Clam Chowder

Check this product out!

Yummy Ravioli

Find this product in a store near you!

Jennie O

Last week I found some incredible turkey tenderloins in the meat department at Walmart... and I noticed something...

Quite often the meat products I found have been Jennie O brand... and that got me thinking... so I checked them out online.

Apparently their meats are used on The Biggest Loser & they have a wide range of low sodium, low fat, and gluten free! That's awesome right?

So here is a link to their homepage where you can check out their products and recipes they have for you! 

New Blog for Recipes

Hi everyone!

Real quick I wanted to mention that I made a new blog where you'll be able to find regular and low fat recipes. I'll be posting one recipe a week, and eventually the few recipes that I posted here, will be moved to that blog.

 I made the new blog specifically for recipes because I prefer to keep things organized... I will put up a link soon to the side (not sure yet if it's going to be left or right... but you'll see it!) with the web address.

I also wanted to thank you for reading my blog. Some of you may suffer from Gallstones, and I hope that my blog helps you. It wasn't easy for me to find anything to eat that I wasn't already bored of like Salad or Fruit... but more and more I'm finding things that are safe to eat.

Thanks & Goodnight.

Skinny Cow

Great tasting Ice Cream Sandwich... 

Find them in a store near you!

Baptism Food!

In my other blog I mentioned that I'd post what food I'm making for my son's Baptism party, here it is!!!


Veggie Platter consisting of:

• broccoli
• carrots
• cauliflour
• pickles
• olives
• green peppers
• celery

Salad with Cucumber, Onion, Tomatoes, and Green Pepper

Pasta Salad made with fat free italian dressing, olives, green pepper, tomato, and onion.

Salt Potatoes and Fat free Butter

Pulled Pork style Chicken

and for desert we're having Angel Food Cake :)

My First Blood Test

At my last visit to the doctor to see how everything was going now that I'm on the dissolving medication, my doctor asked me to get a blood test done in July. It was basically to see if I've contracted Hepatitis from the dissolving medication.

So last week I had my blood test done, and it was a simple one vial procedure. I was scared at first because I wasn't sure how many vials they'd be taking. When I was pregnant they'd taken around 12 at one point, and that scared the crap out of me since I'm scared of needles.

It was basically just a waiting game, and I found out today that I did not contract Hepatitis at this point. I have to have another test done in September to check again.


For anyone considering doing a dissolving medication to treat your Gallstones, don't let anything I say scare you. A ton of people take the surgery, especially since it's usually what the doctor's push towards from the beginning. In most cases, those who are given the dissolving medication are generally elderly people who have less of a chance of recovery after a surgery.  My doctors did tell me more than once that they'd rather I go with the surgery. Usually I go with what everyone else recommends, but I just had a baby in January, and had a C-Section... I don't want more surgery and lifting restrictions, and to have to take it easy more. Not to mention, if there was something that I could do to help my husband not have to take leave from work more, I wanted to be able to do it. So that's how I decided on the medication.

Yes, you can contract Hepatitis from using the medication. It's something to worry about, but not usually do you contract it.

Yes you can still suffer Gallstone attacks while on the medication, but it helps if you're on a very low fat diet to ensure that you don't get attacks.


Since I've been on the medication I have also maintained a low fat diet, and have not had a single attack since I started. I do understand that more people would rather have their Gallbladder out so they can continue a normal life, and not suffer consequences from eating whatever they'd like... but I honestly have enjoyed being on a low fat diet. Sure it gets hard at times, and I stare at the bakery sections in stores, a doughnut or pizza rolls sound awesome to me... but I gained a lot of weight during my pregnancy, and if it weren't for the decision to stay on this diet (I never had the willpower to stay on a diet before) and dissolve the stones, I'd never have lost 33lbs since February.

