Paula's In The Kitchen

Like most men the way to my heart is through my stomach. Even though in my case it's a "pouch" serving me something delicious to eat definitely wins my gratitude.

While on medical leave earlier this year Paula used her free time at home to get back to doing something she's always enjoyed: cooking.

My wife is an excellent cook and really enjoys it. Ever since our weight loss surgery finding alternative recipes for some of our favorite dishes has been real challenge for her. So far she's been pretty good at meeting that challenge. 

If either of us, mostly me, get an craving for something that wouldn't be good for us to eat as it's commonly made, my wife does her best to find the WLS friendly recipe or comes up with one herself. Even if she does find someone else's recipe she customizes so I'll like it.

This past weekend was the first opportunity she'd had to really do some serious cooking since she went back to work 2 weeks ago. In this case "serious cooking" means making some new dishes she's wanted to try for a while.

On Saturday she made " Chicago deep dish pizza quiche. She used cheese and eggs to make the crust and turkey sausage, turkey peperoni, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese for the toppings. She also made her own low carb pizza sauce using tomato paste and spices. It was very good.

On Sunday she made a chicken stroganoff dish in our new Crockpot. She mixed the ingredients in the slow cooker early in the morning before we went to church. It cooked and simmered all day long. Later that evening she served it for dinner on a bed of blanched zucchini. It was delicious, low carb, and good for us.

During the afternoon she made a no sugar added pineapple upside down cake. She used a sugar free yellow cake mix, no sugar added pineapple and brown sugar Splenda. This was my favorite thing she made all weekend. She knows I've been wanting Pineapple upside down cake for a long time.

She made two 8-inch cakes from one cake mix. We cut one of them into 16 slices. We each had one of those pieces. It was perfectly scrumptious. By the way Paula's sister, Theresa, got the other 8 inch cake.

 Paula still has ingredients to make something called "Pizza Soup". It's also cooked in the Crockpot. She plans on making it one day in the near future. Given her performance in the kitchen this past weekend, I can't wait for her to make it.  

What a culinary treat this weekend was. You know me, I'm all about the food. My wife really knows how to make me smile come meal time. As TV's Mr. Food would say "Ooo it was so good!