Oprah, Man Card, but Good Info

So back in the fall my wife emails me at work and asks if I want to go see Oprah in Chicago.  She somehow found her way into two tickets by emailing the show saying how she was a huge fan of Debbie Boone.  DEBBIE BOONE!  EX-ACTLY!  Here's what I envisioned.....

Here's the footage from the show......Debbie's aged well......Paleo?  Probably not....

So we went..........and I had to officially turn this in.....

Just when my guy friends ribbed me for going to see Debbie Boone, Jackie Evancho, and Susan Boyle, I kindly pointed out that I was coming home with not just one, but two of these, courtesy of my new Auntie Oprah!!!!

So......my membership was restored.  But this is a health and wellness blog......here's the deal.  I dig Oprah's message most days.

Tomorrow, February 1st, Oprah talks about the experience she and all her staff had with going Vegan for 21 days.  Should be interesting.  Also, Lisa Ling reports about where store-bought meat comes from.  Be sure to check it out and think about where you are getting your meat. You can see the trailer for the show here.   After all.....one of the biggest things I've learned lately that was only reinforced at the Whole 9 Foundations of Nutrition Workshop last week is:  

You are what your meat eats.

Beef Jerky, The Verdict

I love good beef jerky.  

But.....

I've grown tired of the store bought variety. 

It's hard to see, but look at the number of ingredients.  Too many that are not natural and made for longer shelf life.  I made this request as part of our Costco run in order to have some quick protein around the house, but I this may be my last bag of this stuff.  It's dry, full of stuff I don't need in my body, and not worth it in the end.  

This past weekend my wife ventured to the Indy Winter Farmer's Market and brought back a bag of........

Sweet and Spicy Buffalo Jerky from a local farmer

Ingredients:  Buffalo, Sugar, Water, Salt, Spices, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper, and Black Pepper.

All natural stuff, simple, and you know where it comes from.  Progress. 

And so I got the bug after our friend Lindsey made her first attempt at homemade beef jerky and did not use a dehydrator.  I have to say, I did not know it was possible without one.  I'm going to make you go to her blog to get the recipe because again, she deserves all the credit.  

Here is my final product

A bit too salty and too much pepper.  I was way too generous with it, so I had to scrape off the excess salt and pepper afterwards and it was good to go.  I did let the meat marinate for about 4-5 hours in a bag, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have let it marinate for a good 24 hours.  I just did not plan well this time.  I would also make sure to get a meat hammer or in my case, I used the back of a small iron skillet and spend more time hammering down the raw meat to make it flat, because I got some pieces that were too fat and they come out too chewy for my taste.  The only issue I have is that this is all that one chuck roast yielded, so that's roughly $10 worth of meat.  However, the meat came from a local farmer here in Indiana.  The ingredients are simple:  

soy sauce, salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and garlic cloves.  Easy!

Good Meat

Yesterday I packed the kids in the car, made a coffee stop, and ventured 63 minutes to New Castle, Indiana to stock up on meat.  Why go to this extent to get meat when there are plenty of places within minutes of the house?

Because of the following:

• It's all natural beef and poultry
• There are no hormones or animal byproducts used in the feed.
• I am supporting a local farmer trying to make a living.
• It's the most affordable "good meat" we've found.

A friend of ours recently made a trip there and "Jack", the owner told her he just wants to offer good meat at prices that the folks in the area can afford.  

So I picked up meat for my family plus three others.  We take turns going out there.

If you figure grass-fed ground beef at Whole Foods runs $5.00 to $6.00 per pound, this is worth the time and effort.  Jack's price:  $2.99/lb. 

Look around your area....there's a lot of folks out there like Jack.

If you live in the Indy area, you can see where he is marked by the "A"