Alfredo Chicken Roulade

So I may have mentioned once that when I get on a kick, I sorta just ride it out until I get sick of whatever I was obsessed with.

Or maybe I didn't.

At any rate, the Chicken Roulade I made while in Michigan with Pam inspired this version - Alfredo!

Enjoy. (Wow...I feel compelled to write four more paragraphs but oddly I'm going to stop there!)

Nik's Alfredo Chicken Roulade

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1/2 an onion, cut into sliver
• 2 c. baby spinach
• 6 thin-cut chicken breasts
• 6 wedges Laughing Cow cheese (I used Garlic-Herb)
• Salt, pepper and any other spices you like
• 1 jar light Alfredo Sauce (I used Classico)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Set a skillet over medium heat and allow it to get HOT (this will take about 5-ish minutes...go get the other stuff to make this while you are waiting).

Add the oil and swirl it around the pan before adding bell peppers. Saute about 2-3 minutes before adding onions. Saute that an additional minute or two before finally adding the spinach. Saute all veggies until spinach is wilted to your liking.

On a cutting baord, lay out your chicken breasts (TIP: If you can't find thin-cut chicken breasts at your grocery store, usually the butcher will cut some for you, just ask! Also if chicken breast is too big for you, you can pound out some chicken breast tenderloins). Add salt and pepper to both sides. Then on the side facing up, spread your Laughing Cow Cheese all across it. 

Plop some veggies on top of that and then roll up the chicken breast. Transfer it to a baking dish and add Alfredo sauce to the top!

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is done through. 

I served mine with some sweet peas, but this works well with any veggie you like. Yummy! Let's eat!

Chicken Roulade

I'm writing to you today from cloudy and cool Saginaw, Michigan, where I'm visiting my friend Pam (of "The Journey to a Healthier Me" or you all would best know her as the cover designer of all of Bariatric Foodies fabulous book offerings on Amazon!).

She's been showing me all sorts of lovely places and I'm having a blast. We've been to Frankenmuth (and I could have kicked myself for not taking my camera around on that walk but I did manage to snap a few good pictures before my phone conked!) and yesterday we went to Dow Gardens (I love nature! I'm a city girl so I don't get to commune with trees much) and Lansing to a store called Horrocks.

Now on the surface one might ask if a grocery store is truly a tourist stop for an out of town friend. I'd say when that out of town friend is me...um yes. Seriously. I want to live in that place! They have every fruit and vegetable known to man, they have all the products we love (sugar-free Torani syrups, PB2, etc.) for CHEAP and...get this...free gourmet coffee. As in free. As in you don't have to pay for it.

(I know..."Shut the front door!")

S'anyway our goal in going to Horrock's was to get yummy dinner fixings. It'd had been an active day and I wondered what we could make that wouldn't be too taxing. Then a simple, elegant dish a friend taught me came to mind: Chicken Roulade (I've featured the dish here before when I had my Laughing Cow Light Cheese Party. Click here to check it out!).

That's basically a fancy way of saying you tenderize and pound flat some chicken breasts, fill them with veggies and cheese and top with a sauce.

YUM! Check out the process of me making our Chicken Roulade, then head over to "Feed My Sleeve" and let Margaret share her full recipe for this tender, moist, delicious meal!

First I sauteed some veggies in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. I used spinach, orange bell pepper, tomatoes and onions (I have a thing about color). 

After that I pounded out some chicken breasts (not shown) and seasoned them. Then I spread Laughing Cow Light (French Onion in this instance) on one side. 

Then I plopped some veggies on top of that and rolled the chicken into a spiral.

I placed all my chicken spirals in a baking dish and put the leftover veggies on top.

Finally, I topped with sauce, in this case Emeril's "Roasted Gahhhhlic" Sauce (that is actually how it's spelled by the way!)

And here it is fresh out of the oven. Yum! We had our Chicken Roulade with roasted asparagus and a seven-grain salad I picked up at Horrock's. I have a bit of a bigger pouch capacity so you all probably won't be able to eat all that, but it was a yummy, delicious and balanced meal.

