The Cook & The Coach Blog

Bacon Apple Butter

4/30/2018

One of the big things that separates a good meal from a great meal is a sauce! If you like to eat out at nice restaurants like we do, that is something that they all have in common, a fantastic sauce pairing that goes along with the main course.

It can provide a balance of flavors, it can tie a dish together, and it can provide a needed level of moisture/fat with a leaner cut of meat. After years of watching cooking shows and a little experimentation myself I've learned some basics in sauce making and how to combine flavors. If you are novice learning some basic skills in this world will certainly help.

Here is a link to an article talking about the 5 French Mother Sauces. Might sound a little fancy but most sauces that exist in the world are a spinoff of these base sauces. From this you can play with flavors that pair with your main dish. Another thing I would recommend is a book that I pull out on occasion, The Flavor Bible.

This book is fantastic in that it allows you to look up a food, say pork, then it gives you a list of other foods, veggies, and spices that pair well with it. So combine that with the basics of how to make a sauce and you are pretty much set!

The cool thing about The Flavor Bible is that it highlights the ingredients that work best. For this Bacon Apple Butter, I knew we were making pork so take a look at pairings above...

Apples; in ALL CAPS means it is great
Bacon; highligthed
Butter; also highlighted
Cinnamon; also highlighted
Lemon; ALL CAPS
Onions; can't see it here but ALL CAPS

You could call me a good cook/chef but I'm just a rule follower! Pick things that pair well together and it is a lot harder to screw up flavors.

Ingredients

4 strips thick cut bacon, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 apple, skinned and diced
1 cup applesauce
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

Directions

Add the bacon to a medium saucepan, and render out the fat.
Remove bacon bits and most of the bacon grease, leaving behind about 1 tbsp.
Add onion and apple and cook for 6-8 minutes until onion is softened. Add the remaining ingredients, including 1/2 the bacon bits, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes or up to 45 minutes.
Use the remaining bacon bits as a garnish on top of your finished dish.

What is a Beachbar?

3/25/2018

What is a Beachbar?

A place that serves fruity cocktails that have umbrellas in them... No but I do like that kind of Beach Bar too!

Beachbody recently launched an all new snack bar to their line of nutritionals and supplements to help promote healthy eating. Somehow their marketing department landed on "Beachbar" as the winner for what they would call it. Not the most clever but oh well as long as it tastes good and has quality ingredients I guess I could care less what they call it.

So I wanted to share a little bit about this bar;

What it is and what it isn't
The nutrition facts
The ingredients
What it costs
How does it compare to other bars
How can you add it into your daily meal plan

What It Is and What It Isn't

I would call Beachbar a snack bar. The term protein bar gets thrown around way too loosely in the nutrition world out there. In my opinion in order to qualify as a protein bar the bar would have to get a majority of it's calories from protein. Very few bars on the market are a true protein bar. If you are curious to start doing math, a gram of protein and carbohyrdrate both have 4 calories, and a gram of fat has 9 calories. With 10 grams of protein in each bar it get's roughly 26% of it's total calories from protein. That leaves 74% to come from fat and carbs. Overall I would consider it is a balanced macronutrient bar.

This bar is made from whole foods with no artificial colors, flavors or sweeteners. That's a win in my book and something I definitely look for in other bars that I've consumed in the past.

It is a snack, not a meal! At only 150 calories you likely wouldn't want to replace a meal with solely 1 bar. With the protein and fiber content it will for sure stave off some hunger for a while. When I sampled it, it was good enough to hold me over between breakfast and a late lunch.

The Nutrition Facts

At this point they only have 2 flavors, I have no idea if they will release more in the future. However I did participate in a poll that asked me what kind of flavors I would enjoy if they added others, so that's promising!

Chocolate Cherry Almond
Nutrition Facts

Peanut Butter Chocolate
Nutrition Facts

Facts are facts so they don't need a whole lot of explaining. As I mentioned above they are pretty balanced from a macronutrient standpoint. The are pretty low in sugar for a snack bar. They are a decent source of protein and fiber. They are low in sodium. They are also lower in vitamins and minerals which is pretty much the norm for this kind of bar.

The Ingredients

Let's see what's in them...

