Category Archives: Recipe Box
Fall Eating
So since moving to Cali, fresh, wild caught fish has become more a part of our diet. So has local, seasonal produce. We been buying all of our fish and produce at the farmers market. For one, it is all local and usually organic. Two, it is actually cheaper.
Better, HEALTHIER food that is CHEAPER! Win, win, right!?!
We also added in more carbs. We’ve made corn tortillas with non-genetically modified corn. We’ve also used some rice (of course my preference is toward white rice). We usually cycle in days of higher and lower carb. I’ve been doing higher carb on days when I workout to replenish my glycogen stores and lower carbs on days when I don’t since my stores don’t get depleted.
I still focus on keeping my carb intake below 150 grams per day. (Although there is the occasional day I go above when I really feel depleted. I also know over the course of the week, my carb intake will even out to way below the 150 gram limit.)
Anyway, here are some delicious meals we’ve made recently that haven’t taken very long at all! (Especially fish…it cooks up in no time!)
Wild salmon with a balsamic sauce and an arugula, kale salad with a bit of blue cheese and a balsamic and olive oil dressing
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Grass-fed lamb in a chipotle chili sauce with white rice and a mixed greens salad and balsamic dressing.
Ribs with a spicy tomato/mustard bbq sauce and a fresh salad of local, organic tomatoes, avocados, arugula and green onion in an olive oil and pepper dressing
Recipes to come! Hopefully this inspires some great weekend meals! What are you cooking!?!
P.S. Saw this guest post on Mark’s site the other day and thought it was very interesting. It is definitely something to think about when planning out a diet program. There are certain times of the year when losing weight can be more difficult…be those times when we know we will be traveling and partying or be those times when our body tells us that it wants more food!
Also this is a great article to get you thinking about carbs from Man Biceper Polly!
Happy Fourth of July!
Sunshine, BBQ and some frozen berries and chocolate. What could be better?
Pork belly, pulled chicken, pulled pork, ribs and homemade Primal potato salad!
Oh and watermelon!!
Primal Potato Salad
Ingredients:
2 oz Blue Cheese
2 Potatoes
4 slices of bacon
2 hardboiled eggs
1/2 tbsp of dill
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
Boil potatoes and cook the eggs.
Crisp bacon in pan.
Crumble bacon into bowl with extra bacon grease (yum! haha). Chop up hard-boiled eggs.
Peel the potatoes, dice and add to the eggs and bacon. Add in crumbled blue cheese, dill, cream, olive oil and mustard.
Mix well and refrigerate till chilled.
Happy 4th!
Kombucha – Home Brewing It!
So Erin gave us a scoby, which I promptly named “Freddy.” Don’t ask me why, but I did.
Ryan on the other hand put the scoby to use. He brewed our first batch of kombucha!
Kombucha is a fermented tea that is believed to possess all of these great health benefits. Whether or not it is really THAT good for you doesn’t really matter. It isn’t bad for you and I think it is delicious. So even if it has one quarter of the health benefits people claim that it has, I’m drinking it!
Here is our recipe!
Makes 1 quart of kombucha
Ingredients:
You will need a glass jar to hold the liquid and a coffee filter or towel for a lid.
- 2 1/2 cups hot (not boiling) water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 black tea bags
- 1 green tea bag
- 1/2 cup already-made unflavored kombucha tea
- Kombucha culture (Scoby)
Heat up water to just before boiling and add sugar. Make sure it is all dissolved. Seep tea bags for 5-10 minutes in water that is hot but not boiling. Then let the tea completely cool to room temperature.
Then add tea to the scoby with starter kombucha (or already-made kombucha) in a mason jar.
Cover with a coffee filter and rubber band. Make sure nothing metal touches the kombucha or scoby. Make sure your hands are clean when handling the scoby.
Let sit for 5-30 days and enjoy!
If you choose not to follow this recipe, make sure to be careful in which one you select. Apparently you can brew a batch that is bad for you!