I really feel like having Gallstones has made me aware of the things I eat and drink, and just what things are out there that I can use in place of what I was used to. I'd never have found any of this stuff I post on this blog, the coffee creamers, the fat free cheeses, if I wasn't put in this situation. While having Gallstones sucks and makes me a tad paranoid (always afraid I could have an attack), I've been quite happy. I'm excited to see more of what's out there & blog about it! I love the fact that though there are a ton of people out there with Gallstones, afraid to eat anything, if they come across my blog they'd know that they aren't just stuck to salads and bland food. All you have to do is spend a few more minutes in the grocery store and look at all the products, read the nutritional information, you'd be so surprised to see what's out there! :)


So what I was getting at before...
While there are many things to consider when you are deciding surgery or dissolving medication, though there are things that sound scary, like contracting Hepatitis, really weigh your options and think, how likely is it that this will happen to me? Know that it IS possible, but chances are slim. But use it as a learning process..

Fiber One Snack Bars & Baking Oils

I was searching like a madman in the baking isle at Walmart for a cooking oil today. I thought that I would try to make the Pumpkin Pie bread recipe using low fat ingredients to see if it tastes any good, but I noticed that I couldn't find a single low fat oil aside from the spray oils :/  I thought however that I would try to change the recipe a little to go without oil, or replace it with something else... After I tr this I will update with how it was and if it was good, the revised recipe.


After looking through a bunch of the snack bars in the Fiber One section, these were the only bars I could find that were low fat...

Activia Light Yogurts, Edy's Slow Churned Yogurt Blends, Miss Meringue Cookies

Recent shopping adventures found me these few products:

Activia has a great selection of fat free yogurts and a great pack of 8, that are 4 of one kind and 4 of another. They're a good portion for a light snack, and taste great.

Click here to find Activia in a store near you!

________________________________________

I was looking around to find an ice cream that wasn't too high in fat and ended up finding this:

Click here to find Edy's Yogurt Blends in a store near you!

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My husband was talking sweets while we were in the store and that made me curious to look around the bakery section of Tops Supermarkets. I managed to find these on display at the cookie table... and they are delicious!

Want to order some? You can do it directly though their website!

That's all that I have for today! Enjoy!!! :D

Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Bread **Not low fat**

Ingredients:


3 1/2 cups of flour
3 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil (canola oil may be a good substitute?)
4 eggs (egg beaters can be used instead)
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of water
1 can (15oz) of pumpkin puree 


1 1/2 teaspoons of ground clove 
3 teaspoons of ground cinnamon        
     OR you can use instead of these two spices:
3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice




Directions:


1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together well. 


2. In a medium bowl, mix the oil, water, eggs, and pumpkin puree.


3. Add the puree mixture to the dry mix and stir well.


4. Oil and flour 2 9x5 bread pans, and dispense the batter between the two evenly. 


Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 80 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick or knife in the center of each and have it come out clean.












Like the title states, this is not a low fat recipe and if you don't swap out the eggs and oil, I probably wouldn't eat it. I know that Canola spray oil has 0 fat, but I'm still a little weird about using oils at all with the gallstones. Not to mention I'm not sure how it would work out, using a spray oil instead of regular oils. So just be careful. But I cannot say just how delicious this bread is! So yummy!

Pies

Today I was going through some of my stuff in the cupboards, and I keep cans of Pumpkin puree for pies, bread, and muffins. Pumpkin is super awesome and low in fat. I noticed next to my puree that I still had a few cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk from last years Thanksgiving. They're still good obviously, those sorts of things have a long shelf life, but looking at the nutritional facts, they just aren't low fat. So I bagged them and gave them to my mother.

While shopping tonight I thought I'd look to see if they had any Sweetened Condensed Milk that was low fat in the baking isle. Sure enough, the only kind that I saw was Eagle Brand, and was Fat Free! So if you love your Pumpkin Pie, there you go!

I also noticed that among the graham cracker pie crusts, there was one made by Keebler called "Ready Crust Graham Cracker Crust" and the total percent fat is 5%. As far as pies with Graham cracker crusts go, they're great for making pudding pies, and doing up canned berry pies.


I wanted to say though that I will be posting a recipe that I HIGHLY recommend. It's called "Pumpkin Pie Bread" and it's incredible. It's bread that tastes just like Pumpkin Pie. When you serve it, I suggest serving it warmed a little. I personally love it plain, but I know a number of people that like heating it and putting a little butter on it. Either way, it's magnificent. Just talking about it makes me want to make some.

