Daily Favorites: Nashville Hot Chicken

 

I had these extra chicken thighs and this whole box of corn flakes. And I'd always wanted to try it but haven't been to Nashville. I had high hopes and big expectations. 

The original dish uses bone-in deep-fried chicken and a lard glaze (or a butter and lard glaze). So to hit our calorie goal, I'm not deep frying or using butter or lard in the glaze. I used this recipe as a starting point, but still made some healthy alterations where I thought I could. The technique is very similar to the cheesy cornflake chicken I made a few days ago, but with a marinade that acts as the wet station. I like that because you can do it in advance, so it's one less step when it's time to cook. 

This has four layers and each one has cayenne peppers. I had no idea if it would be too hot or just right. Or possibly, somehow, not hot enough. You just never know. 

Although there's four layers, each one is really easy. I'll post the ingredients and then talk through the method.

Marinade 

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup pickle juice

1/8 cup Crystal cayenne pepper hot sauce

sprinkling of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper powder

Seasoning

mostly cayenne and smoked paprika, with salt, garlic and pepper.

Dredge

cornflakes, smidge of flour, and the leftover seasoning blend

Glaze

Crystal cayenne pepper hot sauce with a few pinches of brown sugar.

In a big ziploc bag, place the fresh chicken pieces and add the marinade. The recipe said 6 hours, but I did mine for 2 and turned out great.

Put a layer of foil under the wire rack and apply non-stick spray to the rack. Place the wet chicken on the rack. Mix the seasoning in a bowl and sprinkle over both sides. Mix the dredge in a bowl and apply to both sides. 

I baked these thighs at 400 (but really 390 because my oven runs hot) for 33 minutes. 

With 5 minutes to go, get a small saucepan on the stove with a small layer of Crystal hot sauce over medium heat. Add pinches of brown sugar, stirring and tasting until it's how you want it. I probably used about a tablespoon of brown sugar by the end of it. 

When the chicken comes out, use a brush to apply the glaze to the top. (I didn't bother trying to get the bottom.) Serve with pickles and white bread if you want it. 

- - -

Let's talk taste, then healthy stuff. 

Man, this was good. I would say the heat is exactly where I wanted it. Definitely hot and each bite builds. But not obnoxiously hot. In fact, I would say it was more hot than spicy, if that makes sense. I could take two bites in a row but then want a pickle to kill the heat. If you love heat, you could certainly make this spicier, or if you prefer it milder, you could go less cayenne in the seasoning. The smoked paprika is nice as the smokiness comes through as well.

It reminded me of buffalo wings, which makes sense. Both Frank's and Crystal are cayenne pepper based sauces. But I did feel like I could taste the layers of flavor, it wasn't one spicy punch on top, but deep hotness throughout the chicken.

- - -

I had read that Nashville places use Crystal sauce in their marinade. Pickle juice is an underrated ingredient, and I knew Chick-fil-A uses it in their marinade. Instead of buttermilk, I went with almond milk to save on cals. 

The cornflakes do a good job of giving a crunchy crust in the oven, to simulate the frying flour in oil texture.  

And for the glaze, instead of building it with butter or lard and adding cayenne pepper, I just went straight for Crystal, a zero-calorie cayenne sauce. I feel like that was pretty brilliant actually. I did allow myself to keep the brown sugar but kept it small. A tablespoon is under 50 cals. It was definitely worth it as the bit of sweetness really give it more than just heat. 

All in all, I would definitely make this again. I do think it was better than the other cornflake chicken as the cheese in that gets a little lost in the baking process. 

I took a picture of the ingredients that make this dish happen. First off, the Crystal bottle says that it contains 71 servings and I used half the bottle in this dish, lol. I'm super glad that I can find no sugar added pickles and other ingredients like bbq sauce these days. You really can't taste the difference. 

Weight Loss by Month: April 2021

August – November 2020: 30 pounds 

January 2021: 7 pounds 

February 2021: 5 pounds 

March 2021: 4 pounds

April 2021: 3 pounds

I've been doing this for 9 months and lost 49 pounds. I have several thoughts about the pace of current progress. First, in early April I started a pasta journey and had some birthday celebration food for my youngest. So around April 12, the scale was showing that I had gained 5 pounds in April. So if I measure from that point forward, I actually lost 8 in less than 20 days. (Of course, those five up & down are easier to come by than true progress.)

Also, I both expected progress to not be as fast 9 months in as it was when I started. For one, I do weigh a lot less so by percentage, 3 pounds now is equivalent to 4 pounds when I started. Plus, I know the body adjusts. I'm not going to be burning as much as I was back then, no matter what. Also, this year I have been lifting weights, so there might be some muscle growth that is offsetting actual progress on the scale. And one more little note, the 4th pound I lost in March actually showed up on the last day so it was probably more accurate to say 3.5 in March, 3.5 in April. 

I'm decently happy with how I look now, so I'm okay with 3 pounds a month. (I've also tried to be kind to myself on days when I'm extra hungry and/or go over my calories. I'm human and if that means that I don't beat myself up and lose 3 instead of 4 in a certain month, that's ok.) Lesson learned though, I shouldn't ever make estimates about when I'll hit a certain target weight. 

In mid-April, I was going to be content with just breaking even this month. But near the end of the month, I'm like a cop trying to hit my monthly quotas for speeding tickets, extra motivated to stay on track and not have any cheat meals. 

At 49 pounds, I can finally tell a difference on zoom. Still looking forward to surprising people when I go back into the office. 

- - -

The biggest thing that happened in April was that I started my new Daily Favorites cooking series. (I originally named it Every Day Favorites but recently changed it to Daily Favorites so that the initials would match my own.)

This has been fun and personally satisfying on multiple levels. It's wild that it took me this long to do something like this. 

Back in 2007(!), I had identified four hobbies. Writing, music, photography and cooking. This new series combines three hobbies into one project. (And I'm listening to more music this year as well.) 

But more than just fun, this series is proving to be helpful already and will continue to be a good resource indefinitely. This is my pandemic/quarantine self-improvement project. For years, I anticipate opening my Daily Favorites Collection before I do my grocery shopping. It will be easier to stay on track long-term if I have a huge variety of tasty meals in my arsenal. Perhaps, I will think back to the pandemic and wonder if I would have ever done this without the year+ of working from home. 

In case, you're wondering, I lost steam on learning Italian once it got difficult, about 11 days in. But starting that led me to the Pasta Journey. And starting that led me to the Daily Favorites series. Which I just started less than two weeks ago, but already feels like one of the most important things for myself that I've ever done. So you never know what something like a whim of trying Italian on an app can take you. 