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ingredients: Peanuts, Cocoa Whey Crisps (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Tapioca Starch, Cocoa Powder [Processed with Alkali]), Isomalto-oligosaccharides (Prebiotic Fiber from Tapioca), Chocolate Coating (Cane Sugar, Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, Salt), Pea Crisps (Pea Protein, Rice Starch), Pea Protein, Chocolate Chips (Cane Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter), Cane Sugar, Vegetable Glycerin, Tapioca Syrup, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Pomegranate Juice Concentrate, Himalayan Pink Salt, Natural Flavors, Almonds, Stevia Leaf Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (Mixed Tocopherols, Sunflower Oil) to preserve freshness

Chocolate Cherry Almond Ingredients: Almonds, Cocoa Whey Crisps (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Tapioca Starch, Cocoa Powder [Processed with Alkali]), Isomalto-oligosaccharides (Prebiotic Fiber from Tapioca), Chocolate Coating (Cane Sugar, Palm Kernel Oil, Cocoa Powder, Sunflower Lecithin, Salt), Pea Protein, Chocolate Chips (Cane Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter), Dried Cherries, Cane Sugar, Vegetable Glycerin, Tapioca Syrup, Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Lecithin, Pomegranate Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavors, Himalayan Pink Salt, Stevia Leaf Extract, Mixed Tocopherols (Mixed Tocopherols, Sunflower Oil) to preserve freshness

A few more ingredients than a Larabar, or Rx Bar but let's take a look at what they all are and what their purpose is and how they can affect you.

Peanuts and Almonds: If you have nut allergies these bars aren't for you. Both of these ingredients provide some of the total protein in the bar plus a majority of the fat content. It's nice to see that they are the main ingredient rather than some obscure ingredient.  Good Ingredient!

Whey Crisps: These are a blend of a few ingredients to give the bars a bit of texture and another source of protein. Whey comes from milk, so if you have allergies, steer clear. If you just have an intolerance I doubt the level of lactose in these is significant enough to affect you but consult your physician if you are concerned. Overall I believe these add to the value of the bar by upping the protein content. Good Ingredient!

Isomalto-oligosaccharides: This would be one of those things that if you follow the rule, if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. Well I could help you pronouce but that will take too long so let me just say this is actually a pretty good ingredient to include in the bar. Essentially it is a fiber that helps with satiety, improves your gut health, and improves your digestion and it is derived from plants. If you want to read more on it, this was a pretty easy to read article that cited some scientific studies. Good Ingredient!

Chocolate Coating: We love chocolate! We believe in moderation and if you choose the right kind it can actually be good for you. I wrote a whole other article on that, Let's Talk Chocolate!  The ingredients in the chocolate coating are... ok! I wouldn't consider this healthy chocolate but looking back to the nutrition facts you are getting very little sugar overall so the serving size of chocolate would have minimal effect if any negative health consequences. It's more here for taste then anything. I do like that they sourced a chocolate made with sunflower lecithin versus the soy version, so that's a bonus. Neutral Ingredient.

Pea Protein and Crisps: These things are there to help with the protein content. They are further down the ingredient list likely because too much of them would likely negatively affect the taste of the bar. Good ingredient!

Chocolate Chips: Same thoughts here as the chocolate coating for the most part. Slightly better but still likely not a healthy chocolate.  Neutral Ingredient.

Sweeteners (Vegetable Glycerin, Cane Sugar, Dried Cherries, Pomegranate Extract, Stevia Leaf Extract): I figured I would lump all these together rather than address them individually. Overall there is a total of 5 grams of sugar in this whole bar. Some of that comes with the chocolate ingredients listed above, some because of these ingredients. Overall I wouldn't be concerned with 5 grams of sugar in this bar. The cherries and pomegranate extract do bring along some good phytonutrients and antioxidants along for the ride so that is a positive. I know some are turned off by the stevia aftertaste, but having tried these bars I didn't notice any of that. Vegetable glycerin was a new one to me so I had to look that up. Essentially that is a plant based sugar alcohol likely made from palm or coconut. Browsing a few articles it doesn't appear to have any negative health effects other than it's potential as a laxative in HIGH doses, but you aren't getting that in this bar. This bar did get a low glycemic certification also which would suggest it has minimal impact on a healthy person's blood sugar levels. If you have blood sugar issues like diabetes you may want to consult your physician. Neutral Ingredient.

