Hello BariBrothers, BariSisters, BariFamilies, and general lovers of healthy, good food. My name is Smye and I live on a small farm in the Pacific Northwest.

During both pre and post op appointments with my nutritionist, I was horrified by the suggested things I could eat once I was back to 'regular foods.' The suggestions I was given were flavorless, full of preservatives & junk, and/or otherwise reminiscent of the american 'instafoods' that are, in my opinion, a huge part of the original problems. That said, I wanted to share some of the real, whole foods I've been enjoying lately without hurting my sleeve or deviating from the dietary guidelines provided to me by my NUT. I'm down 86 lb since I started this journey on Jan 22, 2015, and loving every meal as much as, or more than, pre-op.

I've spent the last 7 years accommodating good food to meet my partner's corn, dairy, and gluten allergies without losing any of the flavor or texture with 80% of all ingredients sourced from my own small farm, so it wasn't too big of a jump to make these recipes low carb, high Protein and delicious.

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting recipes like:

Bariatric BibimBop
Pho
Pastrami Sandwich
Madras curry with fried tofu
chicken tenders with sauce
Sushi - Philadelphia rolls in particular
Personal Pizzas
Smoked cherry-glazed chicken
Barbeque-smoked chicken
Ham and cheese omlette
Pickled duck eggs
Quiche
Ham, egg & cheese sandwiches
Bari-bread
Guacamole Cheeseburgers
And many more

There's no need for food to be tasteless, uninteresting, or questionable in it's contents. If there's something you'd like to see that's not here, please PM me and I'll do my best - I also make sure to try everything myself and feed it to my executive chef neighbor before I post it to ensure it's excellent!

Edited May 2, 201511 yr by Smye

Bari-Bread: Prep time - 10 minutes, Cook time - 20-30 minutes

Let's start with the basics. I'm sure many of us wish we could still have some sort of bread, even if only as a vehicle for meat, eggs, or cheese on our sandwiches. Despite their apparent simplicity, this riff on Paleo Oopsie Rolls have a great flavor reminiscent of potato bread and easily modifiable to meet most any palatte.

Ingredients:

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

3 egg whites

3 Tbsp lowfat cream cheese or neufchatel, room temparature

2 Tbsp Water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300F

Beat egg whites & cream of tartar until stiff peaks form

Blend water, salt & cream cheese

Fold cream cheese mixture into egg whites gently

Spoon in 6 equal sized 'patties' on nonstick surface (parchment paper with NS spray or silpat)

Bake at 300F for 20-30 minutes depending upon elevation. Remove when browned but at about the texture of the tip of your nose.

Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool to room temperature

Store in refrigerator in an open ziploc

Nutrition per 'roll'

Calories: 25

Total fat: 1 g

Total Carbs: 1 g

Total Protein: 3 g

Cholesterol: 4 mg

Sodium: 99 mg

Potassium: 50 mg

Modifications:

Add dill or dehydrated onion for sandwich rolls

Add caraway for a rye-like flavor

Add sesame seeds on top for burgers

Add basil & oregano to use as a pizza crust

Add taragon for a chicken salad sandwich

Can these be eaten in Phase 3 post VSG?

@@Grammie2x, I think it depends on a number of factors - I know I went through phases 1-4 much more quickly than most folks on here and that my phases 1-4 had different 'rules' than a lot of the phases I've seen online. I'd ask your NUT to be sure, but for my phase 3 these would have been A-Okay.

@@Smye Thank you for your recipes. At my house we eat whole food, no artificial sugar and our diet varies from meat to vegetarian...

After surgery, I was shocked at how my bariatric center's nutrition guidance included so many low quality and artificial foods. My other awakening was that they only had three follow-up nutrition appointments in 9 months (1 month, 2 months, and then 9 months which I haven't reached yet)...but I digress.

Since my surgery, we've used and perfected cauliflower pizza crust, coconut flour biscuits (which would go oh so good with your BBQ), and our own coconut chicken tenders recipes in addition to revising other non-healthy recipes to not only fit my new eating style but my family's needs.

However, due to my lifestyle I am always searching for recipes made by others that do not include artificial sweeteners or processed foods for nights when I want to just make a recipe and be done without conversions and thinking about end results of the product. I want to thank you for posting your recipes, as it has made my life a lot easier.

Also, If you create a blog, I'd be willing to send you some of my recipes as a guest blogger. I just don't have time to create one on my own (and have wanted to!), but I can really see that there is a strong need for those of us who have had the surgery to have access to appropriate and healthy whole food recipes, and I'd support you any way I could. THANK YOU!!!!!

CleoSays

@@Smye Thank you for your recipes. At my house we eat whole food, no artificial sugar and our diet varies from meat to vegetarian...

