Fat Frog Diary

This email begins a series sent to a friend considering bariatric surgery. I've decided to share my emails with her, since this uses some of the recipes and concepts previously expressed herein. I want to reiterate that the opinions expressed in my blog are my own. I am not a medical or nutritional professional. The information I give is based solely on my personal experience. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV).  I promised I'd give you information on how to make the process of getting ready for bariatric surgery easier, so here goes. I'll be doing this in sections, mainly because it takes time to absorb the concepts and put them into practice. Not only that, but there's a lot of information to share! First we'll go over the boring, repetitive basics every yo-yo dieter knows. Still, this is important to remember. After all, practicing now means you avoid dumping syndrome later, and who really wants to feel nauseated, stomach cramps, weakness, shakiness, and sweating...

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238037/chef-johns-salmon-mango-bango/?clickId=right%20rail1&internalSource=rr_feed_recipe_sb&referringId=82923%20referringContentType%3Drecipe#recipe-toolbar OMG, this is soooo good! I used frozen mango, but it worked just as well. The salsa was out of this world good. I could slather a brick with the stuff and eat it.

I don't talk about my diet much on Facebook. No one gives a rat's patootey about your diet except someone else on the diet. Your friends will applaud when you've lost a few pounds, but this is a long-haul marathon slog. In fact, it's a full lifestyle change. This is kind of like how vegans seem to brag about their diet choice and post recipes like they expect you to join in. The most I could ever manage was a lacto-ovo-pesco-pollotarian. (Willing to give up beef and pork, but will eat chicken, fish, eggs, and milk.) I've been back on a low-carb diet for months, and transitioning over to the Phase One of the pre-surgical diet has been relatively smooth. Do I miss my carbs? YOU BETCHA! Especially my morning bowl of hot cereals. Everything else I can live without, but that's a lifetime habit to have a bowl of carbs in the morning to fuel the day. I don't even miss red meat right now. This may change, but so far I'm okay with just fish, eggs, beans, white ...

Have you seen the 21-Day Fix diet? I kept coming across pins on Pinterest related to it, and I was intrigued by the seeming simplicity of simply measuring by using colorful containers. No counting! Let me state right at the beginning that I didn't buy the book, nor did I buy the colored containers. While they are inexpensive enough on Amazon, I want to "try before you buy" and simply see if it would help me in my weight loss adventures while I wait for surgery. I'm a dedicated foodie. That's one reason why my BMI is a whopping 43. I love food, and I love combining my foods into interesting and tasty combinations such as mini-peppers cut in half and stuffed with half a mozzarella stick. Yumm! Who says diets have to be boring? Anyway, I checked around and found the number of colorful containers for my weight. Each color represents a different food group and each container is a specific size to match a serving of that food group. For instance, I am allowed 3 gr...

Just a quick little tip for a snacker who doesn't want to fall off the wagon. (Me!) I'm sure you've seen those mini-peppers in the store in bags, looking colorful and tempting. Were you scared of the heat? Don't be. No heat! Those things wouldn't cause a hot flash even if Leonardo DiCaprio walked by stark naked. (Sorry Leo!) Cut them in half and you can stuff them with cream cheese and ground beef, but for a simple snack with no fuss, cut a mozzarella stick in half and stuff the pepper with that. I stuffed four peppers with four halves of two mozzarella sticks and microwaved them for a minute to melt the cheese to gooey deliciousness. Yum!

I found this on the side of a box of Jell-o Vanilla Sugar Free Pudding and tried it. I made one change and one omission. I changed the cookies to a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs and I didn't use any Cool Whip. Oh, and I used the sugar free varieties of the pudding and gelatin. However, I will type the recipe faithfully. Do what you want. It's your life. Mini Lemon Cream "Pies"  1 pkg (3.4 oz) Jell-o Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding 1 pkg. (3 oz) Jell-o Lemon Flavor Gelatin 1-1/2 cups boiling water 8 vanilla wafers (or graham cracker crumbs) 1 cup thawed Cool Whip whipped topping (optional) Combine dry pudding and gelatin powder in a medium bowl. Add boiling water, stir for 2 minutes, until completely dissolved. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Place 1 wafer in the bottom of each of the 8 dessert dishes. Cover with the pudding mixture. Top with the Cool Whip. Chill for at least an hour. Refrigerate any leftovers.

