Proper Fueling with Many Feasts

My family friend wanted to cook a feast together.

My Plate Clockwise from Bottom Left: Chicken Tagine, Leeks from Tagine, Sweet Potato Turnip Bake, Persimmon Salad, Kale Salad

I mainly made this Persimmon Salad and my chicken tagine, but using the actual recipe with 1.5 chickens!  The salad wasn't really my style, heavy on the fruit, but fairly tasty nonetheless. The leek mixture from the chicken was probably my favorite, along with the Sweet Potato-Turnip combo from the same recipe as the chicken. Could of eaten it for days!

 Owen cutting Shallots for the Sweet Potatoes

 Tagine Check

The Crew

Then I prepared another feast for my friends.

The buffet line up (close to far): Baked Turnips, Baked Sweet Potatoes/Yam, Roasted Bacon Brussels, Sous Vide Grass Fed Steak

I baked the potatoes and turnips the same as for the first feast because they are too good. A tad spicy a tad herby and a tad sweet.

My Plate

 I also made a Balsamic Reduction with simple Balsamic Vinegar and Ghee (2 cups and 1.5T ea.) which I am stoked to have leftovers on. It's sweet and delicious on everything and easy to make, just boil down to reduce by half, mix and serve.

 First time making Bacon Brussel Sprouts (of course I've tasted and loved them many times), and was very pleased (along with everyone else).  I used Bacon Trimmings which were cheaper from El Salchichero (coming from Devil's Gulch where I ride road to in Nicasio), and just sliced/cooked some up in a pan, poured the grease into a baking tray, put the prepared Sprouts on, and then scattered the bacon pieces throughout and baked with the other dishes at 400º F for 30 minutes or so until soft all the way through.

For the steak I used some Herbs mainly Rosemary with the Sous Vide, cooked to perfect medium rare and then seared the outside afterwards in a tiny bit of the Balsamic Sauce. So tender!

Now onto some more elementary feasting...Post long ride base training! I've been putting in a lot of 4-5 hour rides and it's hard to eat enough carbs afterwards. I need to hit 500 per day which means if there's no lunch involved because of my ride i've got a small window afterwards to cram. It's kind of fun.

 I've been having something along the lines of 2 servings of Gu Recovery Brew Strawberry Watermelon (50g ea.), a sweet potato or yam, a persimmon or plantain or blueberries, and for yesterday a few dates/dried cranberries as well. And an extra scoop of whey protein. Then an hour later I'll eat my meal which has another sweet potato/kabocha squash/chestnuts and some nice meat. Massive.

 These 'ice cream' bowls have been awesome.

• 2 out of the 6 scoops of Gu Recovery Mix
• 150g Blueberries (frozen)
• 12g Whey Protein (1 scoop)
• Vanilla Extract and Cinnamon
• Dates/Cranberries/Yam Optional

I hit 4 out of the 6 scoops of Gu Recovery first to get the speedy fiberless absorption before the even more delicious fruit/vegetable concoction (I should take the skin off for even less fiber but it's too delicious).

While on the topic of eating lots of carbs I tried using fit day and it's pretty cool. Here's how it came out:

I was trying to eat less fiber because without grains it's easy to get too much.

Increasing my carb intake at the right times (pre-post-during) has really helped my training and haven't gained an ounce of weight!

Sweet Basil Balsamic Chicken 2x and More Kaia Foods!

Sweet Basil Balsamic Chicken

I used to just eat balsamic vinegar and olive oil all over everything to make it good, but it's been so long! I wanted to step up my Chicken Balsamico, so this time did things slightly differently, and am glad I did. Wanted my chicken breast grilled, so first browned both sides of the chicken in a grill pan with olive oil on med-high, salt, pepper, and dried basil, then added garlic, onions, beets, and finally once cooked enough I added a Balsamic mixture to sizzle for a minute. #1 The addition of a little Agave sweetens it up nicely. Goes perfectly with brown rice, toasted Pine Nuts, and a Balsamic and Olive Oil Salad complete with fresh Basil and Heirloom Tomatoes. Balsamic is back!

