“Competition puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear.”
OKC Thunder coach Mark Daigneault
Life puts hurdles in front of you that you have to clear. Like Thanksgiving. TGTIO (Thank God Thanksgiving is Over). We were out of town for only three days. I gained three pounds. I’m not good at math but I think this equates to one pound per day. YIKES. There’s 35 days until the first day of the New Year. At this pace I’ll weigh 208 pounds…
But I am not alone. This chart is attributed to the New England Journal of Medicine but I could never find the original source article.
As the years pass I get better at understanding why I put the pounds on. This was our dessert board on Turkey Day.
I can’t get Tex-Mex in Oklahoma. So when in Texas I need Tex-Mex. At one of my favorite Tex-Mex stops I discovered a new favorite, the #10.
The numbers above are calories, fat calories, and fat in grams. 2950 mg of sodium too (the original chart has more nutrition information).
We ate Tex-Mex Wednesday and Friday, the perfect bookends to Thanksgiving.
I had #10 twice.
Take Home Lesson
Salt, sugar, fat and excess calories. Taking and/or keeping the weight off is simple when you reduce intake of these four items.
Restaurant meals will kill you. Literally.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with every now and then so long as it’s every now and then.
My skinny jeans fit fine. I’ll get back to my usual routine and diet and the three pounds should come off and I’m good until the next hurdle. Until then I’ll wear my black t-shirts because dark colors make you look thinner.
Here is another post/link in my periodic electronic sticky note series. I may have one or two butternut squash recipes I return to every year. And when one of those recipes is oven roasted butternut squash and the other is Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole it’s time to find some new recipes.
Wait. I found another butternut squash recipe in my vast (3) collection of favorite butternut squash recipes, the classic Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagne.
No surprises this time. I make these tacos differently now. Time for another revision.
The Beans
1 15-ounce can organic low sodium black beans, drained, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (maybe more)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium size lime juiced
1 large clove garlic minced
pinch oregano, dash celery salt (trust me on this one)
The Slaw
1 14 ounce bag cabbage slaw mix
1 tsp dried cilantro
onion and garlic powders, a dash apiece
salt and pepper
juice of 1.5 limes
2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
2-3 T honey
Taco Things
4 white or yellow corn tortilla shells, crispy
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (cheddar is OK too)
Your favorite hot sauce or salsa
Drain and rinse the black beans, set aside.
In a small saucepan, saute the onion on medium flame until soft and slightly browned. Add oregano, cumin, and garlic. Saute until the spices are fragrant, about a minute or two.
Add the well drained black beans. Add juice of half a lime. Heat until warmed through. Mash the beans with a spoon but leave some beans whole and chunky. Season with celery salt. Set aside.
The Slaw
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the olive oil and juice of 1.5 limes. Mix in honey. Add olive oil to create a smooth dressing. Season to taste with onion/garlic powders, salt and pepper.
Add the cabbage slaw mix. Mix well, adjust for seasoning, and set aside.
This recipe will make enough for 4-6 tacos. If you need more servings, double the bean recipe and buy more taco shells. You will not need to double the cabbage slaw portion. You’ll have plenty.
Construct your tacos.
TIPS –
We recently discovered La Tiara authentic Mexican taco shells from Gladstone Missouri. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing as you until I tried these shells. Use bagged sliced slaw for pure convenience. Fresh cabbage? Only if you have the time and eschew convenience. Fresh avocado would be nice. Beer is also a perfect side dish for these tacos.
This post is another in my sporadic electronic sticky note series. I’ll post links to webpages with recipes I want to try making some day. I typically make Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole when in the mood for veggie enchiladas. It’s the only vegetarian enchilada recipe I make.
I make black eyed peas once a year for good luck and good leftovers. Two years ago I finally captured the recipe in this blog format. Last year due to supply chain issues there was no ground turkey so I used cow. This year there was plenty of ground turkey but I used stewed tomatoes and beef broth. The beans should turn out tasty but the voice inside my head says,
“Self. You need to document the changes in the recipe .”
So I did. Here are the links to the earlier Badass posts.
4 slices center cut bacon 1 T extra virgin olive oil 1 medium sweet onion, diced 1 stalk celery, diced 1 large green pepper, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp each smoked paprika, chili powder 1 T Mexican oregano 1 T cumin 1 qt no sodium beef broth 2 T tomato paste and one 15 ounce can stewed tomatoes 1/2 lb black eyed peas (dried) 1 lb ground turkey 85/15 Salt & pepper to taste Cayenne pepper to taste
Place the dried beans into a stock pot large enough to hold the beans when fully plumped up. Rinse the beans with water several times. Fill the pot with fresh water and soak overnight.
