Spicy scramble

Spicy Scramble!

 

Eggs have become my best friend for breakfast. They are so quick to make and you can throw just about anything in them and they turn out to be so yummy! For this, I made 4 servings which are perfect for my sleeve. The serving pictured above is two servings. Here's what you need:

• Three eggs (mix in a bowl)
• Red bell pepper, diced
• Green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• Pepper Jack Cheese (I used two thin slices of Sargento cut into pieces)
• One jalapeno, cut into rings
• 1/4c diced green onion
• Cilantro, diced
• Olive Oil
• Salt, Pepper, and Garlic salt to taste

In a pan, I added the olive oil with the bell peppers and jalapeno until they were almost fully cooked. Then I added the spinach and cooked until wilted, added garlic salt. I then stirred in the remaining ingredients until the eggs were cooked how I like them.

I did top mine with avocado as well. The only things not included in the nutrition facts are the avocado and the olive oil.

If you don't want it too spicy, omit or use less jalapeno.

Oh the temptation!

I survived yesterday (day 1). Today, oh the temptation. BUT, I did not give in.

I planned my meals this morning before work and brought extra food in case I got hungry--no reason to head to the vending machine for junk food.

Then our weekly team meeting came around today...and what did they bring? Bagels, Sandwiches, cupcakes, cookies and chips....oh my! I sat back and did not take a single bite. I thought about grabbing a sandwich, and removing the bread, but I passed. I swear I argued with myself for 30 seconds in my head about it "oh just one..." NO! haha.

Today I had a yummy breakfast, similar to yesterday's. I had one egg, 1/2c spinach, and 1/2c zucchini, with one Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patty. About 170 calories, 11g protein and 3 carbs.

For lunch I brought leftover steak fajitas (without the tortilla), and for snacks, I brought Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt, a tuna-lettuce roll up, and a Cheddar baby-bel. Oh, and 1/4c of this Cape Code Trail Mix I found at Whole Foods (btw...I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon when a half a bag of groceries cost me $50).

I got these awesome portion bags from Walmart! I separated all of the trail mix so I don't eat too much when I want a snack.

For dinner, I made a recipe I came across an awesome person (@thesweatybetty) it's an Atkins Big Mac...I was never a Big Mac person, but this sounded interesting. Came out great!

Ingredients

• 1.5 pound ground beef
• 1 heaping tbsp of chicken bouillon
• 2 tbsp dried onion
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup low carb thousand island dressing
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup dill pickles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a large skillet, brown ground beef. Season with chicken bouillon, dried onion flakes, parsley, onion powder, and garlic powder.
3. In a large bowl, place seasoned ground beef. Add cheddar cheese, thousand island dressing, eggs, sour cream, and dill pickles. Mix together thoroughly.
4. Add ground beef mixture to 8?x11? baking dish and spread to corners. Bake for 30 minutes.

Notes/Nutrition Info:

Serving Size: 1 piece Calories: 401 Fat (g): 34.5 Carbohydrates (g): 2.9 Fiber (g): 0 Protein (g): 19.5

Taking Ownership

After having a mental breakdown a few nights ago, I've decided no more. Yeah...my last few blog posts have said that, but after stepping on the scale today for the first time in months, I have to be real. It's time to get healthy again.

Follow me on
MyFitnessPal -Quelyn01
Instagram- Afterthesleeve

Today is a new day.

Breakfast:

-Starbucks K-cup Vanilla Coffee, Great Value Vanilla Creamer, splenda
-2 Eggs scrambled with zuchinni

Low Carb Crepe with Strawberries & Cream

This was a nice sweet treat, but didn't give all the carbs! I used one my crepes leftover from the other day, one Laughing Cow Wedge of Cheese, Strawberries & Cream flavor, and one cut up strawberry! Heated in the pan to melt the cheese!

