Perfect Design II Day 8: Chili Winner but No Weight Loser

The Mistress and her "Major Award"

It's a major award! Well, not really, but it is my first cooking award! First place at a Georgia Chili Contest-- whoop whoop!

JP wanted to go to a car event on Sunday-- he has a really cool retro '66 Ford Econoline Van-- and this was a chance to get together with a bunch of dudes to talk about their sweet rides. We took picture of our van (baby blue on the far left) with two other Econolines. It was literally, "Vans Down By The River"--- for any of you familiar with the hilarious Saturday Night Live skit.

Vans Down By The River

The bonus for me, was that it was also the Ford Owners Annual Chili Cook Off! I've been wanting to compete in a chili contest since I came up with this killer recipe. And, the Mistress did not disappoint...I won 1st place-- the "Hottest and Most Unique Flavor" as the judge described. Yay for me!

Here's the recipe-- and it's the REAL recipe. I expect any and all winnings sent to me if you enter this and win a contest!

Feel free to substitute the ground beef for ground chicken, turkey, bison, or even tofu, for any vegetarians out there. The key to the flavor is the chipotles and the beer. It is spicy, so if you're not a fan of heat, then cut back on the chipotles and jalapeños.

JP named this:

"Slap Yo Mama It's So Good" Chili....

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef (sometimes the butcher will label it “chili mix”-- the beef is thicker than regular hamburger meat)

1 pound spicy sausage (I use Jimmy Dean HOT sausage)

3 Tablespoons butter

2 medium or 1 large yellow/white onion diced

4-5 garlic cloves diced

2 jalapeno peppers diced (not seeds)

2 cans Rotel tomatoes (original)

1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste

1 can of red beans with juice (Kidney)

1/4 cup honey

4 Tablespoons BBQ sauce

1 Tablespoon Tabasco sauce

4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (diced with seeds), plus 4 Tablespoons of sauce

1 12 oz bottle amber beer

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups of beef stock (I prefer using "Better Than Bouillon" paste. You boil 2 cups of water and add 2 Tablespoons of the paste and mix.)

2 Tablespoons Cumin

4 Tablespoons Chili powder

1 Tablespoon Garlic powder

1 Tablespoon Onion powder

2 Tablespoons Paprika (Hungarian/spicy is best)

2 Tablespoons Brown sugar

1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper

1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

2 Tablespoons Black pepper

4 ears corn on cob

Bunch of Scallions

Shredded cheese

In a large saucepan, brown chili meat and sausage. Do not drain.

In a separate frying pan, melt butter and saute onion, garlic and jalapeno until soft, 5-7 minutes. Add to beef saucepan and stir to combine. Add all the spices to the beef mixture and saute over medium heat until combined...Pour in everything else and simmer for 2-3 hours!

***

On the workout/diet front, I'm reaching new levels of frustration with my weight plateau. Over the last month since I finished bootcamp, I seem to gain and lose the same 4-5 pounds. My range has been 162-167 (depending on whether I'm carrying a gluten baby!) I'm still down from my original 176+ pounds, but I'm ready to get back to the teeny, tiny, version of ME!

I cannot for the life of me, seem to dip into the 150's. It's freaking driving me nuts. I know I need to get better about diet. I'm not snacking as much while on the chrono-nutrition plan, but I had to start cutting back the carbs a bit--- it was too much to have a full 1 cup of rice/potatoes at lunch. Today I had between 1/2-3/4 cup of rice with chicken-- and I've started adding a few more veggies back into lunch. Dinner is always a struggle for me. MUST NOT EAT CARBS.

I think the wine during the week isn't helping my fight, either. It adds calories and usually encourages binge eating-- or at least a second helping!

My workouts, on the other hand, have been great-- I love the Perfect Design series and I finally treated myself to a new pair of kicks.... Saucony Progrid Kinvaras. I LOVE them! I literally had worn a hole in my old dance cardio shoes!

My new dance cardio shoes

I'm going to try to be more vigilant about tracking my calories and making smart food decisions. It is frustrating for me to be working out so consistently and then ultimately, sabotaging my progress by overeating or eating the wrong things.

Do you girls struggle with consistent diet??? Fill a sister in-- any and all advice would be awesome!

xxoo