It's Fair Time!!

A few weeks ago, in early July, Steve and I went to the Three Rivers Fest in Fort Wayne.  The morning paper had a whole section on the festival and as I was browsing I noticed that there was a section on food.  I am always interested in reading about food.. less calories, same enjoyment in my book... until I read about the new sensation this year... DEEP FRIED BUTTER. (I think i just threw up a little bit). Ok, when I was heavy, I did not care for fried food, so now, I don't even miss it.  I had heard of deep fried twinkies.. even deep fried candy bars, but butter? That's way over the top for me... The thought alone made me gag.. but, the investigative reporter wanna be in me made me go and see what it was.. NO I DID NOT EAT it.. gag.. ugh.. gag again.. but I digress.


SO Steve and I went to the festival and sought out the booth selling these obese making gems.. you know to see what they looked like.. LOL they were breaded "sweet cream" butter balls that were deep fried.. That doesn't sound good to you.. they also sold deep fried twinkies.. deep fried choc. chip cookie dough.. deep fried snickers & milky ways.. OMG.. I was walking away gaggin..
 
Ok, I have taken a lot of flak for this story.. I understand that we all make choices in our lives.. before surgery some people might like this kind of thing and it's maybe what got you to the point of having to have surgery to loose the weight.  THEN when you have this gut changing surgery, your choices are now made for you.. mostly...within reason.  Some of us still crave this kind of thing. Not me. I hope not ever. The smell of greasy food makes me faint. LOL
 
Now.. what have I done to combat this fried butter and fair food phenomenon? I have cooked up food that is not only yummy, but looks good on the plate.  I got this recipe out of an old low carb cookbook and tweaked it a bit to suit my palate.  Like strawberries? try this..
 
 

Stuffed Strawberries

 

4 oz fat free cream cheese

1/2 t vanilla extract

4 packets of Splenda

1/4 t cinnamon

1/2 quart of strawberries, cleaned

 
Mix together cream cheese, vanilla, Splenda and cinnamon. cut the bottom tip off of the strawberries so that the strawberries can stand up. Hollow out the top of each strawberry and then put 1/2 t of filling in each one.  Cover and refridgerate until time to serve.
 
 
as Julia used to say Bon Appetite!

4th of July Fun ~ and a new recipe!

This year, the 4th was a bit more fun that last.. although the heat still makes me feel like poo.  Last night we went to see our beloved Mud Hens lose their 10th straight game. Before the game however, we had a nice picnic with my parents and sister, Abby (inside of course, it's 90s here!) where we had Taco Wings, potatoe salad, baked beans, and a new dessert  that I invented..

Red, White and Blueberries
1 box (4 serving size) Jello Vanilla Pudding
2 cups skim milk
1lb fresh strawberries, cleaned and sliced
1 c fresh blueberries
1 c sugar free strawberry pie filling
1 package of 8 individual Sugar free Angel Food cakes (optional)

Directions
Mix together milk and pudding, refridgerate. Clean berries, place in a mixing bowl and add the pie filling, mixing gently. Place 1 cake on plate, add in 1/4 c vanilla pudding. Top with berries mixture. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 regular servings, more for WLS patients
Stats (without the cake):  Cals 70, carbs 14.7, fiber 1.6, sodium 199.6, protein 2.5

Hope your 4th was great.. now it's off to the pool to swim!!