Worlds Most Perfect Pork Chops

I am always a bit leary when it comes to pork. It can be so flavorless and dry. I normally eat pork baked in breading while dousing it in ketchup just to get it down. These are different. These are friggin awesome, and the secret is the marinade.

• 1lb center cup boneless pork chops



• 3/4 cup worcestershire sauce



• 2 tablespoon chopped garlic



• 2 packets artificial sweetener (I used stevia)



• 1 teaspoon whole mustard seed



• 1 large onion (chopped)



• chili powder



• cooking spray



• salt and pepper

Marinade the pork 2-3 hours ahead of time. Place pork chops in a shallow square cake pan, or any type of container that you can place the pork in one layer. In a small bowl add 1/2 cup of the worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon chopped garlic, the 2 packs of artificial sweetener and the mustard seed. Mix together and pour over chops. Marinade for 1 hour in the fridge the flip and marinade for another hour.

When its time to cook heat large skillet on medium. Spray with cooking spray. Remove the chops and liberally salt, pepper and chili powder both sides. Cook the pork chops through, about 5 minutes on each side. When the chops are done take off and set on a plate. Respray the pan and add onions, the rest of the worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cook until nice and caramelized. Turn off heat and re add the pork chops and serve. This are effin good!

Wheat Rotini Pasta with Grape Tomatoes

This is a great pasta dish. Wheat pasta is used, which is pretty high in protein, so if your craving pasta this hits the spot. Serve with some salad and you have a yummy, summery dinner. This recipe makes a lot but believe me you will WANT left overs whether they're hot or cold.

• 1lb wheat rotini pasta



• 8oz fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed



• 1 pint grape tomatoes (or cherry), halved



• 3 cloves garlic, crushed or diced small



• 1/2 cup grated parm cheese



• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil



• 1 teaspoon dried basil



• salt and pepper

Boil pasta in salted water. While pasta is cooking, in a large skillet heat the olive oil, then add in the pint of halved grape tomatoes and dried basil then salt and pepper them. Let them cook until very soft, then with the back of a wooden spoon, or fork smoosh all the tomatoes down to a chunky tomato sauce. Lower the heat and add in garlic. Cook for a few minutes on low until everything thickens up. Drain pasta and add to pasta bowl, pour the tomato mixture onto the pasta and stir. Then add in both cheeses and stir. The heat of the pasta will make the mozzarella soft and melt the parm cheese. In the summer, when I am growing my own basil I use fresh basil, but the dried does the trick for now.

Kashi Frozen Dinner Product Review

So kashi was doing some kind of promotional thing a few months ago where they sent you a coupon for a free kashi frozen meal. I got mine about a month ago, and decided to have it for lunch today. I sometimes eat the smartones santa fe rice and beans. I picked up the Kashi Southwest Style Chicken. It was really, really good. The chicken is REAL chicken, and not the fake processed chicken. The veggies are crunchy and you can see the grill marks on them. The sauce is good, and the base is wheat rice and barley. Like I said it is GOOD, here are the Nut facts

• Calories- 240


• Fat-5


• Carbs- 32


• Sugar- 3


• Protein- 16

I was able to eat the whole meal. It's very filling! I give this an A++! NOTE- I added my own cheese to the picture*

Chicken and Chorizo Quinoa Paella

What's Quinoa (pronounced keen-wahh) you ask? It's a grain that is good for us! Yup, that's right, it's a starch that is a complete protein. It is grown in South America and is used like rice there, and that's what I'm doing. I studied in Spain when I was a freshman in college, and I loved Paella, but now that amount of rice would put me in a carb coma and plummet my blood sugar to an all time low. I never have a problem with quinoa, it tastes like rice, but doesn't mess with your body. It's becoming very popular in regular supermarkets, I have bought quinoa in trader joes, wegmans, whole foods, shop rite, genaurdis and pathmark, so its pretty easy to find. 1 cup of dried quinoa produces 3 cups cooked quinoa so it goes far. *Note when you look up the nutrition facts for quinoa it will say one cup is 600 something calories, but it's not, it's reffering to the quinoa when it's dry, but one cup cooked is about 200 calories* So here are the ingredients for a healthier version of a Spanish favorite!

