If you've followed us for a little bit you've seen us use some fun hashtags to connect some of our posts. I wish I could say that we did it for you guys but the truth is, doing #weirdvegwednesday or #weirdpushwednesday kept us accountable to go out and try some new veggies and it made us think of new ways to do push ups. If it helps you great. So often we can get stuck doing the same things over and over and our decisions become mindless. I think a lot of people that eat unhealthy foods don't do it necessarily because they enjoy those foods incredibly, but because it is a habit and it is easy. So with that we have a new hashtag and we hope it will help bring some creativity to your meals. #MakeANewMealMonday Why Monday??? Well because we like alliterations when it comes to our hashtags, that's it. For the next 52 weeks my goal is to come up with a new, fun, healthy recipe that we will try out and we will share with you. We would love it if you used the same hashtag to tag your posts. You don't have to type up full recipes unless you want to, but use the hashtag as motivation to try some new meal ideas. It will also be a great resource for everyone to use to go find inspiration to try some new things. We will post these recipes on our Facebook Page, The Cook & The Coach on Mondays so feel free to follow us over there. If you want to make sure you get all of these recipes delivered to your inbox just plug your email address into the section below and we will email you once a week with our recipe from that week along with any other blog posts we put out.
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We aren't talking about trees and green grass here, although those things are important too. The environment that we are talking about is everything around you. That includes nature, but it's so much more than that and also includes:
You get the drift...it's everything that you come into contact with on a daily basis and not just physically. All of that information and exposure creates who you are, what you think, your health, your relationships, and your lifestyle. You've probably heard of the concept of nature vs nurture. To get a little geeky on you, it is also your DNA as well! Your DNA is really the only thing that will not change. Did you know that there is a particular branch of genetics called epigenitics that is doing a lot of research on how our ENVIRONMENT can turn on or turn off certain genes?? Although we can't change our genes, this science is telling us that the excuse of "It's in my genes" may not be a reliable excuse any more. You may now have to change it to "It's in my environment!!!" How cool and yet scary is that? Based on what you consume and what you come in contact with may dictate if that cancer gene, or alzheimer gene, or obesity gene actually "turns on." It's cool because our environment is actually the one thing that we have a lot of control of. Go back to that list above: ALL of those things you can change today!!! Would some of them be more difficult...like walking away from a job or moving out of your house...sure, but you could still do it! Would you do it if you knew your house was going to cause your whole family to get some auto-immune disease? Absolutely!!! What if you knew that your job increased the chances of you developing cancer? The World Health Organization actually listed shift work (working over night) as a known carcinogen!!! I guess the reason I think this is a little scary is because now YOU are in control. There really aren't any excuses any more. Sure, there are some environment things that you can't change unless you plan on living in a bubble...but a majority of what you come in contact with is because of a choice you make. If you are crabby all the time, look at your environment. Is your job creating too much stress? Are the people you're hanging around with crabby and constantly complaining? If you are depressed, look at your environment. Are you getting enough sunlight/vitamin D? Are you exercising, which is known to release good mood hormones? Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a time and a place for medication...especially if we're talking about depression, but we turn to drugs way too soon and way too often before exhausting every other effort. If you are overweight, look at your environment. Are you exposing yourself to toxins that mess with your hormones and cause you to store more weight? Are you eating whole, fresh foods? Are you exercising? If you are feel empty and your life seems to have no meaning, look at your environment. Are you watching negative news all the time? Are you reading personal development? How is your spiritual life? How are your relationships? Your environment is going to change you, but the cool thing is: YOU have the ability to change it first! I'm not sure if there is anything better than the combination of maple and bacon. If you disagree, you are wrong!!! Laura spotted someone else post about making a meat ball with these flavors so when she wants food I feed her. I have to say these turned out pretty fantastic and even though they are loaded with bacon and maple syrup they are still a pretty healthy meatball. Hope you guys enjoy!