- - -

In May, I'm excited to cross the 50 pound lost barrier. My goal is just to keep stacking good months on top of each other. This monthly check-in keeps me accountable. And it's definitely working. 

nfl draft 2021 liveblog

I remember back in the college football playoffs that everyone agreed that Lawrence was the #1 QB and that Fields was the #2 QB. They even played each other in the Sugar Bowl and Ohio State won 49-28, with Fields being the MVP. 

So I don't really understand how Fields can drop from clearly the #2 QB to not being one of the top 3 QBs taken. I think whoever gets him will be sitting pretty. 

Edit: Oh God, the Lions are on the clock with Fields sitting there. The classic good for the team, bad for the player situation...

2nd Edit: Jesus Christ. A franchise QB was just sitting there and the Lions passed. Or they could have gotten DeVonta Smith for Jared Goff, but no, they grab a lineman who didn't play in 2020. GMs really overthinking this. Smith and Fields were awesome and nobody is taking them.

3rd Edit: Goddamnit. Fields to the Broncos. So now the Chiefs have Herbert and Fields in the same division. Super disappointed all the teams that let Fields fall. Worst case scenario.

4th Edit: Holy shit. So that's why you don't use Wikipedia as your draft tracker. LOL. Someone edited Fields in as the Broncos pick but the Broncos were still on the clock for a few more minutes. They pick Patrick Surtain's kid. Surtain played four seasons for the Chiefs from 05-08 so I hope the kid is good, but I'm very relieved that Denver got a CB and not Fields or Smith. I'll call this best case scenario now. Really hoping the Fields doesn't go to Patriots or Steelers at this point.

5th Edit: Cowboys move down, Eagles move up. The rare trade between two teams that hate each other. Personally, I would like for the Bears to trade up and get Fields. Would be fun for my Bears friends. Eagles get DeVonta Smith. I'm relieved that he'll be in the NFC East and not going to an AFC West team or an AFC contender like Ravens/Patriots. Whew. Nice job Eagles!

6th Edit: Holy shit. Bears moving up to 11...this has to be for Fields!!!

7th Edit: They did it! They got Fields! What a move. Love this for them. 

8th Edit: Mark needs a new team. He's not even from Detroit. And they clearly don't care about winning. So he's earned a new team pass. Who would be a good team for him? The Jaguars have been the most international team and now's a good time to get in on the ground floor with Lawrence. With Edelman retired and Mitch Schwartz a free agent, not a lot of Jewish stars on any teams to pick from. Jerry Jeudy of the Broncos wears a Star of David because people call him Jeu.  Mark could keep rooting for Matt Stafford on the Rams as a form of continuity. Or he could pull a Brett Favre and go to an inter-divisional rival. Stick it to Detroit by rooting for the Bears and Justin Fields. (Or you know, there's always room on the Chiefs bandwagon. Mahomes has got another 14+ years here. Might as well root for him.)

9th Edit: The Patriots get Mac Jones without having to trade up. I wasn't sold on him being good, but it will be hard to fail under Belichick. 

meal philosophy

So this series has had me thinking about how to construct new dishes to fit around 600 calories. 

Typically, I start with a meat both because I like it a lot and it's filling. So chicken or lean beef is a good starting point.

I'm going to want some sort of sauce/flavoring. But this is where you can try to go low-calorie to save room for other items. Like instead of full-calorie ranch dressing or a honey brown sugar sauce, there's tons of ways to get flavor for less: hot sauce and vinegars, lemon and lime juice, light sour cream, soy sauce, etc. 

If you have low-calorie flavoring, then you have room for something like rice or a bun. Burgers are better on buns, a burrito bowl without rice is kinda sad. 

But say you want a different premium ingredient like cheese or bacon. A good way to do it is to go meat + low-cal flavoring + no bun or rice. In other words for the same calories you can either have a hamburger on a bun or a cheeseburger on a plate. Instead of serving a sloppy joe on a bun, I could serve it on a plate with grated cheddar. Yesterday, I had chicken + cheese but no rice or bun. 

I saw someone serve sloppy joe mix on tater tots and covered with cheese. If I wanted tater tots and cheese, I could do it, just would need to replace the meat. It's like those sports roster memes where you only have $15 to build the perfect team. You can't take 5 players all worth $5. You have to make trade-offs to get what you want under the constraints.

Daily Favorites: Cheesy Cornflake Chicken

Some loyal viewers, and whether or not they're viewers hasn't been decided, have been wondering where's the cheese? Hearing you loud and clear! This dish has two types of cheese, which almost has to be better than one.

I first made this dish back when assembling my holiday meals cookbook. I hadn't made it since. It's not hard or anything, it's just you get into habits and I haven't been in the habit of shopping for specific recipes. Instead of chicken breast, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. The only healthy change I made was instead of using butter as the base of the wet batter, I used almond milk. 

When I've previously used chicken thighs, I've used bone-in, skin-on and they turn out great. I start the skin side down in cast-iron and then finish in the oven. So I was used to that shape, small but thick thighs. But boneless, they really spread out, which worked out nicely for this as I was able to get a ton of surface area for the coating.

So the wet station was a pie plate with a layer of almond milk, with garlic powder, salt and pepper stirred in.

The dry station was a cup and a half of crushed corn flakes, half a cup of grated cheddar, fourth of a cup of grated parm, garlic and pepper. 

Dip in each piece in the wet then dry using the wet hand, dry hand technique. Then place on a wire rack. I baked at 400 (but actually 390 because my oven runs hot) for 33 minutes. 

It came out great, crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. 

I made it with the boys and they had a lot of fun crushing the cornflakes and making it. My youngest said the first bite was great. Then he rage quit dinner after the second bite. He said the interior chicken was too chewy. It wasn't tough though. I think he just didn't like the moist, juicy chicken. The chicken that he's used to at Chick-fil-a is firmer on the inside. My oldest didn't like it either. Again, probably a texture thing. 

So this is a solid technique/recipe, but it might be a while before I go through the trouble of a wet and dry dredging station just for a solo dinner.

Daily Favorites: Sloppy Joe's From Scratch

 

For a long time, I wouldn't have considered having sloppy joe's for dinner. It would have sounded like cafeteria food, or some one-note dish from childhood. But I was wrong. These are great. 

Earlier this year, inspired by Babish, I made two batches of sloppy joe's for the boys. The first was Manwich sauce out of a can. Nice flavor but too thin, took a long time to reduce down. The second was mostly bbq sauce with some seasonings. Good but missing that classic sloppy joe flavor. 

Today we made our own sauce and this was the best batch yet. 

I started by browning a pound of 85/15 ground beef. I could have even gone leaner but 85 is a nice sweet spot for flavor, leanness, and price point. I minced a quarter of a large onion, and added when the beef was mostly browned. I was using this recipe as a starting point which called for bell pepper, but I knew the kids wouldn't want that in so I left it out. Generous salt and pepper.

