Stuffed Mushroom Caps

These one-bite appetizers take no time to prepare and are always a huge hit at any party!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 30 pieces

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

2 tbsp finely chopped chives

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

5 oz goat cheese, crumbled

30 large cremini mushrooms (about 1 lb), stems removed and wiped clean

Recipe Directions:

Preheat grill on setting #4. Toss together sun-dried tomatoes, chives, parsley, garlic and pepper; combine gently with goat cheese. Spoon into mushrooms to fill cavity and to create a small mound.

Grill, without turning, for 10 to 12 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is heated through. Arrange on a serving platter.

Tip: Add 2 tbsp finely chopped black olives to the goat cheese mixture if desired.

Chocolate Mint Protein Balls and Shakes

I am excited to work with Celebrate Vitamins and share the recipes below using one of their excellent products. One of my very favorites. 

Celebrate Vitamins makes a protein powder that tastes exactly like Andes Mint Chocolates. You know those little foil wrapped, rectangular chocolates with a mint-green layer sandwiched between two brown chocolate layers, they came in a little cardboard tray. I loved those suckers as a kid. Celebrate's Chocolate Mint Protein 20 tastes like the liquefied version of those. You can mix it with water or milk and shake it up in a shaker bottle and it's great but I love to blend it with almond or soy milk and ice in the blender into a frosty chocolate mint frappe. It is ahhh-mazing.

It's one of my Mum's favorites so I made her one too. It was Mother's Day after all. Hope all the Mom's (of 2 legged kids and 4 & fur) out there had a nice day.

Here's a shake made a few weeks ago topped with Chocolate No Sugar Added Homemade Whipped Cream and crumbled protein bar.

More Eggface Protein Shakes and Smoothies

You know it was only a matter of time before I started experimenting with it beyond shakes. Yesterday I made a batch of these little fudgy, minty, protein packed balls of love. OMG soooo good.

Shelly's Chocolate Mint Protein Balls

1/2 cup Celebrate Vitamins Chocolate Mint Protein 20 Protein Powder
1/4 cup Almond Meal
1/4 cup Coconut Flour
2 Medjool Dates
1/4 cup (plus 1 Tablespoon maybe) Sugar Free Vanilla Torani Syrup

Whiz all ingredients (except the 1 T of SF Torani Syrup) in a mini food processor till ball forms, if needed add that additional Tablespoon of syrup (depends on almond meal & date moisture levels, medjool dates are about 20 cals a piece and add a little natural sugar but spread over the entire recipe should be fine for even sensitive RNYers)

When the mixture clumps and a ball forms empty into a bowl and form into quarter size balls. Makes 22-24 balls. You can store them in fridge for up to a week or freeze and bring one or two down into the fridge to defrost when you want a little sweet, chocolate snack.

For the purposes of this post Celebrate Vitamins provided me with the product used. Thanks for the yummy protein.

ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS

VOCABULARY

-In the Learning Chocolate you'll learn the vocabulary and after learning you can practise it.

-To review prepositions of place

DIALOGUES

 

GAMES  AND  ACTIVITIES

-Read carefully the instruccions and follow the  route  to get your final destination. 

 

-You can start from the first page if you want to review places in the city or go to page 13 if you only want to review directions 

- Read the instruccions and  the choose A, B, or C 

-Look  and choose the right  answer 

-On this page you can find  a lot of diferent activities to review this topic  

SONGS

 
-a RAP  to learn directions

Liquid Phase for Post Weight Loss Surgery

Disclaimer: Remember post-op nutritional plans vary. My sister had the same surgery with a different doctor and we had very different plans. Dr's often adjust based on anecdotal evidence, experience, individual patients health needs or history. Here are the current ASMBS Allied Health Nutritional Guidelines for the Surgical Weight Loss Patient. ALWAYS check with your medical posse first. 

There is a difference between clear liquids and full liquids. This post lists both. A clear liquid diet is often used as the first step in post-op nutrition, they supply fluid, electrolytes, and a limited amount of energy and encourage the restoration of gut activity after surgery (some Dr's skip this and move straight to full liquids.) Full liquid diets include milk, milk products, milk alternatives (lactose intolerance or dairy-free) and other liquids with slightly more texture. Be sure you are always choosing sugar-free, low naturally occurring sugar (lactose), no added sugar liquids.

There's not much you can do but survive this part of the journey. The liquids through pureed/soft food phase are miserable and until you start eating "real food" again you will feel like a patient. It gets better I promise.

