Thought is energy.

If you truly take this to heart.........anything and I mean anything can be accomplished.
Anywho; back to food ;-)


Spinach salad with eggs, cherry tomatoes, evoo and balsamic.
The balsamic/evoo dressing is very tasty on baby spinach. Try it.

Sausage with asparagus, spinach and onion.





Does this want to make you eat a nice cold kiwi or what?????

Enjoy the day!

Food planning

In the comments, some one asked about food planning. Let me see if I can help inspire and simplify a little.

First of, let me get this clear for you; as you will not be eating a krispy creme doughnut or a special k granola bar with 72 ounces of coffee at your desk. Get ready to upset the status quo. Expect staring, questions, ridiculing and general dislike and contempt for whatever it is YOU'LL be eating at your work. I made the mistake of eating my broccoli cauliflower mash the other day. The smell was so strong that my coworkers thought, some one had relieved them selves in one of the offices. (My bad, I must admit the smell was a bit pungent, and will leave that for home from now on) When they came sprinting into my office to ask " Marc, WTF????" I told them I had terrible gas from the twinkies I had for breakfast, and if I could please have some privacy, as it is embarrassing enough for me. ;-)

Here's a question; do you ever eat fried or scrambled eggs cold? A boiled egg cold is normal, but I don't think many people eat it cold any other way. I do ;-)

Breakfast at the office for me might look exactly like this.

Put the above in a to go container and put a freezer pack in your little lunch box to keep it cold.

So for planning purposes, get ready to cook early in the morning or at night and get used to eating warm dishes cold. The other morning I made "meat salad'. In some O butter, brown grass fed ground beef. Then toss meat with spoon of mayo and lots of thin sliced celery.

A nice nicoise salad (let me know if you need recipe again) is perfect for breakfast and can be made the night before. Like many other people that red this blog, I eat a lot of left overs for breakfast. This was dinner the other night. Sauteed asparagus with some of my homemade hot pepper relish and tuna. The left overs were delicious.

For the poster that left me the question about food planning; post a small list of some foods that you like to eat, and I will give you some ideas. Would that help?

Bragging rights.....

Ok, Who can tell me what these are????????? I got them at my farmers market. (hopefully the pic is clear enough) BIG TIME bragging rights if you get this one, I had never heard of, or seen them.

An American classic;

Steak and Eggs. (grass fed ground beef browned in O. butter and 2 omega 3 eggs, also fried in some organic butter. (sea salt, onion powder, ancho chili pepper powder, on the beef)

A slice of local avocado, some berries and my vitamins. I'm ready for a good day ;-)

Random; was hungry this morning because I did not eat after 5pm yesterday. So breakfast was at 8:15.

And lastly; Smile a lot today! ;-)

Feel Good Eating

There is lots of feedback out there and wonderful success stories.

So let me tell you again also, eat like this for a while and you will not believe how GOOD you will FEEL. (combine with exercise, stir, mix and marvel at how good your body will look)

Make fresh foods, nothing out of box and experiment with different ways of preparing and flavoring your dishes. If I can do it, YOU can too!! Here are some pics for inspiration.

This picture is for Naomi (who has a wonderful blog Paleo kitchen, link on the right)

This is my version of a traditional Dutch dish called "hutspot"

Mashed cauliflower and broccoli with some mild Italian sausage. This makes a GREAT breakfast after a workout. I had it at around 9:30 after a 7:30 workout

Dinner last night, fresh gulf shrimp. Remember the hot pepper/garlic relish I made?

I just took a tablespoon of it, some olive oil and marinade shrimp for about 30-49 minutes

Thanks to Heather, I roasted cauliflower for the first time. So I thought I'd make a little pesto and use that to toss around with the cauliflower. I cheated with the pesto and just threw some garlic, basil and olive oil in the little blender. It's tastier chopped by hand with some pine nuts and Parmesan, but wanted to make it quick and it is again nice to have in your fridge to add to....well whatever you like.

Made a cucumber salad with scallion and roasted peppers. Some olive oil and balsamic.

Grilled the shrimp and the peppers. Put everything together and enjoy your yummy dinner.

Breakfast as important as made to believe?

"Eat your breakfast!!! " That is what we have all heard over and over again. "If you don't eat breakfast, you'll get fat" Heard that one too? There are countless others.

Ultimately, breakfast is a breaking of the fast and that does not need to occur at 7 am.

I eat for the first time usually around 9:30-10. After a 7-8 am workout, I start getting hungry at that time. On Sunday, when I was nice and lazy and puttering around my house, I did not get hungry till noon. When do you break the fast?

Natural Chicken sausage with omega 3 eggs and some of my homemade spicy relish.

Feel Good Eating

OK, the first picture does not do justice to the taste of it; mashed broccoli and cauliflower. Splash of half and half, butter and fresh ground pepper. Does not look like much. But very tasty and again easy to make.

Second picture is some home made SPICY relish/salsa.

