Burpie Madness

Burpies Tabata = 4 minute intense quad and glute burn!  Link to BURPIES.

I love quick intense workouts that give just a little DOMS the next day.  Not so much it hurts to go down the stairs but enough so you know that you did something.

I don't get much time to squeeze in workouts between patients so I'm always looking for ways to condense my workout and still get the results that I want.  I have been toying around with Mark Sisson's Primal Fitness workout for a few months and I have been getting great results.  2 days of weight training and 1 day a week of sprints.  The other 4 days are rest, play or most of the time just work; but it has taken the 'stress' out of making to the gym six days a week or hitting a 5 mile run 3 times a week.

I really like minimizing my time in the gym.  I used to spend 5 to 6 days either the weight room or on the track and I quickly get bored.  I appreciate the science behind Art Devany's workout and look forward to reading Tim Ferriss' '4 hour body' in addition to the continued information that Robb Wolf and Andy Deas put out.  I think that this will be the next 'craze' but will have much more science and better results. 

For my weight training I do a circuit of 5 exercises for 2 rounds.  I started with Mark's recommendations for exercises (pushup, pullup, squat, overhead press, planks) and even did his assessment to put myself in a good level in the progressions.  for instance if I could do 40 push-ups at the assessment I fall into level 4 and I don't progress to the next difficulty level until I can do 50 push-ups without stopping for the 2 rounds.

I quickly got bored (after 1 month) and started playing around with other compound exercises with kettlebells or with a suspension trainer like the TRX.  These are more fun and allow me to add weight to stimulate muscle growth faster.  I will start some Olympic lifting and begin a starting strength program 2 times a week to really lean out and put on 15 lbs of muscle.

Stuffed Pork Loin, Bacon Wrapped Asparagus and Oven Roasted Eggplant

This week is a guest post recipe from my sister Amy.  She has a Culinary Arts degree, has been working in the restaurant industry for 14 years and has been gluten-free for the last 4 years.  She has also 'gone Paleo' for the last year and is doing awesome.  I get lots of recipe ideas from her and it is always a treat make it to the holiday feast if she is cookin'.  Her son, Wilson eats better than most dietitians and is a wonderful, smart and fun 7 year old.

Apple, dried apricots, and dried cranberry stuffed pork loin, bacon wrapped asparagus, and oven roasted eggplant.

• 4 lb pork loin roast with a hole cut through the center with a long knife
• 2 small granny smith apples, peeled and chopped fine
• 12 turkish apricots sliced thin
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• mix fruit and stuff into hole, the bigger you slice the hole, the more you can stuff!
• Season fat ribbon with salt and pepper
• Cook in 350 degree oven until internal temp of 150, let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Easy Fixin's - Chix & Veggie Stew

The other day a long time friend called me Rachael Ray.  Very devastating.  I like to think of myself as a dude that loves food, loves health and loves helping others.  Still, he had good reason.  Most of my time is taken up by patient care and the little time I have to write and post has almost all been taken up by recipes.  They are easy and I have tons of photos of the meals that I prepare.  So with this in mind I will work hard to fulfill the other part of the blog mission statement which is to post articles about more than just food.  I have a couple of posts in the works about healthy lifestyle, goal setting, stress and sleep and supplements that I recommend to patients.  But for now (today at least) I will continue with a recipe.

CHICKEN-VEGGIE STEW

1-bag of mixed veggies (corn, beans, carrots)
2 chix breasts
1 can of organic cream of chix soup (find some that is gluten free or use some chix broth)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Take the chix, cut it into strips and saute with some olive oil until done.  While that is going take the veggies if frozen and toss them in a stew pot on med-high to start thawing them out.  When the chix is done toss the can of soup on it and bring to a boil and dump in the stew pot with the veggies and stir it up.  Cover for a bit on simmer (hopefully your veggies are done by now).  When nice and hot add salt and pepper to taste and eat it up!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

During the cold winter months I often crave comfort foods.  At home growing up this was always some sort of casserole dish.  Always high calorie and full of gluten and wheat products.  As I eat cleaner and find myself avoiding those foods as much as I can without insulting relatives ("What do you mean you don't want my brownies that I worked on all day to make?").  I still crave the comfort foods.  This version of breakfast casserole is tasty and relatively low calorie and higher in nutrients compared to a potato based one.  Added bonus...5 ingredients! 

Ingredients:

Approximately 4 servings
1 pound ground breakfast sausage or other ground meat
3 turnips, peeled and grated (a food processor works well for this)
1/2 onion diced
4 eggs
3 scallions, chopped

Instructions:
Sauté sausage and onions, breaking it the sausage into small pieces with a spoon or spatula, until almost cooked through.  Mix the sausage and onions with the rest of the ingredients.
Spoon into a 8×8 baking pan.  When ready to cook, heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes then cover the pan and bake for 25 minutes more. Let cool 15-20 minutes so the casserole sets before cutting into it.  (my wife prefers this with a little shredded cheese on top...that ups the calories though)

Qwik Cookin'

One of the things that I get asked the most when presenting healthy, inexpensive, easy to cook meals is 'How do I do it?'. It seems that there is a whole generation of people that don't cook. Every meal is take-out, eating out, microwave or delivery. I don't blame anybody for this and I used to be the same way in college and right out of college. I had an advantage that I had worked in restaurants since the age of 16 so I always knew my way around the kitchen, but most people my age (34) seem to have skipped that day in Home-Ec (my wife hates to cook so this post will hit very close to home).

