Paleo/W30 Recipe - Coconut Crispy Chicken Salad

This salad is GREAT!  I made it yesterday and didn't end up eating it until today.  So with that said the chicken was a little less crispy than I'm sure it would have been if I ate it right after making it.  That said, it was still really good!  The recipe called for unsweetened dried cranberries and to my knowledge no such thing exists.  However, I found freeze dried cranberries and mangos at Wholefoods.  NOTHING is added to them at all and they are crunchy and tasty and delish!!!  Great as a topping to this salad or just as a snack!

Anyways,  below is the recipe.  For the dressing I just made up a small amount to use as needed because I didn't want it to get soggy.  I mixed a small amount of lime juice, spicy mustard (with no sugar added to it) and coconut milk.  SOOO Good!  Also, I used Coconut meal instead of Almond meal, figured it would give it a little more coconut taste!

I found the recipe using Chowstalker.  You can find the original recipe here.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs chicken breast (used about 1/2 for this and the rest i'll eat for lunch this week)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/2 small red onion
1/6 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 up sunflower seeds
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons mustard (spicy brown, i would have used something milder, but it was the only one I had that is paleo friendly)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:


1) Cut chicken breasts into small 3 bite sized pieces, about 1/4 inch think
2) Set up 3 bowls 1 with almond meal, 1 with eggs, and 1 with coconut flakes seasoned with salt
3) Dredge all chicken pieces, first lightly in almond meal, the lightly in the eggs, then press a little bit firmer into the coconut flakes. Lay coated chicken in a single layer on a plate before cooking.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan on medium high (if you use 1.5 lbs of chicken like me, you'll probably need to use to pan) when the oil is hot place the chicken in the pan, and cook for 3 minutes
5) When chicken has browned flip over and cook for another 3 minutes
6) While the chicken is cooking prepare the salad, cut up lettuce and top with diced avocado, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and thinly sliced onion. Separate evenly into two bowls.
7) Make dressing by juicing lime in top a bowl and a mustard, whisk together and then slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste and then season with salt and pepper if desired
8) Remove chicken pieces from pan and salt to taste.
9) Top salad with chicken pieces (3-4 each) and dress with lime dressing.

Crock Pot Pork-Stuffed Peppers

I made this tonight and it's currently cooking in the crock pot.  I have a large crock pot and wish I had bought 6 green bell peppers instead of three because I had the room and PLENTY of the meat mixture left over.  So, if you have a large crockpot, I would go with 6 instead of 4.  The recipe and pictures below can be found here. 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground pork (or a combination of pork and beef)
• 4 large green peppers
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dry oregano
• 1 tablespoon dry or fresh tarragon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tops of the peppers and clean the seeds out.

Arrange peppers in the Crock-Pot standing up and make sure they fit securely.
Grate onion, carrots, garlic and cauliflower in the food processor. You can also just chop them into small pieces with a knife if you don’t have a food processor.

In a big bowl, combine ground pork, shredded vegetables, seasonings and tomato paste.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the peppers with the mixture and arrange leftover meat between the peppers. Add half a cup of water, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

If you don’t have a slow-cooker, the dish can be cooked in the oven, covered, for 1-2 hours.

Paleo BBQ Sauce (for the pulled pork!)

I've been looking around for paleo BBQ sauce recipes that tastes like BBQ sauce.  There is SO much sugar in conventional BBQ sauce and this one seems to be pretty close.

To start with, I made up a batch of Paleo Ketchup (recipe found here)
1 small can (384 mL/12 oz) of plain, sugar-free tomato sauce
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider)
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
a pinch of ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and transfer to container and then into fridge.
 This recipe omits the sugar/artificial sweetener. Also, this does not last as long as store bought (no preservatives) so its good for a few weeks

I then added (and doubled) the ingredients below to the sauce pan to make the BBQ sauce.  I ended up adding 5 packets of Truvia to add a little sweetness to it, can't wait to eat it with my pulled pork!


Spicy Paleo BBQ Sauce (recipe found here)

-1 c paleo ketchup (As I mentioned above, I used the whole recipe which was about 2 cups so I doubled everything below)

-4 tsp Dijon mustard

-4 tsp apple cider vinegar

-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

-2 tsp liquid smoke

-1 tsp cayenne pepper (or less, depending on your taste)

-1/2 tsp mustard powder

-1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix everything well. I imagine that doing this over low heat would allow for some nice flavor infusion, but I mixed it cold and it tasted pretty darn good.

