Nutrition

The Crossfitters Kitchen

From Jen L.


Apple Cinnamon Paleo Muffins

1 c almond flour
1 c unsweetened finely shredded coconut
2 eggs
1 large apple, cored, peeled, and diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp almond butter
1/4 c raw honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
a dash of nutmeg

Mix all ingredients and divide evenly into a muffin tin. Bake 15 minutes at 375F. Makes 1 dozen. The recipe can easily be halved, but fill the 6 unused muffin cups halfway with water so the pan heats evenly.

Some Bonus Variations

Blueberry Muffins:
substitute 1/2 to 1 cup of blueberries for the apples
you could omit the cinnamon or swap it out for another spice

Peach Muffins:
substitute a cup of chopped peaches for the apples
could be really good with local Colorado peaches in the summer!

Nut Muffins:
omit apples
increase olive oil to 3 Tbsp
add 1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans
maybe add a little unsweetened applesauce too, if they are too dry

 

Coconut Chicken Curry

 

 Nicole found this recipe on Cosmopolitan Primal Girl 

Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients (serves 4):
- 4 chicken thighs & legs (still intact), skin on
-  1 cauliflower (to make the rice)
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 Onion – finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves – smashed and roughly chopped
- 1 red chili pepper – seeds removed, chopped (I used a Scotch Bonnet pepper)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp curry powder

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, heat coconut oil to a med-high heat
2. Put chicken pieces into the skillet and cook until each side golden-browned (about 3 min per side)
3. Remove chicken and set aside.
4. Add onion, garlic and chili – saute for about 3 min or until soft
5. Add the coconut milk and curry powder – mix together thoroughly
6. Add back the chicken and simmer at medium heat covered for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  You can use a meat thermometer to check and it should be about 155 before you stop cooking it (it will continue to cook up to 160 which is the perfect internal temp).  The coconut milk that the chicken is simmering in should cover about 1/2 of the chicken – if yours’ doesn’t you can add more coconut milk or some chicken stock.
7. For the cauliflower rice, either use your food processor to chop the cauliflower to a rice consistency or use a cheese grater.  If you have a microwave you can cook it in the microwave for 3 minutes and it’ll be good to go.  Otherwise you can steam it for a few minutes.  I always cook my cauliflower after I’ve grated it.
8. Serve the chicken on a bed of cauliflower rice.  
9. Enjoy!

Nicole said "I made this last night, it was amazing!"

Kim said "I changed a few things. Wanting leftovers, I doubled the recipe. Because I had broccoli and because broccoli acts like a flavor sponge in a curry dish, I added that too. The Cauliflower Rice is fantastic and my 13 and 15 year old girls loved it."

Check out the Cosmo Primal Girl website. Lots of great info. Post your thoughts about the recipe in comments  

 

What is filling your tank?

 

2 eggs,1 protein serving of sausage. 2 cups of left over roasted veggies lightly coated in olive oil. It was delicious. 
 

What was for breakfast this morning? Did you skip it? How was your wod?
You must restructure the way you think about food. Biologically we eat to fuel our bodies. We don't need to eat for comfort, to ease boredom, to celebrate or because the television tells us too. We need to fuel our bodies so that we survive. We eat good foods so that we survive unmedicated for a long time. The good news is all this wonderful paleo food tastes really good! We get to completely enjoy our wise choices. We can still celebrate with food~just not cake and ice cream! 
Homework-Post your breakfast to comments
 
Paleo Tip-Know your protein requirements and make sure you are eating enough. You don't have to weigh and measure but do be sure that at each meal you are eating a serving of protein that is the size of your fist. For more information read this article on the Zone diet. It has great basic macronutrient information and protein requirements.

Paleo Recipe Link of the Day (submitted by Jimmy): Stewed Talapia Spend some time looking around the Whole 9 site while you are there.