If you can't eat much, try making these with chicken breast tenderloins instead of full breasts (I couldn't eat a whole breast. I had to cut in half). 

Breakfast Week: Nik's Warm Asparagus Salad

This blog post title is something of a misnomer. I started wanting to remake a warm asparagus salad I had at Cheesecake Factory. Oh it was lovely! It was on their Skinnylicious Menu and had fresh asparagus, pine nuts, basil, Parmesan Cheese and a fried egg on top.  It was a bit heavy on the oil though so I knew I could do better.

But as I was writing this post I thought to myself, "Self? Since you're doing this recipe to highlight the Unbreakfast chapter of The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book...technically you've thrown eggs on top of a lot of stuff...so really you should also highlight that!

And so I will.

But first the salad recipe!

Nik's Warm Asparagus Salad (Cheesecake Factory Knock-Off)

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 stalks of asparagus of medium thickness (not super thick, not pencil thin)
• 1 small tomato, cored and sliced into wedges
• 1/2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (fresh basil and oregano, finely chopped would be better but I had neither on hand!)
• 1-2 tbsp. (depending on your caloric limits) shelled sunflower seeds (I'll explain why the switch in a moment)
• 1 large egg

Directions

Spray a skillet with non-stick cooking spray, set it over medium heat and let it get HOT.

Cut off the woody stems of the asparagus (HINT: Usually grocery stores rubber band them at the cut mark but if not, usually where they are definite green and not any white). Then chop asparagus into bite-sized pieces (whatever that means for you).

Add asparagus to the skillet and stir to cook for about 2 minutes. Add tomato. WARNING: The tomatoes are going to release a good deal of water when they hit the heat. It will evaporate quickly.

Add olive oil and spices and toss it all to coat.  Transfer to a plate and set to the side.

Re-spray your pan and fry an egg the way you like it (as you can see, my preferred way is sunny side up!). As your egg is cooking, sprinkle asparagus and tomato with sunflower seeds. I used sunflower seeds because...um...HELLO? Have you checked out the price of pine nuts lately?!?! I mean I love you guys but $13 for a small bag was a bit steep and these work just fine!

Slide your egg on top of the mixture once it's done and go. To. TOWN!!!

Adding an egg to something is an easy way to make an Unbreakfast, which I define one of two ways in the book. An Unbreakfast is either:

1. A food that uses traditional breakfast food but could easily work as lunch or dinner. OR...
2. A food that doesn't use traditional breakfast food but has great nutrition to start your day.

So with that, here are a few other things I've plopped an egg on in the spirit of good eating!

Nik's Turkey TVP Chili...with a fried egg

Veggie hash...with a fried egg

Spinach, red peppers and mushrooms...with a fried egg

Matchstick peppers...with a fried egg

A bed of caramelized onions, a turkey burger...with a fried egg

So those are just a few ideas to get you started. I love putting a fried egg on things mostly because the luscious yolk adds a richness to things that I love. Yes, it's added fat but it's added fat with NUTRIENTS which, much as I love it, butter just can't claim!

Nik's Mini Farm-Stand Frittata

This is a close-up but this frittata fits on a SALAD sized plate!

So in case you haven't heard, my third book, The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book, was released today in hard copy on Amazon! (My e-book loving Foodies, hold tight! I just got what I hope is the final draft of the Kindle, Nook and iPad versions so I hope to have them for sale this week also.)

To celebrate, we're doing "Breakfast Week" here on the blog where I'm going to share four BONUS recipes corresponding to the four major sections of the book.

First up, eggs!

In the book, I go over some of the challenges post-ops have with eggs. I know some folks have problems with eggs, especially after they've been reheated. For me, they've always been a safe food so I do a lot with them.

But one thing I heard from you guys in the past about my books was that the recipes seemed a little daunting for folks with smaller appetites (I'm not one of you but I do LOVE you!). So in this book I made a real effort to give folks options. For instance, all the scrambles in the book have mini-sized and SUPER mini-sized versions so that you can pick which version works best for you!