I don't know about you, but most Jell-o Jiggler and Knox Blox recipes want you to use 4 boxes of Jell-o, and the Knox Blox formula looks like a chemist's list of ingredients. But what if you want enough for one person? What if you only have one box of three different flavors? Now what? Break out the calculator and guess? NOPE! Here's your simple formula. You can commit this to memory. For every one box of Jell-o, use one cup of hot water. Now here's the rest of the tricks: 1. Use a spray like Pam to lubricate the inside of your mold. Wipe most of the foam away with a paper towel, leaving just a slick surface. 2. When mixing the gelatin and hot water, stir with the whisk for two minutes. Yes, set a timer. There's one on your phone, microwave, and probably your stove. Use your Echo device. Use a timer. Seriously. Stir for the whole two minutes and pay attention. Create as few bubbles as possible. Stir, don't whisk. Bubbles leave unsightly pock marks on...

While waiting for the first of my two surgeries, I'm on a liquid diet. Now, the doc has an interesting definition of "liquid" which includes semi-solids like Greek yogurt, and vegetables processed to a semi-solid state. Not bad at all, when you consider the options include delicious "cream of" soups. I'm a big fan of vegetable soups, so this is not a hardship. Especially when you have these two great options for soup base, in addition to a powdered consomme I found in the international section of my favorite grocery store. This first one is my favorite for pure flavor! I can even substitute beef broth or vegetable broth, since both are also available. Now that's versatile. And now for your choice of vegetables and seasonings. Now think of the mix and match possibilities. Believe it or not, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes go together. Leeks go with onions, or go it alone if you're feeling adventurous. I'm from the deep South, so I know ...

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I love ice cream. It's my Kryptonite. This recipe keeps me from losing my mind and breaking my diet on a hot summer's day when everyone around me is enjoying the sweet, creamy and forbidden dessert I crave. Hint: Syrupy happens in less than an hour in my fridge! Don't panic if you let it sit until it's firm. Just sit the pan or freezing tray in hot water for a few minutes until it's back to syrupy.

Sorry the recipe scanned crooked. Anyway, here's some updated hints. This Jell-O recipe book has no date on it, but I'd guess before Cool Whip was invented in 1966.  1. Crush the ice ahead of time. Use a blender if you have one powerful enough to crush ice. Crushing ahead of time gives you a more accurate measure.  2. Set out 4-6 dessert dishes on a tray or cookie sheet. Feel free to chill them on the tray in the refrigerator to help the dessert set up faster, but it isn't necessary. 3.Measure all ingredients ahead of time. Put in ramekins, coffee cups, custard cups, whatever. It's better to be ready than to get halfway through and find out you don't have enough extract and the milk was sour. 4. Drain the pineapple in a glass measuring cup and add water to make it 3/4 cup. Microwave the liquid for a minute or two to get it hot. 5. Pour the drained pineapple into your food processor bowl or blender. 6. Add the hot to a bowl containing the Jell-O and st...

This quick little gem is perfect for those nights when time is at a premium. I used my electric skillet to make this extra easy. Non-aerosol cooking spray 1 lb lean pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch slices 2 cloves garlic, pressed 2 T. packed brown sugar 1 T. orange juice 1 T molasses 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Coat a large skillet with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add pork and garlic and cook for 6-8 minutes, turning occasionally, until pork is no longer pink in the center. Mix up the remaining ingredients. Pour over the pork. Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the pork. Serves 4. Calories 171 Carbs 9g Non-carb diners may have mashed potatoes with this. I was able to make up a batch of Faux-tay-toes. Faux-tay-toes-- Steam cauliflower until tender. Drain. Whirl in the food processor with butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper to taste until you get the consistency of mashed potatoes.

I was surprised to learn there are people in the world who don't know how to make this ubiquitous lunch food, or worse, who stir together canned meat, mayo, maybe a little instant minced onion, and call it good. Then again, I used to be one of them, until I found this recipe and made it, just to be different. I will never go back to plain old chicken salad ever again! I found Nirvana. Then I looked at the variations. YUM-OH!

