Trip to Cornell University
I just wanted to upload a few photo from my trip to Cornell University. Luckily we go there just after a huge cold snap. Apparently it was -14 degrees at the beginning of the week. I did not get there until Friday and by that time it was much nicer. There was still a ton of fog. In fact there was so much that our flights got canceled. Luckily we all made it out from another airport.
Here are a few pictures. This is the waterfall that greats you coming into Cornell.
Potato & Leek Soup
Potato & Leek Soup
This is a traditional Irish Soup commonly used in Ireland. It is a little thin, as it is a puree, and it it all veggies and milk products. So not as filling as some soups can be – which is not good from a weight management strategy, but it is very taste and generally good for you. As with most things on my blog, just eat in moderation and you can enjoy it.
Can tastes just a good cold as it does hot in my opinion so it can be served as a Vichyssoise.
It is a very light flavor and would go well with most meat dishes. Because the fat content is a little high in this one you’ll want to pair it with a leaner meat like a chicken.
Enjoy!
* 4 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced
* 2 lbs leeks, washed and sliced – just the white part and up to where it starts to turn green (but not the all green very fibery stuff). Basically you will need 4 of these.
* 1 onion, chopped
* 4 celery stalk, sliced
* 3 bay leafs
* 10 cups chicken stock or broth – This taste better with stock and you can make your own easy enough. When you prepare the chicken for the rest of the meal, just get some chicken with bone and skin. Put all of that in pot while you prepare the rest of the chicken. Boil those scrapes and you’ll have a great tasting chicken stock.
* 1 1/2 cups of milk
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* salt & pepper
* 1 1/2 cups of half & half
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh chives for toping
Chop up all the veggies. Put them in the chicken stock with 3 bay leafs. Boil until the veggies are tender.
Pull out the bay leafs. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and heat through till the butter is melted.
Now, pull out a hand blender and let that run until the whole mixture is mostly smooth. It should be just a little chuchy, but not much.
Now, all you have to do it decide to eat it cold or hot.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life
Matthew Stearmer
Overcome: Lack of familial support
Now, just to be clear, this title should not be construed as Janille does not support my working out. She is very support of that. But the problem is that she is 8.5 months pregnant. She’s not exactly eating all the things I am, and she certainly is not working out like I am.
The kids are kind of the same way. Its not that they do not want dad to be in better shape – they just do not want to eat all the vegetables that I’m eating. Frankly I can’t blame them:)
I’ve come up with a few things that make it work for me in the food department. Part of it is just being a little more relaxed, and the other is being a little more realistic.
So on the relaxed part – we do food a little more like a restaurant in our house. The basic mean is generally the same, but we allow for made to order meals and substitutions. The bottom line is that I can eat 75% of the same things that my whole family eats all the time, but I might add more veggies to my plate, and less bread, water instead of the juice etc. All of these small changes let me still enjoy a meal with the family without feeling put out – or the family feeling tortured just because dad is trying to lose weight.
On the realistic side – I have a life. I’m not going to be able to just forgot all the foods I love and never touch them again – especially when other members of the family love to each things that have butter in them for instance. But as I have stated in other posts – making the food yourself and then eating smaller portions will make all the difference in the world. I can still eat everything I liked before. I just small amounts and exercise regularly.
On the workout side, my family likes to watch movies. So a few times a week when we sit down to watch a movie, I will just get on the elliptical. I can still enjoy the show, the family company, and I get a workout in. Another thing that I will do is take longer routes when I walk up to campus. The normal route is 1 mile. But if I walk through a little garden area I can get in an extra 2 miles and it only adds a little bit of time to my day, and no one is worse for wear for it.
Point is it does not take a lot to figure out how to integrate some of your life in with exercise and diet. You will just need to look at your day and ask yourself where you could fit things in without drastic changes. Then start there. You’ll be surprised how a little extra planning will go a LONG way to your success.
Wow – big surprise right! Eat less – Move more! It is a regime that works. I can live like this forever, and my family and actually get behind it and support me.