TIP: Read the intro pages to each of the recipe sections. There's valuable tips. For instance, in the intro to the section on Egg Casseroles there is guidance on how to make them into mini-quiches using a mini-muffin tin. In the intro to the Egg Scrambles, I show you how to make those individually-portioned meals into a breakfast your entire family can enjoy!

To make this recipe you'll need a 7-ish inch oven-safe skillet. You can click this link to see one but I got mine from K-Mart. :)

Nik's Mini Farm-Stand Frittata

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of a small yellow onion, cut into slivers
• 1/2 a small tomato, diced (seeded if the seeds bother you)
• A handful (or about 1/3 c.) baby spinach
• 1 clove garlic,  minced
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 c. shredded cheese of your choice (I used Kraft 2% Mexican-blend cheese)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spray your skillet down with non-stick cooking spray, set it over medium heat and allow it to get hot.

Add onions and cook about a minute, or until softened. Add tomato, spinach and garlic. Toss and cook about another 2 minutes or until spinach just starts to wilt (NOTE: It should still be a nice, verdant green!). Drop your heat to medium-low.

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and baking powder (this is one of the rare instances where you can actually use baking soda instead - and usually I do - but sources tell me it can sometimes produce a slightly metallic taste in the finished product. I've never noticed one but just to disclose!).

Pour egg into skillet and swirl skillet so that the egg gets into the nooks and crannies of the veggies and forms a circular shape.  Cook (stirring insides gently with a wooden spoon) until edges begin to set.

Top with cheese and pop the entire thing in the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the center is done (it will puff up slightly) and cheese is browned to your liking.

Remove from oven and place skillet on a cooling rack. If this is too big a portion for you, from here you can cut it. If not, slide that sucker onto a plate and be happy!

If you have leftovers, wrap them well in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge. They do fine on the reheat IF you generally do well with reheated eggs. (If not, tread carefully!)

Here's another variation I did with peppers and onions. Frittatas are so versatile you can make them a million different ways!

Nik's Chicken Chorizo Skillet

This, along with many other nummy recipes, will be included in The Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book, coming in April!

(But before we get to that, have you read about the opportunity you have to get YOUR favorite recipe into the forthcoming Bariatric Foodie Breakfast Book? If not, go read about it!)

I go to Denny’s. Quite a bit. That may be a bad thing for a post-op to admit but what the heck. If nothing else, you know I keep it real!

S’anyway. I go to Denny’s. Quite a bit. This is mostly because I know what to order there. I know my options and I exercise them!

But every now and again they get something new. Such is the case on the day that I tasted the dish that became this knock-off.

They have these sizzling skillet deals. Now if you ever go to Denny’s let me give you some advice on the sizzling skillets, if you ever want to try them.

Firstly, don’t feel limited to the ones marked healthy. With a few simple modifications you can make nearly any skillet work for you. This dish is a knock-off of the Chicken Chorizo Skillet. The first time I got it I simple asked for them to omit the red skinned potatoes. That taught me how the dish is generally, which is wonderfully yummy…but full of oil!

So the next time, and every time thereafter, I’ve asked for my food to be cooked with non-stick cooking spray, not oil (I don’t say it explicitly but I hint at a food allergy), nix the red skinned potatoes, use half the usual amount of cheese and sub in scrambled egg whites instead of the potatoes. This usually yields two lighter, but still deliciously yummy meals.

But this weekend I didn’t want to go out and I didn’t want to spend money on breakfast! It occurred to me I have all the ingredients needed to make this, so why not?

Thus…

Nik’s Chicken Chorizo Skillet

(Family size OR good for several day’s lunches. This reheats pretty well!)

Ingredients:

• 3 links of chorizo sausage, casings removed, chopped into small pieces (NOTE: Chorizo comes in lower-fat chicken and turkey varieties if you don’t want to use pork)
• 4-6 oz. chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 small onion, cut into strips
• 2-3 different colored bell peppers, cut into strips
• 4 eggs, beaten (or egg whites, or liquid egg substitute)
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• ¼ tsp. ground coriander
• ¼ tsp. chili powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 – 1 ½ c. Mexican blend shredded cheese

Optional: (Used here because my kids are potato fanatics) 3 red-skinned potatoes, diced and dry roasted.

