Thank you Anna!!!

Remember the post on burgers?

Anna left a comment that she adds a little parmesan. I would have never thought about adding that. So was excited to try it.

Hence the title of this post, because the burger (s) were UNREAL!!!

Trust me, try this once and you will never settle for anything less.

This is how I made them

1 pound grass fed ground beef, 1/3 of a pound ground turkey (dark), 3 scallions, 1 clove garlic, 3 small slices of a jalapeno, 1 egg, 3 tbsps coconut oil and about a 1/4 cup of shaved parmesan.

A little cucumber dressing/sauce......but the burger was so tasty it really didn't need anything with it. Not shown are the carbs I ate with this meal, about 10 baby carrots.

Phrase I heard today; "Peanut butter and pasta economy"

Why do I eat this way?

In the comments recently, Chris (http://www.conditioningresearch.blogspot.com/) asked me how I came to eat this way. I promised I would write about it some, so here it goes. Hope you enjoy and if not, no worries I'll also have a meal picture up for your enjoyment ;-)

When I was young, around 7 years old, I started "cooking". My parents never minded me puttering around especially because I would set the table for breakfast and even make menus on a Sunday morning. Now at that time my cooking skills consisted of toasting bread and making eggs. But when you prepare it with enjoyment and love, it just tastes better. At least that's what my mom told me. By age 9-10 I started making dinner sometimes, even came up with a recipe of dover sole with cream and grapes. I also started baking. Mostly Dutch butter cake, known as "boterkoek". I learned that from my grandpa who loved to bake. During the next years, I spent a LOT of time with my grand parents. when my parents were away on business travel, I would stay them. I was always there every Friday afternoon after school as we always ate Friday night dinner at my grandparents. I would help grandma cook or just keep her company in the kitchen.

My grandma who was born in France and didn't come to Holland until her mid-20's, was a great cook! In hindsight what must have made a lasting impression on me, was that she made everything from scratch. Back then probably that was a lot more normal than now. But I got to observe and help.

Getting involved in sports ( I was a soccer and judo/aikido fanatic) the cooking times slowly went away. At age 16 I heard about something called "vegetarian". I was very intrigued by it, and feeling sorry for the animals I hopped on the bandwagon. Secretly, my biggest motivation was the fact tha per the "experts" all the strongest animals in the world were vegetarian. I thought it might help me get really strong and big. It lasted for approx. a year. I believe I consumed more bread that year then anyone in the country ;-).

Over the next years I developed a sugar kick that was something to behold. Eating dutch licorice all day and easily eating 3,4,5 candy bars a day. My 22 birthday present from my parents was a warehouse size box of KitKats (my favorite back then). Shortly thereafter I bought this little book called "The Sugar Blues" by Gloria Swanson.

I sat in utter amazement almost paralysis on my couch and re-read it 3 times.

WHAT????? the food you eat affects you?????

This little book had such and impact on me that I immediately cut out ALL sugar. Threw away the box of kitkats, no more 3 spoons of sugar in my coffee. This started a search for more information. I delved back into my martial arts and went to school part time for acupuncture and massage. I read everything I could get my hands on and over the years ate; partially macrobiotic, vegan, vegetarian, raw, etc etc etc. Then, out of pure frustration and information overload, I started eating "normally" again. The one constant was that I pretty much stayed away from sugar..... candy that is. I ate lots and lots of rice and bread and whole wheat pasta, believing that it was the "healthy" way to eat.

About 6 years ago, I started lifting weights. Once again, I started reading....A LOT! and tried putting into practice all the "advice" out there. Downing protein shakes, eating 6 times a day, you know all the good stuff ;-) Then I came upon this guy in the gym, in his mid 70's. He was in GREAT shape and had an unorthodox work out regimen. I never saw him in the gym for more then 30 minutes, as he usually arrived after me and left before me. I ended up having nice talks with him and he told me that he owed his great shape to only eating "real food" and never working out too much and a general happy attitude. Intriguing to say the least. I was somewhat on this path I realized. I'm always happy, I eat pretty good (loads of chicken breasts and veggies), maybe I need to work out a little less. Then, as always in life, with perfect timing an old friend of mine, who has always led me to good books and info, says to me "You're into working out and eating right? You need to check out this guy Art Devany" I did that 3 years ago and the rest is history.

I followed the recommended sources of information , reading Cordain, and again everything else I could get my hands on. It was like getting confirmation of knowledge that I knew deep inside myself. Real foods....it's so simple really.

So as you can see from the blog, this is how I eat now. Is it true Paleo? Perhaps not, as I do eat butter and cheese and some other items not truly paleo. But overall, everything is real food and my love of cooking has returned with a passion. I try to make these "real-foods" as tasty as possible. Because I do strongly believe that eating is one of life's pleasures. Lastly my humble opinion; eating this way will help you with every aspect of your life. We only have one body, we need to take care of it. Don't leave it up to the doctors, they are here to sew you back together after you've been in a car wreck.