Getting our Vitamin D
It has been nice outside the past few days so Ryan and I have gone outside to workout. A great way to get our Vitamin D for the day! (More about the importance of Vitamin D later!)
Our favorite outdoor workout spot is down by the Charles River. There is a little outdoor workout area with pull up bars and places to do abs, push ups, inverted rows, plyometrics and more.
Last year we did the Murph down there.
This year our first outdoor workout was:
1 round as fast as you can:
50 Pull ups
50 Push Ups
50 Inverted Rows
50 Dips
50 Burpees
50 Sit ups
The 1.5 mile walk down to the river felt good, but the 1.5 mile walk back wasn’t near as fun. The workout was definitely a bit harder because we aren’t yet used to the heat and humidity.
What made the walk back more rewarding was a nice BBQ meal with some delicious Cider Sangria.
We grilled up some delicious Grass-fed Buffalo Flank Steak courtesy of The Meat House!
No sauce needed! Just seasoned with cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper!
SOOOO GOOD!
To drink or not to drink? That is the question…
I get lots of questions about alcohol and whether or not you should drink it and in what quantities.
This question is always slightly difficult for me to answer because I’ve never been a fan of drinking alcohol.
I’ve had a few run ins with drinking and I’ve always come out the worse for wear. So for me drinking often or a lot just doesn’t sound appealing. I prefer to wake up each morning feeling wonderful and ready to take on the day!
But I do understand that some people really enjoy drinking. While binge drinking still isn’t healthy, a drink or two a few times a week can be good for your health.
Of course there are definitely alcoholic beverages that are better for you than others.
While I loved watching Sex and the City (and still enough the repeats on TV), I wouldn’t recommend that you consume any of those girly drinks near as often as they do. Cosmos, Sex on the Beach, Margaritas, Daiquiris all have WAY too much sugar in them to be consumed more than every once in a while (aka when you are on vacation or during a full on cheat day).
However, if you would like to have a glass or two of red wine a couple of times a week, I fully support that.
Red wine is probably one of the best alcohols you could consume. By best I mean, lowest in carbs with a healthy antioxidant punch! With about 3-5 grams of carbs, red wine contains a ton of antioxidants, including resveratrol, a super antioxidant that is touted as being able to combat cancer and reduce signs of aging among other things.
So if you enjoy a glass or two of wine a couple of nights a week, I say why not?
Of course no matter how “healthy” red wine is that doesn’t mean you can binge on it. It still contains carbs and calories that could slow weight loss if that is your ultimate goal.
White wine is also not a bad indulgence occasionally. It doesn’t contain resveratrol and has fewer phenols, but it still packs a healthy amount of antioxidants in for only 3-5 grams of carbs.
Not a wine drinker though? Prefer hard alcohol?
Well if you enjoy Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey or Cognac, especially on the rocks, you can indulge in a glass or two. Zero carbs and a kick of antioxidants. Actually research has even shown that whiskey may contain more ellagic acid, a free radical fighter, than red wine!
Hey, if you can stomach any of these alcohols, I say go for it!
However, Vodka, Gin and Clear Rum do NOT measure up to Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey or Cognac. None have the antioxidant bonus even though they lack carbs.
Not a hard alcohol drinker or a wine-o? Prefer beer?
Well if you like light beer, you can get a nice antioxidant boost with fewer carbs. Light beer actually holds its own against white wine with a nice dose of antioxidants for only around 3-6 grams of carbs. Be careful though, some light beers do have more carbs than that!
Now regular beers and creamy, dark stouts….Sorry about 10-25 grams of carbs for not near the antioxidant punch you get from red wine. In my opinion, not worth it. But hey, if you really love a beer after a hard week, indulge. Just maybe get in a nice workout either earlier that day or the next to make sure you use those carbs.
Beer is definitely more of an indulgence than red wine.
Now my favorite alcohol. Hard Cider.