Once the beef was fully cooked through, the onions were getting soft, so I started adding the sauce. A tablespoon and a half of tomato paste. Squirt of ketchup, mustard, two squirts of bbq sauce. Sprinkling of soy sauce (in place of worcestershire). Big pinch of brown sugar. Just a drizzle of water. Then for seasonings went garlic powder, cumin, and smoked paprika. 

Brought it all together and tasted. It was flat. No worries. Another round of salt and pepper. More soy sauce, pinch of brown sugar, garlic and smoked paprika. Tasted again. Seasonings were there but it was missing something. Added more bbq sauce and we've got a winner. (I could have added chili powder, cayenne pepper, or hot sauce but my kids aren't into spicy food yet.)

The #1 thing that makes this dish better than I ever had it growing up is toasted buns. I pretty much always toast my buns now. On some occasions, like for cold cuts, I might like a soft bun. But for sloppy joe's, you absolutely need a good toast on the bun so it doesn't get mushy and fall apart. (Also, it drives me insane that recipes will call for toasting your buns in the same pan, some 20 minutes before the rest of the dish is ready. Nobody wants a cold toasted bun.)

The end result was really delicious. It had some bbq notes but a nice depth of flavor. Felt like a classic sloppy joe but didn't feel like a dish past its prime. Felt like you could order this at a modern street food restaurant. 

A pound of meat easily makes four sloppy joes. We each got an extra scoop of meat at the end and it's just as good without the bun on the plate. 

This took about 25 minutes altogether but it is a one-pan meal so easy clean-up. 

As for the calories, I looked at the package and it says 4 ounces of 85/15 meat was only 230 cals. I probably had at 6-7, but still. Since I'm using no sugar bbq sauce and only a little brown sugar, there's nothing in the sauce to rack up the cals there. With a 160 cal bun, a sandwich alone is probably 500, plus another 100 for a second small scoop of meat.

Daily Favorites: Teriyaki Beef Bowl

This was my first time making something like this. The title of the recipe that caught my eye was Korean Beef Bowl but I'm doubtful this recipe is authentically Korean. So just to be safe, I'm calling it a teriyaki beef bowl. (Also, I think it looks better on a plate, but I did stir it up like a bowl.)

This is more subtle than the General Tso dish I made recently. My first bite was a little underwhelming. But it grew on me with every bite and by the end I was scraping the pan for the last bit of sauce. 

Also, it didn't take long at all. I started preheating my pan and grated a nub of fresh ginger, three garlic cloves, and julienned the carrots. 

Browned a little over half a pound of beef, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then added a generous amount of Kikkoman teriyaki sauce, the grated ginger and garlic. Stirred until they dissolved. Tasted and decided to go ahead and add a pinch of brown sugar. 

Added the carrots, added more teriyaki sauce and let them cook together for a minute while I sliced some green onions for garnish. The teriyaki sauce is so thin that it absorbs into everything. So it doesn't *look* saucy but it actually is.

The boys actually tried and liked this, which worked out because the plate above was probably 2/3 of the meat in the pan. 

I'll guess the meat was 400, the rice was 200, the sauce was under 100. 

I do love fresh ginger and should really use it more often. I won't make this that often, but it was tasty for sure.

Daily Favorites: Buffalo Tenders & Homemade Cole Slaw

 

Okay, not a ton of actual cooking going on here. But this has been my #1 go-to lunch over the last 6 months. I quickly wrote about it in November. This lunch comes together in 5 minutes and checks every box: tasty, filling, low-calorie and super simple.

The chicken is Foster Farms Buffalo Tenders and the sauce is Bolthouse Farms blue cheese dressing. I microwave the chicken and then finish on the electric griddle to get a crispy exterior. 

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, I mix a scoop of Hellman's light mayo, some red wine vinegar, lime juice, drop of no sugar bbq, plus some montreal chicken seasoning, and everything bagel seasoning. Stir and then fold in some dry bagged cole slaw cabbage. Done in 2 minutes. 

Estimating 450 cals for chicken, 50 for blue cheese, 30 for cabbage, 70 for homemade dressing. 
600 all together.

If you went and ordered this at a restaurant it could easily be 600 for the chicken, 300 for the blue cheese, 30 for cabbage and 300 for the coleslaw dressing. Just a few simple substitutions and I've chopped the calories in half. 

Meals like this are what make my healthy eating for weight loss plan sustainable. It doesn't feel like I'm depriving myself of foods that I like. Just figuring out ways to work them in.

Daily Favorites: Easy General Tso's Chicken

 

Sometimes things just work out. 

My first attempt with a low-cal orange chicken sauce didn't go very well. The sauce just smelled and tasted bad, some strange off flavors that were in the realm of beefy dog food. So I figured I'd have to do some experimentation and figure out my own low-cal sauce. I figured I was in for a lot of trial and error.

But then yesterday I went to the store and when browsing for a soy sauce, I found these two bottles:

The teriyaki is mostly soy sauce so I wasn't that surprised by the calorie count. The general tso's sauce on the other hand seemed too good to be true, as most other sauces were triple that. If you need 4 tbsp, there's a big difference between 80 and 240 cals in sauce. 

So I figured, let's try it. I happened to have one chicken breast left over from the previous dishes. I marinated it with the teriyaki sauce for a few hours, then cut it up into teriyaki chicken parallelograms, browned it in a pan with cooking spray, salt and pepper. With pieces this small, by the time you get decent browning, they're cooked through. When they're about 95% cooked through, I added the general tso's sauce. I kept it stirring constantly so it wouldn't scorch. Once they were fully coated, I added a little extra sauce because I like to have enough to coat the rice too. 

This sauce is awesome. It's spicy enough but not too spicy. It's sweet enough but somehow low in calories. And it's thick enough to really coat the pieces and the rice. 

This was a small chicken breast, so I'm estimating 300 for the chicken, 200 for the rice, and 100 for the amount of sauce I used. 

I know traditional general tso's chicken has a breading and is deep fried. Obviously I wasn't going to go that route for making a 600 cal dish. (For comparison, the orange chicken plate w/steamed rice at Panda Express is 1360 cals.) And while that is extremely delicious, so was this. I honestly like the fresh feel of this not being fried.

I don't know how much the teriyaki marinade matters. I'm sure one day I won't have fresh chicken on hand and will try it with frozen chicken and just the general tso sauce. I bet it still gets me 90% of the way there.

This is obviously a super simple dish to make at home. But it also felt indulgent in a way that something like the lemon pepper chicken doesn't. That dish is bold and bright and you feel healthy eating it. This feels more like comfort food, like I'm going over my calorie limit without actually doing so.

If I ever wanted to, I could try to add some fresh grated ginger and orange zest/juice to give it a boost.

