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!

Race Deliciousness, Mexican Chocolate Oatmeal, and Much More

Another solid race! After this cookie bar I didn't feel the need to eat anything super extravagant for dinner and brought all the leftovers from my race prep meal so munched them all down on the car ride home. Convenient and tasty.

The Blind Date

 Wanted to try something a little bit different from Lenny and Larry after the race (after a recovery drink).  These Big Sur Bars are delicious and I love the taste but one bar packs 600 calories (3 servings) and it's hard impossible to eat one third. Pecans, Coconut, Dates, for days, all on top of a Blondie like cookie bar! I love dates and pecans so much! #1 All real healthy ingredients with solid nutrients although I usually feel a little bad after eating them because of the butter in it I think (on top of the calories, sugar, and fat), but didn't really feel it this time and was able to actually feel full after the race for a few hours. Like almost 3...

 Mixed

 Repeat 'Basic' Overnight Oats! Unmixed

Simple yet Special! No more pumpkin butter but did include 20g of Pomegranate juice (more evident in the mixed up photo). It's so awesome knowing exactly what I need to eat before a race (down to the weight of each ingredient!). I don't have to worry or think about over or under-eating. Just have this an hour after I wake up, a Macro Bar 2 hours before the start (Cherries and Berries all day!), and a Gu 15 minutes before the start (for a race at 1pm and waking up at 8. Dialed. Fluids = this big jar of tea, 1 big bottle of water during warm up, and a little more right when I woke up.

-65g oats, 180g soymilk, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves

-25g Pomegranate Juice

-Blueberries, Almond Butter

-Almonds, Dried Cranberries

Repeat Race Prep Dinner: Mediterranean Lemon Garlic Chicken

I did everything the same except was too lazy to make the Tahini dressing so just used the second half of my lemon directly on everything. Brought back avocado, awesome with hummus and the chicken! I also had leeks again cooked with the chicken, which are always delicious.  Definitely now a must for this meal. The corn and wheat flour tortilla i'm not digging so much, it's a little too mexican tasting/not as good or healthy as a quality wheat (not the low carb processed kind) or brown rice tortilla. I definitely ate a lot more than what's shown here too!

-Browned Chicken Breast, Almonds,and Leeks with Lemon, Garlic, Dill Weed, Parsley, Lemon Pepper, 

-Brown Jasmine Rice, Tortilla

-Steamed Broccoli and Rosemary Carrots 

-Cucumber, Tomato, Kalamata Olives

-Woodlands Deli Hummus

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Turkey Nori Wrap Round 2

Wasn't gonna include this, but some noteworthy additions for Turkey Nori Wrap round #2  I still have no vegetables, and man am I digging having a bunch of dried seaweed as back up!  I had no onion this time so wanted something more to add, going with frozen cranberries to compliment the turkey. Then I tried out one more kind of dried seaweed that you just soak in water to prepare for seaweed salad, and used rice wine vinegar instead of Temari in my dressing. Definitely improvements.
-Diestel Pastrami Turkery and Brown Jasmine Rice
-Frozen Cranberries
-1 Nori Sheet, 1 Kombu Piece and 2 Wakame (boiled)
-Seaweed Salad Seaweed?
-1/4 cup sunflower seeds soaked/ground
-Carrot 1/2 shredded 1/2 sliced
-Lemon, Dill Weed, Rice Wine Vinegar
-Hummus

 Creamy Mexican Hot Chocolate!

As: Choco-Nana

Stokage this morning for sure! I busted out some Cocoa Powder for the first time for some oatmeal. #3 Riding right after breakfast at home = two differences from my experience during the week. I get to eat something more carbish/sugary since I am about to go ride (not sit in a desk), and I can actually prep something.  This wasn't even sugary, but you could easily sweeten with maple syrup or whatever you please.  Tried as creamy choco-banana oatmeal but then opted for Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal for the extra kick and health benefits. Equally tasty either way!  I actually thought a lot about health making this, cocoa is super healthy (not chocolate with a bunch of milk fat and sugar) and gives a bit of caffeine (good during exercise), and then the seeds and spices are very beneficial as well.  Without spices it was like nutella (next time will do hazelnuts for a true nutella experience for sure) with a big emphasis on creamy choco-banana, but then it got a whole bunch of flavor with a kick of spicyness, and only a hint of banana. The creamyness definitely comes from using oat bran w/ the oats and soymilk.

