Day 12 Feeling So Good + Healthy Recipe!

Okay well actually I'm working through a hip injury so I'm not feeling 100% and haven't been to the gym for 2 days.   HOWEVER...I'm now down 4.8 lbs, which if you round up is 5 lbs!  It feels so good to be back on track!  I'm heading back in to the gym today and am going to modify and make up my own workout so I can keep making progress in the gym while giving my hip another day or two of rest. 

My new favorite thing?!  Just Dance 2!  I broke a sweat last night playing that game on my new Wii, so fun!  There is something that just feels so good about dancing like a fool and hoping your blinds really are shut and no one can see you.  There is also something about breaking a sweat that just feels good, makes me feel good about myself.  I fully intend on playing today and tonight!!

I think one of the best ways to ensure you stick to your diet is to plan ahead, cook extra portions so you always have something healthy to eat.  The zone diet is easy to follow but its been hard for me to find a meal I can make a largo portion of and easily scope out a portion for me at 3 blocks and a portion for Matt at 5 blocks.  However, I found this Zone Chili recipe (add whatever spices you want, I added tons of Chili Powder, lots Red Pepper Flakes, not quit as much Cayenne Pepper and some Garlic, like those measurements!).  Anyways, if you follow the recipe 2 cups plus 1 oz of cheese on top equals 3 blocks, which is the perfect lunch/dinner for me!  I made it up on Sunday and have a little bit left today.  My goal is to find more recipes like this that I can take to Sunriver to help me make it through the trip and stay remotely on track.  So without further delay:

Zone Chili

Ingredients:

• 18oz ground beef 10% lean [12P] (I used 7% but its close enough)
• 6oz mozzarella cheese [6P]  (This is the cheese you put on top and you can use whatever cheese you want)
• 3 cup onion (petal) [2C] (About 1 whole medium onion)
• 2 cup green pepper (chopped)[1C] (1 cup of chopped peppers equals about 1 medium to large pepper, just FYI)
• 2 cup red pepper (chopped)[1C]
• 4 cup tomato (chopped) [2.5C] (I used canned diced tomatoes, so much easier!)
• 2-12oz cans V8 juice [4C] (Winco sells individual cans)
• 3/4 cup canned tomato puree [1.5C]  (I used tomato paste, less than 1 small can)
• 1-1/2cup black beans [6C]
• 6 tsp olive oil separate [18F]
• chili powder
• onion powder
• basil
• parsley
• cilantro
• crushed red pepper
• sage

Directions:

• Brown ground beef, salt & pepper and some spices in 3 tsp of oil. (I added a little hot sauce to the meat to give it a little kick!)
• Place all other ingredients in crock-pot, except for cheese.
• Add 2 cups of water. Add browned meat. Add spices to taste.  (I did not add the water and don't think this step is necessary, it will make it more like soup and less like thick yummy chili!)
• Cook in crock-pot for several hours until hot through out, stirring occasionally. (I just let is simmer all day, house smelled so good!)
• Divide into 6 serving (2-cup servings) bowls and top each with 1 oz of cheese. May be frozen/refrigerated for later consumption.

Remark: Makes six 3-block meals, 2 cups each

Tip - To make the Chili last longer, add more cheese and some fresh avocado (once scoped out in to a bowl) to increase the protein and fat rather than adding more cups of chili (which ends up being too much volume in most cases).  You can sub 3 blocks of fat for one serving of carbs, so its easy to make it be a 5 block meal while still getting your 6 servings out of it.  Enjoy!