Light beef Stew

This recipe is taken from a common French Stew, Boeuf Bourguignon. It's very light, and easy to make and it's very tasty and my take on it. French cooking is actually very easy if you stick to the rustic country dishes.It's not the prettiest dish, but it is tasty.

You can use large cut of beef or beef stew meat. 

1lb beef or more depending on how many people you are serving
5 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
6 gloves of garlic
1/2 yellow onion (slice)
1/2 red bell pepper (slice)
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup of baby carrots
3/4 cup of red wine
1/2 cup of water
flour
salt and pepper to taste

Keep meat in large pieces and dredge in flour and brown in olive oil, like common stews. 
In the bottom of crock pot or Dutch oven, lay down the sprigs, rosemary, and garlic. Lay meat over the top. Lay sliced onion and peppers over the top of the meat. Pour wine and water over the top. Cook on high in Crock pot all day or at least 5hrs. In Dutch oven heat over to 275 degrees for 3hrs. The last hour of crock pot add the carrots and mushrooms. The last 1/2hr of dutch oven add carrots and mushrooms. 

If preparing in a crock pot in the morning, cook on low heat for all day. 

When you serve this dish, don't thicken the juices. This is a thin stew. Serve with bread for dipping in juices. The meat should fall apart with a fork.

Week Three: Disturbance in the force

Week three of my diet turned out not to be as much of a challenge as I thought. The reason I say this is because this is the traditional week of failure for dieters. It’s the week we often stall in weight loss. In the first week we’ll drop from 5 to 6 pounds easily, it slows the second week and by week 3, it’s a struggle. All of this happens while sticking to the diet and exercise. It’s the nature of the beast of our bodies. The first weight most likely is water, the second week the body is figuring out what you’re trying to do, and will burn fat, the third week the body maybe having a little protest over what you want it to do. It takes it up to a month for your body to get into the rhythm of weight loss and exercise and to cooperate with fat burning. The key is patience with ourselves and adjust exercise and diet. 

While watching the Biggest Loser, the first week the contestants are happy and excited with massive weight loss. Some will lose up to 40lbs, but the next week not a single pound. That can get them eliminated from the show. Then the weight loss slows to 5 or 6lbs. It’s no different in the real world of diet and exercise.

This is where we give up. 1lb a week is healthy weight loss. It’s not fast, but easy to keep off. It’s not as noticeable as 5 or 6lbs in our mind's eye. Remember, losing 5 to 6 pounds a week can be gained back really quickly, and with extra weight. We’ve all heard the stories of those who lost weight very quickly looked great, and then gained it all back or doubled the weight gain. Be happy with 1lb a week. It’s a good thing.

This week was both difficult and easy for me. I lost 3lbs, but I was sick with the stomach flu. I spent three days literally running from the couch to the toilet. I’m slowly recovering. I can keep light food down. To keep at least 1lb of the weight loss, I’ll have to count calories and be careful with anything high in sugar. I was very dehydrated. I was losing everything as soon as it went in. I’m sure this is part of my weight loss. Today I’m eating very light, sipping water and chewing ice to rehydrate my body.

Next week will tell ,the true tale when I can exercise again and can hold food down.