5 Days – 5 Meals: Turkey & Egg Cheese Burger

There’s no wrong way to make these. The variations are endless but this is by far one of tastiest ways to eat turkey burgers and eggs.

Difficulty: Simple
Cooking time: 10 mins
Serves: 1

Nutritional info (based on 1 person)
Calories: 508
Carbs: 34
Fats: 16
Protein: 52

Ingredients
1 BK Flamer
1 Wholemeal bun
1 Slice of Lighter Cheese
1 Egg
50g O’Egg whites
15g Lighter than light mayonnaise
5g Dijon Mustard
Sliced red onion
Sliced pickle

Method
1. Preheat a pans over a medium heat.

2. In a bowl crack open the egg and measure the egg whites and whisk with a fork.

3. Cook the turkey burger in a pan with spray oil or on a George Foreman grill.

4. Cook the eggs over a medium heat – omelette style or scrambled.

5. Toast the buns.

6. Put it altogether

5 Days – 5 Meals: Spicebox

Portion sizes to tailored for all needs – Cut v Bulk, Male v Female, Low carb v High carb

Difficulty: easy
Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

Nutritional info (based on 1 person)
Small Large
Calories: 466 784
Carbs: 28 60
Fats: 7 25
Protein: 70 72

Ingredients
1 Spice Box
100g Carrots
2 Chicken breasts (165g each)
150g strong roots (large portion only)

10ml sesame or coconut oil (large portion only)
85g Mayflower curry powder
1 onion
1 pepper
125g mushrooms
1 pack of tender-stem broccoli

Method
1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 or 190 degrees Celsius and boil the kettle.
-if having additional strong roots, put them into the oven asap!

2. Slice the carrots using a mandolin and then finely slice into strips.

3. Chop up the vegetables except for the broccoli, put that to one side for now.

4. When the kettle is boiled, place the broccoli into a colander in the sink and pour over the boiling water. This just takes the bite of them before going into the oven.

5. In a large tray, empty the contents of the spice box and add in all of the vegetables and the two chicken fillets. Lightly season they tray with salt & pepper and place in the oven uncovered for approx. 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

6. In a small pot, measure out the curry sauce as explained on the box. 85g mixed with 270ml of water and gently simmer until it thickens.

7. When all is cooked, divide the tray between 2 plates and pour over the curry sauce too.

8. Don’t forget the extra fries, and the sesame oil can be drizzled over the top now too.

5 Days – 5 Meals: Chilli Beef with Nachos

Chilli Beef with Nachos
Won’t be long before days get shorter and nights become colder. Chilli beefs with an extra kick is sure to keep you warm inside. Low carb and high in protein. The chilli make enough for 2 people. Condiments such as the ceese and sour cream be tailored to suit each person’s needs.

Difficulty: Novice Chef

Cooking time: 40 mins

Serves: 2

Nutritional info (based on 1 person)
Calories: 575
Carbs: 16
Fats:24
Protein: 67

Ingredients

500g Premium Beef Mince
100g tomato puree
1 tbsp of Chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, Cajun gymchef spice
4tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ punnet cherry tomatoes
½ bulb of garlic
1 chilli
1 onion
1 lime
3 peppers
125g mushrooms
2 mini wraps (32g each)
40g mozzarella cheese (each)
40g sour cream (each)
40 hot salsa
Jalapeños

Method

1. Preheat a large pot over a medium heat

2. Roughly chop the vegetables into bite sized chunks and season the meat with salt and pepper.

3. Turn up the heat of the pot and when it starts to smoke add in the mince and all of the vegetables and allow them to cook for 5 mins.

4. Turn the heat back down to medium, add in all of the spices and give it a good mix until well combined.

5. Add the tomato puree and mix well again.

6. Add 250ml of water and the balsamic vinegar. This should loosen the mixture up if it becomes to stodgy.

7. Turn the heat down low, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and let simmer for 30 mins until all of the vegetables have softened.

8. Season the wraps with the same spices again and bake on a tray in the oven for 5 minutes until they begin to brown. Then take them out and cut in half, then in half again and so on until they resemble Nachos.

9. At the very end take it off of the heat and squeeze in the lime juice.

10. Divide into two bowls and top it off with the sour cream, cheese, salsa and jalapeños.

5 Days – 5 Meals: Fans Choice Meatzza & Sweet Potatoes

Difficulty: easy

Cooking time: 20 – 30 mins

Serves: 2

Nutritional info (based on 1 person)

Calories: 505

Carbs:39

Fats: 11

Protein: 47

Ingredients

2 Fans Choice Meatzza’s

150g Strong Roots

1 Red or White onion

2 Peppers

125g mushrooms

2 tbsp Cajun gymchef spice

Method

1. Pre heat the oven on the highest gas mark.
2. Measure the sweet potatoes onto a tray and place them on the top shelf in the oven straight away.
3. Slice up all of the veg into chunky bite sized pieces and place them onto another try with the gymchef seasoning.
4. Move the sweet potatoes down and put the veg tray into the oven along with the meazta.
5. Turn the oven down to 5 or 190 degrees Celsius and cook for 20 – 30 minutes

5 Days – 5 Meals: Spicy Eggs, Turkey Burger & Tortillas

5 brand new recipes each day for the next 5 days. The beauty with these recipes is that the nutritional value can be adjusted accordingly to suit your requirements.

Super simple to make and it cooks in no time too. The real beauty of this dish and many of the others is that the ingredients can be adjusted however you want them to suit your needs. There are days where more protein and less carbs is required so more egg whites are added and only 1 wrap. The same can be done with the fats. If more or less is required, it is simply a matter of adjusting the amount of oil or cheese.

