It Really Is Important

Yep! It really is important to check the ingredient and nutritional listing on items before you buy them. Hot chocolate, for instance. Now who doesn't love hot chocolate? I know Bob and I do! And we love Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Which do you think would be better for wls patients, diet or no sugar added? I automatically reached for the no sugar added. Wouldn't you? Now click on the link and take a look at the nutritional information. Wow! 7 grams of sugar and 60 calories! So I picked up the box of diet hot chocolate. Well now, that's much better...2 grams of sugar and 25 calories.

So here's the lesson. Check the labels! Don't just assume a product is okay because of the wording on the front of the box.

Hmmm...I think I'll have a nice hot chocolate tonight! LOL!

If It's Yogurt, It Must Be Cheesecake!

So remember the Cheesecake Pie recipe I posted a while back? Well, did you know that wls patients really need to eat yogurt every day to keep things, ahem, moving along. Well I love yogurt and we all love my cheesecake pie so one day I made the cheesecake pie but just left it in the bowl in the fridge. No pie crust, just the cheesecake part. Yum! Now I can have cheesecake for dessert every night! And it's just my yogurt! Yeah...I know! Wanna be really decadent? Put a spoon of sugar free cherry pie filling or sugar free Smucker's strawberry topping on top then a dollop of sugar free Cool Whip. I also like to add a teaspoon of milled flax seed to the yogurt and stir it in before I put any topping. Good Omega-3 and fiber!

Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

Busy times for women call for choices...1) eating out, 2) a husband and/or children who will cook dinner, 3) a crockpot, 4) a pressure cooker. I utilize all of the above. Today we're gonna talk about crockpots. I don't know who invented them, but they were a genius and I hope they are living in luxury somewhere. Is there anyone in America who doesn't have at least one? I have three! I know the newest thing is digital and yes, they are really cool looking. That's one of my three. But if I had known then what I know now, I would not have bought it. I thought that since it was digital, you could set it to go from high to low to warm. Not so. I still had to be home to turn it to a different temperature. The digital was really just a fancy timer. Set how many hours to cook at which temperature. It would countdown then just shut off. That's not what I needed! And I had stuff actually burn in my crockpot. They seem to be getting hotter and hotter the last few years. So I got tired of that and got a new one.  Love it! It cooks low and slow! No more burned food in the crockpot! Yea!!! I still have to turn the knob to a different temperature, but at least if I leave it on low all day it won't burn!

Well, now that I've finished my "rant" about crockpots, how about we talk recipe. I was looking around the BariatricEating.com message group and "Mark from Chicago" mentioned he had this in the crockpot and was looking forward to dinner that night. Well, you know of course that I immediately wrote to him asking for the recipe. So here it is! And believe me when I tell you that it is so delicious it will make you drool!
                    
Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 medium onion , chopped
8 ounces canned mushrooms (I slice up a few baby portobellas)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup

Combine ingredients in crockpot and cook on low all day.

Experiment!

So I have a cooking blog...I must be a good cook. I'm okay, some might even say pretty good. So if I'm not this great, fancy cook why do I think I can write a good cooking blog? Because I experiment. Don't be afraid of it! So you ruin a piece of chicken and a few vegetables making a dish that didn't work. What did you lose? A dollar...maybe two? So what? You think of a flavor combination for a protein shake that might be good. Try it out! Doesn't taste good? Pour it down the drain and make another one! That's how you become a good cook or a "mixologist". Really! Today for lunch I had an idea for a new chicken dish so I defrosted a boneless, skinless thigh. I sliced a carrot and half an onion. I placed the veggies on the bottom of one of my stoneware baking dishes then put the chicken on top. Sprinkled seasoning, put it in the microwave (I love how you can microwave chicken in stoneware baking dishes). Well apparently I thought it would take longer (10 minutes) than it actually did. I totally killed that chicken! I had a hard time cutting a piece off with a steak knife! I chewed on that piece of chicken and had to spit it out! It tasted good but I knew it would get soooo stuck in my pouch! LOL! But I'll try it again until I get the timing right then I'll post it on here. That's how you get to be a good cook! Experiment! Come on...you can do it!

Keep Going to Keep Going!

Okay, Thanksgiving has come and gone. Christmas is coming quickly. So you work all day, shop for gifts during lunch or on the way home (or both), get home, cook dinner, clean up, etc. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it! Where do you find all the energy to do all that? The first thing you do is add one more thing to your "to do" list. Exercise. Don't skip it. Keep to your schedule. Yes, it will limit your time a bit more, but that hour of exercise will give you hours more of energy to get everything done. Promise. When I need more energy for busy times, I even add in extra exercise. Nothing major...just little extra things. Park at the end of the parking lot. You're already getting in your 10,000 steps every day (I hope!) so add in an extra 1,000. Swim? Add a couple extra laps. The leaves are falling...go outside and rake for a few minutes. Do some yoga in the morning to get going. Or do some calming yoga poses before bed. Have a stationary bike? Pedal for 10 minutes while dinner's cooking. You will feel better through the holiday season and have more resistance to "food pushers" (and they're so abundant and persistent this time of year aren't they!) by keeping to your exercise routine.