After surgery, I was shocked at how my bariatric center's nutrition guidance included so many low quality and artificial foods. My other awakening was that they only had three follow-up nutrition appointments in 9 months (1 month, 2 months, and then 9 months which I haven't reached yet)...but I digress.

Since my surgery, we've used and perfected cauliflower pizza crust, coconut flour biscuits (which would go oh so good with your BBQ), and our own coconut chicken tenders recipes in addition to revising other non-healthy recipes to not only fit my new eating style but my family's needs.

However, due to my lifestyle I am always searching for recipes made by others that do not include artificial sweeteners or processed foods for nights when I want to just make a recipe and be done without conversions and thinking about end results of the product. I want to thank you for posting your recipes, as it has made my life a lot easier.

Also, If you create a blog, I'd be willing to send you some of my recipes as a guest blogger. I just don't have time to create one on my own (and have wanted to!), but I can really see that there is a strong need for those of us who have had the surgery to have access to appropriate and healthy whole food recipes, and I'd support you any way I could. THANK YOU!!!!!

CleoSays

Would love your coconut flour biscuit recipe and cauliflower pizza crust tips! I tried it once and it didn't turn out so well ????

@, I'd love to compare recipes - my very favorite Pizza Crust right now is cauliflower based and I'm curious how they compare. The issue I have with mine is I always make more than I anticipate and, as the only dairy-eater in my home, it often goes bad before I finish it. I'm working on a reduced-volume version but it never turns out quite right. That said, it sound like we hold a lot of the same values and beliefs around food and, once the blog is up and running (today is the last day I'm accepting name recommendations) I'd love to feature some of your recipes.

@, I'd love to compare recipes - my very favorite Pizza Crust right now is cauliflower based and I'm curious how they compare. The issue I have with mine is I always make more than I anticipate and, as the only dairy-eater in my home, it often goes bad before I finish it. I'm working on a reduced-volume version but it never turns out quite right. That said, it sound like we hold a lot of the same values and beliefs around food and, once the blog is up and running (today is the last day I'm accepting name recommendations) I'd love to feature some of your recipes.

@@Smye and everyone. Smye, I always make too little! I will post the recipes tomorrow. I sent a copy to one member, but then I realized I want to be very clear and was rewriting the pizza recipe. Started to respond in the text box and lost all the information. I wanted to cry because I had been rewriting it for the past 15 minutes (blame my perfectionism, and technical writing background! I will try to rewrite them tomorrow. I guess I need to go to sleep because it's midnight and I've been up since 4am. Smye, I want to thank you again for your initiative in posting your recipes on the forum and encouraging me to share!

1-1-1 pizza Crust Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

I struggled with a similar recipe for a long time but for the life of me couldn't get a 'small' version to work. And yet, it was so simple 1-1-1 (similar to, but much more successful than a certain former politicians SIMS-derived 999 tax plan). The texture isn't perfect (I'll be posting the ideal texture version in a few minutes), but the flavor is excellent! This is probably my favorite crust, especially with some red pepper flakes mixed in for just a smidgeon of heat.

Ingredients:

Riced cauliflower - 1 cup

Shredded Lowfat Mozzarella - 1 cup

Egg - 1

Dried Basil - 1 Tbsp

Dried Oregano - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 2 tsp (not a 1, but hey)

Red Pepper Flakes - 1 Tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 375F

Microwave the cauliflower until soft. Place cauliflower in a dish towel and wring out excess moisture (this is key!). Mix the still hot, now dry-ish cauliflower with the remaining ingredients thoroughly.

Spread your 'dough' over a parchment lined baking sheet, aiming for roughly 1/4 in uniform thickness.

Bake for 15 minutes or until just dry and beginning to brown.

Remove from the oven, top as desired, account for nutrition info of toppings, return to oven until surface cheese thoroughly melted.

Cut into quarters, eat & store the remainder in a solid-walled container with parchment between slices. Good for roughly 1 week.

Nutrition (per 1/4 crust)

Calories: 73

Fat: 1 g

Carbs: 4 g

Protein: 11 g

Sodium: 895 mg

Edited May 4, 201511 yr by Smye

Goat cheese pizza Crust Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes

This crust is also excellent and has a heartier, easier to hold texture than the 1:1:1 crust. The flavor is ever so slightly tangy with the goat cheese and the higher dose of cauliflower is excellent - though I admit I still prefer the flavor of the other crust. The major advantage of this crust is after the initial bake, you can freeze the crust with 'raw' toppings easily and then pull it out and stick in the oven at 400F until a desired done-ness is achieved - homemade frozen pizza!

