Marinated Vegetable Salad

This recipe is an old family favorite and I've always enjoyed it on the Holiday's. It was passed down to me from my wonderful Grandmother.

MARINATED VEGETABLE SALAD

1 can white shoepeg corn (I leave this out because corn is too starchy... feel free to replace with something healthier)

1 can LeSueur small peas

1 can French style green beans

1 cup celery, chopped fine

1 cup onion, chopped fine

1 jar pimento, diced

1 green pepper, chopped fine

Dressing:

3/4 cup vinegar

1 cup sugar (Splenda for baking works wonderfully!)

1/2 cup oil (I usually use canola)

Heat the dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Cool…Then add to vegetables.

Stir well and chill. It's better to prepare this the day before serving.

**Spoon onto plate with a slotted spoon.

Wanna Be Greek Salad?

Shelly (Eggface) posted a recipe recently that included tuna, garbanzo beans, celery, and feta. I had already eaten tuna twice this week so I made this recipe with chicken instead. It was amazing! Bones even enjoyed the sample taste I shared with him.

I added just a drop of Greek salad dressing instead of lemon zest. I also cut the recipe in half because I'm still eating super small portions. I'm looking forward to eating the leftovers this week.

Here's what my tiny portion included....

Chicken, diced very small (I only used about 1/4 of a small chicken breast)

Garbanzo beans (I used about 20-25 garbanzo beans/chick peas)

Celery, diced fine (I used maybe 1/4 of 1 piece)

Feta, just a small sprinkling (I used about 1/2 Tbsp.)

Greek Dressing, just a splash (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Mix well and enjoy!

For dessert I enjoyed about 1/4 of a small banana. Mmm...

Italian Baked Ricotta

Tonight I made my hubby, Bones, a couple of mini pizza's out of some leftover Arnold Multigrain Sandwich Thins. I separated the top and bottom of the sandwich thins and spread marina sauce over them. I then added some shredded mozzarella, garlic, Italian seasoning, and turkey pepperoni. I baked them at 350 for 10 minutes. They were a hit!

I also felt like having some Italian so I made Shelly's Baked Ricotta. I made a couple of changes by leaving out the parmesan (I didn't have any) and by throwing in a few small pieces of freshly baked shredded chicken. It was absolutely amazing! Where she gets her recipe ideas is beyond me, but I hope she keeps 'em coming. I appreciate them so much. Thanks, Shelly!!!

**Shelly's blog can be found at http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blotspot.com

Crustless Spinach Quiche

Crustless Spinach Quiche

INGREDIENTS:

1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained 5 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese 1/2 cup 2% cheddar cheese (optional) salt to taste pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a mini muffin pan (makes 24 mini's) with non-stick cooking spray

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach, stirring occasionally, and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.

3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add spinach and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared mini muffin pan.

4. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 26-30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

These freeze well. Just pop in the microwave to reheat.

Lentil Chili

Lentil Chili

Combine 1/2 vegetable juice and 1/2 water in a large pot.

Add 1/2 bag (probably about a cup) of dry Lentils.

Cook lentils according to directions on bag.

Then:

Brown up some onion (optional).

Then add....

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can rotel

1 can ranch style beans

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed

1 can red beans, drained & rinsed

season to taste with chili powder, cumin, and a dash of garlic

Combine everything. You'll have to bring everything to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 hour. This would be excellent in a crockpot. Oh, if you're not familiar with lentils, they do expand a bit.

It tastes great the first day, but even better the next day! Enjoy!!! = )

Life Savers!

I'm very much a fan of the Minute Maid Light beverages. They're quite tasty and a quick way for me to get in some liquids. The lemonade only has 5 calories in the entire can and the other 3 flavors have 10 calories. The cherry limeade is probably my least favorite, but it's still really good.

What would I do without cheese? These little things are fantastic. Each individual serving has 50 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein. They're perfect for portion control, sack lunches, and an on-the-go meal.
We've gotta have fat. My fat no longer comes from tortilla chips and queso, but from wonderful things like seeds and nuts. I feel that I'm kind of a nut snob, but I gave these a whirl. They're amazing! They were roasted and salted perfectly. I love that this mixed nut combination includes walnuts.
This is a ZERO calorie chai. Yes, you're supposed to blend it 50/50 with milk, but I break the rules. I add a little bit of half-n-half (1 1/2 Tbsp. (30 calories)) and lots of water. It mostly tastes like chai tea with cream versus a chai tea latte, but it's so much healthier.