I LOVE hard cider. I like wine on occasion and of course indulge every once in a while in a daiquiri or margarita. But if I’m going to have a drink, most of the time I’ll have a hard cider.
Is it the best thing I could drink? Definitely not.
While it has an impressive amount of antioxidants, it comes with a cost – about 15 grams of carbs per bottle.
So do I have to make sure to consume it in moderation? Most definitely.
I love it so I refuse to give it up; however, I also keep my consumption to about 1-2 ciders per weekend, if even that often.
So after all of this rambling, my point is, consume in moderation and try to be aware of what you are consuming. If you love beer, you don’t have to give it up. Just know that you are consuming a decent amount of carbs when you do drink it so you may want to limit how many you have each week.
If you enjoy alcohol, you don’t have to give it up! Alcohol can be a part of your healthy lifestyle!
Here is a great “Sangria” recipe for your Memorial Day weekend BBQ. Definitely not something you want to make too often since it is slightly high in carbs (and contains a diet soda), but boy is it loaded with antioxidants!
Cider Sangria:
Yum!
Ingredients:
1 Hard Cider
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup blood orange vodka
1 can diet pomegranate soda from Trader Joe’s
1/4 cup berries
1 cup mango
4 slices of pineapple
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and let sit a few hours so that all the flavors have time to blend together. Serve chilled over ice! You get 4-6 serving out of this.
I Love Bacon
So a bit delayed, but as promised…here are a few BLTs that I’ve made over the past couple of weeks.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game – BLT
(I amused myself coming up with some of the names!)
So I made this hot dog with a parmesan crisp bun, but next time I would put the salad in the crisp and wrap the dog in lettuce.
Ingredients:
2 Applegate Organic Uncured Hot Dogs
4 slices nitrite free bacon
1/2 yellow onion
2 tbsp Sir Kensington’s ketchup
Yellow mustard to taste
Grated parmesan cheese
Grass-fed butter
4 cups arugula
4 jalapeno stuffed olives
1 tbsp Mitchell’s queso
2 tsp heavy whipping cream
2 tsp Salsa Verde
Cook bacon in pan until golden brown. Once bacon is cooked, remove from pan and cook hot dogs in the bacon grease. Once hot dogs are cooked, saute onions in remaining grease.
Stuff hot dog, bacon, onions, ketchup and mustard into a lettuce cups.
While bacon and hot dogs are cooking, make the parmesan crisps. Melt butter on a plate or bowl. Spread out parmesan cheese into an even layer on the plate or bowl. Cook in microwave until cheese starts to brown. Cool on paper towel. To form into a bowl, take the warm crisp and use bowl to shape sides.
Make the queso dressing by combining cream, salsa and queso. Combine lettuce, olives and queso dressing and serve in parmesan crisp bowl.
A loose version of a BLT….the salad is the “L” and the ketchup is the “T!” 🙂
Southwest Steak BLT Salad
Ingredients:
1lbs shaved steak
4 slices bacon
Cumin, smoked paprika, pepper, onion salt
1/2 tomato
1/2 yellow onion
2 tsp olive oil
Salt to taste
1 avocado
1 tsp Salsa Verde
1 tsp heavy whipping cream
1 tsp garlic
1/4 cup red salsa
Iceberg lettuce
Cook bacon in a pan. Use the bacon grease to then cook the shaved steak with cumin, paprika, pepper and onion salt to taste.
While steak is cooking, make the pico de gallo and guacamole. Dice tomatoes and onions. Combine in olive oil with a pinch of salt. Set aside to top salad.
To make the guacamole, mash up the avocado, cream, salsa verde and garlic.
Place lettuce leaves on plate to make a “bowl.” Top with shaved steak, chopped bacon, pico de gallo, guacamole and some of your favorite red salsa. YUM!