Sunflower Oil and Sunflower Lecithin: I would say there is nothing good or bad about these items. They help create the texture of the bar. There isn't anything inherently bad with them or good with them. Since they are at the end of the ingredient list, I wouldn't worry about them.  Neutral Ingredient

Natural Flavors: Oh that elusive word you see on so many labels. What does it really mean. Well good news the FDA does regulate the use of it so it isn't a catch all for all the chemical crap. Here is there definition, “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.”  Knowing Beachbody's track record with the ingredients that it puts in it's other supplements I doubt anything shady goes into this bar as a natural flavor. It would be great if they could make this bar taste good without this but I guess it isn't a deal breaker for me.  Neutral Ingredient.

Himalayan Pink Salt: Salt makes things taste good! At 85-90 mg of sodium I wouldn't worry about it and at least they got it from a good source.  Good Ingredient!

Mixed Tocopherols: This is a natural antioxidant/preservative that is derived from sunflower seeds. Let's be honest this is a packaged food and they want it to last longer than a week on a shelf, a warehouse, or shipping truck so some sort of preservative is needed. There is some mixed messages I got this ingredient whether it is good or bad for an individual. There were some studies published on Pubmed that said it was completely safe for human consumption. There were some animal studies that suggested it may raise the risk of cancer, at least in mice. I like always like to think of the quote, "The Dose Makes the Poison." Beings there isn't definitive human studies from what I found, I would say that the small amount in these bars would have no negative health impact on a person. If you are concerned I suggest you do your own research. Neutral Ingredient.

So those are the ingredients, sorry I wrote so much but if you are thorough enough to search out information on these bars you are likely the kind of person that wants all the information and not just the cherry-picked data that has a marketing slant to it.

Overall I would say this food is neither a health food nor a unhealthy food. It's calories come from quality sources. Is it better than a Snickers, yes! Is it as good as bowl of broccoli, no! So it really depends on how you use it and what it displaces in your diet whether or not it would improve your health. I think it would be a quality snack for most. Personally I really like that they kept it gluten and soy free too!

What Does It Cost?

Affordability... we know your money doesn't grow on trees and neither do Beachbars...well the almonds in them do, so... I'll be honest these aren't the cheapest bar on the market but they certainly aren't the most expensive either.

Beachbars will be sold in packs of 15 and retail for $39.80 or $2.65 per bar. That price puts it on the higher end compared to other snack bars but pretty close to most protein bars.

How Does it Compare To Other Bars?

There are hundreds of other bars on the market and a lot of different ways you can compare them. I thought this graphic highlighted a few key pieces and how the Beachbar stacks up against some of the more popular snack bars.

It's lower in sugar, higher in protein and fiber! Basically what that means is that it isn't going to spike your blood sugar as much as others. It will also likely keep you full longer due to the slower digesting protein and fiber elements. Which means if if you are trying to lose weight, you won't be hangry in between meals if you use a bar like this to tide you over.

†Competitive bar nutrition information collected January 2018 for the following brands and flavors: KIND www.kindsnacks.com/products/kind-nut-bars/peanut-butter-dark-chocolate-bar-bar CLIF shop.clifbar.com/CLIF-Bar-Chocolate-Chip-Peanut-Crunch/p/CLIF-101303&c=ClifBar@ClifBar@Bars RXBAR-www.rxbar.com/shop/peanut-butter-chocolate-whole-protein-bar-box-of-12-bar.html-LARABAR-www.larabar.com/our-products/larabar/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip KIND is a trademark of KIND LLC. RXBAR is a trademark of Chicago Bar Company LLC. CLIF BAR is a trademark of Clif Bar & Company. LÄRABAR is a trademark of General Mills Specialty Products, LLC.

How Can You Add This Into Your Daily Meal Plan

As I've eluded to already, this bar is going to be best be used as a snack substitute. It could replace other bars that you've maybe used. It could replace a trail mix that you used to snack on. It could replace the chocolate chip scone from Starbucks, please don't eat those everyday!

If you've never been a snacker you could also use it as an experiment and add it in to your morning or afternoon and see how you feel. Some people do just fine without snacks and can keep portion sizes in control. Some need that little shot of food to keep their energy levels up.

I could certainly see us eating this when we travel as a convenient snack that tastes great, doesn't take any prep work, and will satisfy our hunger. I could also see them used as a great pre-workout snack. Combine it with some Energize and you are fueled up for a workout with a decent shot of protein and carbs to get you through it.

If you are a diehard Beachbody person and using the containers a Beachbar will count as a 1/2 a red and 1/2 yellow container, just FYI.