Paleo Recipe - Primal Tortillas

I made pork carnitas last night and found this recipe today, perfect timing if you ask me!  I'll try making this in the next day or two.  Primal tacos with tortillas, so excited!!

Recipe can be found here.

Primal Tex-Mex Tortillas: Makes 4 tortillas


Ingredients:
■1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
■2 eggs
■2 tablespoons olive oil
■1 teaspoon lime
■2 tablespoons coconut flour
■1/4 teaspoon baking powder
■1/2 teaspoon cumin
■1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Instructions:
Whisk together water, eggs, olive oil and lime.

Mix together coconut flour, baking powder, cumin and chili powder.

Slowly pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking as you pour so clumps don’t form.


Heat several tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, pour 1/4 cup of batter in the pan, tilting pan so the batter spreads thinly.


Let the batter sit untouched for one minute then put a lid on the pan and cook one minute more. Flip the tortilla and fry for 2 more minutes.

Paleo Recipe: Pork Carnitas

Since I am a HUGE fan of easy meals, this one scores high on my I Would Make This Again scale.  It's super easy and tastes great!  I let it cook all night and woke up to a house that smelled great!  I shredded the pork as I got ready for work and put some in a bowl to take to work.  I plan on eating it over shredded lettuce with avocado and salsa!

Recipe can be found here.



What You'll Need:

• few slices of bacon chopped
• pork shoulder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2- whole can of chipotle peppers (depending on your heat preferences)
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cans of chicken stock or water (about 28oz)

 Here is what you do:

First, cook the bacon.  Cut it up in to small pieces and if possible cook it in a deep enough pan that you can use for browning the pork shoulder as well.  Once the bacon is cooked remove from the pan (keeping the bacon fat).  Turn up the heat and brown the pork shoulder on all sides (should only take a few minutes).  Once browned, put everything in the crock pot including the bacon (I didn't add the bacon fat).  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Once done, shred the meat and put back in the liquid until ready to serve.  Simple as that!

Paleo Recipe - Pizza Crust

I was browsing through CFLO's website today and found a simple recipe for pizza crust, um YUM!  I've been wanting to make a paleo pizza but the recipes I've found have been complicated as far as what goes in the crust.  If you notice, I tend to only make simple recipes with minimal ingredients/prep time.  I think I'll make this sometime this week once I run out of my curry roast, which I can't wait to eat tonight!!

Pizza Crust

• 2 cups almond meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt.

Mix all ingredients together to form the dough and roll out on a non-stick pan as thin as possible. Bake crust at 350 for about 15 mins or until slightly browned. Once baked cover with tomato sauce of your choice and any from a million of pizza toppings. You can use goat cheese or real mozzarella, sticking to the 80/20 rule.

 

 

 

Paleo Recipe - Slow Cooker Curry Pot Roast w/ Lime Cilantro C-Rice

Not my recipe - this is a repost from Feasting on Fitness.  Recipe can be found here.

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Pot RoastLip-smacking delicious--this is juicy, tender, shred-able beef fit for a feast!

Prep Time: 5-10min
Cooking Time: 6hrs on Low (or according to your own slow cooker's directions)

Ingredients:
1 can of coconut milk (NOT light)
1/2 bunch of washed, chopped cilantro
1-2 limes, juiced
2T Thai red curry paste (make sure the ingredients fit the bill, I used Thai Kitchen brand)
3 packets (more or less, your choice) of garlic (or about 20+ cloves)
3-4 (or more) -lb grass-fed beef roast (sirloin and chuck have worked well), deeply scored for more surface area
NOTE: despite being a curry, this one is very mild on the spiciness--if you want to liven it up, try adding some heat yourself (more/hotter curry paste, hot peppers, cayenne, etc.).

Method:
After you have the ingredients prepped, make a paste of the curry and lime juice so you can smear it over the roast (nooks and crannies too!).  Add the garlic and insert into the deep cuts in the roast (it'll melt like but-tah--oh yeah!).  Sprinkle on the cilantro and shove some in the pockets of the roast.  Now pour on the coconut milk.  Lid.  Walk away for six hours and return to deliciousness!

Note: most slow cookers change to warm after their cook time, so it's best to make this right before you go to bed.  Then, when you wake up, you can turn it off and cool it on the counter before whacking it in the refrigerator before you leave for work.  When you return home, the sauce will have congealed a bit, but some heat will melt it all back into a savory, deliciously rich sauce and warm that meat for shred-able delight.  Serve with a spoon as a stew or over Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice (recipe below) to sop up that flavor.  Yum!

