calorie sweetener of your choice (I used Splenda)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• A “splick” (about 1/16 tsp.) salt
• 1 heaping tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 egg
• OPTIONAL: 2 scoops (doesn’t matter the size) vanilla or unflavored protein powder
• 12 oz. fat-free evaporated milk
• 9-inch pie crust of your choice (Or you can go crustless. Since I made this mostly for the kids, I just got a storebought crust. If you choose a no-crust option be sure to spray your pie plate down well with nonstick cooking spray!) 

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350. Make sure to pre-heat it for a while so that it is HOT when you are ready to put your pie in.

If you’re using a prepared pie crust, place it in your pie plate and pre-bake the pie crust for about 7 minutes. Remove to cool and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine pureed veggie, vanilla, salt and pie spice (and if you are using protein, add it at this stage) and mix well. (Tip: I usually use a hand mixer on low speed.)

Add egg and mix again until fully incorporated. Finally, add condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Mixture will look soupy.

Pour mixture into pie shell and place pie plate on a baking sheet and into the center rack of your oven.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until fully set. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow it to cool one hour before cutting.

The verdict? The kids liked it!  I still haven’t told them it's squash. My youngest would not mind. My oldest would feel a DEEP sense of betrayal (she’s the proverbial “picky one”). I think I’ll keep it to myself. But this recipe is definitely a keeper for Thanksgiving. I’m going to make one (and probably use acorn squash unless Margaret’s zucchini plant yields anything else), put it on the table and walk away very fast!

Mocha Toffee Protein Pie

Obligatory Fed Warning: When clicking on links related to products within this blog post, you will be redirected to sites where those products are available for sale. If you go on to make a purchase through the linked site, a portion of your purchase will be paid back to Bariatric Foodie.


This post name is something of a misnomer, because I'd more like to go over the anatomy of a protein pie. Because once you know how to make them, you can make them out of any darn thing you like! The flavor combinations are endless! Not to worry, though. I'm going to give you the recipe for THIS pie. But here's how you make a protein pie in general:

1. The Crust: You can make a crumb crust out of lots of things. In my former life I used crushed graham crackers. Now I use Fiber One Original cereal, mostly because it's slightly sweet, yields easily to added flavors and has TONS of fiber to offset the total carb load. But you can use any cereal you like. If you are comfortable doing so, you can even use graham crackers (with the awareness that you're also accepting a considerable amount of carbs and some sugar along with them). To make a crumb crust, you basically combine 2 cups of whatever crumb you're using (I pulsed my cereal in my Magic Bullet blender to make it into crumbs) with about 2 tbsp of butter OR low-cal baking spread (I usually use Blue Bonnet Light but I was out so I used butter this time). Squish them together with your hands until they look like wet sand. Then press the mixture into a pie crust and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until hardened.
2. The Filling: Basically all the pie filling is is a glorified version of my protein pudding. I combine 2-3 scoops of protein powder (no it does not matter how big the scoop is, just make sure your protein is at least 20g per scoop) with sugar free pudding mix and protein in a mixing bowl and make sure they are mixed well (I use a whisk). Just note that the more protein you add, the thicker your filling will be. Then add 1.5 c. milk (cow's milk works best with pudding mix). I personally mix it with a whisk or hand mixer but have heard tell of using a blender. Do what works for you! Just mix it until it's about to set.
3. The Topping: Once the pie crust is out of the oven and cooled and the filling is chilled, pour the filling into the crust and smooth it all. Now it's time for the fun part: toppings! I usually use either sugar or fat-free whipped cream and some other type of garnish (cocoa powder, chocolate shavings, etc.). I like pretty food. Once you've got it the way you want it, refrigerate until you're ready to serve!

Now as for this recipe:

Nik's Mocha Toffee Protein Pie

Ingredients:

• 2-3 scoops espresso flavored protein (Click Mocha or Fit Frappe Mocha or Espresso work well. In the absence of either go with chocolate protein + 1 tbsp GOOD instant decaf coffee). 
• 1.5 oz. box of sugar-free chocolate pudding mix
• 1.5 c. skim milk
• 3 tbsp. Torani sugar-free English Toffee syrup
• For the crust: 2 c. Fiber One Original cereal, crushed into crumbs; 2 tbsp butter, chopped, 1 tbsp no-calorie sweetener, 2 tbsp. of the sugar-free English Toffee Syrup.
• For topping: 1 tub fat-free whipped cream 

I basically followed the directions above. :)

Nik's "Amp'd" Sweet Potato Pie

Don't mind the browned crust. Me and my oven are going through a divorce.



Sniff…

“Well, it looks like regular sweet potato pie…”

Holds plate closer to nose and sniffs again.

“Smells like it too…”

Pokes with finger then tastes fingertip.

“C’mon, Nikki, what’d you do to it? You wouldn’t be asking me to taste it if you didn’t do something to it.”

This is a variation on the conversation I have with any of my non-op friends and family anytime I ask them to try out a recipe I’ve made for this blog. And in the end they always like what I gave them. And no…I never do tell them that I’ve added protein powder, or replaced some of the cream cheese with cottage cheese or sour cream with Greek yogurt.

So far as they know, it’s just good.

Here’s my recipe for sweet potato pie that passed the bar of even the biggest skeptics in my family.

I like mine warm from the oven with cool whipped cream on top...hence the bubbles!

Nik’s “Amp’d” Sweet Potato Pie
(makes two pies – one for now, one for later!)

4 large sweet potatoes
1 + 1/3 c. no-calorie Splenda (don't use Splenda? Any no-cal sweetener will do but check with the manufacturer to determine how much to use. Splenda measures cup-for-cup like sugar so you can take the amount of Splenda I use here as a guide for your conversions)
3 scoops protein powder (either vanilla or I used this)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 egg (or ¼ c. Egg Beaters)
1 can fat-free evaporated milk

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

I hate peeling potatoes! So I always boil the sweet potatoes with the skins on and then allow hem to cool. The skins fall right off. Once cooked (and you want them "fork soft" like you'd prepare potatoes for mashing) and peeled, mash your sweet potatoes with a potato masher.

Add sweetener, spice and protein powder, along with your egg. Beat the mixture with a hand mixer on medium speed, making sure to scrape down the sides to get it all smooth.

Next, add the evaporated milk and mix again on low speed.

Pour into any pie shell you want (I typically get a storebought one). Then wrap the outer crust in aluminum foil to avoid burning.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until pie is almost completely set. Remove aluminum foil from outer crust and bake another 5-7 minutes or until center of the pie is set.

The will be smooth, shiny and slightly stiff on the surface…no worries! When it cools, it looks, feels and tastes like a traditional pie!

This recipe goes out to all my sweet potato pie eaters! We talk so much about pumpkin this and pumpkin that and from my experience you are either a sweet potato pie lover or a pumpkin pie lover. I’ve met few people who loved both. So while everyone else is killing their pumpkin pie, you can have this!

NEWBIES: If you’d like to enjoy this treat, you can too. I suggest halving the recipe (use 2 scoops of protein powder if you halve and still use one egg, but cut everything else in half) and bake them in ramekins, much the same way I made my protein pumpkin custards a few weeks ago.

Enjoy!