Merry Christmas - Froehliche Weihnachten

Merry Christmas to everyone, eat well, drink lots of water and enjoy some Christmas cookies!

Boone Camp Burrito Especial

Here comes the recipe for the Boone Camp Burrito Especial:
Prep Time 20-30 mins


Ingredients (4-5 portions):
2 chicken breasts
1 can of black beans
1 cup of brown rice
1 can of pineapple
3-4 table spoons of BBQ Sauce (Sticky Fingers - Memphis Original is my favorite!)
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1-2 table spoons of Olive Oil
4-6 Whole Wheat/Multi-Grain Tortillas
1 table spoon of Salsa Verde


Optional Toppings:
Cheese (your choice, fancy shredded works best)
Lettuce
Sour Cream
Salsa Verde


Spices:
Sea Salt
Fresh ground Black Pepper
Chili Powder 
optional: Frontera Kitchens - New Mexico Taco Skillet Sauce


Directions:
1. Prepare the brown rice
2.Cut the chicken into small strips
3. Clean and cut the pepper and onion into small squares
4. Cook the chicken with the onions and bell peppers in the olive oil, once the chicken is somewhat cooked, add the BBQ Sauce, the pineapple juice from the can and the other spices.
5. Drain the black beans and add them along with pineapple pieces to the mix
6. Let boil for a few minutes
7. Depending on your liking, you can either add the brown rice to the mix or add it to the burritos separately.


If you are preparing the meal for a bigger, diverse group, it works well to have everybody build their own burrito. Otherwise, you can pre-heat the oven, build the burritos and add cheese and Salsa Verde on top and put them on a flat pan and finish the meal in the oven @ 375 degrees for 5-7 mins.

Portion Size

What is the ideal portion size? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Maybe you should! You can probably relatively easily answer that question by listening to your body. 
It is easy, if you feel:
- full
- bloated
- sleepy
- nauseous
you most likely ate too much or too much of the wrong food. Just because a restaurant puts a whole bunch of food on your plate doesn't mean you have to eat it all :).


I have been looking for a good image to display the portion size, but realized that it would be beneficial if you would imagine it yourself. Think about your stomach and how big it is and that it already is full of liquids and previous meals that are being digested. Now look at your plate and think how much you can actually comfortably fit in your stomach without stretching it. 


Does the burger, the fries and the soda or beer really fit?


How many slices of pizza can you fit?


How big of a steak, vegetables, and potatoes can you fit?


How big of a salad can you fit?


Does the ice-cream really melt around your dinner and will fit comfortably?


If have actually gone to the measures of eating smaller portions myself, it makes you feel much better afterward. It is ok to be done with dinner and have the feeling you could have eaten more. Your body will thank you in the next few minutes that you didn't finish your plate.

get that cheese

Since winter is hopefully on its last leg and I am trying to get into race shape for the first tri of the year, might as well be swim suit shape :), I will be cutting cheese out of my diet for a few weeks. As many of you know, cheese is one of those things that I usually recommend to reduce if one is trying to shed off a few pounds. The reasons are very simple, cheese contains a lot of fat, which as we all know is high in calories and is complex for the body to digest.


Here is a funny video of some Brits trying to get the cheese


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyQBSMeIhM


The history of the event can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hill_Cheese-Rolling_and_Wake


So here we go! No cheese for me for a few weeks. Try it, it really works :). I will have to admit that the first pizza without cheese is certainly something to get used to, but on the other hand I never had this full feeling afterward!

Eat your flavonoids!

Source: http://www.realage.com/cm/realage/images/pU/flavanoids-md.jpg

What are flavonoids? They are substances virtually found in all plants, giving them brilliant colors. They function as antioxidants in the human body and help prevent cells from being damaged. We particularly benefit from them in a sense of protecting our muscle fibers from rupturing during long lasting activities, such as a marathon or long distance triathlon events. Free radicals are increasingly produced over the course of a race, the flavonoids have a neutralizing function. They are further known to reduce inflammation.

Flavonoids can be found in all fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. The content is generally higher in the colorful parts of the fruit i.e. the skins. An exception are oranges, the white pulpy inside contains the greatest amount.

Happy Racing