-Grilled Chicken Breast (Basil. Balsamic, Olive Oil, Salt/Pepper, Chicken Broth, Agave Nectar), Garlic, Beets, Onion

-Spring Mix, Fresh Basil, Heirloom Tomato

-Toasted Pine Nuts and Brown Rice

Basil Balsamic Revisited

If only you knew how many meals I go into thinking, i'll just get some stuff together, I don't feel like making anything blog worthy, but end up with something pretty sweet. Like this! I just wanted to get fed with plenty of nutritious foods from the fridge but it ended up so tasty and colorful I had to post. Simply the same Chicken, but then combined with a salad, sweet potato, and awesome Romanesco Broccoli. #2 Romanesco Broccoli is epic! Steamed and enjoyed perfectly fine plain but also with Creamy Woodlands Deli Hummus, truly the best kind! Also on the chicken!

-Balsamic Sweet Basil Chicken

-Steamed Romanesco Broccoli and Baked Sweet Potato

-Spring Mix, Tomato, Fresh Basil, Green Onion, and Balsamic Garlic Lemon Dressing

   -Lemon, Olive Oil, Balsamic, Crushed Garlic

-Plenty o' Woodlands Hummus

Kaia Foods Supports!

Received a sample pack to test out the other day after loving the Date Spice Buckwheat Granola. Today brings the Cherry Pie version. Holy Wow! When I popped open the bag I got an explosion of cherry pie flavor.  I was stoked to look inside and see tons of high quality delicious dried cherries forming epic clumps of granola just like the dates in the date-spice.  Did I mention it tastes just like cherry pie? It must be the lemon, ginger, and vanilla.  Here it was delicious with my yogurt and fresh fruit added, but of course I dove into the bag and ate some plain initially. So good by itself I would definitely consider it dangerous. Nutritionally this one is the least caloric for the same serving but also has less protein, so I paired it with ~6oz of my homemade blueberry yogurt.  A good option if you like cherries and are trying to eat less calories, or enjoy eating a larger quantity for the same calories! #3 But still a nutritious much better for you granola because it's raw sprouted buckwheat and not oil baked oats!

-70g Cherry Pie Buckwheat Granola

-6 oz Blueberry Yogurt (Homemade)

-Kiwi and Blueberries

Ginger Berry Crunch, Cubano Soup-Salad-Sando, Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

I wish I starving so I could of had 2nd's and 3rd's for this meal. It was too good I wanted it to last forever. Garlic and Lemon to the max on everything! Some steamed vegetables, grilled chicken, avocado and other appropriate vegetables, all drizzled with Garlic Lemon Tahini Dressing, partially enjoyed as a wrap and partially just over rice. #1 Everything goes together so well, there's nothing more to say (rightly matched Mediterranean ingredients go a long way)!

-Meyer Lemon Chicken cooked on high heat with Lemon, Garlic, Olive Oil, Parsley, Dill Weed, Lemon Pepper

-Steamed Carrots and Broccoli

-Avocado, Cherry Tomatos, Olives, Cucumber

-Brown Rice mix and a Wheat Tortilla

-Tahini Dressing (Lemon, Garlic, Tahini, Water), Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

 Cubano Soup

 Dijon Dill Balsamic

    For lunch I decided to go with the soup-salad-sandwich combo on account of the cold weather and trying to get healthy right before my race tomorrow (not so convenient).  I haven't really made a vegetable soup before, and got some plantains from Whole Foods yesterday I wanted to try using, so I came up with this delicious combo. #2 Just mix chicken broth with all the vegetables and cook to desired tenderness with herbs and spices mixed in. Simple enough! It had a Latin American flavor with Garlic and Olive but the standouts were Cumin and Bay Leaf, and had plenty of tasty soft vegetables inside like Oyster Mushrooms and Plantain.  My sandwich was a basic Pastrami Turkey Dijon on wheat with Dill and the Salad was Balsamic and Olive Oil. The best Bubbie's Pickles and Diestel Pastrami Turkey for the win.