You’ll need a large, oven-safe skillet for this.

Directions:

Set your oven to the broil setting.

Spray a large, oven-safe skillet with non-stick cooking spray, set it over a medium flame and allow it to get hot.

Add chorizo and cook, stirring about 2 minutes before adding chicken (the chorizo needs time to omit some oil). Stir chicken and sausage until both are cooked through.

Add onions, bell pepper, garlic and spices and sauté until softened. If you are using roasted potatoes, add those here as well.

Clear a well (hole) in the middle of your skillet, re-spray if needed, and pour in your eggs. Use a wooden spoon to scramble them completely before mixing into the meat/veggie mixture.

Top with cheese and place under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes to allow the cheese to melt and brown as much as you like.

This was Sunday brunch. For the kids/significant other, I also fixed a batch of my killer homemade buttermilk biscuits (no I’m not putting that recipe on BF…my blog software might blow up!). I usually eat a tester sized biscuit and call it a day. Nummy!

Play with your food!

Super Juicy Meatloaf

So...if you had absolutely no life, an abundant amount of time on your hands and no responsibilities and happened to have the interest in perusing the history of this blog...you would see that ground meat and I have a precarious relationship.

Which is funny because I have lots of recipes on this blog using ground meat (like my "Magic Meatballs"). But those are recipes I've only ever been able to take a few bites of before I feel like I swallowed a gold brick.

But yesterday I had a taste for meatloaf. And when you have a taste for meatloaf, it cannot be denied.

Wait...let me correct myself. I had a taste for my mother's meatloaf. Oh her meatloaf was the thing of iconic food dreams. It sliced perfectly yet was dripping with juices, it was so moist! Unfortunately, in her recipe that also meant it was also full of fat, which put together with ground meat is a sure-fire way to get me to pray at the temple of the porcelain gods.

When Mama Foodie passed away, I tried to play with her recipe and wasn't very successful. The meatloaves were "ok." But they didn't achieve that level of moisture she got with the high fat meats and bread soaked in milk and yadda, yadda.

But yesterday I decided to give it one more shot. And...I was successful! So I'm sharing the recipe (sorry, without process pics because I didn't start off making this for the blog). You can make this in a muffin tin, mini-loaf pan or whatever you want. I made a big loaf because I was feeding three non-ops.

Nik's Super Juicy Meatloaf

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. whatever ground meat you like (I used 85/15 fat percentage, I wouldn't recommend super lean meat)
• 1 c. diced onions
• 1 c. grated zucchini (grated zucchini = peel skin, bust out the good ol' fashioned grater and put in some arm work!)
• Any other chopped veggies you like. Red peppers would be nice for color variation!
• Your preferred seasonings (I used salt, pepper, a bit of garlic powder, a pinch of sage and a little bit of red pepper flakes)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. steak sauce (I prefer it over Worcestershire Sauce but if you like that better, use it!)
• 1 c. no-sugar added and/or low-sodium ketchup
• 1/4 c. steak sauce (yes, in addition to the tablespoon above)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, combine meat with onions, zucchini, any other veggies you're using and seasonings and mix thoroughly. Add egg and the tablespoon of steak (or Worcestershire sauce) and mix again.

Bake for about 40 minutes for a whole loaf. Mini loaves should only take about 30 minutes. I baked it uncovered but if you are using a lower fat cut of meat, cover with foil to preserve as much moisture as you can.

My general (read: Old Wives) method of checking the done-ness of meat: Poke your finger in the thickest part of the loaf. If it feels soft under the surface it isn't done. If it feels firm when you press it, it's done. If after the allotted time you're not sure if it's done all the way, turn off the oven and let the loaf sit in the oven as it cools.

Remove loaf from oven to a cool surface for about 10 minutes before cutting. Meanwhile in a small bowl, combine ketchup and steak (or, again, Worcestershire sauce) in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. I also include a bit of the extra pan juice from the meatloaf but that adds fat to the sauce so if you don't want it, don't use it!

Pour the sauce on top of the loaf and slice! If using mini loaves you can either put it on the individual loaves or set it on the table in a bowl for people to take what they like.