Expect that recipe within the coming week!! :D

I haven't forgotten!

I've been super busy lately with things, (Trips, Planning a Baptism, ect..) I just wanted to say that I have not forgotten this blog! In fact, I was thinking this week that I should come up with a few recipes to post! I'm thinking quick foods to make, stuff that you can do if you have time, dinners, desserts... I can tell you one thing that I tried recently.

Pulled Pork. It's summer! The perfect time for it! But... pork has a good amount of fat in it... So... I replaced it with chicken! Chicken (usually) is around 99% fat free... At least from what I see at the stores, the packages usually say 99%. So to make it healthier for you, boil the chicken until it's done, rinse it good to get the foamy stuff off it afterwards, and let it cool for a bit. When you can touch it and not get burned, use a fork and pull it apart so it's stringy. Then throw it in a bowl and dump your favorite BBQ sauce on it (usually BBQ sauce is fat free!). Mix it well, and either serve it, or you can reheat it later to serve! :) Yummy!

But I'll be posting some recipes soon. I've just got a lot on my plate at the moment. Maybe I can set a goal, and perhaps you can expect one at least once a week?

I'm willing to try lol.

Fat Free Cottage Cheese, Sloppy Joes, and Egg Beaters.

All of these items were found at Walmart:

I only just found this stuff a few weeks ago while looking for a cottage cheese that I could eat. It's alright, almost the same as regular cottage cheese. :)

This is Great Value Sloppy Joe Sandwich Sauce. It's wonderful, I had completely forgotten about Sloppy Joes since when I was a kid. You can use ground turkey instead of ground beef, and it tastes just the same! So great!!

These are the eggs that I mentioned getting while on vacation from restaurants. They're great, and way better than the egg whites I posted in one of the earlier posts. They tend to be a little more expensive however, around $3 for this small containter, the larger ones are about $4-5.

Vacation and Dining Out

I was on vacation from May 26th to the 1st, and I was worried about eating out at restaurants and having a Gallstone attack. I realized that when you're out at a restaurant it's okay to ask the waitress questions. I found that by explaining my situation to her, she was very understanding and willing to help in any way possible. Even the cooks were happy to help.

For breakfast we mainly went to IHOP and Friendly's since those were practically everywhere we were. They both had egg substitute, which is actually Egg Beaters, a 0 fat alternative. Since I basically can't eat any of the meat or potatoes there I had a veggie omelet, with a piece of toast and side of fruit.
   At Friendly's they have a giant selection of ice creams and sundaes to choose from. I wanted a Banana split, so I chose the Fat free vanilla frozen yogurt, with gummy bears, marshmallows, and strawberry topping (which are also fat free). It came out great!

For dinner most nights I had steamed veggies and rice from Chinese restaurants. I love rice and soy sauce, so I'm quite content with that anytime. I did have sushi one night.

Oh and those bags of hard pretzels that you can get at truck stops and grocery stores for like $3.29 make GREAT snacks on the road! :)

But thats basically all I can share with you as far as suggestions when you're on trips or vacation.. Hope it helps!!

Turkey Bacon, Salad Dressing, Scallops and Cream Cheese

When I was looking for a low fat Cream Cheese I couldn't find anything at Walmart. I actually googled low fat Cream Cheese and this was the only thing I found, and it was available at my local Tops Markets. Just as it says, it's fat free.

My husband and I were doing our grocery shopping at Walmart when I came across these Scallops. I've been wanting to try something new, and these are great low fat food to throw in stir fry or a chowder.

Turkey Bacon is a good low fat alternative to regular bacon. 

My family eats this every week, and it's just as good as the real stuff :)

This salad dressing tastes just like French dressing. It's absolutely fat free and tastes great! My mother turned me onto it a couple weeks ago when I last visited with her. I looked at our last shopping trip for it and found it at Walmart :)

Honey Barbecue Meatloaf

I was experimenting a little bit in my kitchen the other day, really wanting some barbecue but not wanting to go outside and grill or anything... I wasn't sure what to do, and it was getting close to dinner time. I only had 1lb of ground beef... So using some stuff that I had laying around I whipped up meatloaf and mashed potatoes & a steamables veggie bag.