Daily Favorites: Aloha Burgers

The first time I had pineapple on a burger was at a Margaritaville in Grand Cayman in 2007. I even wrote about it. I think that was probably the last time I had pineapple on a burger. Until today. 

- - -

My friends and I love cheese. But... it's pretty calorie-dense and not very filling. In other words, if I'm trying to lose weight through healthy eating, cheese is going to be one of the first things to go. Same story for bacon. I love crispy bacon on a burger. But cheese and bacon...is it Mardi Gras?

So let's build this thing from the ground up. 

A burger starts with beef. The pineapple adds juiciness and sweetness. So you need something smoky and sharp to balance it out. BBQ sauce is smoky and red onion has a nice bite. Since this is an Aloha burger, a Hawaiian bun seemed appropriate. 

- - -

I got my cast-iron pan preheating at medium for a solid ten minutes. Meanwhile I cut a nice slice of onion and start making my sauces. I actually made three sauces for this, only one is super essential. All three shared a common ingredient: Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce. I took a long look at the soy sauce aisle and decided that this is soy sauce+. It's a very thin, not sweet sauce. It's only 15 cals/tablespoon. It's basically soy sauce with a little extra flavor. Perfect for what I'm looking for.

The essential sauce it a bit of no sugar added bbq sauce mixed with a drizzle of teriyaki. Still wanted a smoky bbq sauce but something that would compliment the pineapple. 

The second sauce was some of the pineapple juice mixed with teriyaki. I used this to baste the onion while cooking, though I could have just drizzled the straight teriyaki. 

The third sauce was a teriyaki mayo for under the burger. You couldn't see it or really taste the teriyaki part so that was just for fun. 

Meanwhile, also got my electric griddle going and my bun toasting. 

Back to the beef. Formed a patty, salt and pepper both sides, into the hot cast-iron. Red onion goes in. Once the burger is ready to flip, add the pineapple ring to the pan. Gave that a sprinkle of teriyaki as well. It seems like I'm adding it to everything, but just a little. Once I was done, the bottle looked essentially unused. I also gave the burger a slight glaze with the pineapple/teriyaki sauce. 

It all comes together at once and pretty quickly. Teriyaki mayo on the bottom bun, then beef, then onion, pineapple and bbq sauce. 

- - -

For burgers everyone recommends 80% lean so it's plenty juicy. For this I went to 85% to save a few calories and the whole thing was very juicy. (Hard not to be with a freaking pineapple ring on top.)

It's hard to estimate the cals in the beef. I think it was a 5-6 ounce patty some sites are telling me that 85/15 meat is 60 cals/ounce. I'll say 400 for the beef. The bun was 160. The pineapple 30. The red onion and sugar free sauces maybe another 30 together. So right around 600 for this.

Pineapple instead of a slice of cheese saves you 80 calories, so if you wanted a bbq cheeseburger you could do one for around 700 and be fine. But this was great and it's fun to say aloha burger anyways.

Daily Favorites: Lemon Pepper Chicken

Now this is something I would make for guests. Bright, big flavor, looks great, yet couldn't be easier. Oh yeah, super healthy too. 

I've been late to the lemon pepper game but trying to catch up. This definitely delivers bigly on lemon pepper but the other herbs round it out so it's not overpowering on one note. You think it's going to be super bright and acidic from all the lemon, but the pepper is there just as much. Great stuff. 

Preheat to 350 F. I used a little cooking spray on a double foil lined pan (for easy clean up). Zest the lemon. 

Cover each chicken breast in a capful of olive oil and a couple squeezes of lemon juice and rub it in all sides. In a small bowl mix together a seasoning blend in these ratios:

1 tablespoon lemon pepper

2 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

I just eyeballed it, 2 parts lemon pepper, 1 part basil, 1 part oregano, big pinch of salt. Rub that in on both sides. I added my lemon zest on top. 

Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. My oven runs hot so I pulled it at 27 minutes, let it rest for two minutes, cut into it and it was perfect. Topped with parsley and extra squeeze of lemon. Really felt restaurant-quality. 

The internet says a chicken breast is 425 cals. I paired it with a little bit of rice which was nice because the chicken almost has too much flavor. Tasty and filling plate for around 500 cals.

progress

I'm really excited about my Daily Favorites series. 

It's easy to make tasty food. Add cheese and bacon to a burger. Add brown sugar and honey to orange chicken. Make cookies or brownies with tons of sugar and chocolate. 

It's a lot more challenging to make tasty food that's also under calorie thresholds. You have to use limes, vinegar, spices, garlic, onion, peppers, things like that. 

It's been eye opening trying to make a lower-calorie orange chicken. Every recipe even for healthier recipes call for honey, brown sugar and sesame oil. I tried this sugar-free orange ginger marinade for lunch today and I ate it but there was something off on the taste of the sauce. Cooking method worked great though.

So I'll need to go back to the drawing board. I'm thinking I'll try a homemade sauce with rice wine vinegar, lite soy sauce, zest + juice from an orange, red pepper flake, garlic and maybe a little bit of a good stir fry sauce to help it out. Since there's no endpoint to this series, I've got plenty of time to experiment and get it right.

Meanwhile here are the ingredients of the jerk seasoning I buy: scallions, scotch bonnet peppers, salt, black pepper, all spice, nutmeg, citric acid, cane sugar, thyme leaves. 

Basically all vegetables with a tiny bit of sugar at the end. Huge flavor for 5 calories a serving. If I was more knowledgable of Chinese-American cuisine, perhaps I could replicate the technique of the jerk paste with orange chicken flavors: scallions, Chinese red peppers, and correct seasonings (Szechuan  peppercorns or five-spice powder?) We'll see.

2021 scene

Lately I've been listening to a lot more albums and artists discographies as opposed to one-off songs. 

Here are some of the artists I've been enjoying this year and when I primarily listen.

Death Cab for Cutie (working)

Motion City Soundtrack (showering)

Alkaline Trio (driving)

Jimmy Eat World (anytime)

Panic at the Disco (exercising)

Fall Out Boy (basketball)

With the exception of Death Cab, all of them are bands that I've liked and listened to for a long time. I kinda decided that now is a good time to focus on the good stuff. Instead of looking for something new, that I should dive deep into my favorites. 

Death Cab on the other hand is a revelation. I've had their Transatlanticism cd since 2004ish but never really listened to anything else by them. They didn't crack my 2014 list of favorite 80 bands. But the songwriting is incredible. I Will Follow You Into The Dark is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

Daily Favorites: Chicken Patty Sandwich

 

This is a humble college classic. But the classics never go out of style. 

I use the electric griddle to toast the buns and crisp up the patty as well. While that's going I whip up a seasoned mayo. I was going to use the same basil garlic mayo that I used on the sausage sandwich, but I called an audible on the fly and did a lemon pepper mayo with garlic. 

