Italian Bean and Tuna Salad

After one of our long walks, my new walking buddy, Marilyn, invited me to her house to try out a new dish. A friend of hers had emailed it to her and it looked so good she tried it right away and I was invited to be a co-guinea pig! I was kind of wondering how it would taste...after all, here in the South we smother tuna with mayonnaise and this tuna salad not only didn't have mayo, but it had beans in it! But I went and shared a lovely meal with Marilyn and the tuna salad was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s! Perfect for a light lunch or dinner!

Italian Bean and Tuna Salad

1-15 ounce can navy beans, drained and rinsed
6 ounce can or packet water packed tuna, drained and flaked
2/3 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup fresh or frozen cut (1 inch) green beans, cooked, rinsed with cold water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
mixed greens or spinach

In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients except the lettuce/spinach and mix well. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors blend. Line plates with the lettuce or spinach, spoon salad onto lettuce and enjoy.

Note: You can also add some black olives, grape tomatoes, or green onions to this salad to jazz it up any way you want to!

TIP: If you're like me and don't keep fresh herbs around but have the dried herbs that's fine, just use one-third the amount called for in the recipe.

Salad Tip

Ever want a salad and are too busy or tired to make one so you end up not having one? Yeah, me too. I just recently learned of this tip and thought I'd pass it on. Why didn't I think of this before? Duh!

Rinse and spin (or dry) your lettuce or spinach. Put whatever amount you want in a ziplock bag. Cut up some tomatoes and add to bags. Peel and cut some cucumbers and add to bags. Add whatever else you always have in your salad (except the dressing or anything that will get soggy, like croutons). Roll up the baggie and squeeze all the air out then zip closed. Refrigerate, and when you want a salad, voila, it's all ready for you to add dressing and eat!

Mio Review

So I found some Mio and got a couple of flavors to try...Sweet Tea and Fruit Punch. I like that it's in a squeeze bottle and I can add how much or how little I want. That would be nice; sometimes I just don't want full strength. I think this would be easier to keep in my purse so I can squirt some into a bottle of water at the zoo or just a glass of water at someone's house. I know I can do that with Crystal Light, but then you're wasting the rest of the package. I'm just too cheap to do that. After all, the more money I spend on food and drink, the less I can spend on yarn! LOL!

Okay, so there are reasons to get Mio. So now...how's it taste? The bottle says to put 1 squeeze into 8 ounces of water. That was a little strong for me. I kept adding water until I liked it so I figure that I like about half strength. FYI: I like full strength Crystal Light. I like the taste; it's a lighter taste, maybe a little sweeter taste than Crystal Light.

It costs more than Crystal Light, so you'll have to judge it on taste and convenience. Am I going to give up my Crystal Light? No. But I will carry a Mio in my purse when I'm out and about. Being able to stop and get a glass of water at a drive-thru sounds awfully convenient to me. Surprisingly, the commissary carries it (WHAT!?!) and it's quite a bit cheaper than a civilian store, so if you can shop at the commissary, get it there.

Salsa Meatballs

Looking for something to take to the Superbowl party? Want to make sure you have a protein to eat? I got your back! Salsa meatballs! They are so yummy and so filling! Are you ready for some football (and meatballs)?!!!

While we're on the subject of Superbowl parties, here's a couple of hints for you.

   1. Look at all the food available before you put even one thing on your plate. Then decide what you really want and take a small amount of just a few things.
   2. Remember to eat mindfully. Have a great time, but remember that you are consuming food and that the calories, fats, and carbs will still count even though you are watching THE GAME.
   3. Remember to have fun; don't let the fear of dealing with all that food throw you. It's a buffet...choose what you want to eat and enjoy yourself! Then leave the food alone!

Salsa Meatballs

1 package frozen meatballs (about 64)
1  12-16 ounce jar salsa
1 jar sugar free peach preserves (I use Smucker's)

Put preserves in a small saucepan and turn fire to medium low. When preserves start to melt, add the salsa. Cook for a couple of minutes until preserves are melted and mixed well with the salsa.

Add the meatballs to the crockpot and pour the sauce on top. Stir to mix. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high about 5 hours.

Keep warm in the crockpot during the party and be sure to root for the winning team!!!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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