Roll 'em Up!

Breakfast Rolls

A little fun breakfast treat this week - French Toast Rolls! It's okay to treat yourself once in awhile with a "kid-friendly" kinda dish. These are simple to make and you can make this gluten-free by stopping at Whisked Gluten-Free on Ellesmere and picking up their sandwich bread! It's perfect for these hand-held eats! You can also experiment with different spreads and fruit - like strawberries or try fresh local Ontario peaches that are in season right now!

French Toast Rolls

Ingredients:

1-2 Bananas, cut in half, then sliced lengthwise
8 Slices of Gluten-free Sandwich Bread, crusts off, and slightly flattened
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Almond Milk
Chocolate Almond Spread (or you can use any nut spread...yes Nutella works!)
Butter 
Cinnamon
Maple Syrup

1. In a shallow bowl, whisk your eggs and milk together.
2. Spread each slice of bread with the chocolate spread and place 1-2 slices of banana on top. Roll the slice up tightly and dip in the egg mixture.
3. In a non-stick pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and place the rolls in the pan and cook until golden brown on all sides.
4. Remove from pan and dust with cinnamon and serve immediately with maple syrup as dip!

Post-Wod "Freezies"

On The Go Packs

Beach WOD is this weekend, and there's still time to pack some post-competition WOD snack that will keep you cool in the hot sun of Wasaga Beach. These are easy to make and if you can find them, look for those small ziploc bags that are shaped like freezies or even use the 100 cal snack pack bags for this yummy treat. Use your favourite ProG recovery flavour with this - I suggest using the Belgium Chocolate as it works best with bananas!

Go-Freezies (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

4 Bananas, ripened, peeled and cut
1 Scoop Belgium Chocolate ProG Recovery
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp Coconut or Almond Milk

1. In a blender, combine all the ingredients until they are smooth.
2. Fill the ziploc bags with even portions of the mixture.
3. Freeze for at least 2 hours.
4. Grab your cooler, and pack them in and head to the beach!

Korean Comfort Bowl

Bibimbap

Want a simple one bowl meal that tastes great and all the goodness you want? Try Korean Bibimbap! If you haven't had an authentic version, try to seek out a good Korean place to give it a try. Most bibimbap uses the same ingredients, but you can make this more paleo or less - use cauliflower rice instead of regular rice for the paleo feel, but I enjoy using a sushi rice to make mine. This dish does the job in filling you up, eating your colours, and giving you great flavour to enjoy what you are eating! 

 

Bibimbap (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1lb Lean Ground Beef (You can pick up grass-fed organic ground beef from Costco!)2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 Small Piece of Ginger, peeled, finely chopped (about 1" piece will work)
1/2lb Mushrooms, sliced (Use your favourite kind)
4 Cups Spinach, washed well, stems removed (Any Asian Greens will work too)
4 Large Eggs
1 Cup Daikon Radish, cut julienne or grated
1 Cup Carrots, cut julienne or grated
Coconut Oil (Or Avocado Oil)
Tamari
Fish Sauce
Sesame Oil
Sea Salt

1. The first thing you need to do is prepare your rice, or your cauliflower rice, then go to the following steps.
2. Cook out the ground beef in a pan with coconut/avocado oil, making sure you break it up well. If the beef you are using is too fatty, drain off the excess fat. 
3. Add in the half the garlic, ginger, 1 Tbsp Tamari, and 1/2 Tsp fish sauce to the beef and cook for a further minute or two. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan, add in some coconut/avocado oil and start frying up the veggies separately. First, add in the mushrooms and stir, add in a pinch of salt and cook out until brown and set aside. Repeat again for the spinach, adding the oil first, toss in the remainder of the garlic then the spinach until wilted, but not too soft. This should take no time.
5. In the pan, fry the eggs so they are sunny side up and separated, each portion will get one egg.
6. Now it's time to put it together! In four bowls, place the rice in the bottom, top with ground beef, and drizzle some sesame oil on the beef. Place some mushrooms, spinach, carrots, and daikon radish on top of the beef in each bowl and finally top it off with the fried egg. Enjoy with some Sriracha sauce or Korean hot sauce if you have it!

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Chicken Goodness
Another weekend is here, and it's a special one for the awesome dad's out there. Why not try this out this weekend and see if dad (and everyone else) thinks it's a winner! This recipe is a meal in itself, but if you want to make it a side dish, just eliminate the chicken and keep the veggies to serve on the side of a nice BBQ Grilled Steak and you have another meal dad will love!