Hope that information has helped you learn more about these bars. If you have any questions by all means reach out via email or in the comments below.

If you would like to try a box of these bars just follow the link below that matches up with your flavor and quantity preference. Bars go on sale beginning April 7th, 2018.

1 Box - 15 Count

Peanut Butter Chocolate

Chocolate Cherry Almond

2 Boxes - 15 Count per Box/30 Total

1 PB Chocolate, 1 Choc Cherry Almond

2 Peanut Butter Chocolate

2 Chocolate Cherry Almond

3 Boxes - 15 per Box/45 Total

1 PB Chocolate, 2 Choc Cherry Almond

2 PB Chocolate, 1 Choc Cherry Almond

3 Peanut Butter Chocolate

3 Chocolate Cherry Almond

You Are Enough

3/22/2018

I don't know about you but sometimes life is hard. It feels like I'm juggling a million things every day and if I make one wrong move it'll all come crashing down....and you know what?? It sometimes does. And that's ok.

I have to remind myself often that who I am and what I do are two separate things.

My worth comes from the One that gives me breath each day. My character is what matters....and focusing on the million things spinning around in my head and all the "stuff" I need to do and what could go wrong...will only make me crazy and steal the seemingly insignificant moments and the JOY I'm meant to have.

Can anyone relate?? I'm sure it's mostly the ladies but we have to unite and remind each other of what a kickass job were doing...even when it doesn't feel like it.

Keep your head up friend. Smile. Today is going to be GREAT because you are enough!!

Have a friend that you think needs to hear this, hit the share button below!

Curry Meatloaf with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

2/5/2018

East Meets West...

All the comfort of my grandma's homemade meatloaf combined with all of the flavor you would get from some of the best Indian curry dishes that I've had. Sounds about perfect, right???

This dish is pretty straightforward to make, nothing fancy, unless you want to make your own curry powder. If you do make your own curry powder with fresh roasted spices, please let me know how you do it or let me know where I can buy it. Even without your own curry powder this is one of those dishes that you can make and impress the heck out of some friends or family.

Don't take my word for it though. If you like meatloaf but love some ethnic food, this is a great combo. Pair it with one of your favorite veggies. We did some roasted asparagus but anything will work. Can't wait for you to try. After you do, we would for you to come back and let us know what you thought.

Ingredients

Meatloaf Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds of ground turkey
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
3 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 eggs, beaten

Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
Juice of one lime, roughly 2 tbsp
Juice of 1/2 lemon, roughly 2 tbsp
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a skillet add your coconut oil and sautee the onion, carrot and celery for roughly 10 minutes until softened and mostly cooked through.
In a mixing bowl add the remaining meatloaf ingredients and mix thoroughly before adding the cooked veggies.
Stir to combine well.
Spay an 8" x. 8" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer meatloaf mixture to the baking dish and spread out to an even thickness.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the meatloaf begins to pull away from the edges and is cooked through.
While the meatloaf is cooking, you can add all of the yogurt ingredients to a small dish and stir to combine.
The meatloaf should make 6 decent size portions once cooked. Serve each piece with a tbsp or 2 of the yogurt sauce and garnish with some fresh cilantro.

Upgrade Your Breakfast

1/18/2018

Breakfast is often referred to the most important meal of the day. Some people get this concept some don't. Breakfast for a lot of people actually looks lot more like dessert. Just yesterday we were in a local restaurant and watched a guy sitting in the booth across from us enjoy waffles à la mode. Really, ice cream for breakfast on top of a sweet bread, topped with liquid sugar and whip cream. Why is that even an option for breakfast? Seriously!!!

They all look pretty delicious don't they!

You might recognize that waffles à la mode isn't an ideal breakfast but do you know why?

#1 - The obvious one is this type of breakfast is packed with sugar. I don't think I need to explain why the sugar in this amount is bad.

#2 - We love our fat but we also love getting it from quality sources and this type of breakfast is also extremely fat dense. This combination of high fat and high sugar/carbohydrate is the reason we have the obesity epidemic that faces us in this country. The calorie density is through the roof when you combine sugar and fat, our brains just don't know when to say enough is enough when you combine those things.

#3 - Breakfast is also a unique meal. If you look at it's name "Break - Fast" this is the meal that breaks what is likely a 8-10 hour fast depending on when you last ate the previous night. It is because we are in this fasted state that our body is primed to absorb more of the energy that we provide it.