Recipe for Crepes is as follows:

4 Eggs
1/2 cup Reduced Fat Ricotta Cheese
2 Packets of Splenda
Pinch of Salt
Small serving of butter for the pan

Pour small amounts of batter in the pan so it's the size you want, and in about 1-2 minutes, turn on the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Apples & Yogurt

Gala apples are so good! I also love this yogurt too! Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt! Only 80 calories in the yogurt, 12g protein, and only 8 carbs!

Turkey Meatball Squares

 

Skip the pasta and just eat the meat! Instead of making meatballs, I made them into squares (well, I guess they are actually rectangles...). 

What you need:

1 package of lean ground turkey (I believe it's 1.25lbs)

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 egg

Garlic Salt

Italian Seasoning

Parmesan Cheese

1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese

1 Cup Spaghetti Sauce

Beat the egg in a large mixing bowl with a fork. Add the turkey, bread crumbs, garlic salt, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning (to your taste preference), combine with your hands.

Using either a pan like the one pictured below, or a muffin pan, spray it with non stick cooking spray. Put your meat in each hole, but do not overfill.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes. Once the time is up, put a spoonful sauce and sprinkle of mozzarella cheese on each "meatball." Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until turkey is fully cooked.

Chicken, tomato, artichoke hearts

I found a recipe on Pinterest, but tweaked it a little bit.

The original recipe called for 6 roma tomatoes, but I only used one, and then canned tomatoes :)

What you need:

2 Large chicken breasts, cut to make 4 portions
1 can petite diced tomatoes with garlic
1 diced roma tomato
2 diced garlic cloves
1/2 can of canned artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind, and I saved the other half in the freezer for next time)
3 or 4 fresh basil leaves
Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 375.

In a small pan, spray with non stick spray. Mix tomatoes, garlic, and artichoke hearts, mix with a small amount of olive oil and top with salt and pepper. Place half of the mixture in the pan.

Place the uncooked chicken on top of the mixture in the pan, add salt and pepper on chicken. Top with the other half of the mixture. Cook for 30 minutes.

Place mozzarella cheese (I did not measure, I used enough to cover the pan) over the pan, and top with the basil leaves. Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until the juices run clear and the cheese starts to brown.

Pumpkin Pancakes, low carb!

These were so good! I was only able to eat one of these.

The recipe makes about 6 pancakes, medium-large in size. Based on the brands of products I used, one pancake has 100 calories, 3.3carbs, and 11g of protein!

What you need:

-1/2 cup pumpkin
-1/2 cup ricotta cheese
-4 eggs
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 tsp aluminim free baking powder
1/2 cup (or one scoop) of vanilla protein powder.

In a mixing bowl, beat the 4 eggs with a hand mixer to make them fluffy. Add all of the other ingredients, and mix with the mixer.

Scoop the mixture into a pan and cook like a "regular" pancake.

I dusted mine with a small amount of powdered sugar and a small amount of lite maple syrup, this is not included in the nutrition facts. (...neither is the sausage on the side!)

**Tip**
When I normally make pancakes out of the box mixture, I don't have to spray my pan with non-stick spray, with these I did. They were sticking when I went to turn them so if you lightly spray your pan in between each pancake they will not stick as much.

My dinner! Yum! Grilled chicken dish!

This came out really good, and was so easy to make!

What you need:

• 4 Chicken breasts, about 4oz each (Or 2 large ones cut in half lengthwise)
• 1 Red bell pepper
• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Spices (I like salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, & Garlic Salt)
• Olive oil

 What you do:

Preheat oven to 375 for a later step.

Using a grill pan, heat it with olive oil. Lay the chicken on the pan, and sprinkle with the seasonings.Cook on both sides until it's the color brown you like (don't worry about under cooking, it's going to go in the oven).

While the chicken is cooking, in a separate pan, put a small amount of olive oil in a pan, and fill your bag of fresh spinach in pan. Cook until wilted down and set aside in a bowl.

Cut the bell pepper into strips. Cook in same pan spinach was in, until it's burnt on some edges of it, to give it a roasted texture. Cook until soft.

Using a Pyrex or similar dish, spray with non stick spray. Lay the chicken out in the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes or until it's no longer pink. If you fully cooked your chicken on the grill, you can skip cooking additional time in the oven.