So you do not have to have everyone all on the same diet eating at all the same times etc to make this work. Just set back and really evaluate what really needs to have and then make a more relaxed and realistic plan for your weight loss goals.
If you have suggestions on how you’ve made it work, I’d love to hear your comments.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
Rave reviewed baba ghanoush
I’ve been working on my Baba Ghanoush for a little while now and I think that I’ve hit a home run now. Even the teenagers I tested it out on loved it (well most of them any way).
But 2 nights ago I tested it on some very refined pallets (some of whom had actually eaten real baba ganouche in the Middle East) and they said mine was as good as they had ever tasted. So there you go. A little shameless bragging and a great recipe.
For those trying to add more vegetables/fiber to their diet this one is great. It is a little heavy on the fat, and not so good on the protein, but as I have said before a little fat goes a long way to filling you up. It just needs to be done in moderation.
A word of warning, this is meant as an appetizer, or as a filler, not as a whole meal. If you eat this until you are full – well, that would be a caloric disaster:)
So I’m going to include 1 other recipe as well, and an idea on how to combine them for a very healthy complete meal.
Baba Ghanoush Recipe
First, take your Egg Plants (you’ll need 1 eggplant for every 5 people if it is an appetizer and every 10 if you are going to use it in the sandwiches I’m showing you here). Put the Egg plant in the oven set on 350 degrees. Cook it until the skin is almost black.
Second, while the egg plant is cooking, you have to make your own tahini sauce. This is the key to really good baba ghanoush in my opinion.
Take 1 cup of fresh sesame seeds (this will work for 1-2 egg plants), put them on a pan and roast them for about 10 minutes. Once they start turning brown you can pull them out.
Put the seeds into a blender with about 1/4 cup of olive oil, 2 Tbls of lemon juice and 4 cloves of garlic Blend them together adding more olive oil and lemon juice as needed for the mixture to be a little runny. It should be shake like in consistency.
Now, set a side.
Your egg plants should be read now. When you pull them out they will be very plump, take a hot pad and hold them by the stem, and run the plant under cold water quickly. This will cause the skin to contract and it will make getting the flesh part out very easy.
Now cut it into quarters and don’t breath! Maybe it is just me, but I do not like the smell of plain egg plant. Trust me, if you can get past that part, the rest is worth it:)
Use a knife to separate the flesh part from the skin. Discard the skin (that is the stinky part), and dice up the rest of the flesh into a bowl and mash it as best you can.
Now, take the tahini sauce you have made, an add about 1/2 cup for every 1 egg plant that you are using.
Use a blender to mix them well. Now add salt to taste 1-2 tsp per egg plant will probably do it.
Now for the final preparation, If you are going to use this as an appetiser, take a red pepper, chop about 1/4 of it into small pieces. Then take the rest and slice it into strips.
Take a serving bowl and place the baba ghanoush inside, and make a swimming pool. You’ll want an edge you can put the garnish on, and a pool in the middle. Put the chopped peper in the middle, and pour olive oil into the pool. Then sprinkle with red peper flakes.
Now on the edges arrange the slices and some fresh parsley in whatever manner seams pleasing to you.
And you’re done! Get some pitas and enjoy.
Now, if you are going to follow my advice and use this as a sauce, here is the rest of what you want to do.
Middle Eastern Tomato Salad
Take 2 parts tomato and 1 part cucumber (increase or decrease the amounts depending on how much you need). Chop the tomato into chunks. On the cucumber slice off some of the skin on 4 sides. Then dice it into quarters and then into smaller chunks. I personally do not like too much of the cucumber skin. And I think that it looks nicer to have the light and dark combo on the cucumber.
Now add about 3 cloves of garlic for ever 2 large tomatoes you use.
And about 1/8 of an onion (diced) for every 2 large tomatoes.
lightly cover in olive oil and a little lemon juice. And mix it all together.
Ok, your just about ready to eat now.
If you are going to go Vegetarian style you can make up some couscous, if you are like me and enjoy a little meat you can use a nice marinated stake with this. Or do both!