This is the world's simplest meatloaf recipe but so good and so JUICY!

Corned Beef Hash a la Nik



You know what's been missing on this blog lately? FOOD!

So what better way to jump back into playing with our food than with a spin on one of my fave breakfast foods.

Corned beef hash. Oh how I miss it!

And miss it I did until I had a light bulb moment (these are few and far between for me so they are very special moments).

Corned beef hash is a good example of when what you THINK you want from a food is not what you really want from a food.

What I thought I wanted (and could not have) was those little bits of fried potato. But that’s not what I wanted. When I thought about it, what I wanted was caramelized veggies with my salty corned beef. THAT is what I wanted.

And here’s the thing. You can caramelize damn near any veggie and it can taste just as good as, if not better than, those potatoes.

So here’s how I made corned beef hash work.

Corned Beef Hash a la Nik
(Makes about 2-4 “us” sized servings, depending on surgery date)

1 cup yellow squash, diced large (and if you like, peeled)
½ an onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz. deli sliced corned beef, chopped up
Fresh ground black pepper

Get your frying pan (or, in my case, a griddle) very hot and then spray down with cooking spray.

While my pan is heating I typically dice up my squash. By the time I'm done, my pan is nice and hot. I then lower the heat to medium and add squash and onions. Sautee until they are softened and then add garlic.

While all THAT is cooking, I cut up my deli corned beef. Then once the veggies are done I add it into the veggies well.

Continue to sautee until meat is crispy and veggies are caramelized (onions will become golden and skins of squash, if left on, will brown).

And that’s it! Now, if you want to stop there, that’s great. You’ve got a tasty little meal there. If you want to take it to the next level, you can scramble in an egg (or some Egg Beaters if you prefer) as shown above. For me, this would equal the perfect breakfast!

This recipe is super simple. The corned beef has enough salt to season the whole thing. The garlic gives it that extra savory punch. And by sautéing most of the water out of veggies, they get nice and caramelized and explode with flavor.

Mexican Sausage & Peppers

(This recipe is brought to you by Trader Joes. Yummy!)


So the divas and I went to Trader Joe’s the other day. For us this is a trek but it’s well worth it. I always try to pick up at least one thing I’ve never tried before to broaden my horizons. So this time I got some Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausages. They look like this:

(Not my hand)

Now anyone who knows me knows I don’t have the ability to eat food products as they come to me. I have to make it into something else. HAVE TO.

Here’s what I did with my sausages.

Nik’s Mexican Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:
1 TJ’s Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage, cut into slices
½ of a small onion, cut into strips
¼ of a green pepper, cut into strips
1/3 c. salsa (I used regular medium salsa but TJ’s chipotle salsa would do well as well)
¼ c. Mexican blend cheese

Directions:

I cooked my sausage whole on the grill pan while simultaneously sautéing the onions and peppers on my griddle. This worked well since I like my onions caramelized and my peppers fairly soft.

By the time the onions and peppers were about ready, the sausage was done. I transferred it to a cutting board and cut it into slices. If you are newer out, you might want to think about even dicing the sausage into smaller pieces.

Add the sausage pieces to the onions and peppers on the griddle pan and mix them well. Add the salsa and stir until fully incorporated.

Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with cheese while hot. NOM!

TIP: To make this a super tasty breakfast I added some scrambled eggs into the mix which, for me, made this two meals. Without the eggs, for me, it is one. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Steak: A Love Story in Three Acts

You might ask, "Nik, why'd you put steak on brocolli slaw?" That would be a good question. The answer? It was the best garnish I had available!!!



So since surgery, me and beef have had beef. For a while I couldn’t eat most beef products: not steaks, not roast (even out of the crockpot), no ground beef. The only exception seemed to be deli cuts of beef.

Recently I embarked on a journey to reunite with beef — a journey I’ve documented here for you in three acts.

ACT I: The Rub-Down

Ok, first things first. You need to choose the right cut of meat. This is not my forte. My mom used to always buy Delmonico’s. They are ridiculously expensive. But lookit: I’ve found a good resource for you to determine the most tender cuts of meat!

For the purposes of this experiment, I used top sirloin.