I'm a big fan of taking something frozen/jarred and giving it a few extra touches to amp up the flavor. 

The chicken is only 200 cals, this sesame seed bun is 140, so with the light mayo I'd say about 375. 

Quick, filling, easy, low-cal lunch. I keep the house stocked with tasty granola bars, english muffins and sometimes dried mango. So I like when my main is 500 or less and I have room to round out the meal with one of those items.

Daily Favorites: BBQ Meatballs

 

If it makes for a good hors d'oeuvre, shouldn't it make for a good meal?

The answer here is yes. 

The secret to this dish is using turkey meatballs. I've very picky about my meats and I simply won't entertain the thought of a turkey burger, turkey chili or anything like that. But with the seasonings and the meatball form factor (plus covering them in sauce) these taste pretty darn great.

And the calorie difference is incredible. 2 turkey meatballs is 100 cals, so this plate of 8 is very filling at 400 cals. 2 traditional meatballs are 240 cals, so this plate would be 960. Yikes. With the sauce, it's probably 450 or so.

As for sauce, I use a blend of two different bbq sauces, one spicy, one sweet. This time I had Gates original and Ray's no sugar. I did try adding just a touch of strawberry jam and that was delicious as well. Strawberry jalapeno is a great combo, so I'll look at trying that in the future. 

I've done this in the style of chicken parm before and it's good that way too. But somehow when I have the meatballs I'm always craving the spicy sweet bbq flavors.

This is at the top of the list of most filling per calorie foods I have. So on a day like today where I had an extra granola bar as a mid-afternoon snack, I turn this. Even 6 of these are very filling for 300 cals.

For plating, it would be nice to have some chopped chives or sesame seeds or something, but let's be honest. It's just me.

Daily Favorites: Italian Sausage Sandwich

 

What makes this sing is the basil garlic mayo. Just Hellman's light mayo with garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. So good, I could put it on anything. With all that flavor, I don't even notice that it's light mayo.

I had some leftover bulk Italian sausage, so I formed it into a patty. Got some deep browning on it and the onions. Griddled the bun on my electric grill with cooking spray and generous layers of the mayo. 

The sausage was probably 450-500 cals and this was a brioche bun that adds 170. So we're looking at 700 cals for this. 

Not many people would look at this and classify it as health food, but it was my entire lunch on Saturday and I wasn't hungry at all until dinner time. Tasty, filling, and under my 750 cal guideline for lunch/dinner. That's a winner. 

Daily Favorites: 5-Minute Chicken Parm

 

This is not the chicken parm you make for guests. This is the chicken parm that I make for myself when on a Monday night, I decide I want chicken parm and in five minutes I'm eating. 

So what shortcuts are we using? Frozen chicken tenders. I use the Trader Joe's brand for this dish because they are the crunchiest. Microwave then griddle on electric grill to make sure both sides are ultra crispy. 

The sauce is another shortcut. I just use a jarred marinara and zhuzh it up with salt, pepper, basil, garlic and balsamic. 

Meanwhile, grate some fresh parmesan and we're ready to assemble. 

What I did above was sauce on top of chicken, parm on top, into the broiler for a minute and we're golden. The chicken says it's 130 cals per piece, so that's 520 in chicken, another hundred for the sauce, 80 for the  cheese, and that's a big plate of chicky chicky parm parm for 700 cals.

Next time I might try sauce on bottom to preserve some extra crunchiness in the chicken.

Apparently this has turned into a Chiefs blog during football season and a food blog during the offseason.

Daily Favorites: Burrito Bowl

Before we dive into this recipe, let's spend a minute talking about trinities in cooking. In cajun cooking, the holy trinity is onion, bell pepper, and celery. Mirepoix is a French trinity of onion, carrots and celery. Italian soffritto also uses onion, carrots and celery with additions of garlic, fennel and parsley. While the Spanish sofrito uses onion, bell pepper, garlic and tomatoes. 

At the root of all these cuisines is the humble onion. I also love peppers and since we're going for big flavor with minimal calories, starting a dish with onions and peppers is a great leap forward toward our goal. 

I get a pan going with a little spray for the veggies. I add salt and pepper in the middle, super easy. The chicken I actually use frozen pre-cooked chicken breast for convenience. I start by microwaving them, then season heavily and add them into the veggie pan. 

There's tons of ways to cook rice. I choose the most convenient: Uncle Ben's ready rice. Microwaves in 90 seconds, toss with a little lime juice. The whole bag is only 380 calories and each bag makes two portions. 

Top with plenty of light sour cream and lime juice. The whole filling plate comes in between 400 and 450 cals. 

(Niraj pointed out I forgot the hot sauce. Yep, definitely needs that for sure. I like habanero or smoked tabasco. At Chipotle or Qdoba I add salsa verde, but at home just stick to hot sauce.

Today I paired it with some dried mango slices (130 cals) and a fig bar (140 cals) from Trader Joe's to complete my lunch. 

Daily Favorites: Italian Sausage with Balsamic Peppers and Onions

This is a one-pan dish with three main ingredients, yet super delicious. 

So sausage and peppers is a classic dish. But my take on it has a few things that I like about it. 

First off, here's how the dish is commonly served: 

You've got whole sausage links and it's swimming in a thin sauce. Also, some of the pictures I saw the peppers are in giant pieces. My version addresses all three of these issues. 

- - -

I brought my pan up to medium and gave it a little cooking spray. Get the sausages going in the middle, and the veggies around the outside. I gave the veggies a light drizzle of olive oil, just a few drops, we're watching our calories here. I did cover my pan to help everything cook through quicker.

Flipped the sausages once they were nicely browned on the first side. Gave the veggies a stir. Seasoned them with a little salt, pepper and basil. Once the sausages are deeply browned on both sides, I removed them and sliced them into bite-size slices. Gave the veggies a decent sprinkling of balsamic vinegar, and returned the sausages slices to the pan, tossing everything together. When slicing you'll see if your sausage is cooked through yet, so you'll know if you need to cook them for another minute or two or if they're ready to toss and serve.

Then I plated and dusted with just a bit of parmesan reggiano. 

What works here is that the peppers and onions and sausage are all the same size, so it's easy to assemble delicious bites with all three. The sausage has absorbed flavor on maximum surface area and you're not slicing into a whole link and getting sausage juice on your plate. There's no thin sauce, the baslamic has coated everything nicely without any runniness. 

It tastes so good, you don't even miss the pasta and you don't have to fuss around with a red sauce either. 

These were true pork sausages coming in at 260 cals/link. With the veggies and a drop of oil and a dusting of cheese, I think this plate was right around 600 cals. I just bought some chicken sausages that are 110 a link though they're a bit smaller. But I could have 4 of them for the cals of two pork sausages. Either way, very filling and tasty.