The meals I create at home and for menu plans try to encompass a few virtues.

1. Quick - I hate, hate, hate coming home from a long day at work and then spending an hour to cook a meal. BOO! On the weekend maybe.

2. Easy - By this I mean few ingredients. I always try for 5 or less, optimal is 3; this makes it hard to screw up as well.

3. Healthy - Fresh ingredients with low levels of processed carbs, gluten, dairy or beans.

We don't have a microwave so all meals are cooked over a gas range, on the grill, in the toaster oven or the real oven. Here a few tools that help to speed up the cookin'

TOOLS

Mandolin - quickly slice up your veggies but watch your fingers! Great for squash and zucchini. Added a picture b/c lots of people don't know what it looks like!


Go to the gear page to see the stuff I use in my kitchen!





Hand Chopper - Makes quick work of veggies that need to be chopped or minced. Keep it washed and clean. I love this picture; I don't have a slap chop though.











Pressure Cooker - Cook your food faster! I hate waiting an hour for delicious acorn or spaghetti squash.

Toaster Oven - We currently cook for two so we rarely have a need for heating up the oven (takes too long!) Works great for corn tortillas.

Crock Pot - The ultimate in lazy cooking! Throw in meat, veggies, water, spice. Set it on low and go to work. 6-8 hours later - eat.

There are a ton of neat kitchen products out there but I rarely need more than these to cook any meal besides a good set of pans, knives and cutting board.

More recipies coming!

Chipotle Avocado Chicken Unwhich

Been slackin' on the blog posts....I've been busy and it has been a nice lesson on why I started this blog to begin with. Making food and lifestyle choices easy and quick. I have a bunch of recipes for the next month and wanted to get this one up before it gets too cold. I love eating sandwiches this way and it allows my wife and I to eat burgers and chicken all the time w/o the bun.

Chipotle Avocado Chicken Unwich

2 chicken breasts
1 avocado
2 slices of provolone (if you like)
1 head of lettuce
1 roma tomato (sliced)
1/4 white onion sliced
1 tsp of chipotle mustard

Marinate the chicken breasts in the mustard for at least 10 minutes (30 is better) and grill em. Remove the outside layers of the lettuce and keep the pieces big...layer them 3 deep. Put your chicken breast in the middle of the lettuce (add cheese now if that is your thing). Top with onion and tomato and a squirt of the mustard. wrap the chicken up so you can hold it (you may want to let it cool for a minute).

It takes practice to eat and fold the unwhich so have patience and bring napkins if you are not into shirt-plates. These are really good and this one is not as messy as a burger unwhich. We sided this one with steamed green beans.

Nociose Salad

French for Cobb Salad

* Prep Time: 20 min
* Cook Time: 10 min
* Servings: 2

* Ingredients:
* 4-6 new red potatoes
* 2 roma tomatoes
* 2 Tbsp capers
* 1 cup of fresh green beans (french cut)
* one 8 oz tuna steak
* 1/2 a head of lettuce (shredded or ripped to bite size)
* 2 hard boiled eggs
* 1/2 red onion
* 1/2 cup of olive oil
* salt and pepper
* 1/4 cup olives (whole might be better...I had sliced)
* 1/3 cup of lemon juice
* 1 Tblsp oregano
* 2 Tblsp basil
* 1 Tblsp thyme


Directions:
I usually like less work when I cook but after getting done I will definitely do this again. Read the whole recipe once through to make sure you get the timing right with all the food you are cooking. Doing some of it before hand may be a good idea like the eggs and beans.

Start a pot of water to boil (2 if you haven't boiled the eggs) and cook the potatoes (5-10 minutes after boil). I always just stick a fork in them and when the fork slides easily...let them cook for one more minute and pull them. Set them aside and cover with some of the vinaigrette that you made up while they were cookin' (see below). Keep the water, bring to a boil again and toss the green beans in there. 5-8 minutes till bright green and still crisp. Pull and quickly rinse with cold water.

If you needed to cook the eggs use the other pot you put on. Eggs and cold water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute then turn off the burner and let them sit in the hot water for 10-11 minutes. Pull them and peel them. Cut into quarters and set aside.

Fix the vinaigrette.
Take the lemon juice, olive oil, basil, oregano and thyme and mix it up. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for use.

Take the lettuce and toss in some of the vinaigrette and plate the lettuce like in the picture. Cut the tomatoes into quarters or eighths and plate along the edge of the lettuce. plate the eggs. plate the olives. plate the green beans. Slice the onions and plate them.

Fire up the grill to cook the tuna steak. I used the toaster oven, set in on broil and gave it about 10 minutes. Should be slightly pink on the inside. cut in half and toss with some dressing.

plate the potatoes and tuna steak. sprinkle the capers over the whole salad.

Eat!