Nutrition Challenge Ends Wednesday, March 9th!

The last day of the Nutrition Challenge is Wednesday, March 9th. You can get a total of 12 points for this week (Sun. – Wed.)!

Also be sure you get your baseline workout & measurements done by Thursday, March 10th!!

Don’t forget, the wrap-up party will be Friday, March 11th @ 5pm. Winners will be announced, including most improved male and female!

Almost there guys, finish out the week strong!

Nutrition Challenge – Only 10 days left!!

Only 10 days left in the nutrition challenge…
Keep up the good work and finish out the week strong!!!

Be sure to get your baseline measurements taken and do your baseline workout sometime between March 7th-March 10th!

Don’t forget for every inch you lose you get 1 bonus point, and for every second you do better on baseline workout, you will also get 1 bonus point (-1 point for every second worse)!

It is your responsibility to total your  bonus points + your points for the week of the 7th-10th and send them in by Thursday night (March 10th).

Recipe:

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken tenders
• 1/4 cup coconut oil or grass fed butter, melted
• 1/4 cup Franks Red Hot
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Process:

1. Preheat oven to bake at 400.
2. Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. Place chicken in a gallon Ziploc bag and pour sauce over chicken.
4. Seal bag and toss chicken in buffalo sauce.
5. Place chicken tenders on a broiler pan and bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Dill Dip
Ingredients:

• 1 cup full fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

Process:

1. Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Serve.

Paleo Chocolate Cake

Paleo Chocolate Cake Recipe

www.primal-palate.com

Icing Ingredients:

• 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Made by Enjoy Life)
• 1/2 cup macadamia oil

Icing Process:

1. On very low heat melt chocolate chips and mix with macadamia oil.
2. Cool in freezer about 15 min.
3. Blend with a hand mixer until fluffy.

Cake Ingredients:

• 10 eggs
• 1 cup organic raw honey
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking soda

Cake Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In small bowl combine coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a large bowl blend with a hand mixer combine eggs, coconut oil, melted honey, and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and continue to blend.
5. Grease two 9″ round baking pans (we used coconut oil cooking spray).
6. Pour batter into (2) 9″ round baking pans. Divide evenly.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cake Assembly:

1. Let cakes cool and remove from baking pans.
2. Spread frosting on top of first layer.
3. Lay second cake on top (frosted area).
4. Frost top of entire cake, working from top down to the sides.
5. Sprinkle cake with shredded unsweetened coconut.
6. Sprinkle sides with left over chocolate chips.

**Be sure to melt coconut oil!

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Energy Bar Recipe

Primal/Paleo Energy Bar

The following is the new and improved official Mark’s Daily Apple Primal Energy Bar:

Primal Energy Bar Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup almond butter (although cashew, hazelnut, walnut and even pumpkin butters will work well too!)
1/4 cup coconut oil (check your local health food store)

1/4 cup almond meal (simply pulse approximately 1/4 cup of almonds until it creates a coarse flour)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of raw honey (although, this is really kind of optional because the egg will help hold the mixture together)
1/2 cup unsweetened whey protein powder (or 60g)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries or blueberries
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top

Method:

1. On a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown. In order for them to cook evenly, you need to shake up the tray at least once during cooking…trust us!
2. Once toasted, pour mixture into a food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped and the mixture becomes coarsely ground (sort of the consistency of bread crumbs).
3. In a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter (about 30 seconds). Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.
4. Add vanilla extract, honey and sea salt. Mix thoroughly.
5. Fold in nut mixture, almond meal and protein powder until mixed thoroughly.
6. Add whole egg and mix thoroughly.
7. Fold in blueberries/cranberries.
8. Press mixture into an 8 by 8 loaf pan (a modification that we made to keep everything crisper and help the bars to hold together).
9. Cook in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, sprinkle a ¼ cup of shredded coconut on top and place under broiler until top begins to brown.
11. Let cool for 10-15 minutes. Cut into 12 pieces/bars.
12. Enjoy or stack on wax paper/parchment and store in an airtight container.

Note: You can also add dark chocolate chips instead of the cranberries/blueberries (available at Whole Foods or health food store). If you add the chips while the mixing bowl is warm (from the coconut oil/almond butter mixture), they will melt into the mixture and you will have yourself a chocolate primal bar. Alternatively, you can just let the mix cool, then add the chips, then refrigerate the pan to get chocolate chip primal bars. The bars stick together pretty well without being cooked.

Almond Butter Blondies

This is a delicious dessert recipe to try!!! (eat in moderation)

Almond Butter Blondies

Need more breakfast ideas?

Spinach Omelette

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped
3 cups spinach, chopped
3 whole eggs, beaten
1 tomato, sliced

Instructions

In a frying pan, fry the onion until brown. Place in a bowl with beaten eggs and spinach.

With the frying pan on medium heat, line with baking paper, add the mixture and cover with lid. Leave for 5-7 minutes or until the bottom of the omelette is cooked; this can be seen by lifting up the baking paper and seeing if the eggs have started to brown. At this stage, flip the omelette over, placing the tomato slices at the bottom of the pan.

Leave to cook for around 3-4 minutes before serving.

Primal Pancakes

If there’s one thing almost every neo-Primalist misses, it’s a heaping stack of pancakes on a cold winter weekend morning. This recipe will sate those deep-seated cravings and make you forget about your extended tryst with Mrs. Buttersworth (as sweet and sinful as it may have been).

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix it all together until a batter forms. Pour the batter onto a buttered or greased skillet. Cook over medium heat until both sides are golden brown. Drizzle raw honey or just eat it plain. For kicks, add some blueberries or bananas to the batter.

