Getting Ready

About to take a much needed vacation to the land of whatever it is Colorado calls itself.  Going to do some fun skiing and snowboarding. We have two other families coming long for the ride. Six adults and six young kids in a gypsy caravan.

Now I've never been on a snowboard a day in my life. Thankfully, my buddy will be taking a class with me on the bunny slopes I hope. I sure hope my old knees and aching back will withstand the barrage of slips and falls I'm about to put on it. I'm sure it'll be fine and I am looking forward to this fun filled trip.

Now packing food for a trip like this is a careful mix of fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Along with some stuff like goldfish, crackers, and the occasional fruit snack. I know, I know, for shame for shame but heck it's vacation and it's also a 16 hour road trip. You can and should only try to get away with so much on the kids and your own dietary demands.

I know this is a short entry but I just wanted to share a good chili recipe in anticipation of our trip out to the Rockies.

Tom's Chili

Whatcha need:
3 lbs ground beef
1 4 oz package of dried peppers
1/2 medium onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 - 2 cups beef broth
1 dark beer
1 tbsp cayenne
2 tbsp seasoned salt

2 tbsp cumin
1 - 2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika


1.  Boil 3 cups of water and remove from heat
2.  Take a large pack of dried ancho or green peppers or both depending on your preference and pull the stems off the end and dump out the seeds in the trash. Don't dump out all the seeds since you still want some spice to the chili.
3.  Take the chilies and steep them in that hot water.
4.  After the peppers are soft, pour the peppers and water into a blender and blend until it becomes a nice loose paste.
5.  Slowly cook 3 pounds of ground beef on medium heat.
6. Once the meat is fully cooked but not brown in any way, dump out into a colander to drain the fat.
7. Place pan back on the stove top and add the diced onion, garlic, and cook until slightly translucent.
8. Place meat back in the pan and add the spices
9. After 5 minutes of cooking the spices into the meat add the pepper mix into the pot and cook for another 5 minutes.
10.  Add beer
11. After another 10 minutes add enough beef broth to cover the meat and reduce the heat to low and let cook for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

There you have it. It's a little more work than just buying a 2 alarm chili kit but it's mighty tasty. I top it with some cheese, jalapenos, tomato, and red onions and serve it with some french bread and crackers. Hope you try this and that you enjoy it.

Restaurant recommendation for healthy eaters that want a nice evening out is: Seasons 52 (It's a chain but still tasty). Most everything on their menu is under 475 calories. They cook with local ingredients and meats. When my wife and I went, we shared the shrimp flat-bread which was awesome, I had a delicious lamb steak cooked perfectly and she had the tenderloin that was cooked more to my liking than hers but she thought it tasted great.

We were even able to try some desserts guilt free since they were served in tiny cups. If you are watching what you eat, this is a great place to enjoy really good food at a guilt free serving.


I apologize in advance for my grammar or anything else wrong with this post. I didn't have my normal, lovely proof reader read this since she was way too busy packing. One of us had to. :)

Back and Revamped

This blog has had enough time off. It’s time to kick start it back up after rebooting my life and eating style.

Recently, I have come to the realization that maybe I should start eating better. I’m now at the age where I actually have to start watching what I eat. No more dinners of 20 spicy buffalo wings and a pitcher of beer for me. Well… it’s be a lot less often at least.  

There are so many varying diets and fads and such. Vegetarians, vegans, low-carb diets, gluten free, wheat free… I personally don’t agree with any of them. I understand why some people do it and that some people need to for health reasons or even religion, but for me and my family, I wouldn’t subject them to not eating something that they wanted to eat. A cookie, pasta, meat, dairy are all healthy when eaten in moderation.  That’s what I like to call my diet plan. The Moderation Diet. The healthiest people I know practice this. It’s time I join them.

Did you know you can stop eating before your tummy pushes over your pants? Did you know you don’t have to finish everything on your plate either? It’s crazy I know! And I know there are starving kids in Africa but you can stop when you think you are satisfied. I have been paying lots of attention to serving sizes, and even monitoring what I add in my recipes and replace certain ingredients with feasible and healthier replacements.

My wife and I have been trying to eat less calories and are thinking more about what we put into our bodies.  Partly to loose weight and be in better shape and partly to just live healthier. It has been only three or four weeks but we have noticed a difference. Personally for me, I feel better, have more energy and have lost 12 pounds. Heck, I have even stopped grunting each time I stand up.  Results don’t get much better than that. We have been aided in our quest by a nice iPhone app called MyFitnessPal. If you are interested in counting calories and following my progress please download this app and send me a friend request. My username of course is tastyshortribs.

So with that in mind, I think it’s time to rework this blog to make it better suited to our journey for a better eating lifestyle. I will add healthy recipes that we have started eating and I will add some of the places we discover that offer healthier eating. I promise to not try to be too preachy like some people tend to get when they are on their new diets.

Before I get to the recipes, one of the things I do believe in is buying organics when it makes sense. I won’t pay double the price for something just because it is organic but if it’s a few cents more then sure, why not.  I enjoy eating natural when I can, especially with any meats we eat. The added hormones and antibiotics that are part of the norm in most meats nowadays is kind of gross, as is the conditions they raise and slaughter the animals in. There are so many different movies about all of this that if you watched them all, you might just stop eating altogether. So yes, buying organic when feasible and eating better quality raised meats is something I do advocate.

Recipe for the week:

Apple Spice Oatmeal

This week I will start off with this simple steel cut oats recipe.

1 cup of steel cut oats

½ cup of barley pearls

4 cups water

1 ½ cups of apple juice

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

You take all those ingredients and put them in a crock pot set on low right before you go to bed. When you wake up, crank that crock pot on high and let the temp heat up. I like to do this to get a better consistency on the oatmeal.  After 10 minutes on high, turn off the heat and serve. I like to serve mine with some fresh fruit, a splash of half and half and either cinnamon sugar or some honey.

It shouldn’t take you but a few minutes to prepare and it’s a wonderful way to start your day. I usually have a bowl of this along with a couple of boiled eggs to get most of the food groups.

Restaurant Recommendation: Patina Green

A while ago I was informed by my foodie friend from work that there was a place in downtown McKinney that serves a great healthy and local product. The restaurant is called Patina Green. It’s located next to the old Smith’s pharmacy there. They have great soups, probably some of the best I have ever had, and some really great sandwiches. It’s a small place and they are pretty busy for lunch so try to get there early. Their menu changes often to coincide with the local produce and meats available. . If you do go, try their summer sausage sandwich if the have it. Their scones are pretty great too. Some neat quirks about the place is that they provide a simple syrup for you to sweeten your tea with, they sell a lot of locally produced sausages, breads, and cheeses and have a small baked goods area too. Hope you guys will give them a try.

I hope you enjoyed the new direction of this blog. Hopefully, I will be more frequent with blogging. I'll change the scenery too. Till next time my friends.