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What is a Beachbar?

3/25/2018

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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.  

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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
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Peanut Butter Chocolate
​Nutrition Facts
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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!  
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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.  
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†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
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Upgrade Your Breakfast

1/18/2018

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​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!!!
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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.  
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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. 
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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.
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#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.  ​
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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.  
YES, PLEASE!!!
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Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes

11/1/2017

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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

  1. 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.  
  2. 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.  
  3. 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.
  4. Pour batter onto griddle making about 4" pancakes.  With this recipe you should get about 10 pancakes out of 1 batch.  
  5. Enjoy!
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Gluten Free Turkey Meatloaf with Savory Mushroom Sauce

1/13/2017

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Meatloaf... it was a staple in our house growing up!  My mom would always make it with beef and slather on the ketchup sauce on top.  It was actually quite tasty, except for the onions.  I despised onions when I was a kid.  Not the flavor as much as the crunch that you would occasionally get from one that wasn't cooked enough.  

Times have changed quite a bit!  The breadcrumbs that you would normally add to meatloaf would now make me breakout in a rash.  The high fructose corn syrup in the ketchup, yeah... we are just going to avoid that if we can.  That's the backstory on how this recipe got created.  

I suppose with mushroom sauce this maybe is closer to the salsibury steak that we would occasionally have in our tv dinners.  No matter what you call it, I hope you call it delicious!  We certainly enjoyed it!  

Ingredients

Meatloaf
  • 2 1/2 lbs of ground turkey
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 1 tbsp grassfed butter
  • 1 cup of mashed sweet potato
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Savory Mushroom Sauce
  • 3 cups sliced bella mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp grassfed butter
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbsp tapioca starch
  • 2 tbsp sherry wine
  • 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 -1  cup water or broth
  • 1 tsp galic powder
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Meatloaf
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a skillet saute the onions in butter and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until it they become slightly caramelized.  
  3. In a large bowl combine the other ingredients along with the cooked onion.  Make sure to not throw your hot onions on top of raw eggs otherwise you end up with scrambled eggs.  Either mix the eggs or onion into the meat first.  
  4. Once everything is thoroughly mixed transfer to a large baking dish or loaf pan.  We used a 6" x 9" baking dish and it fit right up to the top!
  5. Bake for one hour or until the inner temp gets to 170 in the center of the meatloaf.  The ends cook faster.  
  6. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
Savory Mushroom Sauce
  1. In the same skillet you cooked the onions, add butter, oil and mushrooms and cook over medium heat until the mushrooms have reduced in size and started giving off some liquid. 
  2. Add the sherry wine and cook for 2 minutes.  
  3. Add the tapioca starch and stir until the starch dissolves into the liquid in the pan.  Add 1/2 cup of water or broth and stir until well incorporated.  You should have a gravy-like texture at this point.  
  4. Add in the remaining seasonings and stir occasionally.
  5. The sauce will take 15 minutes or so to make.  You can start cooking it when your meatloaf has a few minutes left to cook.  Feel free to add more water to the sauce if the texture starts getting too thick.  The longer you cook it the thicker it will get.  
  6. Once your meatloaf has rested, cut and serve with a spoonful of the sauce over the top.  We enjoyed it with some grilled asparagus and side salad!  Hope you enjoy and let us know if you try it.  
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Are You Smoking Shorter Cigarettes to Get Healthy?

5/23/2016

4 Comments

 
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​If you started reading this post you either figured out that I was talking about metaphorical cigarettes or you are an actual cigarette smoker.  If you are a smoker, my advice would be to stop.  But this post isn't for you, so let's talk about that metaphor I'm referring to in the title.  

Shorter cigarettes in the health world basically means eating less bad things.  I wish I could take credit for thinking of this comparison but I heard this idea from Jonathon Bailor.  He's Mr. Analogy/Metaphor when it comes to taking complicated health stuff and comparing it so the average Joe can relate.  Instead of eating a cheap hot dog on a white bun you opt for the nitrate free hot dog on the whole wheat bun.  Instead of the Hidden Valley ranch dressing you choose Newman's low fat something.  Instead of white rice with your stir fry, you use brown.  Instead of old school mayo, you use a paleo mayo you find on Pinterest.    

