Blog Archives
Nuts! – Nut Butters by Ingr-EAT-ients
Yesterday I got two delicious nut butters from Ingr-EAT-ients – Pistachio Butter and Almond Coconut Butter.
I was super excited to try them partly because a good friend and fellow trainer, Eddie Thomson, makes them and partly because I see his food pictures on Instagram all the time and they always look SO FREAKING GOOD! (Ok mostly because I seriously drool every single time I look at his food prep pictures on Instagram!)
Not only does he make healthy meals, butters, bars, fruit leathers, and shakes that look beautiful and delicious, but he doesn’t use any processed crap.
Everything is all natural and made with the highest quality ingredients…like literally….Even when his go-to stores are out of the product he wants, he doesn’t just settle for a lower quality ingredient.
Nope!
He freaking drives around to other stores and markets until he finds what he wants.
Eddie is fanatical about providing the cleanest, highest quality product. And when I say fanatical, I mean it in the best way.
Anyway, on to the nut butters that I got!
So I got Pistachio (because I’ve never even seen Pistachio butter before) and Almond Coconut (because well…I love both those flavors).
Can I just say…
I LOVE THEM BOTH!
Half of both jars might just be gone after last night because I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to eat just one more spoonful.
I love that “just one more game.”
I tell Ryan, “I’m going to have just one more…”
And then I say that about 50 more times before I actually eat “just one more.”
BUT, regardless of how much more is left, what made both of these two nut butter so special is how FRESH they tasted and how clear the flavors were.
The pistachio butter really tasted like pistachio. And the almond coconut really tasted like almonds and coconut.
I also liked the texture of both. The pistachio was super creamy and the almond/coconut butter had that texture that coconut butter has that I really like.
The neat thing to is that Eddie uses coconut oil in all of his nut butters. Coconut oil is seriously amazing for you. Tons of good healthy fats.
However, the idea of coconut oil in my nut butters made me a bit nervous.
Pistachios and coconut? Hmmm….
But it was really good! And honestly there was only the littlest hint of coconut if you really tried to find it.
So great flavor and a little extra health bang for your buck?!? SIGN ME UP!
The nut butters were amazing and made me feel like I was treating myself to a great little dessert (especially when I put a bit of the almond coconut butter on some local, organic strawberries that Ryan had put in the freezer!)
Ingr-EAT-ientsproducts were DELICIOUS. And the best part is that they are all homemade and have no unnecessary crap in them.
If you are looking for healthy clean eats that make you ENJOY eating well, I would definitely recommend you give these products a try.
(And if you are in SoCal, you can help support a local business!)
The only downside to these products, in my opinion, is that Eddie lists them as vegan…just kidding…but seriously….
My next nut butter to try might just have to be cashew espresso…Although my clients would tell you I’m slightly scary on caffeine!
What are your favorite healthy, clean eats?
P.S. If you like drooling over food pictures and have Instagram, Eddie’s Instagram is @coach_eddie!
Breakfast is overrated
So in my opinion breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day, especially as we know it.
How about you just skip the porridge?
The worst thing you could do is force down breakfast if you aren’t hungry. The worst thing you could do is start your morning with simple sugars, a ton of carbs and gluten.
Am I saying you should skip breakfast? Yea if you want.
I’m just saying breakfast isn’t the be all and end all of meals especially as we are advised to eat by conventional wisdom.
So should you skip breakfast? And if you do eat it, what should you eat?
So I skip breakfast except on the weekends. I mostly skip it because I’m not usually hungry until about lunch time. I also skip it because it feels super unnatural to force down food at 4:30 a.m. Also, I feel too lazy most of the time to prepare breakfast food for the next day.
AND I’ve also never been a big fan of breakfast food. I love the occasional pancake binge, but other than that I’ve never LOVED breakfast.
So I only eat it on the weekends. And then I make omelets or scrambles or even some almond butter protein pancakes. I eat breakfast when I can actually sit down and enjoy it.
BUT if you are a breakfast fan or just feel like you don’t function as well if you don’t eat something in the morning, you do have options (even if none of them are cereal!).
You can make hard-boiled eggs, omelets, scrambles, hashes, protein (no gluten) pancakes. You can make steak and eggs, bacon and eggs, veggies and eggs. You can have nuts, and smoothies (delicious with frozen berries, protein and kefir!).
There is so much out there you can eat so STOP FOCUSING ON THE FOODS YOU CAN’T EAT! Shoot you can even have steak and bacon and some potatoes (if you eat them) for breakfast! Breakfast doesn’t have to be traditional breakfast food! It can be anything you love!
So once I’ve told clients they don’t HAVE to eat breakfast. And once I’ve told them all the good things they can eat that AREN’T carb-laden, they usually come back with, “But nothing is as easy to grab and go as cereal!”
Yes cereal is easy to grab and go, BUT if you make hard-boiled eggs (aka stick eggs in a pot of water for about 10ish minutes) on Sunday, you have breakfast for a few days! You can also make individual egg scrambles in the oven using a muffin tin (they can have veggies and bacon or anything else you want!). Or you can make the protein pancakes and store them in the refrigerator for breakfast or snack all week! Shoot you can even grab some macadamia nuts, fruits and some leftover meat that you made for another meal if you want! That is definitely an easy grab and go meal!
Yes most of these things do take some prep time, but they are easy to take with you once they are made and you can make enough for the entire week. PLUS THEY ARE GOOD FOR YOU!
Do you eat breakfast? And if so, what is your favorite dish!?!
Oh NUTS!
Candy and I love nuts – almonds, cashews, pistachios, macadamia nuts…
We are nut addicts. We probably don’t even go one day without devouring at least a handful of nuts.
And I’d always thought this was fine. I mean nuts have good fats and they aren’t super high in carbs. They seemed to fit perfectly with the Paleo/Primal diet. AND they are an easy snack to grab whenever I need something quick.
But are all these nuts really good for me?
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered the answer is probably…no. 😦
I started eating more nuts when I cut out grains and legumes because of the food toxins they were supposed to contain. I figured they were a healthier substitute. BUT nuts still contain phytic acid, which is one of the main reasons you aren’t supposed to eat grains and legumes. And nuts may contain as much if not more phytic acid than grains and legumes do.
Here’s why phytic acid is bad:
1. Phytic acid inhibits mineral absorption especially iron and zinc.
2. Phytic acid interferes with the enzymes that breakdown protein.
A diet high in phytic acid can cause mineral deficiencies which can lead to disease!
Check out this article about why nuts may not be that good for you. I found it on Mark’s Daily Apple!
Man Bicep 