The Cook & The Coach Blog

Counting Macros 101

9/22/2017

Curious what the process of tracking your macronutrients entails. We would like to give you an idea of the process along with the benefits and pitfalls.

Video Highlights
Counting macros: What is is all about? 0:07
How to you calculate your macro and calorie needs? 1:13
Who is counting macros good for? 5:17
Who isn't it good for? 7:00
Two camps to losing weight... 9:14
Incorporating treats 13:38

Hope that helped you understand tracking macros a little better. There is so much with tracking macros that you just learn through doing. If you feel like you want to start tracking your macros. Head over to our Calorie Calculator, input some personal information then submit the form at the bottom of the page and I will respond with a personalized macro plan for you.

GET A FREE MACRO PLAN

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Parmesan Turkey Meatballs

9/19/2017

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One of Laura's favorite things on the planet is a good meatball! One of my favorite things on the planet is some good pasta! Being gluten free now for almost 3 years I don't nearly get good pasta all that often. One item that didn't make the cut on things to bring in our RV was my pasta roller and cutter! So we have to stick to store bought GF pasta which isn't always the best. W'eve had pretty good luck lately with the Barilla GF pasta. It's a corn based pasta which obviously isn't health food but every once in a while we are all for having a good pasta meal.

I know you didn't come here to learn about GF pastas, so let's about this meatball!! One challenge with meatballs is they traditionally have breadcrumbs in them which unless they are made from GF bread is off limits in our house. Some things that I've used as that binder substitute in other recipes are sweet potatoes, quiona, ground up GF crackers. With this recipe I opted to skip the binder. It did make the meatballs a little stickier when rolling them into balls but is was manageable and still made a good meatball, texture-wise. If you want to alleviate that stick meat batter, go ahead and add a 1/2 cup of bread crumb or any other binder to the mixture.

We also like to find any opportunity to sneak greens into our food. Feel free to follow suit and add some like we did or leave them out. If it would have just been Laura and I eating these we would have likely added more. We were able to sneak these in and Eli still enjoyed the meatballs which is a big bonus.

We paired this meal up with our basic marinara sauce that you can find here, just leave out the ground beef since you are doing the meatball.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 handfuls of spinach
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/4 lb ground turkey
1 egg
1/2 c shredded parmesan
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Saute onions and garlic in a pan along with the olive oil. After a few minutes and the onions start to turn translucent, add your greens and continue to cook until those are thoroughly wilted and the onion is cooked through.
In a separate bowl add remaining ingredients, minus the fresh parsley and mix thoroughly. Add the sauteed veggies and mix those in too.
Once you have that mixed together, roll into 1 inch balls or maybe slightly larger. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy on their own or with some delicious pasta and marinara sauce. Top with some fresh parsley and grated Parmesan for added boost of flavor!

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Day Trip to Mount Rainer National Park

9/18/2017

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Spontaneity is the best kind of adventure

We were camping about an hour west of the SW entrance to Mount Rainer National Park for 4 days. We hadn't really talked about going to check the park out prior to being at our campground. After talking to one of the rangers at our RV Park Thursday evening we decided to make the trip Friday morning and put our work stuff on hold.

The drive into the park and towards the area that we hiked was pretty amazing in itself. We made a couple stops at some overlooks.

We pulled off at the first pull out that had a really good view of the mountain. That is Eli telling us that he wants to climb that mountain! After that we came to Narada Falls. It took a little bit of a hike to get to the overlook but was worth it. The falls were probably a few hundred feet tall and flowed down into a gorge that ran down the mountain.

After that stop we made our way up to the area called Paradise. We stopped a picnic area just down from the lodge and had some lunch. Salads have been our go to travel lunch. They are so easy to pack up and we know what we are getting versus leaving ourselves open to museum and park cafes, which who knows if I'll be able to find any gluten free options.

Now that we were fueled up, we made our way up a bit further to the official Paradise Visitor Center and Lodge. Looking at the map our initial plan was just to do about a 1 mile round trip hike out to Alta Vista. We made it that far and then decided to keep going... then keep going!!! Our 1 mile hike turned into about 4 total. We made it all the way out to Panorama Point which was totally worth it. The view were incredible and absolutely breathtaking!