In the same way as my comments on Feb 4 concerning mayonnaise, the same thing has happened in the salad dressing market. The so-called "diet" dressings can be higher in sugar and carbs because they're supposed to be lower in fat. Yet at the same time, the "regular" dressings are so loaded with chemicals and preservatives as well as carbs, the choices are very limited unless you like vinaigrettes. I happen to like creamy dressings, though I've learned that dipping my fork into a small cup of 2 T of dressing (average serving size on bottled dressings) and then stabbing a forkload of salad means I get a much tastier mouthful than pouring the dressing over the top and hoping it's still around when I get to the last fork full. Imagine having fresh dressings to dip your veggies into, and I don't mean just for a bowl of salad. Imagine taking a small sealed container of this with some celery, green pepper strips, and fresh broccoli when you need a snack. Y...

This girl is telling it like it is!! I refuse to reinvent the wheel. Wendy Tippens tells you the truth about banding. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKfp7aovYkM&NR=1

First, an explanation and elaboration. I love Baked Eggs, aka Shirred Eggs. They're easy, first and foremost. I keep a pile of custard cups around, as well as some cheap Corningware coffee mugs just so I can make baked eggs whenever I like. Custard cups work best, but when feeding a crowd, sometimes my little six cups just aren't enough! Thank goodness for Corningware! Now take your basic Baked Egg recipe and put on your thinking caps. How do you like your eggs? Me, I like a little meat, a little broccoli, a little bell peppers, and a whole lot of cheese with my eggs. DH likes onion, hash browns, cheese, and peppers on his. Dante likes his with a whole lot of veggies and a little deli turkey or ham.. DD3 likes hers Mexican style with chilies, olives, and Monterrey Jack cheese. Drag out those leftovers, wield your chopping knife, and add what you want to your cups the night before! Put the egg in the cups in the morning, and throw them in the oven in the steam bath. Bake t...

This recipe comes from the Food Network and Giada De Laurentis. They did not provide a calorie or carb count, so I made a guess at approximately 93 calories and 10 carbs per serving. I also substituted sour cream for the creme fraiche. (Sorry, Giada honey, not all of us are rich.) Also, I HIGHLY recommend you grind up the rosemary extra, extra fine, especially if you have to use the dried version like I did. Picking rosemary out of your teeth is never a cool look.

Deviled Eggs are a staple on my low-carb diet. They're easy, quick, and the stuffing can be made a ton of different ways to add variety. Below is my basic deviled egg recipe, plus a couple of variations for fun. I'm too lazy to pipe in the filling! Two spoons or my melon baller scoop up plenty. LOL!

Okay, if you're on a low carb diet, I'm sure you've now seen that regular old mayonnaise is lower in carbs than the so-called "light" mayo. (Hey, they took out the fat, so they had to put sugar in to compensate.) Perhaps this is why when I followed slavishly the "diet rules" and ate only "diet foods" I actually gained weight! Making my own mayonnaise to eliminate all those interesting and unpronounceable chemicals the commercial producers put in seems like the logical next step in my freedom from fat. Here's my recipe for mayo, done with several common kitchen appliances. (I'll be using the food processor, but you can use what you have, okay?) I can't wait to try these!

Are you finding it more and more difficult to feed your family with ever-rising food costs and all the health experts screaming at us to eat healthier? Who can afford to go to the fast food joints these days? Not us, even if my band would allow me to eat there. So, I'm planning ahead a whole lot better. We're eating less meat, and less expensive cuts when we do. No one will die if they don't have beef every night, even if I do have a husband who believes that "Real Food Says Moo!" He'll live a lot longer this way, if I don't kill him myself for his comments. So from now on, here's my plan: 1. Sunday-- Breakfast for Dinner. Eggs, Pancakes, Sausages, Bacon, Biscuits, and many other Egg dishes will be featured. DH can survive quite well on frittatas, quiches, and egg casseroles if I feel like working that hard. Eggs are inexpensive. Add veggies, cheeses, and a bread for those not on low-carb diets, and you have a meal fit for kings. 2. Mondays-- B...