8 Most Fattening Foods of Fall

If you don't see the MSN homepage stories I thought I'd post a link to this one here. Very good reminder for all of us to watch out for these foods. I'm ok with most of them but will have to be very careful around the mashed potatoes come Thanksgiving time. Guess I'd better dust off the mashed cauliflower recipe! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21088961/site/newsweek/?GT1=10450 Molly

Moll...I think I am lossing it..I want to list the foods that I think are my 8 most fattening pre-op 2006 Fall foods before going to the link... then I'll compare with msn! 1) Yams-- the old way-- made with butter & evaporated sweetened milk 2) NY Cheesecake (& additional piece eaten in the kitchen that no one knew about) 3) Pumpkin Pie with Redi-Whip and more Redi-Whip 4) Stove-Top Stuffing with homemade gravy 5) Swedish Meatballs in gravy over tons of noodles 6) Chicken Pot Pie over white rice 7) Braised Beef or Sausage Lasagna 8) Banana smoothered by 4+ heaping spoonfuls of Skippy peanut butter FOOD PORN!!!! FOOD POLICE!!! RO

OK...I'm back...I think that my list is much worse! A little embarassed too Ro

Dang, I was missing some mighty tasty Thanksgiving meals at your place! And all this time I was just serving turkey, mashed taters, stuffing, gravy, devilled eggs, rolls and green bean casserole. (yawn) What in the world are you going to serve instead this year?

I know! DH thinks that I am a worry-wart, as I am already trying to figure out what to serve this year. I always do 2 meats... this year turkey (always for DH) and I am lending toward a prime rib with cracked peppercorns. Gravy(ies), of course. Everyone loves salad so that's on the menu. I am cooking YAMS with either SF Caramel Davinci or the Torani Caramel sauce. The guys MUST have Stove Top, mashed potatoes, Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Eggnog, and pumpkin pie w/ whip cream. I always roast a few types of veggies too. So the real question here is... What am I going to eat? Last Thanksgiving was like the "Last Supper" for me. LOL At Christmas, I served glazed smoked ham and a bunch of other goodies. I was 3 weeks out and mindlessly picked at a piece of ham. So good....so long....flew down the steps to the lower bathroom...and lost my proverbial cookies! I turned a pasty color and was limp. Over time, I started making the focus of "my" holiday on talking with family, decorating, etc. I also have put everyone to work cooking. "I need help..." yada yada... so that is an improvement. It's a lot of work putting together a holiday meal, just to eat 2 oz, 2 oz, 1 oz. and 1 Fudgsicle! What's cookin' at your place? Ro

Like you, last Thanksgiving I treated it as a Last Supper too. I hadn't told any of the family yet about my surgery (well, dh and kids knew but nobody else) so my excuse was that I was about to start a big diet and this was the last unhealthy big meal. They accepted it and ate heartily. I told them the next day, I think. Have to go back and check my blog to see when it was. (if I didn't erase that part already) This year, it will be healthy foods! Turkey, skinny mashed potatoes for them, mashed cauliflower for me. Plain roasted sweet potatoes w/only cinnamon. I'll put some Torani sauce on the table but they have to pour it on themselves. Roasted green beans, peppers and red onions instead of the casserole. No rolls. A very small dish of stuffing, I always make it from homemade bread. Homemade cranberry relish, sugar free. We always have a dish with pickles and olives...no change there. And we always have devilled eggs but for years now I've been sneaking them healthy made with half yokes and half tofu and nobody has known. They eat the whole dish of them down. LOL There'll be Melissa's Apple Cobbler and a sugar free Libby's pumpkin pie. Sugar free whipped topping and nsa vanilla ice cream. I think I'll also try to make a batch of sugar-free gingerbread cookies in some leaf shapes and a turkey or two. The menu is definitely scaled down and calories cut back but I bet we will all still have a good meal and enjoy the day. My plate is going to have a small amount of turkey, green beans, mashed cauliflower and olives. I'll save room for about 1/4 cup of each dessert. And I'll break the rules and have coffee with them. Yumm!!! I also always have a pot of coffee brewed and a crock pot of home-spiced apple cider for the kids. This year it will be made with sugar twin instead of brown sugar. We always save the ham for Christmas because everybody is burned out on turkey by then. lol So, you already have planned the foods that the guys have to have but what special things are you making so that YOU enjoy the meal too? Molly