One word of caution on this recipe: I would suggest keeping the size of these almond pancakes on the small side. Larger pancakes have a tough time sticking together.

FitDay breaks the whole batch down thusly (without any honey or added berries);
Calories:   798
Fat:   65.4 g
Carbs:   20.1 g (11.2 g fiber)
Protein:   42.1 g

Not bad!

Paleo Spagetti

Paleo Spaghetti

This is my favorite recipe for spaghetti. I usually serve the sauce over spaghetti squash, but I think it’s also really good on top of steamed broccoli. Leftover sauce is yummy on or in eggs.

For a nutritional boost, lately I’ve been adding in 1/4 lb ground heart to any recipe that calls for 1 lb ground beef. Heart is just muscle meat, so it doesn’t change the taste or texture at all. It’s a great way to sneak in some organ meats.

ingredients for sauce:
1 lb ground beef
1/4 lb ground heart (optional)
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 14 oz can diced or crushed fire roasted tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of dried rosemary, optional
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes
1 tsp sea salt

Heat the olive oil and brown the ground beef, onions, and garlic over medium heat. Add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a bubble, partially cover and simmer on low heat for 35 minutes.

ingredients for “noodles”:
1 medium spaghetti squash

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Put in a microwave safe container, cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes in the microwave. Leave covered for 10 minutes. Remove squash and string with a fork.

If you don’t want to use the microwave (this is one of the few things I actually microwave because it’s so much easier than the alternative), I would recommend steaming over roasting for this particular dish.

Nutrition Challenge – The Start of Week Three…

Great Job everyone for making it through the first 2 weeks… Keep up the good work!

Recipe:

Bacon-Wrapped Mini Salmon Cakes With Asparagus

A delicious meld of salmon cakes (made with pine nuts as a binder) and crunchy asparagus, the only thing that could make this invention better is wrapping it in bacon, of course!

Ingredients

• 10 oz salmon
• coconut/olive oil
• pat of butter
• 1 tbsp finely diced onion
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 2/3 c. pine nuts
• 1 tbsp mayo
• 1 tsp Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp old bay seasoning
• 1 tbsp fresh chives
• 1 egg white
• bunch fresh asparagus
• thick cut bacon

Directions

1. In a pan, cook the salmon with the coconut oil (you can use olive oil), breaking apart as you cook.
2. When this is finished stick in a bowl in the fridge to cool down.
3. Either in a blender or a food processor, blend the pine nuts until they look like this. Thee nuts are very moist and work great as a binder and give the cake a nutty taste
4. In another pan, melt butter and add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
5. Remove salmon from fridge and add cooked onions/garlic, egg white, pine nuts, mayo cheese, mustard, old bay, and chives (basically everything except the bacon and asparagus).
6. Mix well and put back in fridge to chill for at least an hour. This helps make the mixture firmer and easier to work with.
7. Lay out the strips of bacon lengthwise and place a few pieces of asparagus perpendicular to the bacon.
8. Put a good sized mini cake amount of the salmon mixture, roll up tightly, and hold with a toothpick.
9. I put these right on foil but because of the bacon grease, the bottom of the bacon never got crispy so I recommend you put these on a raised tray with foil lined underneath to catch drippage.
10. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, checking often.
11. Serve as a fancy schmancy appetizer at your next holiday party!

Sweets/Desserts

For those of you struggling with a sweet tooth and don’t know what to eat, here are a couple Paleo desserts that taste delicious!

Recipe:

Paleo Cookies

1 1/4 cup Almond Flour/Meal
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (optional)
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon (essential!)
1 large Egg
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup chopped Pecans

Stir ALL ingredients together until smooth.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto a really well buttered/greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from eachother. They really like to stick to the pan, so use parchment paper if you have it. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until desired doneness. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

These are soft, fluffy, and chewy around the edges. Also great with chocolate chips!

Nutrition Info
Calories 119
Fat 8.3 g
Cholesterol 24 mg
Sodium 94 mg
Total Carbohydrate 10 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 8 g
Protein 3 g

I made mine with unsweetened dark cacao chocolate chips instead of pecans and they turned out great…Enjoy!

Recipe:

Paleo Brownies

Ingrediants:
6 tbsp oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup ground almonds or pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup cocoa or carob powder
1/4 cup arrowroot flour

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes

Crusted Coconut Chicken Salad

This recipe is delicious…a great lunch idea!

Coconut Encrusted Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
½ cup almond flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
3 tbsp of virgin coconut oil
1 bag/8 cups of mixed salad greens or spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice

Method:
Trim any remaining skin or white parts from the chicken breasts. (Note: I usually love the skin on chicken. In fact I find boneless skinless chicken breast pretty boring unless it is dressed up like I’ve done here.) Rinse under cool water and pat dry using a clean kitchen towel or parchment. On a chopping board, cut the chicken into strips somewhere between ½ an inch and an inch thick. Set aside. In a shallow dish, combine coconut flakes, almond flour and salt and pepper. In a bowl, crack eggs and beat lightly. Dip the chicken strips first in the egg and then roll in the coconut/almond flour mixture. Heat the coconut oil in the pan over medium-high heat and sauté the chicken strips until the exterior turns a golden brown and the inside is no longer pink. Remove from heat and place atop a bed of mixed greens. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Nutrition Analysis:
Calories: 600 per serving
Fat: 38.5 grams (55% calories from fat)
Carbs: 7.9 grams (5% calories from carbs)
Protein: 57.5 grams (40% calories from protein)

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