Start with Vegetables. Nutritional Status

I often claim to eat more vegetables than most vegetarians and to demonstrate this point, here's a picture of my stovetop tonight....tomato soup, Sloppy Joe sauce, and roasted peppers for the freezer (which will more than likely end up in homemade hummus).



I cooked down about 8lbs of tomatoes a couple of nights ago, without any other kind of veg, or seasonings. So, tonight I diced 3 jalapenos, 2 red bell, 2 carrots, 3 celery, and 1 large onion...do you know how much that measures? It measures at least 3-4 cups of veggies. That's in addition to 8lbs of tomatoes! After I sauteed the veggies I added in the homemade tomato sauce, about 1 c. chicken stock and cooked it at a med simmer for about 30 minutes. Tomorrow I will put it through the blender and freeze in 2 c. and 4 c. batches.



Well.....that's all I was going to do, but as I wiped the counter down I thought.....why don't you dice up a couple more veggies and make some Sloppy Joe sauce? It has, basically, the same ingredients.... 1 more red bell, 1 green bell, 2 more jalapenos, 1 carrot, 2 celery, and 1/2 lg onion.....1 can of tomato sauce....Ok, I admit, I have a problem using homemade tomato sauce in Sloppy Joes....but that's only because so much other "crap" that goes into the sauce.



Sloppy Joe Sauce Recipe


onion,
carrot,
celery,
green bell,
red bell,
jalapeno,


all diced small, and sauteed for 5-8 minutes. Add


one 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 c. chicken stock (homemade in my case, to make up for the canned sauce, lol)
1/4 c. worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 red wine vinegar
good squeeze of 1 lemon
S & P


bring to a boil and simmer until thick, about 20-30 minutes. Double this and freeze half for another time.


Brown 1- 1 1/2 lb. ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, or a combination of), add to sauce and scoop over bread, or eat alone (that's what we do!).


The most important thing about cooking is that you taste your food as you go along! Sloppy Joe sauce has a sweet/sour (vinegar) flavor. Taste it! If it doesn't taste quite right, what is missing? More sugar? More vinegar? A bit more salt? Here are some other ingredients you may find in Sloppy Joes sauce,



Ketchup (sweet/tomato/vinegar)
tomato paste (to thicken)
mustard (savory)
hot sauce (tomatoey, vinegarey, kick!)
spices like cayenne, thyme, garlic salt (I chose to not put garlic in this batch...go figure!)
red pepper flakes


Make it your own! Look up some recipes online and find the common theme.... I use 3-4 times the fresh veg of any recipe I've ever come across, but that's how I cook everything! Veg first.


I base my meals in order of nutritional status. Vegetable, protein, fat (flavor and texture), sugar/fruit/carb. If you have to overeat, then overeat health. Start with vegetables.


Make no mistake however....I start my day with caffeine and fat! Coffee w/heavy cream!

Picture above shows in the top saute pan, veggies for the Sloppy Joe sauce before the tomato sauce mixture is added. To the right is my tomato soup, with the same veggies, as the SJ sauce. One leftover red bell and two jalapenos get roasted for another time.....