Caramel Apple Crisp

I wanted something for dessert tonight so I grabbed a can of no sugar added apple pie filling while I was at the grocery store this afternoon. It's Fall! You have to make something with apples in the Fall! I had apple crisp on my mind and knew I had some oatmeal at home so I thought I could either find a good recipe or figure it out for myself. Well, I found a great recipe on this blog. Linda Farnsworth is a great cook and is so generous to share so many of her recipes.

So now you've got the apple crisp recipe, what about ice cream? C'mon! You can't have apple crisp without vanilla ice cream on top!  Well...here you are! Wonderful, tasty, and nutritous protein ice cream.

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 Good Old Vanilla Protein Shake (make sure you blend until thick and very frothy)

Ice cream maker (I use this one)

Start your ice cream maker and slowly pour your vanilla shake into the ice cream maker. I like to cover the hole in the top with aluminum foil to help keep in the cold. Set your timer for 20 minutes. When it's done you can eat it right away (as soft serve) or pack it into a container and freeze for about an hour. We usually eat ours as soft serve, but when I'm going to put it on top of a dessert I like to freeze it for a little while so it doesn't melt all over my lovely sweet dessert.

Segmenting an Orange

I have tried eating oranges since my gastric bypass, but the membranes just wouldn't digest. And it was painful too. So I tried sectioning the orange and pulling off the membranes. Whew! Way too much trouble. So I resigned myself to not eating oranges...just too much trouble to make them edible. Then I saw this technique on my favorite channel, Food Network. Kind of messy but it's really easy and only takes a couple of minutes. And oh! I learned a fancy food word. The little segments are called 'supremes'. Ha! Fancy that!
Enjoy the video!

Pan Fried Shrimp

I know a lot of people can't eat shrimp after gastric bypass. Thankfully, I'm not one of them! But if you are, and I'm really sorry about that, feel free to skip reading this recipe. I like shrimp any way I can get it...boiled, broiled, sauteed, pan fried...hmmm I'm starting to sound like Bubba. LOL! Oh well! Today for lunch I wanted a nice salad. Then I decided to put some roasted veggies in it. Mmmm, starting to sound really good! Then I thought of the shrimp silently waiting for me in the freezer. That was it! That's just exactly what my salad needed. So I put some shrimp (I use cleaned, raw, tail-on shrimp) to defrost in a cup of water while I got my veggies ready and into the oven. On to my lovely shrimp!

Pan Fried Shrimp

fresh or defrosted shrimp (leave the tail on for now)
1-1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Pat the shrimp dry and place on a paper towel to season. (Why dirty a cutting board for 5 or 6 shrimp huh?) Sprinkle a little salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides. Live a little and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese too! Heat the oil (medium heat) in a skillet until it is hot enough to add the shrimp. Add the shrimp and pan fry for about two minutes. Turn the shrimp and cook another two minutes. Remove from heat and place on a sheet of aluminum foil, folded in half (another dish saver!) and let the shrimp rest for 2-3 minutes.

At this point, if you're going to eat them as is, keep the tails on and you have a nice little handle. If you're adding it to a salad like I did today, pull the tails off, cut the shrimp if you like and place in the salad.

Now there's just one more thing to do...EAT!

Lemon Blueberry Shake

Two of my favorite things...lemons and blueberries! Together! In a milkshake! Need I say more?

Lemon Blueberry Shake

1-2 cups ice
1 scoop vanilla protein mix
2 drops lemon extract

1/8 piece lemon (juice only), optional

2 tablespoons sugar free lemon pudding mix

1 ounce fresh or frozen blueberries

4-6 ounces soy or almond milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Avocado

Avocados are in season and that makes me happy. Happy...Happy...Happy! I didn't care for them before gastric bypass, but now I love them. They're great with a nice piece of pan-fried fish or chicken for lunch. Yes, they're high fat, but heart healthy fat. They are very good for you. Eat them! Enjoy them!

Avocado

1 ripe avocado (they are ripe when darker in color and give slightly when fingered)
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh lemon juice (can use bottled if that's all you have)

Here's a video on how to cut an avocado. Cut avocado from top to bottom and back around. Twist each side in opposing directions (like you used to twist an oreo cookie to get to the filling!) to open. Take your knife and carefully whack it into the seed. Twist slightly and pull seed out. Now you're ready to dice the avocado. Run the tip of your knife through the flesh to make diagonal cuts in both directions without cutting through the peel. Now you can take a tablespoon and just spoon out the chunks of avocado! Do the same thing on the other half. Yay! You have just diced your first avocado. Sprinkle a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Stir and taste!

You're gonna want to dice your avocado just a few minutes before serving. They will turn brown, even with the lemon juice. It doesn't hurt the flavor though so eat on!

