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This recipe is modified from Michelle Showalter’s Beef Barley Soup recipe that can be found in Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining by Phyllis Pellman Good & Dawn J. Ranck.

• 1 lb. stewing beef, cut into small pieces & browned
• 6 cups water
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cups sliced or shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup pearl barley, cooked (you can use quick cooking as well and add with all other ingredients)
• 3 tsp. low sodium beef bouillon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic (I cooked the beef with the garlic and then added to the soup)
• string beans would be good in this as well!

Combine ingredient in slow cooker, except for barley. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Add barley halfway through cooking time. Serve with fresh bread. Might I suggest Colleen’s Wheat Bread.

Andy Goldsworthy (books, wikipedia) does some amazing art. My friends and I used to try to imitate this while putting our own spin on it. Here’s some examples.

Click on them to get a big version:

Technorati Tags: art, andy goldsworthy, rocks, seaweed

The premise:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except on days beginning with S.

My thoughts:

I don’t think this would work for me. I would be starving by dinner for sure. I also don’t like the implications of the blood sugar rises and dips this would give you. There is no portion control either so if you wanted three cups of cereal for breakfast it technically counts, there’s an implied “eat heathly meals” but I think limiting calories makes you make better decisions about what to eat since you can eat more healthy foods than you can fatty food.

I do like the idea of cheat days, maybe not two in a week but I think its a good idea, it usually pulls your body out of starvation mode plus it keeps your motivation up.

Conclusion:

This diet isn’t for me but I can see it helping people out, especially if you’re just maintaining.

Technorati Tags: diet, food, no s diet, lifehacks, weightloss

Hi all, checkout the Carnival of the Recipes #77? (chocolate themed). Also checkout my non-chocolate contribution, Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich.

?

Technorati Tags: carnival, recipes, food

This is a damn good sandwich, its loosely based on a Cooking Light recipe, adapted to what I had on hand. Peanut butter is great because its super filling, has two grams of fiber per serving plus its been found to lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

2 slices potato bread

2 medium banana (~7″ long)

1 tablespoon Polaner Strawberry All Fruit jam

1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter

1 teaspoon honey (just drizzle some on, close enough)

1 tablespoon Smart Balance butter replacement spread

1. In a non-stick skillet get a half tablespoon of the smart balance spread warming up over medium heat.
2. Put the peanut butter on one side of the bread, drizzle on the honey.
3. Cut banana in half then slice the halves length-wise into three pieces and place on peanut butter side.
4. Spread jam on the plain piece of bread and put on top of your sandwich.
5. Place in pan, while one side is cooking butter the piece of bread that’s facing up.
6. Grill both sides until browned and warmed through.

Nutrition (approximate):

• Calories: 470,
• Fat: 15.4g,
• Protein: 13.2g,
• Carbs: 74.7g,
• Fiber: 8.4g,
• Sodium: 329mg,
• Calcium: 13mg

Man, I hate these things, in a world where you can get instant news I think The State of the Union Address is majorly deprecated. I’d rather scan a blog post, throw the podcast on my dell dj and half pay attention to it or just listen to NPR for the summary.

The only good thing about it is all the small networks like TBS, UPN and the WB actually get some viewers while Bush gabs on for hours.

Technorati Tags: politics, rant, state of the union address, state, union, address, funny