Eric

Nutrition Challenge Week 3 Update

Eric

Nutrition Challenge Updated Scores Week 2

Nutrition Challenge Pre-Wod and Week 1 Scores

Here are a couple of other locations besides Earthfare that carry ghee and other good products (herbs, spices, etc).  Thanks Kirtan for the recommendations!

India Grocers
509 North Polk Street, Pineville, NC
(704) 889-2210

Good luck again on week 2 and on the upcoming weeks!
Eric

Day 1: So what’s the big deal?

It’s 3 p.m. on day 1. You had a guilt-free plate of steak and eggs for breakfast, breezed through the morning with coffee and coconut cream by your side, and had a nice big salad for lunch.  Your body is telling you it’ snack time, so you grab a handful of almonds and an apple and head back to your desk to finish out your day.  You’ve got a slow cooker full of chili infusing your kitchen with a heavenly smell, and right now you can’t see why anyone thinks this is hard.
This delusion is somewhat akin to the first episode of any given reality show on which the contestants are herded together and forced to live in one house. At the end of the first episode, everyone can just tell they are going to be best friends for life. Those of us on the other side of the screen know better, though, don’t we? No one really believes this mess to be true, but everyone humors it… because how long can it last, really?

The truth is that you’re feeling empowered by making one good choice after another, all day long. And you should! Take note of that Rock Star feeling, stash it away and bring it back out when days get rough. Because rest assured that after a lifetime of suboptimal choices, things are going to have to get worse before they can get better.

Speaking of rough…

Days 2-3: The Hangover.

The alarm rings on day 2 and you pop out of bed expecting the same kind of Charlie Sheen winning feeling you had yesterday. Instead, you get the other side of Charlie…you know – the pounding-head-cross-eyed-can’t-see-straight side. You know you didn’t down a fifth of tequila in your sleep, so what the heck happened?!

Remember the pre Whole30 bender you went on? Pizza, cookies, Jim Beam, jelly beans (oh, the jelly beans)? Yeah. This is when it comes back to bite you in the butt. (And the head.)  And it is definitely true that the amount of suck you experience in this phase is directly proportional to the amount of crap you consumed before you began the program.  Especially if you consumed it consistently. This phase is especially hard for the habitual Diet Coke (and Diet Dr. Pepper here in my part of the world) drinkers. You know who you are.

Many Whole30ers report headaches, fatigue, and general malaise during this part of the program. This, my friends, is completely normal. Your body is working its way through a whole host of junk it stored from the foods (or food-like-products) you used to eat. This process lasts a day for some folks, but for others it can take a few days longer. Relax, drink a lot of water, and keep making good choices. And do your best to earn the sympathy and support from friends and family, because…

Days 4-5: Kill ALL the things!

Day 4 dawns and you tentatively step out of bed, expecting to feel like you took a strike from Thor’s hammer in the temple. Instead, your head is surprisingly clear. Your limbs all feel functional. This could be a good day! You walk into the kitchen and as you’re greeted by the smiling face of your significant other you are suddenly overcome…with the desire to punch them in the face for smiling this early in the morning.  Congratulations! You’ve made it to day 4.

Now, I have no clue why this phase happens, or why it happens here (and not on, say, day 14).* I just know that it happens. Often. Even experienced Whole30ers (myself included) go through this phase.  Every nerve is lit, temperance is non-existent and the only solution to the problem seems to be to Kill All of the Things.

This phase, too, will pass.  Beg your spouse, children, parents, co-workers, for patience and forgiveness – as nicely as you can (and no, “shut up and leave me alone!” does not count as nice). Take a deep breath and eat some sweet potatoes. I promise, you’ll feel better soon.

*It’s probably because your brain is never very happy when you tell it that it CAN’T have something, and take it out of it’s habitual and accustomed comfort zone. An unhappy brain is a stressed brain, an anxious brain, a fearful brain. No to mention your hormones are desperately trying to keep up with your new food choices, your gut is trying to heal, you’ve had a headache for the last three days, and you REALLY MISS YOUR DIET COKE. So yeah, maybe we do know why this is happening now…

Days 6-7: I just want a nap…

Okay, so its day 6 and you made it through the last phase without smiting anyone.  The thing is, today you don’t feel like you could smite anyone if your life depended on it!  It’s 10 am and all you can think about is crawling under your desk for a catnap.  As the day drags on, the surface of your desk is morphing, from hard wooden surface to snuggly warm pillow, right before your eyes.  You hit the gym, but only halfheartedly, unable to face the barbell with any kind of conviction. You crawl into bed at 8 p.m. only to drag yourself out eleven hours later feeling no more rested than you did the night before.