Ingredients:

Riced cauliflower - 4 cup

Soft goat cheese (chevre) - 1/3 cup

Egg - 1

Dried Basil - 1 Tbsp

Dried Oregano - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 2 tsp (not a 1, but hey)

Red Pepper Flakes - 1 Tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 400F

Microwave the cauliflower until soft. Place cauliflower in a dish towel and wring out excess moisture (this is key!). Mix the still hot, now dry-ish cauliflower with the remaining ingredients thoroughly.

Spread your 'dough' over a parchment lined baking sheet, aiming for roughly 1/4 in uniform thickness.

Bake for 35 minutes or until just dry and beginning to nicely.

Remove from the oven, top as desired, account for nutrition info of toppings, return to oven until surface cheese thoroughly melted.

Cut into quarters, eat & store the remainder in a solid-walled container with parchment between slices. Good for roughly 1 week in the refrigerator.

Nutrition (per 1/4 crust)

Calories: 83

Fat: 4 g

Carbs: 6 g

Protein: 4 g

Sodium: 136 mg

Edited May 4, 201511 yr by Smye

Beef Pho broth Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time 2-24 hours

Before you read any further - note that this is an involved recipe compared to most of what I post - but it is also my very favorite! If you're not a pho phan (HA!), or have never tried pho, find a good pho place (it will be the one with very few customers not recently immigrated from southeast asia) and try some before undertaking this endeavor. Bring a friend to eat your noodles as you won't be eating those, but the broth is heavenly. I'm only posting the broth here, but will post the full-meal-deal shortly. Also, you can always buy the broth at a local pho joint and then assemble at home using the full pho recipe below - though then you don't know exactly what you're getting.

Oh pho, how I love thee. I grew up eating southeastern asian cuisine. Despite mom's affinity for McD's, I learned to eat with chopsticks long before I could handle a fork and spoon. And of all the foods I ate, none tastes like home quite like a steaming bowl of pho. But those stinking rice noodles have WAY too many carbs for my diet, and the broth seemed impossible to make (or so I thought.) I spent three years trying to perfect pho but could never make it like Ngdom used to when I was a little.

When I made the decision to have surgery, I was determined to figure out how to make pho before going under the knife so that, in those first weeks post op I could have some amazing, high Protein (yet, high protein) broth to look forward to on the other side, even if I had to wait on the noodles, beef, herbs & onions. I reached out to the local vietnamese community, met with several pho chefs, and finally achieved this pinnacle of success. To make it perfect, you're going to have to do the 24-hour minimum simmer on your broth and use 100% fresh spice, but a 2-hour simmer will do in a pinch.

Lastly, whatever you do, DO NOT use premade pho stock, the pho paste that comes in a jar, or the bouillon-cube-style pho seasoning you find at some stores. It's downright NASTY! Instead, you can often find pho spice packets at your local asian grocer that look like teabags - these are a good timesaver if you don't want to assemble your own - but use 2 if you do this as these spices are pre-ground and thus have lost much of their luster.

Ingredients:

Onions, halved, skin on - 2

Chunk of gingerroot, halved lengthwise - 4"

Beef bones (ideally knuckle, leg, or oxtail) - 4-5 lb

Water - 6 quarts

Cinnamon stick - 1

Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp

Fennel seeds - 1 Tbsp

Star anise, whole - 5

Cardomom pod, green, whole - 1

Cloves, whole - 6

Noniodized salt - 1.5 Tbsp (halve if using regular table salt)

Fish sauce (vietnamese, NOT thai, use that for other tasty dishes) - 1/4 cup

Sugar (I know, I know, but here it's used as a spice, not a sweetener) - 1 oz

Preparation:

Turn on your broiler and move the rack to the top position. Place your ginger and onions on a baking sheet cut-side-up. Brush with a smidgeon of olive oil and broil until they just begin to char. Then turn over and continue until this side just begins to char.

Fill a very large pot with cool water. Boil your bones on high for 10 minutes, then dump the water, rinse the bones & rinse the pot. This will help limit the "scum" in your final broth. Take a small spoon and scoop out most of the marrow if you can. Toss that also. It's good for you, not good for broth.

Fill the pot with the bones and 6 quarts water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. After 5 minutes, skim off any 'scum' that rises to the surface with a fine mesh strainer, ladle, or spoon.

Take all of your spices and put them into a cloth or mesh packet. You essentially want to make a teabag to steep these spices but don't want them left in your broth when you're done. You can use a clean dishtowel and a paperclip if push comes to shove. Even an old (and sterilized) sock - this is what my favorite chef downtown used. I'm not kidding.

Add ginger, onion, spice packet, sugar, fish sauce and salt to the broth and simmer for 2-24 hours. If you're going for the long simmer, be sure to top off the pot every few hours so you don't burn the house down. I typically put my pot on top of our woodstove (we use wood to heat our home) overnight, top it off once in the morning, and then finish at about noon. Also, periodically come back and scrape off any 'scum' that forms on the surface. It's all good stuff, but makes for a funky texture to your broth.