Personally we see so many take this approach to upgrading their food in our online groups. Here's the thing, making swaps for less "bad" things will only make you sick and fat...slower.  In order to truly get healthy, the food you eat needs to heal your body.  I often talk about 3 categories of food:
  1. Food that makes you sick, fat and leads to chronic disease and will eventually kill you. (Sugar and highly processed foods mainly, or the middle of the grocery store)  
  2. Food that is neutral, it doesn't make you any healthier and in fact might be slightly bad for you but your body being as resilient as it is, can bounce back.  (Protein, grains - even the healthy ones, starchy veggies, high sugar fruits, most dairy, beans)  
  3. Food that heals you, promotes health, boosts your immune system and will help you get to an ideal weight. (I'll give examples below)
Often time, people will go from foods in Category 1 to Category 2 and then get frustrated when they don't see results.  Or they begin just eating less of the foods from category 1 and 2 thinking if they eat less calories, it'll solve the problem.  They smoke shorter cigarettes!  

The million dollar question is:  What foods fall into the 3 category and how much of them do I need to eat?  This category is mainly non-starchy veggies.  A few other things that I would throw in there would be anti-inflammatory fats like olive oil and coconut oil.  Also foods that are rich in Omega 3 fats like chia seeds, flax seeds, fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel that come from quality sources.  I've held off mentioning fruit because a lot of times people can overdo the fruit thing.  It's not unhealthy and if you eat a variety in the right amounts, it can be really good for you.  Eating 5 bananas a day isn't going to help your health.  Eating a banana, some blueberries and an apple will help most people.  For more on my thoughts on Fruits and Veggies check out this post, "Eat Your Fruits and Veggies," Why That's Bad Advice.

​Quantity...  If you've followed us for any length of time you know that we aren't calorie counters. Our general rule of thumb is to eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full.  This philosophy works incredibly well if you are eating a majority of your foods from Category 3 and some foods from Category 2 and minimal from Category 1.  Basically what that would look like would be a plate that is comprised of 1/2-2/3 of things from Category 3, then the rest of your plate could be a protein source, chicken, steak or a vegetarian carb/protein source like beans or quinoa.  Your veggies could be cooked in or topped with a healthy fat.  It could be a salad with TONS of greens, topped with more veggies, then some nuts or seeds and some sort of protein source and a dressing made from healthy fats and vinegars or citrus.  


It's really that simple, do that over and over and you will get healthier and lose weight.  There isn't some magic pill or powder you need.  It's whole food nutrition!  It's not about eating less bad stuff, it's about eating more good stuff.  

p.s. I realize that last line could be contradictory with our belief in Shakeology....please note that Shakeology IS whole food nutrition!! Shoot us an email if you want to know more about it!
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Paleo Cream of Asparagus Soup

5/18/2016

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This dish was totally inspired by leftovers.  To be honest a lot of the meals we make are throw together at the last minute.  We try our best to just keep healthy ingredients in our fridge, freezer and pantry.  Then I (Dan) find inspiration either from Pinterest, Google, a random cooking show or something I've made before to dictate what we eat.  I'm not the most creative person when it comes to other things, but food, that's my jam - pun intended!  

Seriously this soup was so easy to make and you could easily scale it up if you wanted to make it for a larger group.  Like most soups the key to flavor is using a flavorful broth/stock and letting it simmer for a long time.  I recently made up a batch of chicken stock in our pressure cooker.    Homemade stock makes a huge difference in my opinion both in flavor and quality of ingredients.  I probably need to write up a post about our stock recipe.  Very simply we just add water, old chicken bones, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, apple cider vinegar, peppercorns and a little salt into our pressure cooker.  We pressure cook it for about 3 hours and it turns out great!  

