Sautéed Beef with Tomatoes and Egg Noodles

Sautéed Beef with Tomatoes and Egg Noodles

I wanted to make a quick but nourishing meal tonight and this was it. Takes about 20 minutes start to finish. The following recipe serves 4-5 and is about 560 calories for a generous serving. The Sautéed Beef is a slightly modified Weight Watcher's recipe. The noodles I used were Mrs. Miller's Extra Wide. 

                                        Ingredients

Wide Egg Noodles, your favorite brand

1 lb of lean ground beef

1 lb of fresh tomatoes, chopped into bite size pieces

2 garlic cloves, minced, or more if you're a big garlic fan

2 tbs fresh parley, minced

Salt to taste

Dash of red pepper flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine garlic, parsley, tomatoes, oil, red pepper, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Bring 3-4 quarts of water to a boil. Add egg noodles and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, checking frequently to determine whether done to your taste.

While the pasta is cooking, brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat for about five minutes until cooked through. Drain any excess fat from meat.

Add the tomato mixture to the beef and cook for about three minutes until heated through. 

Enjoy!

Hurricane Sandy Soup and Sandwich

We had this last night and it occurred to me it would be a good dinner to prepare for Hurricane Sandy or for any fall or winter evening. It's also easy to prepare. 

                                                                             
Sausage, Kale, and Lentil Soup

This is a very easy soup, delicious, nutritious, and low calorie. It takes about 50 minutes from start to finish. I think the key is using good sweet Italian sausage and reduced sodium broth.

             

Turkey Pesto Panini

Reduce the calories in the panini by using just a coating of pesto, and a smaller ciabatta roll. Substitute pear for avocado and it tastes just as good with fewer calories. 

Another Good Reason to Walk the Damn Dog

Here's yet another reason to exercise: It seems to prevent shrinkage in important (are the any unimportant?) regions in the brain. This means better memory and thinking skills as we age. Since all of us hope to age..... Well, you get the point. By the way, physical exercise helps more than mental exercise or social activities. So, both the dog and your brain will appreciate a good walk.

Keeping Your Brain

Neurology

Move It, Big Fella!

This picture (recognize it?) depicts pretty accurately how I felt after beginning my exercise program exactly one year ago today. Although I had belonged to our local Planet Fitness for years, I also had not actually been there for years! (Maintaining my membership all along at $10 per month because I never knew when I'd get motivated. A helluva business plan at ye old PF but that's another story.) 

I had begun a healthy eating plan in September and had lost some weight but didn't notice any other improvements. In early October, within the space of two weeks, I had significant cancer and cardiac scares. Both turned out to be false alarms but they sure as hell got my attention, especially when I could do just a couple of minutes on the treadmill during the stress test, not because there was a problem with my heart but because I had no endurance. 

After two weeks of being poked, prodded, bled, invaded, and irradiated I knew one very important thing: Under no circumstances was I willing to get caught up in the jaws of the medical-industrial machine. To avoid that, I needed to be healthy. To be healthy I needed to get fit and that meant more than just losing weight. So, I made a commitment to exercise whether I felt like it or not. Long story short, I began exercising five days per week, a combination of aerobics and weight training, and I have now completed a year of doing so with very few days missed. The results? I've lost 55 pounds, dropped several sizes, had several new wardrobes, and I'm healthier, stronger, and more fit than I have been since grade school - and that's a helluva long time ago! I also now love to exercise and miss it when I can't. Who'd a thunk it? 

Grilled Sirloin and Roasted Veggies

Grilled Sirloin and Roasted Veggies

Tonight's dinner was simple, easy, and delicious. We had some veggies that needed using  and a sirloin steak from Wegman's that was crying out for plate time. It took about 15 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook. 

Ingredients

2-3 cups of  green, yellow, and red peppers, sliced into 1-2 inch pieces

1/4 -1/2 red onion cut into wedges

8-10 baby red potatoes cut in half or quartered depending on size

(You could also add tomato wedges and/or artichoke hearts)

Olive oil cooking spray

Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper

A dash of ground thyme

Lean Sirloin Steak

Your favorite steak rub (I used one we got in Savannah)

A little extra virgin olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees

Fire up the grill

Spray two baking or cookie sheets with olive oil cooking spray

Arrange the veggies any way you like on the sheets, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the thyme (parsley, sage and rosemary, too if you're having Simon and Garfunkle over for dinner) and give them a light spray as well

When the oven is ready, place on separate racks and cook for 25-30 minutes, turning them once and looking for them to brown slightly

Brush a little olive oil on both sides of the steak(s) and rub seasoning in to taste, adding some Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

When you have about fifteen minutes to go with the veggies, grill the steaks to the level of doneness you prefer (for a 1 lb sirloin about 6 minutes per side, more or less, for rare to medium rare)

Serve immediately

Bon Appétit!

Nutrition, more or less, for an 8 oz steak: 

Calories

426

Total Fat	14.8g
Sat. Fat	5.6g
Cholest.	149.6mg
Sodium	142.8mg

Carb.	0g
Fiber	0g
Sugars	0g
Protein	68.7g

Nutrition, more or less, for Veggies:

Calories

113

Total Fat	0.2g
Sat. Fat	0g
Cholest.	0mg
Sodium	15.3mg

Carb.	25g
Fiber	2.3g
Sugars	1.8g
Protein	2.9g

What's on the skewers, you ask? Since I had the grill all fired up, I decided to do some marinated chicken  - also from Wegman's - for tomorrow night's dinner. Now all I have to do is decide on a side dish. I'm learning to make things easier for myself as I go along. 

Change is Good!

Change is Good!

I've been engaged in an exercise program  for exactly one year. I've learned a lot in that time. One thing that surprised me is how adaptive the body is - and not always in a welcomed way! Turns out the body eventually gets used to any exercise routine and efficiently conserves body fat, not the desired result when you are trying to lose weight! So, it's necessary to frequently change up exercises and switch routines. When you do, the body has to work harder to adjust to the new program. I've realized that as soon as I become comfortable with what I'm doing in the gym, I need to change it. 

I've been doing 45 minutes of aerobics followed by 5-10 minutes stretching and 25-30 minutes weight training for quite a while now. I met with a trainer this morning and came up with a new plan: ten minute warm-up followed by 10 minutes stretching, 30 minutes of weight training using different machines and lifts, and 35 minutes aerobics. I did the new routine this morning and, though it involved the same time and many of the same movements, it was different enough that I really felt it. I'll do this program for four or five weeks and then switch it up again. So, my advice is if you're bored with your exercise or it's just not giving you the results you want, change! 

Roasted Veggie Pasta

Roasted Veggie Pasta

This is a quick and easy weeknight dish I tried a few days ago. It turned out quite well. My advice is to use half the oil and double the veggies. The recipe calls for yellow bell beeper, onion, eggplant, and cherry tomatoes but I suspect you can substitute fall veggies and grape tomatoes with equally good results. Enjoy!

Roasted Veggie Pasta

(The recipe is from Real Simple, an entertaining and useful magazine. You ought to check it out.)

Break a Sweat!

Seems that you don't have to work out for hours per day to get the benefits of exercise. Per this study, intensity is far more important than duration. So breaking a sweat for 20 minutes is more effective than casually walking for an hour. Judging by my gym clothes.......

Sweat!

Move It or Lose It?

Over the last year I have developed a habit of exercising, usually going to the gym 4-5 times per week. Over the past month or so I've become more mindful of my activity level the other 23 hours per day. So, I make a conscious effort to get up frequently and take a brief walk rather than sit at my computer at work for several hours at a time. I take stairs rather than the elevator when possible in office buildings. I park farther from the store, at least some of the time. It turns out that this kind of activity may be even more beneficial than the formal exercise. Who knew!

Move!

Early Lessons.....

So, I'm shocked and Cindy is simply amazed that I'm enjoying my new duties as chief cook in our home. Given my previous feeble efforts and general preference for take out, it does seem a bit strange that I have taken to it so easily and with great pleasure. 

Cindy thinks I'm channeling my Dad. He did many things to support his family including custodial work, general labor, and tool and die machinist. One job he really enjoyed was catering. He and my Uncle Frank did private catering and ran concessions stands at a shooting club, church benefits, a local high school's football games, and the former training champ for the NY Football Giants (where I met Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and Y. A. Tittle but that's another story.) Along with other kids in the family I worked for them from about 7 years old on. I picked up a lot of garbage, scrubbed a lot of pots and pans, served a lot of customers, and eventually made countless hot dogs and hamburgers. We worked many private events and I got to watch my Dad do everything associated with it from planning to preparation to cooking to serving to clean up. I never really did any actual cooking but certainly absorbed the process and did pretty much everything else. 

Little things come back to me after 50 plus years. When I was making (a pretty good if I do say so myself) Turkey Chili this afternoon, I suddenly realized I was doing something my father always did. I got out all the ingredients, utensils, and cookware I needed in advance, laid them all out in the order I would need them on the butcher block, and visualized the entire process before so much as lighting a burner. The rest was simple execution. I learned that from my father. Thanks, Dad.

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

I made this dish last night and it turned out quite well. I used an arugula/baby spinach mix and dried basil and it worked nicely. You could probably use grape tomatoes if cherry tomatoes are too expensive. I suspect quartered small tomatoes would be fine. It's a very quick and fresh meal anytime, especially on weeknights. Use whole wheat or spinach pasta for a healthier dish. Enjoy!

