Steak Salad

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So, you remember when the Werewolf Fetus turned me, right? Well my love affair with red meat hasn’t abated and neither has his. (Yeah, okay, even the 8 year vegetarian in me thinks watching him wave a piece of steak in the air while yelling “MEAT!” is pretty dang funny.) Apparently some of us were just born to love meat and there isn’t much more to say. Anyway, we all know good steak is hard on the budget, but not when you know the secret to turning the cheap cuts into the best steak you’ve ever eaten.

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The day I found this recipe, I got very excited. You need to plan ahead a little more than doing them the “ordinary” way, but lean, cheap flank steak turns into a meat lover’s dream with this method. It’s so incredibly flavorful that eating it cold as a salad is still amazing. It is tender. It is juicy. It is out of this world. I made the salad with 7 ounces of steak, half a vine ripened tomato, and a bed of romaine lettuce. Add two tablespoons of your favorite dressing and you have the best lunch ever.

So here’s a quick recap of the steak recipe:

Approximately 1.75 lbs of flank steak
2 teaspoons of kosher salt (can’t use fine grained table salt for this)
Garlic powder
Your favorite steak seasoning blend or rub (I like Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning or a little fresh ginger grated over top in addition to garlic powder and black pepper.)

  1. Salt each side of the raw steak with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder. Let it stand one hour per inch of thickness of the steak. (In other words, a 1 1/2 inch thick steak would stand 90 minutes.) There seems to be some flexibility in your time frame, but I haven’t pushed it too far either way.
  2. Rinse well. I mean, REALLY REALLY WELL. I thought I had rinsed well the first time and… let’s just say it’s a good thing I like salt. Then pat dry with a flour sack or other towel that doesn’t have a lot of lint.
  3. Broil or grill to your preferred doneness. We’ve run the gamut and find that the steak is at its juiciest and most tender when prepared medium or medium rare, but, to each their own.
  4. Enjoy half for dinner. Save half so you can enjoy the world’s best lunch tomorrow. Slice into strips when cool.

Dear Fat Pants, Let’s break up.

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In fact, I’d like to break up with the whole concept of “fat pants.” And I want a break from the idea that I have to punish myself and be miserable in order to be healthy. That I’m somehow giving something UP in order to be strong and feel good. “Cheating” on my exercise and eating plan is like cheating at Solitaire… WHO EXACTLY AM I GETTING OVER ON? I’m not playing a game against myself, here, I’m trying to better myself. What I’m trying to tell you, in other words, is “I’m ridiculous.”

Thanks to my wonderful fitness pal Jenn B, and to Chris Freytag’s awesome example (yeah, I’ve mentioned it before), I’m feeling pretty good about this right now. I find it really motivates me to have a buddy- no matter what it is I’m trying to get done, it’s just way more fun when you’re not in it alone. You need someone to encourage you when the way ahead looks really steep, and to high five you when you get to the top! AM I RIGHT?

In other news, since I have all this awesome stress release (5 workouts and 5 walks in 5 days, and counting) and my energy load isn’t being burdened with unhealthy food (I have NOT eaten any of the tortilla chips in the pantry. Go me.) I am more patient with my little people and (dare I say it?) nicer to my husband. Also, I am working WAY ahead on my Holiday To Do list because I don’t want it to get in the way of my health plan in December, so I win again. How about it? Are you in? Grab a pal or follow me on Facebook. We’re checking in every day and discussing our progress on our healthy eating plan and how our workouts have gone- we’d love to hear from you too!

PS- don’t you just LOVE my hair in that photo? Yes, as a matter of fact, YOU MAY have the name of my stylist.

PPS- this project has a Pinterest Board.

Black Bean, Turkey, and Spinach Soup

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Dinner time rolled around and I needed to pull together an awesome meal (that fit into my eating plan!!!) with the ingredients I had on hand. I had ground turkey and black beans! I had a pack of frozen spinach! Sounds like the making of a soup. Since the South Beach diet limits dairy, I needed to make something very delicious without cheese. Normally, I pair bean soups up with cheddar or Parmesan cheese, but tonight I needed to make one that didn’t rely on cheese for flavor. Also, it couldn’t taste too “tomatoey,” or my hubby would not like it. Here’s what I came up with:

9 oz chopped frozen spinach
20 oz ground turkey
1 can black beans (15 oz)
1 can V8 juice (12 oz)
4 cups chicken broth (low fat & sodium)
6 cloves garlic (yes, that’s a lot of garlic!) pressed
1/2 Tbsp each cumin, ancho chili powder, garlic powder, thyme, and paprika
1 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp dried onion flakes

Now, obviously, you should adjust the spices according to your taste, and if you keep a prepared taco seasoning on hand, that would probably work just fine. You could also chop an onion and use that instead of the onion flakes, if you don’t keep them around.

Put the broth, the beans, the V8, and the spinach in your soup pot and bring them to a simmer.

Brown your ground meat with the garlic and, if you’re using fresh, the onion. Add the meat and the spices to the soup and bring it to a simmer. SERVE.

I garnished mine with chopped tomato. It would also be good with some fresh, ripe avocado on top, or, if you don’t have any reason to cut out dairy, CHEESE.

This soup REALLY hit the spot! There’s nothing I love better than fast, filling, HEALTHY food!

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Go look at a baby

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No, really. I mean it. Go look at a baby. Oh, I’m sorry- you might not have one handy. Here you go:
Did your face light up? Did you smile? Did you feel that light go on behind your eyes? Because I’m usually right behind this particular baby, and I can tell you most people react that way. It’s like watching someone plug in the Christmas tree, if you’ll forgive me the non-secular metaphor.

How different would we all be if everyone KEPT looking at us like that when we aren’t babies any more? What if we all saw joy and delight in every face? What would it be like if we could all feel so loved every day?

Hold the Line… Or storm the coast. Something like that.

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My delicious lunch

I haven’t mentioned fitness and health in a while. That’s because, when I get discouraged, I get depressed about it and then I don’t want to talk about it. I have done a few things right. I’ve been walking regularly. I actually did use the South Beach Supercharged book’s recommendations on starting an interval walking program. That took 2 minutes off my 1 mile time over the last few months. So I’ve been moving!!!! But my discouragement and lack of interest has meant I haven’t made as much progress on my goals as I could have.

With the holidays here again it’s time to shake things up. (and maybe see some more progress!!!) I and a friend have started the 10 lb slimdown (again for me, new to her) and South Beach (back on the wagon for both of us!) this morning.

I’m so excited about stepping up my health and fitness and about doing it with my friend that I’ve been as spazzy as a yappy dog all day.

I’ve done my official weigh in, my walk, and the upper body workout. Why don’t you join us? We’re doing the 10 lb slimdown (but you could do whatever you like) which, in addition to Amazon.com, is available from iTunes. We’ll be doing weekly progress reports and we’re doing daily support checkins on Facebook. YES, WE CAN! I like it. 🙂

Monday Progress Report:

Day: 1
The scale has moved: 0
The inches have changed: 0
I feel: Excited! Pumped up! Awesome!!!!

JOIN US!!! Here’s my Day 1 pic. I think my hubby snapped it while I was talking, which accounts for the look on my face. It may be my reaction to him suggesting I let him take the photo without my shirt. I said no. YOU ARE SO WELCOME.

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