Meatless Friday (on a Tuesday)

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Some of you may recall I do “Meatless Fridays” during Lent to honor my late (and very Catholic) grandfather.

I know many post-ops, by virtue of meat intolerance and some by choice choose to eat meatless diets, so this year I am going to TRY to get better at supporting you as you look to play with your food! Next week, look for the latest “BF Basics” series: Veggie Tales! I’ve asked a post-op friend of mine who has been vegetarian a good portion of her life (and has a few years of WLS lifestyle under her smaller-sized belt) to share what she knows about being a vegetarian after WLS. Look for that five part series starting on Monday!

In the meantime, I thought I’d start off by sharing what one of MY Meatless Fridays looks like. Please keep in mind that for me Meatless Friday does NOT = Vegetarian Friday. You’ll see what I mean in a moment.

This week I hope to post a NEW Meatless Friday recipe (I have learned to stop over-committing so trying is the best you’ll get from me at this point!) and every week during Lent.

Here’s how my day went down (added bonus, I’m going to, FOR ONCE, share a few stats):

6:00 a.m. I ate some Greek yogurt with PB2. I did not snap a pic. My apologies! I call my first meal of the day my “petite breakfast.” It really is just a little bit of food (in this instance about 1/2 c.) to get me going and out the door. This was ABOUT 100 calories and 16g protein. Then…

10:00 a.m. I had a Click Frapp! I LOVE these things. And I’ve learned to make them in nearly as many varieties as Starbucks makes Frappucinos! Aside from the above, classic, I love my Chai Latte Frapp, Clickabutter Frapp and Vanilla Frapp!  But there are many other Frapp recipes on BF. Search the term “Frapp” in the right menu bar to see which one appeals most to you! The above has 230 calories and a whopping 41.5g protein!!!

So that held me until…

2-ish…Yep…the shake is THAT filling! Anyhoo…tuna is a staple for me on Meatless Fridays. And I love me some TVP tuna…so I decided to do a new spin on it!

Check it out:

Nik’s Tangy-Zesty TVP Tuna

4 oz. can of tuna, liquid reserved!!!
2 tbsp TVP (what’s that?)
1/2 tbsp mayo (I use the fully loaded stuff, not low-fat)
2 tbsp 0% unflavored Greek yogurt
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon)
A few shakes each of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper

Directions:

Set tuna, with water, and TVP in a bowl for about 2 minutes so the TVP can soak up the liquid. (HINT: the longer you let the TVP sit, the softer it gets).

In a separate bowl mix together mayo, yogurt, mustard and spices and mix well.

Add tuna to dressing mixture and serve!

MY TVP tuna came up to 221 calories, 27g of protein (including the bread).

I didn’t have an afternoon snack last Friday. The TVP tuna sorta filled me up! I MEANT to finally try the famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) cauliflower crust pizza recipe. But I didn’t get around to it!!! Long story short: life happens. But no worries! I have a Foodie on the case making the pizza this weekend and she’s promised to report back so…soon and very soon!

As for MY dinner? It was around 6:30 p.m. and I ended up making a quick go-to dinner: Naked Eggplant Parm. Yummy and only takes minutes to throw together! It has about 250 calories and 15g of protein the way I make it.

On Friday nights I eat alone because, alas, my daughters have more of a nightlife than I do! They were at a weekly dance held by the local recreation center. After dinner, I made a pit stop to the gym (the ellptical + Jersey Shore = the easiest workout you’ve EVER done!) and then picked them up. I am a late night person so I usually have some sort of something before bed. This night I had a snack around 10 p.m. and it was this: