Update XX: A Darn Good Judge of My Financial Situation

[Joe Biden 2020]

Bell peppers and celery? Nice.

I was looking for the green beans, but I couldn't find them and it was really crowded, so I went to the salad bar and picked up a bell pepper and some celery.

[King]

Hey man I'm good with that. Green beans would mean you're still in the mode of not doing things differently. Try more new things

[memphis]

I'd like to see Bushie start to use his stove and be more comfortable with it. Like any tool, it can be a little intimidating at first, but it's absolutely critical to eating better. Practice using it. It doesn't have to be a big production. Make some popcorn on the stovetop. All you need is the popcorn itself, a bit of oil, and a pot with a lid. It's super easy.

[J-Mann]

I honestly feel bad for you, Jeff. The history as to why you are how you are has put you in a tough spot. You've grown up in an environment that never discouraged you from being unhealthy and never encouraged a healthy lifestyle. If this were 1915, you'd be as thin as a rail, because only the wealthy could afford to be truly fat. Today, thanks to bargain-basement crap and fast food, the economically challenged are the fattest, with only the wealthy able to access the type of personal training that helps overcome willpower challenges when it comes to fighting an addiction.

Now you're in an endless cycle -- fat and unhealthy because you're unemployed, and unemployed because you're fat and unhealthy. At least that's part of the equation.

History, culture and economic pressures aside, you CAN fix this. You just have to have the follow-through and not be so dumb as to backslide as soon as you get started. But you lack that willpower. Feel free to read through some Update seasons to learn meal plans and menus, exercise advice and more. It's all there. You never have followed any of it, and you never will.

We will be having this exact same conversation in 2020, and 2025, and 2030 ... if you live that long.

To overcome your past, YOU have to make the change. You have to be committed. No cheats, no "family dinner" excuses. Commit and follow through. If you ever did something long enough to see real change, you would love it and stick with it. You never do.

EDIT: By the way, Jeff -- I also know the script for your reply that comes next. No acceptance of your challenge or admission that you need help to do this ... only pride. You'll tell me, "You don't know. This time you're wrong." That's always been your out, that no one here knows how this charade plays out. We do. We know you better than you know yourself, unfortunately. And I know you'll boast how this is the time that you do it -- this is the time that you show us all.

You never have, and you never will. Sorry, but that's truth slapping you in the face, chief (which would be hilarious to watch in super slow motion). You need help to get through this and you'd need to stick to the strict guidelines others lay out for you. You are too proud to do that.

[Joe Republic]

I was looking for the green beans, but I couldn't find them and it was really crowded, so I went to the salad bar and picked up a bell pepper and some celery.

Wait, a bell pepper?  As in; a whole bell pepper?  Was it at least sliced?  Or did you just munch on it like an apple?

[Panda Express]

[Joe Biden 2020]

I was looking for the green beans, but I couldn't find them and it was really crowded, so I went to the salad bar and picked up a bell pepper and some celery.

Wait, a bell pepper?  As in; a whole bell pepper?  Was it at least sliced?  Or did you just munch on it like an apple?

A couple slices of a bell pepper.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     The bell pepper is in many ways a centerpiece of Spanish cooking. There's quite a bit that can be done with it. Too bad Bushie only knows it as a curiosity to pick up at whatever overpriced sitdown place he ends up at for the day.

[Mr. Morden]

Bushie, what are all the things you know how to cook?  Are you actually going to learn to cook anything new during this phase of "cooking at home 5 nights a week"?

[Joe Biden 2020]

The only thing I will say to J-Mann is that I'm aware of my own faults and weaknesses.  I can't do this on my own, that's why I have no intention on closing Update.  I need the accountability this provides.  I'm going to rely on you guys to give me tips and pointers where I could change a few things.  I may ask every now and then about a particular recipe or stuff like that.  In return, I pledge to be truthful about what I eat and what I weigh and how much I walk.  I'm going to take your post as motivation to prove you wrong.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

No more potatoes after today if you can manage it. They're just empty calories and nothing but starch.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Bushie, what are all the things you know how to cook?  Are you actually going to learn to cook anything new during this phase of "cooking at home 5 nights a week"?

Spaghetti
Bacon and Eggs (scrambled and fried)
Chili
I can put a roast in the crock pot (not sure if that counts)

I definitely want to learn and I'm going to get a simple cookbook and follow a few the recipes.

[King]

If you can cook spaghetti and bacon, you can cook pretty much anything. Rice, chicken, vegetables all cook the same way. Put it in a pan with water or oil and wait 'til it's done.

Chili as in chili from scratch or heating up chili?

Pot roast is best a crock pot so that works.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Chili from scratch.  Browning the hamburger meat and adding in some chili seasoning and maybe a few spices.  I might throw in some other stuff like ranch style beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and cover it with a lid for a few minutes to let the ingredients cook together and blend nicely.  I make sure I have plenty of Fritos and shredded cheese to cool the chili down.

It's a simple recipe and I just put it in a cast iron skillet.

[J-Mann]

Chili from scratch.  Browning the hamburger meat and adding in some chili seasoning and maybe a few spices.  I might throw in some other stuff like ranch style beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and cover it with a lid for a few minutes to let the ingredients cook together and blend nicely.  I make sure I have plenty of Fritos and shredded cheese to cool the chili down.