In the morning drain then add fresh water to the beans. Change the soaking water at least twice.
In a large stock pot fry the bacon in the olive oil until the strips are crisp and the fat is rendered.
Saute the onion, celery, and green pepper until softened about five minutes. Add the garlic and saute another minute.
Add the turkey and brown, breaking up the clumps as you go.
Toss everything else into the pool. Spices, tomato paste, broth, and beans.
The black eyed peas should be drained and the chicken broth needs to barely cover all of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil then simmer for several hours with the pot partially covered.
Check the pot and stir occasionally. Add more broth as the peas cook and the dish thickens.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and your favorite hot sauce.
Yum. Makes about 6-8 servings.
Odd Notes
This dish will taste better on day two. At the two hour mark I tested for seasoning and amped the beans up a bit. The beef broth works well and now I’m glad I wrote this down because in a year I will have forgotten this substitution.
This year I reduced the quantity of dried beans because someone in the family once told me I put too much beans in my chili. So the 2021 version is meatier than in past versions.
This blend of spices is literally stolen from the chefs at https://www.badmanners.com/. The last time I took a theme on a spice blend the author tracked me down and threatened something close to legal action if I didn’t give her credit and a link to her website. So this time around I’m giving credit AND three links. I’m also not going to write down any instructions for making a roasted vegetable and chickpea filling for burritos. I suggest you go to the original recipe at https://www.badmanners.com/recipes/roasted-chickpea-and-broccoli-burrito if you need detailed instructions.
My Tips, Hints, and not too Secret Secrets
A really good tortilla makes all the difference. But today I’m going to wrap this filling in a Greek style whole wheat pita for lunch. I tend to roast vegetables for at least 40 minutes with a good stir midway through to prevent sticking. You can also add more olive oil at this point too. I hope I have a lime in the fridge. The last time I made this filling The Boss used it as a topping for a Taco Salad. She liked it. I hope she was telling the truth because when you cook up a pound of dried chickpeas it is a LOT of chickpeas. One cup dried will produce between 6 and 7 cups of beans. I used about 4 cups for today’s mix. The other 3 cups went into a Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew.
I used some metal pie pans as roasting pans because I didn’t want to use the big pan which is a pain in the ass to clean because of its size. Preheat your pan(s) before roasting. I leave the mixing bowl uncleaned and use it again once the veggies are roasted and done. Let the mixture cool for a bit, toss everything back into this bowl, mix well again to capture the spices that have stuck to the bowl and then adjust your seasonings.
Before we get to this year’s chili recipe I’ve decided my Three Bean Chili Madness was a pain in the rump to make because I cooked the beans and meat/veggie mixture separately. This year’s version is more of “everyone in the pool” which truly becomes less of a pain in the rump. So here we go.
This chili cooks all day long but I didn’t use a slow cooker. I was hunkered down in the house and the chili got the stove top treatment. You could easily use a slow cooker but you would still need to brown the meat and veggies before everyone goes in the pool
The beans get an overnight soak and a quick rinse before adding to the pot. Don’t make the same mistake I made. I soaked six cups of dried beans and had way too much beans. So approximately 3-4 cups of soaked beans went into the chili while the remainder is being turned into Sopa de Frijol con Vegetal – Updated 11.10.20
This is a mild chili and you can add heat to your liking. Always easier to add the spice than to put too much in and figure out later how to tame the flame.
So now that you know this is not a pain in the rump recipe…
1 T extra virgin olive and 1 T grape seed oil 1 large sweet onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 large green pepper, diced 2 tsp garlic powder or several cloves fresh garlic, chopped (or both) 1 tsp each oregano, paprika, chili powder, cumin, dried cilantro 1 can (15 oz) stewed tomatoes 1 can (15 oz) no sodium chicken broth1 small can mild green chilies 3 T tomato paste 1 C each dry Mayocoba beans, pinto beans, and cranberry beans 1 lb ground turkey 85/15 Salt & pepper to taste Cayenne pepper to taste
Place the dried beans into a bowl large enough to hold the beans when fully plumped up. Rinse the beans with water several times. Fill the bowl with fresh water and soak overnight.
In the morning drain then rinse beans. Drain again and set aside.
