Friday, 25 July 2014

Chicken Stir Fry

Stir Fry - not normally things people need a recipe for, because I feel like it's synonymous with "whatever I have in the fridge is going in!"  But you've also heard my shpiel too, work, school, husband, crossfit, running, yoga.

Pro tip here, I usually will cook and cut up more chicken than I need, mainly because it freezes so well and in an emergency dinner situation, you know you don't have to resort to take out!

Seriously - you don't need a recipe. It's literally, cut chicken, cook fully, remove from pan. Add all of your veggies, cook that down, add back chicken to the pan, sauce, spice. Boom. Done.


Monday, 21 July 2014

20 Minute Hamburgers

Or less.

If I'm looking to put a meal quickly together and if I have some beef in the fridge, hamburgers are one of those really quick and easy dinners. And it's one of those things I make that every time it's slightly different. The recipe below is going just to be a base of what I do, and you can always throw additional things into the mix! Whether that be vegetables, or different sauces/spices (like dijon mustard, or a bit of Worcester sauce!)

Also I have my super secret way of getting a pretty round burger too...

Basic Hamburger

Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup rice "breadcrumbs" (gluten-free)
- Seasonings of your choice (I usually put in onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, italian seasonings)
- a splash of liquid smoke if you want that smokey flavour

Directions:
1. Find a circular ziplock lid. I'm not kidding. Here's an example.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, egg, rice breadcrumbs, and seasonings. And by mix, I mean mix with hand. It's gross but that's how it's done.

3. Line ziplock lid with plastic wrap. Take a ball of your meat mixture, and flatten it out in the ziplock lid. That's how it gets it's shape.

4. Heat up your frying pan to about medium/high heat. Fry on both sides, roughly 3-4 minutes each side depending on how fat your hamburger is!

Friday, 18 July 2014

Two Bite Brownies

My diet (or as I shall call it, my eating lifestyle) has been on my mind quite frequently in the past month. Enough to make some new changes moving forward about what my relationship to food should be, based on my exercise activities.

While I do not necessarily find the Paleo diet conducive to long distance running (I find that I really require the right amount of carbs that have a high enough glycemic index), I have certainly found it beneficial in other ways. The diet really helps me from eating junk food. It's changed how I order my coffee, to what kind of choices I make when I'm craving sugary goods. (Ok, well let's excuse that smidge of ice cream in my freezer right now).  But hey, some gains are better than none. I make much better choices, I make my own smoothies with real fruit that give me that sweetness I'm looking for, I make a point to incorporate fruit and veggies more often too.

So what I'm saying here, is when I'm running long distances - I eat carbs the night before. I will eat something with carbs after a run. I eat energy gels and chews mid run. You have to find the right fit for you so you don't bonk in the middle of a run - at the end of the day, that's the most important thing to do - Paleo or not paleo.

I'm changing the scope of my blog to incorporate other food groups that some would say that are "bad" for you. I'm no nutritionist, or doctor, and I'm not here to tell you what to eat, how to eat it or to define what is "good" and what is "bad".  I'm just here to provide recipes to things that I make that taste good.  I'll try to do this more often too.

Anyway, enough with the shenanigans on with the delicious part of this all. BROWNIES. That's right. They actually taste good, it's pretty awesome.




Sunday, 29 June 2014

Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

This recipe was inspired by Kristi, because she mentioned this morning about making a smoothie out of bananas that she had lying around. I think we also discussed that they might be better off for banana bread, but truly the conversation now seems a bit foggy. However, I can tell you usually once I have an idea in my mind - I typically follow through with it. Especially when it comes down to food.

This weekend is the Canada long weekend, except it's not truly a long weekend because I have to work on Monday. And I also have to stick my long run on Tuesday morning, which means I'll miss another CrossFit workout. However, I've been contemplating running all the way to the box...I just would need to figure out how I would get home. Running would not be an option after the fact, but I'm sure I'd figure something out.

So back to food, originally I wanted to make a strawberry banana smoothie. Knowing I had no bananas, I went to the grocery store to pick some up. Upon returning home, I realized I had no frozen strawberries. So there went that plan. But I think I came up with something even better!

I present, the Chocolate Avocado Smoothie

Tuesday, 24 June 2014