This was really tasty! I found a base recipe online and then had to modify it of course. Here is the final delicious result. Even Janille – who is not a squash fan – ate it and said it was good. And unlike some of my soups that you must eat in moderation if your trying to watch your weight this is one you can pretty much just indulge in.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, chopped, about 2 cups
• 6 small clove garlic, minced
• 3 small carrot, thinly sliced so they will cook quicker. Shredded is fine to.
• 3 tablespoon butter
• 4 medium zucchini, diced. You do not have to remove the seeds
• 2 apples, peeled, diced
• 5 cups chicken broth made with bay leaf
• 1/4 cup curry powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• salt and peper, to taste

In a 8 qauart saucepan, melt butter over low to medium heat; sauté the onion, garlic and carrot slowly until onion is clear and the carrots are soft Add zucchini, diced apples, chicken broth, and curry powder. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes. When everything is mushy – then you’re done.

If you have a really good hand blender you can use that. Just be forewarned that they do not chop the seeds very well. So if you only have a hand blender you may want to remove the Zucchini seeds before cooking. Add Sugar, salt and pepper to taste. To make it a little fancier you can add a spring or two of parsley on top.
Serves 8 to 10.

This is the image from the original recipe. I did not take my own photo this time.

And  a Swedish Chef video for the heck of it.

Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!

Matthew Stearmer

Today I’m supposed to post a recipe – but I feel awful… Two nights ago I only got 4 hours of sleep. Yesterday I drank some hot chocolate to try and stay awake and it is killing me. I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Frankly I just don’t feel like eating. Yuck! However, normally I post recipes on Wednesdays, and then show the pictures of the end product, but I’m not feeling good enough to want to eat any of it, so I’ll just post the recipe today and then I’ll have to fix it another day and post the picture. This is a very easy one, but very very flavorful. Cut up a bunch of fresh green beans and cook them till tender. Just enough for the number of servings you want While that is cooking put a little olive oil and butter in a pan and saute some mushrooms, garlic and bacon together. I go heavy on the mushrooms and garlic, light on the bacon (just a strip or two depending on the number of servings I’m trying to make). It will add more than enough flavor with just a little in there. basically just follow your taste buds on this one. There is not a right or wrong amount here. Once those are done cooking, mix together and top with parmean cheese and your done! Simple as that. I hope you will enjoy it. I know I wish I could right now! Be Health – Enjoy Life! Matthew Stearmer

Here is my biggest problem with weight loss diet recommendations. They always include a “great tasting health shake for breakfast”. Shakes can taste great, although I do not think that most of them do, and it is a great way to get nutrients – and it a perfect solution to eating several small meals a day since none of us have time to fix full blown meals all of the time.

But I have a problem with shakes. I like to chew. There is just something about having mandibles that makes me think God created us to chew things:) Bottom line I will not want to drink a shake all of the time so if I want to ensure that I will stick to my weight loss regime then I need to have a solution for those mornings that I just need to bit into something.

Here is a great recipe that can help.

Fortified Cream of Wheat with Grape Nuts

3Tbsp – Non instant Cream of Wheat. It has more fiber so it is better for you and it is not that much longer to fix.

1-Cup of Water

2 Scoops (approximately 40-50 grams) of your favorite protein powder. I use Isagenix.

Cinnamon to taste

Sugar Substitute to taste

Milk as needed

Vanilla to taste

Sprinkle of Grape Nuts

Butter buds

All right, mix the Cream of Wheat, water and protein together. And cook according to the direction on the box. If you are smaller and do not need as much protein you can reduce the powder by 1/2 and the water to about 3/4 cup.

You will need to watch it because it tends to boil over. I put a sheet of wax paper under the bowl to catch anything that spills. If it starts to boil over just open the microwave and give it a good stir.

Once it is done cooking add the other ingredients to taste and then top with grape nuts.

The flavor is great. The meal is very filling and nutritious and the grape nuts give me something to chew on. Some days I just need that!

Be Health – Enjoy Life!

Matthew Stearmer

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend!

This was a great weekend for several reason. First off it was General Conference for my church. I honestly wish we could do that more often than twice a year. I certainly need the upliftment and encouragement more often, but I supposed absence makes the heart grow fonder in all sorts of odd ways.

I also got to sleep! I got about 8 hours each night and I even managed a few naps. I hope I do not have to wait another 6 months for that to happen.

I was able to get in some exercise as well and the food was great!

I still had to work in between all the sessions, so it was not as relaxing as it could have otherwise been, but all things considered it was very very nice. I’ll just have to make up for now – since I’m a little behind where I wanted to be.