Peppermint Patty Shake

This shake is one of Bob's favorites. His grandfather used to keep After Eight mints around the house and Bob loved them so when I saw mint extract in the supermarket I knew just what to do with it! It's pretty easy too. Make a Death by Chocolate shake and add several drops of mint extract before blending. It's that easy! If you use peppermint extract it's more like a York Peppermint Patty. Gotta love it!

Roasted Vegetables

There are a lot of vegetables that I don't care for when they're cooked in the "traditional" way. You know what I mean...you think about asparagus and you automatically think "steamed". Yuck! But asparagus is delicious roasted. As are brussel sprouts, believe it or not. So next time you're in the supermarket and see some beautiful, fresh vegetables, think about roasting them. You can even defrost some frozen corn and roast that!

Roasted Vegetables

various vegetables, cut into similar sizes

olive oil

salt and pepper

dried thyme

Preheat oven to 425F. Place your veggies on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, then mix to coat all your veggies. Spread them out into a thin layer and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and dried thyme. (I like thyme the best, but you can experiment with your seasonings!) Bake for 20-25 minutes until nicely roasted.

Caramel Apples

Who doesn't think about caramel apples when the weather turns cool? Our state fair opened today and it made me think about caramel apples. Deep fried corn dogs too...but that's another story! I found some beautiful honey crisp apples today at the supermarket and decided that I deserved a treat so I bought one. After I washed it I cut it up into slices and dipped the slices into some sugar free caramel topping. I could only eat two slices of apple, but they were wonderful!

Pan Fried Tilapia

Lunch at my house is usually either fish (tilapia or tuna) or chicken tenderloins. And they're usually pan fried. Pan fried doesn't mean you have to cook with a lot of oil, even in a stainless steel skillet. Best tip of the week: Watch the free pan frying video lesson on Rouxbe Cooking School online. (I've been pan frying for years and learned a lot.) When you're done watching the video...pan fry some fish!

Pan Fried Tilapia

1 tilapia fillet (or another similar fish)
cooking oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Italian salad dressing dry mix (available at most supermarkets)

If your fish is frozen, defrost. Pat dry and sprinkle salt, pepper, and salad dressing mix. Pat seasonings into fish. Do this on both sides.

As explained in the video, heat your pan until hot enough to add oil. Heat oil until hot enough to add fish. Pan fry for a few minutes on each side until fish is cooked through and flaky. Since I'm cooking in oil, I like to place the fish on a paper towel to blot off the oil before serving.

Cherry Vanilla Shake

Cherry Vanilla ice cream was always one of my favorite ice creams. So of course I had to translate that into a protein shake. Which, by the way, also makes an awesome ice cream. Just chop up some defrosted cherries and mix into the ice cream when it comes out of the ice cream maker.

Cherry Vanilla Shake

1-2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon regular flavor coffee creamer
sweetener to taste (optional)
2 drops cherry extract
5 frozen cherries
4-6 ounces milk (I use soy or almond milk)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Mexican Chocolate Shake

Did I just hear another "WHAT?" coming from you? Mexican chocolate has cinnamon in it. I didn't know that until after I started making this protein shake. I saw them talking about it on Food Network. I just called it my chocolate cinnamon shake, but Mexican Chocolate Shake sounds so much more exotic, don't you think? Mexican chocolate can have other spices in it like allspice, nutmeg, nuts and even chilies. So if you want to be authentic, go for it! I might try the spices and nuts, but I think I'll leave the chilies out of my protein shakes, thank you very much!

So what's the recipe? Well here's the easy part...make a Death by Chocolate Shake with three shakes of ground cinnamon in it! Ta-da! Easy huh? Hey! Maybe I should get an Easy Button!

Good Old Vanilla Shake

Is your vanilla shake everything it can be? Or is it just kind of blah? I'll bet you think that with all the stuff I add into my shakes, I never drink a plain old vanilla shake. Well...you're wrong! Ha! I love love love my vanilla shakes. Are they plain? Well, that depends on your definition of plain. LOL! I add stuff to my vanilla protein powder to enhance the flavor and give me the vanilla shake flavor I want. And that's not plain!

Good Old Vanilla Shake

1-2 cups ice
1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix
1 tablespoon regular flavor coffee creamer
1 pinch instant coffee
2 drops vanilla extract
sweetener, to taste (optional)
4-6 ounces milk (I use soy or almond milk)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Note...Get creative with your vanilla shake! I saw some french vanilla extract at Walmart today. Gonna try that soon. Get some french vanilla coffee creamer. Explore your vanilla!!!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Remember the recipe for Quick Barbecue Chicken? Well, I hope you cooked an extra piece of chicken...cause if you did, you can now make yourself a bbq chicken pizza! Woohoo!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 piece leftover bbq chicken with sauce

1 flatbread (I get mine at Publix near the deli)

1 slice onion, pulled apart
cheddar cheese, shredded
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 425F. Place flatbread on baking sheet and spread a couple of tablespoons leftover bbq sauce over the flatbread. Sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the sauce. Cut or pull the chicken apart and place on the flatbread. You can spoon a little more sauce on top of the chicken, if you like. Sprinkle a little more cheddar cheese over the chicken; top with onion pieces. Sprinkle some mozzarella cheese over top and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Slice into six pieces and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Shake

Nothing says Fall like pumpkins. You see them everywhere...carved for Halloween...pies for Thanksgiving. And now protein shakes! Best of all, you can have them any time of the year! This recipe was inspired by a shake recipe on BariatricEating, a wonderful online support group by Susan Maria Leach.