• 1 cup dried quinoa, rinsed first



• 2 cups chicken stock



• 1 teaspoon saffron threads



• 1 cup chorizo (Spanish spicy sausage, taken out of skin and broken up)



• 2 chicken breasts



• 1 large onion chopped



• 3 cloves garlic chopped



• 1 bell pepper chopped



• 1 can rotel (mostly drained)



• 1/2 cup frozen peas



• cooking spray



• salt and pepper



• cilantro if you have it (I used dried, that works fine)

Cook quinoa according to package ingredients using chicken stock instead of water. Add the teaspoon of saffron into the boiling quinoa.

While the quinoa is cooking, in a large sprayed skillet, cook the chicken until cooked through. Remove from skillet and put on a plate to sit. Cook chorizo, then place on plate with chicken. Remove the oil from the chorizo from the pan and re spray. Then add in the chopped peppers, onions and cilantro with salt and pepper and cook until soft. When the veggies are cooked add in the peas and saute for a minute. Lower the heat and add the garlic. Let cook for a minute more and then add the whole can of rotel. Bring the chicken and chorizo back into the pan, then add the quinoa into the pan also on low heat and stir for a few minutes until all the flavors are incorporated.

This is REALLY good, it has all the traditional flavors of traditional paella, without all the fat. Of course the chorizo is a little more fattening, but it really brings out all the flavors in the paella. *Note, I made this recipe doubled and it is a LOT of paella, luckily my husband agreed to eat it for lunch for the next few days LOL*

A litte about me

Ever wondered what loosing 170lbs looked like in a bathing suit... here ya go!

Easy Balsamic Lamb Chops

Don't be afraid of lamb! It's so good, and until tonight, I've never cooked it. And surprisingly it was easy! You're gonna need to start the marinade and hour before you cook them.

Marinade

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar



• 1 teaspoon honey



• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic



• 2 packages artificial sweetener (I used stevia today)



• a little salt



• a little pepper



• 1lb lamb chops cut into individual chops

Heat on low for about 5 minutes until everything is blended and melted together. Lay your lamb chops out in a single layer on a shallow container and pour marinade over them, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, then turn the chops over and let them sit for another 30 minutes. Now I did this on my stove top in a skillet, but you can do it on the grill, or even in the broiler.

After the hour of marinating is up, take the chops out and sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Make sure pan/grill is hot. Sear meat for 3-4 minutes on each side, longer if you want the meat more well done. This was enough to feed me and my husband, he has a full sized stomach. Serve with watermelon, tomato and goat cheese salad, see below and some corn on the cob.

*Note- the first picture of the lamb was a little too rare so I put it back on the heat a little longer.

Tomato, Watermelon and Goat Cheese Salad

I'll be the first one to admit this sounds weird, but let me tell you it is soooo good, and no really cooking required. This would be perfect for a summer picnic or barbecue, and today feels like summer to me!

• 4 cups cubed watermelon



• 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half



• 4oz goat cheese crumbles



• drizzle of olive oil



• a few grinds of black pepper



• a couple shakes of salt



• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Mix it all together. That's it. You're really done, promise. Refrigerate until you eat! YUM!

Buffalo Chicken Roll Ups

Before my GBS I loved buffalo wings. There is a restaurant where I live in Long Beach Island called the Chicken or the Egg and their speciality item is chicken wings, battered and fried with a choice of 16 sauces. I loved going there, but now I cannot even stomach one bite! So I thought about it, if you take away the frying, oil and butter, whats left over really isn't that bad, chicken, blue cheese and hot sauce really. So this was the inspiration for my buffalo chicken roll ups

• 1 lb thin sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts



• 4oz package blue cheese crumbles (room temp)



• 1 tablespoon FF cream cheese (room temp)



• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh baby spinach



• salt



• pepper



• paprika



• garlic powder



• hot wing sauce



• toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350. Lay out all the chicken breasts on a foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder on the chicken. In a bowl mix together blue cheese, cream cheese and chopped spinach. Spoon about 2 tablespoons onto each chicken breast on the side that you sprinkled the spices on, and roll up. Stick in a few tooth picks in to hold it together. Pour hot sauce onto each roll up and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. My husband and I loved these!

Not yo momma's brussel sprouts

Ok so my mom never made brussel sprouts, in fact, I was a brussel sprout virgin until tonight when I got the courage to make them. I don't see why people make such a big deal out of them, I thought they were pretty good. So if you were scared as a kid because your mother boiled them down to mush and slathered them with butter, here's a good brussel sprout recipe!