So what’s the deal?! Isn’t eating like this supposed to increase energy levels? Yes…in the long run.  Right now, you’re body is learning that it can’t rely on all those easy access energy sources it used to know and love. Gone are the days of cinnamon crunch muffins and Frappuccinos. Now your body is learning to efficiently burn fat and protein as its fuel sources, and that takes more effort – and some time.  If you can hold out just a bit longer, you’ll definitely reap the benefits. (Besides, you could probably use a day off from the gym anyway, right?)

To continue this timeline and find out about the Boundless energy that’s just around the corner & more check out : http://whole9life.com/2012/06/the-whole30-timeline/

I hope My Boundless Energy kicks in before Wednesdays Eva !!!  Adam C.

Recipe #1:
Ingredient List:
Seasoning rub:
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

(1) 4 pound beef or bison chuck (we have always used the beef)
2 tbsp ghee or olive oil (use the ghee!!!!!!! Sooooo delicious!!!)
1 cup water, beef or chicken stock. (we used beef stock)
3 large onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Combine the first five ingredients in a small bowl. Rub the meat well with seasoning. For the best flavor let the roast sit out an hour or two at room temperature loosely covered with foil, or well-wrapped overnight in the refrigerator. (I recommend preparing it the night before and letting it sit all night in the refrigerator)

Preheat the oven to 350 (325 for bison).

In a dutch oven or large heavy casserole heat the ghee! or olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the roast on all sides, about two minutes per side. Remove the roast temporarily to a plate or platter. Remove excess fat that has accumulated in the pan (optional). Add water or stock to the pan and de-glaze by scraping and dissolving the brown bits on the bottom. Return the roast to the pan, cover it with the sliced onions and garlic, cover and bake in the oven for one hour.

Remove the cover, turn the roast, and continue to cook in the oven uncovered for another hour. Add more liquid if needed and stir the onions a bit after 30 minutes for even cooking.

Cover again and cook 1 hour more. The meat will be done when it is fork-tender. Remove the meat from the pot and let it rest loosely covered with foil.

Strain the sauce, de-fatting if necessary. Season sauce with salt and pepper if desired. If there is a shoulder bone remove it. Slice the meat. Separate it into chunks for serving. Serve the sauce over the meat after plating.

A few things we did differently: we used about 5 onions, not 3. Then after the roast was seared in the cast iron skillet, we took the roast out and threw the onions in there to cook a little and absorb the ghee and seasonings that were left in the pan. After this is when we added the stock and deglazed the pan. From here we put the roast in the crock pot and topped it with the onions and deglazed stock remnants. Put the lid on the crock pot and let it cook for 7-8 hours.

The next recipe is my husband’s creation. He’s the chef in the family. Move over Bobby Flay! If you are wondering if I come up with any recipes on my own, the answer is no.  I was passed over on the innate culinary skills. Oh, but baking! I can make a mean dessert!! But that would be cruel to post here J

So this next recipe can almost be thought of as a continuation of the pot roast. Any time you make anything in a crock pot you are left with all the yummy juices and seasonings….don’t waste these!! This is what we (and yes by “we” I mean my husband) do anytime we make something in the crock pot. If we had a chicken in there then we make a chicken soup. So for the pot roast recipe our soup will be seasoned more in the line of a beef soup.

Recipe #2:
Ingredient list:
(Use whatever veggies you like, but this is what we used) and in any quantity you want:
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes
3 small bell peppers, chopped and seeds removed (we used mini red, yellow, and orange)
1 green avocado, peeled and pit removed.  Green, not black.  You want it to be firm since it’s going in a soup.
6 carrots
2 zucchini squash
2 yellow squash
1 large yellow/sweet onion
6 cloves of garlic
1-2 Tbsp of ghee
2-4 Tsp of ground thyme
2-4 cups of beef stock
Salt and Pepper
Left over drippings and onions from the roast added in a large pot.

Directions:
Heat large skillet over medium heat.

Add 1 tbsp of ghee and bring up to temperature.

Chop all vegetables (minus Garlic) to bite sized pieces.