We hope you enjoy this soup!  We always love to hear if you try out our recipes, so if you give it a try, drop us a comment on the post or shoot us a message.   

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of asparagus, we used leftover grilled asparagus.  You could use raw
  • 1 can of coconut milk
  • 2-3 cups of broth depending on how thick you like your soup, we used chicken but if you wanted it to be a vegan dish you could use veggie broth
  • 1 tbsp onion powder, or you could use 1 small onion diced - we were out
  • 2 tsp garlic garlic powder, you could use 2-3 cloves of garlic, I was on a powder kick since I didn't have onion
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp of olive oil

Directions

  1. If you are using whole onion and garlic, saute that first in a saucepan with a little olive oil for a few minutes to soften.  
  2. If you are powdered onion and garlic, add everything to a saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes.  
  3. Add all the ingredients to a blender, be careful if you have a blender that isn't vented that you remove the top circle piece and cover with a towel.  The steam needs to come out somewhere otherwise you have a huge mess and potential burns.  
  4. Return the blended soup to the saucepan and simmer as long as you would like.  We simmered for about 22 minutes.  I know that because I did my 22 Minute Hard Corps workout.  
  5. At this point season if needed.  We needed a little more salt and I added some more broth because it had reduced a little too much.  
  6. Drizzle with a little olive oil and enjoy!
0 Comments

Meal Replacement Shake Comparison - An unbiased look at the most popular shakes on the market

4/28/2016

158 Comments

 
Due to formulas changing and requests for additional shakes, we've updated this post as of 9/18/17.
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​This subject comes up ALL THE TIME with people we work with and the coaches in our community.  People are always trying to compare different shakes that are on the market.  There is so much skewed information since the people that are usually telling you the benefits of a particular shake are also selling that shake.  Full disclosure: we are Beachbody Coaches, drink Shakeology daily and also sell it.  BUT...unlike a lot of other posts that attempt to compare these shakes, I want to share the facts: calorie information, macronutrient information, nutritional information, added ingredients, cost and let YOU decide what makes the most sense for you situation.  

The only bias that might show up in this post is that I put a huge emphasis on long term health over short term weight loss.  I believe lasting weight loss and finding your ideal weight is a side effect of being healthy.  I also don't believe that meal replacement shakes should be used as a way to restrict calories.  They should be used to give you quality, convenient calories that promote health.  If you want to know why I don't believe in calorie restriction we have a couple other posts about that, Calorie Deficit Diets, The Truth Revealed and Stop Eating Less and Exercising More.  I also have a bias towards restricting artificial foods, flavors, and preservatives.  

I compared the chocolate shake from the following companies:
  • Beachbody's Shakeology
  • Isagenix Isalean
  • Herbalife Nutritional Shake
  • GNC Lean Shake
  • IdealShape IdealShake
  • DoTerra Trim Shake
  • Advocare Meal Replacement Shake
  • Thrive Lifestyle Mix
  • Vega One Nutritional Shake
  • Arbonne Essentials
  • Sanford Profile Meal Replacement Shake
  • Invigor8
  • Shaklee
  • Garden of Life
I chose these shakes because they are the ones we get asked about most often.  If you have a shake that you would like me to analyze that isn't on this list feel free to email us a nutritional label and I can take a look at it.  If my information is incorrect about any shake, please let me know that also. My goal is represent every shake fairly with accurate information.  

Calorie and Macronutrient Information

When I first started looking at these numbers I originally didn't include the serving size.  I then realized that it is needed to accurately look at nutritional density.  The idea is to compare gram for gram, which shake packs in more nutrients.  When looking at all of the numbers keep in mind the serving size.  For example if you look at total carbs and compare IsaLean to the Herbalife Shake you would think that Herbalife is way better but the serving is less than half, so gram for gram, IsaLean has fewer carbs.  
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A few other things to pay attention to in this graphic:
​
Calories. Like I mentioned earlier, shakes shouldn't be a way to restrict calories, so I like to look at the shakes that contain slightly higher values, 150+.  All of these shakes if made without adding any extra ingredients would still be pretty low in calories to "replace" a meal, in my opinion.  Obviously meal size will be determined by the size of the person but I usually recommend 400+ calories per meal.  