• 1 bussell of brussel sprouts


• olive oil


• salt


• pepper


• nutmeg


• parmesan cheese (grated)

Preheat oven to 400. Wash sprouts, trim stems if necessary and cut them in half length wise. Arrange them on a foil covered baking sheet, cut side up. Drizzle olive oil over sprouts (or if you have olive oil cooking spray, by all means spray it on top.) Sprinkle salt, pepper, nutmeg and parm cheese on top, I know the nutmeg is kinda weird but go with it. Bake for 15-25 minutes until golden brown on top. These are crunchy and healthy and the nutmeg and cheese gives it something a little extra.

Egg and Parmesan Soup

I am almost 2 years post op, but I remember the pain of the liquid diet and soft food stages. I only wish I would have known about this recipe before, which my grandmother used to make when she was alive. I saw a similar recipe on TV one day and told my mom about it, to which she answers, "O yea grandma used to make that all the time" to which I responded "Well thanks for remembering NOW and not when I needed it 19 months ago!" I would say you could probably eat this soup at about 2 weeks out. I am not a Dr. though so always follow his/her instructions, but at two weeks out, this soup would have been no problem for me. It's easy and super fast to make and more protein than just plain broth.

• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth (I use chef's cupboard the Aldi food store brand and it is great)


• 2 large eggs


• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (or more, I love cheese lol)


• 1/4 cup fresh baby spinach


• 1 teaspoon dried parsley


• 1 teaspoon dried basil (or if you have fresh go for it)


• a grind or two of black pepper


• a dash of garlic powder

In a small saucepan add the chicken broth and heat to a boil. While waiting, add the eggs, parm cheese, spinach (chopped or ripped up), parsley, basil, pepper and garlic to a bowl and beat together thoroughly. When the broth is boiling, add the egg mixture to the pot, whisking them in slowly. Keep whisking for about a minute once all the mixture is added. Once everything is Incorporated, pour in a bowl and enjoy. When you are able to eat solids, adding sausage, shrimp or chicken to this soup adds more protein and makes it heartier. This is the easiest soup I've ever made and its so simply delicious.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Meat

Unfortunately no picture for this one, I made it last night and forgot to take a picture being that photographing my food is new to me. This recipe is awesome, so moist and delicious. I had a problem with chicken for a long time, but this is something I have no problem with.

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or really any part of the chicken, if there are bones, be prepared to pick em out)
• 1 cup water or chicken stock (I find the stock a lot more flavorful, but I've done it both ways)
• 1 package of your favorite taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa

Add all the ingredients to the crock pot, mix together until combined and cook on low for 6-8 hours. About an hour before you want to serve it, shred the chicken in the pot with tongs and a fork, but honestly, you wont have to do much work, mine fell apart instantly.

Serve on a low carb/whole wheat tortilla or wrap in a lettuce leaf. Add salsa, LF sour cream, light cheese, and veggies and enjoy!

Ricotta Cream Dessert

This recipe I kind of invented just adding stuff together in my kitchen, but it came out really good! Perfect for something slightly sweet and healthy.

• 2 cups skim milk ricotta cheese


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or 1 teaspoon lemon extract)


• 2-3 tablespoons artificial sweetener (I used splenda, add more or less depending on how you like it)


• fresh fruit

Place the first 4 ingredients in a food processor or blend it using a hand mixer (that's what I used). Whip together until you get a frothy, creamy consistency. You can serve right away but I put it in the fridge for a few hours. When you are ready to serve, spoon into bowls and add any fresh fruit you want on top, I used kiwi and bananas. Have fun with this, you can add and subtract from this recipe to make it as different as you want.

Foil Baked Italian Tilapia

Ingredients--

• 4 three oz fresh or frozen tilapia filets


• 1 can diced tomatoes- not drained


• 2 tablespoons diced garlic (from a jar is fine)


• 2 tablespoons lemon juice


• 2 tablespoons dried basil


• 2 tablespoons dried parsley


• capers


• salt and pepper


• foil

Preheat oven to 350. Take one piece of foil big enough to fully enclose fish filet and put the tilapia on it. Take about 1/4 of the can of diced tomatoes and cover the piece of fish with it, then on top of that put on 1/2 tablespoon garlic, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon dried basil and parsley and about a tablespoon of capers. Add salt and pepper. Wrap the foil fully around the fish and seal at the top by crunching the foil together. Repeat with the 3 other filets. place all the fish packages on a baking sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes. Unwrap and enjoy.

This is a very tasty fish dish, serve with 1/2 a cup of wheat rotini or with some quinoa.

First blog!

I'm pretty excited to get started blogging. My purpose for this website is to provide people at any stage of their weight loss surgery journey with simple and delicious high portein recipes. Please enjoy!