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.