On both of those, just make them as you normally would.
Now take a pita, put in some couscous. Then a layer of baba ghanoush, now the meat if you are going to do that. Now add the Salad, and then top with some more baba ghanoush.
Now you can really enjoy it!
If you are using this recipe as part of weight loss regime, then 1 half of a pita stuffed full of this good stuff will be enough for a small meal. If you are like me I find that I lose weight the best when I’m eating smaller more frequent meals, and when those meals are very filling.
This recipe if full of fiber and a healthy dose of olive oil fats. It will keep you full for a few hours for sure. And then if you’ve not had enough you can eat it again the next meal. And the next. And the next!
It is a great recipe that can be prepared ahead of time and eaten for several days. In fact it is often better to let it all sit for a few hours just to let the flavors mix better together.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
Easily one of my top 10 soups – Mushroom and Pumpkin Curry Soup
This is one of the oddest mixtures but it really works well. I got the original idea from a recipe book and have improved on it in my opinion:) I usually make enough to eat it for 3 days, and even at the end I’m not tired of it.
Like al of the recipes I post, it does have a little more fat per serving than standard wisdom might suggest, but my general philosphy has been to eat meals that are very filling – and just eat smaller servings. The high fiber and moderate fat composition make these recipes very filling – you’ll just have to add a little self-control and maybe a little exercise:)
Ingredients
.5 to 1.0 lbs fresh mushrooms – which ever ones suit your fancy
2 Tbls Butter
2 Tbls Flour
1Tbls Curry powder
3 Cups vegetable broth (3 cups water, 1 carrot, 3 bay leafs, 1 celery stock, .25-.5 White onion (corsely chopped) boil for 10 minutes or so)
15 Oz Solid pack Pumpkin
12 Oz Evaporated milk
2-3 Tbls Honey
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
Salt, Pepper and Chives to Taste
In one stock pot, start to cook the Vegetable broth.
While that is brewing saute the mushrooms, onion and butter. Once tender, add the floor and curry to thicken it up. Add a little more or less flour as needed to make a paste.
Once the broth is done take out the carrots and the bay leaves. Now stir the paste into the vegetable broth. Stir untill it is thoroughly mixed through.
Now, add the pumpkin and Evporated milk. You’ll have to be careful to get it all stired up. You may need to use a fork to break up the pumpkin while you stir. Now, add in the honey spices and heat through.
Garnish with the chives.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life
Matthew Stearmer
Tortellini and Spinach Chowder – My resistance factor is a big fat 0!
Only to brag a little, this is probably one of top 3-5 soup recipes that I have ever had – bar none:)
Ok – enough of the bragging. I’ll put this out there and let you all test it and see if you agree.
Ingredients
1lb Italian Sausage
1/2 to 3/4 White Onion (basically just do the onion to taste).
6 Cloves of garlic
.5 to 1.0 Lbs Portabello mushrooms (to taste as well)
2 Tbls butter
About 2 cups of frozen spinich
3-4 Carrots, peeled and diced
4 Cups of Chicken Broth (home made is best. Just take the skins or scaps from a chicken and boil them for about 10 minutes and you’ll have a much better flavor)
1 Can (10 oz) Cream of mushroom soup
9-12 oz of Cheese Tortellini cooked and drained
Pepper
Basil
Thyme
2 Quarts Half-and-half cream
1Cup Romano/Parmesean/Asiago cheese mix
Start boiling the water, and get the tortellini going. Start cooking the sausage and drain it when done. Don’t completely clean out that pan, use it to cook the veggies in. Add butter to the pan, then put in the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, until tender.
If you don’t mind making a few more dishes, at the same time you start the sausage and veggies, get the Chicken broth, carrots going. Once the carrots are soft, add the spinach. Once the spinach has warmed up put in the mushroom and onion mixture.
Once that warms up, add the cream of mushroom soup, tortellini, pepper, basil, thyme. Once that mixes through add the half and half and finally the cheese mix.