I have to apologize for not posting too many recipes as of late. We've been doing a lot of super simple stuff like roasting fish and veggies with salt and pepper. I didn't think that you need help doing that. If you do, then I'm happy to help and feel free to shoot us a message. We made this Saturday night, I was really craving pizza after my brother stopped by and mentioned he was on his way to go pick up a pizza from a local pizza place. My normal go to pizza is pepperoni, sausage and mushrooms, LOVE IT!!! Laura likes her pesto, shrimp with goat cheese combination. I don't want to say we met in the middle with this one, but maybe... It had Laura's shrimp and it had some spice that I like in my pizza. All in all this pizza took maybe 45 minutes to make the dough from scratch, prep the toppings and then bake. So yeah a little bit longer than a frozen pizza but so much better for you and just as fast a it would take to have a pizza delivered.
This meal is brought to you by the Suedbeck pantry!!! One thing that has changed around our house is having quality ingredients around so that we can throw together healthy meals from things we have laying around. Yeah it might take a little more creativity but that's fun right. This recipe was actually inspired by a recipe we have on our 5 Day Clean Eating Guide that we use with our Clean Eating Groups. If you want more information about those feel free to click CONNECT and reach out to us whichever way you feel the most comfortable.
Does anyone else use the app Timehop? Yep...I do and it's so much fun. I love to see what I was posting about 1 year ago, 2 years ago or even 6 years ago on Facebook or Instagram. |
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So ever since the 4th of July where a friend of ours made the original version, I had the idea of wanting to try to find a healthier option. I will be the first one to admit that I'm not a baker and have never been one to make desserts. With cooking I don't mind experimenting and just throwing things together. With stuff like this though I have no idea how to balance flavors so I had to do a little research, so this recipe was found on The Paleo Mom's website. The ingredients listed below is a slight modification from hers, due to the bars being a little bit on the gooey side and a little bit on the sweet side. I think that could have been because we used a Justin's Maple Almond Butter, it was all we had in the house. So if you can try to find a plain almond butter to cut a little bit of that sweet, unless you really like sweet desserts.
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So the feat of "healthifying" this dish was going to be a tough one. I knew that I wasn't going to try to make a powder that somehow magically turned into cheese. So the other option was to try to recreate the base bechamel sauce that traditional mac and cheese is made from. Your traditional bechamel is made from fat and flour and it usually incorporates onion. In the case of mac and cheese, you also add cheese to it. I had heard of someone else making a cream sauce out of cauliflower before so I figured this would be the perfect time to try that out. I've done a cauliflower puree before, so this was simply making that a little thinner to resemble a bechamel sauce instead of mashed potatoes.
So I've now got a creamy sauce but then I had to somehow infuse that sauce with a cheese flavor. Let me just start by saying actually cheese flavor is next to impossible to recreate but I feel this got close. So a lot of cheeses have a nutty taste to them along with a an obvious saltiness. Salt is the easy part, so for the nutty factor I used cashews that I had soaked in water for about 4 hours to soften them. Another ingredient that our friend Lindsay over at The Paleo Paramedic told me about was Nutritional Yeast. Nutritional yeast has a natural cheese like flavor. It is also a great source for your essential B vitamins, which if you live in the vegetarian or vegan world can be the toughest vitamins to acquire through food sources. So I added all of that to get it tasting like a cheese sauce...but that last elusive thing was giving it that cheese color. Tumeric to the rescue. Not only is tumeric a superfood but is also turns anything it touches yellow.
So we've got a blob of cheesey like goodness which is actually really healthy for you but do you just drench regular noodles or at best whole wheat noodles in this sauce and call it a day? You certainly could and you would have a tasty dish...so if you want to stop right there, feel free. But to ultra-healthify this dish, why not find another vegetable that would resemble elbow macaroni. My brain ran the gamut of veggies trying to think of something that would resemble the texture and size of elbow macaroni. If you are following us or in the healthy eating community you have probably heard of Zoodles or noodles made out of zucchini. Typically, most people use a spiralizer or mandolin to cut zucchini into either a spaghetti or egg noodle like shape. I wasn't able to get that little curve in the noodle or make them hollow by just using a knife, but I cut zucchini into a 1/4" x 1/4" by 1" pieces so that it would resemble macaroni.
