What the HECK is a "Holiday Food Tasting???"

Hello my wonderful Foodies!

I just wanted to take a moment to talk a bit more about the 2011 Holiday Food Tasting. I’ve gotten some good questions about the event and want to answer them here.

Why are you only doing this event in Baltimore and Pittsburgh?

Do you want the long or the short version of that story? Basically I am not a large operation and so, as much as I want to take Bariatric Foodie any and everywhere, I have to tend my resources wisely (which, for me, means staying close to home aka Baltimore). I do hope to travel to more places next year and look forward to updating you on that when I have more information.

Ok, so what’s the event again?

You can get specific dates/times/admission prices for events here. Long story short: it’s a gathering where you get to taste weight loss surgery friendly holiday dishes, including some of your favorite side dishes, food you can pass (successfully) at holiday parties, desserts and holiday themed protein drinks.

I realize that sometimes trying a new recipe (and especially during the holidays) can be tricky. This event will allow you to see how the food is made (I will demonstrate!), taste it and go home with all the recipes. There will also be a lot of other holiday fun, prizes and swag. One attendee last year said, “it was like Thanksgiving dinner, just for us post-ops!”

What is this at-home thingie you keep talking about?

I apologize for the tardiness in getting the information out about that. I’m trying to tweak the packaging so the darn thing doesn’t cost so much to ship! The Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Kit gives you all the take-home stuff from the live event, straight to your door.

Every attendee of the food tasting and everyone who orders a Holiday Survival Kit will receive the following:

• All the recipes from the 2011 Food Tasting
• All the recipes from the 2010 Food Tasting
• A downloadable shopping list for all the ingredients
• A set of “Bariatric Foodie Survival Guides” to making it through the holidays
• A complete guide to baking with added protein 

In addition, for the Holiday Survival Kit, I am sending you a sample kit of each of the two holiday themed protein drinks I’ll demonstrate at the live event. The sample kits come with everything you need (except the liquid) to make these yummy protein shakes and you’ll get the recipe so you can keep making them throughout the holiday season! (Live attendees, these same Kits will be available at the live event for a small fee.)

Lord willing, the Survival Kits will be on sale by the end of this week and I’ll post lots more information about them. Please stay tuned!

Can’t I just get the recipes from the blog?

The recipes that will be presented at this year’s event will NOT be shared on the blog. To make sure you get in on these good recipes, you’ll want to either attend the live event (and get the added bonus of TASTING the dishes as well) or order a Survival Kit.

Can I buy my tickets at the door?

Sorry, but you cannot. And to get the best price on these events you should buy your tickets as early as possible! Advance admission for each event is $25. The advance ticket sales for the Baltimore event end October 8. The advance sales for the Pittsburgh event end October 15. You can order your tickets securely online here on the blog (look to your right at the top).

So if you’re in Maryland or Pennsylvania (or any place that is easily accessible to both), I’d love to meet you in person! If not, stay tuned for more information about the Survival Kits!

If you have any other questions about this event, by all means, hit me up!

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo a la Nik

(Yesterday on Bariatric Foodie….)

You made a spaghetti squash. Possibly your first. Congrats! Now let’s translate it into a yummy meal.

I love spaghetti squash because it makes a great family type meal. The divas know (intellectually) that it is not pasta, but seriously? Anything covered in sauce is going to be good. The trick is to make it a health benefit as well.

We like Alfredo sauce. A lot. Unfortunately, it has a gamillion calories, so I have to make some concessions to make it all work.

First off, I make it into a casserole. What does that do? Casserole = finite amount of sauce. With a traditional pasta dish you tend to dump sauce on it and not think about how much. With a casserole you add sauce then reheat it, which infuses that flavor into everything in the casserole, removing the need for a lot of sauce.

I could write a book on this stuff (wink), but I think I’ll give you the recipe now:

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo a la Nik

2 yellow squash, diced
2 zucchini, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
Yield of one spaghetti squash
½ c. skim milk
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese (you can get the shelf stuff but grating your own is so much better!)
Fresh ground pepper (to taste) and sea salt
½ a jar Alfredo sauce (I use Ragu reduced fat)
4 o 5 slices of Provolone cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray down a sautee pan with nonstick and cook chicken breast cubes thoroughly and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
In the same pan, sautee both types of squash and onions until just tender. Add garlic and mix well. Transfer to same bowl as chicken.

