What's for Dinner: Pot Roast

As I've spoken about previously, a couple of my goals are to eat healthy meals and to eat at home more often. This is much easier said than done for someone who's culinary expertise extends to boiling spaghetti, and ordering a pizza is technically eating at home, but that doesn't count! Time to start experimenting in the kitchen...

It's not hard to find recipes on the internet. Some are simple and quick, other are more extravagant and can take hours to prepare. My skill level definitely puts me in the simple and quick category, which gave me the idea of making a "What's for Dinner" post. I'll post a recipe and a little about the luck I had making it, as well as a picture of the end result on my plate. This will be a, "if he can make it, anyone can make it" kind-of deal. So, here we go:

Pot Roast

with onions & carrots

2 lb beef chuck roast

1 onion

1 bag carrots

olive oil

salt & pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

1. Cut the onions in quarters so that the layers easily peel apart.

2. Line the bottom of the crock pot with a couple of the outermost edible layers of the onion.

3. Dice the remainder of the onion.

4. Drizzle a little olive oil on the meat and rub it around.

5. Season one side of the meat to taste with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder.

6. Put the meat in the crock pot seasoned side down on top of the onion slices.

7. Add carrots to the pot around the outside of the meat.

8. Olive oil and season top side of the roast and carrots.

9. Sprinkle your remaining diced onion over the top of everything.

10. Cook on low heat until the meat can easily be pulled apart with a fork.

I made this meal yesterday and it turned out great. It literally only took about 5-10 minutes to prepare, and I left it in the crock pot for about 11 hours. Yum! My mom always uses Lipton Onion Soup Mix on top of her roasts and it's really good, but I'm trying to use less processed and more natural ingredients. Maybe next time I'll make a homemade onion soup mix and give that a try.

The two pound roast made about four servings, enought for one generous serving at dinner plus three lunches. You could easily scale this up to make more if your crock pot or roaster had the capacity.

Thanks for stopping by.

http://180experiment.blogspot.com/

Check-In: 1 Week

From time to time I'll post a "check-in" where I review my progress. I've been at this for a little over a week now, so I though I'd briefly make note of some of the things I've done to get this experiment underway.

I am currently reading the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. This book and Mark's blog, Marks Daily Apple, are proving to be my road map on this journey.

I've stopped eating junk food. I haven't had any Cokes, candy bars, cookies, cake, donuts, etc. since I started.

I'm eliminating starches and processed foods. No breads, cereals, tortillas, potatoes, pasta, etc. I say "eliminating" because I still find myself eating some of these items inadvertently - like eating leftover Turkey Stoup that has egg noodles and potatoes (I wasn't willing to throw out an entire batch so I felt it was an ok compromise). My ultimate goal is to avoid these items altogether.

I have been cooking more at home. In the last week I have only eaten out a couple of times at lunch (and even then I made very sensible decisions). Usually we eat out multiple times a week, so this has been a big change.

I'm maintaining a daily food journal at Fitday.com.

I'm weighing myself daily and tracking it in a log.

I'm taking a daily photo of myself for a before and after time lapse.

I started the Power 90 Phase I-II workout DVD.

In retrospect I'd say that it was a pretty positive first week. I set some goals and for the most part have been sticking to them. I think the main thing I've accomplished is becoming more conscience of my food choices. This is something that I've struggled with in the past, so moving forward it will definitely be one of my main focuses.

I will continue to post brief recaps like this one every so often. I think they will be a useful tool to report my progress and help hold myself accountable.

Thanks for stopping by.

http://180experiment.blogspot.com/

Goals

Goals give you something to focus on, something to look forward to. They can be general areas of improvement in your day-to-day life, or they can be specific, measurable milestones you intend to accomplish. But goals can be a tricky thing. Make them too far out of reach and you're only setting yourself up for failure. Make them too easy and there's little sense of accomplishment in achieving them.

The key is to set reasonable goals that can be achieved with a feasible amount of effort. A feasible amount of effort can still mean lots and lots of work. However, it should be something that you can physically achieve.

Finally, it's important to keep in mind that goals are a moving target. There's no reason to beat yourself up over falling a little bit short. Remember, goals are tools to promote positive change in your life. Feel free to adjust them as your life demands.

Most of my current goals are fairly general. You won't find any dates to do something by or a defined number of pounds to lose. I'm focused on making some lifestyle changes that don't really need a finite time frame.

Make better food choices.
Eat at home more often.

Eliminate empty calories.

Eat less processed foods.

Eat more natural foods.

Take my lunch to work.

Maintain a food log.

Move more in my free time.

Spend less time in front of the tv/computer.

Complete P90, followed by P90X.

Start mountain biking again.

Start kayaking again.

Go on a backpacking trip.

Get into 10K shape.

Start trail running.

Finish things I start.

Maintain this blog.

Finish projects around the house.

Pursue my LEED AP Credentialing.

Pick up after myself around the house.

So those are my current goals. As time goes by I'll post on my progress.

Thanks for stopping by.

http://180experiment.blogspot.com/

U-Turn

180 (degree turn)
-noun
1. a reversal in direction
2. a complete reversal in thinking or behavior

experiment 
-verb
1. to try or test, esp. in order to discover or prove something

I once heard human behavior compared to driving on a Freeway. If you're traveling in one direction and would like to be traveling in the other, the only thing to do is exit, turn around, and get back on going the right way. Make a u-turn. The longer you stay on driving in the wrong direction, the further you get from where you really want to be.

I guess I've been driving in the wrong direction for a while now. A poor diet and sedentary lifestyle have turned this once skinny kid into an overweight 30-something. Not where I want to be. Well, it's time to make a change. Time to reverse my behavior and prove that I can become the person that I want to be.

This blog's intent is to provide a measure of accountability for my efforts; a place to define my goals, review my flaws, track my progress, and share my success. If along the way a few people find it to be useful, motivational, or entertaining, then I will consider it a double success.

So, without further ado, time to exit and turn around.

Thanks for stopping by.
http://180experiment.blogspot.com/