Summer Time!

With summer coming or here in some places, we will all be wanting to cool off with some great summer time treats. However, being in the weight loss surgery category people, we have to limit what we eat due to sugars. Here are some great sweets and other treat ideas for the summer that are great for our new bodies.


Enlightened Ice Creams: Enlightened 

These yummy treats come in 7 flavors of bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl, Coffee, Fudge, Peanut Butter, Sea Salt Caramel, Mint Fudge Swirl, Orange Cream, a Toasted Almond) and 2 ice cream sandwhiches (Mint and Vanilla Bean). They range from 2-5 grams of sugar each, and the best part, 7-8 grams of PROTEIN!!!!! They are so tastey that its a good thing our stomachs are small and can only hold one.

Make your own treats:

• Roll a banana in chopped peanuts and freeze it. Mix the peanuts with cinnamon before rolling, if you want.
• Freeze melon or watermelon balls or grapes.
• Make raspberry lemonade pops by blending raspberries – or your choice of berries – and light lemonade. Pour into paper cups, stick popsicle sticks in the centers, and freeze them.
• Blend mango, peach, or another soft fruit with Greek yogurt, keeping it chunky. Freeze.
• Dip strawberries, peach slices, or cherries into light Greek vanilla yogurt. Put the fruit on wax paper on a cookie sheet, and freeze your treats.
• Mix up your favorite glass of sugar free crystal light and freeze it into ice cube trays. Not only are these great to suck on to keep cool but can be put into a glass of the same flavor crystal light flavored water and wont water it down as it melts or grind the cubes in the blender until they are more like chips.
• Freeze grapes, these are one of my favorite treats. Other great frozen fruits are blueberries. 

Refresh Salad: 

Mix Arugula leaves, sliced radishes, snow peas, sliced watermelon cubes and sliced avocado cubes into a bow. Sprinkle feta cheese and ground black pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Low Fat Jalepeno Poppers: Use fresh Jalepenos, cut them in half and take out the seeds. Stuff them with fat free cream cheese and wrap up with one half piece of turkey bacon. Bake about 20 minutes at around 350 degrees in oven (temp may vary due to oven so keep a close eye on them when cooking the first time).

Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt:

Take a cup of any plain greek yogurt, mix 1 tablespoon of nut butter, 1 tablespoon of mini chocolate chips and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla into it and voila! Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt!

Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing:

Ingredients: 1 cup of peeled and diced kiwi, 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1 cup mixed berries, 1 cup peeled and diced mangos, 1 orange in wedges, 1 cup of greek yogurt, 4 tablespoons of honey, 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds, 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, 1 tablespoon of almond oil or a neutral tasting oil, and fresh mint.

Combine all the fruits into a bowl and chill in the refridgerator while preparing the dressing, 

To make the poppy seed dressing, in a small bowl, mix the yogurt, honey, poppy seeds, lime juice and oil. Adjust the sweetness if you desire.

Mix in the poppy seed dressing with the fruits and garnish with the mint leaves before serving.

Cumcumber, Dill and Cream Cheese Sandwhiches on Wheat Toast

Ingrediants: 6 ounces of low fat cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of fresh and minced dill, 6 slices of whole wheat bread, 1 small or 1/2 big cucumber thinly sliced, and some lemon zest.

In a small bowl mix the cream cheese, dill and some lemon zest. Toast all the slices of bread. Spread the cream cheese mix on each slice of toast and then top with a cucumber slice then cut away the sides of the bread (crust). 

JUST REMEMBER: 

• Low-fat and fat-free products can be high in sugar and calories.
• “Light” can mean light in color, light in calories, or light in something else.
• Low-carb and low-sugar products can be high-calorie and high-fat.
• Fat-free toppings, such as caramel or chocolate topping, can be high in sugar and contain 50 calories per tablespoon (that’s not a big serving size!).

Til Next Time!