Post Weight Loss Surgery Menus: A day in my pouch

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world. Here's what I ate yesterday...

Breakfast: I had a few appointments and errands to run so I grabbed a couple of my Banana Chai Protein Donuts, tossed them in a snack sized Ziploc and went on my way. This last batch I made I made a few with red walnuts and a few sugar free chocolate chips (Walmart) just pushed a couple of chips, nuts in right before popping them in the oven and in my travels I had a Starbucks Sugar Free Vanilla Soy Latte.

7 Protein Packed Grab & Go Breakfast Ideas

Lunch: I came home and made these protein packed, flattened meatballs. They had a Greek vibe with mint (don't leave it out) and the Greek yogurt cucumber dip. They are a great lunch or dinner. I ate a couple just dipped in the yogurt sauce but you could top a salad with them or use a piece of Boston lettuce like a cup and drizzle the dressing on top. Would be a great game day appetizer too. 

Shelly's Beef Kofta (Flat Meatballs) with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce

1/2 lb. Ground Beef (you could really use any meat: pork, turkey)
1 teaspoon Dried Mint
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 cup Almond Meal
dash of salt
a few twists of Black Pepper

Mix with hands till combined. Form into 8 meatballs. Place in a pan I used a drizzle of olive oil for crunchy edges (Pam would work too) and press down slightly to form ovals. Saute until they are well browned on all sides. Serve hot with Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce.

Cook's Note: almond meal and almond flour are interchangeable in this recipe: meal is just ground almonds with skins on, flour is ground almonds with skins off.

Cucumber Mint Yogurt Sauce

4 oz. Plain Greek yogurt
1/4 of a Hothouse (English) Cucumber, diced fine
1/2 teaspoon Dried Mint
dash of Salt
a few twists of Black Pepper

Eggface Healthy Greek Recipes Pinterest Page

Dinner: Foil Fish Packet. A go-to dinner at my house. Shelly's Tilapia Squash Foil Fish Packet: slice up some squash placed it on a piece of foil, 1 green onion. Add a piece of any fish you like (I used tilapia, shrimp or scallops would be great too, just lower the time by 5 minutes) Sprinkle with any seasoning you like, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Wrap everything in foil tightly. Toss on a covered BBQ for 20 (defrosted) - 25 (frozen) minutes and depending on the thickness of the fillet.

Don't open the lid. Trust me it will come out perfect every time and best of all. If you are really bad like me eat it directly from the packet and there is zero clean-up... well OK a fork. I served it with a dollop of Greek yogurt seasoned with the same seasoning I used on the fish cause I dip everything.

More Eggface Foil Packet Dinners

Snacks: Lots of coffee powered my day (those splashed of soy milk add up) and I was in the mood for something crunchy and gave these Crunchy Bean Snacks a try. Yum! and 7 g. protein. I had the sea salt ones (they come in 5 flavors, I have a packet of the tomato basil to try next.) 

More Days in my pouch

Eggface Healthy Halloween Trick or Treat Giveaway

Halloween is quickly approaching and we can't let the kiddos have all the fun. I've got a goody bag of health and weight loss surgery friendly products, some of my favorite protein bars, protein shakes, snacks and more. Trick or Treat WLS style!

Happy Halloween! Tell a friend! It's Giveaway Time!

The Prize: A purple Nike Exercise Bag so you can hit the gym, beach or travel to the Your Weight Matters Convention and hang out with me next summer and it's jam packed with some of my post weight loss surgery bariatric favorites...

3 single serving packets of Celebrate Vitamins ENS in Vanilla Cake Batter, Chocolate Milk, and Strawberry flavors (each delicious shake contains a high potency multivitamin, 500 mg of calcium citrate, 4 g of fiber, and 25 g of whey isolate protein in each serving)

1 jammed packed Sampler pack of Celebrate Vitamins including some of my personal favorites: Calcium Citrate Chews, Grape Multivitamin Chewable, Cherry B12, and tons more to try.