Once chicken is fully cooked, top each breast with about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, spinach, and strips of red pepper. Top with a small amount of garlic salt. Put back in oven for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. You can also turn the oven up to a higher degree to melt the cheese faster.

Enjoy!

Another Breakfast "cupcake"

Muffin pans are the best thing in portion control in my opinion. They provide the right serving of food (I just hate cleaning the pan...but that's what my husband is there for! haha, thank God he doesn't mind!)

What you need:

-Frozen shredded potatoes
-6 eggs
-6 pieces of bacon, cooked
-Shredded Cheese of choice

Set oven to 375. Spray your pan with non stick spray.

Place a scoop full of hashbrowns into each muffin. Cook for about 15 minutes or until you see them turning brown.

Meanwhile, cook your bacon if it's not already cooked. Scramble your eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper.

Remove the hashed browns from oven, spoon egg on top of each muffin. Crumble or break the bacon into pieces, and put it on top of the eggs. Top with a small serving of cheese on top. Cook for another 10-15 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs.

Another idea: You can put one whole egg cracked into each muffin and cook them that was as well, but this will double your egg count for the recipe.

Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

What you need:

-Canned Chicken Breast
-Chopped Celery
-Chopped Green Onion
-Spicy mustard
-Lettuce leaves, I like Romaine.

I don't measure my ingredients for this recipe since they don't really make a huge difference in the calorie count. I use as much as I like, or as little as I like.

Spoon the ingredients into your lettuce, making it like a taco, or a burrito, and eat!

Buns/Rolls that are only 2 Carbs!

This is not my recipe! You can find the original recipe at http://fluffychixcook.blogspot.com/2012/05/revolutionary-low-carb-hot-dog-buns.html.

The photos are also do not belong to me, they belong to the other blog :)

Mine did not come out as brown as hers. I think I will cook mine a little longer next time. They were like a really fluffy egg, but did have kind of a bread texture. I made a sandwich with one today, and it was really good! I will definitely make them again!





Revolutionary Wraps and Hot Dog Buns

Serves – 8-10 Hot Dog Buns or 12 Hamburger Buns
Difficulty – Easy
Prep Time – 15 Minutes
Cooking Time – 40 Minutes (Hot Dog Buns)

Any shape. Any size! Low Carb Bun shapes are versatile.

Ingredients
8 Large Eggs, separated
5/8c Cottage Cheese (any kind - recipe used Whole Milk)
1-1/8c Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
½ tsp Granulated Garlic
¼ tsp Granulated Onion Powder
¼ tsp Kosher Salt
1 scoop Protein Powder (about 30g or 1/4 to 1/3c, scoop comes with protein)
¼ tspCream of Tartar
1-1/2 tsp Country Dijon (optional)
2 tsp Baking Powder, Gluten Free, non-aluminum
Sesame Seeds or Poppy Seeds, optional (about ¼ tsp. per roll and 1Tbsp per Focaccia recipe)
Preheat oven to 325°. Line baking sheet and with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.


Make bun molds from non-stick aluminum foil and
any shaped item in the house. Spice jars make great shapes!

Use a jar of capers or olives, or a spice bottle, anything you can think of, who said corners can’t be square? Pick a mold slightly larger than the size you want for the finished rolls. These rolls tend to shrink as they cool by about 20%.

(Note on shaping: Make sure to make 2 molds per sheet of aluminum foil so they don’t fall over. Two will create a more steady shape and will retain a curve easier. )
If using non-stick aluminum foil, no need to spray molds with cooking spray. If using regular aluminum foil, then spray molds with olive oil spray and set aside on baking sheets.  (But you should really use the non-stick aluminum foil…)

Yolk Mixture for Low Carb, Gluten Free
Revolutionary Buns and Wraps.

Grate mozzarella cheese.

Blend cottage cheese with a small food processor until smooth.
Grind pork rinds into crumbs with the knife blade of the food processor (if using them).