 

 

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

4 Medium-sized Sweet Potatoes (Orange or Yellow Flesh will work)
1lb Grilled Chicken Breast, shredded (Even easier - buy a cooked rotisserie chicken and use the meat from that! One less thing to cook!)
1 Cup Kale, stems removed and chopped
Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Avocado Oil
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat oven to 450F, and bake off the sweet potatoes for about 45 minutes. Check at about the 30 minute mark to see if you nee the full 45 minutes. They will be done once you can easily pierce the skin with a fork. 
2. Remove potatoes from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a bowl, combine the kale with about a tablespoon of avocado oil and a couple teaspoons of lemon juice, and season with sea salt and pepper to taste. The kale should start to soften so it is easy to handle; mix in the shredded chicken.
4. Cut the sweet potatoes in half, length-wise, and press the ends in to loosen the sweet potato. Top with the kale and chicken mixture.
5. For more flavour, you can top with your favourite BBQ sauce, or some caramelized onions - whatever your taste buds are telling you!

Ah(i) Tuna!

Sushi Grade Tuna Summer Salad

With summer here, people tend to eat lighter, but you still want to get some good protein and nutrition into you during these hot days. Try this more adventurous raw salad sometime. When you are purchasing fish, especially when you are going to eat it raw, make sure you go to a reputable fishmonger and ensure it is sushi grade. This way, you know the correct steps were taken to eat this fish raw.

 

Tuna & Mango Salad (makes about 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 Avocado, seeded and cut into chunks
2 Mangoes, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1lb Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna, cut into chunks
1 Tsp Black Sesame Seeds, or Toasted White Sesame Seeds
1 Green Onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Tamari
4 Tsp Sesame Oil
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Sriracha Sauce (optional)

1. When cutting your avocado, mango, and tuna, make sure they are all cut into similar bite size chunks.
2. In a bowl, combine the avocado, mango, tuna, Tamari, sesame oil, and season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
3. Divide the salad into 4 bowls, and garnish with the sesame seeds and green onions. Top with Sriracha sauce if you want to spice things up!

Cheat Day Coconut Ice Cream!

Paleo-friendly Ice Cream

Even though this is a "healthier" version of that creamy, cool summer treat ice cream, save this one for a cheat day, or after a long, grueling summer time wod!

Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 Can of Coconut Milk, Full Fat (check the ingredients that it is just coconut milk and there's not "other" ingredients in it!)
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until it becomes creamy and smooth in texture.
2. Taste the mixture, and add more maple syrup or cocoa powder, whatever your preference is.
3. Place in a freezer-friendly container with a lid and freeze for at least 4 hours or until it is firm. If it ends up getting to hard, just remove it from the freezer for about 10 minutes before you dig in and enjoy!

Cha-Cha-Cha-Chia!

The Magic of Chia

Chia seeds are pretty cool how they start off so small and then expand like crazy! They are also a great addition to any food or drink that you want to nutritionally enhance! Try out these simple and easy to make chia seed recipes whether it is a WOD day or a rest day - they are good for you! 

Coconut-Chia Seed Beverage

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
250 mL (1 Cup) Coconut Water,chilled
50 mL (or about 2 Tbsp) Fresh Pineapple Juice, chilled

1. Take all of the ingredients and put it into a blender, blend to combine. Then allow to sit for about 12-15 minutes until the seeds have expanded. If you want to have a little sweetness, you can drizzle a bit of maple syrup to this awesome drink!
2. If you are at the Box, bring in the ingredients in your shaker bottle (chia seeds left separate); when you are done your wod, add the seeds, give it a shake, let it rest while you cash out and you have a refreshing post-wod beverage waiting for you full of electrolytes and omega 3's!
   

Chia Breakfast Pudding
Ingredients: 
1/2 Cup Chia Seeds
2 Cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup or Raw Honey (Your preference!)
A splash of Pure Vanilla Extract

1. In a large bowl, combine the ingredients together; it should start to get thick as you continue to mix everything.
2. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and place in the fridge for at minimum an hour to chill.
3. When you are ready to dig in, remove from the fridge and give it a stir. If it is too thick, you can add a bit more almond milk to help thin it out. 
4. Place a serving into a bowl, top it with fresh berries, or your favourite fruit and some chopped nuts and you are good to go.
5. Best thing about this recipe is, you can make a large batch, portion it and you are ready start your whole week off right!