A few items that help in this phase:

Popsicle Molds - $1 store carries them or you can do the old Dixie cup, foil and wooden stick trick but I love these molds. You can pour leftover SF drinks in and make your own popsicles. If you want to take your popsicles on the go these popsicle baggies are pretty cool.

Ice Cube Trays - You will be opening boxes of broth or making homemade broth (great to do a couple of nights before surgery), pour the remainder of the box into an ice cube tray and freeze. When frozen unmold and put in a freezer Ziploc bag. Nuke one or 2 cubes as needed. I know... 1 or 2 cubes crazy?! but remember you are healing and this won't be the way you "eat" forever. It will freak you out for a bit. I drank capfuls of double milk (recipe below) and cried and thought "What the hell did I do to myself?! I can't live like this?!" It's the shock of surgery, shock of new life, drugs & anesthesia in your system, hormones, lack of nutrients... again... it gets better I promise.

Measuring cups and food scale - When our nerves are healing we may not be getting the signal or feeling of fullness, as RNYers we also have a bypassed pyloric valve so fluids flow on through. Post-ops often question "Did they even do surgery?" when they don't feel restriction, you will know you had it during solids. Trust me. Remember I said this the first day you eat chicken. It's important you eat the appropriate portion sizes (your Dr. will provide you this info at each food phase) things like measuring cups, little portion cups and a food scale can help.

Blender Bottle for shaking up protein powder shakes and Travel "sippy-cup style" Mugs which sort of skims foam off protein shakes as you drink them, foam can sometimes make you more gassy early on.

Some Liquid Ideas

Sugar Free Drinks - look for non-carbonated, caffeine free (most programs clear you for both in moderation after a time) I love the little sticks that can go in water: crystal light style. Dehydration is one of the main reasons for readmission to the hospital post-op so don't let it happen to you. Sip, sip, sip.
Decaf Tea - Regular or herbal teas are a nice way to start the day (until you are cleared for caffeine/coffee which varies from program to program.) Speaking of tea: Smooth Move Tea is also a good one if you are having constipation (ask your Dr before using.)

Sugar Free Jello (packets and refrigerated cups) - seems thicker than "liquid" but generally is OK and when you are allowed yogurt try one of my favorite recipes: Fluff Stuff
Popsicles - Sugar Free Popsicles will be your best friend, crunch factor.



Broth (homemade, strained of all solids) or Store bought (canned or boxed) - I love boxed and when you get bored of one flavor start mixing them (easy if you made cubes, just pop a couple of each flavor.)
Bone Broth (more protein) Pacific Organic Bone Broth comes in some fun flavors: Turkey with Rosemary, Sage & Thyme, Chicken with Ginger, Chicken with Lemongrass and Chicken Original.
Protein Soups - A few companies make savory protein powders now. Celebrate Vitamins (see link on the left) makes a Chicken Soup and Tomato Soup version.
Strained Cream Soups - Just make sure their are no solid chunks of veggies or meats, pour through a fine mesh strainer.

Double Milk - 1 cup Milk mixed with 1/3 cup Nonfat Dry Milk Powder = 16 grams of protein per 8 oz. serving. You can add Sugar Free Syrups to change the flavor up. Great option if you run out of protein powder or it's a tight $$ month.

More Money Saving Tips.

Protein Shakes - Look for low carb, low calorie, whey protein isolate is best for absorption. Then it's really a personal taste thing...  keep trying them you will find a favorite... look for travel packets, samples, sharing tubs with other post-ops.

More Protein Tips
My Favorite Protein Shake Recipes

Sip water every chance you get, walk, breathe fresh air and chill. Leave the scale alone for awhile. I know you want to see the #'s drop but unless you are super strong it's going to drive you batty. Despite doing all the right things it may not move right away or it may move for a time then sit at one weight for weeks then suddenly drop. Concentrate on the life changes: healthy eating choices, moving your body every day, working on the head stuff. There is no finish line. The day after a scale # or a dress size is achieved you will wake up to more of the same. The #'s will come and if you concentrate on those life changes versus the #'s, those #'s may just stick around a lot longer ;)

Cleared by your Dr. to move on... Tips, Suggestions & Recipe for Pureed/Soft Stage

Caramelized Pecan Apple Cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
4 Servings- 1-3/4 cups each

Ingredients:
    •    4 medium size tart apples, cored
    •    1/4 cup butter, softened
    •    1 pkg. (5 oz.) hard toffee candies, crushed
    •    1/4 cup chopped pecans
    •    1/4 cup brown sugar

Cooking Tip: Granny Smith or Pink Lady apples work well for baking. Apples may be peeled before baking if desired.