Now, do your best to resist eating it all in one setting:)
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
Weight loss in the winter – Do a little service
Moving snow the old fashioned way is a great exercise. Minute for minute it is one of the best winter exercises you can do – and it can be a great service as well.
On average here are the calories burned per minute shoveling snow. These are just averages that I could find on the net.
| Activity | weight: 105-115 | weight: 127-137 | weight: 160-170 | weight: 180-200 |
| light snow | 7.9 | 9.1 | 10.8 | 12.5 |
| heavy snow | 13.8 | 15.7 | 18.5 | 20.5 |
In some ways a comparison is more effecting than thinking of actual calories. Shoveling heavy snow is the most strenuous winter activity that I could find in calories burned per minute. Shoveling light snow was bested only by cross country skiing, downhill skiing, running 8 mph, and full court basketball.
On Saturday I spent about 3 hours shoveling around my neighborhood. It felt good to get out and do a little service. And at the end of the day (I had worked out to a movie as well that morning) I burned off over 7500 calories by these calculations! Not too shabby. I commented to Janille that I could feel myself getting skinner as the hours moved on. It was kind of funny, but I did feel like my clothes got loser as I went:)
Anyway, this is not something everyone should do. There are a ton of medical concerns that need to be taken into account. Not the least of which is the heart and back.
It is estimated that you are 3x more likely to have a heart attack while shoveling snow than just your normal risk factor. There are several reasons for this. The strenuous nature of the exercise is one, but the cold is another major factor. Cold constricts the blood vessels making it harder for the blog to pump as you engage in hard activities – hello heart attack.
It is also easy to get dehydrated. You will sweat a lot, but you may not notice that you have stopped sweating because your clothes will keep the moisture close to your body. So you feel hydrated when you really are not.
So if you have a heart condition be very careful – maybe even get a snow blower until you get your heath under control.
If you do not have a heart condition – well – go out and do a little service. It will be great for your heart and your soul.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
Make your own food – lose weight – guarenteed.
According to eDiets.com the average American eats at a restaurant 159 times a year!
That is an amazing statistic if it is accurate. I looked up how many calories it takes to cook a meal and for me it is about 140 cal, for 1 hours worth of food preparation. If I made just one complex meal a day (typically I do two), then I will have burned enough calories to just changing from eating out, to making my own, to peel off about 14 lbs of fat a year.
For some this will be the difference between obesity, and health, for others it will be the difference between stabilized weight and gaining each year – like most of us do. Just looking at it on the surface makes makes a good case that we should try to make all the food that we can. But that is only half the story. Eating out is only part of the problem. Cooking with whole foods is another step we need to make.
Over the last 50 years the average diet, according to FAO, has changed significantly – and it is not because of all of the eating out alone.
Here is just a quick run down.
We consume almost 900 calories more a day than we did 60 years ago.
Most of increase has come from refined foods and vegetable oils.
We are eating few complex carbohydrates
We are drinking alcohol slightly more (well – not me anyway – so that is a "we" that really means just you:) )
We eat 2x as much chicken and a little less beef.
Anyway, the list goes on, but the bottom line is that we are consuming more, and more of those things that hurt our bodies worse – all the refined pre-packaged foods. Basically what it amounts to is that we really did not eliminate anything out of our diets, we just added to them all "healthy" stuff that we buy in boxes at stores and snack on all week long. Sure it is low in fat, but it is HIGH in sugar (to try and make it taste good) and that has lead to many of our current health problems according to several government, and intergovernmental groups.
Here is just an example. When I eat at McDonalds I typically order a Double Cheese Burger, a McChicken, a medium fry, and a medium drink. That will fill me up nicely for less than $5 – and 1400 Calories! I will have take at least 1 hour to drive and get it and get back to my home/office.
Whereas if I fix my salad at home – and I make a mean salad – I can put anything that I want on it practically (My typical salad will have the following; spinach, sprouts, cottage cheese, tomatoes, celery, jalapeños, avocado, coconut, raisins, rice noodles, red onions, green onions, carrots, mushrooms, paremsean cheese, almonds and a vinaigrette) and it will not even top 400 calories. Plus, it will have taken me about 1 hour to make and eat (I cut it all from scratch), which burns about 140 calories by itself.