Sharing Recipes-This one is from Joe

Hey Kim—

Since becoming “primal” I have had a pretty easy time dealing with the cravings (27 years of pasta is easier to ignore than I thought it would be!) but the one thing I can’t seem to shake is the desire for a good piece of pizza! So, when I find some free time I like to scour the various primal websites for new recipes to keep me living according to our true nature. I am a huge fan of Mark Sisson’s site and from there I found the personal blog of another primal (www.castlegrok.com) and for the most part his blog is... meh. However, he does have a few really tasty looking recipes on there, particularly one for meatza. Meatza, for those of us not in the know (I was one of them as well) is a pizza that uses a meat source for the crust—pretty crazy, I know! However, it sounded really good, so I went ahead and tried it and HOLY BURPEES was this sucker tasty! I’ve got some pics and the directions accompanying for anyone interested. Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Crust Pizza (aka Meatza)

Ingredients:

·       36 oz of raw chicken

·       3 eggs

·       1 Tbsp. of red palm oil (I didn’t have r.p.o. so I used Sesame oil and it was WONDERFUL-fabulous flavor/aroma)

·       2 Tbsp. of melted butter

·       Various spices for crust/sauce

·       1 small can (I think they’re 5-6oz) tomato paste/small bit of water to loosen paste

·       Cheese of choice (if you’re still eating dairy)

·       Butter for greasing cookie sheet

·       Cookie sheet for baking

Directions:                        

·       Take the raw chicken and slice into small pieces (about 1” square) and place in to blender or food processor to puree. This was much easier than I thought it’d be.

·       Place pureed chicken in mixing bowl. Add eggs, spices (I used 2Tsp garlic salt, 1Tbsp ground pepper, 1Tbsp dried parsley) and oil. I also added 2Tbsp of melted butter for a bit of added fat.

·       Prepare your cookie sheet by greasing generously with fat of choice (I used butter) this is very important if you want your slices to come off in one piece.

·       Place “dough” on sheet and spread out to desired width/thickness (I had a solid 12” by a good ½ inch thick crust)

A Recipe from the Whole 30

From Melissa Urban at The Whole 30 Recipe Book

  

 

Mexi-Salad with fresh Guacamole

Taco salad:

• 2 lbs. organic, grass-fed ground beef (fresh, or frozen and thawed)
• 1 can (16 oz.) of organic diced tomatoes (read ingredients!), or dice your own
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 head of fresh, crisp romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 each yellow, green and red pepper, diced
• 1 jar of organic salsa (or make your own )

Guacamole:

• 4 fresh avocado, pitted and mashed
• 1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 limes, squeezed for juice (squeeze them like you’re deadlifting!)
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• fresh cilantro (chopped), to taste

Instructions:

• Prepare the guacamole ahead of time, and chill while you make the salad.  Mash the avocado in a glass or ceramic bowl* to desired consistency.  Pour the lime juice over the avocado right away to prevent browning.  Use a wooden spoon* to mix in all other ingredients.

*The lime juice in this recipe is reactive with metal, so avoid metal mixing bowls and spoons.  Plus, we always prefer alternatives to plastic.

• Start to brown the ground beef.  Add tomatoes and spices and simmer until it’s no longer pink.  Drop a pile of chopped romaine on a plate, top with ground beef, sprinkle with diced pepper and cover with fresh salsa.  Spoon a hearty helping of guacamole on the side.

We’d also like this topped with black olives, onion or chives, or any other fresh vegetables you can think of.  You can also boost your leafy green consumption by using baby spinach as your salad base… but there’s something about the warm ground beef on top of the crispness of romaine that we really like. (A blend of both lettuce and spinach might be just the thing.)

We don’t count calories or blocks, so we’re not sure what this would work out to from a macronutrient perspective… but if you Zone, you can easily figure that out for yourself.  Add or subtract fat in the form of more or less guacamole, and if you need more carbs, consider adding pineapple or making a mango salsa instead of the traditional tomato-based version. Olé!

One of my favorites

This is a reposting of a recipe that I've been talking about alot lately. We've been getting some great member recipes. Tomorrow I'll post a few from Nicole and Deanna. 

  Ok so, if you've read the Paleo "required reading" article you'll note that salt was not a part of the caveman's diet. 

I can give up bread but I cannot give up salt! I don't use a lot but when it comes to veggies, I find it necessary.

