Harsh Realities of Losing Weight

This blog is called the Incredible Shrinking Whimsigal. It is so titled because I've long been on a journey to shrink my size. That has been slow in happening. :) It's not just my dress size that I want to shrink though. If I can shrink the portions I serve on my plate, if I can shrink my grocery budget, those count as little successes, too. The harsh reality is, I have not been focused on reducing my portion size and as a result, my own size has not reduced in any way. That must change. I absolutely believe that you can eat delicious food and lose weight, it just requires a little more sense when you eat and some activity as well. For the last few months, I've been lying to myself because I eat McDonald's once a week and just plain eat out a lot. In order to lose weight that cannot continue. In order to be healthy that cannot continue. There is just so much junk in processed, prepared food that no one can live a healthy lifestyle by eating that all the time. It's time for me to get serious and be brutally honest with myself. As long I as I don't make any changes, I won't see any changes and it's as simple as that. It's time to get back to basics. Eat good, whole food. Prepare as much as I can on my own, even snack foods like chips. This is not a difficult task, I just haven't been serious about it for a while and have been lazing along, telling myself, "Oh I'll start tomorrow," and that tomorrow never comes. Until today. Today, I'm making a commitment to myself to be serious about getting healthy. No excuses, no procrastination. You will continue to see delicious meals here and I will break down for you what size portion I ate. I am going back to the tenets of Dr. Will Clower and am going to slow down when I eat. So many times, my meals are rushed, or eaten in the car and that has all got to change. Will you join me in living a more mindful life? Can you commit to sitting down at the table at least once a day and enjoying a slow meal? That is the commitment I'm making and I hope you'll stick around to watch me do it. For those of you who are in the same boat I am and need to lose some weight, don't give up. It's so easy to get frustrated and we tend to be harder on ourselves than anyone else but please, don't do that. It's a recipe for failure. If you fall down, just get back up. You can do it and I can, too. We just have to honor the commitment to ourselves to do so. Now that all of that is out of the way, would you like to see what I made for lunch yesterday? Great! Right this way!

One of my favorite things to do with beef and beef leftovers is make Shepherd's Pie. It's a dish that I grew up eating and have long loved and whenever I make it, the house smells amazing and transports me back in time to my childhood. Usually, I make it with ground beef because it's not often that I have leftover roast beef on hand On this occasion though there was leftover London Broil so I decided to give it a shot as the star of one of my favorite meals.

Because the meat is described as London Broil, one might think that those words describe the cut of meat when, in fact London Broil describes the manner in which the meat is cooked. The cut of London Broil is usually Top Round and here is the nutritional info, in case you're interested, as noted by The Daily Plate:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 ounce (28g)
Amount per Serving
Calories 49 Calories from Fat 11
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 17mg 6%
Sodium 12mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 9g 18%
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%
Iron 4%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 18.4% Carbs 0.0%
Protein 73.5%

You can see that it is a fairly lean cut of meat and it is generally prepared in the following manner:

marinate the beef
broil or grill to medium rare
slice across the grain at a 45-degree angle

If not prepared correctly, it an be a horrible dining experience. On this particular occasion, I did not marinate my London Broil and it was fine but I did cook it under the broiler for 6 mins per side, after generously seasoning it with McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning. I was the only one home to eat it so there was quite a bit leftover and that's when I decided to use it in shepherd's pie. It was divine! The montreal steak seasoning really added a lot of kick to a dish that can be comfortable but less than exciting to eat. I wholeheartedly recommend that spice blend and use it ALL the time. Here is my recipe:

Shepherds Pie
Serves 6-8

1-1.5 lbs top round, London Broil, cooked, seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning (i was using leftovers)
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 - 3/4 cup of frozen chopped onion, (or fresh)
1 Tbs olive oil
salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 yukon gold potatoes, prepared as mashed potatoes
3/4 can beef broth
flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with Pam.

First, cube the leftover london broil, not too fine, but into very small, bite-size pieces. Next, over medium heat in a large saute pan, heat up the 1 Tbs of olive oil. When it's hot enough, add the onions and saute until the begin to soften. At this point, add the cubed london broil and the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. This gives the beef some time to warm up and release some of the fat that has grown cold in the fridge. At this point, begin adding flour in 1 Tbs increments until the meat is covered well but not too much. You're going to add the beef broth to make a gravy but you don't want it too thick. Cook for a couple of minutes to give the flour a chance to cook down a bit and then add the beef broth. Continue to cook and add the frozen peas. You can microwave them first but it's not necessary if you want to skip that step. Once the mixture begins to thicken, it's ready to go into the casserole dish. Carefully transfer it from the pan to this dish, if it splatters you'll get burned so watch out! Once the mixture is in the dish, top it with the mashed potatoes you made, or, if you're lucky you can use potatoes you had leftover, too! Sometimes, I take 2 Tbs of butter and dice it and place it on top of the potatoes before putting it in the oven. This time however I did not do that and it was still delish. One other thing, I always place my casserole dish on a foil covered cookie sheet because sometimes the gravy will bubble over the top. This will prevent a messy oven! Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes then take it out and let it cool down for about 20-30 minutes. Serve in a small bowl and enjoy!