This will make a great dessert. 2 tablespoons of the Reddi Whip has 5 calories. Well, I can't physically eat much so I figured I can responsibly enjoy some of this. Bones will have to help me eat the banana too because there's no way I could eat an entire one myself. I will absolutely savor my tiny bites though. ; )

I never tried a bread and butter pickle until this year. Can you believe it? Well, I found these wonderful no sugar added bread and butter pickles at my local grocery store. They were on sale for 2 bucks and I had a 50 cent off coupon. I stocked up! They're sweet like dessert and have the perfect crunch. Yum!

I'm an Aldi shopper. This deli meat is budget friendly. I get a whole pound of deli sliced chicken breast for less than 3 bucks. I enjoy taking 1 slice and rolling it around a slice of 2% American cheese or around some low-fat cream cheese. They're great hot or cold.
I found these at my local grocery store. I figure I'll allow myself 1 for Thanksgiving. I plan on adding some sugar-free Torani pumpkin syrup to ricotta and then stuffing it in one of these little guys and then top it off with a squirt of Reddi Whip. We'll see how that goes.

I know it's not on my list of foods I can eat, but it's better than all the other sweets and carbs that will be everywhere I look on the Holiday's.

What a find! I'm looking forward to trying this with my next batch of chicken, tuna, or egg salad. This was on sale at my local grocery store for 1.50 and I had a 50 cent off coupon. I only paid 1 buck for this. Excellent!
I've NEVER been a fan of sweet pickles, but at the price I paid I figured I'd try 'em out again. These are the no sugar added kind too so they're much healthier for me. I love that they're in single serving packages. I'm guessing I'll probably get several servings out of each little package though. Funny how that works now. lol! Good thing they don't expire for a really long time.

LOVE these! I highly recommend them. They count as a fat. I only eat about 4-6 at a time. That's 1 fat serving. Fat never tasted so good. Mmm....

Today's Menu

7am Breakfast: 1 Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar

12pm Lunch: 1 single serving (pre-packaged) of Reduced Fat Cabot Cheddar Cheese

7pm Dinner: Deli Roll-ups (deli sliced chicken rolled up with....... 1. 2% american cheese; 2. low-fat cream cheese), Celery with peanut butter

I went to the store today and really stocked up. We're just about ready for Thanksgiving. That's wonderful! With the Holiday's creeping up I want to make sure I'm prepared for everything. I've never been much of a sweet eater, but that didn't matter around the holiday's. I purchased some ricotta cheese in case I feel like indulging a bit. According to Shelly (my hero) at theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com, you can add 1 tsp. of sugar-free Torani syrup to ricotta cheese to sweeten it up and make it a scrumptious dessert. We'll see how that goes. I don't have any experience with ricotta so we'll see how that goes.

I also bought a can of fat free whipped cream. It's only 5 calories per serving. I figure I can top a few banana slices with it or something if I feel the need. That'll be a nice treat.

I broke down and purchased another pair of jeans tonight. They're Nine West size 14. Not too shabby! I also got a new coat.. size medium!

ONEderland!

That's right! I made it to "onederland!" I will never ever allow myself to see the 200s again.

Stats:

- Down 103 since my weigh-in with my family doc on Feb. 23, 2009

- Down 90 since my first weigh-in with my WLS doc in June 2009

- Only 49 to go!!!

I've been healing up nicely from my last surgery. I went to the gym for a much needed workout on Wednesday. It wasn't the greatest workout, but it was a workout. I think it'll take a while to build back up to where I was pre-surgery. That's life.

Saved by Vitamins!

FedEx delivered a much needed package tonight. My vitamins arrived!

I've decided to try out the renewal program at Bariatric Advantage. With the renewal program I get free shipping and don't have to remember putting in my order. How convenient!

I ordered the VitaBand Chewable Multivitamin in watermelon flavor. It doesn't taste like watermelon at all if you ask me, but I still think it's better than the lemon or mixed berry. In fact, I think I would describe these vitamins the same way Shelly describes protein powders......"they taste like monkey's ass!"