Daily Favorites: The Collection

This is a new cooking series where I'll be focusing on tasty meals under 750 calories, ideally around 600. The goal is to build a collection of reliables recipes that I can return to often and fit into my daily routine. Not everything will be from scratch nor will I promise any level of fanciness. These are every day meals, so quick and easy shortcuts are encouraged. 

I'll be including some old favorites and trying out new recipes along the way. 

The Collection

Aloha Burgers

Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese

BBQ Meatballs

Big Salad: Italian Style

Big Salad: Southwestern Style

Big Salad: Summer Style

Biscuits & Gravy

Brat Burger & Sweet Corn

Brats with Homemade Pickles and Pickled Onions

Buffalo Chicken Bake

Buffalo Pulled Pork

Buffalo Tenders & Homemade Cole Slaw

Burrito Bowl

Cheeseburger Casserole

Cheesy Cornflake Chicken

Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

Chicken & Waffles

Chicken Patty Sandwich

Chicken Shawarma with Tzatziki Sauce

Chili Cheese Dogs

Chips & Dip

Classic Italian Hoagie

Deconstructed Reuben

Easy General Tso's Chicken

Fish Tacos

5-Minute Chicken Parm

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Healthy Mac & Cheese: 3 Ways

Hot Carnitas Hoagie

Hot Chicken with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Italian Flag Pasta Salad

Italian Sausage with Balsamic Peppers and Onions

Italian Sausage Sandwich

Jerk Chicken

Lemon Pepper Chicken

Loaded Tots

Loaded Nachos

Mashed Potatoes

Meatball Hoagie

Meatball Pasta

Mediterranean Meatballs with Herbed Yogurt Sauce

Mexican Casserole

Nachos without Chips

Nashville Hot Chicken

Pita Pizzas

Poblano con Queso Tacos

Pulled Pork and BBQ Beans

Sauce Library

Salsa Verde Tacos

Sloppy Joe's from Scratch

Smoky Chicken Sando

Spicy Cubano

Teriyaki Beef Bowl

Toasted Italian Hoagie

Twice-Baked Potato

Zesty Chicken Legs

eating & cooking update

Usually I save my food realizations for the end of the month weight loss progress post, but too many realizations to wait. 

I'll start with a small one first: I can't eat nuts anymore. Because a few nuts turns into ten handfuls. The Lays' slogan "betcha can't eat just one" definitely applies to me and cashews/pistachios/peanuts. So I just need to avoid them in the first place. 

The big realization was how the pasta journey went in reality. I gained five pounds in a week. Partly that was because of my youngest kid's birthday, and part of it is because I also can't just eat one portion of pasta. I'm much better when things are portioned out or I make one serving of something, then making a pot of pasta and only taking a serving. 

This tells me a few things. I'm definitely better off not going down the rabbit hole of learning to smoke my own meats. I can tell having an entire brisket on my counter would not end well for my health. 

The other thing that I learned is that while part of the fun of pasta journey was the pasta, the other fun part was the journey. I enjoyed the cooking, learning lessons, taking notes along the way, and collecting successful recipes for later use. So...pasta journey will still be ongoing, just at a much more sporadic pace. (My first attempt at cacio e pepe was a clumpy fail. I will be back to master this yet, but there's no hurry.)

And I'll start a new collection of Every Day Favorites. Healthy dishes that will help me stay on track with losing/maintaining a healthy weight while also being delicious. This way I can continue on a journey, adding dishes regularly. Which instead of slowing down my progress, will only help as I build a library of meals to turn to.

Avs were vaxxed yesterday. Look for them to struggle against the Blues tonight. Avs currently a -180 favorite.

JK Avs are too good to be slowed down by a vaccine. They're 9-1 in their last ten and the #1 team in the league. 

Pasta Journey: Sausage, Peppers & Onions Pasta

 

This one was a bit different than the usual pasta + sauce formula. In this case, the "sauce" is extra chunky with not much liquid. I found this recipe from Fabio Viviani, a two-time Top Chef contestant. 

I was looking for a recipe that started with crumbled Italian sausage and this seemed like an easy winner. 

This recipe calls for just a little bit of tomato sauce, so with a little planning ahead, I happened to have a little bit of tomato sauce leftover from my Sweet Marinara. 

Here are some bonus shots of the cooking stages. 

I went with shells for this one, attempting to match the size of all the pieces, though my peppers were still a bit on the large size. 

I love Italian sausage so this was a big hit and super quick and easy. If I ever have a little tomato sauce leftover, I'll remember this one.

The thing I was most wrong about was thinking I could continue to lose weight while doing pasta journey. It's not even the pasta itself per se. I have a bad habit of once I go over my calorie goal I decide to turn the day into a "metabolism-booster day" which basically means eating an extra 1500 calories of mixed nuts and whatever else is lying around. 

My two biggest goals right now are in direct opposition—cook a bunch of delicious food and lose weight. 

NAILED IT

 

The lesson here? Hoagie Central is never wrong! I'm so glad I'm imaginary rich after that imaginary bet. 

Pasta Journey: Sweet Marinara

 

I took the bottom photo first, ate it, then realized that it might have been hard to see under all that grated Romano. So I took another photo sans cheese. 

I learned this sauce from my in-laws and have been making it for 12 years now. This is my all-purpose red sauce. I love it on pizza. I love it on meatball subs. And I love it on pasta. It slow simmers on the stove for an hour. The sauce is thick which is great because you can add pasta water to get the consistency you like. If you start with a thin sauce, I'm not going to want to add any pasta water. Also, in general, I don't like thin sauces.

I feel like I should mention this is a tomato sauce for people that don't like tomatoes. Because I'm one of those people. It specifically doesn't use whole tomatoes because I don't want tomato chunks. 

Today was the first time that I cooked it with any meat. Specifically, I made the recipe and split it into two pots, one with Italian sausage, one without. The browned sausage chunks simmered in the sauce for an hour. And surprisingly, the sauce turned out basically the same in both pots. I was expecting for the sausage to flavor the sauce but that didn't really happen. I did enjoy the sausage chunks for sure, but it's definitely optional and not a meaty revelation like I was hoping for.

1 medium onion, diced

28 oz crushed tomatoes

12 oz tomato paste

1/2 cup brown sugar

salt, pepper, garlic powder, herbs to taste

It's so simple to make. Saute the onion in some olive oil. Add the tomatoes and paste. Add the sugar and seasonings. Cook for an hour on a medium-low simmer. Then taste and adjust as necessary. Usually a bit  more salt and pepper at the end. 

Then serve with pasta and freshly grated cheese.

If you wanted it less sweet, you could certainly add less brown sugar. You could add red pepper flake or garlic for more a robust, balanced sauce.