Leftovers will last covered/sealed in the refrigerator for a week.

Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice
I was trying to replicate Chipotle's cilantro-lime rice and it works--quite tasty and a great accompaniment to the roast for sopping up the delicious curry sauce!

Prep Time: 15min (or less)
Cook Time: 15min (or less)

Ingredients:
1 lime (or more to taste)
1/2 bunch washed, chopped cilantro
1 small head of cauliflower / half a large head per diner (more or less depending upon taste)
salt to taste

Method:
For my basic recipe, check out Kristy's Cauliflower Rice.  Here is a derivative:

Wash the cauliflower and break into small florets. Food process them in small batches, looking for the cauliflower to stick to the sides and the blade to spin freely (it tells you when it's done!).  Once done with all the batches, you can either cook with the cilantro, lime, and salt in a skillet or microwave in a covered container until softer and less smelly (cauliflower smells strongly once cut--try to cook it or freeze it at once, seal it up tight, and eat it quickly or your entire house will smell pretty sulfurous). The time it takes depends on your preference for doneness and how much you are trying to cook at once, but it's usually no more than 15min max for large batches.  Stir periodically during the cooking.

Alternatively, you can pre-cook halfway and freeze until you need it.  Then, just defrost, squeeze out some accumulated water or drain, and add the seasonings and cook briefly.  Since cauliflower rice is so messy (those little bits get EVERYWHERE), I like to make a whole bunch and freeze what I don't immediately need.  Timesaver!

Paleo Recipe - Meatloaf Muffins

**Update - I made these last night and although they were easy to make and tasted good, I would change a few things about the recipe.  The turkey combined with the salsa made for a liquidy mixture that had a little too much water in it.  In my experience ground turkey has a high water content.  Next time I make this I plan to use a low fat ground beef to reduce the excess liquids (fats too).  The zuccihini, while it adds veggies to the meal, also has a high water content.  I would suggest using a veggie with a lower water content.  Otherwise it tasted great and was super easy to make!**

Recipe found here. 

Turkey meatloaf muffins

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup salsa (I recommend using Trader Joes Salsa Athentica. It contains no sugar and is quite delicious!)
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 zucchini shredded, about 1 cup
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup coconut flour or almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the turkey, egg, salsa, red bell pepper, zucchini, onion, coconut flour and pepper. Mix well with hands until blended.

  

Line muffin pan with muffin cups. Fill cups with rounded handfuls of the meat mixture. I filled 12 muffin cups with this recipe.

  

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Top with salsa.

Enjoy!

Paleo Recipe - Chipotle Meatballs and Guac

This was a recipe success and was super easy to make!  I had it with a salad, you could serve it over cauliflower rice, with grilled veggies, with anything you want!  I definitely recommend this although it is a bit spicy, you could only use one pepper in the sauce which would make it not so spicy.

Also, I recommend putting the meatballs on an edged cookie sheet/baking pan for the broiling part.  This way you don't need to worry about ruining any dishes (I learned that pyrex cannot go under a broiler, neither can corningware).  Once the meatballs are done broiling, place them in over safe bowl so you can pour the sauce in.  It filled up my corningware dish so you'll want a decent sized one.  Enjoy!

Chipotle Meatballs and Guac

Meatball Ingredients 

• 1 lb. 94% ground turkey (any ground meat will do)
• 1/4 c almond meal
• 4 T bacon fat or butter (not melted)
• 2 eggs
• 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 t + 2 t oregano
• 1 c chicken stock
• 15 oz. diced tomatoes
• S & P

Guacamole Ingredients 

• 2 avocados
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 t chili garlic sauce
• S & P

Method
Preheat the oven to broil.
Place the ground turkey in a large bowl. In the large bowl of your food processor combine the eggs, almond meal, bacon fat or butter, 1 t oregano, 1 chipotle pepper and some S & P. Process until smooth and add to the turkey. Mix with your hands until combined. The mixture will be wet, don’t fret. Form the mixture into balls and place in an oven safe dish. Broil until browned, about 10 minutes.

While the meatballs are browning, add the diced tomatoes, 2 chipotle peppers, chicken stock and 2 t oregano to the same bowl of your food processor and pulse until smooth. Once the meatballs have browned, turn to oven to Bake at 450°F. Add the sauce to your oven safe dish and continue to bake until the sauce has thickened a bit, about 15 more minutes.

Now for the guacamole, place all the ingredients into the smallest bowl of your food processor. Pulse until it’s the consistency you like.