My plate will include 1 oz turkey & 1 oz "other" meat because I still can't eat more at one sitting. I'm most likely having a FULL SERVING of baby greens salad (15 cals) with Wishbone Asian spray. Your combo of veggies sounds good... I usually have a roasted root veg blend with ICBIN...Butter. I'll have 2 oz of the SF Caramel yams. My big splurge might be a taste of Stove Top. Not sure yet. Maybe a bite of pumpkin pie with a Fudgsicle for my real dessert. BTW I make "foodies" earlier in the week leading up to holiday meals so that we have the goodies spread out a bit. No one feels deprived and it seems like the eating is not excessive. I make Deviled Eggs then, using my variation on LF egg salad... mostly Hellmann's Light, a bit Real mayo, dijon mustard, celery seeds, S & P, and sweet relish (drained...less liquid) that get eaten right away. This year I have everyone eating 2% cheeses. There's a gallon bag of individual string, colby-jack, extra sharp cheddar, and Babybel in the 'fridge for the taking. Originally, I had a stash of snack that I tried to keep for myself, but since everyone is eating lighter now these foods are available to all. One big pre-op weakness was Cheetos. The Baked Cheetos taste like Kix cereal with flavoring to me. John (23) ate 1/2 of the bag so I took a few snack-size baggies for myself. DH ate all but 1/2 oz of MY cheddar baked potato chips and said, "They were near the expiration date!" I do get a bit annoyed if I don't get some OR if I get teased for buying an extra bag, etc. I'm glad that there are healthier snack options on the market! Before I Forget Again!!!!!!!!!! Molly, Thank you for mentioning that you eat the INSIDE of the chicken sausage! I think that Melissa does this also. I really like the different flavors, but got sick when I forgot to remove the casing. Very Sic****il ultimately it dislodged and came "UP" & "OUT". I cooked a bunch, decased, cut into rounds, and froze them. Now my freezer is bulging, but my butt looks fine! LOL Ro

Ro, I am sitting here about to smack my head. DUH! Why didn't I think of cooking the whole package of sausage and removing all the casings and cut it to freeze like you did. Sheesh... No, I'm an idiot and have the mess to deal with everytime I want to have one. Which is why you don't see me eating it all that often. Guess that will go on my ever-expanding to-do list. I should be working in the garden and painting my son's room and doing laundry and sewing a new (warm!) nightgown and, and, and... There is too much to do! Your Thanksgiving plan sounds very balanced. I'll forgo the stuffing because of the bread plus I want to have room later on for that dessert. heehee Carb Addict to the bitter end, that's me. Having yummies all week before Thanksgiving isn't an option for me because of the hours I work. That is the number one stress-filled week of the year in my job and I'm so wiped out when I get home from work that it is all I can do to manage to work the house up in preparation for the big day. Every year now they threaten to make us work ON Thanksgiving too and I don't know if I'll manage to have the day off this year or not. Being a retail job, of course you MUST work the day after so I always try to get all my post-dinner work done early enough to get to bed on time. The next day I have to be at work at least an hour earlier than usual, don't knw about this year. Sorry, I am whining! LOL Molly

Didn't hear one whine! Well, I sure hope that you don't have to work Thanksgiving. I did the same thing that you were doing with the sausage, but then I decided to just cook the pack, which is such a time saver! I have been wearing long sleeve night gowns over fleece bottom with wooly socks all summer. We had the A/C on low, but I was freezing anyway. Don't Laugh...I usually wear a fleece bucket hat and fleece gloves all night long now. DH has become my warmer on a number of nights, as I spoon to get warm. My surgeon told me to dress warmer, as this would probably happen for the 1st year. I think that it has to do with the liver becoming "confused" when the body losses so much fat so fast. Angela mentioned that it could be low iron. My labs are next week so wish me luck! Ro P.S. I may skip the stuffing and have a small bowl of soup, when my family eats snacks earlier that day.

Ro, I practiced a batch of mashed cauliflower today and it was 'ok'. I took one head of cauliflower, prepped and steamed it then ran it through the food processor with 4 oz. ff cream cheese, 1/2 cup ff cottage cheese, some Mrs. Dash garlic/herb and salt. Processed it till smooth and it was too runny but good flavour. For thickening I added half a cup of plain soy protein powder. It was a better texture but I made the mistake of adding more Mrs. Dash to try to hide the soy taste and now it is too peppery. So I just froze it up in 1/2 cup portions and will eat them with my mini turkey meatloaves that I made last night. Also made a batch of split pea soup today for the week ahead and have a pot of turkey chili going on the stove now. We have a week of rain in the forecast apparently and I think the soups will be good. heehee Strangely enough i wasn't too cold this summer, even with the AC on but now I feel chilled to the bone and usually only get warm late in the day. Haven't found any warm nightgowns yet and now that I'm on a spending prohibition I have to get one sewn. Can't sleep in pj's, they tangle up around my legs worse than a nightgown. Weird. I know I wouldn't be able to sleep in a hat and gloves, either. That is nice that you can! Good way to keep warm. Molly