Dice or mince garlic.

Sauté vegetables in ghee.  Start with the “harder” vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, bell peppers) and work your way down to the softer vegetables (squashes, avocado, etc.).  You want to develop color in the vegetables and caramelize (but don’t burn!!).  The longer you can sauté and caramelize without burning, the more flavor you’ll develop.  Add more ghee as needed to keep things from sticking.  Make sure to use plenty of salt and pepper, depending on your taste.

Save garlic until the last to keep it from burning and getting bitter.

Deglaze the pan with a cup of beef stock, simmer for 30 seconds to a minute, scraping the bottom of the sauté pan to pull off all of the yummy bits.

Add contents of the sauté pan to soup base from the roast in the pot.

Add as much additional beef stock to get the consistency in the soup that you like.  We added the 3-4 cups and made it thinner.  Add thyme to your taste.  We like a lot and added another 4 tsp’s – trending more toward a French Onion Soup flavor.  Bring up to a soft boil, reduce heat and slowly simmer.  The longer you can simmer the more the flavors will combine, develop, and deepen.  Of course, season to your taste.  Does it need more salt?  More thyme?  Some heat (cayenne?)?  Go with what you like.

Note:  this will make your vegetables fairly soft.  If you like more crisp/tender, you can skip the part where you sauté them and just add them to the soup base.  However, it won’t develop the same flavor without that step.

Eat. Enjoy.

Next week is my birthday and this will be the first time in thirty (oooohhhhh, you thought I was going to say, didn’t you????) some-odd years that I have not had a birthday cake. It’s ok. You can stop crying for me. I’m (ok, I’m going to have Troy and the kids do it…..who makes their own birthday treats??) going make Juli’s (from Paleomg.com) Sugar Detox Pumpkin Cake in a Mug with Chocolate Whip and her Sugar Detox Carrot Cake Pudding. Yes, they are making me two desserts. Kind of helps compensate for the lack of butter cream frosting this year.  She created both of these desserts while on a 21 day sugar detox, and all ingredients are in our “four point foods” category. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Ok, it’s time! Ready to start?  Here we gooooo!!
Christie

Success in any endeavor is going to start with preparedness, so that’s what I’m going to talk about this week. When my first challenge ‘crept up on me’ I did not have the right foods in my house. All I ate for the first week was chicken, romaine lettuce with balsamic vinegar and raw almonds. I’m not sure if I even fed the kids that week. I can’t recall. Anyway, week two I realized I had better find some recipes and go shopping for the right foods. Some things can be found in any grocery store, but I get 80-90% of the food I eat at Trader Joes. I started off at Earth Fare, and while they have more selection, they are more expensive. There are a few things that I have only found at Earth Fare (and I’ll note those) but for the most part it’s one-stop-shopping at Trader Joes.

There are a few basic foods that if you have on hand, you can whip up any Paleo meal quickly, and most of the recipes I have contain the majority of these ingredients. I recommend always having on hand:

GREAT ON HAND ITEM LIST:
Tomato sauce
Diced tomatoes (fire roasted and plain)
Onions
Garlic
Olive oil
Ghee (I can only find this at Earth Fare)…fry up some onions in this to add to anything and OMG!!!
Meat (buffalo, grass fed beef or chicken)….buy in bulk and freeze
Seasonings (Sea salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, roasted cumin, chili powder, oregano, rosemary, thyme)
Organic chicken broth
Cage free eggs
Coconut milk

I am definitely no chef, but I can follow a recipe, and so have found a few sources that are pretty amazing. I bought “The Primal Blueprint Cookbook” by Mark Sisson and have not made a recipe that I did not love!!! I also use the site nomnompaleo.com and live on the site paleomg.com. The recipes here are easy and the girl is hilarious! One work of caution: some of the ingredients used in these sources are not “four point foods”: raw honey, dark chocolate, raisins, etc. are not optimal foods for our challenge. Save these for November 5 th J. That said I will list 2 of my favorite and easiest recipes to get you going if you need somewhere to start. This first recipe is for goulash from Christina’s nutrition blog that was posted quite a while ago:

GOULASH RECIPE LIST:
1 lb grass fed beef
1 cup diced mushrooms
½ cup red peppers
½ cup onions
2 tomatoes diced
1 can organic tomato sauce
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups organic chicken broth
1 bay leaf
Paprika (go crazy with it)
-Brown your meat and place in a soup pot. Sauté your vegetables in olive oil and add to ground beef. Add the remaining ingredients and let simmer for 30 minutes.