4 Celebrate Vitamins ENS - 2 in 1 Protein & Calcium Bar 2 of each flavor Caramel Chocolate Crunch and Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch.

7 single serving packets of Chike Nutrition Protein Drink in Chocolate Bliss, Very Vanilla, Strawberry Burst, Banana Magic, Orange Creme, and High Protein Iced Coffee in Original and Mocha flavors.

7 Quest Nutrition Protein Bars in a variety of flavors: White Chocolate Raspberry, Chocolate Brownie, Peanut Butter Supreme, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Banana Nut Muffin, Double Chocolate Chunk, and Cinnamon Roll.

5 single serving packets Big Train Fit Frappe Protein in Chocolate, Vanilla, Vanilla Latte, Mocha, Espresso flavors.

4 packets of Blue Diamond Almonds in Lime n' Chili, Natural, Wasabi & Soy and Roasted Salted flavors.

1 single serving packet of Unflavored BiPro Protein.

1 single serving packet of NutraSumma Pea Protein in Vanilla flavor.

28 oz. Purple Blender Bottle Shaker.

How to Enter: 1.) LIKE The World According to Eggface Facebook Page 2.) COME BACK HERE and LEAVE A COMMENT on this blog posting (be sure to include a name and some email address where I can contact you if you are the winner) Scroll down to # of comments below to leave yours. That's it, easy peasy.

For fun... Tell me what you are going to dress up as for Halloween or your favorite costume from the past.

***Want extra chances to win?***

* Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway: Hey everyone enter the @Eggface Healthy Halloween Trick or Treat Giveaway http://tinyurl.com/pz3oye5

* Follow me on Pinterest and pin at least one of your favorite Eggface recipes or an Eggface recipe you'd like to try to one of your Pinterest boards. Put #Eggface in the description.

Contest Period Ends: Sunday, October 19th, midnight (Pacific), sometime Monday, October 20th. I'll draw a name using a random number generator and announce the winner here on the blog! I will also email the winner at the address provided. You'll have one week (7 days) to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. Remember winners MUST be a Facebook follower (aka have LIKED) of the The World According to Eggface. One comment entry per person. Blog comments are moderated so there may be a slight delay (up to a few hours, especially at night if I'm sleeping Zzzz) in seeing your comment/entry post. Giveaway is open to anyone in the contiguous United States (48 contiguous only, sorry it's a legal and money $ thing.)

Be sure to check out my Healthy Halloween Post Weight Loss Surgery Survival Tips

It's World Egg Day! 8 Eggceptional Recipes

It's World Egg Day! Here are some eggceptional (sorry couldn't resist) dishes you can make to celebrate this awesome protein source. Low carb, high protein, all delicious.

Shelly's Individual Baked Chili Relleno Casserole

4 Eggs
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
dash salt
a dash (or 2 or 3) of Hot Sauce (I love Cholula)
1/2 cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (divided use)
1 (7 oz.) can Mild Green Chiles, drained and diced

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 4 ramekins with Pam cooking spray. In a blender, combine eggs, ricotta, salt and hot sauce. Blend till smooth. Combine the shredded cheese (minus 2 Tablespoons) and chiles.

Spoon equal amounts of chilies and cheese into each ramekin. Pour egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until golden brown and the eggs have set, a knife inserted comes out clean. About 35-38 minutes.

Serve for breakfast or brunch with fresh fruit (looks fancy pants but is super cheap & easy) or for lunch or dinner with a little green salad. Perfect vegetarian dish for Meatless Monday.

Shelly's Baked Scotch Eggs

Shelly's Ham, Cheese, Triple Onion Egg Bites

Shelly's Cauliflower Chicken Fried Riceless "Rice" 

Shelly's Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Eggs

Shelly's BTE Bacon Tomato and Egg Salad with Cucumber "Crackers"

Shelly's Egg Foo Young Bites

A Classic Hard Boiled Egg Bento Box Lunch

Which recipe are you eggcited to try?

