Tuesday, April 19, 2016

April 19th, 2016 Worth The Investment

April 19th, 2016 Worth The Investment

If you know me well, you know I've never really used recipes. I tend to wing it in the kitchen. As much as this seems to work for me most of the time, it also tends to limit my selection. If you've ever thought, "Hmmm...Sean seems to eat the same things all the time," as if my favorites are on a limited rotation of some kind, I've got a surprise for you this time!

My food selection isn't bad at all--I do know what I like, and I don't eat anything I don't, but I'm also open to learning new things. Meeting Joy Bauer and learning more about what she does, inspired me to open up and try some things.

The first recipe I tried from Joy's latest book, From Junk Food To Joy Food, was Barbecue "Ribs." I chose this one for a reason.

Several years ago, after learning of the BBQ Rib menu at a special function I was set to attend, I did my calorie counting research and was absolutely appalled at what I found. One single rib, depending on size, could be anywhere from 250 calories to 450 or more---for one rib!! 

It didn't fit into my calorie budget at all. So I declined the ribs on that occasion. And on every other occasion since...

Because it was that night, on my blog--over six years ago, I declared ribs off limits simply based on calorie value. Spending my calories like cash each day from my Calorie Bank & Trust, requires me to make "investment decisions." And I concluded there would never be a circumstance worth the investment required for BBQ Ribs.

Until now.

In the book, Joy wrote, "I totally rethought ribs." And now, I have too!!

I couldn't find a sugar free BBQ Sauce, so I made my own.--and following Joy's recipe for the ribs, the double serving (8oz) checked in at a very manageable 389 calories. The entire plate--with fresh cut and baked sweet potato fries and a mini ear of corn, was 637 calories (see the Tweet below)

I'm impressed.  

Incredibly delicious--with all the taste of meaty-dripping with sauce, ribs. It was plenty of food (more than enough, actually)--and a great calorie value!

To make the sugar free BBQ Sauce, I used a 16oz can of tomato sauce, 50g minced yellow onion, a fresh garlic clove-minced, 8 tblspns sugar free Polaner-All Fruit Peach spread, a teaspoon of chili powder, a teaspoon of paprika, salt, pepper and 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.

I used the olive oil in a pan for the onions and garlic--mixed it in with everything else and simmered it for awhile... my goodness, it was perfect--it was sugar free bbq sauce!!

I added all ingredients into a recipe in MyFitnessPal--then poured into small individual serving containers--I took the total calorie count and divided by the number of small cups... 6 servings, 86 calories each. I used 1.5 for tonight's dinner.

Today was really good. I honored my plan by maintaining the integrity of my maintenance calorie budget, I remained abstinent from refined sugar, I exceeded my daily water goal by 16oz and I had a great workout at the gym.

And I added another fantastic food item to my list of favorites!

I was planning to write a completely different post tonight--all about experiences with the mental and emotional side of weight loss--but I'll wait another night. Tonight was all about ribs!

Today's Live-Tweet Stream:


















































Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 20, 2016 at 4:53 AM

    So smart just make your own! Robin W.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 20, 2016 at 5:59 AM

    The sauce looks great, Sean! I DVRed Joy's PBS special, have not gotten to watch the whole thing yet, but what I have seen looks great....may have to get the book. I have another of hers for healing foods.

    Dede

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 20, 2016 at 8:15 AM

    I eat ribs with great regularity, also making my own sauce, but that recipe sounds delish! might have to try it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dupsterApril 20, 2016 at 10:48 AM

    Yesterday at the hospital waiting for hubs to have his latest procedure, I was looking at an old Women's Day magazine, and found one of Joy's recipes for brownie bites. http://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/food-drinks/recipes/a53711/brownie-bites/
    They're only 68 calories, but probably have some stuff you don't eat in them: mini chocolate chips, pure maple syrup, corn starch???, I'm not sure what exactly "refined sugar" is in, but since I still allow myself a little of the stuff, I'm going to try them. The big problem I see with this is that the recipe makes 24 of the "bites." How will I limit myself to one or two per day? That is always a problem. Maybe I could freeze them in small portions of two?

    ReplyDelete
  5. RettaApril 20, 2016 at 2:55 PM

    If I don't want to make my own, this is the one we buy; they have several different flavors: Guy's BBQ Sauce; sugar free, with just a touch of sucralose at the end of the ingredients list.
    http://www1.netrition.com/guys_bbq_sauce.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. LilleypadApril 20, 2016 at 8:27 PM

    Excited for your addition to what is YOUR food.

    I'd have never thought of using the fruit spread...I will add that to my "clueless gourmet" bag of tricks.

    I don't like having the same meal two nights in a row, usually, but I don't mind freezing portions. Do you know if your bbq sauce would freeze well?

    Your dinner looked yummy.

    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete

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