Banana-Peanut Butter Protein "Minute Pudding"

So we survived Hurricane Sandy!!! Yay!

Not that I had any doubts. But still, I'm grateful my house wasn't damaged, my electricity stayed on. I'm at home today as the mayor has asked us not to drive until crews get the roads clear.

So I thought this would be the PERFECT opportunity to share this neat recipe I've been making. I can't claim to be the inventor of this but I honestly can't remember where I saw this before. Anyhoo...whoever invented it, wherever you are, thank you!

Nik's Banana Peanut Butter Protein "Minute Pudding"
(Makes 2-4 servings, depending on your surgery age)

Ingredients:

1/2 c. cottage cheese
1 scoop Chike Banana Magic protein powder (or banana protein of your liking)
2 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanuts, 85% less calories than peanut butter!)
2-3 tbsp milk (the better your blender, the less milk you need)
No-calorie sweetener, to taste

Directions:

Put everything in your blender and mix for a full two minutes (kind of like the Triple X Method for blending shakes).

Transfer into appropriate amount of cups. Refrigerate unused portions immediately. Or share. Either way!

I won't lie. The cottage cheese taste does not magically disappear in this. But it sort of reads like cheesecake. Which, to me, is a good thing. Don't use too much sweetener though. I've been there, done that. Not a pretty scenario. If you feel so inclined, top with sugar or fat-free whipped cream and enjoy!

While I don't give full nutritional stats, I can tell you that each of MY servings (for me it's 2 servings) of this stuff have about 23g of protein. Can't be that with a stick!

What do I mean by WLS-friendly Holiday Recipes?

This is my Sweet (and Salty!) Potato Casserole.

It was a big hit at both the Baltimore and Pittsburgh Bariatric Foodie Holiday Food Tastings. (If you were at either and agree - holler!)

But this casserole is keeping a secret. And no, that secret is not that it has added protein (although it does).

Those who are in possession of the Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Guide (sold by itself AND as part of the Holiday Survival Kit) will get to find out the secret (and it's not in the recipe you have!) either on November 10 or 17 at a special webinar for those who have purchased the guide! (More on that below)

Want the recipe? Want the tips? Consider treating yourself to a Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Guide! It contains swaps for popular holiday favorites like baked mac 'n cheese, green bean casserole and, yes, even protein amp'd sweet potatoes! Plus, there's tips for coping with the holidays, incorporating protein in your holiday dishes and...

And as I said before, with your purchase you get a special webinar where I'll answer any and all holiday recipe questions you have and even help you make over some of YOUR unique recipes! (Btw, if you already purchased, I sent an invite to the webinar to the email you used to make your purchase! You must register to attend the webinar so check your email - including your junk folder - and sign up!)

So what are you waiting for? Let's get healthy this holiday season! Click here to order yours!

Weight-loss Surgery Friendly Indian-Style Creamed Spinach

For those of you who are excited about this recipe, you have my girl Hillery to thank (yes, Hillery, your Foodie Fitness Correspondent). One day she graciously agreed to help me mow through style La Petite Diva's hair and she was cooking this. And me being the person I am, I have stalked her for the recipe ever since.

Here is the recipe she used. But before you go there, please heed the following suggested modifications!

• Instead of using 2 tbsp of olive oil I used one and sprayed down my pan generously with nonstick (the olive oil contributes to the flavor, which is why I used some but not all)
• Do NOT use the amount of cayenne called for in this recipe. It will kill you! My family likes spicy food and it damn near killed us. If you want a slight kick, go with 1/4 tsp. If you want full-on spicy, go with 1/2 tsp. Trust me on this one!
• Instead of the sugar it calls for with the spinach add two packets of Splenda. Trust me this will be enough.
• I suggest using unflavored Greek yogurt (nonfat) instead of evaporated milk. With the evaporated milk it was just too watery and the liquid just would not reduce! Since you add it at the very end, it will retain a smooth consistency.
• Lastly, instead of naan, I used a pop rice to dip mine. Never heard of pop rice? Well allow me to introduce you to it!

It has 16 calories per "cake", 4g of carbs, virtually no protein but...it's 16 calories! Mine was onion flavored. They sell these at many grocery stores (I get mine from Ye Olde Amish) under various brand names including Amy's Magic Pop or Cocopop.

Lastly, here's some lovely food porn of the process of making this:

This is the onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes simmering.

Pureed cooked spinach, fresh from my fake Magic Bullet (aka $19.99 version from Wal-Mart that works just as well!)

Mixing the spinach with the onion/tomato mixture...

Me scooping it out of the pan with a piece of pop rice!

