Coming Clean (and cooking meatballs)

The great thing about keeping you all in the loop via this blog is that I can share my accomplishments and get that positive feedback that I love oh-so-much. The bad thing about keeping you all in the loop via this blog is that I feel obligated to tell you about my failures as well.

Truth! Also, I imagine that the cut-off
portion of this girl is sneaking a bite
of a chocolate bar.

First with the good news. As of yesterday I've dropped 7 pounds! ((Applause and cheers))
And the other day I actually used my jump rope outside, after some surprisingly helpful tutorial videos; it's much more complicated than I remember from childhood.

I didn't last long with the jump-roping. I had no idea how exhausting it could be. Plus I hadn't eaten for about 4 hours when I decided to jump so I think my body was just a little low on energy when I started. Then I went inside to run on the treadmill and ended up spending ten minutes trying to find the extension cord to set it up and by then I was annoyed and discouraged and still low on energy, so my run on the treadmill was also very short-lived.

While I was "exercising," I had some meatballs cooking in sauce on the stove. I'm always trying to find ways to get Alex to eat vegetables, usually to no avail. The last time I made meatballs, I snuck some fresh veggies in and he ate them. So that was my motivation. They turned out really delicious, but Alex didn't eat them :( Picky kid. I didn't follow a recipe to make the meatballs, but I kept track of what I used so I could share my recipe, which is at the bottom of this post.

My intention was to eat some meatballs for dinner but skip the pasta (which I boiled for Alex and my parents to eat). But the pasta was there. And I was starving. And there were yummy meatballs. So, I ate pasta. Probably more than I typically would because I kept "testing" the noodles as I cooked them. Plus, Alex didn't eat his so I definitely did a little bit more than nibble.

While I'm coming clean, I'll come all the way clean. The other day, I told you about my trip to the zoo and my weakness for Teddy Grahams. Well I wrote that post mid-day, before going to the Greek Festival. I was pretty good at the festival -- I ate baked chicken, stuffed grape leaves, salad, and just a couple bites of a rice/pasta dish (passed on the white bread -- woo hoo!). But after the festival I had a hot fudge sundae. It was unreal and I can't say I regret it. The ice cream flavor was cappuccino chip and it was seriously a little bit of heaven on earth. So much fudge! The next day I had a really weak evening and I ate a bar of chocolate. Again, soooo good! I hate admitting all of this because I feel like I'm failing, but I think what I need to remember is that a moment of weakness doesn't have to become a lifetime of weakness. I can mess up, eat chocolate, and then pass on it the next time. I can't expect perfection out of myself; and the results are what matter anyway. After all that, the day after the chocolate bar was when I weighed in at 7 pounds less than my starting weight. I won't take that as permission to eat hot fudge sundaes and chocolate bars on the regular, but a girl's gotta live a little! Last thing to shamefully admit is that last night after work I had a beer and chicken wings. I don't know what's more embarrassing -- that I ate that kind of food late at night, or that I was sitting in a bar alone while indulging. Whatever, judge or hate but this is what you all missed:

+ Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy

Anyway, now you know. And what I take away from my weak moments/weak days/weak weeks is that in the end, I will reap whatever I sow. If I want to lose ten pounds in the next month I had better get it together, start exercising for more than 5 minutes at a time, and quit eating sweets and fried foods. But on the other hand, if I'm ok with losing weight gradually then I can occasionally go crazy on some hot fudge sundae or chicken wings. As it turns out, my attitude toward food/dedication to eating healthy fluctuates throughout the month. Go figure.

Meatball recipe, as promised.

Vegetable Meatballs

Get yer hands in there!

Meatball Mixture

1.3 lb 85% lean ground beef

1 cup of grated carrot

3/4 cup of finely chopped onion (about 2 small onions)

1/2 cup of grated zucchini

1 egg

2 tsp of orange zest

salt and pepper

Sauce

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup grated zucchini

2 jars pasta sauce

1 can tomato paste

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup orange juice

seasonings to taste

1. Combine the meatball mixture and form into (approximately) 1-inch meatballs. This should make about 25-30 meatballs.

2. Then sautee onion, garlic and zucchini in a large pot (I actually used 2 large pots, which I merged once the meatballs were cooked.

Try not to overcrowd or have the meatballs
touching one another. It's inappropriate.

3. After sauteeing for 8-10 minutes, add the meatballs to the pot. Turn them gingerly as they cook; they are delicate because there's no bread in the mixture.

4. Once the meatballs are browned all around, then add two jars of pasta sauce.

5. Add tomato paste and stir to combine.

6. Then add the water and the wine.

7. I added various seasonings throughout the cooking process.

8. The orange juice was an afterthought. I had zested 2 clementines for the meatball mixture, and had the naked-looking clementines sadly sitting on the counter, so I cut one open and squeezed the juice into the sauce. It turned out really subtle, but the orange flavor was present.

9. Allow meatballs to simmer in sauce for (?) at least an hour. The timing really depends on how cooked your meatballs were after the browning process. When I made this, I let them simmer for several hours; I made them early in the day and let them simmer until dinnertime. The longer the better because the flavors combine, but really you just have to make sure the meat is cooked through.

Enjoy with (or without) pasta! With the leftovers, I opted to replace the pasta with sauteed red and yellow bell peppers. Super-filling and satisfying without the carbs from pasta noodles. Yum yum!

Toodles :)