Measure coconut flour (if using) and sift into dry ingredients.

Measure out protein powder,
salt, garlic and onion powders and mix with dry ingredients to combine.

Separate egg yolks from whites and place into two very clean, oil free pans.

Add cheeses and dry ingredients to the bowl with the yolks and set aside. You will beat this after whipping the egg whites – unless you want to thoroughly wash your beaters in between! (Remember the beaters used for the egg white must be scrupulously clean and dry before beating the whites.)

Beat egg whites to the foamy stage and then add cream of tartar. Beat whites to a hard peak stage. Go look at the instructions in the Basic Rev Roll technique post if you have any doubts about whether you’ve whipped them enough. When they are ready, the whites will no longer move in the bowl. No slippin’ or slidin’ for those egg whites!

Blend egg yolk mixture for 2-3 minutes. The yolk mixture is ready when they change to a lemony color and when the lumps of shredded cheese are mostly gone. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

Fold the whites into the yolk in 3 additions. The first one loosens the yolk mixture and the other two are to add volume so don’t overwork!


Top low carb buns with sesame, poppy or chia seeds!

Spoon the mixture into bun molds. About 3 heaping soup spoons/tablespoons or a generous ¼-3/8 cup of batter will work.

Sprinkle buns with sesame or poppy seeds, or rehydrated minced onions – whatever you want, add fresh herbs or cracked pepper and coarse sea salt!

You’ll get about 8-10 good sized buns depending on how big you made your molds.

Bake rolls at 325° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and done throughout. If using two baking sheets, rotate the pans between the two racks of your oven at the 17minute mark!

Buns and wraps are best made hours before or even up to 4 days ahead. Store the buns and wraps in an air tight bag or container in your refrigerator. They become soft and sturdier with age, resisting tears and breaking.

Nutritional Information

Single Serving - 1 Bun or 1 Wrap

Full Recipe

Cheesy Asparagus

My friend, who also had the sleeve a few weeks after me, told me about this recipe she came up with, and it's so good!

This is great for use in the toaster oven!

I always boil my asparagus, because I'm afraid of under cooking them and them not tasting so great....but this works great in the toaster oven!

What you need:

Asparagus (whatever serving size you can eat. I do between 5-8 spears), snapped
String cheese
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat your toaster oven to 425. Spray your pan with non stick spray. Lay down the asparagus, pull apart your string cheese and lay across and all over your asparagus, and then sprinkle with a small amount of fresh grated Parmesan cheese! Cook for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

76 Calorie Crustless Pumpkin Cheesecake!

I have been craving pumpkin. It's really odd, and I don't know why. I'm thinking it's because this year I won't be chugging down any of Jack In The Box's Pumpkin Pie milk shakes....

After searching, and searching, and searching....I finally found a pumpkin flavored recipe that looked good, until I calculated the nutrition facts and oh boy...I shredded that recipe! It was a pumpkin whoopie pie recipe (with me substituting with low fat/ff ingredients and cutting all corners I could) was over 400 calories, 55+carbs, and an insane amount of fat! No way was I going to eat even half of a serving....so I continued to search.

I hadn't baked a cheese cake before, but I've heard it's basically just cream cheese...so I looked up the main ingredients needed, which were cream cheese and eggs. So I made up my own low carb, low fat, and low calorie crustless pumpkin cheesecake!

What you need:

1 15oz Can of Pumpkin (I used Great Value brand 100% pumpkin)
10oz Fat Free Cream Cheese, room temperature (Also used great value brand, this was one brick plus 2 oz of my leftover brick, making 10 oz)
3 eggs
1 cup splenda
Cinnamon
Ground Nutmeg
Ground Cloves

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin and cream cheese, using a hand mixer until mixed well. Then add in the eggs. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I did not measure these ingredients, it all depends on how much "spice" you want to taste.

I used my small square pyrex baking dish. Spray pan of your choice (smaller pan is better unless recipe is doubled). Pour mixture into pan, and even out as much as possible with a spatula or knife. Cook uncovered for about 40 minutes. I checked mine around the 30 minute mark with a tooth pick and extended the cooking time based on those results.