In a large stock pot heat the oils and saute the onion, celery, and green pepper until softened. Add the chopped garlic and saute for another minute.
Add the meat and brown.
Time to toss everyone else into the pool. Spices, tomatoes, paste, chilies, broth, beans.
Simmer for several hours. Stir occasionally. Add more water or broth if the chili gets too thick. Adjust your seasonings.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and your favorite hot sauce.
Yum.
More odd tips
Don’t add salt until the end. The Mayocobo beans will break apart and make this chili creamy and thick (unless you add more broth or water). The recipe will make approximately eight servings. I used chicken broth and as the chili cooked down and got too thick I added vegetable broth. Note you can use either fresh or dried garlic. I used both. You can never have too much garlic.
Don’t forget to make Texas Corn Bread because if you forget it, you’ll regret it.
Aliens wearing headlamps skinning up a mountain somewhere Aspen CO
I make black eyed peas once a year for New Year’s Day. For good luck and good leftovers.
I was at the grocery store yesterday and a lot of the shelves were bare. New Years plus an upcoming Oklahoma ice storm with predictions of up to 8 inches of snow sent a lot of people to the stores to clean out the shelves. I didn’t realize at the time that this year there would be no Badass Black Eyed Peas for the New Year. Not a single package of ground turkey. The only ground beef in the meat section were 10 pound rolls. I was fortunate to find some 80/20 in the butcher case. This too was almost gone. I forgot the bacon. The celery looked bad (but I knew I had one stalk left at the house). This year’s black eyed peas was definitely a Pandemic Pantry version.
Before we get to this year’s throw together recipe here are a few odd tips and tricks for this year’s version.
The beans still need to simmer for several hours.
The beans get an overnight soak in filtered water and you will change the water several times before preparation
Everyone in the pool? No, not this year.
Unlike other chili recipes this recipe has hints of chili. But due to limited ingredients this year’s black eyed peas will be more chili-like.
So now that you know this isn’t Badass here’s what I had to do.
1 medium sweet onion, diced 1 stalk celery, diced 1 large green pepper, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp each smoked paprika, chili powder 1 T Mexican oregano 1 T cumin
1 14 oz can tomatoes with chilies 1 qt no sodium chicken broth (or more, see odd tips) 2 T tomato paste 1 lb black eyed peas 1 lb ground beef 80/20 Salt & pepper to taste Cayenne pepper to taste
Place the dried beans into a stock pot large enough to hold the beans when fully plumped up. Rinse the beans with water several times. Fill the pot with fresh water and soak overnight.
In the morning drain then add fresh water to the beans. Change the soaking water at least twice.
Turn burner up to high and heat up a large stock pot. When the pot is hot brown the beef and break up well. Don’t add any oil to the pot because you’ll have plenty of fat in the 80/20.
When the meat is browned take off the burner and drain well.
Bring the pot back to the burner and turn heat up to medium. Add the onion, celery, green pepper, garlic and saute until softened about five minutes.
Add the spices and saute another five minutes.
Drain the beans (it’s OK if there’s a little water left).
Now toss everything else into the pool. Tomato paste, broth, tomatoes with chilies and the beans.
The chicken broth needs to barely cover all of the ingredients.
Bring to a boil then simmer for several hours with the pot partially covered.
Check the pot and stir occasionally. Add more broth as the peas cook and the dish thickens.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, and your favorite hot sauce.
Yum. Makes about 10-12 servings.
More odd tips
Don’t add salt until the beans are cooked through and soft. There is plenty of salt in the chili powder and broth so salt last. As you adjust the seasonings you may want to add more chili powder and/or oregano. I tend to use garlic powder (my less than top secret favorite flavor enhancer). I also added dried cilantro. I would have used beef broth but I didn’t have any. As the dish thickens add more broth (I had an open container of organic vegetable broth so this is what I used).
This dish might taste better on day two but I haven’t even tasted it on day one yet.
Guttenberg New Jersey is a tiny town on the Hudson River. Guttenberg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttenberg,_New_Jersey) was where I first tasted Guacamole. I was in my early 20’s and a restaurant on the river named The Lighthouse was reported to have the best Fettuccine Alfredo in the state. So if a restaurant had the best fettuccine I had to go. The night I went the crowd was out the door and everyone was shuffled into the bar so that the business could sell more alcohol while you waited patiently for a table that was probably empty the entire time you were waiting. As I made my way to the bar atop the counter sat a large bowl filled with green stuff.
