Some happy raves:)

[Creekimp13 5,838]

Here are some products I've discovered recently that I really like:

Aldi has Keto Buns. Awesome ones. I'm not a keto person, but I love these cause of the dietary (oat) Fiber they pump them up with to make them keto. For 60 little calories....you get 8g of Protien, and a whopping 19g of Dietary fiber!!!! They've got 21g of carbs, but with the fiber, net carbs of only 2g. They're a small size, so not overwhelming for the small stomach crowd. Throw 2 ounces of Aldi chicken Breast on there with some lettuce and Tomato, and you've got an excellent little sandwich with 18g of Protien and 19g of Dietary Fiber....for only 135 calories!

Diet Orange Julius smoothy. This hits the spot when I'm having a desert craving. Here's the recipe...roughly...adjust to taste. Three one inch pieces frozen banana, two large frozen strawberries, half cup of orange juice, splash of vanilla, half a cup 30 calorie almond milk (or skim cow milk), sweetener of choice (I use splenda and monkfruit). Blend this in your smoothie maker, sit on the porch and enjoy this drink that'll make you think of the mall in the late 80's / early90's. Good stuff!

Monkfruit, but not the commercial brands, they suck. Go on Amazon and get real concentrated monkfruit drops with no added ingredients. (I like Monk Drops). For some people, Monkfruit has an aftertaste, for some it tastes incredibly close to real sugar with no aftertaste. I'm one of the lucky ones. I never had luck with Stevia because Stevia has a horrific aftertaste for me, but Monkfruit tastes terrific. If you're one of the people that gets an aftertaste from Monkfruit I apologize in advance. But I could drink the stuff straight and find it delicious.

Maple Grove Farms sugar free Maple Syrup. I hate most sugar free maple syrups. This one has Excellent taste. 20 calories in HALF A CUP. If you like protien oatmeal pancakes...you need this. I also pour this on my steal cut oats.

Homemade fried chicken! I have never made fried chicken in my life. Recently attended a healthy cooking class where we made keto fried chicken! Again, I'm not a huge keto fan, but this chicken was so good, I'd make it anyway. To start with, only the coating is fried...the chicken itself is boiled. We boiled the chicken until it was completely cooked in salty seasoned water...think bay leaves, sage, salt and pepper, thyme. Then we cooled the chicken and put cashews through the blender to make cashew flour. Wet your chicken with milk/egg wash and roll it in cashew flour with spices and about two tablespoons of flour fry mix mixed in. Coat it a couple times if you want. Then, flash fry it in 350 degree oil. You could probably do this in the air fryer, too? (I have not tried this) I actually submerged mine in oil....only for about a minute to make it nice golden brown. Yep, you've got some fat content and calories from the oil....but it's NOT greasy. The outside is crispy crunchy and the inside is moist and flavorful. A large chicken leg prepared this way only has about 150 calories, lots of protien, and hits the spot for summer picnics.

Chickpea Pasta salad. Love this. Everyone has a favorite pasta salad recipe. Mine goes sorta like this... Chickpea pasta, cherry tomatos, kalamata olives, reduced fat salami, English cukes, red onion, tiny diced swiss, diced bananna pepper....Dressing is Good Seasoning Italian dressing packet with balsamic vinegar, splenda, Water, extra light olive oil.

My beloved chocolate Fudge Yasso frozen yogurt bars. 80 calories of "you'll never want icecream again". 6g of protien, too. I'll admit it. When I hit that incredibly horrible day when I want to eat a half gallon of ice cream.....I've been known to get a box of fudge Yassos and eat them all. But here's the difference. A four pack of Yassos is 320 calories and 24g of protien. Even feeling like I'm drowning my sorrows in ice cream....it's not a completely horrible nutritional choice. A little high in sugar, but not world ending. It is my emotional tantrum junkfood of choice. And while I try NOT to do this kinda maniac disordered eating anymore....it's nice to have a plan for when my brain slips once in a blue moon. (and it's a hell of a lot better than eating a half gallon of blue moon for instance) LOL

A shot of Mio in iced tea can be superb!

Crockpot sweet carrots with spenda instead of honey. They taste terrific.

Black Beans with salt and pepper, corn on the cob, and a plate of tomato slices with fresh basil, olive oil and a slice of fresh mozerella. And watermelon, of course:)

OH! And another favorite....this one is slightly naughty. Strawberries mashed with splenda, chunks of mango, and a splash of ameretto liqueur. Eat this like strawberry shortcake, only use oat protien pancakes instead of shortcake.

