Bread after weight-loss surgery

Before we talk about this gorgeous little gem, we need to have a conversation about bread.

This week we’ve been tackling carbs and learning about good choices and swaps, specifically with regard to starchy carbs. We’ve gone over oatmeal, pasta and cereal so far.

Now, some post-ops eat bread. Some don’t. I do. Occasionally. It’s not a big trigger food for me (nor is any starchy carb) so it’s fairly easy for me to moderate. When reading this information, I hope you are taking into consideration your own set of circumstances. If bread or rice or pasta or cereal is a trigger, my best advice is to not even go there.

As a mom, however, it’s nearly impossible for me to avoid bread completely. Children in America love themselves a sandwich! I have this rule. I don’t buy my divas anything that I can’t eat. And that’s not so that I can eat it. It’s mainly because I have a higher standard of nutrition these days. So if I wouldn’t eat it, why in the world would I feed it to them? Raising them to be healthy, happy, well adjusted women is my magnum opus and I take that pretty seriously.

In keeping with that thinking I have some bread rules:

1. 99% of the bread that comes into my house is 100% whole grain (save for the occasional baguette for the divas)
2. The sliced bread I use has no more than 60 calories per slice
3. Being that a serving of bread is 1 slice, nobody in my house eats more than 2 servings of bread a day. NOBODY.

My girls know these rules so if they want to try a new bread, they know how to read the nutrition label and how to pick one I’m likely to buy. They also understand the concept of “budgeting” their bread intake. They know if they want French Toast for breakfast they can’t have a sandwich for lunch.

Now…back to the photo above. Whenever I do eat bread it’s either a slice of their bread (which, as I mentioned, passes my stringent nutritional standards) or a slice of my handy-dandy P-28 bread (high protein bread with 14g of protein per slice). Today’s offering uses the P-28, mainly because it holds up well to what I did with this sandwich.

If I had to describe this sandwich I’d say “PB&J for grown ups.” It’s Lent and I don’t do meat on Fridays during Lent and it’s Carb Week here on the blog. That could easily descend into utter disaster. But not in this case! Check it out.

Nik’s Almond and Apricot Triangle
(makes two half sandwich servings)

Ingredients:

1 slice 100% whole wheat bread (I used P-28) sliced into 4 triangles
2 tbsp almond butter

2 tbsp sugar-free apricot preserves
A few shakes of ground cinnamon
2 “splicks” (some might call it a pinches) of ground ginger
¼ c. liquid egg substitute (or 1 egg, beaten)
1 tablespoon milk
2 packets of Splenda
A few sprays of low or no-cal butter spray (I used Olivio which is no cal)

Directions:

Spread ½ tablespoon preserves on each of the 4 triangles. On one side, sprinkle a bit of ground ginger.

Top two of your triangles (doesn’t matter which one) with 1 tablespoon of almond butter.

At this point spray down your pan and get it on a medium flame (I used a grill pan. We’ll talk about why in a minute).

Place egg or egg substitute in a bowl and add milk, Splenda and cinnamon.

Here’s a tip: if you have them, secure each sandwich with a toothpick, then dip each side into the egg mixture then transfer to your hot pan.



I used a grill pan because this sandwich has French Toast leanings. This brings it back into the sandwich realm for me. Your mileage may vary.

Cook on both sides for about a minute or until browned (P-28 bread browns fast so keep an eye on it).

Transfer to a plate and give it a few sprays of your butter spray and a dusting of cinnamon.

Now at three years out, I can eat ½ of this and be satisfied. Eating both sides makes me stuffed. I don’t usually give stats, but I will tell you that with the P-28, each side of this sandwich has about 10g of protein, but I don’t use this as a protein source. Bread is, and always will be, a carb and so I think of it as a carb with more protein than most other carbs.

So there you have it. Bread according to Nik. Stay tuned this evening for the final installment of Carb Confusion and check out my thoughts on rice tomorrow!