The boys loved it. Brit liked it but said it was on the sweet side for her. I like it sweet because I like to cover it in salty, hard cheese.

Rangers getting vaxxed today

Look for them to struggle tomorrow. There are currently a -120 favorite over the Penguins. 

I'm laying big imaginary money on the Penguins. 

t-shirt update

After washing and getting to wear a few times, it's clear my favorite shirts are the Next Level ones. 

Right now I've got one v-neck and one baseball tee, so I anticipate getting some more Next Level shirts in the future. 

What is this, pasta central?

I've posted three that were already in the collection, plus two new ones from Tuesday (aglio e olio and creamy garlic shells.) Next up, I'm going to remake one sauce that's already in the collection to try out a new sausage technique. After that, cacio e pepe. 

So I'm all caught up on pastas that I've already made. No more days where I'm posting 5 pastas. 

Pasta Journey: My Take on Carbonara

 

So I used all the important caveats in the introduction post. This is not a true Italian carbonara. This is how I like to make it. (Italians would definitely freak out about the cream, garlic and onions. So that's why this isn't called Carbonara. It's inspired by it.) And although it's definitely in the collection of dishes I know how to make, like most things, there is always room for improvement. One time I made it I thought it was the best thing I've ever cooked. I made it last year and thought I didn't do it justice. 

By the next time I make it, I'll probably watch more videos and pick up new techniques. Can always try and get better Italian meat. But here's how I've done it. 

guanciale/pancetta/bacon

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 eggs

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

3/4 cup heavy cream

lots of black pepper

12 ounces of pasta (rigatoni or angel hair are favorites of mine)

Dice the raw meat and fry over medium until crisp. Set aside and season with pepper. Add the onion and garlic to the same pan. Cook until golden. Set aside. Start cooking the pasta. 

In a bowl, mix the eggs, cheese, cream and pepper until smooth. Reserve a cup of the pasta water before you drain the pasta. Drain the pasta and add to pan where you cooked the meat and onion. Drizzle in the sauce while stirring. Add pasta water as necessary. Add the meat, onion and garlic back in. 

Pasta Journey: Creamy Garlic Shells

 

So I knew my family liked fettuccine alfredo. So I thought, how could I kick this up a notch? Add lots of crushed garlic, chopped parsley, and make a roux, so we're basically riffing on bechamel at this point. 

I let my youngest son pick the shape and it was a great choice. The shells really filled up with the sauce and was fun to eat. 

4 Tbsp. butter

4 Tbsp. flour

8 cloves garlic, grated 

3.5 cups half and half

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced 

1 lb. medium shells pasta

Melt the butter, add the flour and garlic. Then half cup at a time, add the half and half, stirring until smooth. Season with a little salt and good amount of pepper. Stir in the cheese until melted and then add parsley. Stir the sauce into the drained pasta. 

I found initially that the sauce was a little thinner (very creamy) than I was expecting. Just a touch. So I added a little more Parmesan and gave it an extra minute on the stove and it thickened perfectly. But maybe next time I would aim for 3.25 cups of half and half. 

I never claimed that was going to be a strict Italian journey. This is definitely an Americanized pasta dish, just like alfredo. Personally, I thought this kicked the pants off alfredo sauce. The roux added a deeper nuttiness, the garlic was great, and the fresh parsley was a nice addition too. Definitely seems like something I'll be making again one day.

Pasta Journey: Vodka Rigatoni

 

This was the one pasta I learned during 2020 quarantine. It was a recommendation from my boss and it does not disappoint. This was a hit for the whole family. A creamy tomato sauce—and I love the color. 

I like rigatoni for these because it can really get the sauce in each tube. In fact, rigatoni became my default shape for any sauce because of that. It works with everything.

3 tbsp. butter

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

2 tbsp. vodka

1 lb. rigatoni

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Melt the butter, sauté the shallot and garlic. Add the tomato paste and red pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the vodka. Add the cream, parmesan and 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Salt and pepper to taste and add more pasta water if necessary. Serve with extra Parmesan.

Pasta Journey: Fettuccine Alfredo

 

This was the first pasta dish that Brit and learned to make from scratch over ten years ago. We've since made it many times. It's our oldest child's favorite food. He even requested it at Thanksgiving one year. 

1 pound fettuccine

1 stick butter

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups freshly grated Parmesan

salt and pepper

You just warm the butter and cream in a pan and pour it over half the Parmesan in a bowl. Add the pasta and a little pasta water. Then add the rest of the cheese, salt and pepper to taste. I like to reserve just a but of grated cheese to put on at the table. 

It feels like a special occasion, despite it being super simple to make. 

Pasta Journey: Aglio e Olio

 

This is perhaps the simplest dish of all, so it seemed like the right place to start. Oil and garlic. During World War II, resources were scarce. But you had to eat. Cheese was a luxury. 

I chose angel hair for this because I knew the "sauce" was going to be very thin and light. I wanted a thin pasta that wouldn't be too dense for a light sauce. 

I sautéed 7 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced in the extra virgin olive oil. Then added red pepper flakes and a few chopped fresh Italian parsley stems. Once the pasta was almost al dente, I added a ladle of pasta water. Then transferred the pasta, added the parsley leaves. It seemed like I chopped up a ton of parsley, but it could have handled even more. Added a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Then added pasta water until it seemed the right consistency. 

In a pinch, I've made olive oil pasta before. But never this good. It's simple and light, yet allows for the flavors to come through. You definitely get garlic. (Brit said the garlic was a bit strong, which to me was validation of a job well done.) You get the oil. The parsley adds a lot. And the red pepper and lemon are just there to give the whole thing some zing and brightness. It totally works. 

Not my absolute favorite by any means, but still I get why this is a classic. A great place to start a journey. Pasta al Limone is an upgraded version of this concept that I'll make one day, so I'm glad I started here.

Il Viaggio della Pasta | Pasta Journey

Today I am embarking on a Pasta Journey. 

First question: Why pasta?

The truth is a complicated history, a long connected string of events that have Inceptioned me into this moment. Some of these events include the first time I had pasta carbonara in Brooklyn in 1999. Or the first time I visited Italia in 2009. They include wanting to learn Italian in 2016 but stopping and merely adding it to my bucket list. It includes watching Master of None. It includes writing a list of pastas to make during lockdown only to get sidetracked after one dish. A few weeks ago, we saw a few episodes of Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy show in a hotel. Then last week we saw the conclusion of Top Chef Season 17 in Tuscany. That was the tipping point that made me restart learning Italian. Which was the catalyst to truly begin the Pasta Journey in earnest. (I mean, you can only talk about forchette e piatto e cacio e carne for so long before you wish you were having pasta.)