Shrimp Scampi: This is the recipe that I’ve been writing about. This is the final result. I really think that making it looks nice makes it taste better. Not sure why – but it does to me! And for a weight loss recipe you can hardly beat it. I’ll save extolling its virtues again – you can just read the post if you want to see it. But trust me. It will help you lose weight and you will love every bite of it!

Perfected Pork: This one – well it will not help you lose weight, but it is the most delicious pork I have ever had. I know – shameless self bragging, but there are many independent taste buds that will verify this opinion for me!

And this is what the kids think of it

Super Salad: I truly believe that salad should be required by law to taste delicious. I vary my salads all of the time, but this is one of the combos that I like. I’ve included the food picture below so you can see it as well if you want it give it a try. I’ll include it as one of my recipes one of these Wednesdays.

Ingredients

How’m I looking? I’m down 70 lbs of fat here. I lost 2 lbs from Friday to Monday. I was not really expecting to make any progresses because I really kind of over indulged, But I did try to get rest and some extra exercise to make up for it as well. It just goes to show that if you take care of your body that you can enjoy some of the finner things in life and still lose weight. This is a picture after one of my workouts this weekend.

I’ll include some of the before pictures in another post. You can see some of them from face book. It was only 3 months ago that I was over 270 lbs! It has been a long time since I wanted any pictures taken of me at all. Generally I tried to avoid them at all cost.

Now, Well – I can tollerate them. And I hope to enjoy them again some day.

Matthew Stearmer

Shrimp, ad fish in general, have many health benefits that we should give serious consideration to if we trying to become healthier.

Shrimp are exceptionally nutrient dense. It is an excellent source of selenium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 (which all promote weight loss) and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein. 4 ounce servings of shrimp will give you almost 24 grams of protein for a mere 112 calories and less than a gram of fat.

The one concern is that they are high in cholesterol. For which some people avoid them. But all studies done to this point indicate that the eating of shrimp does not contribute in a significant way to an increase in internal cholesterol.

“In a peer-reviewed scientific study, researchers looked at the effect of two diets, one which contained shrimp and the other eggs, on the cholesterol levels of people with normal lipid levels. In this randomized crossover trial, people ate either 300 grams of shrimp per day or two large eggs. (A randomized crossover trial is one in which groups cross over, trying out both possible protocols.) The shrimp diet did raise LDL levels (bad cholesterol) by 7%, but also raised HDL levels (good cholesterol) by 12%. In contrast, the egg diet raised LDL levels by 10% and HDL by 7%. The results then showed that the shrimp diet produced significantly lower ratios of total to HDL (“good”) cholesterol and lower ratios of LDL (“bad” cholesterol) to HDL cholesterol than the egg diet. In addition, in people who ate the shrimp diet, levels of triglycerides (a form in which fat is carried in the blood) decreased 13%.” Quoted from The World’s Healthest Foods.

It has also been shown to help health eaters in serveral other ways including

1) Shrimp Provide Large Cardiovascular Benefits

2) Protection against Fatal Heart Arrhythmia

3) Help Prevent and Control High Blood Pressure

4) Cancer-Protection from Selenium and Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Omega-3-Rich Diet Improves Mood, Reduces Depression)

5) Protection against Alzheimer’s and Age-related Cognitive Decline

Headlines quoted from source above.

How can you beat all of that!

So here is a simple recipe I’ve come up with that will help you enjoy not only the benefits – but all the flavor as well. This is for 4 servings approximately.

You will need the following

1lbs – Shrimp

2 Tbsp – Olive Oil

1Tbsp – Real Butter (or to reduce the calories even more use 1 Tbsp of the butter buds below)

6 cloves of Garlic pressed

4 servings of pasta – be sure to watch this one – you can really pack on the calories here. So make it a sensible serving. We tend to always over estimate pasta servings.

up to 6 Tbsp – Butter Buds (these will become one of your best friends

8 Tbsp Chicken broth. I like to take a chicken bolion cub (which makes a cup) and put it in 8 Tbsp of water. So it is extra dense in flavor. You can also use white wine (the “real” way to do it). But I honestly prefer the chicken broth

Black pepper to taste

Lemon Juice to taste

Green onions

Tomatoes – if you want to. It can add a nice color and flavor to them as well. It distracts from the shrimp a little too much personally, but if you’re going to presentation it is nice. You can put the slices on the side to keep the flavor more clean. Sliced avocado also provides a great toping to the side and the flavors mix well together

Start the pasta at the very beginning

Then heat your oil, butter, and garlic over medium heat (too hot and your burn the garlic and damage the shrimp).

