I'm having surgery on August 9th, 2011 Yeah!! It been 5 years since I first started looking into weightloss surgery and I'm finally going to have the DS

What is the purpose of the A, B, C, D, E , K vitamins as far as our bodies are concerned?

VERY briefly (as excerpted from Earl Mindell’s Vitamin Bible):

A is for eyes, respiratory strength, builds the immune system

B(many B’s, summarized) include growth, digestion, mental health,, hair, skin, nails, mouth sores, eye fatigue, assimilate protein & fat, skin & nervous disorders, anti-aging, muscle spasms & leg r\cramps, help prevent anemia, increase energy, memory & balance

C heals burns, gums, wounds; decrease cholesterol, boosts immune system, increases the absorption of iron, may reduce allergy suffering & prevents scurvy

D is for bones & teeth, helps assimilate calcium and A.

E is for hair, skin, nails, capillary walls, anti-aging, promotes endurance & alleviate fatigue, prevent leg cramps. For men, it contributes to urinary & prostate health as well as sexual function.

K is for blood clotting

Cheesecake Cupcakes

 

Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cupcake:

3 - 8 oz. packages of cream cheese

1 cup of Splenda

5 eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Filling:

8 oz Sour Cream

2 TBSP Splenda

1/4 tsp Vanilla

Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Place cream cheese in a bowl, and add one egg at a time, beating with a hand mixer. Slowly add the Splenda and vanilla. (The batter will be thin.)

Pour into paper cupcake liners. (Makes approx. 12 very full cupcakes.) Bake in a 300 degree oven for 30 - 35 minutes (until large cracks appear on the top). Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Combine filling ingredients and add a tsp on top of each cupcake and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

Cool and then keep refrigerated.

Val's Famous Reciepes Thank you Val
Fabulous Ricotta Fluff Stuff
1 large container of ricotta cheese
1 box  SF jello instant cheesecake pudding
dollop or two of sour cream (to taste)
A little bit of milk to lighten it up (about a cup-add last and gradually)

Mix it all up and enjoy however you want it.  I love it with strawberries!  It's a great fruit dip or just eating straight out of the bowl. 

Variation for fluff:  Do whatever flavor of pudding you like and add a little milk to get the texture you like.

Warning:  Walmart's ricotta is very grainy in texture and never mixes to anything smooth and creamy.  Tasty, but strange.

Fabulous Trail Mix
Base mix
1 jar peanuts
1 jar sunflower kernels
1/2 bag raisins or "berries and cherries"
1/2 small bag chocolate chips.
1 small bag macadamia pieces
1 small bag pecan halves

To this, I might add other nuts depending on what's on sale (walnuts, cashews, more pecans).  I've also varied the fruit, too, so play around.  Try to keep the proportions the same.  It's so easy to load up the sweet stuff, but it's the nuts that are so valuable here.  The balance makes the perfect sweet and salty snack and my daily breakfast.  If proportions are kept, it's about 32g of protein for 8 oz.

Fabulous Custard -- full of protein, easy on new post-ops ~delicious!
3 cups milk
3/4 cup splenda
4-5 eggs (depending on size)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
handful of coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 375'.  Beat eggs, nutmeg and vanilla together in baking dish.  On the stove, bring the milk and splenda just to a boil, then stir together to the eggs.  Bake for 25 min
NOTE:  when the milk is coming near to a boil, you'll get a little foam on the top.  Remove this foam before stirring into the eggs, or it will get a weird texture on top.

God Bless Paula Deen for flourless peanut butter cookies!

1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 cup Splenda

Mix and roll into balls (about walnut sized) and flatten with fork dipped in Splenda.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.  

TIPS
-Do NOT overocok -- they will get crumbly since there's no gluten
-Peanut butter is naturally low sugar - the low sugar kind only reduces it by 1g per serving.
-If you're picky about artificial sweeteners, I've done a 3/1 with splenda and sugar to cut the after taste and it's good.  Presently, I do full-splenda in the cookies, and roll in regular sugar and that's good too.  I've also added semi-sweet chocolate chips to shake things up.

Some examples of healthy foods containing complex carbohydrates are:

Spinach	Whole Barley	Grapefruit
Turnip Greens	Buckwheat	Apples
Lettuce	Buckwheat bread	Prunes
Water Cress	Oat bran bread	Apricots, Dried
Zucchini	Oatmeal	Pears
Asparagus	Oat bran cereal	Plums
Artichokes	Museli	Strawberries
Okra	Wild rice	Oranges
Cabbage	Brown rice	Yams
Celery	Multi-grain bread	Carrots
Cucumbers	Pinto beans	Potatoes
Dill Pickles	Yogurt, low fat	Soybeans
Radishes	Skim milk	Lentils
Broccoli	Navy beans	Garbanzo beans
Brussels Sprouts	Cauliflower	Kidney beans
Eggplant	Soy milk	Lentils
Onions	Whole meal spelt bread	Split peas
Tomatoes

Simple carbohydrates are more refined, are usually found in foods with fewer nutrients, and tend to be less satisfying and more fattening.

Some examples of foods containing simple carbohydrates are:

Table sugar

Corn syrup

Fruit juice

Candy

Cake

Bread made with white flour

Pasta made with white flour

Soda pop, such as Coke®, Pepsi®, Mountain Dew®, etc.

Candy

All baked goods made with white flour

Most packaged cereals