Carbohydrates... these have a bad reputation in the weight loss world.  I would say the average person probably does consume too many calories from carbohydrates, but that doesn't mean you need ZERO to lose weight.  The main idea when it comes to carbohydrate management is to avoid carbs that quickly gets transformed into blood sugar or have a high glycemic load.  The lower the total carbohydrate, the higher the fiber, and the higher the protein will all lower the glycemic load of a food.  One thing you will want to cross reference regarding carbs is whether a shake is artificially sweetened.  If they are artificially sweetened the sugar to fiber ratio will be skewed and as I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners.  Keeping that in mind the shakes that I like based on their carbohydrate content and sugar to fiber ratio include; Vega One Nutritional Shake, DoTerra Trim Shake, Beachbody Shakeology, Isagenix Isalean, Garden of Life.  I like these because of the higher fiber content and lower % of sugar in regards to total carbohydrates.
​ 
Overall, fat is pretty negligible across the board.  Protein strictly by the numbers, most of these shakes have a good percentage of their calories coming from protein.  The only one that is pretty terrible is GNC Lean Shake.  We will talk about quality of ingredients later.  

Vitamin and Mineral Content

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This first graphic shows the percentages of the vitamin content in each shake.  One thing to consider with this graphic is nutritional density in relation to total grams consumed or total calories.  A shake like Thrive Lifestyle Mix is a pretty low calorie shake at 123 calories but has a number of RDA values of 50% or more, so overall pretty nutritionally dense.  

The 4 shakes that standout as the ones containing the highest concentration of vitamins per calorie would be IdealShake, Shakeology, Vega One, and IsaLean in that order.    Invigor8, Advocare, Arbonne and DoTerra shakes would rank among the worst when it comes to nutritional density.   
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This second graphic shows the percentages of the mineral content in each shake. The top 4 shakes from a mineral density are IdealShake, Thrive Lifestyle Mix, Shakeology, and Sanford Profile Meal Replacement.  

The other thing to consider when it comes to vitamin and mineral content would be where those vitamins are coming from. Are they synthetically created and added?  For example if you read IdealShake's ingredient list it would say Niacinamide and Potassium Chloride.  Those things aren't bad for you.  However, when you get vitamins and minerals from whole food ingredients your body is able to absorb those nutrients more effectively.  So when you read your ingredient list, make sure you look for ingredients that sound like foods rather than chemicals.  If you are getting these nutrients from food, you are also benefiting by getting the phytonutrients that come along with those foods.  These are lost entirely when you are consuming a shake that was made using lab created vitamins and minerals.  


Shakeology, Garden of Life and Vega One are the three shakes that have the most comprehensive list of foods that go into their shakes.  Isalean, Thrive, Invigor8 and Arbonne include some whole foods that make the vitamins and minerals more easily absorbed.  The remaining shakes from what I can tell use synthetic vitamins and minerals to get their nutrient content.    

Pre and Probiotic Content

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If you are new to the world of prebiotics and probiotics let me explain what they are very briefly.  Probiotics are bacteria that populate your gastrointestinal tract.  We have about 10 times the number of bacteria living in our GI tract than human cells.  So essentially we are more bacteria than we are human.  These bacteria provide a whole host of benefits to our bodies from metabolic regulation, immune function, cravings, and improved digestive issues to name a few. The science is still pretty new around how our gut health affects the health of our entire body but we know it is important to have a healthy gut.  