Lots of different peppers (habanero, scotch bonnet, poblano's and some more I don't know the name of) garlic, sea salt, evoo and vinegar. Lasts long in your fridge and very versatile. From sauteing with veggies to add on for steaks. Lots of options.

Last picture; fresh local strawberries. The whole box cost $5 at the farmers market.

Cucumber

Ever since I was little, I have loved cucumber. And when I say love I mean LOVE!

I could eat it everyday with every meal.

So as I made breakfast this morning, I started wondering. How good is cucumber for you?

Obviously it has a high water content, it is used as a beauty aid for skin rejuvenation but what else. I googled it and did not find to much info.

So for the Friday, I will ask you all "how good is cucumber for you and, do you like it?"

Monday was St. Patty's day, so I splurged and bought a piece of corned beef from Whole Foods.

No nitrates and no crazy ingredients. This little piece cost $15 dollars. Obscenely expensive, but I really wanted to make some for my girlfriend with cabbage, onions and carrots (some of her favorite veggies). I must say it tasted very very good.

Breakfast this morning was left over corned beef with eggs and CUCUMBER.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Breakfast meetings

I've posted something simliar a while back, but wanted to stress again that you always have a choice when you are not around your own home cooking or planned meals.

Was at a breakfast meeting this morning at a hotel (7:15 am) and they had a large buffet.

I had scrambled eggs, rasberries, black berries and one strip of bacon.

There were so many varieties of danishes, donuts, muffins, waffles it was amazing.

Interestingly enough, at the end the meeting, guess what was still there in large quantities?

You guessed it, the eggs and the fruit. All the donuts were gone ;-(

To leave you with a picture. My home town Amsterdam. How cool that a street that has a painters name, also has one of his works above it?

Translates as " First Jan Steen Street"

It's in a part of Amsterdam called "Old South" (Oud-Zuid)

Rubs and Farmers market booty

Tasty and simple is becoming my motto.

So here's another one and trust me; SUPER tasty and 5 minute prep time.

I found some grass fed lamb chops, (or ribs as some call them) a lot of supermarkets carry conventional ones coming from Australia or New Zealand. They are also very good.

Gave them a rub with; cumin, coriander, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder. (if you have mustard seed powder, please add. I was out of it)

I wrap them in some wax paper and place in a large ziploc. I will keep these in the fridge for 24-48 hours so they can age and the rub can really get in there. Now for the magic. Crush one large clove of garlic, chop and add to a ramakin with tamari sauce. (just 3 or 4 tablespoons) Cover and set in the fridge. After I've grilled the lamb chops I drizzle this garlic soy over them. Try it!

Here's some of Saturday's treasures from the farmers market. Those pineapples are locally and organically grown. They are small, but have an amazing flavor. Same for the spring onions.

I read on another blog how well produce from local sources keeps. I can second that, as the strawberries last at least a week. From the supermarket they seem to last 2 days.

Meals and pics

This was my girlfriends breakfast yesterday. Garlic mashed cauliflower, with cilantro chicken and asparagus. I can't tell you how tasty and easy the mashed cauliflower is to make. Boil it, toss in the blender or food processor, saute some garlic in butter, add that to the blender and about 2-3 tablespoons of half and half or heavy creme. I cut a few cherry tomatoes into it as I have a lot them right now. Check my other post for the recipe for wasabi mashed cauliflower. It's very versatile.

My breakfast this morning was "salmon salad" (Naomi, dit is mijn versie van Zalm salade"

Can of salmon, asparagus, scallion, 2 boiled eggs, vegenaise, dijon mustard and fresh ground pepper. and some fresh melon.

Dinner;

Spinach, zucchini, asparagus,garlic,onion, chicken sausage and a side dish of roasted kale.

Any questions on the recipe just let me know. It's really simple!

Smoked salmon

It's hard to find wild smoked salmon. Most I see in the stores is farmed and is made with sugar also. But when I find the good stuff, I don't mind paying the extra 2 or 3 dollars they charge.
Here's a REALLY QUICK and yummy breakfast.
One avocado, smoked salmon, olive oil, dijon mustard, red leaf lettuce. Mix together.
I keep the portion small for this as it is very filling and has wonderful savory flavor.

What do you think?

I'm just curious what you all think of the blog.

Are there things you would like to see more of?

Are the pictures helpful?

Recipe descriptions clear enough?

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read it!

Here's a picture of me right after my 40th birthday when I had my first surf lesson.

I'm on the left.

Dinner and soup for the week

First picture is cod, marinating in olive oil, tamari, rice vinegar and wasabi. I marinated the fish for about an hour. Cod is very flaky so a little tough to grill, make sure you rub some oil on the grill and don't turn the fish more then twice. Not many people make cod anymore, it's an unsexy fish these days ;-) But....it's fresh, not farmed and inexpensive. And here is a little secret; ever hear of a restauarant chain called "Roy's" started by celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi? One of their signature dishes is "Butter Fish". Guess what fish it is? Cod! But butter fish sounds a lot yummier than cod. If you have some sake, add it to the marinade for even more flavor.