So the rubdown…this is something I learned from Food Network (it is a wealth of information). I simply cut a large clove of garlic and rubbed it all over the steak then seasoned it with salt and pepper. I was skeptical if this really would make an impact but I sniffed the meat after rubbing it and there was the pungent aroma of fresh garlic!

ACT II: A Midnight Interlude

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In this case, it was the chicken. What does this have to do with anything? Well, I knew I would have to marinate my steak if I hoped to be successful and when thinking of what to use as a marinade I thought of my method of cooking my Thai Chicken Skewers.

Long story short: Greek yogurt. It is a wonder substance. You put any meat in it and let it sit for a while and the active cultures eat away at the tough proteins and what you are left with is a soft, supple piece of meat. (That was about three steps from going to Pervy-ville folks).

So I put my steaks in a zip-top bag and threw in a 6 oz. container of Greek yogurt. This was in the late evening so I stuck it all in the fridge to do its thing.

And what a thing it did! When I took it back out the next evening the yogurt had worked so well that almost the complete membrane running down one steak was completely broken down. The yogurt did its job. Yay!

ACT III: Burning desire

Well not burning. Grilling. But that didn’t fit in well with my overtly sexual analogy structure. :)

So after removing the steaks from their yogurt bath, I heated up the good old grill pan. I could have used a regular grill, yes, but we were in the midst of a heat wave in Baltimore and I have an OLD, untreated wood fence. That does not equal good things with regards to grill embers. So I chose to grill indoors. I simply sprayed down my grill pan with nonstick and let it get hot, hot, hot.

Then I stuck my steak on there. Now I was raised on medium rare steak. My sensibilities lean more toward a good, solid medium. To achieve this, I cooked my steak for four minutes on each side. Your cook time may vary by the level of doneness you want.

TIP: When cooking steak, don’t cut into it right off the grill or pan. Let it “rest.” It will re-absorb some of its juices and you will be richly rewarded!

So, the moment of truth. I had taken a great deal of care in the preparation of my steak. I’d cooked it with love, tenderly caring for it until it was done. I let it rest before the big moment. I transfer to my cutting board, I slice, I bite and…SUCCESS!!!



Tender, chewy WONDERFUL steak! It was so yummy I snapped a picture that night. The rest I put in the fridge to make the dish you saw above, which is essentially my cheesesteak scramble with some mushrooms added to the mix for fun. I called it my “WLS-friendly Steak and Eggs.” More recipes will follow as I eat my way through this batch of steak.

ANOTHER TIP: This one from my mom. Don’t trim the fat from steaks until after you’ve grilled them. They turn out very tender and juicy that way.

Interestingly enough, the tenderness carried over until the morning. I bit into a cold piece and it yielded to my teeth. I reheated it for my scramble and it was still tender and juicy.

You all just don’t KNOW how happy this makes me. I have reconciled my relationship with beef!

Nik's Cheesesteak Scramble



Cheese-steak...not cake. I get that a lot when I write that word!

Anyhoo...I love eggs! From my head down to my legs. :) Ok, ok...that was cheesy.

If you can eat eggs, consider yourself blessed because many cannot post op. I personally don't know what I'd do if I couldn't. I CRAVE the things. But for me an egg is a sort of a tricky thing. It has good protein, yes, but when I look at how much protein it has and how long it keeps me filled (which is a decent amount of time) and compare that with my protein needs for the day, I know I gotta dress up my eggs to get what I need.

And that's what got me into doing scrambles. When I could only eat an itty-bit, my scrambles went something like this: one egg white + 2 oz. of some sort of meaty protein + a bit of cheese (usually via Laughing Cow Light or some such deal) and scramble.

Now that my pouch has graduated to being able to eat a halfway decent amount I get to have...veggies! YUM! My point here is take it at your own level. If you're new out, go with less egg (you can use liquid egg substitute if even one egg is too much) and less additions to the egg. If you're further out or have a heartier pouch, veggies are a great low-calorie, nutrient packed addition.

So without further adieu...

