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Cauliflower Mash
I’m a bit obsessed with cauliflower. I mean I could literally just eat a whole head of it raw.
Is that strange?
Probably.
But anyway, since it has looked so amazing at the farmers market, we’ve gotten it the last few times and the other night, Ryan created a cauliflower mash with it that was absolutely amazing.
So because I’m cauliflower obsessed and this was a super delicious meal of Wild Caught Salmon steak and Cauliflower Mash, I wanted to share the recipe! (Maybe I should call this the Un-American meat and potatoes…even though I do like grass-fed steak and mashed potatoes…)
Salmon Steak and Cauliflower Mash
I’m pretty sure I’ll never make a living as a food photographer.
Ingredients:
Salmon:
2 Salmon Steaks
1/2 tbsp Paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Cauliflower Mash:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp cream
3/4 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
For Salmon Steaks:
Sprinkle with spices and then sear in a skillet (with 1 tbsp olive oil) on high heat for 1-2 minute each side. Then lower temperature to medium/low and cook to medium/medium rare. About 8-10 minutes.
Cauliflower Mash:
Steam cauliflower until soft. When you transfer the cauliflower to the food processor, try to get rid of all extra water first. Put into a food processor with butter, garlic, dill, cream and salt and pepper. Blend until everything is mixed and there are no cauliflower chunks.
Then serve steak and mash together. If you are like Ryan, you may even enjoy a bit of hot sauce on your cauliflower mash!
The salmon steaks made one portion for each of us, but the cauliflower mash actually made about four servings…however, it was so good (and low-calorie) that we ended up consuming all four portions! (YUM!)
What random food do you love to consume…like raw cauliflower?
Also, since I’m into self-experimentation and have actually tried a number of the diets on Free the Animal’s list (and happen to agree with his findings), I thought it was interesting to share. What diet have you found to be most effective?
Feed the Beast – Roasted Chicken and Broccoli Slaw
While I’m sure “Roasted Chicken and Broccoli Slaw” doesn’t sound utterly delicious, it really really was.
But while I meant today to be a simple recipe post, I feel the need to comment on a lot of what I’ve read this morning..and well…this week in general actually.
A lot of you have probably seen, or heard about by now, Bob Harper’s new dieting tips…Jumpstart to Skinny and the recommendation that women eat 800 calories a day.
Can I just pause to comment and say, “And people call me crazy because I do intermittent fasting and skip breakfast sometimes!?!”
At least I’m not starving myself! I’m just eating when I’m hungry. Whereas 800 calories a day is simply NOT eating! It is LITERALLY starving yourself!
I’m sorry but if you have to eat 800 calories a day to make his diet work on time, it isn’t a diet you should be doing!
Why?
Because it isn’t realistic! That isn’t something you can maintain for longer than the three weeks if even that long!
Yes…yes…I get that it is a JUMPSTART…And yes I do see the benefit sometimes of going stricter or working harder to break a plateau or get the momentum going, but honestly 800 calories a day is just ridiculous.
And so many of his 13 rules just sound like the same old bull crap. I mean come on don’t eat carbs after lunch?
I mean I even promote going low carb but believe that statement is utterly ridiculous! If your body needs the carbs, protein, fat…WHATEVER…it is going to use it no matter what time you eat them.
And really go to bed hungry!?! COME ON! No wonder everyone thinks that a healthy lifestyle is impossible. Who the heck wants to go to bed hungry!?!
AH!
Also, did anyone notice that his list says “Eat protein with every meal” and then also says “Make one day a week meatless”?
Yes I do realize that you don’t need to eat meat to get protein, but do you know how much harder it is to get all the essential amino acids if you don’t? Do you also know what most people turn to when they try to get protein without eating meat and aren’t supposed to drink their calories so protein shakes are out!?!
PROCESSED CRAP!
Most people don’t go eat beans and rice and do all the research to find out what foods pair together to give you a complete protein. Instead they eat some processed veggie burger….or a whole jar of Jiffy Peanut Butter…that has some protein right!?!
AH!
Anyway, I was utterly annoyed by his list, but really not surprised. It is the same old conventional wisdom crap spewed out over and over again.
Shoot if people really sold the truth, they wouldn’t get to keep churning out book after book!
And you want to know what the truth is!?! I can sum it up in four basic, and slightly redundant, rules….
1. Eat WHOLE NATURAL FOODS!
2. Cut out PROCESSED CRAP!
3. Eat when you are HUNGRY! (Not bored, or stressed or tired, but when you are hungry…be that one meal a day or 20).
4. Don’t starve yourself. (Not eating enough can stall fat loss and hinder performance and make you feel like CRAP)
But those rules wouldn’t sell. There is no secret there. No super specific directions to make you drop weight instantly.
But guess what?
Those are the truth!
Anyway, I’m done rambling about this. If you want a blog post that tears apart these rules much better than my rant above just did, check out Nia Shanks’ post.
Back to my original posting topic…FEEDING THE BEAST…aka feeding myself!
Recently, Ryan and I have become very into “Asian inspired” dishes. I use the term “Asian-inspired” rather loosely…basically meaning we used some sesame seed oil, rice vinegar and Tamari in our dish.
Anyway, Ryan made a great roasted chicken dish the other night and I wanted to share it!
Ingredients:
1.5lbs chicken legs
2 cups Broccoli Slaw
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp Jalapeno-Kiwi relish
1 tsp Siracha
1 tsp garlic
3 green onions
1 tbsp Rice vinegar
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine oil, tamari, relish, siracha, garlic and onions. Remove a few tablespoons and combine with rice vinegar to mix into the broccoli slaw.