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

What Works

As many of you know, over the last year or so I've made an effort to become as healthy as possible. From time to time I'll write about how I've accomplished what I have thus far and the tools that have worked for me. One of the most important is Lose It! This is an app that tracks food intake, calories, exercise, progress toward goals and a host of other things. It's easy to use, motivational, helps me to be accountable and stay focused. It will help you determine exactly what you need to do to achieve your goal. I've been using the app on my iPhone for the last year and I've found it invaluable. I began to use the Lose It.com website a couple of months ago and that contains much more than the phone app, including the opportunity to find like minded people all over the country who are mutually supportive in the process. It is simply a great tool. Like any tool, you have to use it. I encourage you to give it a look.

Cream of WIld Mushroom Soup

Here's a recipe I found that looks great, especially as the weather gets cooler. I hope to make it this weekend. The blog it comes from is wonderful. Check it out!

Make Your Someday Today!: Cream of WIld Mushroom Soup: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup Serve 4 2 ounces (dry) mushroom blend. I used a blend of porcini, shiitake, oyster and black mushrooms. 8 ...

Shameless

This is incredibly symptomatic of what is wrong with our “health care” system! It is really a symptom management and problem deferment system, not a health care system. We don’t promote health, we enable disease. The sad thing is we absolutely know how to promote health and doing so would drastically reduce the costs that are crippling our economy. To do this to our kids, ignoring the long term effects on developing brains, ignoring the promotion of the belief that “if I have a problem, there’s gotta be a pill for it,” is simply immoral.

Medicating Poverty

Mindfulness, Meditation, and Health

Over the past few years I've begun meditating.  It’s part of a broader effort to be more mindful in my everyday life.  Simply put, being mindful is being fully engaged in each moment, distracted by neither the past nor the future, observing your experiences moment to moment without judging them – or yourself.  Meditation is a way of practicing and developing mindfulness.  There are also many health benefits to meditation as the link below details.  Enjoy!

Meditation Health Benefits

Never mind the human costs, consider the costs to the health care system downstream. The costs of treating all those who get cancer because of this corporate welfare will be enormous. And the right wing radical corporatists have the balls to talk about "Entitlements!" Check out this article:

Who Knew Cancer Has its Own Lobby?

Who Knew???

One thing I’ve discovered in my pursuit of good health is the joy of cooking. Who knew? My wife, Cindy, is an excellent cook. She has been doing it for a very long time and is a bit tired of it. She also has just started a writing program that demands her time and attention, So, I volunteered to take over some of the cooking duties. I was a bit daunted at first, partly because she is so good at it and my previous attempts have been, shall we say, a bit challenged. Also, I tend to be a wee bit compulsive in following directions for things outside of my ken. Much to my surprise, I’ve discovered I love it, all of it, from the planning to the shopping, prep work, the creativity and problem solving, and the actual cooking. It is a very sensual experience and if approached as both challenging and fun, it provides much pleasure, even joy. I’m sure I’ll write more about this but right now I’ve got to go finish the Hamburger-Vegetable soup I’m making for dinner (and leftovers, another timesaver!) I strongly encourage those of you who haven’t done much cooking to give it a try!

Insurance Company Celebrates 50 Billionth Fucking Over Of Customer!

From the often brilliant, often offensive, always funny The Onion, this link conveys an essential truth about our health care system.

I'm Back. Here's Why.

I'm taking another shot at blogging. I want to use the blog to share my own ups and downs (sometimes literally) as I strive to become as healthy as I can. This blog is one form of accountability. I’ll continue to write health care, especially psychological health care, and related cultural, social and political issues. 

A little about me: I'm a psychologist who has worked in hospitals, addiction treatment centers, and private practice for over thirty years. I’m 64. A little over a year ago I had cancer and cardiac scares within the same month. Neither turned out to be true. The experience did convince me of one thing. I did not, under any circumstances, want to be caught up in the jaws of the medical-industrial machine. That cannot always be avoided but sometimes it can. It certainly can be delayed. To do that, I needed to be healthy, not just disease free, healthy.

Since starting this process in September, 2011, my goal has been to take complete ownership of my life physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Eating in a healthy way and exercising are a big part of that process. Thus far, I've seen significant improvement in all areas. I’ve lost 55 pounds, exercise formally five days per week on average and am more active every day. I participate in recovery groups that keep me grounded and accountable. I take the time to meditate and to explore spiritual connections and concerns. I’m much happier and more serene than I have been in years. I'm committed to keeping it up. 

I’m going to write about my experiences along the way. I hope you enjoy the blog and find it helpful. I welcome your comments, ideas, and questions.