Deconstructed Cheeseburger BLT
Ingredients:
1lbs ground beef
4 slices bacon
Cumin, chili powder, Adobo seasoning, garlic to taste
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard
1/2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1/2 tbsp organic ketchup
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of onion salt
Parmesan cheese
Grass-fed butter
1 cup arugula
Cook bacon in pan. Use the remaining grease to cook ground beef. Season the ground beef with cumin, chili powder, adobo seasoning and garlic.
While ground beef is cooking, make the parmesan crisps. See directions above in the Ball Park BLT recipe.
Once parmesan crisp bowls are made and cooled, top with arugula. Add cooked ground beef and crumbled bacon on top.
Combine mustards, ketchup, olive oil and onion salt. Top bacon and ground beef with sauce.
I served this deconstructed bacon cheeseburger with brussel sprouts and onions cooked in grass-fed butter.
Anyone else make BLT’s during National BLT Month!?!
No? Well you still have time!
National BLT Month!?!
So yesterday when I was cruising Facebook, a news feed from The Meat House came up about April being National BLT Month.
All I could think was, “YUM!” And then I thought about how I used to eat BLTs as a treat with my mom and sister when I was young. Delicious bacon, mayo, lettuce, tomato on toasted bread. I loved them!
But I can’t have a BLT now right? I mean I can’t eat bread…
WRONG!
I can make an equally delicious, if not more delicious, BLT WITHOUT the bread! So that food I loved as a kid, I can still eat!
(D)BLT – Duck, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato
Awesome pic by Ryan!
Ingredients:
1/2 lbs Smoked Duck Breast from The Meat House
6 strips of Nitrite Free Bacon
4 leafs of lettuce from a head of iceberg lettuce
1/4 of an onion
4 slices of tomato
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 tbsp Sir Kensington’s Ketchup from The Meat House
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp yellow mustard
Cook the bacon on medium heat in a skillet. Once cooked to your liking (I like mine crispy!), remove from skillet and cool.
While bacon is cooking, slice onions into thin half rings and slice up duck breast. Once bacon is done cooking, throw onions into the bacon grease to cook.
Remove onions and then cook the duck breast in the same skillet. Cook the duck until each side is nice and golden.
While the duck is cooking, cut a few slices of tomato and make the sauce.
To make the sauce, combine brown mustard, ketchup, olive oil and yellow mustard in a dish. Stir until combined.
Place cooked duck into lettuce bowls. I used two lettuce leaves for each plate, but more can be used. Then pile on sliced tomatoes, bacon and onions. On top add the ketchup/mustard sauce.
Can I just say, “DELICIOUS!?!”
Throughout the rest of this month, I will be posting more versions of the BLT that involve no bread whatsoever!
I Need Food!
So with the warm weather this week, Ryan and I did a ton of grilling. We made some more ribs and some kielbasa and burgers. I LOVE MEAT!
I also love ice cream and a couple of nights this week I did treat myself to a healthy version of that cold treat!
Below are some delicious dinner and dessert recipes to try out this spring and summer! The rib meal was especially great for a Friday night date and some March Madness!
Lamb Merguez Bunless Burgers and Kielbasa with a Bacon-Blue Cheese Ketchup
Ingredients:
1/2 Lamb Merguez from The Meat House
1 lbs 85% lean grass-fed ground beef courtesy of Trader Joe’s
1 Smoked Turkey Kielbasa from Trader Joe’s
3 strips of bacon
2 tbsp of full-fat blue cheese
2 tbsp Sir Kensington’s Ketchup (Latest find at The Meat House…all natural AND AMAZING!)
3 green onions
Bunless Burgers and Kielbasa:
Preheat grill. Combine Lamb Merguez and ground beef. Form into about 4 oz patties. Once patties are formed, place onto grill. Cook about 4 minutes on each side or until desired temperature (aka medium rare, medium) is reached.
Place kielbasa on grill when you flip the burgers. The kielbasa is already cooked so you really just need to heat it and get some nice grill marks on it!