This next recipe couldn’t be more simple…perfect, right? It’s for Egg Muffins (we eat eggs and egg dishes a lot for dinner)

EGG MUFFINS RECIPE LIST:
6 eggs
¼ lb cooked ground meat (seasoned how you like) or sausage….I have even used the already cooked chicken sausage from Trader Joes, even easier!
1 red pepper, finely chopped
Salt and paper to taste
-Preheat oven to 350. Grease 6 muffin tins, or even easier, use the paper baking cups. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add the meat, red pepper and seasoning. Spoon into muffin tins. Bake 18-20 min or until a knife stuck into the muffin comes out clean.

DESSERT RECIPE:
And here’s a yummy idea when you’re craving something sweet:
-Take 1 cup of coconut oil and place in the food processor for a second or two. Add 1 cup almond butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut and a pinch of salt. Blend all together. You can add 3-5 Tbsp of cocoa powder if you are craving something chocolaty. This is great to eat a spoonful at a time, or on Paleo pancakes.

It’s going to be a great month!!

Also check out check out another Paleo Food List on what items should be used and what should not: PALEO FOOD LIST

Christie

As I walked into open gym tonight I could feel everyone’s eyes shoot bullets at me, like I had a target on my head.  There were a whole bunch of pissed off people working out tonight.

I heard a lot of stories and took a lot of questions on how people were feeling and some of the mental and physical changes that people were experiencing.  Some of them were pretty funny.  The basic question for most was quiet simple, “Is this normal?”.

 Yes, this is normal. 

When I am trying to introduce people to a Paleo diet, I try not to mention that you will feel like SH@# for the first few weeks.  So, I am telling you now.

 You have the Paleo Flu.

Symptoms include but are not limited to:

• Fatigue
• Sugar Cravings
• Decrease in Performance
• Nausea
• Irritability
• Muscle Soreness  
• Brain Fog
• Constipation or Lack there of
• Sluggishness
• Headaches

I know you feel like crap now but you will soon experience a sense of well being you have never felt before.  You will wake up ready to go and your performance at the gym will increase every time you step foot into it.

There is a lot of bio chemistry going on in your body right now.  Your body is so used to using the ready available glucose from the abundance of carbs you have been eating and using them for energy.  Without those carbs your body now has to convert fat and protein into glucose to use for energy, which is a bit of a process.  Until your body can do this efficiently and it becomes the norm for producing energy, you will have these symptoms.

You may feel this way for two to three weeks or you may not feel this at all (consider yourself the luckiest person at the gym).  Just trust me and rest assured that what your body is feeling is normal and you will not feel like this for the rest of the challenge. 

A lot of people are still nervous about eating fat.  The funny thing is, that is exactly what your body needs.  Increasing your “good” fat intake right now might just make you feel better. Try it!

Stick with it.  Imagine yourself scaling a very steep cliff.  You are pushing yourself to make it to the top.  You may be out of breath, tired and in pain but at the top of the cliff is the most beautiful scenery you have ever seen.  Don’t miss out on the sight, keep pushing and get to the top.  I will be right behind you helping you every step of the way.  

I hope to see all your smiling faces at the gym in the morning.

Here is a peek at what we had for dinner tonight.  We ate a steak with this delicious salad.

Sumi Salad

1 small Napa Cabbage  (or ½ large)

8 scallions – chopped

8 oz. slivered almonds

4 tablespoons sesame seeds

2/3 cups toasted sesame oil

2 to 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

Sea salt and garlic powder to taste

 Shred the Napa Cabbage very thin and place in a salad bowl with the chopped scallions.  Toast the slivered almonds and sesame seeds in a pan on the stove with about 1/3 cup of the toasted sesame oil.  After the almonds and sesame seeds are toasted put mix in with the cabbage and scallions.  Dress the salad with the rest of the toasted sesame oil and apple cider vinegar.  Toss the salad and serve.  Very tasty!

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Change Your Habits and Change Your Life – 2012 Nutrition Challenge

This challenge is guaranteed to provide results.  It was developed to guide you to new habits that will change your life.  This is an individual challenge because it is up to you to make the change in your lifestyle.  It is up to you to challenge yourself to make these changes.  We have offered a grand first prize because we know this will be difficult, but we know it can be done and when it is done right you will get results.

