Lesson learned…never say recipe coming soon, cause ain’t nothing soon about 5 months later.
NuDad’s Meatballs for Baby Girl
Finely chop the following and set aside:
- 5 Large Carrots
- 3 Whole Celery Stalks
- 1 Medium Onion
- 8-10 Large Garlic Cloves (yes, that much garlic)
- Fresh or Dried Parsley (optional, but really adds complementary color)
- One Pack of Frozen Spinach (After thawed of course)
Other ingredients
- 2 lbs Jenny-O Lean Ground Turkey (93/7)
- 4 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup of Aborio Rice (or any rice you have on hand)
- 1 Cup of Finely Grated Parmesan Reggianno Cheese
- 1 Egg
- Kosher Salt (up to you how much)
First, start boiling the rice in a small sauce pan. It’s not necessary to use the normal process of cooking risotto. Just cook it like you would normally cook rice. Should take less than 20 minutes to get to al dente. Remember, it will continue cooking once the meatballs are in the oven.
In a large dutch oven or pot, add olive oil and bring to medium high heat. Add carrots and salt and let saute. This is the only point where I add salt because it will carry through in flavor into the meat and other ingredients.
Once the carrots are soft and getting golden in color, add celery, onion, garlic and parsley. Stir this constantly to avoid burning. The combination of these ingredients will give off a great aroma. Once all ingredients are soft, turn off the heat and set aside.
In a large mixing boil combine the cooked vegetable mixing with the spinach. If you do this while the spinach is still relatively cold, it’ll help cool the veggie mixer. Use a fork to mix this thoroughly. Add the cup of cheese and continue mixing.
At this point, mix in half the cooked risotto and determine if you want to add the other half. The risotto is replacing bread crumbs, so you have decide whether you want your meatballs more starchy or meaty. If more starchy, add more risotto.
Add the meat to mixture and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. You could used your hand, but I’ve found a wooden spoon to do a better job.
Lastly, add the egg and continue mixing. You can either beat the egg before adding or add it whole. You now have a base mixture to make large or small meatballs. Or, you could use this same mixture to make a great turkey meatloaf. They’re both great tasting.
I bake the meatballs but you could fry them or cook them in a tomato sauce. If you bake them, the cooking time will depend on their size. I make 2 ounce versions and bake them for about 20 minutes total (10 min on each side).
Enjoy!
My 16 month-old daughter is a picky eater. She really only likes chicken nuggets and grilled cheese sandwiches. So this is an attempt to expand her diet with a deceptive meatball, packed with veggies and other good stuff.
It’s also great for grown ups in a larger, less bite sized version…
Recipe coming soon.
After the first two days being back on P90X, I’m in a lot of pain. I did Chest & Back on day one and Plyometrics yesterday. I’m not worried, as this normally doesn’t last very long. By the end of the week, all should be good. The Classic version of the program is very different from the Lean program.
I restarted P90X again today, just over a year after beginning the program. Back then, I was looking forward to at least finishing the 90-day program. About half way through the program, I developed a serious case of diverticulitis and spent a month and half fighting it off with multiple prescriptions of antibiotics. Needless to say, when I recovered, I wasn’t very motivated to start working out immediately.
A few seasons have passed and after today’s workout, I realized that I missed working out and the P90X program.
In addition to P90X, the wife and I started Weight Watchers a few months ago and we’ve both had success in losing weight.
So, why not combine the two? Weight Watchers eating is designed for weight loss and has a system for factoring in exercise (even high intensity.) P90X is an exercise plan designed for strength and agility and has a system for factoring in nutrition. We shall see how this works…
A major difference between today’s start and last year’s is experience. I knew what to expect today in terms of the intensity and I know how to pace myself in order to finish a workout and/or get the maximum result for the day. You can’t immediately do everything they do on the DVD, but eventually you will.
Just takes time…
Sometimes, those two or three things you keep ignoring or neglecting to do become complete and utter road blocks to any forward progress you have in mind.
No matter how many times you hear “one step forward, two steps back”, until you actually walk it, you don’t see it.
Had to do a little business down at City Hall today. When I parked in the crowed Atlanta streets, I paid the meter for two hours, just in case I hit one of those “city” waiting lines inside. Luckily, I was out within 20 minutes.
