It's the season for fresh, sweet, baby butter beans and this week I purchased a few extra for the freezer. Here in the south, we call them butter beans but they are also called limas.

Like most beans, butter beans and limas are rich in soluble fiber—which helps your body to eliminate cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. They are a good source of potassium, iron, copper, and manganese. Not only are they low in fat, but when combined with grains, beans supply your diet with high quality protein. 

You can savor the taste of summer by freezing butter beans. It's easy—here's how:

Shell the beans from the pods.  

Fill a large stockpot 2/3 full of water and bring the water to a boil. Place the beans into the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain the beans in a colander.

Fill a large bowl with 1/2 ice and add water. Then pour the drained beans into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Use the tongs to swirl the beans in the ice water until all the beans are cool.

Fill each freezer bag with a side serving amount of beans and freeze.

Allow the beans to thaw before cooking.

Need a new breakfast item that is not only ready-to-eat and outrageously delicious, but also packed with good nutrition? Try VitaMuffin, VitaTops.

Made with whole grain flour and organic goodness, they come in eight flavors and have only 100 calories each. You'll want to wake up early just to have one. They make a great dessert treat, too. These definitely go on my list of favorite things.

Most flavors are around: 1-1.5 grams fat; 20-27 grams carb; 4-10 grams fiber; 9 sugar grams, and 3-5 grams protein. 

Made by Vitalicious, these low calorie, wholesomely good muffin tops are joined by brownies, muffins, cakes, mixes, breakfast sandwiches, sampler boxes, and gifts. They are available in the freezer section of your grocery or you can order them online. I recently ordered the sampler box!

My serving suggestion for bariatrics: add a little protein turkey roll up or a boiled egg and your all set to go!

So top off your day with Vitalicious Vita Tops!

www.vitalicious.com 

I thought that double yoke eggs were a rare find, but recently I purchased a few cartons of jumbo eggs that had all double yokes. I did a little nutritional investigating to find out how double yoke eggs compare to their single yolk nest-mates. 

Eggs usually have around 80 calories. They contain about 5 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein. My recent purchase of jumbo eggs contain a little more. Coming in around 90 calories, 5 grams of fat and 8 grams of protein. 

Those jumbo double yolk eggs turned out to be double the pleasure with 151 calories, 11 grams of fat and 13 grams of protein.

It appears that double yolk eggs are great for adding in that extra protein for the price of one. Plus a few calories and fat grams, that is. But still within a bariatric friendly portion. 

Volume wise, these double yolksters (uncooked) measured just under 1/3 cup.

A weight-loss surgery patient recently recommended FUZE Slenderize drink. 

The ingredients label reads more like a vegetable drink. But it taste like fruit. How did they do that?

Fuze comes in two versions; sugar and low sugar. Make absolutely, completely, certainly, unmistakably, and positively sure that you choose the "Slenderize" version. The full sugar version contains 42 grams of sugar per bottle—sugar is not a gastric bypass patients best friend! A safe limit would be 10 grams of sugar or less.

Available at your local grocery...give it a try!

On a recent "mini vacation" to Bald Head Island, I discovered this fabulous veggie blend from Seapoint Farms at the local Maritime Market. 

These are also locally available at Fresh Market in the freezer section. 

I placed the frozen veggie blend in a skillet with a small amount of olive oil, water, salt, and pepper. Covered and heated until tender. 

The mix is so versatile, the second night, we added additional fresh green beans and reheated the mix. We actually added a few more veggies the third evening—needless to say we loved them. This is my new "go to veggie." 

The most dominant vegetable is the soybeans. It has asparagus, but not much, so you could add more if you like.

My next idea is to add new potatoes to the mix. GIve it a try, they are quick, easy, and delicious!