Directions:
    •    Cut a small slice from the bottom of each apple so it will stand upright during baking.
    •    Mix butter, crushed candies, pecans and brown sugar in a small bowl.
    •    Pack the centers of each apple with the toffee filling.
    •    Preheat the Contact Roaster.
    •    Place apples in roaster. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until tender crisp.

Training Talk: What Female Athletes Need to Know About Fueling Their Bodies

At the 10th Annual Sanford Sports Medicine Symposium last weekend, I spoke about nutrition's role in injury prevention and recovery. One of the main topics of the presentation was low energy availability in athletes. Energy availability is the amount of calories left over for the body to use for normal physiological functions (heart beating, walking around, lungs breathing, thermoregulation, growth, etc.) after accounting for calories burned during training or exercise.

Food intake - Energy Expended During Exercise = Energy Availability

Athletes who have heavy training schedules can be living in a chronic state of low energy availability, where every calorie they eat at meals is burned off during exercise, leaving little to no calories for the body to perform those regular bodily functions.

When calorie intake doesn't match energy expenditure, this low energy availability can not only have negative effects on training and athletic performance, but can put athletes at risk for other health problems.

For female athletes, this low energy availability can lead to other health issues, such as low bone mineral density and menstrual function disorders in what is called the Female Athlete Triad. Physically active girls and women can experience any one of the 3 components, which are interrelated and occur along a spectrum of healthy to unhealthy (see picture below).

Source: 2014 Female Athlete Triad Coalition Consensus Statement on Treatment and Return to Play of the Female Athlete Triad.
De Souza MJ, et al. Br J Sports Med 2014;48:289

Female athletes won't always know the signs of female athlete triad because they won't necessarily lose weight if they have low energy availability (many athletes have a stable weight despite not meeting their calorie needs)...but they might notice if  they're training hard and lose their menstrual period. An estimated 20% of active women has missed 3 or more consecutive menstrual periods, called amenorrhea. This can lead to a loss of calcium from bones, a much higher incidence of stress fractures and poor bone health...but some athletes might believe that losing their period is just a normal part of hard training.

Regardless of body fat and weight, athletes' low energy availabliy can trigger amenorrhea, and appropriate treatment depends on why the athlete is under-fueling.

• Unintentional fueling due to low appetite from heavy training, or they may have a hard time fitting in meals and snacks around a heavy training schedule. 
• Some athletes are caught up in the diet culture of their sport (or society in general), trying to lose weight, with the goal of being better at their sport. They may take this too far and develop disordered eating habits, restricting intake of foods such as carbohydrates or animal protein, which can cause under-fueling and nutrient deficiencies. 
• Some athletes' restrictive eating patterns and disordered eating can lead to eating disorders, which puts athletes at a greater risk for health problems, and requires a different approach to recovery. 

Treatment of female athlete triad requires correcting the energy imbalance - increasing calorie intake and resting from exercise. 

Female athletes are often surprised when they find out how many calories they need to be eating to fuel their bodies, and how few they are currently eating. Very active individuals usually need at least 3 meals and several snacks per day. To get a better idea of current intake, athletes can track their food using popular apps, such as MyFitnessPal or tools like the SuperTracker.

Although these tools give athletes an idea of what they're doing now, working with a registered dietitian can take the guess work out of meal planning and give them more guidance to how many calories they really need to support training, and which foods they should be focusing on to really optimize their workouts and recover properly.

The total calories aren't the only thing that matter - girls and women can be deficient in several key nutrients:

• Vitamin D: spend more time outdoors, fortified breakfast cereal, milk, fatty fish like salmon, egg yolks or a vitamin
• Calcium: dairy such as milk, cheese, yogurt
• Iron: it's important to get screened for iron status, as many women, especially endurance athletes, tend to have low iron
• Healthy fats: focus on eating plenty of nuts (including peanut/almond butter!), seeds (flax, hemp, chia), olive oil, avocados, salmon
• Adequate protein: 20-25 grams per meal, 10-15 grams per snack in the form of lean protein (chicken, fish, lean beef), nuts, yogurt, milk, beans, peas and soy
• Energy-enhancing carbohydrates: the amount of carbs an athlete needs depends on their weight and what kind of sport they're in, but because carbs are our muscles' main fuel source, eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and potatoes is necessary to perform well and recover adequately. 

When speaking with female athletes, it's important to emphasize that food is fuel!