As I walked back to my car to leave, I noticed a young woman trying to pay the electronic meter unsuccessfully with dollar bills. In her frustration, she screamed out loud before walking away. Seeing that I had another hour and change on my ticket, I decided to give her my space and remaining time.
Her surprise and appreciation was instant; such an immediate transformation from one state of mind to the next as of result if what I did felt a bit euphoric in hindsight.
Later in the day, I had another opportunity to get a second dose of that feeling as I drove behind a car with an obvious flat tire. In the past, I’ve pulled up to folks to let them know. Today was no different. However, as I pulled along side the car to alert the unsuspecting driver of his pending calamity, I made a judgement based solely on the look on his face and decided he didn’t deserve a second good act from me for today.
I batted .500 for the day…
I’ve stepped away from this blog for a while. Reasons are many but unimportant at this point. Will be shifting the focus and the voice of it a bit, speaking more inwardly than outwardly, if that makes any sense.
Later…
It wasn’t easy, but I’ve finished my first phase of P90X. I’m on the Lean program. I start phase two today with Core Synergistics kicking off the week. I took a sneak peek at the new Chest DVD and it looked pretty intense. I’m worried and excited at the same time.
Lessons Learned
Phase one taught me that the “P” in P90X should stand for “pace” and not “power”. Pace got me through this grueling four week schedule. If you’re getting back into exercising after years of being a couch potato like me, then jumping head first into P90X and attempting to do everything you see on the DVD is the sucka move. You can try, but you won’t make it past week one, especially if you attempt the Classic level.
You’re more likely to finish this program by knowing your limits and doing what you can. Focus on finishing the 60 minute workout, not doing 20 pull-ups. There’s a difference, and you’ll understand it when you’ve mastered your pace.
My eating has also been a major factor in this. This is the first time that I’ve had such an intense workout and not seen the scale move drastically in the downward direction. Part of the reason for this is because I am adding muscle mass to my frame, which I can feel today. I do feel that my cloths are much looser on my body than a month ago. However, I also believe that the scale has fallen so little because there are still a few luxuries I’ve failed to part with…pasta, rice, mayo and margarine.
Among these margarine will be the hardest to kick, with mayo being a close second. However, I feel like this second phase should bring with it a noticeable difference in my physical transformation. So, I’ve decided to push myself a bit further, still doing “something different” in small increments, to get to the next level.
I’ve beaten the need for sugar and have almost conquered salt (I no longer use table salt), so these last few items should not be a death sentence.
Chicken Marinade (10 hour marinade)
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
3 canned chipotle chiles
3 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
In bowl of food processor place all ingredients; puree.
Ingredients for Arroz con Pollo
Achiote seeds (Buy these from Kroger or Publix in the mexican food section)
4 Dried chorizo sausage (slice)
1 Ham steak (dice)
3lbs of Chicken (dark meat)
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Large Onion
2 Sweet Peppers
4 Cloves of garlic
1/2 Cup tomato puree
salt
8 Cups of chicken broth
1 bottle of white cooking wine or 1/2 bottle of white wine
2 1/2 cups of rice
Infuse olive oil with achiote seeds in a dutch oven over low/medium heat until oil is a deep red. Drain oil, removing the seeds and add oil back to dutch oven. Heat oil to medium high heat and brown all chicken pieces on both sides. Set chicken aside after browning. Reserve oil in dutch oven.
Brown the ham and chorizo in the dutch oven. Add chopped vegetables and garlic and simmer until soft. Add chicken back to mix. Add tomato puree and bottle of cooking wine to chicken, chorizo, ham and vegetable mix and simmer on low heat with cover on for 20 minutes.
Add chicken broth and rice to mix. Bring mix to a boil and immediately reduce heat to an uncovered simmer for 20 minutes. Cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Rice should be fully cooked and have absorbed the broth and wine.
NOTE: If you choose to use wild rice like I have in the photo, you need to add 20 minutes more to the already stated simmer time.
Struggling with the title? That’s because I struggled to get my workouts in. I managed to get in Core Synergistics, CardioX and Arms & Shoulders, so I still have YogaX, Arms & Back and KenpoX to finish my 3rd week.
I won’t use the excuse that life got in the way, because I never chose not to work out. I simply ran out of time on three of the days last week with a full schedule, even missing a few dinners.
Today I resume week three with YogaX. I’m looking forward to letting go and breathing…
Nu Dad on 
