Weight Loss Surgery is a DO-BETTER

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know a visit to my local Farmer's Market is my Saturday morning ritual. On Sunday, I take some time to plan healthy meals for the week, figure out ways to "repurpose" the inevitable leftovers, and prepare some of the meal elements like chopping up veggies and fruits and gathering additional ingredients and needed gadgets.

If on Wednesday night when you are tired and stressed you have to search the cabinets for a spice or a certain gadget you may say screw it to your meal plan and hit the drive thru. Which is something I would have done before weight loss surgery and easily consumed a day's worth of calories in a single carb-laden, greasy meal or grabbed a bag of Cheeze-it snack mix or Sausalito cookies or both and called it a night.

Weight Loss Surgery is not a DO-OVER (repeat same mistakes = get a similar outcome.)
Weight Loss Surgery is a DO-BETTER (make lifestyle changes you can continue forever.)

If your fridge is full of good stuff, most of it is already prepped, and needed ingredients are easily accessible it makes making healthy choices and sticking to your meal plan easier. A couple of hours spent one day can set you up for success for the whole week.

Here's this week's Farmer's Market haul and some of the ways I turned it into healthy meals for the week.

Right away I chopped up the peppers and the red onion and roasted them (sheet pan, drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper, 425 degree oven, turning occasionally (about 30 minutes for a small dice, 45 for large chunks) till golden and soft.

First use: Shelly's Cowgirl Salad - some of those roasted veggies and those super sweet cherry tomatoes (those I didn't just pop in my mouth as I was washing them) became this great salad for lunch or dinner on a hot summer night.

Shelly's Cowgirl Salad

1 (15 oz.) can Pinto Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Roasted Veggies (peppers and red onion mixture)
1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup Leftover Cooked Steak, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
a few twists of Black Pepper
Lemon Cumin Dressing

Lemon Cumin Dressing

1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Lemon Torani Syrup
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder

Mix dressing ingredients well and pour over all the salad. Place in fridge till ready to serve.

It gets better and better with a few hours as the ingredients get a chance to love on one another so make this one an hour or so in advance. Great for picnics. I used leftover steak because I had it on hand but it would be great with leftover chicken or shrimp too.

Second use: Shelly's Fajita Bites (aka Crustless Quiches) - I also took some of the roasted veggies and the last of the leftover steak and made a batch of my bites for lunches and quick breakfasts for the week. They keep nicely a few days in the fridge. I heat them back up in the toaster oven (preferred) or microwave.

Shelly's Fajita Bites

1/2 cup Roasted Veggies (peppers and red onion mixture)
1/2 cup Cheese, shredded (Colby/Jack blend)
1/4 cup Leftover Steak, chopped fine
1/4 cup Tomatoes, diced
5 eggs
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
a few twists of Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Spoon into lightly greased (Pam non-stick spray works great for this) mini muffin tins.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Let them cool a few moments they pull away and pop right out. Makes 24.

More uses: the roasted peppers and onions will also become a Tortilla Pizza topping, mixed into scrambled eggs or a frittata, and as a yummy addition to chicken or tuna salad.