My "3-2 pitch" meal & Memo to Tammy?

*** Warning: A brief political commentary follows.

I truly do get excited about fitness and nutrition …but political discussions are my true passion. In olden times, before PC's, I was once Politically active...

Every day I find it tougher and tougher to hold my tongue… (have you ever tried to literally hold your tongue…it’s difficult and it feels creepy.)

TODAY there is MORE talk about a second Stimulus package!!! …. PLEASE can we spend the money for the last one before we even talk about another one !!!

This ends my political commentary.

***

Yes, in olden times Steve was politically active…in olden times I was also sexually active too! :)

WHICH LEADS me to another critical motivation for becoming fit….in addition to a longer, more bountiful life…I was told that my sexual activity would increase…

...was I supposed to tell Tammy? ‘cause I don’t think she got the memo!

LOL! ….just kidding…. Geesh, some people get sooo bent out of shape…

Status

Last week on Thursday, I’d lost another pound…a week later my weight has stabilized…but WAS there any doubt that “ole Steve” could pack in a enough calories to stop the weight loss? :)

Seriously though, as previously stated…I’ve been here before, and IN THE PAST once I started eating more…it snowballed. I am handling this “phase” very carefully. Over the last week I have increased my caloric intake but I’ve continued to eat clean.


Recipes / Diet strategy:

I am a big fan of finding two to three meals that you can “go to” after you’ve had a bad meal or six. :) You need a meal that is nutritious and “clean” and preferably one that you can make a lot of so you can eat it for a couple of days.

I call this my 3-2 pitch meal. (baseball reference)

Chili is my meal, chili is a dish that I make at least monthly and usually every two weeks. Here is a pic of my last batch...not much left. IT IS SO VERSATILE…you can eat it plain, with beans, with corn, with rice, with greens and you can also make spaghetti sauce with it (my family loves it), mix it with macaroni and cheese…etc etc.

Note: I used to make chili with real ground up chilies as the “base” but I only use that recipe on rare occasions…when I want to show off…or beat Gene Gregory in a chili contest. :)

Steve’s Quickie Chili Recipe – nutritious, low fat and great for diabetics (for me at least)

1 lb of ground turkey
4-6 cloves of garlic (6 small , 4 med) (I use a garlic press)
2 large green peppers (seeded)
1 large onion
½ cluster of celery (what do you call that?)
1 16oz can of pureed tomato (generally pureed has less sodium and sugar)
1 16 oz can of crushed tomato
5 dashes of Worcester sauce
Cumin to taste ( start with teaspoon)
Red Chili Pepper to taste ( start with teaspoon)
Black Pepper to taste ( start with teaspoon)
½ cup of Texas Pete (or to taste)
1 container of fat free low sodium beef broth. (optional)

While the turkey is browning, take the celery, green peppers and onion and process in a blender / food processor.

Place the green peppers, onions, celery and garlic into a pot and simmer over medium heat for @ 10 minutes.

Once meat is browned, put the meat into the blender/food processor to even the texture. Then add the meat to the pot with the veggies.

Add the canned tomato into the pot with the Worcester sauce, cumin, chili and black pepper and simmer for 30-45 minutes. If the chili is too thick, you can add water or the beef broth.

** If you are going to cook with rice, add the beef broth before adding the rice.

*** We all should eat more greens (collards, spinach, turnips etc) but not everyone likes them. The great thing about Greens...you can eat a ton of them, they are low in calories and carbs. Chili is a great dish to add them to because the flavors of the chili are so strong that it masks the taste of the greens.
IF you make the chili, add some greens to the bowl (not pot) and let me know what you think. Here is the bowl I am about to devour.

Be good….and if you can’t be good…be good at it!


Steve

Tammy’s Magic Toaster (it actually cooks toast, waffles and such…., no fooling!)

“Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms.” I love that quote from “Outlaw Josey Wales”. I was trying to come up with a catchy title that had something to do with my need to eat more and this quote came to mind.

Pondering the quote made me think of Rawhide…if you click on the link below, you can listen to Rawhide as you read the blog. :)

The Blues Brothers - Theme From Rawhide Shared via AddThis

I have a new problem TOO MUCH WEIGHT LOSS!! …Believe it or not, I’ve had that problem in the past. When I really want to lose weight…losing weight ain’t a problem. Now I have to find that middle ground where I maintain my weight, turning remaining fat into muscle….its a tough job but someone has to do it. :)

For supper on Father’s Day I cooked…oh yeah, I had to cook on father’s day. By that I mean…if I wanted to eat, “I had to cook on father’s day.”

You don’t want to eat Tammy’s cooking…unless it’s toaster waffles or her world famous bread toast, cooked in a real toaster.

Oooh, ahhhhh…that’s right, a “real” toaster. You have to put the bread slice into the slot just right or you could really mess it up. Hehehe. Tammy claims she reads my blog….if I don’t hear from her on this…I’ll know that she doesn’t.

Here is the picture of my Father’s Day meal. It is stuffed cabbage leaves and stuffed green peppers. All the ingredients are healthy, it’s made with maters, onions, garlic, ground turkey, rice and everything nice. :)

I have got to tell this story.

My first big weight loss occurred during the first Gulf War….NO not the very first one in world history, not when the Neanderthals attacked Cro-Magnon, I’m talking about Desert Storm, back in ’90-’91. Anyway, during that war I would come home from work and literally work out every night for hours watching the war news. I would only eat lean meats and veggies…very similar to my diet now. I lost down to 168 lbs and that was the lowest I’ve been since high school.

What helped me lose weight? A friend of mine and I made a bet to see who could lose the most weight. I did mine the right way (diet and exercise)…he lost his weight by eating one meal a day…and that one meal was not always nutritious. His skin actually turned yellow like he was developing jaundice. LOL! Heck, he probably was, I swear he would eat a cheeseburger and fries for lunch and that would be all he would eat all day.

Stevie "Wonder" Cooksey