Pumpkin Pie Shake
(used with permission)

1-2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix

2 drops vanilla extract

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon sugar free caramel topping
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
sweetener, to taste (optional)
4-6 ounces milk (I use soy or almond milk)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

UPDATE ALERT!  A wonderful variation is to substitute sugar free butterscotch pudding mix for the vanilla pudding mix! It really brings out the pumpkin and caramel flavors! Go ahead...ask me how I know!

Peanut Butter Cookie Shake

Peanut butter cookies are wonderful! The smell...the texture...the taste...the sweetness. Well, I don't do well with the sweetness anymore. Even the best peanut butter cookie in the world is not worth "dumping" on the sugar in it. And yes, I could get a special sugar substitute and make some sugar free cookies, but there are two big drawbacks to that. #1-All those cookies would call to me (actually they would yell at me). #2-I have always hated baking cookies. I don't mind baking cakes or pies, just please don't ask me to bake cookies. But I still want that flavor, so you know I had to come up with a protein shake that tastes like a peanut butter cookie! FYI...this makes incredible ice cream!

Peanut Butter Cookie Shake

1-2 cups ice
1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix
1 tablespoon regular flavor coffee creamer
1 pinch instant coffee
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 drop LorAnn peanut butter candy oil (all flavors are sugar free)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (or PB2)
sweetener, to taste (you want this to be a sweet shake to emulate a cookie)
4-6 ounces milk (I use soy or almond milk)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Note: LorAnn candy oils are very strong. You really only use 1 tiny drop per serving.

Quick Barbecued Chicken

Okay, I'm from the South. It's my job to eat barbecue. Really! It is! Would I lie to you? But I don't always want to go outside to cook it on the grill. Yes, sometimes I want that good, smokey flavor. But sometimes I just wish I could make really good barbecue in my kitchen. Well, leave it to Lorna Sass to come up with a pressure cooker recipe. This recipe is from her book, Cooking Under Pressure, which I highly recommend. See the sidebar of my favorite tools for my favorite pressure cooker. Makes my cooking life so much easier. Don't ask where's the picture. It smelled so good when it finished cooking that we just ate it up right away! I had a breast leftover, which I used a couple of days later for pizza. I'll post that recipe in a bit. Next time I make this (which won't be long) I'll take a photo...if I can wait to eat it long enough! LOL!

Quick Barbecued Chicken

2 tablespoons oil
3 to 4 pounds chicken parts, preferably thighs and drumsticks, skinned (I used boneless skinless breasts and some skin on drumsticks)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced (optional) (I used 1/2 half green and 1/2 red bell peppers)
2 cups prepared barbecue sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the cooker. Brown the chicken well on both sides in small batches, adding extra oil as needed. Set the browned chicken on a platter. Pour of or sop up leftover oil if needed.

Add the water, taking care to scrape up any browned bits (the fancy cooking term for this is suc) sticking to the bottom.

Place the onions and green pepper (if using) in the bottom of the cooker. Add the reserved browned chicken plus any juices that have collected on the platter. Pour the sauce on top. Do not stir.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 9 minutes. (I cooked for 15 minutes since I had large pieces of breasts) Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Place the chicken on individual plates or a serving platter. If the sauce is too thin, tent the chicken with aluminum foil, and boil the sauce vigorously until reduced. Spoon the sauce on top of the chicken and serve.

Variation Note: There's no reason you can't do ribs this way. Just set your pressure cooker for the time recommended for ribs. Hmmm...this winter might be a big barbecue eatin' winter!!!

Ice Cream

I love ice cream! I don't care if it's winter and freezing outside...it's warm in my house and I love to eat ice cream! After weight loss surgery, we can get sick from eating sugary foods. And I don't know about you, but anything even remotely sugary sweet just gags me now. Even sugar free ice cream from the store is not the best thing for you. It's got a lot of sugar alcohols. So I don't get it often. But when I can make low fat, high protein ice cream at home in less than half an hour I can eat it any time I want to!

To make ice cream you need an ice cream maker. I use the kind that you freeze the bowl. I just keep mine in my deep freezer (in a large freezer ziplock bag). Then when I want to make ice cream, I just pull it out and get it going.

The next step is to make a protein shake. Whatever flavor you want. Plain or fancy. Just make it thick and frothy. When it's done, start the ice cream maker and slowly pour in the shake through the top of the ice cream maker. Set a timer for 20 minutes (If you have the same ice cream maker as I do. If you don't, follow your manufacturer's directions.) and go find something to do until your ice cream is ready! Here's a tip: my ice cream maker has a hole in the top so I put a small piece of aluminum foil over it to keep the cold in.