Taste your broth, if it's off, you can add more salt or fish sauce until it's perfect. Heck, even a little lime juice might just mean perfection.

If you're not feeling like it's beefy enough, you can put in a hunk-o-beef (chuck is best) for an hour or so to increase the beefiness, then remove and either feed to your chickens or use in a stew later. The catch here is now you'll have to start over with the 'scum' skimming.

Allow to cool to room temperature, strain all solids out of your broth and then refrigerate. This will cause any fat in the broth to solidify on the surface - you can just pluck this off the top. You'll notice your broth is completely opaque, this is because you've got a TON of Gelatin (which is pure protein by the by) in your broth and WOW is it tasty.

At this point, you may wish to simply reheat and sip servings of just broth. GO FOR IT! This is excellent stuff in phases 1 & 2 to help you get protein in while still sipping broth. It will also keep you from getting lightheaded from a sodium deficiency.

Divvy out into separate portions, freeze what you don't plan to eat within a week (it freezes wonderfully) and enjoy.

Nutrition (per cup):

Calories: 70

Fat: 4 g

Carbs: 1 g

Protein: 6.4 g

Sodium: 424 mg

Edited May 2, 201511 yr by Smye

Full Pho Prep Time: 10-15 minutes Cook Time: 5-15 minutes

Now that you've got your amazing pho broth, it's time to really make it a meal. What's most fascinating to me about this recipe is how the broth changes drastically when you add the final ingredients. It goes from being hearty, salty and savory to being an herbacious, almost refreshingly light broth with all the comfort and weight of its original form. If you want Pho but don't want to deal with making the broth, you can always use a pre-made beef stock and play with the seasonings. It won't be anywhere near as good, but it will pass if you're willing to play with it enough using fish sauce & cinnamon.

Oh, and you DO get noodles. I use noodles from my local Asian food Center (yes, that's the name of the chain) made of Konjac starch - the pulverized root-ball of a lily-like plant that grows in subtropical & tropical asia. When hydrated, the starch forms a lovely noodle-consistency gel that is 90-some-odd percent Water and the starch is completely undigestible. It's a staple in southeast asian cuisine, and happens to fit perfectly into my lifestyle. Just don't try to use them in place of other noodles - they're only a good substitute for rice noodles.

Ingredients:

Pho Broth - 1 cup

Konjac Noodles - 1/4 cup (you can often find these at safeway as Shirataki Noodles)

SUPER thinly sliced beef (flank, sirloin, or round) - 1.5 oz (I often use goat and it's great)

Lime - 1/4

Chili pepper, sliced crosswise - 1 (optional)

Thai basil (it's purple), fresh - 1 oz (use green if you have to)

Soy or Mung bean sprouts - .5 oz

Sriracha sauce - 1 Tbsp (optional, I just stick with the chili)

Preparation:

Bring your broth back up to a boil.

To slice your meat, it helps to freeze it for 15-20 minutes prior to slicing, you want it nearly transparent by the way. Or your local asian grocer might sell "hot pot beef" pre-sliced. It works very well.

Line your bowl next to the stove. Add noodles, then sliced beef. As soon as the broth comes to a boil, pour over beef and noodles. Eat immediately, adding basil, sprouts, and chilis (or sriracha) as you desire.

Nutrition (per bowl):

Calories: 140

Fat: 6 g

Carbs: 6 g

Protein: 14.4 g

Sodium: 525

Also, I'm hard at work on the blog. It should be live by this time Monday (though I'm certainly gunning for sooner) with all of the recipes here and at least 3 new ones. It's going to be a little shy on photos at first, but eventually every recipe will have accompanying photographs. I'll be sure to post here once everything is up and running. Thank you everyone for your ideas and support getting it going.

Thanks for posting all of these delicious sounding recipes! I just found you after reading the Bariatric Newsletter. Best of luck on your blog and I will definately be trying the bari-bread and following for more to come

@@Debbieduck4, Thank you for reading! When you try the Bari Bread, let me know how it turns out and any thoughts you have. The blog is nearing publication and will definitely be up Monday or sooner. Let me know if there are any foods or classes of foods you'd like to see bariatrified that I'm not already including.

I just found this thread and I am enjoying it. I am almost one year post sleeve surgery and am finding myself slipping...i.e. eating some of that junky food that I should avoid. Your posts have inspired me to literally immediately sit down with a pen and paper to make my grocery list. My list includes ingredients for the bread and chicken tenders. I am sure this is just the beginning of your recipes that I try.

Thanks so much for sharing. I am now following you and look forward t your blog. Keep up the inspirational great work