The beautiful thing about potlucks when you’re a WLS patient is that you get to bring the exact dish you want. You can make it healthy, high-Protein, low-calorie, and just what you want to eat to stay on your bariatric surgery diet.

At the same, though, you probably want to make a dish to impress. You want everyone to love it and go back for seconds. You may love the compliments and the requests for the recipe.

So how do you reconcile the two? When you go to a summer potluck, barbecue, pool party, or picnic, what do you bring that’ll keep you on track while pleasing the crowd? Do you have a great low-fat deviled egg recipe? Do you have a salad that’s always a smash hit? Do you pass around a refreshing fruit and nut salad? What’s your party dish for the summer?

I usually bring 2.

A delicious fruit salad. Yum!

Some type of high Protein dish like meatballs or sloppy joes (no bun for me), lunch meat & cheese rolls, chili dip with veggies for dipping and Fritos for those that don't have to watch it.

Recently I made a fruit salsa with strawberries, mango, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro. Then for the chips I took won tons and cut them in quarters, sprinkled them with a very light dusting of cinnamon and sugar and baked them in the oven. Can I say yum!!!!

I need new ideas.

I like to take a cedar plank with smoked fish that I caught myself, complimented with hard cheeses and fruit.

No matter what else is served, I know that I will eat well. ---and have a great ice breaking story about the fish.

Fruit salad, or a caprese salad

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Single guy recipe:

broccoli cauliflower bacon salad

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/16485/barbs-broccoli-cauliflower-salad/

Easy, tasty, and I have a bowl for it (single/divorced guy problem, we don't do presentation well)

Tomato corn salad.

A smoked pork shoulder butt that is then shredded into pulled pork and sauced with my homebrew sauce.

That way I know I'll have my Protein goals met.

My community has many eating events throughout the year. Since being sleeved the first one I attended was Memorial Day. BBQ chicken and hot dogs were provided but we were asked to be our favorite dish. I brought a spiral cucumber onion salad. As for eating I had like 2 ounces of chicken and 1/2 of a deviled egg. July of fourth will be another eating event. We will have pulled pork and hot dogs provided. For this one I plan to bring chili to put on the dogs. I a m still eating very little when I am not at home as I do not want to become sick while out in the community.

I make the spinach dip recipe from the back of the knorr Soup mix package, let it sit in the fridge overnight (or at least a few hours) to soften up, then use it to stuff cleaned raw mushroom caps. No worries about anyone double-dipping into a common dip bowl.

So glad to find this topic! My family's having a July 4th shindig and I was looking for a bari-friendly dish to bring. Just got a spiralizer today so thinking about a faux Pasta salad with zucchini and carrot noodles.

So glad to find this topic! My family's having a July 4th shindig and I was looking for a bari-friendly dish to bring. Just got a spiralizer today so thinking about a faux Pasta salad with zucchini and carrot noodles.

I like the spiralizer salads, but the mess mine makes is beyond belief. I received a manual one for Christmas and have only used it twice due to the mess it makes. When I made the cucumber salad I had juice and seeds all over the machine and the table. I had to disassemble and clean it for each cucumber I used. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Is your electric?

I haven't actually used mine yet, it's manual, a Veggetti. Looks fairly simple to deal with. I think the starchier veggies won't be as messy (less Water in a zucchini than a cucumber).

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Edited June 27, 201610 yr by CallMeTee

I slice tomatoes, splash them with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with oregano and basil and top with feta cheese. Put under the broiler for just a minute. Then eat on a gluten free cracker. It's so good.

Thanks for the great ideas! I think we can all enjoy them – whether we’re bringing them to a party or we just want something delicious and healthy to eat at home!

@@Djmohr, I love fruit salsas! They work so well with so many types of fruits – I’ve also used watermelon and peaches. You can also swap up the herbs – cilantro is definitely the most “salsa” - like, but mint and basil can work, too. I love your won ton chips idea! I guess you could make some salty ones or garlicky ones, too!

@@Valentina, I love it! I bet that’s a great conversation starter!

@@OKCPirate, I love broccoli salad. It always seems so decadent, though – definitely one of the higher calorie options at any salad bar. I used to try it with fat-free mayo and soy bacon bits and fat-free cheddar. Yum!

@@Dub, I bet that goes over really well – it sound delicious, and people probably have no idea you brought it because you needed something healthy to eat!

@@Sharon1964 – great idea with the stuffed mushrooms. Stuffed things always seem so fancy, and I think that’s a great idea for preventing double dipping and also for promoting a little bit of portion control. I bet that dip would be great in hard-boiled egg white halves, too.

@@CallMeTee, let us know how it goes!