Monthly Archives: January 2008

Eating

Southwestern pork tastes gooood

I wasn’t quite sure how to serve Cooking Light’s Southwestern Pork and Sweet Potatoes, so I paired it with my old friend rice and some green beans. Next time I’ll be sure to cook the sweet potatoes for the prescribed amount of time. I overcooked them this time, and they turned out a bit mushy.

Even so, the dish was excellent. And this is from someone who doesn’t dig on swine.

Southwestern Pork and Sweet Potatoes
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 garlic cloves
1 small onion, peeled and quartered (about 7 ounces)
1 pickled jalapeño pepper, stemmed
Cooking spray
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed
1 (12-ounce) dark Mexican beer (such as Dos Equis Ambar)
1 (4-inch) cinnamon stick
3 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 pound)
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Place first 6 ingredients in a food processor; process 1 minute or until a thick paste forms.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove pork from pan.

Add chile mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Stir in beer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add pork and cinnamon; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours or until pork is tender.

Remove pork from pan; shred into large pieces with 2 forks. Stir shredded pork and sweet potato into pan; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until potato is tender. Discard cinnamon stick. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Family matters

It's self-improvement time

I had planned to try to lose weight this year. (I plan to try to lose weight every year. And I do lose weight, roughly once every 7 years.) My plan is usually this: Move More, Eat Less. That plan works — when I actually follow it. I find that it can be a difficult plan to follow. I figured that was because I’m lazy and I love food. But Kristy Sammis would probably tell me that it’s tough to stick to because the mantra is too vague; it doesn’t meet the “SMART” guidelines. (The what-now? It means “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.” More about that here.)

Kristy’s Good Health-a-thon isn’t about losing weight. It’s about improving your health. But for me, losing weight is going to be an important part of improving my health.

So here’s how I’m planning to be SMART about my health in 2008. (Gee, that sounded cheesy.)

  1. Exercise at least five days each week. Not only will this help out with the weight loss, it’ll be a mental health effort, too. My workout time will probably be the extent of my alone time most days.
  2. Have a vegetable with dinner every night. I’ve tried in the past to aim for five servings of veggies a day, but that goal has never stuck. I don’t like vegetables. So we’re starting small.
  3. Eat at least a serving of fruit daily. I love fruit, but with Poppy and Pete to chase after and care for, I sometimes forget to eat anything at all, much less take the time to peel and eat an orange. Which brings us to …
  4. Wake up earlier. I’m very fortunate to have two good sleepers in the house. Pete usually wakes up around 8, and Poppy sleeps until 8:30 most mornings. I’ve been sleeping until around 7:45, giving me just enough time to shower before they’re ready to go. After reading “10 Benefits of Rising Early” at Zenhabits, though, I decided to push that back by 10 minutes each week until I’m getting up at 7. That’ll give me time to shower and eat breakfast and maybe even get my head in order before the day begins.

The beauty of the Good Health-a-thon is that the goal is whatever will make a healthier you.

Stressed out? Vow to do yoga three times a week.

Tired? Take the go-to-bed-earlier pledge.

Constipated? Promise yourself more fiber in 2008!

Let me know if you’re going to join the Health-a-thon. We can encourage each other! You can call me at 7:03 to make sure I’m out of bed, and I’ll ask you if you’ve taken your Metamucil yet. It’ll be great!