This happens mainly due to us being more insulin sensitive after a fast. That means that your body will easily transport blood glucose (carbs) into cells. Now if you worked out at 6 a.m. and you then consume a carb dense breakfast that carbohydrate/glucose will get transported to muscle tissue. That's a good thing! If you roll out of bed and have an Ego waffle, bowl of cereal, or a bowl of oatmeal topped with brown sugar and raisins, that carbohydrate will likely get stored in fat cells.

#3 - Lastly, a meal like those mentioned so far is lacking almost all nutritional value. In general, color is a sign of a food's nutritional value. If you didn't cook a waffle, that whole plate would be white = zero nutrition.

When you combine combine, calorie dense, blood sugar spiking, and nutrient poor all together in one food/meal you are either having one hell of a treat meal or trying to develop diabetes.

How do you upgrade your breakfast?

#1 - Eat a balanced meal or for some a lower carbohydrate meal depending on how sensitive you are to carbohydrates. Balanced meal means getting equal amount of calories from protein, fats and carbs. The one that is hardest for most is the protein source. Some of our favorite ways to add protein to breakfast is egg whites, protein powder via a shake or pancakes, or meat of some kind. Studies have even shown that a protein dense breakfast will help stave off hunger throughout the entire day, meaning less snacking and more calories consumed.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Hash

#2 - Add some vegetables! Yeah we said it veggies for breakfast. Not only does this up the nutritional value the meal it also adds some fiber. Try to make 1/3 of your plate a veggie! Our go to is sauteed broccoli slaw or steamed broccoli. By adding fiber you you slow down the digestion process and therefore will avoid blood sugar spikes and as much of that energy getting sent off to fat cells.

Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes and Broccoli

#3 - Keep it simple. The morning can be a tough time to put a fancy breakfast together. Why do you think cereal is a breakfast staple, convenience. So just make something else that fits the above criteria convenient for you. For a long time this meant have a shake for breakfast that was balanced nutritional and loaded up with some greens to get veggies. Overnight oats that contain some extra protein, greek yogurt with berries, or egg muffins.

#4 - Find something that you like and works for you and stick with it. Variety is important for diet but that means throughout the day, not day to day. Breakfast for us is almost identical 5 days a week, eggs, broccoli of some form and plantains. Find what works for you.

Our Typical Breakfast

The common thread that connects all these tips, is having a plan. That starts with maybe building anywhere from an extra 5 minutes up to 20 minutes to prepare an upgraded breakfast. It means having some healthier options stocked in the fridge, freezer and pantry. It means knowing ahead of time what you are going to make or meal prepping earlier in the week.

We would love to hear what are your go-to breakfast options?

Want some healthy breakfast options along with an entire week oF healthy, simple recipes? Just follow the link below and we would love to share our 5 Day Meal Guide with you.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1/16/2018

I know some people that begin to drive heave if they are threatened to eat a brussel sprout. A couple are in my immediate family. Growing up my mom on occasion would make them but they were usually either steam or boiled with some butter on them. Although I could probably stomach that now, at the time it was one of the most disgusting flavors. The smell was similar to what a Band-Aid smells like and I could only imagine what they taste like.

Had my mom prepared sprouts this way, I'm guessing there would have been a 50/50 chance that I would have actually eaten them. I mean they are still green and green food in our house was immediately met with rejection, unless it was Jello. That stuff was delicious! Just don't ruin it by putting fruit in it!

The process of roasting brussels is pretty straightforward. One key is making sure you start with fresh brussels not the frozen version. If you get the frozen ones, they will be more apt to just steam and bring you and I back to that Band-Aid flavor and smell. So start fresh! Then all you need to do is trim a little bit of the chewy stem off of them if there is some. We like to half or quarter ours from there depending on the size. You could roast them whole but they would take a LONG time so that's not advised. Once you halve them, spread them out evenly on a baking sheet. Drizzle with roughly 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil per pound of brussels. Season generously with salt and I like a little pepper also but not always.

Once seasoned, put them the oven that was preheated to 425. Depending on the size they should take anywhere from 20-30 minutes and I like to stir them half way through. What you are looking for is for them to start turning slightly brown if not black. In the cooking world that's called carmelization! Do it! They aren't burnt, they are perfect that way. It will bring out some of the natural sugars that are in a plant that is inherently bitter and if prepared poorly can taste like Band-Aids!

Try it this, I bet you will like brussels for the first time! Or at worst you won't hate them.