I ordered a ton of the chewable calcium in chocolate flavor. Those taste like dessert. They are delicious so just make sure to remember that they are vitamins.

I'll be expecting another shipment in 90 days.

Protein Powder

I ordered my first container of protein powder last night. Shelly at theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com believes that Max Protein Powder is the best, so I'll give it a whirl. I'm super excited!
I don't know if I could have ordered it at a better time. I just love hot cocoa with all this cold weather, but there is absolutely nothing nutritional about the stuff. It's just calories, but if I can make hot cocoa with the protein powder I'll get getting loads of protein.

What protein powders do you recommend?

Tiny Victories

I'm finally down a couple more pounds. When I stood on the scale this morning it said 200! I could hardly believe my eyes. That means I'm only 1 pound away from being in ONEderland! I'm so excited! I don't think I've seen any number in the 100s in the past 9 years or longer.

In case you weren't aware of this I had another surgery recently. It was actually 3 months to the date after my gastrectomy. This time I had a parathyroidectomy.

While I was in the hospital I gained 4 pounds. 4 pounds in 2 days!!! I was so upset. I followed my healthy eating plan and didn't even eat much, but still gained weight. It must have been from all the fluids they pumped me up with and the lying around. I've been recovering so that 4 pounds took me over a week to lose. I'm sure it would have come off sooner if I had been exercising, but there hasn't been any of that going on at all. On a positive note, I'm only 11 pounds away from my personal goal I'd like to reach by Christmas day. That makes me very happy!

Obesity Help

I did it! I've been meaning to sign up for months, but never got around to it. I finally registered on ObesityHelp.com. I'm pumped!!!

I could beat myself up about taking so long, but it's better to join late than never, right?

If you're not familiar with Obesity Help, it's an online weight-loss community. Just think of it as a GIANT support group. We all have something in common too.... we're striving to be healthy!

I've been posting on my profile, posting questions, posting responses to other people's questions, providing encouragement, and even sharing recipes. It's wonderful!

The Cup

Nope, I'm not talking about a coffee cup. I'm talking about cup sizes. Oh, yes!

It's both embarrassing and odd to think that just a few months ago I owned and was actually wearing 42DD/42DDD bras. Well, those days are over!

I'm currently wearing a 38DDD, but it's getting a little big. Praise God for that!

While I was at the mall today I stumbled into Victoria's Secret. I had them size me for a bra and the nice young lady informed me that I should be wearing a 36DD. Holy Toledo! I'm finally in a size that VS makes and no longer have to buy my bras at Lane Giant. What a relief..... What excitement! As a "professional shopper" I'm aware that they're having their semi-annual sale in January. You better believe I'll be purchasing a new VS bra that month. Who knows, maybe by then I'll be even a little smaller.

No-Pasta Lasagna

Renee's No-Pasta Lasagna

- It's high protein, low fat, and low carb. Yum!

2 lbs. 93/7 lean ground turkey

12 oz. tomato paste

16 oz. low-fat cottage cheese

2 eggs

2 zucchini (use a veggie peeler and make strips)

1 c. water

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Italian cheeses blend (optional)

Italian seasoning to taste

Fresh Basil (I use basil paste found in the refrigerated section of the produce department)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Fresh sliced tomatoes (optional)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Brown turkey and drain
• Add tomato paste and water to turkey
• Add spices to meat mixture and simmer
• Slice zucchini into super thin slices (I use a veggie peeler) (I bet it would be great if it were pre-sauteed in a skillet, too)
• In a bowl, combine egg and cottage cheese; mix well
• In a 9x13 baking dish, spread out a very thin layer of meat mixture
• Add a sprinkling of mozzarella
• Add 1/3 of zucchini slices
• Add 1/2 cottage cheese mixture
• Add a thin layer of meat mixture
• Add another sprinkling of mozzarella
• Add 1/3 of zucchini slices
• Add 1/2 cottage cheese mixture
• Add 1/3 of zucchini slices
• Add remaining meat mixture
• Add remaining mozzarella

I like to add a blend of Italian cheeses to top it off. Then I add sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with more Italian seasoning.

You don't have to follow the layering order exactly, just have FUN!

Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Size Update

Shirts: Large or Medium

Pants/Skirts: 14 or 12

Dress: Large