Life doesn't always have to be instant

I am NOT a doctor, a nutritionist or physical trainer.  I am a fat person who has decided to show his stomach to the world (figuratively, not literally--be thankful for that).  Consult with medical experts before doing anything.


So, I love to eat.  Now, I know what you're thinking, "Duh!"  Okay, well then, it stands to reason that if I am only having one solid meal a day and two meal shakes, then when I eat it should be something really good.  If I can avoid it, I don't want to waste my one meal on something that came out of a box.


I love to cook.  It's a lot of fun, and believe it or not, the activity takes my mind off of shoving a bagel in my mouth.  I'm not a big fan of instant anything, rice in particular.  There's no major trick to cooking rice that doesn't have the word "Instant" in the description.  For instance, the boil in bag rices take ten minutes.  Other instant rices take only a minute after the water comes to a boil.  Do you ever wonder how or why that happens? I mean, what did they do to the rice that lets it cook that fast?  How fast does instant rice break down in your system?  As a general rule, white rice breaks down faster than brown rice once it hits your stomach, which causes an influx of simple sugars.  How fast does instant white rice break down?  I don't know, for certain, but the thought makes me uncomfortable.


Twenty minutes.  That's all it takes to make regular, long grain white rice.  Brown rice takes about forty to forty-five.  


Planning.  THAT'S the key.  Plan it out, know what you're going to do.  Enjoy the creativity of making a meal instead of reading the directions on a box.


White rice is simple.  Two cups of water to one cup of rice.  Bring the water to a boil, stir in the rice.  Reduce heat to low, cover and set your timer for twenty minutes.  Walk away, or begin prepping another part of the meal. That's it.  That's all it takes.


Heat one table spoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan.  Dice up a cup of fresh tomatoes (I prefer romas), dice a cup of onions (I prefer vidalias), dice a cup of bell peppers and mince a clove of garlic.  Add all of the veggies to the hot oil in the pan and let them sweat and mingle for a few minutes.  Add a diced protein (raw chicken breast, for example) and cook until the chicken is done (be careful not to over cook--the chicken should be white all the way through, but not dry or tough).  Serve that over a cup of the rice you made.  


Want some heat?  Chop up a jalapeno and toss it in with the veggies.  This whole process takes about a half hour to forty-five minutes.  Plan it out.  Not a lot of calories and it's damn good.


Until next time:


“It is better to practice a little than talk a lot.”--Muso Kokushi


I hope it's a full filling day.


--John