Megan Monday: Cheats

One of my dearest friend's from college, Megan, has a lot of exciting stuff happening for her in 2011. The greatest of them is her wedding in July- I know in just a few short months I'll say I can't believe how quickly it arrived. As she begins to embark on a huge new step in her life, Megan is also taking on a lot of new challenges including becoming a runner and trying to be as healthy as possible.
Of course, I am happy to give Megan any knowledge I can about running and eating healthy. I am by no means a Jillian Michaels, but it's comforting to have a friend you can talk to, and her new goals inspire me as well.
So, from here on out (or until Megan says I don't need you anymore) I'll dedicate a post to Megan every Monday. In general, the posts will have a recipe and a tip to help her (and maybe you too?)
Also, please leave Megan comments to help inspire her- we all know how hard it is to commit to things, like train for a marathon, when daily life constantly gets in the way. With her permission, I'll post updates of all the rock star accomplishments Megs makes along the way.
This week's recipe, Sloppy Joes, is actually a cheat recipe for a couple of reasons.
First of all, I know how tough it is to cook healthy when you're one or two people- what the heck do you do with all the food? Isn't it just easier to go out? Without a doubt it is, but there are a couple of cheats that help simply the responsibility of putting good food in your body.
The cheats for the Sloppy Joe recipe:
1. Put in as many veggies as you do meat. You stretch the amount of calories you get and don't notice it because you're still getting everything you want.
2. Make a versatile recipe, like these sloppy joes, and find other ways to use it throughout the week. There is nothing fun about eating the same thing every day, 5 days in a row, for lunch AND dinner. For the sloppy joes, serve on buns the first day with fruit and salad and the next day, add some more tomato sauce and serve it over whole wheat pasta. On day three, serve it on a baked potato and if you STILL have leftovers, add a couple of cans of beans and make a hearty chili.

SLOPPY JOES serves 4-6
1 lb. ground turkey or chicken (you want about 7% fat)
1 small onion
1 yellow, orange or red pepper
1 package mushrooms, chopped
1.2 cup chopped celery and/or carrot
(the more veggies the better!)
1 T Worcesheter sauce (Amy's brand makes a GREAT vegan one that tastes better than the original)
1 T red wine vinegar
3 T tomato sauce
3 T tomato paste
1 t parsley
1 t black pepper

In a large skillet, cook meat until no pink is left- chop it up as you go to get to small pieces. Remove from skillet and place in bowl.
Next, cook chopped veggies in the small skillet you used for the meat- do not rinse skillet.

Once soft, replace meat and add vinegar and W. sauce. Let simmer on medium for 2 minutes.

Add sauce and paste and let cook on medium for 5-10 minutes.
Keep on low until ready to serve, or put in tupperware and save for later.
Once ready, serve on whole wheat buns with a salad, veggie sticks.

TIP: Determine how much weight you want to lose from the get go. On post its, write the weight you hope to get to and every pound in between, i.e. 170, 169, 168, 166, 165...Line the post its on a wall, mirror, planner, etc. Each time you lose a pound, remove a post it note, crumbe it up and throw it away- it serves as a great reminder of the progress you're making.