Nik's Cheesesteak Scramble

Ingredients

2 tbsp chopped onion
2 tbsp chopped green pepper
2 oz. lean, thin sliced deli roast beef, shredded
1 large egg (I use the whole egg nowadays), beaten
1 wedge Lauging Cow Light cheese (I used the French Onion kind)

Optional (pictured): diced tomatoes and a dollop of low-fat mayo mixed with some ground chipotle pepper.

Directions

In a sprayed pan, sautee chopped onion and green pepper until soft.

Add shredded beef and sautee until warm (I like it crispy but not all pouches are down for that).

And the egg and turn with a wooden spoon or spatula until egg is nearly done.

Plop (yes, plop) your cheese down on top and fold it into the egg mixture so that you get cheesy goodness throughout.

Transfer to a plate and top it as you wish.

This totally takes me back to the sub shop every time I eat it. And in this hot, HOT weather, it's nice to make something that feels like a good meal without having to turn the oven on or stand for long periods over the stove.

And if you liked this scramble, also check out my uber-yummy Southwestern Scramble.

Stay cool, my foodies! And stay hydrated in this heat!

WLS-friendly Quesadillas



How do you know the food blogging lifestyle has REALLY penetrated your household?


When you make a yummy lunch to share with your little diva and she insists you photograph it before you can eat any of it. Yep, this is my life folks.

So, down to business. Quesadillas. Usually not such a great idea. I hated when restaurants started publishing calories on their menus because it forced me to face how devilishly WRONG those things are. But as the old saying goes, “if loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right!”

Instead of trying to cut this crave-worthy treat out of my life completely, I decided to make a few changes to it. In the process, I managed to cut a LOT of calories and fat and still preserve the experience that I know and love.

Nik’s Crave-worthy Quesadillas (Basic recipe)

Ingredients

1 La Tortilla Factory whole wheat low-carb taco sized tortilla (I found mine at a local grocery chain called Safeway)
2 oz. canned chicken breast meat
¼ c. shredded taco cheese (I used taco instead of Mexican style because taco cheese has taco seasoning in it)
¼ of a small onion, in thin rings
A few thin strips of green pepper

Toppings: 2 heaping tablespoons unflavored Greek yogurt, 2 heaping tablespoons salsa of your choice

Directions

I used a griddle pan on a medium flame to do this. First, I sprayed it down with nonstick and grilled my onions and peppers until they were tender and removed from the pan.

Next I laid my tortilla out on the griddle and spread my cheese all over it (a quarter cup isn’t a lot of cheese but on this size tortilla it sort of works).

Then I topped one side with my canned chicken (you can also grill up chicken breast tenderloins. The canned is easier on my pouch.) and the onions and peppers.

After a few moments, fold one side over the other and press it gently just to get the cheese working as the “glue” of the quesadilla.

Flip and cook the other side until browned and crisp.

Transfer to a cutting board and cut into wedges. When I share with the little diva I make two of these which makes two wedges for each of us. You can cut the wedges smaller if you like.

I make these in a million variations and I’ll be sharing those over the summer. I served grapes with our little feast and then me and the kid watched her “I can watch it a million times” movie: The Sound of Music. Otherwise known to me as, the longest movie EVER once you’ve seen it ten times. But I like it. And I love her. So it was perfect.

Enjoy.

Thai Shrimp Salad

Are you gearing up for that family BBQ yet? If you’re early out (or if eating around non-ops works your nerves), be sure to check out my survival guide to summer BBQ’s to help you deal.

In the meantime, let’s move forward with recipes you might pass. This one is for folks who have families that like (or are receptive to) international cuisine or those who have “adventurous palettes.”

It’s a spin-off of a submission by my friend Dee who remade a similar chicken salad of mine. So in this one post you are actually getting THREE choices on two different variations of this recipe. Aren’t choices grand???

Nik’s Thai Shrimp Salad

Ingredients

1 lb. of steamed shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cucumber, finely diced (you can peel if you want, I did not)
1 c. matchstick carrots
½ c. unflavored Greek yogurt
1 heaping tbsp low-fat mayo
2 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut) OR 1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 packet of no-calorie sweetener
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp minced garlic
¼ tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
1 tsp lime juice (I used the squeezy kind that you get in the produce section)
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Optional: (and not recommended for new post-ops), 1 stalk of celery, finely diced.