Happy Summer, Folks!

If you've found some especially good diet-ey foods or products, be sure to mention them to the rest of us!

[catwoman7 10,922]

I like putting cottage cheese, a couple scoops of vanilla Protein Powder, unsweetened cocoa powder, artificial sweetener, and, if it needs it to get going in the blender, some unsweetened almond milk and whipping it up (in the blender) into "chocolate mousse" (sorry I don't have amounts - I always just dump stuff in and adjust it until it's "right"). Sometimes I'll top it with some light - or sugar free - Cool Whip and some fresh raspberries.

I've never gotten the Aldi's Keto Buns, but I've seen them in there. I'll pick some up next time I'm there! I get their 35-calorie bread a lot, though

Edited May 30, 2021 by catwoman7

[SummerTimeGirl 580]

Love Aldi's Keto Buns and bread. Can't wait to have them again, eventually, post surgery. Thanks for all this.

[HealthyLifeStyle 351]

Wow! Thanks for all these awesome ideas. It is so hard to come up with new things to try.

[KCgirl061 1,529]

I’m definitely going to have to pick up some of those Keto buns! None of the healthy foods I enjoyed in my honeymoon phase post surgery seem to appeal to me now so I’m looking for new stuff.

On another note, I’m glad to see you back at the forums Creek! I missed you when you left 3ish years ago.

[Creekimp13 5,838]

I'm in and out, KC. I think, for the most part, the bariatric surgery forums frustrate me anymore....but once in a while I feel like stopping in. Congrats on your awesome results! Woot!

[ruthpets 77]

The Keto fried chicken sounds like a MAJOR game-changer!!! I am SOOOOOOO going to try that! It's freakin brilliant!!

[BigSue 1,322]

My current obsessions are chia pudding and homemade sugar-free Gummy bears. I love making different flavors of chia pudding; my favorites are chocolate raspberry (tastes like brownie batter!) and pumpkin spice. I never knew how easy it is to make homemade gummy bears -- just some Gelatin and flavoring (either 2 packs unflavored gelatin + 1 single-serve sugar-free drink mix, or one unflavored gelatin + 1 flavored gelatin; I've also made them with real lemon juice and lime juice). I bought some gummy bear molds on Amazon, and voila: sugar-free gummy bears that don't cause diarrhea.

I also recently discovered Skinny Girl salad dressings. They're fat-free, sugar-free, and 10-15 calories for 2 tbsp. I've tried balsamic vinaigrette, roasted garlic vinaigrette, poppyseed, buttermilk ranch, and honey dijon, and I love them all.

[SummerTimeGirl 580]

21 minutes ago, BigSue said:

My current obsessions are chia pudding and homemade sugar-free Gummy bears. I love making different flavors of chia pudding; my favorites are chocolate raspberry (tastes like brownie batter!) and pumpkin spice. I never knew how easy it is to make homemade Gummy bears -- just some Gelatin and flavoring (either 2 packs unflavored Gelatin + 1 single-serve sugar-free drink mix, or one unflavored gelatin + 1 flavored gelatin; I've also made them with real lemon juice and lime juice). I bought some gummy bear molds on Amazon, and voila: sugar-free gummy bears that don't cause diarrhea.

I also recently discovered Skinny Girl salad dressings. They're fat-free, sugar-free, and 10-15 calories for 2 tbsp. I've tried balsamic vinaigrette, roasted garlic vinaigrette, poppyseed, buttermilk ranch, and honey dijon, and I love them all.

Have you tried Walden Farms? Found in most stores but online too. They have some really good dressings and stuff as well.

https://www.waldenfarms.com/

[BigSue 1,322]

27 minutes ago, SummerTimeGirl said:

Have you tried Walden Farms? Found in most stores but online too. They have some really good dressings and stuff as well.

https://www.waldenfarms.com/

No, I haven't tried those... ANy particular flavors you recommend?

[SummerTimeGirl 580]

I think in this house between myself, my hubby and our son and DIL, we've tried all the variations of Ranch and liked them. I know there was one we got and it was just so-so for me but now I can't remember what it was. Everyone's tastes vary so just try what you can. They make all sorts of products, as you can see on their site.