Nutrition:  You will receive 1 point for each day you eat within the parameters of the approved foods list.  You will lose 1 point for EACH cheat meal, do not eat cheat meals.  The first 28 days is strict without a cheat window.  The last 28 days you may have 1 – 4hour cheat window per week.

2012 Nutrition Challenge approved foods list.

Workouts:  You will receive 1 point for each workout during the week.  You must complete at least three workouts in the box to receive these points.  You can earn a maximum of 5 points during the week for your workouts.  The other two workouts can be done outside the box for example a run or yoga class will count as a workout.

Rest and Recovery:  You will receive 2 points for taking a rest day during the week.  We think rest days are that important they deserve 2 points.    

Journal:  You must keep track of all your meals, workouts and rest days in the journals provided.  A journal must be turned in no later than Tuesday of the following week at 8pm.  You will lose a point off of your grand total at the end of the challenge for late journals.

Challenge_Log2012

Points Summary:  You can earn a maximum of 14 points per week.

• 7 points for nutrition
• 5 points for workouts
• 2 points for a rest day

Before and After Pictures:  You must take a before picture (men without shirts and women with sports bra) on the first day of the challenge and an after picture on the last day of the challenge.  You can submit both pictures along with a testimonial at the end of the challenge.  You must turn these three things in to win.  We will use these pictures and testimonial to choose the winner in case of a tie.

Entry Fee:  You must turn in your $25 entry fee by the first week of the challenge. 

Nutrition seems to be the last thing on all our minds when it comes to the holiday season.  We are so close, just two weeks to the end of this crazy time.  I have read so many blogs lately about how to handle the holiday season, “10 steps to staying on track during the holidays” or “Keep your eyes on the prize, stay healthy for the holidays”.

 First let me say, ten steps are way too many for me to take right now.  Don’t get me wrong, I will keep my eye on the prize, but I will let up on the reins a bit.  There are only two things to think about here, exercise and eating.  It is that simple and  I have made a simple pact with myself.

• Exercise – I will keep my training up by making it to the gym during the next two weeks.  If I can’t make it to the gym, I will do a travel workout or something I can do at home.  I did the deck of cards workout the other day with my kids and they really kept me going (great set of little trainers on my hands).  Just because my nutrition is not on point right now, does not mean I will wait until January to pick everything back up.

•  Eating – I do eat a Paleo/Primal lifestyle and on occasion I may stray a bit.  It really has become a way of life for me.  I also know that salty, sweet or cheesy things taste delicious!  There is a reason why people can’t say no.  I find the more I do deny myself the taste of  these ”treats” on certain occasions, the more I will over eat them and become a whole different person (almost wild animal like, maybe out for the kill).  I plan on…having a plan.  Easy enough, right?  When I have parties to go to, or I am going to someones house for dinner and there will be less than Paleo food there, I plan on allowing myself a bit of indulgence.  I will not go “wild animal” like but allow myself the taste and also the repercussions from that food choice.    

 Just MAINTAIN, that is all I really need to do right now.

Because why, you ask????

 A nutrition challenge is right around the corner for me to make huge gains, that is why.

 Yes, I said it!  We are going to have a nutrition challenge starting January 2, 2012.

 Challenge: 1. a demanding or stimulating situation / 2. a call to engage in a contest

You have two weeks to MAINTAIN your exercise and eating habits and then you can take part in a nutrition challenge that will change your life.  Here is a short break down of the rules.

Change Your Habits and Change Your Life

56 days to a New Life

CroS3fit 2012 Nutrition Challenge

January 2, 2012 through February 26, 2012

Nutrition

• Clean Start – first 28 days strict Paleo – no questions
• You will eat REAL FOOD
• You will not eat SUGAR, GRAINS, LEGUMES, DAIRY,  PROCESSED FOOD or ALCOHOL
• Half Way – last 28 days you may have 1 – 4hour cheat window a week.
• A detailed list of rules will be available on next week’s blog.  This will contain an approved foods list.

Exercise/Rest

• You must workout at CrosS3fit at least 3 times per week
• You must take a least 1 rest day per week
• A point scale will be in the list of rules on next week’s blog.

Journaling

• You must journal all food, exercise and rest.
• You must turn that journal in every Monday.
• A journal will be provided in the list of rules on next week’s blog.

