Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Perfect Post-WoD Breakfast

Working out in the morning certainly takes its toll on your body, both physically and mentally.  Mentally, it's a struggle every day to drag myself out of bed, gather my things for the day, and head to the gym.  Most of the world is still fast asleep at 5AM, and likely will be for at least another two hours.  There are only two real answers to this problem.  1) Get plenty of sleep and 2) SUCK IT UP!

As for the physical toll, there are a few other, much more delicious, steps we can take to help our bodies recover.  In addition to a post workout shake, we all need to be sure to have a proper and nutritious breakfast.  We have come up with what we think is a pretty solid combo.  Four words....salmon, eggs, sweet potatoes.

First we'll tackle the salmon and the eggs, then the sweet potatoes:

Salmon Veggie Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients

Salmon (8oz)
Dill (or other spices, as desired)
Eggs (1dozen whole, cage free, organic)
Spinach
Scallions
Coconut Oil

Directions

Honestly, this one is really easy.  Feel free to portion as you like, but I like to plan for about 4-5 eggs for myself and 2-3 for Lina. 

The first step is to grill the salmon (or bake it).  Place salmon on a sheet of aluminum foil and sprinkle dill or whatever other spice you like.  Grill over medium heat for 10-12 minutes (until fish flakes apart).  Super easy.

Add the oil to a hot frying pan.  Once melted add all of the veggies and let them saute for a minute or two.  Once the spinach has wilted, add all of the eggs.  Continuously stir until you have a scramble.

Now you can add in the salmon.  I like to shred it up with a fork and stir it in the scramble, but you can certainly leave it in tact as a topping to the eggs.


Again...super simple, nutrition dense, and perfectly paired with...

Sweet Potato Hash
Ingredients

Sweet Potatoes (3 large for this recipe)
Grass Fed Butter (we like KerryGold) - about 2 tbsp
Cinnamon

Directions

First you will need to grate the sweet potates down to a desired size.  For the most part, thinner is better, but we'll leave that up to you.  Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.  Add the grated potatoes to the pan and continuously stir.  Once the hash reaches a consistency you like, turn off the heat and add cinnamon to taste.


And there you have it.  A perfect post-WoD breakfast to assist your body in recovery.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I Can't Believe It's Not Potato

Happy Gloomy & Rainy Tuesday all!!

We are so sorry we didn't post yesterday, but hopefully we can make up for it today with a yummy side dish recipe. This bad boy is CHEAP, FAST, EASY and WAAAAY too good to just be mashed up cauliflower.

Saturday night we baked up some beef ribs and were looking for a side dish to compliment the meal. Immediately thoughts went to mashed potatoes. We took that impulse and put a healthier spin on it, mashing up some yummy cruciferous vegetable goodness instead. Literally you CANNOT TELL IT'S NOT POTATO -- we were really surprised and thrilled because we could enjoy waaaay more cauliflower than we would be able to potato -- on account of the large amount of carbohydrate in potatoes.

I Can't Believe It's Not Potato 
      - Garlic & Butter Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients
  • Bag of chopped cauliflower (or 1 head of cauliflower)
  • 1-2 tbsp Kerry Gold Butter
  • 1-4 cloves of garlic (we like our "potatoes" SUPER garlicky, so we opted for 3 big & 1 small clove)

Directions
1) Steam Cauliflower - We used a pot with some water and a lid to steam, you can also use a steamer.
2) Place steamed cauliflower in the food processor
3) Add 1-2 tbsp of butter and process
4) Once it starts looking mashed up, add garlic cloves to taste 
5) Puree until cauliflower looks like a uniform paste
6) Serve with protein of choice!

Saturday Night Dinner: Baked Beef Ribs, Sauteed Kale, 
and I Can't Believe It's Not Potato Garlic & Butter Cauliflower Mash

Think this whole meal looks amazing? Well it was. We will be posting the Beef Rib recipe later this week! In the meantime, try out the mash and let us know how you liked it!