When your ice cream is done, spoon it out into a large bowl. At this point, fold in any mix-ins that you have. For instance, if you want to make Rocky Road, get a small sugar free chocolate bar, partially freeze it, chop it up, and fold it in to your ice cream. I've even made Moose Tracks ice cream this way! Just think about what kind of ice cream you want and figure out the mix-ins you need! Easy peasy! I like mine as soft serve so we eat ours now. If you like it more like store-bought, you can pack it into a smaller container and freeze for half an hour or more. Now there's only one more thing to do...EAT YOUR ICE CREAM!!! Just remember that this is a protein shake. It will be filling, so it's not a dessert to be eaten right after dinner! Don't even bother asking me how I know this. LOL!

Lemon Chiffon Pie Shake

By now you've noticed that I name most of my protein shakes after candy or desserts. I used to have a huge sweet tooth before my weight loss surgery. If I could have figured out a way to justify dessert for breakfast, I would have! If I had a bad day at work, I'd call my husband and tell him I'd had a Baby Ruth day or a Snickers day, or whatever. He'd stop at the store and get me a king sized candy bar to eat when I got home. That was my attempt at control...to have him stop at the store. If I stopped I'd have bought more than one candy bar!

Lemon Chiffon Pie Shake

1-2 cups ice
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 pinch instant coffee
2 tablespoons sugar free lemon pudding mix
1 drop lemon extract
4-6 ounces soy or almond milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Shake

Who does not like chocolate covered cherries? Raise your hand. All of you that raised you hand...you're lying! LOL! Everybody likes chocolate covered cherries! This is one of my favorite shakes and one of the first ones I invented.

 

Chocolate Covered Cherry Shake

1-2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sf chocolate fudge pudding mix

1 tablespoon Smucker's sf fudge topping

1 tablespoon Hershey's sf chocolate syrup

1 tablespoon chocolate coffee creamer

1 heaping teaspoon Hershey's Special Dark cocoa

1 tablespoon sf Nesquik

2 tablespoons Splenda Granulated
1 pinch instant coffee

2 drops vanilla extract

1 drop cherry extract

1 scoop chocolate protein mix

4 frozen cherries

1 dash salt

4-6 ounces Almond Breeze original almond milk

Put ice in blender. Add all other ingredients (adding the milk last). Use the ice crushing button on your blender to crush the ice. Blend shake, starting at lowest speed and working up to fastest speed. Pour into tall glass and enjoy!

Milk Dud Shake

Bob spotted some sugar free caramel topping in the store the other day. He thought maybe I could find a shake or dessert to use it in. Who me?!? LOL!!! Of course I can find a way to use it! So this afternoon when he wanted a Death by Chocolate shake, I thought I'd give the caramel topping a try. Then I remembered I had some butter extract from some awful recipe I tried a while back so I put a couple of drops of that too. It came out tasting like those wonderful, delicious, incredible Milk Duds that I used to eat by the handful! Who do you think was excited!

Milk Dud Shake

1-2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sf chocolate fudge pudding mix

1 tablespoon Hershey's sf chocolate syrup

1 tablespoon chocolate coffee creamer

1 heaping teaspoon Hershey's Special Dark cocoa

1 tablespoon sf Nesquik

1 scoop chocolate protein mix

2 tablespoons Splenda Granulated
1 pinch instant coffee

2 drops vanilla extract
2 drops butter extract
1 tablespoon Smucker's sf caramel topping

1 dash salt

4-6 ounces Almond Breeze original almond milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Apple Cider Shake

I don't normally like apple flavored things. Sour apple gum is horrible! Apple candy (when I used to eat candy) is awful! But I always did like apple cider. So when a friend at my local support group gave me a packet of sugar free apple cider I got excited. Of course you can make it according to the directions, but why not make an apple cider protein shake! I have only made it cold but there's no reason you can't make it hot during the winter. I'll post that recipe after I make it. Of course it's going to have to get colder than 70F for a hot apple cider shake!

I find this at Walmart

Apple Cider Shake

1-2 cups ice

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix

1 envelope sugar free apple cider mix

2 drops vanilla extract

1 good pinch instant coffee

sweetener, to taste (optional)

4-6 ounces milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Chocolate Orange Shake

I used to get those chocolate oranges for stocking stuffers at Christmas. You know the ones...you smack the bottom of the orange on the table and the segments come apart. Then you put one of the segments in your mouth and they're so creamy and delicious. How can they be so chocolatey and orangey at the same time? My first Christmas after my gastric bypass surgery, I wanted my chocolate orange...well, kind of. I wanted that flavor, but definitely not all that sugar and fat. The solution was so simple I can't believe it took me that long to think of it! Now I can have a chocolate orange whenever I want!