Once it's done cooking, put pan in refrigerator for 3-4 hours letting it cool completely and get chilled before eating.

Serving size is 9! 76 Calories, 1.7g fat, 6.5 Carbs, and 7.2g protein!

Teriyaki Chicken

This is such a quick meal!

You can use a boneless skinless breast or thigh for this meal. The thighs usually come out really good!

I take a pyrex pan, spray with non stick spray, pour teriyaki premade marinade over the chicken (Lawry's brand, great value brand, etc., found in the BBQ sauce aisle). Top with sesame seeds (optional). Cook at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Once it's done, I like to slice the chicken and spoon over extra marinade from the pan onto the chicken!

80 Calorie Southwest "taquitos"

These were delicious! About 80 calories each! (not including sour cream), nutrition facts are below.

What you need:

-20 Wonton Wrappers
-6oz cooked boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped in small peices
-2oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
-2oz fat free cream cheese
1/2c salsa (I used Pace Picante Chunky)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.

Spoon filling into each wrapper, and roll like a taquito (both ends open). Place seem side down on cookie sheet. Spray a light layer of non stick spray on the wrappers once all laid down.

Cook for 20-25 minutes, turning once. until you can see some crispness on the wrappers.

Dip in guacamole or sour cream (not included in the nutrition facts). You can also add corn for even more of a southwest flavor, but since I cannot eat corn until I'm 6 months post op, I did not include it.

Nutrition facts were calculated with myfitnesspal app, imputing the exact ingredients I used. I suggest you do this as well to get a more accurate count since nutritional value varies by brand.

Greek Salad

Well, I ended up not making the zucchini pizza, but I did make a Greek Salad. YUM! It was only about 250 calories, using 4 oz of chicken breast & Ken's Greek dressing. I only ate about 1/3 of it, but I will finish the rest later!

Cucumber Sandwhiches & a photo of ME :)

Look! It's me :) 37lbs lighter. I'm starting to slowly see results with my stomach shrinking...and I like this picture of me haha.

I still have not had bread (other than the english muffin I tried to eat a few weeks ago and managed to throw it up right away....ugh, not fun!) but I wanted something that sort of resembeled a sandwhich, so I made "Cucumber Sandwhiches."

Two slices of cucumber as the "bread" and a peice of salami and cheese in the middle! I dipped them in spicy mustard, but the second time I had them I used a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese instead of the mustard.

That was the first time I tried that cheese and OH EM GEE. It was so good! :D That can be dangerous LOL

Carbless Crepes with Cream of mushroom & Chicken!

I came across this recipe on the forum on verticalsleevetalk.com, that redirected me to this site for the crepe recipe.

This is the first time I was able to make a successful crepe! I filled mine with bite size pieces of already cooked chicken thighs, mixed with cream of mushroom soup, and topped with reduced fat shredded cheese (fiesta blend).

I was thinking the cinamon and sugar used in the recipe would make it taste to sweet with the chicken but it was a nice combo.

I even had a small crepe left over that I filled with Ricotta cheese mixed with a splash of Almond Roca Torani sugar free syrup! Ahhhh heaven!!

I also served with a small side of brussel sprouts. I was only able to eat half of my crepe :( Guess I know what I'm brining to work tomorrow for lunch!

1 month post op check up!

Today was my 4 week post op check up!

The doctor is very happy with my 31lb weight loss. He said I'm right on target, and should be loosing anywhere from 1.5-3lbs a week.

The only thing he suggested was that I step up my exercising to EVERYDAY...and strap on a back pack full of phonebooks and put on ankle weights while I walk to build muscle....I guess it makes sense. He said that with all the intake of protein, your body needs to do something with it,and while some weeks you may not loose pounds, you will loose inches when that protein turns into muscle.

I see him again in one month instead of two weeks since I'm doing so well :) Yay me! haha. Here is a picture I took yesterday.