All these ingredients can be found at Walmart or probably you're local grocery store.

1lb ground beef (4% fat is what I used)
1/2 cup Sweet Baby Rays Honey Barbecue Sauce (if you can't find that, I'm sure any alternative BBQ sauce would work just as good)
1/2 cup of plain bread crumbs
2 egg whites
1 package of Onion Soup Mix (I used Great Value, but there's a Beefy Onion one that's sooo good too!)

mix it all together and form a loaf, throw about another half a cup of BBQ sauce on top and pop it in the oven till it's done (mine was about an hour)

It smells so good! It wasn't bad either. This recipe minus the BBQ sauce is what I use to make meatballs as well. The meatballs are perfect for Meatball Sandwiches, or Meatballs and Gravy.

Enjoy!

Waffles

Today I was going through my refrigerator and stumbled across these low fat waffles :-)

They've got 4% fat per serving, and aren't bad for being whole grain.

View Kellogg's Website!

Better'n Peanut Butter, Salad Spritzer, Butter Sprays, Fat Free Cheese, Low Fat Hot Dogs, and more!

Have you ever thought about how much fat is in the items you pick up at the store? It never occurred to me until I found out that I had Gallstones, and even then it took several attacks before I completely changed my mind about the things I was eating and drinking. 

At first it's so difficult to completely stop eating what you want, and go into "Diet Mode"... but once you realize just what's out there, your whole world starts to open up. You're not restricted to horribly bland meals day after day... and it's a lot easier to fall off the wagon if you only stick with a few things. My suggestion is this:


Throw away or give away all your perishable items that are over 5% fats. They'll just temp t you, and give you attacks. Anything that you can save that wont go bad, canned items for example, store them until your stones are gone. Then go grocery shopping. 
You'll want to eat lots of vegetables, fruit, and low fat meats like chicken, salmon, and tuna. 


As far as dining out goes, forget fast food restaurants, they'll kill you. If you do go to one, see if they have fresh salads without cheese, bacon bits (or any meat for that matter), croutons, and make sure they have fat free dressings. Italian is almost out of the question, the only thing that's safe to eat is probably just plain Spaghetti. Asian food is a great option! Sushi, rice, veggies, they're all good to eat. I highly suggest that if you don't know what ingredients are used to make something, don't get it. If you are curious, ask, and hope they're right. Also, don't be afraid to ask for the nutritional information at the restaurant. If they have it, they'll lend it to you. I put meals together from what I find out on that booklet. 




But anyway, here are some suggestions as far as products to find at the store. They're great alternatives and show you that there is more than just salad to eat :)

 

"Better 'n Peanut Butter is the all-natural product of the Wonder Natural Foods Corporation that can be used in all the ways that you now use regular peanut butter, but instead of 16 grams of fat per (32 gram) serving, Better 'n Peanut Butter delivers less than 3 grams of fat per serving and qualifies as a low fat food by USFDA standards."

Find this product at a store near you!

"Add a spritz of flavor to your salad with this deliciously light and tangy vinaigrette, made with a blend of white wine vinegar and natural flavors. Spritz as you desire. Any way you like it, you'll have a perfect salad every time. At just 1 calorie per spray*, you can reward your taste buds and your waistline."

Find this product at a store near you!

"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!® Original Spray gives you great butter taste at your fingertips with 0g fat, 0 calories and 0g trans fat.* It can be used for topping cooking and so much more. Spray on great butter taste and make your favorite foods even more delicious!"

Find this product at a store near you!

Find this product at a store near you!

Find this product at a store near you!

"Minus the fat, not the flavor. Fat Free Reddi-wip offers the same great taste of Reddi-wip Original. Introduced in 1996, Fat Free lets you indulge your sweet tooth without adding the fat."

Find this product at a store near you!