Want to take this next week off from planning your own Healthy Meals? Let us do the work for you! Follow the link below and we will give you are 5 Day Meal Guide for free!

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Sausage with Maple Crema

11/8/2017

Simple. Delicious. Sweet. Spicy. Hearty.

If you've made soup before you've probably tried version of this soup. I see it on menus all the time especially this time of year. I've made it a handful of times and this version is by far my favorite. Call me a sucker for some good sausage. Or maybe just the simplicity and letting the fresh veggies and quality stock.

This recipe only has a few ingredients but it is built on a solid chicken stock. We have our recipe over here on how you can make your own. I think some of the keys to a good stock is getting a good pressure cooker, because who has time to cook stock for 48 hours. Also chicken feet! Yup I said it, chicken feet. The collagen from all the connective tissue in chicken feet add a richness that nearly impossible to get any other way. Just try and thank me later. You can find chicken feet at most groceries. I've seen them at every Asian market that I've ever been to also.

To make this soup even better and because we like pretty pictures, we added a maple crema. Sound fancy but it basically is just a dairy product mixed with something else that is liquid. Calling it that is just my inner chef coming out. Or maybe it is from watching too many episodes of Top Chef! Either way it is delicious and makes this dish well rounded. Sweet from the apple and maple, slightly smokey from the sausage, and a hint of spice from the cayenne. So good!

We would love to hear from you if and when you try this and what you think.

Ingredients

Soup Ingredients

1/2 pound pork sausage
1 small onion, diced
Medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
2 apples, seeded and chopped
6 cups of chicken broth or enough to cover soup ingredients
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Maple Crema Ingredients

3 tbsp greek yogurt
1 tbsp almond milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large dutch oven add your sausage and cook over medium heat. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through and a lot of the fat has rendered out.
Remove the sausage from pot, add the onion and cook until transucent, roughly 6-8 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients other than the cayenne pepper to the pot and bring to boil. Once it is boiling reduce heat to medium and simmer for 25 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, mix the Maple Crema ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend to remove all chunks from the soup. Make sure you remove the top plastic piece of your blender when you are blending hot items to ensure you don't have an explosion of soup. Our Vitamix is naturally vented.
If you are eating right away go ahead and pour directly into bowls. If not go ahead and return to the pot and simmer as long as needed, stirring occasionally.
Add 1/4 cup of sausage to each bowl then drizzle with Maple Crema and if you like a little spice add a dash of cayenne pepper.

Golf, Beer and Supplements

11/5/2017

If you didn't read our bios, in a previous occupation I actually used to work as a golf professional. No, I didn't play on the PGA Tour. I worked at a club, ran golf tournaments, sold merchandise, gave golf lessons and every once in awhile I got to play! People always would tell me how jealous they were of my job, to which I would usually just agree because that was easier. Easier than saying I work ridiculously long hours, never get a weekend off, get paid a shade above minimum wage, and had 300+ "bosses" called members that all wanted something different. But I digress...

This post isn't about my life as a golf pro so much. I got to thinking the other day after listening to someone else talk about selling nutritional products. They made the comment that nutritional products and health products are much easier to sell to the healthy! People that are familiar with things like probiotics, gut health, adaptogens, etc. That kind of sucks if you think about it. The healthy people already do a pretty good job of taking care of themselves so why should they invest more into their health.

That got me thinking about my days as a golf pro and how a similar analogy also rang true. It was much easier to sell golf lessons and golf equipment to the more advanced golfers. Four hundred dollars for a new driver, no problem. Five hundred dollars for golf lessons, sure!

You can pretty much change this analogy into anything else.

I also used to be a craft beer nerd too. Your average Joe wouldn't likely spend $10-20 for a bottle of beer but I didn't blink an eye at that. Why??? I saw the value in the beer!

One of my many beer hauls

The golfer sees the value in the lessons. The healthy person sees the value in nutritional products.

One of my many nutritional hauls

It all comes down to value... whatever you value that is where you will spend your resources! Since we live in the health world this is a tough predicament to be in and actually quite frustrating. There is nothing more that I would want to do then help people that are morbidly obese lose 100+ pounds. To actually save their lives of people that are in a downward spiral.

What does it take to help a person like that though? It takes that person seeing value in investing in his/her health! Unfortunately it usually takes a rock bottom moment for a person like that make a change. Maybe it is a diabetes diagnosis or a heart attack. When you take away health, it becomes a lot more valuable and you will be more apt work pretty hard to get it back.