Prebiotics are essentially food for the probiotics to eat and therefore survive.  Nearly all the shakes include prebiotic fiber in them.  It's important to feed the good bacteria in our gut the stuff it needs, rather than feed the bad bacteria which can lead to conditions like SIBO and candida overgrowth.  Only 7 of them contain probiotics, so it makes it pretty easy to pick out the best ones in this category.  
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Digestive Enzymes

Staying on the theme of gut health, let's talk digestive enzymes next.  Essentially what these can do is help break down our food into smaller pieces so our body can more easily process it.  
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There are a few standouts when it comes to this category.   Isalean and Garden of Life have the most comprehensive mix of enzymes.  After that Thrive and IdealShake have a pretty good mix.  Shakeology has a heavy focus on carbohydrate enzymes but lacks protein and lipid enzymes.  All the other shakes fail in this category.  (Make sure to click on the image to enlarge)

Adaptogens and Herbs

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This category might seem a little strange to the average health conscious person.  Adaptogens are foods that "adapt" to their current environment.  Things like ashwagandha and astragalus are herbs that can regulate your immune system.  If your immune system needs help fighting off disease, these will ramp it up.  If your body is having an auto immune response and it needs to calm down, these herbs will slow it down.  They adapt!

Other items on this list help with energy production at the cellular level.  Things like schisandra and maca are great for this.  Many of these adaptogens also have a incredibly high antioxidant properties like reishi and cordyceps mushrooms.  Antioxidant rich foods are powerful for your immune system and reducing inflamation throughout your body.  

​I won't go into a ton of detail about these specific ingredients, but the clear winner when it comes to adaptogens is Shakeology.   A few other shakes have included a single adaptogen which is great that they recognize the value in them.  

Additional Ingredients and Certifications

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This is one of the most important graphics I think when comparing shakes.  ​Like I said, I have a few things on my non-negotiable list, especially when it comes to something I would be consuming daily.  First, I'm gluten sensitive and therefore this is a must.  If you are also I would recommend testing any of these shakes out or running it past your doctor.  There are only a couple that are "certified" gluten free but a lot that claim that they are but just don't have the certification.  After that I prefer to avoid products that contain GMO's, soy, artificial anything and hydrogenated oils.  I don't claim to be perfect with all of these but I certainly don't consume anything daily that contains any of these items.  

With that, there are only 7 shakes that meet my criteria and would benefit a person's health; Shakeology, Isalean, DoTerra, Vega One, Arbonne, Invigor8, and Garden of Life.  This is actually where I would personally start, and then work my way back up the blog post looking at these  shakes as my options for a daily shake.  That's why I've highlighted them in this graphic.  If you aren't as strict as I am when it comes to these added ingredients then by all means use all of this information however you would like to find the right shake for you.  

Cost

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I should note that all of these shakes are priced out at the retail value.  A lot of the companies that sell these shakes have member options that get you reduced pricing but to keep it consistent I wanted to share the retail.  If you decide to drink one of these shakes regularly I would encourage you to look into some of those discounts.  

Hopefully by now you've realized that comparing a lot of these shakes isn't an apples to apples comparison and the price reflects that.  The price of these shakes tend to reflect the ingredient list in them.  For the most part I would say as the price of the shakes go up so do the nutritional benefits and quality of ingredients.  For the shakes on the higher end with a higher nutritional value, you are still coming out ahead of what it would cost you to order a healthy meal at a restaurant and would be very comparable to making a healthy meal at home.  For some of the cheaper shakes I would argue that you are just buying calories.  It's something to consume to hold you over until your next meal but they aren't making you any healthier.  ​

Unfortunately a lot of people will begin their decision making process with this chart.  I would encourage you to look at all the other categories above and pick the shake that will help you in the way that you need it.  Then figure out a way to make that dollar amount work in your budget. It might mean giving up a night out a week at a restaurant, or forgoing the daily Starbucks trip or giving up cable TV.  Your health is like an investment that you can start building up a positive or negative balance at a young age.  Most people don't see the benefits or the negative side effects until they are much older and often it's too late to make big changes.  

Final Thoughts

I hope I've laid out enough information that you can make an educated decision on your own and not have to sort through a bunch of crap out there on the internet to get a straight answer on what is included in these shakes.  I also hope I presented the facts in a fair manner and highlighted the things that you would want to know before choosing a shake.  I'm happy to answer questions about any of my views and why we have chosen to drink the shake that we do.  