It's a good thing to eat when you're hungry and to enjoy food.  Eating more food doesn't necessarily equate to weight gain, and many times, it can actually lead to improved sport performance. If an athlete or parent of an athlete suspects they are having any of the issues discussed, they should talk to their doctor. There are other causes for amenorrhea, so it's important to consult with your doctor to rule out other causes! A Registered Dietitian can help athletes fuel their bodies properly to avoid issues related to female athlete triad and under-fueling for their sport.

NPR || To Thrive, Female Athletes Need a Lot More Food

The Informed Appetite || Drink Milk, or Don't. But Maybe Read This First (#Science!)

New York Times || After 'The Biggest Loser,' Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight

Yeah...Imma Eat That || The Hunger and Fullness Scale (AKA How to Stop Dieting)

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. Yesterday's healthy and delicious menu...

Breakfast: I made a batch of Ricotta Pancakes. It makes 8. Always plenty leftover making tomorrow's breakfast super easy. They were supposed to be Lemon Poppy Seed but I was all out of poppy seeds so if you have some add some.

Shelly's Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg, beaten
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Lemon Pudding Mix, dry
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Vanilla Torani Syrup
3 Tablespoons Multigrain Pancake Mix

Mix all ingredients together. I use whole milk ricotta, if you use part skim, drain first. Spray pan with nonstick spray. Spoon a dollop of mixture in pan and pat flat. Cook on low till golden, flip, pat flat, cook till done. Makes 8 pancakes.

Great with a drizzle of warm Sugar Free Orange Marmalade or I topped them with chopped strawberries that had been tossed with a Tablespoon of SF Strawberry Jam, they are delicious just plain though. They can be frozen between slices of wax paper or kept in the fridge a day or 2 and reheated (nuke 25 seconds) for breakfast during the week. Surprising good cold too. I usually eat the leftovers cold, smeared with SF jam or almond butter, wrapped in foil and they become a great breakfast-on-the-go.

More Eggface Pancakes
More Eggface Breakfasts

Lunch: I received the latest Your Weight Matters Magazine (Obesity Action Coalition members get this with membership) in the mail and so I took a break from the day to read a few articles and have lunch. I never thought I'd be a "covergirl" but that's me... the first chick in the group of four ladies.

The magazine was great (a HUGE article on the Your Weight Matters National Convention and an awesome article on walking meditation) and so was lunch. I made a sort of Ham & Cheese Lettuce Wrap (Low Sodium Ham, Muenster Cheese roll-up wrapped in a piece of curly green leaf lettuce, a slice of tomato and mustard to dip it in.)

5 Things to do with Cold Cuts

Dinner: I make quinoa patties "quinoa burgers" often and always have a cup of cooked quinoa leftover. I usually just toss it on top of a salad or in soup but I was in the mood to experiment yesterday and came up with a great new use. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Shelly's Baked Chickpea & Quinoa Falafel

1 (15 oz. can) Chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1 cup Cooked Red Quinoa
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 Green Onion, diced
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Chives
a few twists of Black Pepper
zest of 1/2 a lemon

Whiz drained chickpeas in a mini food processor till ground, still a little texture. Pour into a bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix together till well blended.

Spoon into a 12 cup mini muffin tin that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then 2 minutes on broil to make the tops golden. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.

I served them with a dollop of Parmesan Oregano Yogurt Dip for dipping.

3 oz. Greek Yogurt, plain
1 Tablespoon Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
Salt to taste
a few twists of Black Pepper

Mix till well blended.

These were soooo good. If you love falafel they are very much like those. I loved that they are baked, way healthier than the deep fried versions at Middle Eastern restaurants.Will definitely be making these again and of course we have leftovers for today so I'll let you know how they reheat.

I was going to make a salad with them but I wasn't in the mood. They would be great with a salad or soup or a veggie.

Cook's Note: For savory dishes I cook dry quinoa in broth (1 cup quinoa to 2 cup chicken or mushroom broth, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer till no liquid remains 20-25 minutes, fluff with fork) and allow to cool. Basically it's the directions on most packages of quinoa but I use broth versus water for added taste. This makes about 3 cups cooked.

More Eggface Bean Recipes Don't be afraid of the carbs of beans, They are so good for you and umm help things you know keep moving.... with all that awesome fiber.

Snacks: Too much coffee as usual and a coffee protein shake.

Shelly's Triple Chocolate Mocha Frappe

8 oz. Milk (any cow, soy, almond, coconut)
1 scoop Chike High Protein Iced Coffee (Mocha flavor)
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Chocolate Torani Syrup
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa
a few Ice Cubes

Whiz in blender on high.

More Eggface Protein Shakes and Smoothies
More Eggface Days in my Pouch