- Use the sauce with regular pasta noodles
- Use a traditional cheese sauce with zoodles
- Add 1/2 lb of cooked bacon bits
- Add 1/2 lb of lobster or crab meat
- Add 4 tbsp of melted grass fed butter to the cauliflower sauce
Ingredients Cauliflower Cheese Sauce
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On top of this dish I just included a couple of delicious poached eggs and an easy hollandaise sauce. If you have never made a poached egg, it is a lot easier than you might think! All you need to do is bring 4 inches of water to a low boil in a medium saucepan. Add 1 tbsp of vinegar to acidulate the water: this keeps the egg whites together so that it doesn't turn into egg drop soup. You will want to crack your egg in a small bowl to make sure your yolk stays together and that you can easily drop it into the water. If you are doing multiple eggs you will want to drop them into the water separately. Before you drop the eggs, the last thing you will want to do is swirl the water in your pot with a spoon, this will also help keep your eggs together. Once you drop them in the water, start the timer and cook for 3-4 minutes depending on the consistency of the yolk that you prefer.
Making a hollaindaise sauce does require a little bit of technique, the key is to have all of your ingredients ready, because once you start thickening your yolks, things will move fast. I just used this recipe and added 1 tbsp of stone ground mustard the same time that this recipe calls for adding the salt and cayenne. Hollandaise Sauce Recipe
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So I decided to take this favorite childhood dish, and eliminate the processed foods and add a couple more components. I really hope you all enjoy this because we certainly did. You could smear this black bean sauce on a car tire and it would be delicious.
Black Bean Sauce
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Enchiladas
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Prior to the Ultimate Reset I was eating pretty crappy food, with some good stuff mixed in every once in a while. After the Reset, I flipped that, I was eating mainly good food, with a little bit of crappy food mixed into my diet. That change I made with my diet was by joining one of Laura's Challenge Groups. This group put the pressure on me to make good decisions DAILY, because I knew at the end of the day I would have to tell the group if I ate chicken strips and french fries. It was that pressure that helped me start making better decisions.
Although kale and sweet potatoes can help you with a lot of things nutritionally, they don't help you build muscle. So the other piece of my transformation was doing a new program at the time called Focus T25. This program was created by Shaun T, the same guy that created Insanity.
One of the main factors that helped me stay on track was that this program was only 25 minutes. YES...you can get results without working out for hours at the gym. When I started this program in June, 2012, I was working as a golf professional, so I was right in the heart of my busy season. I was working 50+ hours per week, sometimes up to 80 hours/week. So the time piece was crucial for me to still get my workouts in, on top of my day job. Coming home after a 12 hour work day that started at 6:00 a.m., I faced the same conflicting thoughts on whether to workout or not...that you probably battle! There were definitely some days where I missed workouts and also other days where I just wasn't motivated.
The thing that got me to workout on on those days, was my commitment to the group I was a part of. Just like with my eating, I was being held accountable for my daily actions. The decision to do the workouts was already made for me. I didn't look at it as an option. I wanted to give this group all I had for 60 days and see what would happen to my body and how I felt. I focused on my nutrition with Shakeology and eating right. I did my workouts. I got results. It really is that simple. There isn't a magic pill or potion that I took to see the results I did. It came through those daily choices, and not viewing them as optional. In my mind, if I would have seen these choices as merely optional, then that would give me a way to get out of it with excuses or when I didn't feel like it.