Now add Shrimp. If it is not pre-cooked do this for about 2 mintes then add broth/wine. Cook for 4 more minutes. If it is pre-cooked add them all together at the same time, and only cook for 2 minutes if they are thawed. 4 if they are frozen.

While that is cooking you can slice of the green onion and tomato.

Your pasta should be done now. Drain and arrange. Now enjoy!

I like to add some of the butter buds to the pasta to give it a stronger butter flavor.

It will take 15-20 minutes especially if you have a little help on the slicing. It almost takes longer to cook the pasta than it does to get the rest of it ready.

Enjoy!

Matthew Stearmer

This is not exactly a health food. This one is just for fun. I’ve been talking about this cheese dip for a few days now and how it has plagued my diet goals a little. I’m exaggerating a little I know. I did good on my weight loss over the weekend. This is more just a symbol of things are can be distractions if we are not careful.

It is my firm belief that moderation in all things can allow us to have a healthy relationship with food. It will allow us to lose weight, allow us to feel good about ourselves, and it will allow us to live a comfortable life that does not outlaw food simply because it is not the most health around.

I do think that we have to be careful of these foods. I for one have had to avoid them for a while in order to develop more control over them. I still over indulge on the crunchy and salty items. I just cannot get enough chips! So dips are dangerous ground for me. Now that I recognize that I can plan for it and mitigate the potential atom bomb that this can be to a diet

The first line of defense is portion control. The recipe will be for just 2 servings. I don’t know about you, but if I have more lying around after my first serving – I will inevitable eat it. This is what I call the Second Law of Weight Loss Dynamics: You will eat whatever is on the plate – so control the plate.

The second line of defense. Modification. I will give you two recipes below. If you want to full flavor and calorie version you can do that. You can also add the substitutes and enjoy basically the same food with almost 1/2 the calories.

Low fat Velveeta Cheese: 1 oz (about 1 Tablespoon) – double it for the full recipe (62 calories)
Fat free Cream Cheese: 1 oz (about 1 Tablespoon) – double it for the full recipe (14 calories)
Low Fat Cottage Cheese: 1 oz – omit for full recipe – (20 calories)
Frozen Spinach: thawed. – put in an equal option to all the cheese combined (14 calories)
Canned tomatoes and green chillies – about 2 Tablespoons (5 calories)
Some bacon bits – omit for the “healthiest” version (25 calories)

Now, mix it all together in a small bowl and microwave until it is warmed and throughly mixed together. Be careful not to let it boil over the sides while microwaving. Which it will have a tendency to do.

Now, grab an hand full of chips. A bunch of celery stalks, and enjoy. Per serving this dip is just under 70 calories. It will be the chips that will kill it now. 1 oz will be about 140 calories (typically about 16 or so chips). So you can see how that adds up.

But if you’ve controlled the portions from the start there will not be as much dip to eat to begin with, and if you add celery, there are even fewer to consume. Anyway, you can end up with a 200 calorie snack easy enough. Just make sure it is a snack! As a full meal this would move from just scrumptious to sinful:)

Enjoy!

Matthew Stearmer

At tastes as good and as fancy as it sounds. This is the French for Water Soup with Vegetables and Pesto

I made it just before this post and I’m still licking my lips and I’m going to get seconds as soon as I’m done writing.

This is a great weight loss recipe that is very flavorful, very quick and easy to make and goes a long way. My wife even ate it and enjoyed it – mostly:)

Here is what you do. Chop the following vegetables up before doing anything else

Onion: 6 slices, then diced

Carrots: About 1 dozen baby carrots

Zucchini: 1/2 of a smallish one

Yellow Squash: 1/2 of a smallish one

Celery: 4 stalks

Red Cabbage: 1-2 hand fulls depending on how much you like it.

Garlic: To taste.

Salt: A larger pinch

Now put enough olive oil in a stock pot to cover the bottom. Put in the vegetables and stir on a medium high heat until the veggies start to brown. In between stirring you can chop the following

Parsley – just the leaves. You need a fair amount about a 1/4 bunch

Corn: 1-2 ears of corn with the kernels cut off

Beans: About 1/2 lbs of thin fresh beans. Chop off the ends and then quarter them

Tomatoes: Dice into small bites

Once you added all of these, and they have heated through pour enough water to make it soup like. The more water the more soup, less water – well, then you have a stew.

Let the water boil and it is ready to serve. Dish it up, stir in a pesto sauce (you can just buy it in practically any store) and a little Parmesan cheese and your ready to enjoy!

bon appetit

I am soooooo glad to be eating food again. 2 days is a long time to eat a few veggies and water. I fixed the Chick Pea recipe posted here on the blog and ate that several times. It makes 4 servings and I ate it all over the weekend. Besides that, it was all ice water.