Chocolate Orange Shake

1-2 cups ice
1 scoop chocolate protein mix
1 tablespoon chocolate coffee creamer
1 tablespoon sugar free chocolate pudding mix
1 tablespoon no sugar added chocolate Nesquick
1 teaspoon sugar free cocoa
1 tablespoon sf chocolate syrup
1 teaspoon sf fudge topping
sweetener to taste (optional)
2 drops orange extract
4-6 ounces soy or almond milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Great Northern Beans

Bob and I love beans. And being able to cook them quickly in the pressure cooker just adds to the appeal. Bob was raised eating pinto beans only, so that's what I cook most of the time. But every once in a while I throw in a ringer like great northerns, red beans, or black beans.

Great Northern Beans

1 cup great northern beans
5 cups water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup frozen mixed peppers
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried marjoram leaves

Rinse and pick through beans. Soak in water for at least 4 hours. Drain and rinse. Add to pressure cooker. Add the 5 cups of water and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and lock lid in place. Heat on high until cooker is pressurized. Turn heat down to maintain pressure and cook for 30 minutes. When beans are cooked, take cooker off of heat and let de-pressurize naturally (about 15 minutes). Open cooker and salt the beans to taste.

Note: If you want to cook these beans in a Dutch Oven, follow my directions through putting all the ingredients in the pot. You will not need the vegetable oil if cooking in the Dutch Oven. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil for about a minute then lower heat to simmer. You may cover if you wish, but leave partially uncovered or the beans may boil over. Simmer until beans are soft. Salt the beans to taste.

Smothered Cabbage

This is my Mom's recipe. It's funny how my tastes have changed over the years. I remember walking into my house after school and smelling this cooking and dreading dinner. I took as tiny a serving as allowed and did my best to choke it down. Now I love it...it's one of my comfort foods! I hope my Mom is smiling when she looks down from Heaven and she sees me eating her smothered cabbage.

Smothered Cabbage

1/2 green cabbage, cut into wedges
1/4 cup onion, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
water

Rinse cabbage and place in Dutch oven. Add onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle cabbage and onions with oil. Pour about 1/2 inch of water into the bottom of the pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to high simmer/low boil. Cook until cabbage is soft. Add water during cooking, if needed.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

I love soup. I love soup in the winter. I even love soup in the summer. It can be 100F outside and I might be inside eating soup. So you'll probably see a lot of soup recipes here! This Chicken Vegetable Soup is a new one. A few weeks ago I had just made some vegetable stock in my pressure cooker. I had strained it and was going to let it cool then freeze it for future use. It smelled so good it made me hungry for soup. So...I made this soup! It is very tasty and satisfying. Play with the seasonings and see how many ways you can make it (Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.). You'll notice that there are no measurements for some of the ingredients. That's because this is your soup and you can make it with any vegetables in any amount that you want. Love asparagus with chicken?...throw some chopped fresh asparagus in there! Love broccoli?...go for it! Have fun!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 - 1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion, diced

4 fresh carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
frozen corn
fresh or frozen green beans
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
various frozen or fresh vegetables, sliced, chopped, or diced
2 envelopes sodium free beef or chicken broth (I use Herb-Ox)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
seasonings of choice (try Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.)

Pour vegetable broth in pressure cooker. Add chicken. (If you want to slightly brown the chicken first, your soup will have more flavor. If you do that, brown the chicken in the pressure cooker then add the stock). Add the rest of the vegetables and seasonings. Stir. Turn burner to high heat, cover and lock the lid. When pressure is reached, turn burner to heat sufficient to maintain pressure. (See my pc tip for electric ranges) Cook at pressure for 25 minutes then quick release the pressure. If you want to let the pressure release naturally, you can decrease the cooking time by several minutes. I always cook chicken for at least 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. When the cooker is de-pressurized, remove the lid and take the chicken out. Place on a cutting board and shred, chop, slice...however you feel like eating it. We have found that shredded is easier on our pouches. Put the chicken back in the cooker, stir, and serve up!

Vegetable Stock Tip

My Veggie Stock Bag!

I hate to waste food. I like to save bits and pieces of vegetables to make stock. You know the pieces I'm talking about...the stem end part of the tomato that you cut off and throw into the garbage disposal, the top leafy part and the bottom of the stalk of celery, the first layer of onion that you peel off because it cooks leathery, the top and bottom of the carrot and the peels too, whatever. I use every edible part of the vegetable! Don't throw them in the garbage or garbage disposal, or even the compost pile...put them in a gallon freezer ziplock bag and throw them in the freezer. When the bag is full or even half full (if you can't wait!), toss the veggies in a Dutch oven, or even better, a pressure cooker. Throw some bay leaves, a little seasoning, bring to a boil then simmer. When the stock is done, strain. Toss the veggies. You can now use the stock right away or let it cool, then save in the freezer until you need it for soup. If you're making it in a Dutch oven it will take you 2-3 hours. A pressure cooker will give you wonderful veggie stock in less than half an hour. Experiment with your seasonings...have fun!

Ready to Cook!