So why pasta, exactly? It's delicious, for one. But many things are. I love that it has simple ingredients, and not too many. It's affordable and quite easy to feed a family of four. Plus, everyone in our family likes it. It seems like when done right, it's one of the easiest ways to get restaurant-quality food at home. While pasta can be rich and isn't exactly considered health food, it fits into my healthy eating plan better than pizza, bread, or desserts. I feel like I'll be able to fit a single serving of pasta as my dinner for under 750 calories. But mostly it seemed slightly elusive. That there are all these dishes that I've seen recipes for or videos on YouTube, but haven't tried to make them myself. 

Next question: Why a journey?

Short answer is I wanted a project. Long answer is there are so many dishes that I want to make. There are techniques to master. And then there's making your own pasta from scratch. This isn't trying to perfect a single item like an apple pie. You can do that in a weekend. This will take a while and is one of those things where even after I've got 10 or 15 dishes that I feel comfortable making, there's always more to try. I've got to walk before I run. I'm going to start with nailing down some sauces before moving on to fresh pasta. Like many things, this is a journey without a definite endpoint. But over time, I'll be adding dishes that I feel like I'm comfortable making to the collection below. I'm starting with four that already belong. I think it will be fun to see that collection grow over time. 

A note on authenticity. 

I understand why Italians hold on to traditions. I think their passion for authenticity is great and makes the dishes special. When they say no butter, cream or oil in Cacio e Pepe, I get it. If you add any of those ingredients to the pot, you no longer have Cacio e Pepe. So I'll be aiming for authenticity when using certain words. But I also recognize that I'm neither Italian nor a professional chef. I'm cooking for me and my family. And I'm willing to experiment. I already know that when I make my take on carbonara, I like to add cream, which then no longer makes it a true carbonara. But I'm okay with that. I'm making it for me so I'll make it how I want. I'll just try to be careful with what I call it. 

The Collection

Fettuccine Alfredo

Vodka Rigatoni

My Take on Carbonara

Sweet Marinara

Aglio e Olio

Creamy Garlic Shells

Sausage, Peppers & Onions Pasta

Healthy Mac & Cheese: 3 Ways

2021 Brackets - Final Results

H is a bracket savant. He's won our group that dates back 20 years more than anyone. 

I made 12 brackets to experiment and only one scored more than H, one tied, ten losers. In the end, my best bracket was Rando and my worst bracket was Rando 2. Also I got less smart as the week went on. Trust your first instincts.

Calcutta Recap

Throughout the season it was clear to everyone that Gonzaga and Baylor were the two best teams in college basketball by a considerable margin. They met in the title game. I made a note to get them in Calcutta. The plan was perfect. 

I didn't get either team. 

If I had bid Gonzaga up to $12 and Baylor up to $9, there's a chance I could have gotten both. There's also a chance that someone would have outbid me. If I had gotten both, they would have earned $50. That's a profit of $29 and the title.

Unless...

Is it possible to build a Calcutta roster that out earned $50 without using Gonzaga or Baylor and still staying underbudget?

If you bought the 11 seeds, Houston, Michigan, USC, Arkansas and 12 seeds they would have earned 42.50 but cost you 20.31. So no, even with perfect knowledge, you couldn't outearn someone who had Gonzaga and Baylor.

- - -

I set out to win but got scared about paying too much for Gonzaga and Baylor. I was wary of seeing how top teams can go out in the second round. This year Illinois and Ohio State cost about $17 and returned $1. But Matt at least had a chance of winning it all. Without any realistic title contenders, my roster was well-positioned for a chance of breaking even but not claiming the title.

How To Build a Winning Bracket (Advice for Next Year)

When it was time to make a bracket, I searched in vain through my own archives for a post that would help me build a winning bracket. I found no post. I lost. 

So this year, I made 12 different brackets, partially for fun, partially to experiment and see what it takes to build a winning bracket. Currently with the title game yet to be played, my brackets range from the 4th percentile to the 96th. 

I'm going to go round by round and look at the best bracket I made, compare it to what I submitted as my primary bracket, and see how I can replicate the success in the future. 

Best First Round: 538 chalk: 240 points

Upsets picked: one 9 over an 8, one 10 over a 7

Results of upset picks: 2/2

Results of chalk picks: 22/30

Total for first round: 24/32

My First Round: Backyard Dunks: 190 points

Upsets picked: 9, 13, 10, 12, 11, 12, 10

Results of upset picks: 2/7

Results of chalk picks: 17/25

Total for first round: 19/32

It's hard to pick upsets. It's so tempting when you know there will be some. And it's fun when you get it right. I had UCLA over BYU and Ohio over Virginia. But I also missed on 5 upsets, plus all the upsets I didn't pick. It's best to go conservative early. 

Best Second Round: (tie) 160 points

Mostly BPI  2nd round picks:

1532 1462 1562 1532

Home Cookin' 2nd round picks

1562 1432 1462 1432

Backyard Dunks 2nd round picks

1532 1432 1462 1462

So my Backyard Dunks bracket got 6/16 correct, while the top two both got 8/16.  All the brackets in question picked the 1 seeds and 2 seeds to get to the sweet 16. So it really came down to which 4/5 and which 3/6 to go with. 

Best Sweet 16: 538 chalk 160 points

This bracket picked all 1 seeds and 2 seeds to advance to the elite eight and it was 4/8, which is the best I could do. Harrison used a combination of 1-3 and 1-2 to get 5/8 of correct. 

I used 1-2, 1-3, 1-2, 1-6 and only got 2/8 correct. Going with 1-2 to make every elite eight is more boring, but is going to give you the best chances here. 

Best Elite 8: I had two brackets that got Gonzaga-Baylor-Houston correct in this round, 3/4. 

Their final fours were 1-3-1-2 and 1-2-1-2. The correct answer was 1-11-1-2. 

My final four of 1-3-2-1 was in the ballpark but only got one correct. 

In the top quadrants, it's makes sense to go with the 1 seeds to make the final four as they're the two best teams overall. 

In the bottom, might as well pick the 2 seed.

Let's test that quick theory: The last 5 years, the 1 seeds on top of the bracket are 5/10 to reach the final four. 

The last 5 years, the 1 seeds on the bottom of the bracket are 3/10 to reach the final four. 

Best Final Four: 

In the last five years, every title game has featured at least one 1 seed, twice it's been both. 

How to fill out my bracket in the future. 

Start by filling out an Elite Eight that is 1-2 in every region. 

Final Four should probably have the 1 seeds on top advancing, probably a 2 from the bottom. 

Picking your title game and winner, stick to the team that was strongest all year, not someone who got hot recently.

In the Sweet Sixteen should stick to the 4/5 and the 3/6, and lean towards 3s. 

The Second Round should have hardly any upsets, literally just look at the 8-9s probably. 

Now just to keep these notes secret so only I can see them.