Tequila Lime Pork Stew

Well, here is ANOTHER way to redo leftover Crockpot Pork Butt :)

This is actually one of my sister-in-law's recipes; she happens to be a fabulous cook! I took this and redid it with what I have on hand. As I said in my last post, I do 3X the amount of pork that I need. Then I can create another meal with the pork. Check out the base recipe here - http://venuscrossing.blogspot.com/2015/09/crockpot-pork-butt-and-pullovers.html

Tequila Lime Pork Stew

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 onion, diced
1 can rotel
2 corn on the cobs, only kernels removed with knife
1.5 lbs  Crockpot Pork Butt, shredded
0.5 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp paprika
0.5 tsp chili powder
0.5 tsp cumin
0.25 tsp red pepper flake
4 cloves garlic,
0.5 cup tequila
0.5 chicken stock
1 lime, zest and juice
3 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)

8 small red potatoes, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
0.5 tsp pepper
pinch paprika

Directions: Heat oven to 450 *F. Toss potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Spread onto a cookie sheet and roast for 45 min,

In a large skillet, saucepan, or dutch oven over high heat- place onion, can of rotel, and corn kernels stirring until onions are soft and translucent. Deglaze pan with tequila. Add in chicken stock, pork, and spices. Stew over medium heat until potatoes are ready.

To serve, place quartered potato in bowl and top with pork stew. Enjoy :)

Made some BBQ chicken for lunches this week too!

Nutritional Stats per Serving

1/8 stew and 1 potato

450 cals
19.8 g fat
36.8 g carbs
24.8 g protein

Crockpot Pork Butt and Pullovers

This recipe is the base for SO many wonderful recipes. I cannot wait to share. But first here is a new video from my YouTube channel:

Pullovers

A few tips on pullovers:
1) your lats (back) and abs should drive the motion
2) this exercise is for anyone who has "greyhoundish" ribs and upper abs as it works the serratus 

So now to the recipe.... This recipe is a base from which I make 3X what I need. I buy a 15 lbs pork butt from Sam's club and then I cut in half so that I am doing 7.5 lbs each batch. I freeze the other half until I need it.

•  First meal is just meat with whatever veggies and carbs I decide on. I usually do slaw and some sort of potato.
• Second meal is nachos made with the pulled pork and cheese in the oven until melted. I make the chips from fresh corn tortillas and bake them crisp first. I like mine with lots of extra lettuce. It would also be good with mini bell peppers halved as your "chips"! We set out salsa, avocado chunks, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), and lettuce for toppings.
• Third meal is taquitos made with the pulled pork. I just chop down the pork finely and then roll it up in a corn tortilla and bake until crisp, 425F for 25 minutes or so. Again, I like mine with lots of lettuce when we eat. We like to dip these in salsa or sour cream.

Crockpot Pork Butt

7.5 lbs raw = Serves 30 - 4 oz servings

Ingredients:

1 bottle marinade (I really like Red Creek Marinade right now, but I have used many others)

7.5 lbs pork butt

large 8 qt crockpot

Directions:

In the crock, place the pork butt then pour half a bottle of meat marinade over the top. Cook on high 8-10 hours. Shred and enjoy!

Ugliest taquitos ever LOL they should be round! I swear the one night I take a pics, they do not cooperate!

Nutrition Facts

Per 4 oz serving of pork butt

304 cals

21.3 g fat

0 g carbs

26.7 g protein

PHOTO Comparison- is weight the best tool to measure progress?

The photo on the left was taken in May 2012 before I started training with Venus Index and the right photo was taken yesterday. 

I weigh 155 lbs in both these pictures. Weight is not always the end all be all of fitness. 

3 years of regular weight training and consistent nutrition focus separate these pictures. Both of which I learned from Venus.

For the past year, I have been living with my maintenance range high end (1 inch up from ideal) at my "before" weight. Talk about a mental trip, I felt like I was back sliding. You see, during my initial 12 week transformation, I lost 15 pounds to get to Venus ideal metrics (about 140 lbs). Another year of training after that, I was hitting Venus ideal metrics five pounds up from there (about 145 lbs). Last year and up until now, I have been hitting Venus ideal metrics about nine pounds up from there (about 149 lbs). As a side note, I have a shoot in 8 weeks which I am cutting down to Venus ideal metrics for. I plan to compare each year of progress side by side, should be interesting!

Take home message

I get lots of clients whose only focus is the scale. I say look then metrics trumps the scale- all day long.

Nobody looks at you and thinks "She weighs X lbs." They see a look. Which correlates better to a metric.

At the same weight now- my shoulders are 1" bigger. My waist is 2" smaller. My hips are 1.5" smaller. I dropped 3 dress sizes. My look is completely different. Same weight.

Point of the story is that I am after a LOOK which a DEXA cannot tell you... which metrics cannot tell you even exactly.... which obviously the scale cannot tell you. Focus on FRIGGIN pics!!! All along I had the right answer and I kept thinking it was in my head! So ....

LOOK > Metrics > DXA > scale

That is the deal ^^^^^^^^ never forget it. Learn from me!

X- Liss

Microwave Protein Brownie Mugcake and Full Body Travel Workout

We are on a little weekend get away. I have always struggled with rest. It SOUNDS great, don't get me wrong. But I cannot sit still for the life of me. I am always going and doing, But, we ALL need rest. To be able to care for others, we cannot give from an empty vessel. So I took a rest day yesterday.

This morning, I had an awesome workout with nothing but a chair and a band I packed in my bag. A girl could get used to this deck, the mountains, and the pines!

Anyways, this past week or two I have been craving CHOCOLATE and BROWNIES!!! But I am trying to get ready for a beach vacation and shoot on the beach (because the other shoot never happened LOL) And this recipe has HIT the spot. It is REALLY close to a brownie, easy to make, and nutrition is ON the money!

Microwave Protein Brownie Mugcake

serves 1

Ingredients
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey in Extreme Milk Chocolate)
1 tbsp cocoa (I liked dark chocolate cocoa)
1 tbsp sweetener
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg white
2 tbsp nonfat milk
*optional 1 tbsp dark chocolate chips* add 70 cals, 4.5 g fat, 9.0 g carbs, 1.0 g protein (add to recipe total below)

Directions: Mix dry ingredients in a large mug sprayed with nonstick spray then mix in wet ingredients until blended. Mix in chocolate chips if desired. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute until cooked. I like a little wet on the bottom edges still. Enjoy!

Nutritional stats per serving

1 serving

172 cals
2.3 g fat
13.7 g carbs
2.0 g fiber
26.7 g protein