~Scott & Lina

Friday, July 20, 2012

Paleo Brunchers!!

Well the week is almost over, and you know what that means....

2 glorious opportunities to eat Brunch!! Now we don't know about you, but brunch is one of our all-time favorite things! So below, we're going to share with you some of our favorite brunch spots, and what we order when we go there.

Grilled Salmon with one egg over-easy, roasted potatoes and hollandaise -- Except we add a second egg, hold the hollandaise, and opt for mixed greens instead of potatoes

Scott's Brunch: Omelet #11.5 chopped bacon, leeks, white cheddar, topped with guacamole. -- Hold the cheese, and sub greens 

Lina's Brunch: Omelet #6 asparagus, forest mushrooms, sauteed garlic and marjoram (wild oregano), aged jack, topped with toasted almonds & balsamic reduction -- No cheese, sub greens

Seasonal Benedict Chef’s Seasonal Selection (Smoked Turkey in this case) -- No English Muffin, Sub greens for potatoes. If you place the poached eggs in the salad, it sops up all the yolk and is SUPER delicious!


We love trying out new brunch spots. It's always fun to see how many different ways eggs can be prepared. This is by no means an exhaustive list of places we brunch.

What are some of your favorite brunch spots?

Wherever you brunch, remember -- you can always ask for a side of greens or tomato slices, hold the cheese, and by all means, load on the hot sauce!!

Happy Brunchings!

~Scott & Lina

Monday, July 16, 2012

Paleo Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos!

Well, it's Monday again...

We don't know about you, but we kept pretty busy this past weekend. Our weekend was a whirlwind of  trying out new restaurants, studying/working, avoiding the rain, and even hitting up a Wicker Park music festival for an afternoon. Our weekends tend to be pretty jam-packed just like our weekdays, so one of our favorite things to do on Sunday evenings now is to slow it down a little and cook a nice Sunday night meal and cook/prep most of our food for the week ahead.

Last night, we prepped a bunch of scrambled eggs with veggies and beef bacon, some curried ground turkey to eat with our lunch salads.

For dinner, we tried our hand at Paleo Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos, and honestly -- this is definitely going to become a staple dinner option! It was so quick and easy to make and so fresh and tasty -- and let's not forget about the incredible nutrition!
Fish Taco Close-Up

PALEO MAHI MAHI FISH TACOS
Ingredients
  • Fish! (We used Trader Joe's Frozen Mahi Mahi Pieces)
  • Approx. 1 tbsp of Cajun Seasoning
  • 1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce
  • Salsa or Pico de Gallo (We used the Trader Joe's fresh spicy Pico de Gallo)
  • 1 Avocado or Guac!
  • Olive Oil for the Saute Pan
Directions
1) Thaw frozen TJ's Mahi Mahi pieces, or whatever other fish you are using
2) If you aren't using the TJ's Fish, cut your fish into about 1" pieces
3) Coat a saute pan with olive oil and cook fish over a medium heat. Add in the Cajun seasoning and distribute across all of the fish. Fish is cooked when it is light and flaky and there is no pink remaining
4) Chop the butt off your head of Iceberg lettuce
5) Arrange a few leafs into a taco/wrap type shape
6) Place fish inside your lettuce taco and add Pico and Avocado/Guac to taste!


Warning: Eat over a plate, this bad boy get's a little messy. But the flavor (and nutrition) is definitely worth the mess!

If you try this recipe, let us know what you thought! Also let us know if you add any other ingredients to it!

Happy Feasting!

~Scott and Lina




Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Restaurant Feasts!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

We are almost through our first week of our Whole30 Paleo challenge and so far it's been really fun! Everyone participating in the challenge with us has really been getting into it, and we even picked up some new recipe ideas to tryout next week.

One complaint we hear pretty often from people who are thinking about paleo is that it's "too restrictive," and doesn't allow them to go out to eat.....

Ummm...we'd like to politely disagree!