I drank a little over 3 gallons of ice water (16 – 24oz bottles of water: which adds up to almost 400 extra calories burned heating the water). I was peeing like a racing horse. I’m sure you wanted to know that!

With the workouts that I did, lots of yard work, a little walking, and a half hour on the stair climber mode of my elliptical I burned a total of 1800 calories over the weekend.

I consumed approximately 600 calories each day with the Vegetables. The Isagenix Cleans drink and the Isagenix “snacks”.

I’m not 100% sure what my stable metabolic rate would be, but the FDA estimates that the average body needs 1800 calories each day. I think that I need less than that because of my sedentary life style in front of a computer all day. But we’ll go with 1800 for arguments sake. So, that means that I was short 1200 calories each day that my body needed to get internally instead of from food, and that tallies 2400 short fall over the weekend.

So, total calories expended is

400 – water heating

1800 – workout

2400 – diet shortfall

4600 – Total Calories burned over the weekend.

That means I should have lost just 1.5 lbs. And just about any one would tell you that most of what I would have lost over that amount would be muscle or water.

Here is what happened to me.

I lost a little over 8 lbs and the body fat measurement dropped by 2%.

Basically my body was able to give up more fat than the standard mathematics would have otherwise suggested would have happened. To me this is further proof that one of the many reasons we have a hard time losing weight is because of toxins in the body that the fat is required to store away to protect us. As we cleans our bodies of the toxins our bodies are able to release more fat simply because it is not needed any more. I highly doubt that it was water weight give the total amount of water I ingested. I could be wrong, but I would have had to peed about 11 gallons of water over 2 days. That seems even less realistic to believe possible than just losing 8 lbs over the weekend.

Now, I’m not a doctor so I cannot give an official position or recommendation on this, but it sure works for me and it makes sense to me.

I also found that despite the very hard weekend (stress wise), I was able to stick to the cleans a lot better because I knew I was going to have to report it today. So thanks for your help! You kept me honest.

To our future success.

This is a great recipe. I got it from the NY Times. There is a video on how to make it there as well. It is a perfect weight loss recipe. It is very very flavorful, very nutritious and will not blow any diet plan you are on. It is very easy and quick to cook, which to me is essentially to success. And to make it even easier than described below, you can substitute the cooking and grinding your own cumin, with pre-ground cumin to speed things up. But it will taste better if you use the real thing.

This is another one that I think is best eaten quickly and not save too much for leftovers. It only takes a few minutes to make to begin with, so you might as well just cook it fresh so it tastes best.

Time: 10 minutes with precooked chickpeas

1. In a dry pan, toast cumin seeds over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Grind to a powder using a spice mill, coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. If using ground cumin, lightly toast.

2. In a large bowl, toss all ingredients but cilantro. (You can prepare dish up to this point in advance; let sit for up to 2 hours.)

3. Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if you like, garnish with cilantro, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

Bon Appetite!

This is one of the hardest obstacles to weight loss that I can think of. I love my family, and I love to do things together with them. But I am the only one in my immediate family that needs to lose weight. So no matter what diet I pick I have to deal with the fact that my family will not need to be a strict as I will need to be and there is likely going to a lot of food that they will eat that I cannot, and food that I should eat that they will likely not enjoy at all (they are pretty picky eaters).

This is where so may people get killed in their diet and weight loss goals because they simply cannot integrate life into their weight loss needs.

And this is where Isagenix comes in really handy. The weight loss plan is very simple and very easy to add to any life style that you and your family might have.

I’m not sure what your mornings are like, but in my house they are insane. There is barely time for any breakfast, let a lone a sit down one. So there is mot much temptation here. I just do a shake while they are going out the door. They get their Eggo Waffles and I get a great tasting shake.

Then sometime in the morning I will workout. I usually go fairly intensely for 30-60 minutes, and intersperse that with a 1.5-2 hour long walk about once as week.

After the workout I will take a few of the IsaSnacks to help tide me over until lunch.

Now at lunch Janille and I will eat together. There are several meals that I like to take out of the Eating for Life book, that my whole family does enjoy and are still nutritious. I put it in a small bowl and/or plate so my portions stay small. Typically this will put me in the 250-300 calorie range.

Then I will do a shake for a mid afternoon snack.

And for dinner another meal the whole family will enjoy.

And then before bed I will take a few more of the snacks to help curb the appetite so I do not eat too late in the day.

2x Meal

2x Snack

2x Shakes

Not too hard to follow at all. The Isagenix supplements really help control the appetite and the addition of real food with the family in small portions helps me live a regular life while losing weight at the same time.

That is something that I can live with!