Now, I will be full for hours because there’s over 12 grams of fiber and protein in that salad. It will have taken the same amount of time to go to McDonalds and get fat – as it did to make a really healthy meal and works towards being skinner. I’d have to work out on my elliptical for about 1-2 hours to simply catch up.
So how much time did I save? I thought it was supposed to be more convenient. When we factor in the whole cost there is not really anything convenient about restaurant food.
A commitment to cook more of our own foods from their natural state means that we will not only burn more calories to begin with, but the foods that we chose to cook with will be much more filling and healthy for us.
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
It is possible to lose weight and enjoy all that life has to offer – in this case I mean butter:)
In keeping with the theme of the site and lifestyle promoted here, this is one of recipes that is just for fun. This is meant as an appetizers, or something to be enjoyed pair with out snacks for a movie party – not to be eaten by itself as a meal. That might kill you – but as part of a larger ensemble – it can just be enjoyed.
8 teaspoons butter – 3 to saute with, 3 to mix in with the cheese, 3 to stir in with the dip after it is completed.
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds (optional)
4 cups fresh spinach (stir until wilted)
1 cup light mayonnaise
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 can marinated artichoke hearts (about 8 oz), drained, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers drained and chopped
ground black pepper and a few dashes of Tapatio sauce
1 Cup Monteray jack cheese over top and mixed in with the butter. -
Melt 3Tbls butter in pan and sauté garlic and onion until soft. Add almonds and cook until lightly browned. Add spinach and stir until wilted.
While cooking above – just be careful not to over cook the garlic and onion. In a large mixing bowl, stir together cheeses and mayonnaise – until creamy and thoroughly distributed. Fold in artichokes, tomatoes and peppers – and more butter
Add ground pepper to taste and few dashes of the Tapatio sauce (or other hot sauce of choice). Fold in spinach mixture.
Place in oven proof dish. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
When it is done – pull it out and now you need to make a decision. If you like the buttery taste – add a little more butter and milk – until it is creamy. OR add sour cream to taste. The point here is to make it creamier. You can chose which flavor you prefer. I like the sour cream one the best I think, but both methods are delicious.
Top with fresh parsley and paprika.
Serve with pretzel sticks.
Now enjoy,
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life! (this is a little more on the enjoy side)
Matthew Stearmer
Fennel Celery Salad – simple, elegent and surprisingly worth it.
This one had me a little nervous. Fennel? What the heck is that anyway? That was my first reaction
I’m normally quite adventurous when it comes to food. I like to try new cuisines, new ingredient, new ways of cooking, but even I was a little nervous about this one.
I loved the way it looked, but I had not even heard of Fennel, let alone seen it, and I had no idea what it might taste like. Janille, my wife said that it had a licorice taste to it – which got me even more nervous. You can relax, this is just a great tasting quick to make salad that even tastes great the day after. It is also perfect for the winter time, because fennel and celery are available year round.
I got this recipe from the New York Times initially. Most of the time I experiment with recipies until make them my own, but this one was so good from the start, and so simple, there really is nothing more that I could do.
From a weight loss perspective it really could not get any better. It is filling. It is full of fiber, so it is a great cleanse diet, from a nutrient side it is very balanced. It is very low on the glycemic index (just a 2) – so it will not spike the blood sugar etc etc etc. Bottom line, this is a great recipe that will help you have a good cleansing natural diet in the winter time.
So enjoy!
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, some fronds reserved
3 celery ribs, trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.
1. Cut fennel bulbs in quarters lengthwise, discarding outer layer if it is exceedingly tough. Use a mandoline to slice quarters thinly; slice celery equally thin.
2. Put sliced fennel and celery into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Top with lots of freshly shaved Parmesan and chopped fennel fronds if you like.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/dining/26mini.html?ref=dining
Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!
Matthew Stearmer