The combination of a workout program you can fit into your day (Focus T25), proper nutrition,(including Shakeology), and having people that will hold you accountable for the decisions you are making (Challenge Groups), I KNOW is the best way to see the results you are after and ingrain lasting healthy habits. If this combination sounds like something you want to try the Focus T25 and Shakeology bundle is on sale this month and we have a group starting August 18th!! There are plenty of other programs that are proven to be successful as well, and we would love to help you find the the one that best suits your ability and lifestyle.
So here are my top 5 tips for reducing your intake of sweets and those simple carbs that come in the form or pizza, pasta, and breads.
1. If you struggle with a sweet tooth, the first solution is to just flat out go cold turkey and get all things sweet out of the house or work setting. Knowing when these cravings typically come on is key to knowing when you need to distance yourself from sweets. Do you enjoy something sweet after meals or late at night? These two used to be my triggers and ice cream was my solution. Going cold turkey was my method when I first cut sweets out of my diet. Now I can regulate much better because I know to listen to my body. My sweets now are usually dark chocolate, so a much healthier alternative. If you are like me and struggle with the will power to say no, going cold turkey and eliminating these simple carbs from your pantry is probably the best way to avoid them.
2. If the cold turkey method isn't doable due to family or coworkers that aren't on the same journey as you then my second solution is to substitute. If you know you crave something sweet after a meal, and the candy dish at work is close by, bring a piece of fruit with you. Fruit is a great natural sugar, and although it still needs to be consumed in moderation, if the option is a chocolate chip cookie or an apple, well that this a pretty easy choice. I'm even a fan of dark chocolate, but make sure it is at least 70% cacao.
3. The substitution path also works great with your refined grains, pizza, pasta, white rice. Making substitutions to whole wheat pizza dough or a cauliflower crust, using whole wheat pasta, brown rice instead of white, or even better would be quinoa instead of rice. If you like your baked goods you can even go as far as using almond or coconut flour. These flours usually tend to be easier on a person's digestive system.
4. PLAN, duh you knew this one was going to be in here right. We talk about this so much....not because we can't think of better things but because we truly know this is the best way to stay on track and not be thrown off by temptations. When planning your day or week out, actually decide ahead of time where you will have that cookie or ice cream. Plan your meals out so that you don't get caught off guard. When we get caught off guard we usually resort to something easy and quick like a drive thru or picking up a pizza. This also goes for when you know you are going to be in tempting situations. If you are going out to eat with friends or happy hour with coworkers, do a little research beforehand! Pick out the dish you know you should get so that you aren't tempted to order other options when you scanning the menu for the first time in the restaurant.
5. Give in! Yeah you heard that right. I think one of the best ways to stay sane while living a healthier lifestyle is to indulge. By indulge, I don't mean that you should go on a massive sugar/carb binge. I mean go ahead and have something from time to time that would normally be a little off limits. You better make it GOOD too, don't just grab a Snickers bar, pick a nice dessert at a restaurant, go to Coldstone and get some ice cream, but keep it to the smallest size. The first half of a treat always tastes better than the second half anyways. If you don't believe me on that, consciously think about that next time you eat some sweats. Have some pizza, but go out for some nice fancy pizza, wood-fired, thin crust style pizza. If you are thinking, didn't he just say that we should go cold turkey? Then how does this fit in? The key here is making the decision to indulge a planned one and also one that is not convenient. So in order to get that ice you need to hop in the car, drive 2 miles, and wait in line to get it. If will power is an issue the key is to keep these things at an inconvenient distance from you.
I hope you can put at least one of these strategies into place immediately if you are one to struggle with simple carbs. Honestly I believe if people were to greatly limit these types of food, we wouldn't have the obesity epidemic that we do in this country!
Another reason I don't order or eat this dish a lot is that your traditional dish isn't exactly the healthiest thing out there. Biscuits loaded with butter, white flour and probably sugar and sausage gravy that is loaded with more butter and flour. Nothing against butter, but when combined with flour, doesn't make for the healthiest combo. I've traditionally made my own version of this dish the same unhealthy way. So with this version I decided to make some substitutions and take this traditional dish and make it a little bit healthier.