I'll close with this thought... A lot of people scrutinize the safety of these shakes which is great and is why I put this post together.  I would also encourage you to use that same level of care and concern when it comes to the other foods you eat regularly.  None of these shakes are either toxic enough to make you sick on their own or nutritious enough to keep you healthy on their own.  It's a combination of everything you put into your body.  

Thanks for reading!
158 Comments

Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

12/17/2015

 
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I've never considered myself a baker.  There is just too much measuring and too many dishes to clean up afterwards.  On top of that most baked goods don't exactly line up with healthy eating.  What are the cornerstones of baking; usually a combo of white sugar, flour, and poor quality fats.  Basically the worst combo when it comes to health and maintaining a healthy weight.  

Now that I've poo pooed bake goods let me tell you about the super tasty muffins I made, lol.   This recipe by no means qualifies these muffins as health food but I did remove those poor quality ingredients that cause inflammation and hormonal havoc in your body and replaced them with friendlier ingredients.   The recipe that I based my recipe off of is one that my mom passed down to me.  She would always make it as a bread loaf instead of muffins and I remember just loving it.  Probably because of the amount of sugar that was in it!  

So here were my "healthy" swaps.  Instead of white sugar I used dates that I pureed with a little almond milk.  Instead of regular wheat flour I used a combination of coconut and arrowroot.  Instead of vegetable oil I used coconut oil.  As you will see in the nutrition facts below I reduced the sugar by 18 grams per serving, which is huge and when it comes to weight loss and the insulin response that you would get from eating it.  Swapping out the flours will help with GI issues that people have from gluten, along with the high Glycemic Index that comes along with regular wheat flour.  Coconut oil versus vegetable oil is a no brainer unless you are still living in the 1980's and think saturated fat will kill you.  

This are super simple to make and fairly guilt free as long as you don't eat 6 of them.  They are a great kick snack for our 16 month old son too, which is super convenient.  Hope you enjoy them! 

Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

​Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 8 dates blended with 1/2 C of almond milk, could use honey instead, maybe 1/2 C
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 c coconut oil melted
  • 2/3 c coconut flour
  • 2/3 c arrowroot or tapioca starch​
  • 1 can pumpkin

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Spoon into small muffin tin or silicone muffin pan which we love.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
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Mom's Pumpkin Bread

  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups of sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 c oil 
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 can pumpkin

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Transfer to two large bread loaf pans or 3 medium pans
  3. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour
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Last Call for The Master's Hammer & Chisel Test Group

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Not Quite Monkey Bread

12/3/2015

 
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I've heard it called a few different things, Monkey Bread or Pull Apart Bread.  Not sure if that is a regional thing???  In Minnesota it goes my Monkey Bread, not exactly sure why but if you are interested I'm sure Dr. Google would let you know.  No matter where you are from and what you call it Monkey Bread is straight up delicious.  The warm bread!  Some of it crusty.  Some of it soft!  The cinnamon.  The caramel.  It's a perfect combo.  

I've been on a gluten free diet for a little over 6 months now, not by choice unfortunately.  I'm always looking at making substitutions to recreate some of my old favorites.  I've had a lot of successes and some failures.  Beer has been a failure, seriously disappointing.  Otherwise, I've found a bread recipe, some pancake recipes, some muffin recipes that are really good.  
With this creation I wasn't even trying to recreate Monkey Bread.  After having it though, it was as good as I remember the real thing.  If you can't tell by the picture the key difference is that it is made from plantains.  

The only tricky part about making these is having patience to allow your plantains to ripen to the point that they get semi-sweet.  The plantains pictured below are still mabye even a little under ripe for how I would prefer them.  You want to start seeing some black spots covering the peel of the plantain.  That's when you know they are ready to go.  If you buy them green in the store, it will likely take almost a week to get to that point.  
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I'm going to forego the fancy ingredients and directions because honestly this is so easy to make I can just tell you.  A serving size for me is 1 plantain.  Even our 16 month old son can take down an entire plantain himself.  However, if you are watching your carbs a bit you might want to split a plantain with someone else.  If you are cooking for more, just scale the recipe up.  

