Orange Beef Stir-Fry v2.0

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This Orange Beef Stir-Fry packs powerful orange flavor in a quick and easy #takeinmeal.

Pardon me while I go off on a bit of a tangent…I promise I will get back to this deliciousness in a minute.

I’ve been skimming through my Bloglovin all weekend. Something about getting to 1000+ unread blogs makes me stress and I am trying to keep on top of it, at least for the start of the year.

Anyway.

I was amazed at all the detox, clean eating, light, healthy, cleanse posts there were. Like, seriously amazed. Now, I know I’m not one to talk. Heck, I’ve put on 25 in the last few years, but that will change once I get my body fixed. There are numerous physical issues I’m dealing with. But, I know I personally indulged a little during the holidays but honestly did my best to keep it within reason. While my pie crust wasn’t, the pie filling and the whipped topping were low in fat. The roast beast was not, but the mashed potatoes and green bean casserole were.
The Christmas pudding? Yup! No fat in there AT ALL! And it was healthy! Dried fruits and whole wheat bread went into making it. And it’s delicious!!

But all this talk of detox, cleansing, and lighter meals has this fat chick shaking her head. Maybe I have a tainted view, but those in my office have talked about detox and juicing cleanses. It sounds extreme. Of course you’re going to lose weight. You’re drinking liquids and water. You’ll expel the water weight your body is holding on to. Here’s the thing, there are certain vitamins, minerals, and well, FOOD that your body needs! Once you go back to eating normal again, the weight comes back.

The question you need to ask is, “Why? Why does the weight come back? What am I doing or eating that I shouldn’t?” For me it’s crap food on the weekends; pizza, wings, French fries, Jersey Mike’s subs with ALL the toppings. But I’m consciously lowering my food intake; smaller pizza slices (also costs less), 2 pieces of wings, 7 or 8 fries. It’s the unconscious eating that gets me. So, when we ordered pizza and wings this Friday I CONSCIOUSLY ate…slowly.  I counted the wings, the knots, the slices where as before I would have just… eaten.  Whatever my mind wanted me to eat; not my body.

Now, I’m not one for making resolutions, but here’s mine.

Consciously eat. Know and pay attention to what I’m putting into my body. Granted, there will be indulgences on Fridays after cooking six to seven meals that week. I mean, come on, I’m only human. This kitchen hoor needs a break every now and then; and for us it’s Friday nights. However, from here on out, it’s smaller portions of the crap food and larger portions of the good foods! If that means I order the side salad with my Mediterranean veggie wrap, then it’s a double dose of veggies for me!

How does this rant tie into the recipe here? It doesn’t really, only that you can make your favorite take out meals at home and healthier to boot! I know EVERYTHING that went into making this recipe. When I order it for take out? I can only guess what’s in the sauce. I know KNOW it’s not low-sodium anything. For those that think they’ll miss the sodium? Try tamari soy. Since I’ve had it, I haven’t gone back to regular. The flavor is AMAZING! And I hear it’s gluten-free.

I hear you, you people!  “Those are canned and processed vegetables, non-GMO free rice, probably.  Cornstarch isn’t natural, chili sauce isn’t clean eating.”  Okay, first off, don’t judge.  I do the best I can with what I’ve got and how much I make.  All that “clean” stuff is more expensive and that’s an expense we can’t budget for right now.  Besides, I was raised in all that mess, so my body would probably go into complete shock and shut down it I followed that path.

If I can make, can it, reproduce it myself at home, then to me, it’s good food.  Yes, I can grow and can corn and water chestnuts.  I’m sure I could find a recipe to make all the ingredients in the chile sauce.  Asian people have been making sauces for centuries!  If it can be made in my kitchen, then I’m fine with buying it.  Granted the chile sauce is a stretch, but it’s a convenience I’m allowing myself.

All I’m saying is don’t binge and then purge.  Don’t eat what you want then starve yourself the month of January.  Just be mindful of what you eat ALL YEAR; myself included.  I’m pointing the finger at myself.  Not y’all. The catalyst of all those detox and cleanse posts just made me realize how absurd the whole cycle is and how I can easily just fit right into that pattern.

Well…

NO MORE!

Right now, I’m just going to start with baby steps and eat consciously; be conscious of what I put into my body and see how my body reacts to it.  From there, I’ll see what happens.

I hope I haven’t turned all my readers off or offended y’all into not reading me again.  This is just my opinion in my own little corner of the blogosphere.  I just found all those posts at the beginning of the year very interesting.  If we had been going down that path all along, there would be no need.

I hope y’all enjoy this recipe.  It was orange-y and VERY delicious.