Anywho; back to food ;-)

I called this my "Cerk chicken". My version of Jerk chicken.

The C stands for curry.

Here's the marinade;

red curry paste, coconut oil, garlic, cilantro, lime juice.

Marinate chicken thighs over night, grill and enjoy.

Mix well in the ziploc and then squeeze to get out all the air out. Let the chicken come to room temp. before putting on the grill.

A delicious dinner of Cerk chicken, with a watercress and romaine salad with cucumber dressing. Some cucumber dressing on the side for dipping the chicken. If you have not had watercress recently, GO GET SOME! It has quite an interesting history. Let me know if you need the recipe for the cucumber dressing recipe; it's easy and quick.

Make it a great day, I got to go make break-fast.

Work and Feel Good Eating

A quick picture to show how my lunch bag for the day might look. (it's not really lunch, but more my food bag for the work day)

A nice spinach salad, with tuna salad on top, (tuna salad, made with some olives, capers, scallion and evoo) blueberries, raspberries and an afternoon snack of 3 slices of pepperoni and some celery. The portion of berries will last me 2-3 days. I just put the left overs in my fridge at work.

All you see here I believe are pretty good for you foods. Finish of the day with a nice dinner of protein and a veggie/salad and maybe a glass of wine, and you did real good today ;-)

Surprises

Well, sometimes dishes/recipes don't come out they way you intended, other times, they far surpass your wildest expectations. Last night's dinner came out SO amazing that I couldn't wait to share it with you all. Below is some grilled curry scrod and mashed yam.
Wash the fish, pat dry and drizzle coconut oil on both sides. Next cover both sides with some curry powder and fresh ground pepper. Slice 2 scallions length-wise and lay that on top. Now you need a grill basket or a fish basket/holder to grill the scrod as it is to flaky a fish. I boiled one yam. Drain when done and mash in a bowl, drum roil..........I added 1 large tbsp of sour cream some fresh ground pepper, garlic powder and a little bit of the left over scallion. Mix together.





Total prep time around 15 minutes. Taste factor; priceless! ;-)

Happiness is waiting there in front of you. Only you can decide whether or not you choose to experience it. Take this to heart!!!!

Over the course of this week, I'll post a little write up on how I came to start eating this way.
Don't get too excited, it's not all that interesting ;-)



"BREAK-FAST" meal for me around 10:30 was this;

2 grilled chicken thighs with red cabbage salad. 2 tbsps evoo, tbsp of dijon mustard, 1tsp spicy avocado oil and 1/2 tsp of balsamic.

In case you're curious, snack later in the day was celery sticks, 2 slices salami (no-nitrate and no garbage variety) and a nectarine. I have not had a piece of fruit like that in a while, it was a real treat. Like candy really.

Quick and Easy

I'll keep saying it ;-)
So try this one and let me know how you made out.

Ground chicken sauteed in coconut oil with some garlic and spicy pepper relish. Added some spinach at the end. Cucumber with a splash of evoo. Fresh scallion sprinkled on top. If you happen to have some coconut milk, simmer the chicken in it for about 20 minutes on low heat. Mine is the quick version ;-)

The spicy pepper relish I use is homemade. It's easy and you can use it for so many recipes. I will show you again in the next week or so how to make it, as I am running out. Per Chris's comment from Conditioning Research, I will do a post on how I came to eat this way.

Chris, thank you for your nice post and write up about FeelGoodEating on your blog.

Show and tell

By now I'm assuming a lot of readers of this blog, read many of the same blogs I do. (see right for links) If not please start ;-)

Recently on Art Devany's as well as Dr. Eades sites, there is some good discussion on amount of calories consumed. Eating paleo/primal is not a carte blanche to eat as much as your eyes and tummies desire.

Especially if you take in the good fats and meats, calories can add up quickly.

Here's a perfect example; Below see my spinach salad. Two tablespoons of evoo and 1 tbsp of balsamic. 2 tbspoons of evoo come in at around 250 calories. Now add the chicken sausage I cut up into it and you have approx. another 350-400 calories. A nice healthy clean meal, around 600-650 calories. If you are planning on a daily intake of between 1600-2000, do you see how careful you have to be? Two more good meals and your are all the way there. That means no extra piece of cheese, no hand full of nuts, or what about the two glasses of red wine? Just some food for thought. But If you aim to keep your meals around 400 calories, you can have a SMALL snack here and there AND your glass of Cabernet ;-)

With good quality exercise and play added to this kind of eating, you will be on your way to that muscular lean look we all are striving for.

Here's a nice breakfast with lots of fat and a little bit of protein. (not shown is about 2 cubed ounces left over grass fed NY strip steak that I had with this.)

One avocado, some salsa, scallion, garlic and 1 tbsp olive oil and some lime juice.

Anybody want to guess how many calories this meal has?

I ate it about 4 hours after working out this morning. (it was short and sweet, heavy and high intensity)