"The rich, continental flavor of French Vanilla has been a signature of Parisian cafés for decades. Originating in the French style of ice cream, a little French Vanilla in your cup helps you ease into that smooth, subtle Parisian state of mind. Stir up a moment of sweet inspiration and make each cup your own with International Delight®. Also available in sugar-free and fat-free."

Find this product in a store near you!

Find this product in a store near you!

Also another great alternative for you is switching to a fat free, 1 or 2% milk. 




Using the items I posted above, good idea's for foods to eat are:


Tuna salad Sandwiches
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Grilled cheese


A Lunch/Dinner idea that kids tend to love is this:


1. Boil your hot dogs, and drain them. Cut them down the center, not in half, and set them on a baking sheet. 
2. Make a small pot of mashed potatoes (using fat free milk and the butter listed above), and place a few spoonfulls inside the middle of the sliced hot dogs, going from top to bottom.
3. Using a half a slice of cheese, put it on the top of the mashed potatoes. 


Bake them for 10-15 minutes or (until everything is hot and the cheese is melted), at 350 degrees.


Usually 2 of these are filling (and yummy!).




Enjoy!

Hello!

     Hey there! My name is Donna and I have Gallstones. I started having attacks late July 2011 when I was pregnant with my son. At first I had no idea that I had Gallstones. My attacks were random and happened only once a week, if that. Usually they'd strike when I was on the way home after a meal out with my husband, and would end up making me throw up. I was sure it was just morning sickness from my pregnancy, but I didn't think that morning sickness was accompanied by chest pain. 
    One night in August awoke around 12pm with the chest pain and difficulty breathing. My husband called my midwife and she said to go to the hospital. I was hesitant because I'd been experiencing these attacks and figured it would be over within 30 minutes, so I tried to tuff it out. After 3 hours it hadn't gone away. So to the ER I went. 
   After hours of tests and lab work and ultrasounds, they ended up sending me home, saying that it was just bad indigestion, and told me to get on an antacid. Weeks later when I spoke with my midwife she gave me a script for what was basically a strong dose of Prevacid. It did work for a while, and I had no more attacks until the end of my pregnancy. Around 35 weeks (end of December) I started having attacks again. My midwife again prescribed me Prevacid, and this was the strongest it came. My attacks disappeared until mid January, and they came back again. 
     My general doctor gave me a script for an ultrasound in February, when they discovered that I didn't have indigestion at all, I had Gallstones. They never said how big, only that my Gallbladder was full of them. This was news to me! When they called me to inform me of what they found, they told me that surgery was basically my only option. I had the consultation with the surgeon about a month ago, and he lied straight to my face about how there is no medication that can take care of the Gallstones, and that if there was I'd have to be on it for the rest of my life. The second that I said I would like to consider a medication, the surgeon got mad and said he'd let my doctor know and goodbye. 
     That only made my decision easier, I don't want a surgery by someone who is more willing to lie to my face than to tell me up front my options and kindly give his opinion on why he thinks that I may benefit from the surgery. This man was rude, and only out for money.
     
    After speaking to my general doctor, she wrote me a prescription for Ursodiol tablets and I was to pick them up in an hour at our local Walmart. Well, the tablets for a month supply ended up costing over $250.00... So I had to go without again for a few more weeks. 
    After a lot of research, I managed to find one place that delivers medication to you and it's way cheaper than most local pharmacies (unless you have great insurance!), and it's HealthWarehouse.Com. Thanks to this online pharmacy (Accredited by the BBB ;] ) I will be receiving my prescription in a week or two, and for only $35 ( rounded up I think ).




     Now, even though I'm going on a dissolving medication, I still need to maintain a low fat diet to lessen the chances of attacks, which is the point of this blog. If you think you have Gallstones, have Gallstones and are getting on medication, are having surgery and are looking for low fat recipes, or just looking for a low fat diet, I'll be posting any recipes I know or have tried that I found that will be low fat. 
     Also, I've been researching products to use in place of things like Peanut Butter, Salad Dressings, Cheese... and any that I find I will make a post on where you can find that product! 
  
  I hope you enjoy this blog & please leave any comments if you have anything to contribute as far as low fat foods and yummy recipes!