Fantasy Healthball Recipes – Red Victory Soup

Best for:  Fans of teams with red in team colors.  Calling all Texans, Patriots, Bills, Chiefs, Bucs, ‘Skins, Cardinals, and 49ers!  This magic Fantasy Healthball brew is for you!
Where to Eat it:  Watching the game at home with friends (cold weather games best) or in a thermos at the stadium parking lot.
Servings: 3 (double the below to make 6)
What is in it: 
4 tomatoes, medium
1 carrot
half red bell pepper
1/2 onion
1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp (tablespoon) small red lentil
1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp curry
2 tbsp vegetable broth
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
½ cup milk (optional)
A dash of kosher salt and pepper to taste

How to do it:
Okay, first, grow all the vegetables in your garden in the backyard.  Okay, forget that, that would take too long.  Go get them at your local Farmers’ Market.  Don’t have one?  Okay, fine, just go to your local grocery store.  If they give you an organic choice, go with those.  Your body will thank you.  Okay, got all the stuff together?  Let’s move on:
1. Chop roughly all vegetables and put them together with the lentils in a deep pan with 3 cups water; cover and bring to a boil
2. Cook at medium heat until all vegetables are soft (about 15-20 minutes).
3. Mix with an immersion blender (a.k.a hand blender) – if you don’t have one of those, you can use the puree setting on your blender (careful pouring in the hot liquid)
4. if you prefer more liquidy soup, add some water
5. Add the spices, broth, salt, and pepper to taste and simmer for few minutes.  If you prefer a creamier soup, add the milk.  If you are olive oil hounds, add that.  As it is simmering, stir it slowly repeating your team’s fight song.  Don’t know the fight song?  Shame on you, maybe you want Martha Stewart’s recipe website?  Go immediately to You Tube and search for your favorite teams fight song, memorize it, and return.

Serve hot in deep bowl (or go the thermos route if in the cold outdoors).  You can sprinkle a little extra virgin olive oil or spices on top to make it look like you cook for the Food Network.  Dip some toasted whole wheat pita (for the white in your team colors) into it, or some whole wheat bread. 

Health Thoughts:  This recipe is loaded with healthy veggies providing large doses of vitamins E, A, C, B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folate, calcium, and fiber.  Most canned soups are LOADED with sodium but in this recipe, you control the sodium as 90% of it is just in how much salt you add.  We added ½ tsp of kosher salt which is 560mg.  It was plenty salty with that, so you could try less.  Overdoing salt is linked to high blood pressure.  This recipe is full of happy goodness and low in fat, calories, and cholesterol.  Thanks to Fantasy Healthball Fan Cinzia for sending it in to us! 

Enjoy, and on to victory.  – Jim Ballard

Congrats To Steelers and Congrats to Fantasy Healthballers

A great victory for the Steelers over a team that challenged them every step of the way.  Congrats also to all of you who participated in the 2008 Fantasy Healthball season.  Just like the Cardinals did for the Steelers, life has a way of putting hurdles in your way as you try to live a healthy lifestyle.  You can’t phone it in and expect to win/be healthy.  You have to keep pushing, keep focused, and try even harder when it appears you are down or lost momentum.  The trials of a good football game are the perfect analogy for the trials of losing weight and/or having the body you want to have.  As Big Ben just said with the Lombardi in his hand, “Anything is possible.”  Sometimes it just takes the focus and drive that leads to a toes dragging, sideline, end zone touchdown catch.

My playoff fantasy team ended with 69 points for the game led by Larry Fitzgerald.  My healthpoints for the week top Jeff’s fantasy team today so I finish this wonderful season 19-1.  

We can’t help but get a little emotional and nostalgic.  One year ago, at the Superbowl halftime, as Tom Petty rocked the crowd, we launched our website and blog.  This year, as Bruuuuce rocked the crowd, we had an amazing year to look back on.  The miles jogged, the weights lifted, the calories burned, the countless fruit and veggies, the portion sizes that finally got under control, the water, the fiber, all of it combined to have a huge impact on our health.  If you joined us, you know exactly what we mean.  I leave the 2008 season in the best shape of my life and as committed as ever to stay that way.  Jeff is getting great reports from his doctor and has made substantial progress this year.  