Alta Vista Trail

The first 1/8 of the hike where Eli wanted to walk

What the other 3.5 miles looked like

Catching my breath

Panorama @ Panorama Point

Almost 4 miles later....we snacked on coffee, ice cream and protein bars and Eli was wiped out!! We did check out the gift shop and I think for the first time in our 9 year marriage we bought matching shirts!

Matching shirts... how do they look?

This unexpected trip was such a treat. We aren't really the hiking outdoorsy type but really enjoyed this adventure. Who knows... we might end up becoming more of true campers as our adventures continue!

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Chocolate Coconut Fat Balls

9/5/2017

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Here's a little treat for ya!! We posted about these in our Instagram stories earlier last week but here's the recipe again. They were SOOO good and honestly tasted just like a Girl Scout Samoa...seriously...I couldn't believe it. Don't be fooled, these are NOT protein bites and to be honest, most of the ones you find on Pinterest aren't either because the fat is higher than the protein....so we'll just call these like they are: Chocolate Coconut Fat Balls.

These will make a great little treat to help you curb your sweet tooth! You don't have to be worried about crappy ingredients which is nice. But... there's always a but, right? I would advise that you are aware of the calories and limit yourself to 1, max 2 per day! Well that's unless you are working your tail off to gain weight, then go ahead and eat all 1,600 calories, maybe!

MACROS- This batch made 8 balls.
200 cal/ball
14 g of fat
13 g of carbs
6 g of protein
3 g of fiber

Ingredients

4 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 scoops chocolate shakeology
1 1/4 cup shredded coconut, 1/4 cup set aside for toasting
1/2 tsp of vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt

Directions

Melt the coconut oil in a saucepan or microwave.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly, making sure there aren't any dry spots. If overly dry you may need to add a little almond milk a splash at a time.
Roll out into 8 evenly portioned balls, roughly a little more than an inch in diameter.
In a small saucepan, add a 1/4 cup of the coconut and toast over medium heat. Stir frequently in order not to burn. Should take around 8 minutes or so. The coconut will start turning tan and you will smell it. Once done remove the coconut to small plate or bowl.
Roll the balls in the toasted coconut, you may need to press it into the balls a bit.
Attempt to put them in the fridge for 30 minutes before eating... but I'll understand if you decide to eat at least one before they go in there.
Store in the fridge! Enjoy!

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Our Routine... A Day in the Life!

9/5/2017

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We try our best to share our life with you guys....and I know social media makes it seem like it's all glamour, beaches, fun stuff all the time and no work It's not. I promise.

BUT there's a big difference between what our days looked like last year compared to now.

Now...we choose what our days look like. As coaches, as business partners and life changers with Beachbody...we STILL wake up with an alarm around 6 or 6:30, because we WANT TO...with goals of getting up even earlier.

We drink 20 oz of water...make COFFEE ️...then drink coffee!
Pull out our stack of books and devotionals to read. I journal a little and then post to our social media sharing inspiration and things we learned...so it can encourage others
Eli wakes up...we snuggle a little and then he plays with some toys and eats his breakfast
We plan our day...set our priorities....decide what needs to get done. We check in with our private support group and encourage them or share a tip
Dan makes us breakfast
One of us takes Eli to the park or the library or run some errands and the other gets some heads down, ALONE work time.
I do some mentoring calls with coaches or work on trainings for our team or build our business by building relationships and connecting with people!
We post to social media again
We work out...the time changes every day but it always happens if it's in the calendar
We drink Shakeology
We ROCK our day and simply strive to SERVE those around us

Some days we work a lot...some days we don't....sometimes we work on the weekend...and we stop when we'd like!! Sometimes we work at the beach or a coffeeshop or at home in the RV...the location doesn't matter.

Total control.

Messy hair.

Yoga pants...no showers...no pants...no shoes...no problem. HA!! Every day is a new day to make a choice. To set some new goals. To grow.

It's a NEW day to connect with people that want to join a movement...and want to spread the message of health and life to their friends and family!! If you want more CONTROL of your life...more flexibility or more control of your health and you love to serve people and help them, we'd love to chat with YOU!! ️

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Counting Macros 101

Parmesan Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients

Directions

Day Trip to Mount Rainer National Park

Chocolate Coconut Fat Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Our Routine... A Day in the Life!