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!

Matcha Salt Egg Whites, Latino Lunch, Mediterranean Race Prep

Race Prep Dinner: Mediterranean Lemon Garlic Chicken

Since my success at the last race after this dinner, I decided to basically repeat it in hopes of the same result! I did everything the same except had Heirloom Tomato instead of Cherry, and no Avocado so just went with extra Hummus and Lemon Garlic Tahini Sauce. #1 Definitely a cleaner meal, yet still flavorful! I also had Leeks cooked with the Chicken, which are always delicious.  My flavor highlights were the Olives and Tahini Sauce, so much Lemon! A partial Burrito as usual.

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

-Brown Rice, Tortilla Wrap

-Steamed Broccoli and Rosemary Carrots 

-Cucumber, Tomato, Olives

-Hummus and Garlic Lemon Tahini (just like it sounds)

Latino Turkey-Tuna Salad Combo

No major cooking for lunch, just a solid array of ingredients!  Quasi-Latin American feel with Plantain, Salsa, Garlic and Avocado.  It was sweet, savory, and creamy all in one. A mix of two salads with yummy toppings and some Euro Pumpernickel to go with. Easy and delicious. #2 Sweet Ripe Plantains go surprisingly well in salad with Garlic and Rice Wine Vinegar.

-Tuna Salad (below) supplemented with Pastrami Turkey

-Spring Mix Greens, Rice Wine Vinegar

-Avocado, Sweet Ripe Plantain, Sabra Spinach-Artichoke Hummus, Salsa

-Euro-Pumpernickel Rye

Matcha Salt on Egg's Benedict Whites

Change is good! Sometimes we get caught up in our routines, which is efficient, relaxing, and easy, but if you don't slow down once in a while and take a step back to mix it up, you might miss it (Ferris Bueller anyone?). That's what today's breakfast is all about!  The original reason I invested in Matcha Powder. Matcha Salt.  I finally made it due to my inkling for something other than oatmeal this morning. Waffles would take too long, so Matcha Salt on Egg Whites took the win. My own variation, partially an experiment, enjoyed on Euro-Style Pumpernickel Rye Bread partially with Nori and partially with super ripe sweet Plantain! And avocado.  The first half w/ Nori was Salty and Flavorful (Seaweed+Green Tea=Harmony) and the second half was a nice combo of Sweet and Salty! Avocado went well on both. A new winner for sure. Kind of like savory half first course to sweet and savory second half for dessert/second course. Love it when that happens.
-3 Egg Whites split between 2 Egg's Benedict Rings cooked in Olive Oil
-Euro Pumpernickel Bread, Nori, Plantain, Avocado
-Matcha Salt (1 Part Matcha 3.5 Parts Sea Salt) and Olive Oil to top

Tuna Salad Deluxe

Made another Tuna Salad for dinner, enjoyed with some Spinach Pita from the Farmer's Market that I toasted until crispy in a pan.  The main differences this time were 3 different colors of top notch carrots form the Farmer's Market, sauteed Fennel, and #3 Dill Pickles as a substitute for Olives (it worked!).  Extra good all together when mixed on a yummy pita with hummus! And the Avocado is in the salad.

-Can o' Tuna, Tri Color Carrots, Cucumber, Sauteed Fennel, a Dill Pickle, White Onion

   -Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, Crushed Garlic Cloves, Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper

-Toasted Spinach Pita and Hummus

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