Paleo Recipe and Give Away

Everytime I log on to Facebook I see so many comments about paleo, it makes me so happy!  I have one, used, copy of the Primal Blueprint that I am giving away FOR FREE!  How do you get entered to win?  Simple, you just need to follow my blog. 

How do you follow my blog?  Click on the link on the right towards the bottom that says Follow.  Simple!

I would like to say that I made the Primal Jambalaya and it turned out pretty dang good!  The recipe is below, and can also be found here.

Ingredients:

•  2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 lb andouille sausage, cut into ¼ inch thick slices
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped 
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced crushed 
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1.5 cups chicken stock 
• 1/2 tsp dried leaf thyme
• 1 tbsp parsley (fresh is preferable, but dried will do in a pinch!)
• 1 tsp chili powder 
• 1 large head of cauliflower 
• 2 cups shelled, deveined and cleaned shrimp
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and lightly cook the sausage and chicken over medium heat. Once golden, add onion, bell pepper and garlic and sauté until onion becomes translucent. Transfer items from the frying pan into a large pot. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, thyme, parsley and chili powder and bring to a simmer. While the mixture is simmering (you’ll want to let it go for about 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally), place the cauliflower in a food processor and shred until it becomes the consistency of rice. Add the cauliflower “rice” to the mixture and simmer for another 15 minutes until tender. Add shrimp and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust other spices as needed. Serve piping hot. Serves 6.

Paleo Recipe - Bacon Meatloaf

I found this recipe on Health Bent's website, found here.  I plan on making it tonight, sounds WONDERFUL!  I'll likely serve it with leftover cauliflower rice and/or some broccoli. 

Seriously Tasty Paleo Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 lb ground beef
• 1 c almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 c of tomato sauce (recipe below)
• 10 slices of bacon
• s&p

Ingredients for Tomato Sauce

• 1 15 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 1/2 c (about 1) roasted red pepper
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• s&p

Method

Place your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350ºF.

In your food processor blend together all the ingredients for the tomato sauce.

In a large bowl use your hands to mix together the ground meats, eggs, almond flour, tomato sauce and salt & pepper. Separate the meatloaf mixture into two 9 inch cake pans. Fill the cake pans to the brim, as the meat loafs will shrink considerably as they cook. Top with the slices of bacon.

Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the oven to broil and get the bacon crispy, about 10 minutes.

While the meatloaf is baking, pour the rest of the tomato sauce into a small saucepot and simmer over medium heat.

Once cool, remove the meatloaf from the pan and slice on the opposite direction you placed the bacon–against the grain, just like meat. Top with the tomato sauce and serve immediately.

Paleo Recipe - Pizza Salad

**correction, I did NOT add 32g of cheese but rather enough cheese to get 32g of protein**

I found a recipe online for a pizza salad that looked AMAZING!  I'll be honest upfront, this doesn't take the place of pizza, however it was really good and super easy to make, which are my two ideal qualities in a good recipe.  I made a large quantity so Matt and I could both have dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow, you can scale down if you don't want to make as much.

Zone math - I eat 3 block meals, Matt eats 5 block meals.  I made 16 blocks worth of pizza salad so it would be easy to divide.  I honestly didn't count how many blocks of carbs I had because I knew I was going to come up short, but it is a paleo meal and the carbs came close so that counts for me!

What You'll Need:

• 2 packets Hormel Pepperoni (or any brand of pepperoni but the serving sizes might be off)
• 1 red onion
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 jar banana peppers (picture shown below, I found them at Winco)
• 8 oz mushrooms
• 2 bunches of green onion
• 2 packets of Boboli pizza sauce (you can buy them in 3 packs)
• 1 small bag shredded cheddar cheese
• Olive oil
• Shredded lettuce (or lettuce of choice)

How to make it:
Start by cooking the pepperoni.  This can be done in the oven or in a pan, cook until slightly crispy.  I had to cook one packet at a time.  Save the grease from the pepperoni for later, it adds great flavor to the veggies.  Once the pepperoni is crisp, set it aside. 

If you used Hormel turkey you should have about 80g of protein (you'll need 112g to make 16 blocks).

While the pepperoni is cooking, chop up all of the veggies.  I bought already sliced mushrooms and used the following peppers, so all I had to cut was the onions (red and green) and the bell peppers.