If you wanted to make an exotic night of it for the fam, might I suggest my Thai Chicken Skewers (which work perfectly fine on a grill pan if you don't feel like firing up the old grill), WLS-friendly samosas (which work well with either Carbquik OR Atkins Baking Mix) and a side of Thai Iced Tea for the fam?

Oh...one more note. This dish goes beautifully atop my cauliflower rice (Throw some peas and a few tablespoons of coconut milk in the rice if you want the full effect!)

YUMMY!

Play with your food!

Items Every Weight Loss Patient Should Have in Case of an Emergency

Hey, Foodies.

Today's recipe, WLS-friendly Indian-style Creamed Spinach, is coming. I promise! Lookit:

But for right now I want to get serious for a moment. For those of us on the eastern seaboard Hurricane Sandy is headed our way. And we've seen what hurricanes can do. Here in Baltimore, my biggest concern is electrical outages. Last summer we had a derecho (I'd never heard the term before but apparently it is a very windy storm) and it knocked out power to thousands. Thankfully, we were spared but we are extremely vulnerable since everything in our house (including the stove) runs on electricity.

During emergencies you hear the standard issue "water, bread, milk, toilet paper, flashlight" advice but I thought I'd also share the WLS-specific items in my emergency pantry.

To make protein drinks without electricity I stock up on:

• Obviously, protein powder of some sort
• Shelf-stable milk (pictured above). It's usually in the same aisle as cereal. While it does not need to be refrigerated so long as it is unopened, once it's open you need to use it because it will go bad after a while. My advice? They make these in 4 oz. boxes (that look like juice boxes), so pick yourself up a pack of those. They make them in every kind of milk (soy, almond, cow's)
• A blender bottle. And my suggestion is the one with the wire ball just because I find it mixes more thoroughly.

For when you get tired of protein shakes, here's some other things you might stock up on:

• Turkey Jerky
• Dried, roasted edamame
• Turkey pepperoni
• Canned tuna and/or chicken (and if you can get your hands on packets of light mayo and/or mustard that helps as well)
• Soy crisps (although don't go crazy with these!)
• TVP (can be mixed with water/seasonings to sub for ground meat in a pinch. If you're saying "what's that?" click here)
• Protein bars (if you can find Quest, they are great on the stats and I also suggest Pure Protein)

I invite you all to share more items you think might help your fellow Foodies in the event of a massive power outage. The goal here is to stay safe and meet your basic needs, NOT to necessarily be eating gourmet through a hurricane.

Stay tuned later on today for the spinach recipe and most of all stay safe, Foodies!

BF Two-fer: Nik's Twix Protein Shake & Chocolate Chip Cookie Protein Shake

This is actually a two-fer. By accident of, of course. This post was supposed to just be about the Twix shake. Cuz it's almost Halloween. And I promised yummy recipes!

But here's what had happened.

I had one little portion of sugar-free caramel syrup left. I put it on the counter so I could photo the recipe. Well, while I was out my kids, motivated from my last rant about them walking by trash and not picking it up, threw the bottle away, thinking I was done with it. The lesson? Be careful of the timing of your rants, parents!

So I am still going to give you the recipe but there's this other recipe I've also been making with another of the syrups in the Twix recipe so I thought I'd show you that one too. This is me. Being generous. Weird.

Nik's Twix Protein Shake

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Chike Chocolate Bliss)
• 1 tbsp. Davinci sugar-free caramel syrup
• 1 tbsp. Davinci sugar-free cookie dough syrup
• Ice

Nik's Chocolate Chip Cookie Protein Shake

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. milk
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Chike Very Vanilla)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp Davinci sugar-free cookie dough syrup
• 1/8 tsp. imitation butter extract
• Ice

Directions for both: Combine all ingredients in a blender. Mix according to the Triple X Method. Or not. Your choice!

So now you have two MORE recipes to help you fend off the Halloween candy. Now...I know what some of you are thinking. "Nik, what's up with the syrups we have to purchase online???" 

You're right. Many of my shakes do use syrups you have to purchase online as opposed to buying them in the store. BUT I do try to use them as I did here, in several different recipes so you have more than one idea of how to use them. BUT for those that are still wary, I have to tell you the Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Kit (click the link for details) is a great way to "try before you buy" some specialty items I use in my shakes.

If you haven't already gotten your Survival Kit, there are still some available! Remember, I'm only selling 200 of them this year and more than 100 are already spoken for! Also remember when you purchase one you are entered into a raffle to win a BodyMedia Fit Link Armband (read our review here) that measures the calories you burn every day to help you reach your goals! Click here to learn more about the Holiday Survival Kit. 

And keep playing with your food!