Healthy Halloween Post Weight Loss Surgery Survival Tips

Hope these ideas help you celebrate Halloween in a way that is still a ton of fun but honors your commitment to your healthy lifestyle post weight loss surgery. 

Healthy Halloween Survival Tips

* If you must buy candy... wait to buy candy till Halloween Day. Those bars won't be calling to you from the cupboard a week beforehand.

* Buy the candy you hate. If you love Snickers buy Sweet Tarts. Don't set yourself up by having your favorite peanut butter cups taunting you every time you enter the kitchen.

* Better yet... buy a non-candy treat to giveaway to the trick or treaters. The neighborhood kids will get plenty of candy even if you don't pass it out. There are tons of great alternatives to candy:

• Pencils
• Bracelets
• Bubbles
• Playdough (I loved getting this when I was a kiddo)
• Magnets
• Maze games
• Kazoos
• Keychains
• Whistles
• Trading cards
• Stickers
• Crayons
• Erasers
• Yo-yos
• Rubber Hi-bouncing balls
• Plastic Animals and Insects
• Coins
• Glow sticks (my favorite and bonus they help kids stay safe as they wander the streets.)

* If you are heading out in the neighborhood trick-or-treating, make it a fitness challenge by having the group of friends or siblings wear pedometers or fitbits and track how many steps they take. Then donate the candy collected (see below for ideas.)

* Be sure to eat a protein-packed meal and drink plenty of water.

If you are full from a good meal you will be less apt to want to snack on those not-so-fun sized candy bars as you are walking (FYI 4 fun sized bars = approximately 320 calories.)

* Stay home and have a Halloween Party: Put on Michael Jackson's Thriller and Dance (3-4 songs = 10 minutes, 3x and you have a 30-minute workout), Read a Spooky Story, Make Tortilla Pizza "Monster Faces," 

Bob for Apples, Carve Pumpkins and Roast the Seeds, Make Deviled Egg Spiders, Make Monsters: A batch of homemade playdough with some cookie cutters, a garlic press, a rolling pin, pipe cleaners, buttons, beads, etc. and you've got your own monster making factory. 

Shelly's Pumpkin Spice Playdough

3 cups Flour
1 cup Salt
2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
3 cups Boiling Water
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
Couple of drops of Red and Yellow Food Coloring

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl then add boiling water. Add oil and coloring and mix. Knead when cool enough to handle until smooth dough. It smells ahhhh-mazing too.

* Trick-Or-Treat For a Cause

Use Halloween to teach your kids about helping other kids. UNICEF sponsors a "Trick-Or-Treat for UNICEF" program where trick-or-treaters collect change instead of candy. The money raised goes to UNICEF's worldwide aid programs. You can download all the information, box label and fundraising ideas on the UNICEF website.

Also through its "Coins That Count Donation Program," Coinstar coin-counting machines, allow kids to contribute to organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and the American Red Cross. Kids can take change collected to a Coinstar machine donations can be made to participating charities when coins are deposited or you can get your cash and donate to a cause you hold near and dear. Kids might like to donate to your local animal shelter.

* Donate the Candy

Operation Gratitude collects candy for the troops overseas and many local dentists are drop-off locations for more information visit Operation Gratitude's website and donating to your local Food Banks are always an option. Speaking of local food banks... please consider joining me in this project.

Consider having the "Tooth Fairy" visit in the night and replace the candy stash with a non-candy treat.

More Eggface Halloween Healthy Treats:

Shelly's Mummy Tortilla Pizza
Shelly's Deviled Egg Spiders
Shelly's Poor Barbie Protein Shake
Shelly's Healthy Halloween Fluff Stuff
Shelly's Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Jars with Harvest Mix
Shelly's Dead of the Dead Grilled Zucchini

Find even more Spooktacular Healthy Halloween Ideas, Recipes, and Bentos on My Pinterest Halloween Page