It's a simple recipe and I just put it in a cast iron skillet.

JESSE’S HABANERO HELLFIRE CHILI

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of ground pork or sausage
Either 1/2 or 3/4 pound of bacon
6 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
6 habanero peppers, seeded and chopped
8 Anaheim peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 ounce Thai garlic chile paste (found in the Asian section of most larger grocery stores)
1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained
3 oz tomato paste
2 16 oz cans chili beans, drained
1 12 oz can of beer (Bud Light or equivalent … nothing too fruity or too dark!)
2 cups water

1. It’ll pay off to prep a lot of the ingredients ahead of time so you’re not scrambling to get the peppers chopped up while the meat is cooking. Split all of the peppers and take out the seeds. (You can leave the seeds in one or two peppers, but the more you leave in, the more unbearably hot it will be … it’s warm enough without the seeds!) Finely chop all the peppers, including the bell, and do the same for the onion and the garlic. Mix all the chopped ingredients into a bowl and add the red pepper flakes, chili powder, Thai garlic chile paste, cumin, bouillon granules, crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes and the tomato paste. Mix all the ingredients together well and set the bowl aside — you’ll need it later!

2. Cooking everything in a large stock pot works best. Cook the bacon at a medium-high heat in the pot until it’s evenly brown; remove the bacon from the pot, let it drain on paper towels and set it aside for later, as well. Drain MOST of the bacon grease from the pot, but be sure to leave some at the bottom of the pot for flavor.

3. Brown the beef and pork in the pot over a medium-high heat.

4. Return to your large bowl of ingredients and put in the beer and the water. Mix well and then stir everything from the bowl into the meat in the pot. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour, stirring every 10 or 15 minutes.

5. After an hour, add the drained chili beans to the pot and chop or crush the bacon and add it to the pot, too. Stir the contents of the pot together well and continue simmering for another 30 minutes.

As is, this recipe is very spicy. You can adjust the heat of the recipe by either removing peppers (particularly the habaneros) or leaving in more seeds. When refrigerated, the bacon grease left in the chili will turn orange and rise to the top of the chili; don’t remove it! Stir it in when reheating, as it adds a lot of flavor to the recipe.

Enjoy!

Oh … and wear gloves when handling the peppers. Trust me, rubbing your eyes or visiting the bathroom after handling habaneros without gloves is not recommended!

[patrick1]

No more potatoes after today if you can manage it. They're just empty calories and nothing but starch.

Potatoes are fine for you, those not in chip or fries variety or loaded in animal fat. It is high in fiber, vitamins and a complex carb and actually filing.  I know you are doing an Atkins-esque thing right now and that is fine but you typically hit a wall with that and get diminishing returns.

[memphis]

Bushie, do you have pots and pans in your apartment? If you've never used the oven before, it would seem that you probably wouldn't.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Bushie, do you have pots and pans in your apartment? If you've never used the oven before, it would seem that you probably wouldn't.

I've got a sauce pan, skillet, small round cake pan, and a cookie sheet/pizza pan.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Bushie, do you have pots and pans in your apartment? If you've never used the oven before, it would seem that you probably wouldn't.

I've got a sauce pan, skillet, small round cake pan, and a cookie sheet/pizza pan.

How would you have cooked spaghetti? A sauce pan often doesn't fit that (unless you mean sauce pot, not to be annoyingly...errr 'technical', but it's a major difference). In other words, does long pasta fit in anything you own?

Also, I don't know if others would agree, but put the skillet to work and fry vegetables! It's better than not having any ever even if frying is not completely healthy. Let's be real, your other options are all going to be fried anyway. At least make something moderately better with what you have.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Bushie have you ever considered doing the Insanity Workout? https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=205777.0

[Indy Texas]

Chili from scratch.  Browning the hamburger meat and adding in some chili seasoning and maybe a few spices.  I might throw in some other stuff like ranch style beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and cover it with a lid for a few minutes to let the ingredients cook together and blend nicely.  I make sure I have plenty of Fritos and shredded cheese to cool the chili down.

It's a simple recipe and I just put it in a cast iron skillet.

Ugh, typical Okie, thinking chili has beans in it.

I won't dignify the mention of Fritos and shredded cheese with a response.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Vegetables does not include hamburger condiments Bushie. 

Clearly you slept through the Reagan administration.  Or were drunk through it. 

Both. And I weighed about 150.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

ITS OFFICIAL NOW!!!!

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

J-Mann.  I'd be sh**tting 5 times a day for a week with that recipe.  YUM.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Bushie, do you have pots and pans in your apartment? If you've never used the oven before, it would seem that you probably wouldn't.

I've got a sauce pan, skillet, small round cake pan, and a cookie sheet/pizza pan.

How would you have cooked spaghetti? A sauce pan often doesn't fit that (unless you mean sauce pot, not to be annoyingly...errr 'technical', but it's a major difference). In other words, does long pasta fit in anything you own?

Also, I don't know if others would agree, but put the skillet to work and fry vegetables! It's better than not having any ever even if frying is not completely healthy. Let's be real, your other options are all going to be fried anyway. At least make something moderately better with what you have.

I always break the noodles in two before putting them in the sauce pan so they will fit.