-Chicken Broth, Carrot, Red Onion, Plantain, Cumin, Bay Leaf, Garlic, Olives, Salt n' Peppa

-Toasted Wheat Loaf, Diestel Pastrami Turkey, Avocado, Pickle, Dijon, Olive Oil

-Arugula, Cucumber, Avocado, Olive Oil, Balsamic

Ginger Berry Crunch

I really wanted to improve my Ginger Berry Oatmeal, and got some Ginger Juice during a massive food shop at the big Whole Foods in Mill Valley, so was kind of excited to use it (and egg whites).  #3 It's perfect to have b/c it's so much easier to not peel and mince/press real ginger yourself. This bowl came out just the way I wanted! Creamy-Chewy-Crunchy with Blueberry-Ginger-Anise flavoring. A nutty bite from the Hazelnuts, sweetness from partially cooked in Blueberries, and uber flavor from Ginger and Anise. And some more delicious crunch from the best granola (only non-sweet Vanilla Munch). The egg was much better than last time I tried to do egg whites and oatmeal, cooking it separately and mixing it in might be the way to go. I used a little Egg's Benedict Ring.
-50g thick oats, 1tsp Ginger Juice, crushed Star Anise, Blueberries
-2 Egg Whites cooked in olive oil, Blueberries
-Chopped Hazelnuts, Blueberries, Galaxy Granola
-A tad bit of Vanilla Almond Milk

Super Swordfish and Pineapple

Lots of good/new things in this dinner.  Spaghetti squash with balsamic vinegar and basil is a new favorite, Seabass baked with balsamic, lemon, portobello mushrooms, and pineapple (going to go for the grill option next time, but still yummy), Rainbow chard sauteed with garlic, and Balsamic Vinaigrette Green Salad.  Definitely will be purchasing more spaghetti squash, pineapple, and rainbow chard in the future!

Double fisting burrito leftovers from last night!

-Whole wheat tortillas

-Black beans with onion cooked in

 -Spiced with turmeric and curry powder
-Cucumber
-Sauteed garlic rainbow chard
-Brown rice
-Hummus!
Turmeric and curry powder are definitely becoming a key tool in my cooking arsenal. So good!

You guessed it. The last of the all spice apple strawberry oatmeal. This time with almonds, yogurt, and dried cherries.  Maybe I won't have oatmeal tomorrow? Who knows. Stay tuned.

Tons of new things in Two Days!

No Bake Granola Bars!

Tried out a new recipe. Main ingredients are:

-Oats

-Almond butter

-Protein Powder

-Soymilk

-Dried Cranberries

-Maple Syrup

They turned out pretty good for a first batch, the reason they are greenish is because I used hemp protein powder instead of whey or soy! Hope to add some more spices/different qty's for the next batch.

Dinner:

-Balsamic Herb Chicken

-Sweet Potato

-Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad

-Broccoli

-Hummus

Snack!

Home made apple juice from apples from my tree

Lunch:

-Salad, chicken, and sauteed veggie leftovers

-Almond butter and blueberry jelly sandwich

Breakfast:

-Green Tea Passion Fruit Honest Tea w/ Stevia

-Same Pecan Dried Cherry Banana Hot Cereal

-Added soy yogurt, flax seed, and blueberries

Dinner:

As part of the quest for the best veggie burger, I went to The Counter for the first time. It was good, but the search definitely continues. If I were to get it there again I would get ciabatta b/c the bun was pretty insignificant and soft, and more crunchy vegetable toppings and no avocado.

-Multigrain Bun

-Veggie patty

-Dijon balsamic

-Avocado

-Sprouts

-Carrot strings

-Mixed Greens

-Sweet Potato Fries

The last of the pecan pumpkin oat bran muffins!

Lunch w/ celeb appearance from Charlotte Condy

-Wrap made from dinner lefty's (Chicken, black beans, ride, avocado, salsa, tomato)

-Sauteed pepper/spinach, butternut squash

-Salad w/ Lemon Vinaigrette

breakfast:

-Bob's redmill 7 grain hot cereal cooked with dried cherries and banana and pecans

-Added plain yogurt and blueberries