colds and food.

Once again, it's Sunday evening and I am left wondering where the weekend went. I've spent most of this weekend in a sinus-induced haze, leaving food tasteless, workouts difficult and even simple tasks like brushing my hair seem like monumental events. People who live with constant sinus problems or allergies never quite know if they're getting sick, or if it's just going to be one of those days that no amount of behind-the-counter Sudafed can fix. It's not quite enough to merit taking a sick day, but just enough to make every single moment of your day completely miserable as you try to trudge through. I wish companies had "sinus days" that I could take without feeling the inevitable guilt I feel when I stay home from work due to serious sinus issues. Sigh. I digress.

Enough about that. The highlight of my weekend involved trying two new recipes. Cooking at home on the weekend is the most difficult part of trying to stay healthy for me - Rob and I visited a breakfast joint down the street for the first time this weekend and my healthy "power wrap" with egg whites, turkey and spinach was the one "eat out" healthy choice I carried through the weekend (I lost whatever pride that choice gave me over a BW3's coma I faced later that day). But I find that when I actually plan recipes I'll enjoy, I'm much more apt to eat at home. I tend not to blog about the food I eat, mainly because the recipes are things I get from other websites or adapt to fit my tastes, so I feel like I'm stealing. And stealing isn't cool. But I need to share this weekend's eats.

Friday night, I tried a new recipe from Skinnytaste, my favorite go-to blogger for healthy, Weight Watchers-friendly eats. I realized that 90% of the time, all I ever eat is chicken. Not that it's a horrible thing, but I rarely branch out to red meats other than the occasional hamburger or taco night, and figured an inexpensive cut of steak was a good start since we're on a budget (I'd spend our life savings at the grocery store trying new things if I could). We made grilled flank steak with tomatoes, black beans and corn.  I rarely cook with avocados, and Rob was aching for me to include them in a recipe so I threw those into the mix as well. Honestly, this is awesome. The steak cooks in no time, and after you're done chopping all the goodies for your "salad," the whole thing comes together nicely and is a simple, different meal if you're the go-to chicken person like I am. Here's a pic of my finished product (perfect grilling courtesy of my fantastic fiance)! 

The leftovers held up great, and I actually bought flank steak again today, because Rob is desperate to make our own version of Chipotle. The plan is to stick with the original recipe, but also marinade the steak in a cilantro lime marinade ahead of time, and I'm going to throw it all on top of the best cilantro lime rice ever.  Yes, I like lime and cilantro, a lot. They add awesome flavor without adding calories, so it's clear that these ingredients become my closest friends. We'll see how this goes - I will keep you all posted, because I know you're hanging on my every word.

Today was chili day. I should probably note that Rob and I heavily disagree on how chili should taste. I grew up on chili that used ketchup as its tomato base, which may sound weird but it's become so normal to me that I prefer it over anything else. Rob thinks this is blasphemy, and wishes I would take a more "chili" approach. Today, our recipe went as follows:

1.25 lbs ground beef, cooked

2 cans Brooks mild chili beans

1 14.5 oz can garlic fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup

1 T. brown sugar

Chili pepper and cumin to taste 

("to taste:" my fancy food blogger term for "I have no idea how much I used")

I should probably note that the ketchup is also an estimate, as I left Rob directions and came home to a crockpot of mystery chili that ended up tasting kind of awesome. Brown the beef in a pan ahead of time, then throw all the ingredients in the crockpot and let it sit for a good 4-5 hours. 

This chili needs something still. It needs a packet of chili mix, or something to pump up the flavor (honestly, my sinuses could have also rendered my taste buds numb), but it's on its way to becoming a version of chili Rob and I can agree upon. Now, here comes the fun part.

I often make spaghetti with chili and Rob insists on setting the store-bought Skyline cheese out so it's room temperature when we have "Skyline nights." But tonight, I was aching for french fries and thought chili cheese fries would be a great fix. I honestly forget where I got the recipe for oven baked fries that don't completely suck, so forgive me if you've all seen this and I'm an idiot for just now getting the memo.

2 russet potatoes, cut however thin/thick you like your fries. I leave the skin on.

fresh cracked pepper and salt

olive oil

1 very large bowl of ice cold water

*serves me, and one hungry man

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cut the potatoes however you like (I like mine pretty standard - think Wendy's cut), and then let them sit in a bowl of ice cold water (yep, even put ice cubes in the bowl) for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and dry the potatoes and put them back in the bowl. Toss in olive oil (sorry, can't tell you how much on this one either, just don't soak them or they'll end up super greasy. A little goes a long way). Spread on a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, flip fries and bake 20 more minutes. Pardon my less-than-stellar photography skills, as this was taken halfway into my meal when I realized I should probably tell you how awesome these are.

I know. This is so simple, and you're all thinking "okay seriously, we're not idiots, we can make french fries." But the ticket to these is really soaking them in ice cold water. It makes them crispy and not like the soggy oven-baked-fry-fails you've had before. Wherever I saw this, it was Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe, because clearly she is the only person in the history of cooking to have ever put potatoes in ice cold water and should be given all the credit in the world. She's lucky I like her. 

Ohio University kids - take your finished fries, top them with that chili and smother in room temperature Skyline cheese, and you will be taken back to O'Betty's heaven. I don't know, maybe I'm totally insane and I just miss OU from the bottom of my heart, but this unintentionally brought me back to sitting on the curb consuming a giant tray of these guys after last call mega mugs at Red Brick. And the best part about the whole thing is that really, it's not that awful for you. While I'm a big advocate for low carb, I will allow myself the occasional potato because really, it's a natural food anyway. These fries, chili-smothered or not, are a great alternative when you're really craving something totally sinful. Rob thinks they'd be awesome with different seasonings, so we'll see how that turns out in the future.

This is my first real shot at chatting about recipes, because I don't think it's worth it to re-tell you all about my favorite Skinnytaste, Pioneer Woman and Emily Bites recipes. I will, however, continue to tell you when things are awesome, if you're interested in reading about it. 

As this week begins, I am facing a crappy cold and an upcoming weekend of zero working out. Here's to hoping that my self-control can win this week and make the right eating choices that result in a loss at my weigh in. Hope everyone has a great week! :)