Avoiding cooking fried foods

[RockinRobin59 57]

Fried foods # 1 comfort for me. I new to conquer this old habit. Any suggestions welcome.

[Sharon1964 2,530]

How about "oven frying"? For instance, for French fries, cut up potatoes or use frozen ones, spritz with olive oil, coat with seasonings and bake until crispy.

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

Roasting will be your new friend. One of my favorite fast weeknight meals is to put tin foil on a baking sheet then set a rack on the sheet. On the baking sheet I put zucchini and onions drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. On the rack I put chicken thighs and/or drumsticks that I have rubbed with olive oil and spices (usually Italian seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper). Make sure to dry the chicken before rubbing with oil and spices. The drier the chicken the crispier it gets in the oven. Don't let the chicken pieces touch on the rack. Cook at 450 for 45 minutes (flip chicken halfway through). The chicken skin will crisp up and the juices will fall on the veggies. The onions usually get dark and a bit caramelized.

It's not fried chicken. But dang it, it's yummy. And a drum stick is the perfect amount of food for my sleeve. I wouldn't recommend this method with breasts because they would dry out too much.

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

Also, a lot of times fried food is more for convenience. Do you actually fry your own foods? If so, it should be easy to transition to roasting in the oven. If not, the issue may not necessarily be that you prefer fried food. It could be that you prefer the convenience of picking up fried food. Don't get me wrong. I like French fries as much as the next girl. But there is NO nutritional content to them.

While it takes some work and planning, preparing and cooking your own food has so many benefits. It's usually more cost effective. It's WAY healthier. You know what went into your food. Yes, there's work involved. You have to come up with some recipes for the week and go grocery shopping. You have to remember to take your meat out to defrost. You prepare, cook, clean, etc. Picking up fast food is WAY easier. It's also why so many Americans are overweight now. We work our 40+ hours a week then we are too tired or stressed to cook dinner so we pick up our yummy take out and go home, eat it, then throw away the container. No cleaning! But what has that done for our waists and our bloodwork?

There has to be some work involved. Download Pinterest and search for Bariatric recipes. You have to be your own advocate. Surgery alone will only help you lose weight the first year or so. After that it's 100% up to you. If you don't fix those eating habits now you will be right back where you started.

If you want to follow me on Pinterest I already have a ton of recipes I've made and loved. Just send me a PM and I'll give you my email address.

[RockinRobin59 57]

Thanks for the input about fried foods. Good news I brought a indoor grill. And I'm looking for good oven fried chicken recipes on line. As my use to tell me something's you have to change and get use to. For me it's doing away with fried foods. I'm happy losing weight and making lifestyle changes is part of the process. So out the door with fried foods, hello to melting pounds away.