​To make these I will cut the plantains into 1/2" half moon shaped pieces.  Then in a medium-hot skillet I add a couple teaspoons of bacon grease.  If you don't save your bacon fat, start doing it, it makes for a great cooking fat.  Sautee your plantains for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they start getting a little carmelized and brown/black.  I usually season with a pinch of salt while they are cooking.  Once they are cooked, there is the option to add about 1 tbsp of butter to really kick up the flavor.  I just add that to the pan and toss the plantains until the butter is melted and coated the plantains.  Depending on how ripe your plantains are they may or may not need the butter.  When they are more ripe I will likely not add the butter but if they are still a little firmer texture they tend to soak up the fat and they need a little extra shot at the end.  Either way they will be delicious!  

I like to then put the cooked, buttered delicious plantains in a separate bowl and add roughly a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.  I don't measure I just shake enough out of the spice jar until it looks like they will be adequately coated.  I like to do this in a separate bowl versus a skillet because I find you have to add about twice as much cinnamon because a lot gets absorbed by the leftover fat in the pan and it doesn't make it onto the plantains.  That's it!!!  

Hope you enjoy and let us know if you try these.  

Pizza Lentils

10/29/2015

 
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If I could eat pizza for every meal I'm pretty sure I would.  It's just straight delicious.  Now that I can no longer indulge in your standard gluten containing pizza crust I need to get creative in order to get my pizza consumption.  I've tried cauliflower crust​.  I used to make my own dough with standard whole wheat flour and have since found a GF flour that works with that same recipe.  I even just bought the domain, www.healthierpizza.com knowing that someday I will dedicate an entire site to pizza.  So yeah I love it.  

The problem with pizza and a being healthy is they don't exactly go hand in hand.  It's usually pretty fatty and pretty carb heavy which is a bad combo if your goal is stay or get trim.  This "version" of pizza was a random throw together that I did the other night and it turned out pretty good.  I will say with the protein and fiber from the lentils this dish fares on the healthier side too.  
In the dish I used a homemade pizza sauce.  I have to apologize in that I have no idea what I added to it.  I think I just googled "homemade pizza sauce" and semi followed a recipe.  It's super simple especially if you start with a tomato sauce and not whole tomatoes.  If you want to get really ambitious go for the whole tomatoes it will be worth it.  Also the longer you can let it simmer the better but in a pinch 10 minutes will do.  Just try to avoid adding sugar, there's no need!  


I should also mention that I did this in our new Fagor pressure cooker.  We love this addition to our kitchen and use it all the time for all sorts of dishes and foods.  This could easily be done in a saucepan or deep skillet.  I was able to saute in this then just add the lid and set the timer and walk away.  Pretty slick!
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One of the beauties of pizza is that you can pretty much make it however you want.  My favorite combo is pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms so I got as close to that as I could with the ingredients I had on hand, minus the mushrooms.  Feel free to add whatever you like on your pizza to make this your own.  Hope you enjoy!!!

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 2 chicken sausage, chopped
  • 1/2 cup pepperoni, chopped
  • 1 cup lentils
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce, I might use more next time!  I'm a sauce guy
  • 1 1/2 cups water or broth
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese, pick your favorite.  We used parmigiano reggiano
  • Fresh herbs (Basil or Oregano) for garnish

Directions

  1. Over medium heat, add your olive oil to the pot and add onions and garlic.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until slightly translucent.
  2. Add the sausage and pepperoni and cook for another 5 minutes.  
  3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil if you are cooking on your stove top.  Once boiling reduce to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked through and most the liquid is absorbed.
  4. Top with cheese and herbs and serve.  
​
*A variation if you aren't looking for a GF dish would be to transfer to a baking dish after lentils are cooked, top with cheese and then top with some Italian bread crumbs.  
 
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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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