-1/4c Oat Bran 1/4 cup Oats, 1c Water
-1t Vanilla
-1t Cocoa Powder
-2/3 Large Banana
-2t Chia Seeds
-4-5 Pecans
-Soymilk
-Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper

Flavor Goes Fast for Many!

I spent this weekend traveling with my team to Fontana (east of LA) for the second national race of the season, so below is a combo of cooking for the masses / travel.  I got to coordinate and create the meal plan and shopping list for the team beforehand and as you can see, it definitely worked!  Everything was chosen mostly from Trader Joe's based on quality primarily but also keeping close focus on our tight budget. Here's my race report.

Lenny and Larry Double Chocolate Complete Cookie

This cookie takes the 'Complete' mantra and combines it with delicious chocolate-choclatey goodness.  More protein, no fake ingredients, no dairy, and not too milky not too bittersweet.  Just a chewy not crumbly well done cookie! Thoroughly enjoyed after a hard race. Now my routine post race fuel! These cookies are the original reason I was attracted to Lenny and Larry, they seriously are the best cookie you don't have to make yourself!

 Pre Race Dinner #2: Herb Lemon Chicken w/ Almonds, Leeks, and Olives

A variation of the race prep dinner i've been doing this season, changed for whats available and made in a mass quantity.  12 whole breasts of chicken with two leeks, a can of olives, and a bunch of almonds, in two baking dishes in the oven. Perfect flavor. So many delicious herbs complimented by crunchy leeks/almonds and topped with creamy hummus. Some more cooked vegetables to accompany, had to sauté instead of steam though due to the mass quantity. This was pre race dinner everyone racing expert (Juniors + Team Director Dario).

-Sauteed Rosemary Carrots

-Baked Herb Chicken (Dill Weed, T Joe's Every Day Seasoning, Basil), Leeks, Olives, Sliced Roasted Almonds

-Sauteed Broccoli

-Cucumber, Tomato, Hummus

-Brown Jasmine Rice, Wheat Tortilla

Mexi Leftovers

I got these leftovers together faster than ever before since the team was waiting to leave the house. Having my tupperware was crucial, and I just grabbed a bit of everything from our Mexi Dinner. There was a taco vendor at the venue so I even got to add fresh lemon, cilantro, and spicy salsa verde for free! I had no utensils so I ended up having to break a shard off of a plastic cup to scoop with. This was a pretty dialed meal for zero cost and no prep at all. On the last day we had similar lunches except with chicken, hummus, more vegetables, and tortillas as well from the 2nd dinner. They tasted so good! I will never get over the surprise of how tasty leftovers can be.

-Brown Rice, Salsa, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, Beans, Olives, Ground Turkey

-Cilantro, Lemon, Salsa Verde

 Breakfasts Down: Mass Oatmeal

The team's got experience cooking gargantuan amounts of oatmeal for breakfast. We went with plenty of sweet blueberries and bananas cooked in, and then I went some more delicious toppings.  Clean, simple, and solid. The true breakfast of champions. A little berry jam is the best sweetener! I also normally used raw almonds, but the dry roasted kind is definitely a nice change. Accompanied by the newest issue of Decline. Had the same breakfast on race day, just gobbled down in near darkness since we had to race at 8:00am.

-Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananas cooked in

-Soymilk, Cinnamon

-Fresh Blueberries, Roasted Almonds, a bit of Blackberry Jam

Pre Race #1: Burrito Night

 Cooking for the team brought me three good lessons.  We used Brown Jasmine Rice since it cooks faster, and it was totally delicious. #1 It tasted closed to white rice than other brown rices, which I definitely like sometimes, and I also used a little too much water, but it made the rice keep in the fridge so much better (not drying out). We made such a large batch that we were able to use it again for the next two lunches and one dinner. #2 We also used ground turkey, which I've done before but don't usually use at home.  It was really tasty with plenty of Granulated Garlic, Salt and Pepper, just have to make sure to buy the leanest closest to white meat version you can find. A little more interesting and easier to digest than eating more beans for protein (less fiber in turkey). #3 We also used multiple different kinds of beans (so many cans!) and just mixed them all together in a massive pot, and they turned out really good on their own. It's hard to make a bad meal when you just combine all these delicious foods. This dinner was pre race dinner for everyone racing pro (the U23 Squad) on Saturday.

-Sauteed Ground Turkey w/ Garlic, Salt and Pepper

-Sauteed Onion w/ Salt and Pepper

-Brown Jasmine Rice

-Olives

-Refried Black Beans/Pinto Beans

-Amy's Garlic Salsa

-Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado