Recipe Weekend - Brown Fried Rice

Each week Carrie and I want to post a recipe of something we have been cooking while trying to lose the weight. We're going to try to include some of the nutritional info too but can't guarantee it's 100% accurate. Should be close though.

We both really like Chinese food. Stir fry, fried rice, etc. It turns out that fried rice can be really easy to make. This recipe is a bit more involved, but it sure tastes good. It also reheats nicely.

Approx nutrition:
Servings/batch: 9 (1½ C each)
Calories: 325
Fat: 13 g
Dietary Fiber: 3.3 g
Weight Watcher Points (old method): 7

I'm a bit dubious about the amount of fat (and related calories) since we trim pretty much all visible fat from the roast, but maybe it's right. To reduce the calories from fat, use less beef, use chicken or substitute firm tofu for some/all of the beef. You can cut way back on the oil too.

Ingredients:

• 4½ C Brown Rice (1½C before cooking)
• 1 lb beef chuck roast, trimmed
• 2 large eggs
• 12 oz frozen vegetables (California mix - broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• 2 C chopped celery
• 1 medium yellow onion - chopped
  
• ½ of an 8 oz can LaChoy bamboo shoots
• 8 oz can LaChoy water chestnuts
• ¼ C light Kikoman soy sauce
• 3 Tbs minced garlic
  
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• ¾ C water
  
• 1 Tbs peanut or sesame oil

This made a pretty big batch (over 3½ quarts.) If you want less, cut amounts in half. You'll need a pretty large frying pan (with a lid) or a bowl big enough to mix everything together in at the end.

Cut roast into cubes. Start cooking rice according to directions on bag. In med-high pan, add the oil and beef, 1 Tbs garlic, onions and pinch of salt. Fry until well browned. Set beef mixture aside.

In same pan all of the remaining ingredients except the eggs. Cover and simmer on med-high, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender. Whisk the eggs and keep them handy. Remove cover and boil (stirring occaionally) until most of the water is gone. When you can push the vegetables out of the center of the pan without it filling back up with liquid right away, scramble the eggs in the center.

Remove from heat and mix in beef and rice when it is done cooking (which is usually about the same time everything else is done when we make it.)

Weigh In - Cory

324 today. Down 6+ lbs since Jan 1.

Counting Calories - how?

The first thing we had to do was figure out how much we can/should eat. After searching for a while we found this calorie needs calculator. Based on my info if I want to lose 2-3 pounds a week I should be in the 1750-2250 range.

So, just add up the calorie info from the foods you eat and make sure the total is in that range, right? Sure, as long as everything you eat has a nutrition label. Unfortunately, our hens don't lay eggs with labels and the onions at our store don't have labels either. That's where this nutrition data search site comes in.

What about foods you cook? Add up the info from the various ingredients (from the labels or search results) for the entire dish. Then divide by the number of servings in the final dish. The hardest part for me is usually figuring out how many proper-sized servings that is. We usually look up something similar and see how many calories that would be.

An Example - Today's Totals
Breakfast: Breakfast burrito with 2 eggs, garlic humace, fried onions, EV olive oil and salsa on a burrito shell. Total: 325 calories (1425-1925 remaining)

Misc: Several coffees with milk and sugar. Total: 150 calories (1250-1775)

Morning snack: Corn chips (1 serving) and guacamole (2 Tbs). Total: 176 calories (1099-1599)

Lunch: Ground chuck hamburger (3 oz), bun, pepper-jack cheese (1 oz), ketchup, mustard, onions, green and red peppers w/ 1 cup milk. Total: 479 calories (620-1120)

Afternoon snack: Pistachio nuts (49). 170 calories (450-950)

Dinner: Brown fried rice (2 Cups, recipe coming soon). 494 calories (456 left for 2 lb/week loss... over the 3 lb limit.)

Snack: Yogurt (6 oz container). 140 calories (316)

That is a total of 1934 calories. Unless there are foods I didn't keep track of during the day, that would leave me somewhere over a 2-1/2 lb/week range.

It's time...

I REALLY need to start writing everything down in a tablet and keep it with me at work at all times.  I know I eat too much in the day and I have to SEE this to believe exactly what I do eat.  I think I will be surprised really.  I have been doing much better the last couple days...I can tell by how I feel.  I'm going to do a sample day tomorrow at work just out of curiosity.  Then will continue through the rest of the week as well. 

Nature Abhors a Calorie Vacuum

At least that is my theory. It helps explain why attempting to lose weight causes anti-diet activity around you.

I've found that losing weight causes...

• your friends and co-workers to invite you to join them for lunch more often.
• others to pick the more fattening places to eat out.
• the sudden appearance of snacks, candy and/or pastries around your workplace.
• you to win or be given free meals, gift cards or coupons for dining out.

I must have done well over the weekend because today it seems that everywhere I went at work there were doughnuts and other pastry sitting around for the taking. I wasn't so surprised about the (very yummy looking) doughnuts in the break room, but what's with the tray of apple turnovers on the table in the computer lab?

Weigh in day?

Have to figure out what day to weigh in weekly.  I'm thinking Friday because weekends usually suck for me most weeks.  I'm at work and never know what can happen there.  I should be confident that I will do well but I'm not yet.  This last weekend went good though I have to say :D  I think this next Friday will be my weigh in day and I'm sure Cory won't care what day he weighs in.  He's doing so good too :D I'm very proud of him!  I'm not doing perfect but I'm doing ok.  I do feel i have lost something!  I just hope it's enough so I want to keep going.  I wish it were spring so I could walk outside without freezing :(  AND I really want my treadmill to work again :( 
Carrie

Counting Calories?

Unfortunately, what we are doing to lose weight isn't as simple as looking for a number on a pre-packaged "lean" meal. First off, most of what we are eating isn't pre-packaged. Secondly, most of those meals aren't very filling and I'm ready for more way too soon.

We also found out that the average American (us included) no longer knows how much a "serving" is of most foods. Meals served at fast food and other restaurants have been growing in an effort to "out big" the competition. Just because you are getting "more" food for your money doesn't mean you are getting a real value for your meal.

All of that means we need to count calories and actually measure out servings. As we get a feel for which foods provide the most nutrition, flavor and satisfaction we have been able ease off counting calories.

The whole process is pretty eye opening. When making a chicken dish early on we had a piece of breast we figured was about a serving. It was actually two. I remember looking at 1/2 of that and thinking... man, we're going to starve eating like this. But, after adding proper servings of vegetables and a potato with toppings the final meal was so filling that neither of us actually finished everything on our plates.

On the other hand, if you plan to just eat less of the same foods you always ate then you are setting yourself up to fail. A lot of what we eat every day gets most of its taste from sugar, salt and fat. So most of it is high calorie, low fiber (less filling, hungry again faster) and low on nutrients.

For example, if I were to head down to the local BK and get a large double whopper w/ cheese value meal, I'd be getting pretty much ALL of the calories someone should eat for the entire day. I'd also only be getting a fraction of most of the nutrients we need. I definitely wouldn't be satisfied all day. In fact with a regular diet like that I'd be craving more food due to vitamin deficiencies. Yet that is what millions of us eat on a pretty regular basis.