This was last night’s dinner: a home-made chili from scratch. The only things that did not come in my produce box this week were an onion from my veggie drawer, spices, the beans, the ground sirloin, and a wee little bit of starch to thicken the juices slightly.
When I say ‘my produce box’, I mean that we’ve been experimenting with the whole “local foods” idea instead of buying our produce at the big-name grocery. So far, so good. I have produce that lasts for about two weeks before going bad, unlike most of the stuff from the local grocery store. That stuff sometimes starts going off before I’ve left the store, something that seems to happen with alarming frequency.
We’re trying to clean up our diet around here after the disaster that has been the past 2 months. We both wound up with a pretty yucky cold for awhile there, and I will admit that I’ve been giving in to a lot of unhealthy cravings. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that, but I definitely take accountability for the ice cream and pizza I’ve been consuming. Nobody forced it on me. Luckily, I only put on about 10 pounds. Half of that has already gone away by eating sensibly.
Has anyone ever noticed that common wisdom is to “eat sensibly”, but they never really spell out what, exactly, that is? Think on that sometime. It’s an interesting meditation. Oh, sure, different diets will demonize different things, but there’s always a hook in there somewhere.
I will admit that my body works best on an Atkins/South Beach style diet. When I can wake up in the morning feeling like a million dollars, and my joints and back don’t ache…then I’m a happy camper indeed. Some would say that this is just because weight is coming off, and that counting calories would work just as well, but I’ve tried this…and it doesn’t seem to work as well as I’d wish. Sure, I could lose weight doing so, but I generally wind up feeling like crap – and then I wind up with a loaf of bread in my house and I go on a grilled cheese bender. Don’t believe me? I have proof!
Yep. This is evidence. Grilled cheese. Photo taken sometime in September, I think. This was my lunch for about three days straight. No, I’m not kidding.
So, all-in-all, I’m trying very hard to avoid the things that make me feel like my digestive tract is working against me. Pasta, I’m looking at you, here. That goes for you other starchy foods too.
This was tonight’s dinner. “Breaded” chicken*, steamed broccoli, and a caesar salad. A little closer to our “normal” eating, and a whole lot less worry to my system. I’m trying to find the perfect balance of foods so that I don’t feel too deprived of “fun” stuff, but don’t wind up on a craving kick. Right now, I’m trying to stick to a mainly whole-foods diet, with limited processed food. When I can stick to it, it seems to work well. It’s a naturally lower-carbohydrate plan with moderate meat and lots of veggies. That being said, I’m not going to kick myself if I have the occasional taco shell with my taco salad.
Be warned…I may just start posting more pictures of tasty meals if this keeps up…
that looks a lot like old school gluten free to me. and that chicken breading is so darn yum. where are you getting local produce?
I recently bought a slow cooker and would you believe that I’ve been using it like three times a week? It’s so crazy useful for me. I just load it up in the morning and forget that I turned it on. I’ve got food bank chili in it right now, and I have to go and buy some more white beans. I *will* develop a baked beans recipe that I am happy with. I will.
My serious hit though? granola. omg so good!
Definitely very much old-school gluten-free. You already know our regular diet quite well, having been a bit of an influence on it, lol! My way of looking at it is that I’m not gluten intolerant or celiac, but I’ve curtailed my bread & pasta (and related baked/processed yumminess) consumption to a point where trying to digest it is more trouble than its worth. So, like a celiac or similarly gluten-intolerant person, I limit it as much as possible. Well, it makes sense to *me*, anyhow 🙂
I love our slow cooker. It cleans up very easily, too. Which is a major yay-factor. I think I’ve got plans for a beef stew later this week. I’ll be bustin’ out the baby potatoes (shhh…not the p-word!) for that one.
I have to be careful with granola. It’s a weird x-factor. Trust me, after some recent…adventures…with Harvest Crunch cereal, I’m not taking much for granted anymore!
(and for “local” produce, I can refer you not only to the Crossroads Farmer’s Market down the street from you, but also to http://www.spud.ca. Spud has a really interesting delivery system that’s probably right up your alley.) 🙂
I am sooo proud of my awesomely yummy chili recipe, if you ever want to give it a try:
Slow Cooker Chili
ALL ingredients depending on amount making, or size of crock pot. ie, reduce for a smaller crock pot or increase for larger.
1 can crushed tomatoes, or thick tomato sauce, or combination
2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
several tablespoons black beans (to taste)
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 stick celery, finely sliced
Mushrooms, sliced (amount to taste)
1 tablespoon pressed garlic
1 and 1/2 cube semisweet chocolate OR 1 tsp brown sugar
1 to 1/2 cup beer (optional)
Spices to taste:
2 tablespoons chili powder/cayenne
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 jalapeno pepper (chopped, from jar or fresh)
1/2 teaspoon rooster sauce (sriracha)
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and drain.While meat is cooking, chop mushrooms, celery, etc and place into crock pot with spices and tomato sauce (put onions and green pepper aside). Chop all vegetables fairly finely. Add onion and green pepper to sauté with meat when it is almost completely browned. Drain well. Add all ingredients into a Crock-Pot and set on high for the first hour; then reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 5 hours. OR cook all ingredients on low for 7-8 hours. First option is tastier. 🙂
Looks absolutely tasty, Lisa, and I betcha Chelsea wouldn’t mind giving it a whirl too 😀