Sunday Cooking

I took advantage of everyone recovering from the flooding Post Hurricane Irene to do some Sunday cooking to get ready for the week.  So what did I make?

• Egg Cassarole (for 2 to eat all week for breakfast)
• Sweet Potatoes (for dinners and post workout)
• Pot Roast (Sunday Dinner and Monday Dinner)



Sunday Cooking!



I did all of this cooking at the same time, so that while my Pot Roast is cooking on the stove, I'm chopping up my sweet potatoes.  For the first 15 mins of cooking the sweet potatoes I'm chopping the veggies and cracking eggs for the egg cassarole.  After everything is in the oven/cooking on the stove then I clean up everything I used to prepare.  I like cooking, and when I'm cooking I tend to listen to podcasts - I'm a big Robb Wolf fan, and to me there is nothing better than cooking up a whole bunch of Paleo goodies while listening to Robb Wolf (I know I'm a bit of a nutrition-dork!).

 

My New Favorite Paleo Stuff!

All of you that are part of the Paleo community know how important it is to support it, in one of my posts a few weeks ago I talked about how Paleo is becoming more and more mainsteam.  A few weeks ago was the first Ancestral Health Symposium, AHS, which was a Paleo/Primal focused gathering of all of the amazing minds that are helping to push the movement forward and share all of the benefits of a Paleo life. 

The great news is that the AHS was a success and they are already planning the next one for 2012, and the even better news for me is that instead of it being out in California again, 2012 is going to be on the east coast.  There was so much amazing information shared in AHS and I wanted to share with you how you can go and watch the recorded lectures here.  I am working on watching them all, but take a look and see what's interesting to you.  I'm already a huge a fan of Robb Wolf, Mark Sission, the Whole 9, and Nell Stephenson (who have videos that you can watch from the AHS as well as their own blogs and books) but I also learned about a lot of other bloggers that are out there in Paleo land that are doing great work.  I wanted to share some of these new resources with you, they'll be added to my list of blogs as well.

The Food Lover's Pirmal Palate - is written by an amazing couple that is 100% (well basically) Paleo, and they are based in PA!  They are on the other end of the state, but reading their blog and learning more about their cookbook that is currently on Pre-Release at Amazon.com has left me feeling instantly connected with them.  Take a look at their blog and what they are doing, and definitely reserve a copy of their cookbook today - the images and recipes look amazing and staying true to the Paleo theme should be easy to make.  I pre-ordered my copy already, grab yours too.

CaveGirl Eats - another close to home blogger who works out at Crossfit Tribe, which for those who don't know is right over the bridge in NJ and is the home gym of Steve's Club.  She's got a great perspective, sense of humor, and takes Paleo beyond just food and also addresses how you can be more Paleo with your body care!  I've added CaveGril Eats to my regular blog roll and am hoping to run into her at one of the many Crossfit events coming up this fall.

A few more blogs that landed on my radar from the AHS are Nom Nom Paleo and FitBomb, add these guys to your reading list and let me know what you like!  What else do you read that you think I should be checking out?

You've Got Questions...

I want to know what's on your mind - related to nutrition and fitness that is.  

Do you have questions about being Paleo, Crossfitting, Rest and Recovery, Triathlons, Food...  Please submit your questions via the Comments section on this blog post or you can email it directly to me through my Contact tab.  I'd love to hear what's on your mind and pull your questions together for a future blog post.

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

I love Mexican food, trouble is when you eat Mexican out a lot of times its loaded with corn, beans, rice, and cheese.  You can make delicious Paleo friendly Mexican food as well, and you won't even miss the rice and beans or the cheese and sour cream that would come along with this dish in a traditional Mexican restaurant.  I made this on a Friday night and it was delicious, it was great as leftovers the next day as well. 

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients (makes 4 - 6 servings):

• 4 chicken breasts, cut into thin even strips
• 1 large onion, cut into thin slices
• 1 yellow or orange pepper, 1 red pepper, and 2 green pepper, cut into thin slices
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 large ripe avocado
• Romaine or bib lettuce
• Olive oil
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 4 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper

Cooking / Grilling Directions:

Mix 2 tsp of chili powder, 2 tsp of cumin, and 1 tsp of paprika along with a little bit of olive oil in a bowl. Add a little salt and pepper along with the spices and mix until the chicken is evenly coated.

Cut the onion and peppers into slices and mix in a separate bowl with some olive oil and salt and pepper. mix the vegetables until they are evenly coated. Put the vegetables into the grill basket for easier grilling.

Wash the lettuce and wash and cut the tomato and avocado into slices. Arrange the lettuce, avocado, and tomatoes on a plate.

On the grill, first add the grill basket with the veggies you’ll want to grill the veggies for about 10 to 15 minutes. After the veggies have been on for a few minutes, place the chicken strips directly on the grill and grill approximately 3 – 4 minutes each side depending on the thickness of the chicken. When you flip the chicken, stir the veggies in the grill basket as well.

Remove the chicken and the veggies and place on top of the pile of lettuce, tomato, and avocado and enjoy!

Healthy Living Principle #4 - Kick the Sugar

Sugar is everywhere in the Standard American Diet, pretty much anything that comes in a package has sugar added to it somewhere.  Do you check nutrition labels before you buy things, I advise you start doing it immediately if you don't.  You'd be surprised where sugar is hidden - in your favorite jar of tomato sauce, most salad dressings and marinades, that quick go-to meal from Trader Joe's that you just have to saute... the list goes on and on, and the sugar isn't only in things that you think of as sweet like cakes and cookies. 

What's so bad about sugar anyway? I've done a few in-depth posts on sugar which you can read here: Sugar, It's not that sweet and Fructose, the not so innocent sugar.  Here are some highlights from those posts, and some facts about sugar to help you understand how you process sugar when you eat it, in any form.