“What the hell is that?”
The bartender gave me a look like what planet do you live on and said,
“Guacamole.”
“What the hell is Guacamole?”
Realizing I was a true Yankee who lacked any sense of cultural awareness outside of the NY-NJ area his tone softened.
“Avocado dip. You eat it with chips.”
Next to the bowl of green stuff was a bowl of chips. I still didn’t know what Guacamole was because I didn’t know what an avocado was. My educational enhancement options at the time were limited in the pre-Internet, pre-cellphone days and the bartender left to serve someone else who was more likely to spend more money on alcohol. I wasn’t getting enough information to discern what the green stuff actually was. I remember grabbing what I thought was a potato chip, took a dip, and ate Guacamole for the very first time in my life. Funny to think back on this because I recall nothing about the Guacamole. All I remember was the chip.
When the bartender came back hoping I would finally order an beverage I asked,
“What the hell kind of chip is that?”
“Corn.”
And with an attitude of this guy is asking too many questions and wasting my time he went off to serve someone else. Thus ends the story of my first encounter with Guacamole and CORN chips. I wouldn’t have any more such encounters until I moved to Texas and tried Mexican (actually Tex-Mex) food. But this is another story altogether.
BTW I love Guacamole now and I know what a corn chip is.
Asian and Alton Brown Inspired Guacamole
3 ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled
1 large lime for fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons medium red onion, minced
1 medium sized tomato, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Scoop the avocado into a small mixing bowl.
Squeeze most (but not all) of the lime juice over the fruit.
With a fork or a spoon mash the avocado but leave some small chunks (for chunkiness).
Fold in the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Sample for seasoning and adjust to your taste.
Serve with CORN chips.
Tips
I take a paper towel and gently drain the tomatoes before adding to the fruit. The paper towel will absorb excess juice, pulp, and seeds. This dip is basically the kid version and is very mild. The adult version can be bold. I usually add several dashes of hot sauce. Fresh garlic and jalapeño peppers will also give a nice kick. Remember the most but not all part of the lime juice? If you’re not serving immediately, squeeze some lime juice over the top of the dip (don’t mix in) and stick it in the fridge. This will help delay oxidation. No one likes brown Guacamole.
“Keep a diary or journal. Record your reflections on your life experience in a journal. You will find this simple practice to be invaluable in your quest for wisdom.”
Warren G. Bennis 1925-2014
Wednesday 26 January 2005
I downloaded this application last night from the Treepad website. Someone on the planet took the time to create a tiny word processor in the Treepad file format. S(he) uploaded it to the site and the app is free. It can be used to document just about anything you want to track by date.
I’m going to use this app for tracking food consumption, exercise, and any other random thoughts that enter my mind. I will also use this space to capture notes on my progress towards my goals.
It is also a good space to write. Just write.
I started keeping a journal 15 years ago. Bennis was brilliant and 100% correct in saying keeping a journal is invaluable in your quest for wisdom. I don’t feel I’m wise enough yet so I keep writing. Most of what I’ve written will never be read by anyone other than me. And for some strange reason that bothered me. When I started a blog I was troubled by sharing my most intimate thoughts online. As the years have passed I’ve begun sharing more online. I came to the realization that if I only help one person through sharing my life experiences it’s worth it. Even if that help is merely my One Rotisserie Chicken, 50 Meals – #3 Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada Casserole recipe.
This morning I did the Old Person Hour at the grocery store. Not exactly the best time to do your grocery shopping because there were a lot of empty spots on the shelves and restocking had just started. It was hard to tell which items were unavailable due to hoarding. Still managed to get everything I had on my list except fresh cilantro, a specific brand of tortilla chips and canned green chilies. The lack of chilies is a hoarding thing but no tortilla chips is a restocking issue. Trust me on this.
I must have stood in front of a neatly stacked tower of light beer for at least five minutes. Before me was a new offering from a major brewery, low carb, low calories (probably tasteless too). At this very moment I realized my fat jeans were feeling kind of loose and baggy. I didn’t buy any beer. The holidays are hard enough for those of us struggling with our weight. I ate three cookies yesterday! So for the rest of this holiday season beer stays on the Don’t Have It in the House List.
Losing weight is hard. Keeping the weight off is harder. Remember not to get too high nor too low. Make the The 90% Solution your strategy. I’m probably around 60/40 now but always strive to do better. Which reminds me, I should work on my book today.
garyskitchen.net 