 Before and After Pictures/Success Story

• You must take before pictures.
• You must take after pictures.
• You must complete a success story and turn all three in at the end of the challenge.
• This will determine the winner in the case of a tie.

Rules

• $25 buy in fee
• Completion of set nutrition, exercise and rest goals.
• Completion of before and after pictures along with a written success story.
• Winner takes all!
• Grand Prize – A free membership for the remainder of 2012.

Join Today

 Change your Life!

It took a lot for me to write my last post, it was tough stuff to write. I wrote what I truly believe contrary to mainstream beliefs and made some people mad. 

I also recieved tons of support.   So I will give it another go, because I can not believe what is going on in our food industry and how little people know.  I want to talk about it.    I know most of you who read this blog (disclaimer: my personal views and opinions written in an online journal) believe and promote my nutritional views as well.

It is funny for me to think of myself in some sort of cult or crazy conspiracy group for my nutritional views.  If eating REAL FOOD, that makes me feel and look better, puts me in one then I am happy to be there with all of you crazies.  This notion that putting emphasis on the quality of food is some sort of fad diet is also absurd to me.  Maybe I am crazy!

I want to eat real food and I want to know what I am eating!    

There has been some bad press on the Paleo/Primal Diet lately and it has been grouped in the subcategory of FAD DIETS.  Misconceptions on this lifestyle (the lifestyle I choose to live) has been hard to watch and read about.  Even Robb Wolf himself has been pushed to the edge http://robbwolf.com/2011/09/14/framework-matters/ (read his take on some of these said articles and appearances).

I have not been on a fad diet for two years.  I did not lose 60 (+or-) lbs. on a fad diet.  I have changed the way I feel, look and everything I know about nutrition.  My eyes have been opened and they are staying open.  Check out http://justlabelit.org/ this is a great website that could open your eyes to what is really in the food we eat and why it should be labeled.

                                                                        OK! Let’s get back to business.

 We all know I am crazy and want you to eat real food with me (so I don’t feel so alone) I am going to push it on you some more.  I get a lot of questions about pre and post workout meals, so I am going to tell you what I do.  I will stress once again I like real food and that is what I eat to prepare my body for a workout and repair my body after a workout.

A pre workout meal consists of a protein and a fat.  Just to get a hormonal response.  I do not want to eat carbs before a workout because I want to use what I have stored in my muscles and liver.  Once these stores are depleted, guess what happens!  I use fat from my fat stores for energy, I now have become a fat burning machine.

A pre workout meal could look like a hardboiled egg and some macadamia nuts or some grilled chicken (snack size) and avocado.  A hardboiled egg is my preferred protein choice and either avocado or a small amount of nuts are my preferred fat choice.  I also eat a whole hour and a half before my workout, some people can eat up to fifteen minutes before a workout but I am not one of them.  As long as I am within a 75 minute window before a workout I will receive the hormone response I am looking for.

A Post-workout meal consists of carbs and protein.  I have used all my stored carbs during my workout and need to replenish these.  I also need to start repairing my muscle tissue so protein is great at this point.  I have this meal within fifteen to thirty minutes post workout and it contains little to no fat because I do not want to slow done the uptake of the glucose from the carbs I have eaten.   Eating within this window also allows me to curb any major cravings at my next meal as well.

A post workout meal could look like grilled chicken or cooked protein from dinner the night before and a higher glycemic carb such as a sweet potato, squash or sometimes carrots.  The recipe below is one of my favorite post workout meals.  Very easy to make and eat…protein and carbs in one nice package or pie in this case. 

What do you do after a workout?  Do you choose real food?  I would love to hear some of your meals and ideas.

                                                                                 Paleo Shepard’s Pie

Filling

1 lb. grass fed beef

1 carrot

1 small onion

1 stalk celery

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

3 cloves minced garlic

1tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Mash

2 acorn squash

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the beef is a pan and set aside.  Lightly sauté the filling vegetables in a pan and then mix with the browned meat.  Mix the remaining filling ingredients with the meat mixture.  Place mixture in a casserole dish.  To make the mash, cook the acorn squash by cutting them in half and placing them cut half down in a covered dish with ¼ cup water at the bottom.  Place in the microwave for 8 to 10 minutes.  Scrape out the acorn squash form the shell and mash.  Mix in olive oil and salt and pepper.  Spread mash on top of meat mixture and bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.