Brush a bit of sauce onto the chicken and bake for 20 minutes before applying more sauce. Total baking time will be about 45 minutes.
In the last five minutes dump on the rest of the sauce. Mix broccoli slaw with the sauce/vinegar mixture.
Then enjoy the roasted chicken legs and broccoli slaw!
Huevos Rancheros
So before starting this week, I wrote out a meal plan breaking down calories, fat, carbs and protein for each and every day.
My goal is always to keep my carbs under 150 grams per day, which honestly I don’t find too difficult.
I also like to cycle my carbs. This week I had two days close to 150 grams, one day near ketosis and the others in that safe range that keeps me energized.
Here was my breakfast/lunch from this morning. (And one of the very rare times that I do in fact eat beans…Rare…But it happens.)
Huevos Rancheros
May I just say, “YUM!”
Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 homemade corn tortillas (Visit the Recipe Box for how to make your own!)
1 1/2 slices bacon
2 tbsp mashed pinto beans
5 slices of jalapeño diced
Shredded cheddar cheese
Cook the bacon. Remove once it is browned to your liking. Using the bacon grease to then heat up your corn tortillas.
While the tortillas are cooking up, mash up pinto beans. Remove tortillas once crispy and slightly brown. Put one tablespoon of beans on each tortilla. Sprinkle on jalapeños.
Once you remove the tortillas, cook the eggs in the remaining grease. Once eggs are cooked to your liking, place on top of the beans. Top the eggs with bacon pieces and some cheddar cheese.
Enjoy! (Or at least I did!)
No Filler Crab Cakes
Just because most recipes use breadcrumbs or saltines or some gluten filler doesn’t mean you have to!
Below are some delicious crab cakes we made with some jumbo lump crab we got at Trader Joes.
Ingredients:
16 oz crab
1 slice nitrate free bacon cut into thick chunks
2 eggs
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
Chop the bacon into thick chunks and cook until browned. Then remove and place in a bowl to use later.
While bacon is cooking mix together crab, eggs, mustard and spices. Don’t mix so well you completely destroy the crab chunks!
Once the crab mixture is combined, form into patties. We made 12 individual cakes.
Then place the patties in the pan that you just cooked bacon in. While patties are cooking on the first side, push a few bacon chunks into the top of each patty. When you turn the patties over, the bacon will cook into them and infuse the whole crab cake with a bacon flavor!
Top the patties with a sauce of your choice (they don’t even really need sauce though!). We did use a little chipotle blue cheese “aioli”. Sour cream can be combined with some blue cheese chunks, dill and chipotle powder to make an easy, tasty sauce!
Serve with a nice light salad! We used arugula, tomatoes, green onions, garlic, and lightly tossed it in our homemade blue cheese dressing!
These crab cakes are high in protein and pretty low calorie! The whole can of crab is just 350 calories! That with just two eggs and one slice of bacon (on top of the fact that you aren’t eating the whole can yourself!) makes the meal great if you are watching your calorie intake!
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!
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!
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 Ribs
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.
Growing the Guns
So as I mentioned in my post yesterday, Saturday is my self-control recharge day. I usually go into the gym for a nice deadlift workout before I begin my day of binging, but I just wasn’t up to it today.
Actually, I realized I need a full de-loading week. I usually try to wait till a vacation to take a week off, but with no vacations planned for the near future, I’m just going to be taking next week off from weights. It is always hard taking time off when you are still in the gym 24/7, but hey it’s necessary. (Tomorrow I will post a nice little video about foam rolling!)
Anyway, today for one of my cheat treats, I made chocolate coconut whipped cream for our coffee. Can you say DELICIOUS!?!
Chocolate Coconut Whipped Cream
Chocolate coconut whipped cream in a mug Ryan made for me with some delicious breakfast potatoes and grapefruit!
Ingredients:
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup organic grass-fed heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup Trader Joe’s coconut milk
Whip cream and coconut milk together until the mixture starts to thicken. Add in cocoa powder and continue blending until the thick consistency of whipped cream (takes about 5-8 minutes depending on what level the mixer is on).
If you need a bit of sweetness, add in a tsp of powdered sugar. I don’t find it necessary but it won’t kill you either!
Our breakfast was also delicious. Occasionally, I add in potatoes on Saturday and today’s breakfast potatoes were delicious.
The Meat Lover’s Breakfast Potatoes
The Meat Lover's breakfast potatoes and half a grapefruit. YUM!
Ingredients:
1 potato
1/2 lbs The Meat House Lamb Merguez
1/2 onion
1 tsp cumin
2 slices of nitrite free bacon
1 oz Chorizo (Nitrite-free from the Meat House!! Our latest discovery!)
1 tbsp Duck fat (courtesy of The Meat House)
Chili powder, salt and pepper to taste
3 cage-free, omega-3 eggs
Brown the bacon and onion with cumin in a skillet. Add duck fat and potatoes. Once the potatoes start to brown, add merguez and chorizo.
Once mixture is cooked, divide onto plates. Cook eggs in grass-fed butter and place over breakfast potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chili powder.
Since I’ve provided you with recipes to help grow the guns, I think it is now appropriate to show you some true Man Biceps!
Heather's awesome bicep! A dedicated runner who can appreciate the benefits of weight training!
A pre-birthday bicep picture from Kristen who recently started weight training!
And last but not least…an early St. Patty’s day bicep from Alyson…
Her bicep says "Lucky." 🙂 LOVE IT!
Man Bicep 