With that in mind, here is my absolute favorite veggie dish. Taken from Mark Bittmans "How to Cook Everything"

MY NOTES:
I found out that I really don't much like eggplant. I substituted with zucchini. 
You must take the time to sweat the eggplant/zucchini. Otherwise the dish becomes a bit soupy. It still tastes very good  but I like it a bit dryer. Slice the eggplant/zucchini as directed below. Salt generously on both sides. Let drain in colander for at least 30mins. or up to 2 hours. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels

Mark Bittman's Oven-Baked Ratatouille
 WHAT YOU NEED
 10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced in half
 2 large onions, thinly sliced
 2 large eggplants, about 2 pounds total, sliced 1/2-inch thick and salted if time allows
 4 red or yellow bell peppers, stemmed, peeled if desired, seeded and sliced into 3 or 4 pieces each
 4 ripe red tomatoes, cored, skins and seeds removed and cut into thick slices
 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, rosemary or savoury leaves
 Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, basil or chervil leaves for garnish
 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
 WHAT YOU DO
  make a layer of onion, followed by one of eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, salt, pepper and  garlic cloves. Repeat.
 Drizzle the ratatouille with oil and place it in the oven. Bake for about an hour, pressing down on the vegetables occasionally, until they are all completely tender.
 Garnish and serve, hot or at room temperature.
 Serves 4.

An Email from Dave

Kim,

Here are the pictures of my delicious foods over the last few days.  The chicken was two separate batches, first time I had it on the salad, followed all the directions from here.  The cauliflower recipe is from last night, thats all that was left when I remembered that I wanted to take a picture of it.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 

S. D.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Transition to Paleo

There are a couple of ways to transition the way you eat to be more like a healthy caveman. The quickest is to go cold turkey. Ditch the filthy carbs, sugar, dairy and beans. Replace those foods with wonderful and delicious vegetables, nuts and seeds and lean meats. Simple! Maybe.

This method may work for some and I encourage it whole heartedly. For others, it may be too much restriction too soon. Here are a few ideas on making that transition.

• Use the chart in the Zone Diet article to figure out our block requirements. If you have questions, ask me. 
• Identify the foods in your diet that you should completely avoid. Start with the processed sugars. Now get that crap out of your house. Make a list of what has got to go and then prioritize that list. By now you have the resources to figure out what the good and bad foods are.  Consider what you will replace those foods with, if anything. 
• Make a decision on those "gray area" foods. Will you or won't you include them in your new healthy habits?
• Plan, Plan, Plan. If you don't know what you can eat then you will eat anything. 
• If you are unwilling to completely give up grains, at least make a commitment to eat less of them. Using your newfound knowledge, replace some of those grain carb blocks with vegetable carb blocks.
• When in doubt, eat vegetables!
• Plan, Plan, Plan. Start with breakfast. Plan a weeks worth of Paleo morning meals and stick to it. After a few days add in lunches. By the start of next week you should ready to add in the evening meal. 
• Read, Read, Read. Seriously, the more you read about changing your habits the easier it gets. Everyday give yourself 10 minutes to read an article or one of the great blogs that I have linked on this site. Aside from the fact that knowledge is power, it will give you a sense that this lifestyle is doable.
• Learn to cook. It does not have to be complicated. Paleo recipes generally are not difficult because the foods are simple themselves.
• Try new vegetables. Even if you normally don't like  "X" food you may find and new preparation that is delicious. 
• Grill (but don't overcook) a load of chicken. Freeze and have handy to pull out for lunches, to add to salads or soups, and quick dinners.
• Buy a roasted chicken from Sam's, Costco or Dierbergs.(I don't much care for the others that are available) Put it in the fridge at home or at work. Eat it! (no skin please) That chicken can go a long way. You can eat it cold or warm. I do eat the legs and thighs. Some paleo resources say don't because of the fat content. I happen to like dark meat. I think paleo man did to.
• Eat colorful foods. If your plate is full of brown foods then you've got trouble. 
• Use smaller plates
• Make sure your vegetables take up at least half the space on your plate. 

Put in the time and effort now. It takes a while to create habits. It won't be long before you no longer have to consider your food choices, you will simply make the right ones.

Post your comments, questions, concerns and most of all ideas to comments.  

Paleo in a Nutshell

The Amazing Robb Wolf

Check out Robb Wolf's Blog and listen in to his Paleolithic Solution podcasts. The first episode deals with post workout nutrition. 

Give them a listen. It may be a bit overwhelming for the person new to Robb and his lectures but they are worth the effort. If you have basic questions you can ask me. Of course you can always email Robb too.

Robb's podcast is now on iTunes. 

Enjoy!