Put everything in the pan with the saved grease from the pepperoni and let everything hang out together for a bit.  Once the veggies have caramelized a bit and have softened a tad, add back in the pepperoni (you can turn the burned off now).  Next, add the two packets of pizza sauce and some olive oil (I didn't measure but it was probably 1 tablespoon).  Stir it all together.

To get enough protein I added in 32g of shredded cheese, you can do this while it's hot so it melts or after it's cooled depending on preference, I added while it was hot.  Serve over shredded lettuce and you're done.  Or if you want, just eat it as is!

You can play around with your pizza topping ingredients as long as you stay paleo.  Enjoy!

My iPhone doesn't do a good job of taking food pictures.  It tasted WAY better than it looks!

Paleo in 2011

I always find it interesting to read through all the blogs and forums regarding the paleo lifestyle and see what people are talking about, or arguing about.  I found this blog: StevesOriginal.com (I need to get myself some Paleo kits, could probably make them myself!) and in his article about coffee he said two important things.  First: EAT. REAL. FOOD.  So simple, so important.  My breakfast had the following ingredients: Eggs, red bell pepper, onion, pepper, avocado, apple.  REAL food.

The next, and what I think so many people get hung up on: Just because it wasn't available to a CaveMan, doesn't mean it doesn't have utility in the modern diet. Just keep your head on straight about it.  Coffee is one of those things, I WILL not be giving up coffee, just won't do it.

Just some thoughts to get you going on this windy, rainy day!

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thursday!

Paleo Recipe - Shrimp Stir Fry with Mango Salsa and Cauliflower Rice

Alright, I'm not one for bragging and don't think of myself as being a good cook, but tonight I'm bragging about my amazing meal!  The title says it all, I made Shrimp Stir Fry with Mango Salsa served over Cauliflower Rice.  While it sounds complicated, its actually super easy to make, cooks fast and is super filling!  As I eluded to on Facebook, the recipe will be zone based so you might need to read through some of my earlier posts to understand it.  If you have questions or need clarification, let me know!

What You Need:

• 1 jar of coconut oil (I found a reasonably priced jar at Whole Foods)
• Frozen Shrimp (as much as you want/need, I based my recipe on zone)
• 1 head cauliflower (will probably only use a half if it's just two people eating)
• Stir Fry Veggies (whatever veggies you want, I used a bag of veggies I found at Albertsons)
• 1 jar peach/mango salsa (also found at Albertsons, you can make your own if you like too)

This is more descriptive than a normal recipe, but I made it up so I can write it however I want :)

I cook my stir fry in a certain order so I can properly measure everything.  So first I thawed, peeled (because I bought the wrong shrimp) and cooked my shrimp.  I used coconut oil this time around instead of olive oil adds great flavor, makes me think I'm somewhere tropical!

I got this stuff at Whole Foods, comes as a solid but heats up nice and adds great flavor!

After the shrimp was cooked I measured out 8 blocks of protein from the shrimp.  1.5 oz of shrimp equals one block so I measured out 12 ounces (the rest got saved for another day).

Next I sauteed my cauliflower rice.  This was SOOO simple to make.  Take 1 head of cauliflower, cut off the green stem part and then pull apart the individual stocks.  If you have a food processor with a grating plate then you'll want to use it, otherwise you can use a grater.  I put the whole head of cauliflower (cut in small enough pieces) through my food processor.  The end product looked like this:

Looks like rice!  Has a texture like cous cous, very good!

I then sauteed 4 cups of the 'rice' with some coconut oil for a few minutes.  You can microwave as well.  Once again I measured it out.  After it was cooked it ended up being a little over 14 ounces.  So I divided that by 8, which gave me about 5.25 ounces and the rest was Matt's portion.  It takes on whatever flavor your cook it with, definitely will be a staple in my cooking!

Last I sauteed my veggies, which I bought in a nice little fresh pack.  I used once again, coconut oil and water to steam them in the pan.  Finally I put everything together and topped with with store bought peach mango salsa.  1/2 cup for me, 1 cup for Matt.  It's so simple, so healthy and SO GOOD!!

You would never know that wasn't rice underneath!

 I hope everyone enjoys, we did!