If you know us personally, you KNOW we love food -- that's why we created this blog in the first place! SO, not only have we decided to share paleo-friendly recipes with you, but we are also on a mission to bring you paleo-friendly meals you can order while out on the town -- because, to be completely honest, as much as we love to cook -- we also like to go out for dinner...kind of a lot...

...and with that, we'd like to announce that we are starting a Rolodex of what we order at every restaurant that we go to in the Restaurant Feasts Tab!

So let's go ahead and jump right in with Restaurant #1:





Butcher & the Burger is a REALLY tasty Burger shop in Lincoln Park. Their meat selection is top shelf -- grassfed, locally raised, sustainably farmed, etc. Not only that, but they give you the option of wrapping that amazing meaty goodness in a lettuce "bun."


OUR Butcher & the Burger Order:
2 medium rare Elk Burgers, with the Creek Bottom Game Mix (recommended seasoning for the Elk burger), Lettuce Bun, Tomato, Onion, Pickle, Dijon Mustard, and Avocado


Holy Moly People!!! It was so satisfying and delicious!! Butcher & Burger is DEFINITELY one of our favorite paleo-friendly go-tos for a dinner feast!


If you try it out, let us know what you ordered and what you thought!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday,

~Scott & Lina

Monday, July 9, 2012

Sweet Escape

Well, it's Monday. After a midweek holiday, and a nice weekend, we are back at work for a full week. 

We are still truckin' through our Whole30 challenges over here, so we thought we'd share a nice Whole30 "sweet" treat with you. Now yes, we know sweets aren't "allowed" on the Whole30 challenge. But, I guess you can say this isn't really a treat -- it's a fully functional, Whole30 approved, healthy snack option (that also happens to be REALLY delicious to eat!)

Yesterday, while erranding, prepping our weekly meals, and working on various projects in between, we got REALLY hungry for a snack. There was a bag of macadamias laying out on the counter...but then an idea came to Lina -- Macadamia Nut butter! Though macadamia butter is great, it often means eating a lot more than you would if they were in solid form. So how were we going to be able to enjoy ample amounts of macadamia nut butter with our celery?! 

The answer was simple -- dilute it! So we added coconut flakes and apple sauce! We created a delicious spread with lots of healthy fats and we added apple sauce for volume and a little extra sweetness. Now, even though this treat tastes very much like Buttercream frosting, it actually has very little sugar, and it's SUPER satisfying.


Coconut Macadamia Creamy Spread


Ingredients

  • 2 cups Macadamia Nuts (we used dry roasted, raw are great too)
  • 1 cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
  • 3/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions

1) Blend all ingredients in a food processor. You can either add each ingredient in one at a time, or just throw in the whole kit and caboodle
2) Process until you get a nice creamy consistency
3) Eat off a spoon, put on celery, or top onto whatever other Paleo goodies you've got!


Our Celery and Coconut Macadamia Creamy Spread Snack:


If you try this out let us know what you think! Also, if you come up with some creative ways to use this spread, feel free to share! We just discovered it and we still have A LOT sitting the fridge begging to be eaten.

Happy Monday!

~Scott & Lina

Thursday, July 5, 2012

3,2,1, WHOLE30!

Hey Everyone!

Well, today marks the first day of our gym's Whole30 Nutrition Challenge. We've both been photographed, measured, and taken through a baseline workout. All of those things will be repeated on day 30. In addition to recording our starting conditions, we're all systems go with the food choices. Meat, vegetables, healthy fats, some fruit, nuts and seeds. And we've eliminated the grains, legumes, sugar, alcohol, and dairy. Basically, what you see below is what we're working with for the next 30 days.