On Sundays I try and make a large pot of chicken soup.

So easy and quick and makes the house smell wonderful.

One organic chicken, garlic (of course) large onion, parsnip or turnip, celery, carrots, 3 or 4 bay leaves. I brown the chicken first in the big pot, with the garlic and some olive oil, also adding spices like paprika, ancho chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder.

Also for dinner, sauteed zucchini, asparagus,scallion,garlic and a little bit of spicy pepper


Now, see the picture of tomato salad below. Cut up tomato
I used two roma's and some cherry. Splash of olive oil, fresh greek oregano and some feta.
Toss the warm sauteed veggies with the tomato salad. The hot veggies "cook" the tomato salad to perfection.




Happy Monday! Eat well!

Enjoy

You've got to enjoy every day. Even if work is a little harder then you want it to be, or your wife/husband is giving you a hard time, or your teenage daughter is getting unruly etc etc.

You just got to make it great and enjoy. Flow more with what comes your way, the more we resist, the more we fight, the more we tense up, the more we worry, the less we breathe.

So....ENJOY!

Sorry about that, back to food!

Breakfast was some grass fed ground beef sauteed in garlic and scallion with butter. Some ancho chili pepper as a spice. Sliced/cubed fresh zucchini and spinach.

Greek yogurt with garlic and cucumber

Lunch was grilled chicken over some fresh iceberg lettuce.

The Go-Giver

I've been quite busy, so my apologies for not posting more dinner meals.
I will get to it this weekend.
I've been reading this wonderful little book, and if I could, I would buy it for everyone that's nice enough to read this blog. So instead I just bought it for several of my co-workers.
If you get a chance, pick it up. I have a feeling you will like it.
It's called "The Go Giver" by Bob Burg and John David Mann.


Breakfast was some scrambled eggs with scallion.
Went out for lunch and had a "lamb burger" over a greek salad

As promised here is a picture of my scooter. It's a little Malaguti.
An Italian scooter from a company that started manufacturing in the 1930's.
I like the retro look of it. Pardon the red bow, I got it for my birthday ;-)

Simple works!

Sometimes simple is best.
Went in to workout this morning and the only plan I really had was to give my back a nice workout. So after warming up, took a medicine ball and found a cable machine. Attached a rope, put cable about chest height and while sitting on the ball, pulled and contracted my lats with various weights. Then I did some pull ups. Then some chin ups. That was all. Pulled for about 20 minutes. I have no clue as to what weights I used or how many reps and sets I did. I just did it, until it "felt right"

So same with breakfast, not a lot of time and kept it real simple.
The first picture is my girlfriends breakfast. She took it while I was working out. As she was very excited about what she made ;-)
Kimchee with 2 fried eggs, cherry tomatoes and scallions.

My picture speaks for itself, the only ingredient not shown that I used, is butter. (I used approx half the can of salmon. which is about 3-4 ounces. One small starfruit as dessert.
Last but not least..........make sure you smile today ;-)

Speed cooking?

OK, so I have a unique situation. I can zip (on my scooter) home for lunch and I'm home in 5 minutes flat. I know that's not realistic for most, but it doesn't take away from the fact that you can make these types of dishes in the morning and bring them in for lunch. This particular lunch took me 17 minutes to make. (and just 1 to eat ;-) it was so delicious)
Mashed cauliflower with wasabi and grass fed ground beef with celery, onions, garlic and tamari.
Boil the cauliflower for about 7 minutes (once boiling), in some butter saute the garlic, onion and celery. Add the ground beef, cook and add some tamari at the end.
Drain the cauliflower, put it in a blender add some butter and a splash of half and half. you need very little. Add wasabi and blend together.
Enjoy.
Again, I really don't know the measurements that I cook with. I liberally use organic butter and olive oil.
If helpful, I will start documenting it more clearly. Just let me know.

CREATE a great day!

Dinner with the kids

I was to busy to take a picture, but I think you'll find this recipe useful and easy.
I marinated some chicken breasts with a spice rub (onion, garlic, paprika, tumeric and cumin)
and olive oil overnight. Of course pounded them nice and flat and grilled them. I like to get the grill nice and hot but cook the chicken over non-direct heat. It takes a little longer, but the chicken comes out very moist.
Diced the chicken and made a huge salad with red leaf lettuce, cucumber (lots of them as the kids love them) scalllion, little bit of feta. Some champagne vinaigrette dressing and a splash of extra olive oil. Diced fresh tomato on top of 3 of the salads, as my oldest does not like tomato.
Especially my son seems to love this kind of meal. Refershing, filling and lots of flavor.

Breakfast this morning for me was an "avocado chicken salad"
Avocado, diced grilled chicken breast, pinch of feta and fresh ground pepper.
Onme small organic apple.