Monday, January 20, 2014

SuperRecipe: Turkey Quinoa chili [meal]

Recipe
SuperFoods used: Quinoa, Black beans, (can top with avocado but it pushes the calorie content)

Serving size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 264 Calories

Review:
I really like this recipe.  It was super easy to make and I was able to omit the chipotle peppers and chili to make a super mild version, but the cumin and cinnamon really keep it flavorful.  After cooking the ground turkey (yes 1/2 a pound is more than enough meat) and quinoa, it was basically a dump it in a pot and forget about it.  I had never eaten quinoa before and so I was hesitant, but after tasting it, I realized it has the taste of brown rice and a very pleasant texture.  I also considered omiting the beans, but it turns out I like black beans in this context.  They give a great meaty texture to an almost vegetarian dish.  Honestly, I think the dish would be fine if you omitted the turkey.  I like meat so I added it in :).

My chili didn't turn out as red as the picture from the recipe because I used diced tomatoes and I couldn't find adobo sauce, so I used powder instead.  Overall a great dish, easy to make, and it is very filling.  Next batch I'm actually going to count how many cups it comes out to to have a better estimate of meal size.  I've been eating about 2 cups in one sitting, and so far I've gotten about 7 meals out of one pot!  In short definitely making this again!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Superfoods and weightloss

I know that I'm a little behind the times, but I feel like the latest nutritional buzz word is "superfood".  According to urbandictionary.com, a super food is,

"a food that is so high in trace minerals and other nutrition that has never been isolated to make a supplement. Therefore a superfood cannot be replaced with a supplement."

 Normally when I think of a food that is high in nutrition and minerals I think of coarse grainy stuff like granola.  Granola isn't bad, but the texture kills me after a while.  Or the title superfood is only reserved for nasty greens like kale and stuff that breaks your jaw while chewing it.  Nevertheless, I decided that I would try to consciously add a superfood to my diet once a week.  I was ready to steel myself and suck it up until I actually researched what foods are superfoods.  Health.com came up with a list of 27 superfoods that are good for you and will help you lose weight.  Here is their list seperated up into various food groups:

  • Grains and starch
    • oats
    • brown rice
    • almonds
    • potatoes
    • pine nuts
    • pearl barley
    • quinoa
  • Fruit and vegetables
    • avocados
    • blueberries
    • broccoli
    • pears
    • grapefruit
    • bananas
    • oranges
    • plantains
  • Dairy:
    • cheese (fresh goat or feta) [I wish brie was here, le sigh]
    • low fat milk
  • Proteins:
    • black, white, kidney, garbanzo beans
    • lentils
    • salmon
    • eggs
  • Other:
    • wine
    • dark chocolate
    • green tea
I must say I was SUPER surprised!  Except for three things (grapefruit, goat and feta cheese, and wine) I actually like most everything on this list.  In fact, I eat a lot of these foods already.  So here is what I would like to do.  Once a month, I want to highlight a SuperRecipies.  A SuperRecipe is a recipe that contains at least two superfoods and is under 400 calories a serving for a meal and 200 calories for a snack.  I'm basing my calorie cutoff on my personal Calorie max of 1,400 Cals/ day.  That means that I can portion off my day into 400 cals/meal and have 200 calories left over for snacks.

So stayed tuned for these tasty recipes and please share any of your SuperRecipes!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

New Year, new start

Okay, so I'm going to get on the bandwagon with pretty much EVERYONE else on the planet and make the resolution that I want to lose weight.  I was doing somewhat well and then right around Thanksgiving I was like fuck it and now I'm almost back to where I started from. :(  However, I am down two pounds overall still, so I'll take the small victories :).  To combat my frustration at myself I have reset my progress graph to my 2014 weight (198 lbs).  I feel like it is slightly cheating, but I know myself too well.  If I spend too many weeks above my goal weight, the cookies became REALLY appealing.

So here are my New Year's Resolutions:
1) Lose one pound a week 
This is the main goal for me.  Working on a reward system if I make my monthly goal weight, taking suggestions ;)

2) Get one hour of exercise a week
Ain't no one got time for the gym, so I found a SLEW of 10-min workouts that I'm excited to try out.  I can do ten minutes a day.

3) Do not eat after 9:00 p.m
While late night snacking isn't directly related to weight gain, I have a tendency to crave sweets right before bed, so if I don't allow myself eat after 9:00 pm I won't dig into the Christmas cookies. 

I want to keep them simple and obtainable, because once I gain some positive momentum it will become easier!