So for those of you taking part in a Whole30 nutrition challenge now, feel free to lean-on us for some tasty Whole30 approved feasting ideas :)

~

We hope you all had wonderful 4th of Julys! We don't know about you, but for us, it was kind of an odd 4th. First of all, it was over 100 F outside, and second of all - it was in the middle of the week! That being said, we took down a monstrous WoD (Workout Of the Day) at The Foundry in the morning and hit the town for lunch. Post sweat fest and lunch we decided, since it was so hot out and we had a day off, to lay low in the AC. We spent the whole afternoon watching House Hunters International and napping (our guilty pleasure). It was pretty awesome, not going to lie ;)

After napping and chilling out, we got off our mellowed-out butts and got things going in the kitchen! And with that, we'd like to present you with our newest creation, The South African Smoke Jalapeno Burger!


The South African Smoke part of the name comes from the name of the Trader Joe's spice that really put the defining flavor into this burger. If you live by a Trader Joe's it is DEFINITELY worth buying the South African Smoke spice grinder! Here's the description according to TJ's: "South African Smoke begins with African-grown paprika that is slow-smoked for 48 hours over a sustainable African hardwood called Acacia Saligna, commonly used as barbecue coals. This process enriches the paprika with a smoky, roasted flavor that evokes the South African braai, or barbecue. The smoked paprika is blended with sea salt, garlic and basil and packaged in a grinder, giving you fresh-ground flavor in every twist."

It seriously MAKES this burger!

South African Smoke Jalapeno Burger
Servings: 4 larger burgers or 6-8 smaller ones
Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Grassfed Ground Beef
  • 1/2 Yellow Onion
  • 4 Baby Zucchinis or 1 small/medium Zucchini
  • 2 Jalapeno Peppers
  • Handful of Fresh Cilantro
  • 2 Eggs
  • Heavy Sprinkle of South African Smoke spice from Trader Joe's
  • Salt to taste -- we used a sprinkle of the Pink Himalayan Salt from Trader Joe's
Directions:
1) Dice up your onion, zucchini, jalapenos, and cilantro
2) In a bowl, combine the chopped veggies and the ground beef until fully mixed
3) While mixing, crack both eggs and work into the mixture -- the eggs help hold the burgers together
4) Season mixture with South African Smoke and salt and mix again to distribute evenly
5) After mixing all the ingredients, go ahead and shape the mixture into patties. The size is up to you, we like our burgers a little larger


6) Go ahead and cook them up! Since it was so hot outside, we opted to cook them up in a skillet with clarified butter, but OBVIOUSLY, these bad boys are born for grilling! 
7) The duration of cooking is totally up to you, it depends on how you like your meat. We like ours nice and red in the middle, so we let the burgers sit on one side for about 3-5 minutes and then only a couple of minutes on the second side
8) Plate it up and enjoy the spicy, smokey, meaty flavors!


We just ate our burgers with avocado, cucumber slices and carrots. You can also make a "bun" out of iceberg lettuce, or plop it on a bunch of mixed greens. Regardless, we think the combo of a hot burger with cold crispy vegetables is super delicious!!

Enjoy this recipe and let us know what you thought of it!!

For those of you starting your Whole30 challenges today, we are so excited for you! Stay focused on your goal to improve your health, and have fun with all the AMAZING Whole30 friendly Paleo recipes out there!

~Scott & Lina

       


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Welcome to 3, 2, 1, Feast!

Wow. Writing our very first blog post is kind of intimidating! I mean, this is the first glimpse you all have of who we are and what we're all about here at 3,2,1 Feast! I guess the best place to start would be with introductions.

Meet Scott,

CrossFitting machine, adventurous Paleo eater, and an Accountant. Dangerous combo folks!

Meet Lina,


Paleo nutrition coach, coffee fiend, and avid handstand enthusiast. Lina is also a Barre Bee Fit instructor and Crossfit Coach at The Foundry Printer's Row.

To start this new blog off, we will be taking you through a Whole30 challenge! Our box, The Foundry, is running a 30 day Whole30 nutrition challenge starting on July 5th! We will be posting our Whole30 meals, recipes, and thoughts along the way!

We're really excited to start sharing all of our experiences with you -- fitness, fun, and of course...


FEASTING!

Hope you join us for our Whole30 challenge!
~Scott & Lina