Butterscotch Shake

For some unknown reason, I bought a box of sugar free butterscotch pudding mix one day. I don't like butterscotch pudding so it had never even entered my mind to make a butterscotch shake. I choose to believe that it was God inspired. He must have known that at some point I would want a savory shake. Okay, I know butterscotch is sweet, not savory, but with my sweet tooth, it's about as savory as I'm going to get! I have butterscotch shakes mostly in the morning when I don't feel like eating breakfast. If I have a shake for breakfast, it's usually a Happy Accident Hazelnut Frappe or a Butterscotch Shake.

Butterscotch Shake

1 1/2 to 2 cups ice

1-2 tablespoons sf butterscotch pudding mix

1 scoop vanilla protein mix

1 pinch instant coffee

1 tablespoon Hershey's sf chocolate syrup

sweetener, to taste

4-6 ounces almond or soy milk

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Spaghetti Sauce Tip

As with the cornbread, I'm not going to post a recipe for spaghetti sauce...my recipe is really simple...Hunt's Traditional Spaghetti Sauce! LOL! I just brown my ground beef with some salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano then add a can of diced tomatoes and the Hunts spaghetti sauce.

But here's my tip: Get a package of fresh baby portabella mushrooms, clean 'em up, slice 'em up and substitute 1/2 of the package of ground beef with the mushrooms. Add them when you add your sauce to the beef. Many vegetarians use portabella mushrooms as a substitute for meat and they are so delicious and nutritious. You've just saved money, fat, and calories. And you've just added some good, healthy carbs to your dinner. You can add any mushrooms you like; I use baby bellas because they are more meaty and we like the taste so much better than white buttons.

I know the gourmet chefs have a fancy little brush they "dust off" the mushrooms with and they say that you shouldn't use water to wash mushrooms. Well, they're going to get wet when I put them in my spaghetti sauce anyway, so what's the difference? And, oh by the way, mushrooms are grown in d.i.r.t.  I'm gonna wash those little suckers!

Those of us with gastric bypass surgery don't eat pasta so I've found that at my house, we like to have our spaghetti sauce over some cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan or even shredded cheddar or mozarella and nuke for about 15-30 seconds to melt the cheese and you have a wonderful, nutritious dinner!

Dreamsicle Shake

Okay, I started this blog to post tips and recipes. I never said the recipes were going to be difficult or time consuming, so just get that thought out of your head right now! This shake takes about two seconds to make and is...well...dreamy!

Dreamsicle Shake

1 1/2 - 2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 scoop vanilla protein mix

1 tube Crystal Light Classic Sunrise Orange

sweetener to taste (optional)

4-6 ounces almond milk (or soy milk)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Cornbread

I'm a proud Southerner. I know how to make good cornbread from scratch. Do I like to? Nope. Do I want to? Nope. Can I make great cornbread from a box? Yep! There are some things that are totally worth making from scratch. For me, cornbread is not one of them. We rarely have cornbread and when we do I make a very small amount that is not worth getting out the cornmeal, flour, eggs, etc. If my family didn't know I make cornbread from a box, they wouldn't be able to tell by eating it. I'm not going to bore you by repeating the directions already on the box. But I will give you a big tip...add about 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the mixture before baking. It makes a huge difference and adds a little sweetness. Oh so good!

Pressure Cooker Tip

I have a glass top electric range. I didn't use my pressure cooker very much for quite a few years because keeping the cooker at a regulated temperature can be difficult on an electric range. You put the burner on high temperature to get it pressurized then you turn down the burner to keep it "just pressurized". Right. Not so easy on an electric range. My first electric range was the coil type and you can turn on a burner to the proper temperature and just leave it there and transfer the cooker once it's pressurized. Not so on a glass top. You can't have a burner on without a pot on it. I can't believe I was stumped for so long! One day I just looked at my range and realized what I needed to do!

1. While you're getting your cooker ready on burner #1, put a pot of water on the burner that you will move the cooker to that will keep it pressurized (burner #2). Put burner #2 on the required heat to keep the cooker pressurized. On my range, it's part way between medium and medium-low.
2. Once you have everything you need in your cooker, cover, lock the lid, and turn that burner (burner #1) on high.
3. When the cooker is pressurized (I have a yellow button that pops up on mine when it's pressurized), move the pot of water off of burner #2 and transfer the cooker from burner #1 to burner #2.
4. Follow your recipe directions for timing and de-pressurizing.

Now...finally...we can enjoy our pressure cookers on glass top ranges!!!

Burner #2 on left and Burner #1 on right

Pinto Beans

Bob and I love beans...any kind of beans! We usually have at least one bean night per week. Sometimes it's canned black beans or chili beans but most of the time it's dried pinto or great northern beans. Bob was raised eating pinto beans only so I cook those most of the time. They are so easy to cook in the pressure cooker I only measure out 1 cup of dried beans and make a small amount.

Pinto Beans

1 cup pinto beans, rinsed and soaked for at least 4 hours (or use the quick method of boiling for 2 minutes and let sit, uncovered for 1 hour)

5 cups water

1 tablespoon canola oil

onions, chopped

mixed frozen sweet peppers

black pepper

garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons marjoram

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

Add all ingredients to pressure cooker and stir. Turn to high, cover and bring to pressure. Turn heat to just under medium and cook at pressure for 25 minutes. Take off heat and let cooker de-pressurize naturally. When lid will unlock, open and salt the beans before serving.