We hope 2008 saw your healthy lifestyle improve as well.  If not, it is time to hit it at training camp and it is never too early to start getting ready for the 2009 season!  We have big plans for 2009, come along with us.  Anything is Possible.  – Jim Ballard

Fantasy Superbowl XLIII – Steelers and Cardinals

So I’ve locked in my fantasy line-up for the Superbowl in the NFL.com Playoff Challenge.  My strategy and my picks led me to a strong week one, awful week two, better week three, and now for all the marbles.  I’m still in second place behind Jeff in my “Buddy Group” but I’m feeling good going into the Superbowl.  I’ve got:

Big Ben- QB

Willie Parker- RB

Edgerrin James – RB

Hines Ward – WR

Larry Fitzgerald – WR

Neil Rackers – K

Steelers – Def/Special Team

My TE spot is empty but that is only one empty spot due to my overall strategy of saving a little as I went.  I’m hoping many of my opponents have burned through their 8 total changes and only have a few actual starters for the big game.  On the health side, I ended up with a 104 this week which will go head to head against Jeff’s players for my SuperHealthBowl.  I’m a super strong 18-1 going into the final game.  Can I close the deal with a 19-1 and Superbowl victory?  We’ll find out tomorrow.  – Jim Ballard

Week 3 – Championship Round – Steelers and Cardinals Move On

The good news is I moved up this week about 20,000 spots!  The bad news is that puts me in 131,778th place!

Before Sunday’s games, I had received a tip about my fantasy opponent for the week – named “Bears58.”  I heard he (Jeff’s team) went heavily on the Cardinals and Ravens.  Since my own NFL Fantasy Playoff Team is full of Steelers and Eagles, I thought this could be the deciding weekend on which of us is going to finish with more points.  So of course the Cardinals and Steelers move on and each of us find ourselves replacing some players going into the final week.  As you read in my prior post, my grand strategy was to still have 3 moves left over for the Superbowl.  So I can replace some of those Eagles on my team.  My only hope is that Bears58 is out of moves and he will go into the Superbowl with some Cardinals and some empty spots (formerly held by Ravens).  Week 3 result:  Jeff finished first in our league with a 98 and I came in second with a 74.  A big improvement over my prior week but not enough to pick up with win so I fall to 1-2 and Jeff is 2-1. 

I slipped a little this week on the health side because I had a couple lunch meetings where I did not keep to “adequate portion size” and I missed a couple exercises because I had to work late one day and stay with a sick kid another, but I still posted my Fantasy Healthball score in triple digits which was enough to beat Jeff’s fantasy team’s 98 points.  That puts me at 3-0 in the playoffs on Healthball and going strong into the Superbowl. 

So my intuition is that, going into the fantasy Superbowl, Jeff has a few Cardinals and some empty slots.  But if you are going to have some slots filled, the Cards seem to be the way to go.  I dismiss them on a weekly basis only to be surprised by their performance each week.  I keep thinking they are all pomp and no circumstance.  But I know I’ll need a great healthy week to beat them.  3TDs to one receiver?

Since there is no game this Sunday, my league is using this week as a “tune up” and training week for next week.  We’ll keep track of our health challenges this week but only use our scores for trash talking leading to the big game.  Next week, it is for real! 

I currently have Big Ben at QB, Willie Parker and Brian Westbrook at RB, Hines Ward and Larry Fitzgerald at WR (okay, so I did take advantage of those 3 TDs as well, can’t completely pass on those guys!), LJ Smith at TE (what a mistake that has been), my kicker slot open, and the Ravens on Defense/Special Teams.  I can replace 3 of those.  Send any advice my way – I need it as the fantasy rookie going against the fantasy juggernaut!  I’m thinking I need to replace Westbrook and Smith (Eagles out) and my defense (Ravens out).  Good luck to you as well!  (in football and in health)– Jim Ballard