So, at the start of the year I share the rather dismal results of my new commitment to working out. But I plodded along, and have lost a little. A very little, but enough that I no longer glare at the scales with contempt. A while back, I engaged in the second half of the battle, the one I find much more difficult to take on.
Eating less.
It isn't really that...well, never mind. No sense qualifying it. But there is that elusive quality whose general scarceness drives most of our multi-trillion dollar economy: self-control.
I am not one for fad diets, nor particularly for counting calories. I am not looking for losing ten pounds in two weeks. I am looking to change my habits which is one of the more difficult things a person can do.
So I decided with a simple one: no seconds. I don't usually enjoy seconds all the much anyway. Mostly I just eat them because they are there. And I don't feel like saving that last serving. And throwing food away is bad. Still, it occurred to me that it probably does less damage in the trash can than it does on my hips so I decided they could go. In the refrigerator, to the dog, in the trash...it didn't really matter.
It was working rather well. I was pretty good at sticking with it and actually felt better at the end of the day not having eaten more than I really even wanted, much less needed. But then came my nemesis.
The problems with this recipe are manifold.
To make up for a few days of feasting, I decided to just have a salad for dinner tonight. With no dressing. Which I don't like very much, so I decided to add some tortilla chips and salsa to it to give it some flavor but not so much of that other stuff that usually comes along with flavor. And as I was crumbling chips over my salad, you know what just popped into my mind?
Eating less.
It isn't really that...well, never mind. No sense qualifying it. But there is that elusive quality whose general scarceness drives most of our multi-trillion dollar economy: self-control.
I am not one for fad diets, nor particularly for counting calories. I am not looking for losing ten pounds in two weeks. I am looking to change my habits which is one of the more difficult things a person can do.
So I decided with a simple one: no seconds. I don't usually enjoy seconds all the much anyway. Mostly I just eat them because they are there. And I don't feel like saving that last serving. And throwing food away is bad. Still, it occurred to me that it probably does less damage in the trash can than it does on my hips so I decided they could go. In the refrigerator, to the dog, in the trash...it didn't really matter.
It was working rather well. I was pretty good at sticking with it and actually felt better at the end of the day not having eaten more than I really even wanted, much less needed. But then came my nemesis.
Tortilla Soup
4 chicken breast halves
2 15 oz cans black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans Rotel tomatoes
1 cup salsa
4 oz can chopped green chilies
141/2 oz can tomato sauce
tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese
Throw all but the last two items in the slow cooker and cook on low for eight hours. Serve over tortilla chips and top with cheese.
4 chicken breast halves
2 15 oz cans black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans Rotel tomatoes
1 cup salsa
4 oz can chopped green chilies
141/2 oz can tomato sauce
tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese
Throw all but the last two items in the slow cooker and cook on low for eight hours. Serve over tortilla chips and top with cheese.
The problems with this recipe are manifold.
- I was the only one who liked it, leaving an entire slow cooker full of tortilla soup no one but me would touch.
- I love spicy food.
- I love tortilla soup anyway, and this one was very good.
- I do not get very much spicy food because I am the only one who eats it.
- I tend to eat too much spicy food when we have it because, well, because who knows when I'll get it again?
- The beans and chicken made it very filling...one bowl was plenty.
- But I liked it soooooo much that one bowl just wasn't enough.
- And it was soup, right? Two bowls of soup is like one serving, right?
To make up for a few days of feasting, I decided to just have a salad for dinner tonight. With no dressing. Which I don't like very much, so I decided to add some tortilla chips and salsa to it to give it some flavor but not so much of that other stuff that usually comes along with flavor. And as I was crumbling chips over my salad, you know what just popped into my mind?
I bet some of that tortilla soup would be really good on this!And it was.