Happy Accident Hazelnut Frappe

For my shake one morning I wanted something savory rather than sweet so I decided to make a Hazelnut Frappe. Well I messed up and put too much instant coffee and too much hazelnut creamer and it just didn't taste right. So I improvised and came up with an even better hazelnut frappe. This shake was so good I couldn't put it down and sip every once in a while. I just held it and kept sipping until I was done!

Happy Accident Hazelnut Frappe

1 1/2-2 scoops ice
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee
3 heaping teaspoons sf hazelnut creamer
1 scoop vanilla protein mix
1 tablespoon sf vanilla pudding mix
2 drops vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sf chocolate syrup
1 dash salt
sweetener to taste

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

New England Fish Chowder

I had a medical procedure today and wanted soup when I got home this afternoon. I had been fasting for 1 1/2 days before the procedure so I was really hungry. I've mentioned before how much I love love love my pressure cooker. I recently bought Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass. She's got a blog and a website with recipes too. I highly recommend this cookbook if you have a pressure cooker. And if you don't have a pressure cooker, get one. It took me about 10 minutes to chop the veggies, it cooked under pressure for 4 minutes, then simmered for about 5 minutes. Voila! New England Fish Chowder! In a total of about 20 minutes! So delicious and satisfying too.

New England Fish Chowder by Lorna Sass
(used with permission)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil (I used butter)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used new potatoes)
1 pound thick firm-fleshed white fish fillets, such as cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (I used tilapia and flounder)
2 cups fish broth or clam juice
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (I used 1 1/2 cups fat-free half and half)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I used about 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
Salt and freshly ground white or black pepper
Garnish: additional unsalted butter, cut into pats (optional) (I didn't use this)

Heat the butter in the cooker. Saute the onions until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the celery, carrot, and potatoes, and saute an additional minute. Add the fish chunks, broth (watch for sputtering oil), water, bay leaf, and thyme.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 4 minutes. Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Stir in the milk, corn, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the corn is cooked. Top individual servings with additional butter, if desired.

Saturday, September 18th
I had an idea last night as I was drifting off to sleep. I thought I'd better get it posted before I totally forget about it. Yeah...I'm old enough for that! I think next time I make this, I'm going to use cooked great northern beans instead of potatoes. I think it will actually be thicker, which is what I think of when you say chowder, and it will add a very different texture and taste to the original recipe. I guess it wouldn't actually be "chowder" then, but I think we'd like it better.

Purple Cow

Did you just say, "WHAT?" Let me explain! When I was a kid in Lake Charles, LA there was a small burger stand a few blocks from our house. Oh my gosh...they had the absolute best burgers in the entire world. Maybe that's why I couldn't get enough hamburgers pre-wls; I was trying to satisfy my burger hunger with the wrong burgers! Nah - I was just greedy! LOL! And they had a shake called the Purple Cow. They just mixed a vanilla shake with some grape soda. This was loooooong before Sonic thought about doing the same thing too. So when I started making my protein shakes, I thought about the Purple Cow. I made it with Wyler's grape kool-aid (in a single serving tube) and it was a beautiful shade of purple! Tasted yummy too. Well, I haven't been able to find the Wyler's for a while, but Kroger brand makes a grape so I use that. Sadly it's not purple. :( It just looks like a plain old vanilla shake. But it has that same crazy Purple Cow flavor!

Purple Cow

1 1/2 - 2 cups ice
1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix
2 drops vanilla extract
1 tube sugar free grape kool-aid mix
1 scoop vanilla protein mix
4-6 ounces Almond Breeze almond milk (or any milk you like)
sweetener to taste (optional)

Place ice in blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, ending with the milk. Set blender to crush ice, then blend on lowest speed and building up to highest speed until shake is thick and frothy.

Strawberry Shake

Mmmmm...a good strawberry shake takes me back to when I was a kid. Long summers going to the beach, riding my bike everywhere, and stopping for a strawberry shake on the way home. I know that these protein shakes are good for my health, but that doesn't mean they can't taste yummy too! Huh, I've just made myself crave a strawberry shake. Maybe I'll have one as my bedtime shake. LOL! 

Strawberry Shake

1 1/2 to 2 cups ice

1 tablespoon sugar free vanilla pudding mix

several drops strawberry extract

1 ounce (about 2-3) frozen strawberries (add more if fruit sugar is okay for you)
1 tablespoon Hershey's sf strawberry syrup (optional, I don't anymore)

2 teaspoons Smucker's sf strawberry topping
1 scoop vanilla protein mix

8 ounces almond milk (or whatever milk you like)

sweetener to taste (optional)

Pour liquids in blender and set to stir. Add dry ingredients and keep stirring. Add strawberries and ice.Set blender to crush the ice, then keep raising speeds
until it's blending at it's highest speed. Blend until thick and frothy. Pour into a big glass and enjoy!

This shake also makes a great ice cream!