Weight Loss Cookbook Recommendations

[atkinsoncl 62]

Hi! Was wondering if anybody has a recommendation on a good cookbook for "after" weight loss surgery that has easy recipes? I found a few cookbooks searching on-line, but one recipe call for a bazillion ingredients.

Thanks,

Courtney

[Wheetsin 714]

Honestly, I would just search the various WLS boards. Most have a recipes section, or you can search using 'recipe' as a key word. I know this isn't exactly what you're looking for but it's what I advise because I've seen a LOT of bariatric post-op ebooks and cookbooks and not a single one of them (that I've seen so far) has unique recipes. They seem to be basically board members pulling the recipes they come across on boards, then consolidating them into a cookbook to sell.

[atkinsoncl 62]

Thanks for that information! It will save me some $$. I will be moving to my pureed foods soon and am looking for some good recipes.< /p>

[Wheetsin 714]

I had to go through purees both with my band and again with the sleeve. I'm technically allowed more than purees now, but haven't yet gone there because I'm still not meeting minimum Protein requirements. But anyway, here are some of my favorites.

Take a can of black Beans, leave the juice in. Use an immersion blender to fully puree them, skin and all. Then add FF milk or soymilk to thin. Stir in sour cream (light, FF, whatever your preference - I'm not too worried about dairy fats right now) and/or hot sauce to your taste (wing sauce works too). This makes a bean puree that's the consistency of a medium thickness Soup. I eat it as-is with a spoon, usually. Yesterday I used like a spread on 2/4 piece of deli sliced cojack cheese and made a "roll-up".

There's a fake lasagna that I first saw pop up about 7 years ago when the Atkins diet was so popular. It's just egg, ricotta, Italian seasoning, parmesan and sauce. Sometimes with, sometimes without cream cheese. A lot of people make this as an Italian substite during mushies. The base recipe is 8 - 10 oz ricotta (about half a 15 oz container), 1 egg, 1/4 C pizza style grated parmesan, dash Italian seasoning. Blend all together. Portion out into ramekins, if you have them, or a small baking dish if you do not. Top with Tomato sauce of choice (I use a low carb spaghetti sauce). Top with a sprinkle of your favorite soft white cheese (I use provolone, it melts so smooth). Bake at 350 for about 30 mins. Technically this is a soft food, but if you took a portion and whizzed it with a bit more tomato sauce and some milk, it would be a puree.

Hummus (I like it traditional - made with garbanzo beans/chick peas - and to switch up a bit I also make it with edamame/shelled soybeans): place 1 cans of garbanzo Beans in a food processor with 1/4 C tahini (sesame seed paste, you should be able to get it at any mediterranean store or a regular grocery store with a decent foreign foods section), 1/8 C lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 clove garlic. Process until smooth and whippy. Cover and refrigerate until you eat it. When you serve it, drizzle a little EVOO over it (optional).

You can eat any Soup as long as you blenderize it so that there are no chunks, or only very soft chunks (e.g. silken tofu).

If you aren't familiar with tofu, they're not created equal. Silken tofu is very soft. It breaks apart. It's good for creaming or blenderizing, but not so good for cooking. If you are going to cook with tofu, you want to buy firm or extra firm. While still soft, it has some substance and won't just fall apart. Take it out of the container and strain it by placing sevearl paper towels or a kitchen towel on either side, then top with a baking sheet and put some cans on the sheet to give it some pressure. Leave it like that for about 30 mins. That will make it even firmer. But you can still eat it without really having to chew.

My favorite way to make tofu is Thai style. I don't often use recipes, but I'll do my best to recipe-ize this. About a C of low sugar OJ. 1 tbl brown sugar or brown sugar Splenda. About a tbl of sesame oil. About a tsp of soy sauce. About 4 tbls of peanut sauce (if it's too spicy for you, you can substitute Peanut Butter microwaved so that it's runny). 2 green onions and 1 clove of garlic, minced, in a tea strainer (lets the flavors out but keeps the pieces in). About 1 tbl of honey, microwaved until runny. Stir all of this until it's well conbined and marinate your tofu in it at least 24 hours. Cook in a skillet with sesame oil. Once the tofu is browned, pour some of the marinade into the skillet and cook until it carmelizes (since there's not a ton of sugar in this, it takes a while).

eggs, loose quiches. Again from the Atkins days, one of my favorites was a pizza quiche. It was so good. Most people who tried it liked it more than standard pizza, because the "crust" is so much tastier. Here's the recipe I used back then. Just adjust the toppings to something that works for you now (maybe just lots more cheese!)

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds ground beef
  
• 1/2 small onion
  
• 1 red bell pepper
  
• 4 oz pepperoni, diced
  
• 1/4 tsp salt
  
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
  
• 6 eggs
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
  
• 8 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
  

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  
• In a large frying pan, brown ground beef with onions, peppers, pepperoni, salt, and pepper. Drain excess fat.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add cream and pepper, and beat together. Add shredded cheese to egg-cream mixture.
  
• Grease a large casserole dish well. Layer the ground beef mixture, and then pour the egg cream over top.
  
• Bake for 30 minutes covered, and the final 15 minutes uncovered.
  

I made it a bit differently. I baked the "crust" for 15 minutes first, then topped with cheese, pepperoni and sausage, then baked another 15 mins.

[atkinsoncl 62]

Wow, you are wonderful!! Thank you so much for this! I am definately going to be hanging on to these recipes. They look yummy!!

[fluffylibra30 323]

Try Atkins recipe books. They are usually high Protein low carb.

[csawinski 3]

I got the wls for dummies cookbook. . . It is pretty amazing!!

[D1NOnlySexyLady 70]

Try Atkins recipe books. They are usually high Protein low carb.

You find these books in a Barnes and Noble

[MiTurner247 34]

Look on the world according to Eggface. She has a ton of recipes.< /p>

[kayte819 95]

Get a south beach diet cookbook. It's perfect for us! Lower in fat than Adkins & creative ways to eat low carb without sacraficing taste & variety! Also, as pp said, world according to eggface is a wonderful site!

[atkinsoncl 62]

Thanks everyone!

[yoshikitty 8]

I use Cooking Light which one of the books calls for 5 ingredients or less. I also came upon a magazine called Clean Eating that is really awesome! You can find both at the grocery store.

[NancyJerry 139]

Great ideas on this thread!! I like the Cooking Light, too!