I have found great success in ordering appetizers as my meal at many restaurants. I love the lesser expensive option along with the mainly Protein choices.

A few years ago we started doing what we call "bar food" for Christmas sides and for New Year's. Baked Brie, stuffed figs, chicken lollipops, spiced shrimp...

This year my favorite dish was an old family favorite, sausage balls. It's just a pound of ground sausage (I like the spicy), 2 cups of cheddar and 2 cups of bisquick. I subbed almond flour for the bisquick and my family was none the wiser. Mix the ingredients, roll into small meatball sized balls and bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes (parchment paper is a must).

Delish. I can only eat 2-3 as a meal and they freeze wonderfully. I am making double batches, baking and freezing. They reheat perfectly in the microwave. I can see them becoming a staple in my house.

What foods did you find that you usually make for the holidays that will carry you through the year?

Edited January 2, 201511 yr by LipstickLady

We do the same thing. My kids favorites are lumpia and tamales

We do the same thing. My kids favorites are lumpia and tamales

. I was so new Pre Op that I wasn't able to eat anything I made.

We did prime rib, and we bought one For the freezer. The only thing I can think of would be deviled eggs...

I love deviled eggs! Have you tried them with horseradish? Yum!

Lumpia? I googled it. Baked or fried? They sound yum.

Well there are two kinds, Shanghai (fried) and Sariwa (fresh). My family loves the fried ones. I will have to modify the recipe for myself next year, and make the fresh ones.

Can your shrimp recipe work for Bariatrics?

This holiday season I was newly post-op so I couldn't participate in much....RNY on 11/25 thus on pureed/softs through the entire holiday. We made bean dip a LOT. I would section out a small amount for myself prior to adding sausage and seasonings for my family. I would add a little cheddar to mine for added protein and they would use theirs with chips, or on tortillas as burritos (my kids' favorite). It worked great for all of us, was high protein for me, and my husband always LOVES to have it leftover to heat up!!!

A few of our family traditions really helped me this year. The first is sliced deli ham with cream cheese and wrapped around a pickle spear and cut into bite size pieces. These were a great new taste for my sleeve and protein based. The second thing was homemade meatballs. The meatballs usually sit in a crock pot with a sauce that isn't sleeve friendly. Fortunately, I was able to catch some before they went into the sauce and kept them hidden in the fridge for me to eat later.

Slice up 4 -6 cups of any kind of fruits into bite size pieces, I like apples, strawberries, seedless grapes and bananas. Pour into a large bowl. Add 1 cups chopped nuts ( optional). In another bowl mix together 1 container vanilla low fat yogurt, 1 container fruit flavored yogurt, 1-2 Tbls lemon juice, a Tbls or 2 of honey. Pour over diced fruit and gently mix together. Store in fridge. It's really good !

@@LipstickLady No I haven't tried that but I have horseradish sauce from my prime rib in the fridge so I may just do that tomarrow.

I had to pretty much revise my menu which worked fine for Christmas since there weren't many of us. But for Thanksgiving, I hosted the dinner and made the traditional meal. But the best part was the next day I made Turkey soup from scratch with the bones/carcass. But this time instead of noodles or dumplings, I just added more turkey so it was a lot of broth, with the celery, carrots, and onions and then a LOT of turkey. I was surprised at how much I didn't miss the noodles or dumplings. Really surprised! lol But it was great. Since then I have done this with chicken, too, with the same results.