Bacon-Blue Cheese Ketchup:
While the patties and kielbasa are on the grill, cook bacon in a pan. Once bacon is crispy, add in blue cheese, ketchup and chopped green onions. Stir until combined and then transfer to a bowl. This is a great topping for the burgers!
Of course no meal is complete without some veggies! We made a nice little romaine salad with a creamy mustard dressing to go along with the burgers.
P.S. LOVE the Sir Kensington’s ketchup that we found at The Meat House! Not only are the ingredients better BUT it just has such a great taste! Definitely a must try!
Cider Baby Back Ribs and a Southwest Salad
Ingredients for Ribs and Sauce:
Seasonings sprinkled on both sides – Smoked Paprika, Adobo Seasoning, Onion Salt, Cumin, Chipotle Chili Powder, Pepper
1 Newton’s Folly Cider from Trader Joe’s
1 slab of Baby Back Ribs from The Meat House
3 tbsp of Sir Kensington’s Ketchup
1/2 can of Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard
1/2 tbsp Molasses
2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place ribs in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Rub slab of ribs with seasonings on both sides. Put meaty side up and fill dish with cider. Cover and put into oven for about 1 hour 30 minutes.
While ribs are baking make the sauce. In a pot over medium heat, combine tomato sauce, mustard, vinegar and molasses. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
Preheat grill when ribs are almost ready. Remove ribs from oven and coat both sides with the Kensington ketchup. Place meaty side up on grill and cook until both sides have a nice char. Serve with some of the tomato bbq sauce!
Ingredients for Southwest Salad:
Grated Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese
Butter
1 head Romain lettuce
4 Jalapeno stuffed olives
2 oz Chorizo from The Meat House
1 tbsp Mitchell’s Chili con Queso from The Meat House (all natural ingredients!)
2 tsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 tbsp Salsa Verde
1/2 Tomatillo Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa from Trader Joe’s
1/2 avocado
1 tsp heavy whipping cream
1/2 tbsp Salsa Verde from Trader Joe’s
1 tsp cumin
Garlic to taste
First you must make the parmesan crisp bowls.
On a plate melt a little butter and grease the entire plate. Cover with a 1/4 thick layer of grated cheese. Heat in microwave for about 1 minute 45 seconds until the parmesan is bubbly and golden brown.
Carefully, remove crisp and place into a bowl covered with a paper towel. Press crisp to form to bowl shape. Cool and remove. I made two crisps this way.
Then in a bowl, combine chopped lettuce, chopped olives and diced chorizo.
To make the dressing, combine queso, 2 tsp cream, 1/2 tbsp salsa verde, and roasted yellow chili salsa in a dish. Once combined, toss with lettuce mixture.
I topped the salad with a simple guacamole. I mashed avocado, 1 tsp cream, salsa verde, cumin and garlic together until cream.
A closer look at the salad
We also indulged in a Spring Woodchuck cider. YUM!
For dessert we had my Berry Chocolate Freeze.
Chocolate Coconut Berry Freeze (picture to come..I forgot to take one before chowing down last night)
Ingredients:
2 cups Frozen berry medley (I like ones with cherries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
4 tbsp coconut milk
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
In a bowl, combine frozen berries and coconut milk. With a fork, mash together berries and coconut milk until only little chunks of fruit remain. I like to mash it till it is very blended. Then stir in cream and chocolate.
We serve it in mugs but bowls work too! 😉 A delicious dessert if you are an ice cream lover!
What are your favorite spring/summer meals?
For recipes, check out the Recipe Box!
P.S. I stole the title from one of The Cave Kids’ songs!
Spring is in the air!
What is it about sunshine and warm weather that just makes you feel so much better?
Studies will tell you it is probably the sunlight that enhances your mood. But whatever it is honestly warm weather and sun make me feel like a bear coming out of hibernation.
All winter, I just want to sit on my couch and be a lump, but suddenly the chill leaves the air and the sun is shining and I just want to be outside playing!
