Melissa's Mandarin Chicken Salad

Iceberg Lettuce
1/2 can of Swanson's Chicken breast in water, drained
1/2 can (small) of mandarin oranges, drained
1 green onion, sliced
small palmful of toasted whole or sliced almonds
Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing from Kraft

Assemble into a salad. Very good.

High Protein Snack

I've really been enjoying this lately. Hormel's Turkey Pepperoni slices and cheddar cheese. Mozzarella would be a healthier choice, but I've been using cheddar. I just cut little strips of cheese, wrap them in a slice of pepperoni and eat it. It's yummy. The turkey pepperoni took a little getting used to, but it's very good and has so much less fat than traditional.

Tuna salad

Today I had some tuna with Ak-mak crackers. Instead of stirring mayo into the tuna, I stirred in a few tablespoons of ricotta cheese. It moistened it right up and was really yummy. I didn't miss the mayo at all and the ricotta added some protein as well. A little pickle relish in there and I was good to go. Yum.

Lasagna in a bowl

The kids love this.

Noodles for those who are not carb conscious, or
steamed zucchini, or spaghetti squash
spaghetti sauce
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
ground beef, cooked and rinsed

Heat meat, spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese and cook noodles. Layer them in a bowl. I usually do this order: Squash, beef, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce, parmesan. I like to make sure the mozzarella is in between warm stuff so it will melt. It is pretty delicious. I really like it with the zucchini regardless of healthy reasons.

More on yogurt

I found out that the greek yogurt (FAGE) that I love is much higher in protein than regular yogurt. So not only does it taste better, it's better for me. Unfortunately, it's at least twice the price and not available in my little town. So I bought one tub of it in Denver and I will savor every bite. :)

Yogurt and tartness

I was becoming sick of yogurt for breakfast and the texture was making me want to gag. I got some plain Dannon natural, fat free yogurt and tried a trick I had learned about online. I added a couple of teaspoons of applesauce (unsweetened) to the bowl of yogurt. I still added stevia, and my Kashi Go Lean crunch, but it made the yogurt taste so much better. It's not as tart and it somehow breaks up something in the yogurt and it's really yummy. I'm not doing a very good job of describing what it does, but it's a good thing. You have to be careful not to add too much, because then it changes it too much and then it's soupy and like applesauce more than yogurt.

Salmon Patties

I adapted another recipe for this.

Canned salmon (The cans the size of tunafish cans, get boneless and skinless.)
1 egg per can of salmon
1 handful of bread crumbs per can of salmon
1 T Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
season to taste, dill, parsley, seasoning salt, etc.
onion, chopped, I used green onions, you could use any kind

Mix ingredients together in a bowl, form into patties, cook in a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Turn once browned.

Steamed Squash

We have been harvesting zucchini and yellow squash from our garden and eating it steamed. It's so yummy! I put a tiny bit of butter, salt and pepper and then for a real treat a sprinkle of shredded cheddar over the top. I try to be sparing on the butter and cheese, because that's a lot of fat, but in small amounts I think it's okay.

Prunes (warning, TMI)

I don't know why, exactly, but prunes have never delivered their promised results for me until recently. I purposely ate 5-7 of them, hoping to achieve regularity after traveling. They worked! By that evening I had a successful bathroom trip. The only problem is that they give me really bad gas. I used to have gas frequently before I had my surgery. Since surgery I don't have gas very often at all. I think part of it must have been that the huge amounts of sugar I was consuming was wreaking havoc on my system, including making me gassy.

If I'm going to continue using prunes as a laxative, I think I need to reduce the number I eat to about 3 and see how that works.

Chicken and Mushrooms

I've been enjoying baked chicken breast with sauteed mushrooms, garlic, and/or onions. I sprinkle a little barbecue seasoning on it for extra yumminess. If the mushrooms are fresh, there isn't much need for extra flavor.

Instead of sauteeing the mushrooms in oil or butter, I use olive oil cooking spray, then sprinkle with a powdered butter flavoring while it's cooking. It works very well.

Warm goodness

If I'm having a sweet craving I like to fix a cup of this:

1 tsp pero (you could substitute instant coffee or postum)
2 T ovaltine
1/4 cup nonfat powdered milk
3 drops stevia

Fill cup with boiling water. I usually top off with a little 1% milk to cool it down.

It's also convenient to stir in my fiber or Miralax if I'm taking those.

Cottage cheese and fruit

When I'm not having yogurt and granola, cottage cheese and fruit is another one of my favorites. Fruit that goes well with it: pineapple, canned pears, cantaloupe. In fact, I'm having it with cantaloupe right now and it's very yummy.

Edited to add: I just tried Blue Bunny brand cottage cheese (2%) and it's very good. It doesn't have that weird taste that dairy products often have. Just creamy goodness.

Healthy diet guidelines for weight loss

Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to my friend. She's not getting banded, just interested in some weight loss ideas. We have a lady in our support group who by following these guidelines is losing weight and hasn't had the surgery yet. Here's what I wrote to my friend:

My surgeon's basic guidelines is to get the following nutritional amounts daily:

60-80 grams protein (you can use protein drinks to help with this. Body Fortress is a brand you can buy at Wal-mart that doesn't taste too bad.)
no more than 20 grams of fat
no more than 100 grams of carbs
Drink at least 64 ounces of water a day.