A HA Found in a Chicken Salad

**Correction to the below background information.  1 block of protein is 7 grams, not 9 and 1 block of carbs is 9 not 7.  I can't remember last night if I totally miscalculated this or not.  I know for sure that my protein is right because I just based it on the weight of the protein used against the block chart.  However I realize now that my carbs might be off, lower than planned, but that is okay it won't make too much of a difference.  Like I said below, math is not my strong suit!**

Okay so I didn't find anything in my chicken salad, you got me!  What I did find today was a series of videos regarding cooking bulk meals for the week zone block style.  I'll be the first to admit that math is not my strong suit so cooking one large meal that can then be split up between me (who eats 3 blocks) and Matt (who eats 5 blocks) has been a daunting challenge.  Up until now I've just made our meals separately, which takes that much more time and is the reason why I love my corn tortilla mini pizzas so much!  However, I am slowly trying to move back to paleo, one meal at a time and paleo means preparation and cooking.

So some quick background info.  1 block of protein = 9 grams, 1 block of carbs = 7 grams and 1 block of fat = 1.5 grams. So a 3 block meal would have 27 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbs and 4.5 grams of fat.  As you can already see, a lot of number are involved.  1 oz of chicken = 1 block of protein, 1.5 oz of shrimp = 1 block of protein.  There are cheat sheets which can be found online, I like this one.  It helps you 'block' up meals easily.  However, when cooking in bulk the question that always haunted me was how do I take my large meal and divide it back up in to the appropriate blocks. For all you smarty pants out there, don't comment on this as I don't want to hear it.  Today I had a big break through and am excited about it!

Stepping back a bit, I watched a nutrition video on Crossfit Journal.com yesterday.  In it a coach being interviewed mentioned that when she sees someone that has been at the gym for a few months and isn't making the progress they should, she will start talking to them about nutrition and if they aren't willing to work hard in all aspects of being fit, which includes a good diet, she sometimes suggests they find another gym.  Wow, that's harsh!  I'm not suggesting that anyone needs to leave any gym because of their diet, but it got me thinking about my own diet and my own goals and the progress I'm making against them.  Take my 60 day challenge, which is quickly coming to an end.  I am not where I wanted to be and I have my nutrition to thank for that.  Matt also has realized that he is training so hard at the gym and losing so much because his nutrition needs to be dialed in.  I know what I need to do but it just seems like to much work sometimes.   So my hope is that what I learned might help just one person out there who reads my blog.

Alright, are you ready for this?  The big trick to cooking bulk meals (think 4-8 servings at one time) is....all about the protein.  The goal is to have a balanced meal so 3 blocks of protein, 3 blocks of carbs and 3 blocks of fat.  The best way to demonstrate how easy it can be is to explain the dinner I cooked tonight.

I started with frozen shrimp.  Meat should be weighed after it is cooked so I took out all the shrimp I had left in the freezer, cooked it and weighed it:

I then weighed my shrimp and realized I didn't have enough protein for an 8 block meal (remember I eat 3 blocks and Matt eats 5 blocks = 8 blocks total).  My cooked shrimp weighed about 9 ounces (1.5 oz shrimp = 1 block protein) which gave me 6 blocks of protein.  Luckily I had some leftover chicken in the fridge so I added 2 oz of chicken which brought me to 8 blocks of protein.  I set the shrimp and chicken aside and started working on getting enough carbs and fat. 

The fat was easy as I used slivered almonds.  For carbs I used a combination of stir fry veggies and pineapple:

The veggies say exactly how many carbs are in a serving and how many servings are in a bag.  I put in 1 1/2 bags and then added pineapple until I got to 8 blocks of carbs.  1/2 cup of cut pineapple = 1 block of carbs.  I added some pineapple juice, soy sauce and pepper.  So now the tricky part, I have this big pan full of dinner I can't wait to eat, but how do I precisely make sure I get 3 blocks and Matt gets 5?  Well it's actually pretty simple.  First, weigh the entire meal.  Then divide that by the blocks of protein.  So for example (I can't remember what it weighed) say the whole meal weighs 64 oz.  64/8 = 8.  So an 8oz serving of the meal gives me one block.  Which means that I get 24 oz and Matt gets everything left in the pan.  Simple!  I know it probably doesn't seem like it, but it was really simple!  Especially since my iPhone has a handy calculator on it since I don't do mental math!

The finished product, so good and filling!

I also made a chicken salad which ended up giving us about 8 total meals when it was all split up.  Again, I started with chicken.  After the chicken was cooked and cut I had 32 blocks of protein.  I then just started adding veggies and my first ever homemade honey mustard dressing until I had 32 blocks of carbs and then added almonds.  Looks and tastes pretty good, can't wait to eat it tomorrow!  Problem is I'm not sure I could repeat it exactly, but it was fun to make!

Thanks a lot of chicken salad!

So there you have it, hopefully this post helps at least one person figure out the zone diet a little better.  Enjoy!