Food log 7/3

I have recently moved- the downside is my commute is no longer down the stairwell, out the door, and into UF.  But I love where I’m living- beautiful location, more space, and a patio – so it has been a great decision. One of the biggest upgrades is the size of the kitchen. The kitchen that I have available to me now is probably double the size of the kitchen that was in my studio. I love it, which only encourages me to cook more often. With that being said, I have been able to try new dishes rather than just eating bison and rice. I have cooked all sorts of delicious summer food’s from chicken with homemade mango salsa to a new pasta dish with chicken, basil, and parmesan cheese to homemade French toast in the morning. My first reaction is never take a picture of my meal when I am about to eat so unfortunately you don’t get to see any of those.

So this week, I have a pretty normal meal for you…

Sunny side up eggs, toast with almond butter and jelly, and a large slice of pineapple. 

I highly recommend almond butter. It can be a bit more pricey than peanut butter, but I prefer the taste.

I am still working on eating larger meals. I tend to under-eat so my goal is always to get enough calories for the day and I have to be especially conscious on training days because I need even more calories to fuel my training and recovery.

Lindsey’s Meal of the Week

It’s really just more of the same!

A few months ago I wrote about how I eat when I’m traveling, and it turns out I really don’t eat that much differently when I’m at home. My schedule has been pretty intense this month – between working some extra hours during the Iron City Open, traveling back and forth across the state (again), helping out a friend, and ramping up my training, I haven’t had a ton of free time to cook. Luckily, I have two staples that I can turn to in times of need. 

The first one is take-out! I’m lucky that I live in Squirrel Hill – there is so much variety in the food here, and plenty of healthy choices! While I don’t always pick out the healthiest things (the burgers at Murray Avenue Grill are secretly some of the best I’ve ever had), my absolute favorite is the grilled chicken hummus meal from Aladdin’s on Forbes. I get it probably once a week at this point. I also add one of their salads to round things out (and since I’m running so much, lots of pita for dipping). It really is as simple as some grilled chicken thighs and veggies on a huge bed of hummus. But it’s affordable, healthy, and means I don’t have to cook OR clean after a long day. 

When I don’t feel like ordering take-out (AKA when I’m trying to be better about money), I always keep some quick cooking staples around – namely the same bags of pre-chopped salad I talked about in my last food log, frozen salmon fillets, and fruit. As soon as I walk in the door after work, I throw the salmon in some water to quick defrost, then take my hyper little dog for a walk. When I get back, he gets fed, I cook that salmon up, mix the salad, throw some fruit in a bowl, and sit down to finish whatever work I have left that day.

It’s not the fanciest, but it keeps me going when I don’t have a lot of time for prep. While yes, it would be easy to let my cravings take over when I’m this busy, I know that my training goes WAY better when I’m feeding myself well, and that’s a huge priority in my life. These are just some of the ways I’ve found to make my lifestyle work for me!

Meal of the Week

Alison Yee

This weekend I meal prepped 30 meals for my sister, brother in law and myself in under an hour. My weekends tend to be fairly busy but I prioritize meal prepping because I know how much I fall apart during the week without taking the time to plan ahead.  I remotely coach and program for my siblings and decided to meal prep for them as well because, honestly, I was sick of their bitching.  The constant choir of “Why am I not losing body fat?!?” and the “I swear I’m doing everything right!” was so irritating in the way that only family members can irritate that I had no choice left but to take over their kitchens. 

This week’s lunch is:

• Roasted potatoes with peppers and onions/ 150g
• Lime and cilantro seasoned chicken/ 5oz
• Wild arugula/ 1cup
• Crumbled blue cheese/ 1oz
• Organic Power to the greens/ 1 cup 

Protein: 37.9g  Carbs: 35.2g  Fat: 25.0g  Calories 518

Meal of the week, Ryan McUmber

I try not to eat out often. This usually leads to a mystery of what you are actually eating. Unfortunately many restaurants usually use a variety of unhealthy ingredients, that are far more cheaper for them to use. 

For this reason I have a list of places around the city that I can trust to know that simple ingredients are going into my stomach. Today I chose  Federal Galley’s new taco place- Guapo! The original taco place, El Lugar,   will be moving to their own place, which is unfortunate for me but great for them. I guess I’ll just have to drive to go see them now. Guapo was great though!  Each taco has ingredients that you can clearly pronounce or even buy at your local farmers market.

Now I have some rules that come to restaurants on my list. One I already listed was I want know what the ingredients and that I clearly know that they can get from the farmer without any or much processing as possible. Second the vegetables need to look happy. For example if I get salad that looks sad, then I probably won’t be going back. Third, they need to be relatively quick. Quality should be first, always, but this list is made of restaurants that I go to in a pinch- so speed is essential too.

Of course these places are hard to find and/or more expensive but when it comes to putting nutrients in your body, it’s definitely worth it. So I recommend building your list, that way when you are on the run you can still stick to your goals of building a well-oiled machine. 

Everything but the Bagel Oatmeal

-great for weight training

The savory oatmeal is inspired by a client of mine. I wanted to try my own spin on it, so here’s what I have for you:

½ cup or 40g of Quick Oats

¼ cup of Pumpkin Seeds

1-2 Poached Eggs

Preferred amount of Thyme + Garlic

A lovely serving of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt and Black pepper

Handful of Spinach + Kale

Throw Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel seasoning all over the top

First: 

Boil 6 ounces of water. Once boiling, throw in the oats. Stir. Add thyme, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. And simmer for 1-2 minutes. Then throw oats in a bowl and mix in pumpkin seeds.

Second:

Start boiling water for poached egg. A little grandma trick- pour in a small amount of vinegar so the egg whites form around the egg to prevent the separation madness. Create spinning vortex and drop in the egg, let simmer for 1-3 minutes depending on your preference of dippy-ness.

Third:

Add spinach and kale on top of oats. Next add egg(s). Sprinkle Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel season all over and eat! 🙂