I enjoy being outside. I love walking, bike riding and paddle boarding! There are just so many great ways to exercise play outside!
If you need some inspiration, check out a video that Ryan and I made called “Primal on the Playground!” It will give you some great outdoor workout ideas!
There is also one “inactive” thing that I love about warm weather – the fact that you can BBQ!!! And last night, Ryan and I had our first BBQ of the summer. Below is the recipe for some delicious Baby Back Ribs and yes I do consider ribs to be a HEALTHY meal.
HEALTHY Baby Back RibsÂ
Ribs from The Meat House! YUM!
Ingredients:
1 Slab baby back ribs from The Meat House
Seasonings (onion salt, Adobo, pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle chili powder, cumin)
1 can of beer
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp spicy mustard
1 tbsp cream
2 tsp molasses
Ribs:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rack of ribs in a baking dish. Rub with seasonings to taste. Place ribs meaty side up and pour in 1 can of beer around ribs. Cover the ribs with foil. Cook for around 2 hours checking tenderness after the first hour.
After baking the ribs, we threw them on the grill for a few minutes to get a nice char on each side.
Sauce:
In a saucepan, heat tomato sauce with mustard, cream and molasses. Bring to a boil then let simmer until it thickens a bit. If you like savory sauce, leave out the molasses. Depending on what I’m craving, sometimes I even make the sauce more mustard-y.
We served the ribs with a salad with a creamy mustard dressing (homemade!) and a Parmesan crisp! YUM!
P.S. I’m starting a lifting team training class at my gym in Boston. If you are interested in learning to lift heavy (or up your max) without spending a ton of dough, email me at manbiceps@gmail.com!
P.P.S. If anyone ever says they can’t get in a killer workout in 20 minutes, give them my email. This will probably be a rant tomorrow.
Happy St. Patty’s Day!
While I’ll pass on the green beer, I will indulge in some not-so-Irish Coffee, Organic Cider and delicious Man Bicep dishes!
After surviving the Filthy 50 this morning, Ryan and I came back and made some breakfast – Corned Beef Hash and a not so Irish Coffee.
Corned Beef Hash
Ingredients:
1/2 lbs Corned Beef (cooked in the slow cooker the day before)
1 potato
1 onion
2 tbsp The Meat House Duck Fat
Garlic to taste
3 eggs
Heat duck fat in a pan with garlic and add in the diced potatoes and chopped onion. Once the potatoes start to brown, add in chopped up corned beef. Once potatoes are a golden brown and the corned beef is hot, divide onto plates. Cook eggs in butter till over easy. Top the hash with eggs and serve!
Man Bicep not-so-Irish Coffee
Ingredients:
Freshly brewed fair-trade organic coffee
1 tbsp Godiva liqueur
1 spoonful homemade whipped cream (Recipe here. I left out the chocolate this week)
Poor a cup of freshly brewed coffee and add in Godiva liqueur. Top with a spoonful of the whipped cream.
With breakfast we also had a “food experiment.” I made protein pancakes, which actually were delicious especially when topped with a spoonful of the whipped cream!
Protein Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 tbsp unsalted Almond butter
1/2 scoop of Optimum Double Rich Chocolate Whey Protein
1 tbsp of Coconut oil (courtesy of Trader Joes)
Beat eggs, almond butter and whey protein together until completely combined. Heat coconut oil in skillet. When coconut oil is hot, scoop batter onto heat (With the measurements above, you can make two decent sized pancakes.) Flip when bottom starts to become golden.
If heat is hot, it takes only about a minute or two on each side. Be careful – It is easy to over-cook these. When both sides are just lightly golden, remove from heat and serve.
We topped with a bit of whipped cream but a berry compote would also be delicious on top.
These “pancakes” were easy to make and could be refrigerated and eaten throughout the week as a quick breakfast option!
Ok…more recipes to come as we enjoy a relaxing St. Patty’s day watching some March Madness! Anyone else an addict?
Man Bicep 