A little bit of an aside, but my parents stopped by the morning I was making this dish. My dad's first comment when I told him what I was making, "Oh, shit on a shingle." The story behind that is when he was in the army, this was a normal dish that they were served. By the nickname though, they must not have been a quality biscuit or gravy. I guarantee that this recipe will not taste or look like shit on a shingle.
Since I'm not a baker and for sure not a Paleo baker I do need to give credit for this biscuit recipe to Jules at www.paleocomfortfoods.com. After quickly browsing his site, I for sure will be going back for other recipes.
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Sausage Gravy Ingredients Sausage
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We want to share with you some of our favorite, easy snacks that we bring with when we're traveling by car or by plane!
- Lara Bars
- Portable fruit like bananas, apples, clementines, peaches
- Packets of Justin's Maple Almond Butter (delicious on bananas, apples or eaten straight from the packet - hey, no judging here)
- Homemade granola bars (haven't tried these yet, but we will very soon!) http://www.redeemingthetable.com/home/2010/6/8/energy-bars.html
- Any kind of nut (raw almonds, pecans, walnuts) mixed with some bulk dried fruit
- Packets of tuna in water
- Kale chips or sweet potato chips
- Grape tomatoes
Bring a cooler and fill it with:
- Sugar snap peas
- Carrots
- Celery with peanut butter
- Mini cucumbers or peppers
- Hard boiled eggs
- Pre-bake some chicken breast, cut it up and put into baggies to snack on
- Babybel cheese or string cheese
- Greek yogurt
Don't forget the forks and napkins! And YES, you can fly with a cooler as your carry on...just no liquids and don't fill it with ice until you get through security!!
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- 1/2 cup uncooked red quinoa
- 1/4 cup uncooked white quinoa, feel free to use all one variety, I had both so that's why I used both.
- Juice of 1 orange
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup diced jicama
- 1-2 jalepenos, diced
- 2 mangoes, diced
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp garlic, diced
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
With this particular salad, I dressed the greens, topped it with the tuna salad, added some chopped yellow bell peppers, and then finished with a sprinkle of paprika. Feel free to add any of your favorite veggies to it.
Avocado Tuna Salad
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Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette
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So when I started drinking Shakeology I did some research into some of the ingredients that were in it and how they would benefit me and allow my body to perform better. That led to more and more education of how food can either help or hinder our bodies from performing at its highest level. I can't imagine going back to eating the stuff I used to in the quantity that I used to. Key there is quantity, I still enjoy pizza, french fries, and cheeseburgers, they just aren't the norm anymore, and I'm ok with that. I've found greater satisfaction in feeling fantastic and losing weight than in the temporary satisfaction you get from eating food that isn't the best for you. This mindset change didn't happen overnight. I just kept adding in the good stuff so that eventually a lot of the not so healthy stuff got pushed out.
There are a lot of things that I have cut out of my diet completely or at least on a very rare occasion. A couple things would be anything with high fructose corn syrup, boxed dinners or prepackaged meals, and soda. I started learning how to read food labels and pay attention to not just calorie levels but also protein, sugar, carbs and ingredients!
What I suggest you do, is learn through experimentation. There are some basics that I think would apply to any diet/lifestyle out there: add more veggies, drink more water, limit your added sugar and cut out processed foods. If you did these things, your energy levels would go up and you would most likely lose a little weight, if you have some to lose. After you do that, you can try playing around with different quantities of grains, fats, proteins. Try some supplements and see if they make you feel better or worse.
There is no proven formally that works for everyone....it's a constant moving target so just dive in and have fun!!!
The Cook & The Coach
Healthy is a LIFESTYLE.
Not a destination.
We want to help you build that lifestyle which will then help you
** have CONFIDENCE
** become STRONG (mentally and physically)
** lose fat
** have more ENERGY
and finally
LIVE FULLY!
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