Demo - Outdoorsy

I was in the mood for chili yesterday and after doing some experimenting with  Sweet Potato chips on Friday I got the great idea to make Frito pie. Now when I make Chili I sort of “wing it” as far as a recipe and use things I have laying around the kitchen, so I tried to write down this recipe as best I could. The best thing about winging it with chili is that every chili comes out new and excited but the bad part is, it’s hard for me to replicate a really good chili over again. This batch turned out smoky with a sweet taste from the squash and the andoullie sausage. Yum!

Chili:

1 pound Grass fed ground beef

2 links nitrate free Andoullie sausage, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 jalapeños, chopped and pitted

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch cilantro

1 cup butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

2 14 oz cans  no salt added  organic diced tomatoes in juice

1 cup beef broth

Salt to taste

1 tbsp cumin

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

water

 

In a large pot heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium high. Add onions, garlic, and jalapeños and sauté until the onions are translucent, about  10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a large skillet brown the ground beef and sausage until cooked. Set aside.

In a food processor, add 1 tbsp olive oil and cilantro. Blend until it becomes a thick paste and add water until it forms a saucy consistency. set aside.

Add the Mushrooms and squash to the pot with the onions and sauté for 3ish minutes or until the mushrooms have begun to shrink. Add the meat to the pot and let everything cook together for about 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Add cans of tomatoes and beef broth and cilantro sauce. add in all spices and stir. Bring to a boil and then set heat to low and let simmer for 1-2 hours. It depends on how think you want your chili. I wanted mine thick this time so I let it simmer for over 2 hours to reduce and thicken. ( If you don’t have beef broth, chicken broth or water would work just as well)

 

Sweet Potato Chips

2-3 large sweet potatoes

olive oil

coconut oil

grapeseed oil

salt

Peel the sweet potatoes. I cut mine using the slicer in my food processor so they come out uniform. If you don’t have access to one of these you can cut them yourself. They can be as thick or thin as you like. Just remember the thicker they are the longer the cooking time will be.

If you have a deep fryer, this part will be much less time consuming. If not, place an amount of oil in a large skillet so that the oil is about 1/2 inch high, enough to cover your chips. Heat up to 375 if you have a thermometer or heat to med high. Know your stove, mine is a lot hotter than it says it is. Test one chip and get a feel for if the oil is hot enough, too hot etc and how long it needs to cook for. you will need to watch the chips at all times. When one side is golden brown, flip it over. The point here is to get rid of the moisture in the potatoes, so if your chips are coming out and ending up a little soggy, they need to cook longer.

When your chips are done place them on a plate with some paper towels to catch the excess oil. Salt them if you like and then put them in a large bowl. I found that it’s best to salt them immediately after taking them out of the oil so the salt sticks.

The same technique would work to make sweet potato chips. I also tried a few squash chips which turned out great but required a different cooking time because they have so much more moisture. As long as you stay by the pan, flipping and checking your chips, you can’t go wrong. 

 

Guacamole

3-4 Large avocados

1 bunch cilantro

1 clove garlic

1 jalapeño

salt to taste

1/2 tsp cumin

juice from 1 small lemon

 

place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the consistency is what you want. If you are going by hand, mince the cilantro, garlic, and jalapeño and place all the ingredients in a bowl and mash with a masher or a fork, or use a mortar and pedestal if you have one.

 

 

The Piece de Resistance

Putting it all together,

In your bowl, put a layer of chips, then pile on the chili, then put some more chips on top and a big dollop of guac…. mmmmmmm Diego Approved! Garnish with chopped avocado, peppers, cilantro, lime wedges, cabbage…. whatever your little hear desires.

When I talk to people about Clean Eating and specifically Paleo, I get a lot of confused, shocked, and resistant faces. What I have found in my years in this industry is that asking people to give up sugar is a no brainer. People have come to expect that if they want to eat healthier, they need to give up sugar and other white products like white rice, refined flour, etc. But asking people to give up ALL GRAINS, BEANS, and ALL DAIRY... whatsoever... is like asking them to get naked and speak in front of thousands of people.

When I was first presented with the Paleo diet "rules" I know I did the same thing. For me the grains part was easier to understand than the dairy part, especially since in the past my "healthy" way of eating often involved eating a lot more dairy products than normal like string cheese and yogurt. Often when we have a fitness or health goal we are presented with ways of eating that I now consider excuse diets; diets that allow people an easy way out.

For Example:

No sugar? Have as much fake, laboratory-produced sugar as you want, even if it’s a neurotoxin. Who cares at least you won’t be taking in calories.

You hate cooking? No problem, don’t learn how to cook and eat over processed, chemical ridden frozen meals that have as much nutritional value as a cardboard box.

Count your Calories! No need to worry about what’s in your food or where it came from, or if it will even get into your cells for your body to use.

The diet industry of today has you running around in circles believing that there is some magical,easy way out. I am so sick and tired of people trying to make hard things easier by cutting corners. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”

I really believe that this is a huge reason people are such yo-yo dieters. If you don’t re-learn what you know about food; how it affects you, how you shop for it, how you cook it, and how you eat it you will never learn any way of eating that will be sustainable for you. Remember those factors for later.

Key Point: Something that sounds sustainable for you in the future right now… to the person you are now whom you are trying to make life changes to…. probably sounds this way because it is still in your comfort zone. If I have learned anything in this life it’s that in order to grow and change we have to go OUTSIDE of our comfort zone. I know this because at one time, I didn’t think I would be able to I could sustain a life without cheese or ice cream or even ENJOY it. But I did and I’ve never enjoyed eating more than I do now.

In this series of blogs I am going to give you the down low (DL) on the 4 absolute musts that you need to learn (either for the first time from a different perspective) if you want to create a healthy way of eating that you will be able to sustain and enjoy for the rest of your life.

· How Food Effects You

· How to Shop for and Cook Food

· How to Eat Food

· How to make it a part of your NEW YOU!

I will go over things things like how body composition, emotions, energy level, performance and health are related to insulin, hormone regulation, gluten, lectins, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and other foods and non-foods we put into our bodies. We will go more in depth about what to look for in the grocery store, reading labels, and creating and finding great recipes for your weekly meal planning. And lastly I will give you some great tips along the way to begin to implement these changes in your life. Look for the DL on insulin in the next blog. I look forward to questions and empowering you to make more healthy decisions.