Turn burner down to low and add milk, scraping up the bits at the bottom of the pan. When the edges of the milk begin to bubble, add the Alfredo sauce, mix well and warm through.

Add spaghetti squash to the large mixing bowl and mix chicken and veggies completely.

Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and mix again.

Add the Alfredo sauce and mix into the veggie mixture thoroughly. Transfer to a 13x9 casserole dish.

Top with slices of provolone cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

This is a seriously yummy dinner. And here’s the kicker. When you give it to the kids…and they wolf it…you’ve snuck not one, but THREE veggies into their meal!

I let that fact slip to La Grande Diva a few days ago. Messed up her whole world.

And THAT...my lovelies...is what I call playing with my food!

Have a great weekend!

How to Make Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is one of those veggies where there are as many ways to prepare it as people to prepare it.

That is to say, my method isn’t the only method, just the one that works best for me. If you have another method, by all means share it with the Foodie Nation (in the comments section)!

Wait…let’s back up a minute.

If you’ve never heard of spaghetti squash, they look something like this:



When cooked the “meat” of the squash is stringy, much like angel hair pasta. Cooking one is probably about the easiest thing in the world. Here’s my four step process.

Step One:

Place your squash in a cooking pan and fill it up to halfway up the sides with water. Cover it with aluminum foil and pop it into a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes. The photo I used is cut in half. I usually don't bother to do that, though.

Step Two:

Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely before handling it. Seriously. I theorize 99% of spaghetti squash injuries are a result of skipping this step! When it's cool, fork test it. The fork should easily pierce the skin and go into the flesh.

Step Three:

Once it's cooled is when I usually slice it in half length wise (and might I say it's MUCH easier to do it at that point). See the center part that is sort of gooey with seeds in it? Yeah, scoop that out with a spoon, but JUST THAT PART.

Step Four:

Then run your spoon (or fork) just under the tough outer skin to extract the good stuff into a bowl. If you see any seeds, pick them out. Usually where there are seeds, there is more gooey stuff, so if you see it, get it. It’s not pleasant to eat!
Ok, so you’ve made your first spaghetti squash. Now what? You eat it! How? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

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.

2011 Holiday Food Tasting Tickets (for Baltimore) Now on Sale!!!

No idea what I'm talking about? Understandable. Click here...then come back!!!

So like I said above, the tickets to the Baltimore event are now on sale! Unfortunately, I am still working out the final price on the at home tasting kits but I'll post information about that no later than next week. Just to re-cap, the Baltimore event will be:

Saturday, October 29th, 2-4 p.m.

701 S. Charles Street

Baltimore, MD 21230

(Christ Lutheran Church)

Admission: $25 until October 8

$40 per person from October 8 -21 

NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR

For those in the 'burgh...save Saturday, November 5. That will be the date for the event in Pittsburgh. Tickets for that event will go on sale by September 8 and there will be an announcement when the pay button is up on the blog.

Foodies in the MD/VA/DC/PA area, I really hope to see you at this event. There's something for everyone:

• For pre-ops: You'll get a good glimpse of post-op holiday eating and in my demos I will show you some cooking techniques that will serve you well year round!
• For new post-ops: If this is your first holiday season and you're anything like me, you are wondering what you'll do when faced with holiday parties and family dinners. These recipes are post-op tested, non-op approved, which means you can share these wls-friendly dishes with your family and (chances are) they will eat it too!
• For further out post-ops: Perhaps you're trying to get back on track OR perhaps now that you've conquered your excess weight you want to get your family healthy. Either way, you'll find great recipes and inspiration!

So many times we think "well I can't eat that much so it doesn't matter what we cook." IT DOES! We deserve to be a part of holiday food traditions. Just because they are no longer the center of our lives doesn't mean they are not important.

I invite you to come and see what I keep raving about (and will continue to rave about until the event is over...and maybe even after that). There will be food for all food stages (yes, even liquids), I'll have your favorite holiday side dishes, desserts, holiday party food and even holiday themed protein shakes! And (perhaps most meaningful to me) there will be other post-ops who can and will share their holiday experiences.

Oh yeah...and there will be me. I'm always good for at least a few moments of entertainment.

So that's my (first) pitch. I am so excited about this event and hope to see you there!