Alternative to McDonald's Chicken Nuggets (A Top Secret Recipe)

Ok guys, I'll be nice and share with you my top secret chicken nugget recipe in hopes that you will cook it for your kiddos instead of feeding them something less healthy (like McDonald's).
I tend to be really messy in the kitchen. I don't follow directions or recipes, I just throw things together and hope it tastes good. One day I accidentally made some chicken nuggets that actually taste pretty darn good! I have to say that after I ate them I felt like I just had a "treat meal".
I can't give you amounts of anything since, like I said, this was a total accident and I didn't know what I was doing when I did it, but here is the "recipe".

Food Heals.

If you have not yet seen the above video, please take the time to watch. This woman cured herself from MS via diet. If that doesn't give you goose bumps and get you excited about eating right, I don't know what will!
I believe emphatically that food has the ability to either make us sick or make us thrive. Actually, it's not belief, it's fact. The reason Atlas CrossFit has a blog about nutrition is because it is a very big piece of the puzzle that many of us do not even realize, or , more likely, choose to ignore.
Still not reaching your performance or body composition goals? The answer is nutrition. Recall the CrossFit pyramid of health, the very base of the pyramid is nutrition. We eat roughly 3 times a day, 7 days a week - that's a lot of opportunity to either add to, or subtract from your health! Ask yourself if there is something from your diet you are missing, perhaps more green leafy vegetables? Quality sources of protein? Actually ask yourself at each meal; "Will my body view this as a poison?", "Will this help me to thrive, or make me sick?"

7 Ways to Eat Guacamole (Without a Torilla Chip)

Who doesn't love guacamole? This post is dedicated entirely to the beloved green, creamy dip.
Last weekend I decided to make a GIANT bowl of the stuff in hopes that it would stay with me throughout the week. Nope. It hardly lasted 24 hours... The big question though was how to eat it without the not-so-good for you tortilla chip. Avocados are actually a very good source of healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. When prepared and eaten in absence of other ingredients that negatively impact our health, (i.e. corn, sugar),  this can be considered a perfectly healthty, paleo-approved food! Below you will find 7 ways to eat guac without the traditional tortilla chip. Why 7? Because it's my lucky number of course!

7-Ways to Eat Guacamole Without a Tortilla Chip:

1. (My preferred method) Endive. Endive is sort of like lettuce, but very crunchy and perfectly shaped for scooping. look for it next time at the grocery store and try it!

2. Put it on top of your scrambled eggs

3. Mix it with tuna or shredded chicken

4. Use it a condiment for your grass-fed burger (no bun!)

5. Put it in your lettuce-leaf beef or fish tacos

6. Use any and all vegetables for scooping: jicima, sarrot chips, snap peas...

7. Wrap it up in a clean lunch meat



Classic Guacamole Recipe:

Guac is pretty easy to make and most people already have an established favorite recipe, but for those of you who have never made it on your own I will provide you with my very own classic guacamole recipe. There are other fun ways to spice it up, like with BBQ or bacon, but I usually prefer it in it's traditional form.

Ingredients:
Cilantro
1 Medium yellow onion
2-3 red tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic
3-4 avocados
Salt and pepper
1 lemon

Method:
1. Slice all avocados in half and remove seeds, then scoop out avocado meat into large mixing bowl.
2. Use a fork to mash up the avocado meat
3. Chop onion, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic (I like a chunkier guacamole so I chop the tomatoes a bit larger than the onion, etc. Garlic should be finely chopped)
4. Mix and mash all vegetables in the bowl with the avocado meat.
5. Squeeze fresh lemon and mix (this is a natural preservative)
6. Add salt and pepper to taste

Italian Stuffed Roasted Red Pepper

One of the hardest things about trying to improve your diet is all the cooking you have to do on your own! This is where cooking in bulk and making meals that can be turned into other meals comes in very handy. Below you will find the recipe for Italian Stuffed Roasted Red Peppers.

Ingredients for stuffing  :
Eggplant
Red Pepper
Roasted tomatoes in olive oil
Red Onion
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
Rosemary
Garlic Cloves
Fresh Basil
Coconut oil (for sauteing)
Salt and Pepper to taste

*I apologize that there are no amounts here, I usually eyeball it!

Method:
1. Brown Pork and Beef in skillet and set to side (you may use all pork or all beef - this is just what I had)
2. Chop veggies in about 1/2 inch cubes: eggplant, red onion, roasted tomatoes
3. Finely chop fresh garlic and basil
4. Saute all veggies and spices in coconut oil about 5 minutes, add meat, mix well
5. Cut tops off of bell peppers and discard all seeds, place on baking sheet to be stuffed
5. Stuff Red bell peppers with meat mixture and put in the oven @ 375 for about 20-25 minutes until peppers reach desired softness


Breakfast: Since I can't get enough of the Italian-seasoned mixture that was used to stuff the peppers I decided to incorporate it into breakfast. This consisted of Italian blend of beef, pork and vegetables with spinach sauteed in coconut oil, roasted red peppers and two "folded" eggs.

Healthy Adventures

Recently I have decided to track my food (again) as a way to make sure I am on track with my goals and that my diet really is as clean as I think it is. One way of doing this is a food log. I am using a log to record my sleep, meals, vitamins/fish oil, workouts, etc. Another handy tool is my cell phone camera. Being a very visual person, I've decided to also take pictures of my meals. Lets be honest, snapping a pic with your phone is much more convenient than running to a computer to record what you ate!
I am hoping that this experiment will help some of you as well. With the CircuitFit 8-week challenge that just launched, and summer around the corner, there are lots of you out there trying to make some big changes to diet and lifestyle!

Here are a few pics from the week. More to come!

Sunday morning breakfast: Ham/Egg cups and veggies sauteed in coconut oil

Sunday afternoon picnic! This was the perfect way to end a 3+ hour hike in the state park and honestly can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday: Sun, leisurely exercise and clean eating!

A 10-minute stop at Jewel and dinner is ready :)

Lunch: Grass-fed burger from Burger Bar with fried egg and avocado, side salad. I used spicy brown mustard for a dressing.

 

Lunch: 2 Salmon Patty's & carrots

 

Lunch: Pasture raised honey roasted turkey breast from Whole Earth Meats, avocado, cabbage salad

Typical breakfast: two eggs, sauteed spinach in coconut oil, sauteed chicken apple sausage.