Directions:

Combine first four ingredients, plus celery if you are using, in a bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together the yogurt, mayo and powdered peanut. If you using peanut butter, nuke it about 15 seconds to soften it up.

Once that’s well mixed, add your spices and mix again. Taste. The peanut taste should come through and it should be tangy (from the yogurt and lime juice) and just ever so slightly sweet and spicy. If it is all those things, you are good to go.

Heap dressing on top of the shrimp mixture and mix it thoroughly.

Refrigerate until ready to eat!

This stuff is sooooooo GOOD! I put the recipe for a small batch of it (just in case you’d like to make it for yourself). It’s easy to double it and I would suggest you do because it’s not going to last long on the picnic table! I’d serve it with Bibb or Iceberg whole lettuce leaves to make a lettuce wrap. That’s always fun.

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!

Nik's Sweet Potato & Asparagus Egg Casserole



I am so happy! Besides the usual reasons, I am happy because I have FINALLY discovered a way that I can eat sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes and I have a turbulent post-op history. Indulge me a moment of recollection.

For the first year following surgery, sweet potatoes made me violently ill — as did all foods that were orange (yes, even my beloved baby carrots). I don’t know why. I didn’t ask why. The pouch was (is?) in charge and I obeyed.

Somewhere between that first year and the beginning of year three, my pouch and sweet potatoes became less adversary toward one another (I don’t know when as I did not eat them in that time). BUT…I discovered a new and not-so-wonderful side effect: in the absence of protein, those suckers put me into a carb coma faster than any other food I have eaten post op! Sweet potatoes, in my system, are better than sleeping pills and alcohol combined.

Needless to say, I was about to give up on the prospect of ever having my favorite “healthier spud” again. That is, until I saw a sweet potato frittata in a magazine and decided to give it a go — Nik style of course!

Nik’s Sweet Potato & Asparagus Egg Casserole

 

NOTE: I’ve been asked several times why I don’t make these into “bites” or mini-muffins or even a regular frittata. The answer is simple. It works better for my household and plan to use a casserole dish. This recipe works as a frittata and as egg muffins. If you like them better that way, go for it! You know what I always say — play with your food!

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 slices of bacon (I used pork)
1 bunch of asparagus (I actually used canned to save time but you can use fresh as well), cut into ¼ inch pieces
1 medium Vidalia onion, cut however you like (I used thin rings)
1 tbsp butter (Jen Stockinger, you will be proud. I have come to terms with actual butter)
4 eggs + 4 egg whites
½ c. unflavored Greek yogurt
Salt, Pepper

Directions:

Dice up bacon and fry it in a pan. Set aside the cooked bacon pieces.

Combine diced sweet potatoes and asparagus pieces in a bowl. Toss with salt, pepper and any seasonings you like then transfer to a baking sheet sprayed heavily with non-stick (no you don’t have to coat them in oil for them to roast well). Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, checking halfway through and flipping as necessary.

In a pan, melt butter and add onions and cook on a medium flame until very caramelized (browned). About 10 minutes or so.

In a separate bowl, combine whole eggs, egg whites and Greek yogurt. Whisk until well mixed.

In whatever vessel you will use to cook this thing, combined the sweet potato/asparagus mixture, bacon and onion well. Pour the eggs into that mixture and then mix to make sure eggs are incorporated throughout.

Cook in your (still) 375 oven for about 30 minutes or until set.

Allow to cool before cutting into pieces.

A few notes about this baby:

It’s DENSE. One small slice and I was good to go.

The topper you see is simply unflavored Greek yogurt with some onion powder and a bit of salt mixed in. The casserole is fairly sweet so the topper makes a nice counterbalance.

No dumping! No violent reactions! No carb coma! WOOT!

I imagine this would be a nice dish to serve for a brunch. I think it’s sort of rustic looking personally. Mine was especially so because I slightly overcooked my potatoes. I don’t mind that as I have this thing for slightly burnt stuff.

At any rate…enjoy responsibly.