I know we help a lot of people begin to believe in themselves again and reach a lot of their goals, which is amazing! We won't stop doing that! My hope and prayer is is that just one person will read this and think that their health needs to be valued more! That they are willing to make the investment with their time and money to turn their life around. That obesity and disease doesn't have to be the trajectory that their life is on.

If that's you, we would love to hear from you. I know that first step and asking for help can be one of the hardest. Know that we will meet you where you are at and will be by your side through the whole process.

Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes

11/1/2017

It wouldn't be fall if we didn't throw a pumpkin recipe at you. Since we love pancakes here you go! We've been making a variation of these pancakes for the longest time. However the texture on those other ones just wasn't quite where I would like it when it comes to a pancake. So just a couple little tweaks and we have this new one which I think will be our go to pancake recipe for a quite some time.

If you are wondering what the hell the broccoli is doing in the picture, I thought this was a pancake recipe, you aren't the first one to think that is a weird combo. This combo is a great a solution for a number of people that we work with on a regular basis. Two staples that people usually fall short of on a daily basis is protein and veggies. Why not start your day with a healthy dose of both?

Why are protein and veggies important? Particularly for people trying to lose weight these two things will likely be your biggest help in seeing measurable progress in a short period of time. By getting adequate protein, 20-40 grams, per meal you will fill yourself with bulk but with lower calories. Same goes for the veggies, due the high fiber in veggies you are adding bulk without adding calories. It's because of this that you are able to eat to the point of being full all while staying in a calorie deficit.

If you are curious how much protein and fiber you should specifically be eating head over to our Calorie Calculator page and submit some information and I will get you a customized plan to let you how much of each you should be eating. This will be based on your size, activity level, and your goals.

Otherwise enjoy the heck out of these pancakes, we sure did!

Macronutrient Information

Calories: 95
Protein: 10.9 g
Fat: 4.4 g
Carbs: 3.5 g
Sugars: 0.9 g
Fiber: 1.6 g

Ingredients

1/2 can of pumpkin pie filling, roughly 3/4 of a cup plus a little bit
3 eggs
3/4 cup of unflavored whey isolate protein powder
1 tsp vanilla extract (omit if using a vanilla protein powder)
3/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Dash of ground clove
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt

Directions

Add the wet ingredients, pumpkin, eggs, almond milk, vanilla to a bowl or blender and mix to combine. We like to use our Vitamix to mix these in.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. I've found different flax and almond meals tend to absorb liquid at different rates. You may need to a little more water or almond milk to an appropriate consistency. What you are looking for is something that easily pours and spreads out on a griddle.
Heat a griddle to medium heat or 300 degrees if you have an electric one like us. Spray with a nonstick spary, we use a coconut oil variety.
Pour batter onto griddle making about 4" pancakes. With this recipe you should get about 10 pancakes out of 1 batch.
Enjoy!

If you're going through a season...lean into it

10/14/2017

We become people of strength through times when we suffer or feel defeated. It's when we are being broken into pieces that He can put us back together STRONGER ❤️

A friend sent me this picture the other day after we had an amazing talk. You see, I've been going through a season of struggle....doubts, fears and worry have started to creep in. I started to let EXPECTATIONS (my own and other people'...s) get under my skin and convince me that our life and our business needed to look a certain way and be bringing in a certain amount of income or we weren't successful.

She helped me realize that we have a choice with these seasons we go through. We can CHOOSE to take the pieces we feel like we're being broken into....and let Him turn them into something beautiful (the kid on the right).....With open hands RECEIVING and with open hands continuing to give back....allowing GRATITUDE and TRUST to overflow....OR I can be like the guy under the umbrella 😜❤️

I know which one I'm choosing.

We're on a mission to help people heal their bodies and souls....to give them strength, confidence and hope and to do that, it takes some chiseling. And heart searching. And going through tough seasons. SO....let it rain ❤️

If you're going through a season...lean into it. Lean into Him. He's got you.

About Us

Dan and Laura Suedbeck have embraced an entrepreneurial lifestyle. They are constantly challenging the status quo and challenge others to do so too. They believe that you don't always have to change your situation, sometimes you just need to change the lens you view the world through. Their focus is helping people find purpose and passion with their lives all while getting healthy. Click here to find out more about them.

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