3 meals with no snacking in between. (However, if I'm hungry, I eat. I don't let myself get crazy hungry.)

Don't drink your calories. Only drink low calorie beverages or water. Don't drink soda, even diet isn't good for you. Don't drink milk. That was hard for me, but rarely do I have a drink of milk now. Watch the fruit juice, it has a lot of carbs in it.

Eat protein first, then veggies, then carbs. (This may be more for the banded people because they can only eat a small amount of food, but it's not bad advice for everyone since protein will help you feel full longer.)

Eat slowly, with small bites, putting your fork down in between. A meal should take around 20 minutes to eat. Don't eat while distracted (tv, computer, etc.)

Cut way back on white stuff. Pasta, rice, potatoes, white bread. ..all of that is really high in carbs and will not be helpful to your weight loss. I sometimes substitute the place on my plate where a starch would go, for another vegetable. For example: A chicken breast, a green salad (watch the dressing! it has a lot of fat grams), some steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, squash, etc.) Where before it would have been chicken, rice, and veggie. I just add a salad or second vegetable.

I do allow myself treats in small amounts and I try not to do it very often. Have that cake, but only have a small piece and eat it slowly, savoring it. It really does make a difference.

So these are some of the things that have helped me take the weight off. Band or no band, they are good things to work on for healthier eating.

Potatoes and Chili

We had potatoes with chili for lunch today. I'm not supposed to eat white potatoes, so I had a bowl of chili. But, lest I feel crazy-deprived, I allowed myself about 1/4 of a potato mashed with a fork, a little butter, salt and pepper. It sure tasted divine. The chili wasn't bad either. It's got protein from the meat, plus from the kidney beans, so it's a pretty good choice.

Homemade tortillas and chicken salad

I was gifted with some fresh homemade tortillas this morning, so I had a scrambled egg, cheese and ham breakfast burrito. It was tasty, but kept getting stuck. I'm not sure if it was the tortilla or the eggs or a combination of the two that made it hard to go down. It was yummy, though.

For lunch I keep snitching the kids' chicken nuggets. Looking at the nutrition info, if I had four of them, that's 10 g of fat and that's half my daily allowance for fat. So, I'll be having a chicken salad for lunch. I usually make it like so:

Chicken, usually canned, or leftover rotisserie. I chunk that up, add a little plain yogurt and/or lite mayo, several sliced, red grapes, and some pineapple tidbits (in their own juice.). Serve this over a bed of iceberg lettuce. It's very yummy.

Hamburgers healthy style

My family had hamburgers and tater tots for dinner last night. Here's how I adapted my meal: I had a patty with no bun. Instead of American cheese, I put a tablespoon (about) of neufchatel cheese (lowfat cream cheese) on top, then added some sauteed mushrooms and onions on top. It was really good. I sprinkled the barbecue seasoning we used on the meat on it for added flavor. I did allow myself 4 or 5 tater tots. Honestly, they weren't worth the calories, for some reason they tasted sub-par.

Edited to add: Eeeek! I just checked the fat grams of the burgers we're using. One patty has 28 grams! Admittedly it was probably less because I cooked it on a broiler pan and a lot of fat drips off. Still, I'm going to have to reevaluate what patties I use when eating this. Won't be the same brand. I'm sure there are more healthy options.

Beef Fajitas

For lunch today we had strips of steak, cooked in a skillet in olive oil, sauteed onion and red and green peppers. I tucked that inside of a small fajita size tortilla and put a little shredded cheddar and guacamole on it. Yum.

Mock Cannolis

I make a little concoction to satisfy a sweet tooth.

About 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
4 drops stevia (or 2 T powdered sugar)
1/4 t cinnamon (or to taste)
1 T mini chocolate chips

I mix it together and eat it with a graham cracker. It's pretty yummy. I'll have to do the nutritional value of it at some point so I can see if it really is a good choice.

A common dinner

We often have something resembling what we ate for dinner tonight. A lean meat with veggies and a salad or fruit. Tonight we had a rotisserie chicken from Wal-mart and canned green beans and fresh strawberries. As always, I don't drink with my meals. I wait until 30 minutes have passed at least before I drink. Band rules.

Yogurt and granola

I love greek yogurt. Fage is my favorite, but not available here in Goodland. I have bought it when we're in Denver and actually use it as a starter and make my own in my Salton yogurt maker.

For breakfast most days I put a couple of scoops of yogurt into a bowl, sweeten with Stevia and maybe a little powdered sugar and then put 1/2 to 1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch, Honey and Flax seed cereal on top. It's so tasty and very filling.

Chicken Cacciatore

I made this in the crockpot yesterday. I don't know the nutritional breakdown of it yet, but it was yummy and I know it's healthy.

2 1/2 pounds of chicken parts (I used a bag of chicken thighs with bones, but took the skins off)
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves of fresh garlic, pressed
1 can mushroom pieces
30 ounces of canned diced tomatoes
1/4 t pepper
1 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano

Cook for 8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.

Serve over hot spaghetti, though it's really good as just a soup.

What I'm eating

So often at Lapbandtalk people ask "What are you eating?" They want to know how people who are successful at losing weight are eating. I also want a place for myself to review how I'm doing and keep track good healthy foods and meals that I've discovered. So without further ado: What I'm eating.