Difficulty: easy

Cooking time: 10 mins

Serves: 1

Nutritional info (based on 1 person)

Calories: 649

Carbs: 41

Fats: 28

Protein: 56

Ingredients

1 BK Flamer

1 Egg

50g O’Egg Whites

5g extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

40g grated mozzarella cheese

40g light sour cream

40g hot salsa

2 mini wraps

1 tbsp Cajun gymchef spice.

1 spring onion – chopped

  

Method

1. Preheat a small pan on a medium heat.
2. In a bowl, crack in the egg and measure out the egg whites and whisk with a fork.
3. In a dry pan cook the burger on each side for 2 – 3 minutes then roughly break it up in the pan.
4. Add the oil, the spring onions and the beaten eggs. Sprinkle the Gymchef. Allow to cook over a low heat mixing it with a spoon/spatula until the eggs scramble.
5. Toast the wraps. Then fill with the eggs and top with cheese, sour cream and salsa.

Perfect Sweet Potato Fries

Right so let me just say that what constitutes as perfectly cooked sweet potato fries or any potato fries for that matter entirely depends on each person individual preferences. Some prefer crisp and crunchy while others prefer soft and smushy. Personally I like both as long as they taste good. But put a gun to my head and make me choose then it’s without a doubt crispy for me.

Methods of cooking will determine the final outcome of flavour and texture. Deep fried in oil will always guarantee crispy delicious golden fries but that about all you will get. Plus the nutrional value becomes irrelevant as soon as anything is cooked in large amounts of boiling hot grease.

If you want to achieve really tasty and delicious fries that are also beneficiary to your health then I suggest roasting is the best way to go. By roasting the fries you can load up on loads of extra flavour.

Traditionally, roasting anything invloves cooking food in an oven using fat (usually in the form of oil) and dry heat to render and soften meat or vegetables. The combination of fat and heat reduces moisture and causes the natural sugars in the food to caramelize and turn dark giving it a really rich intense and sweet flavour. When roasting, food is almost left uncovered and the food is cooked from the outside in.

Baking on the other hand is similar to roasting in terms of the dry heat method. However, fat is not used on the food and are often cooked “dry” covered with foil in order to retain the moisture.

Baking with fat – think of cakes and pastries. Fat is added into the mixture along with other ingredients. This time the dry heat and fat react in a way that forces the mixture to rise rather than carmelize. Food is covered and cooked from the inside out.

Sweet Potato Fries

These are so simple and the method below will without any doubt will create perfect fries each time. Many people I have spoken with who have tried to make sweet potatoefries in the oven always have the same complaint – that the fries don’t go crispy enough and that they always end up being to soft and limp.

The reason that they go soft and limp is because of too much moisture retention due to lack of heat in the oven and the airflow between them is not enough either. Essentially the potatoes are stewing in there own juices getting soggy.

First things first – for crispy fries you need to cut then up small. By small I don’t mean shoe string. Cut them up so that one large potato isn’t just 5 big wedges. Cut the potato in half and then half again and then in half again until a finger in length and size.

Quantities

For every 250g of fries I use 10g of coconut oil. I find this ratio works really well.

Spices

Paprika, Tumeric, Cayenne, Sea Salt & Pepper and sometimes Cinnamon.

Herbs

Garlic, Thyme, Rosemary

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Put all of the veg and spices into z bowl or large tray. Melt the oil, pour over and give a good mix. Didn’t over fill the tray. Make sure there’s enough space for adequate air flow. Space them out, use two trays is necessary and rotate them in ghe oven from top to bottom every 30 mins or so.

Place in the oven and cook for 45-60 mins minimum. After that it’s a matter of personal preference.

Final word

With everything in the kitchen practice makes perfect. Learn from previous mistakes and then try again next time. Everything can be tailored and adjusted to suit the situation. Quality of food, the type of oven – gas or electric can have a huge impact when attempting a recipe. Recipes are only guidelines so try to figure out how you can do it better next time before giving up after the first time.

Shane

Training & Nutrition: finding a way that works

FACT: the weight I gained did not happen overnight. It slowly built up overtime. Therefore, loosing it in a sustainable and measurable way was the only way I could loose it IF I wanted to keep it off.

Suddenly overhauling a routine overnight isn’t really going to last more than a month. Eventually the old habits begin to creep in again as “change” becomes to overwhelming and will power becomes diminished. In my case I mentioned in the previous post about how busy the start of the year was going to be with an intership on top of an already busy workload.

The devil in the detail

How can I make small (positive) changes and adjustments overtime so that they become habits? The answer lies within the question. By making small changes one step at a time!! In my mind I could see the end result – how I wanted to feel, how I wanted to look and who I wanted to be. The issue was really figuring out the best possible way of getting from point A to point B that actually worked. For two years I have gone through this process of visualisation, starting a journey, loosing focus and then falling off just as I get some headway. I wasn’t fully committed and the reason for not being fully committed was because I was making to many changes at the same time. Overtime the whole thing just become too much to handle.

This time it’s going to be different

Because this time I knew that the mistakes I made in the past will serve as a lesson for the future. To cut the weight I knew that fundamentally I needed to eat less junk and move more. This is the starting point or laying the foundation so to speak. Before the diets, counting macros, training splits, finding a coach and everything else in between. The main focus for the time being is cutting out junk food and start eating healthier. Sounds simple right? And it can be, although “change” is something that we all want to resist because it takes many of us out of our comfort zones. The devil you know and all of that.

How did I eat healthier? I began by buying fresh food in abundance. Meats, fish, eggs, fruit and vegtables. Cooked the majority of my meals using fresh ingredients and aim to eat 3 sold meals a day. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner with a snack in between if needed. This, combined with 4 days at the gym lifting weights and cardio was more than enough to get the ball rolling and see how I would respond. If anything, for the sake of 15 weeks it would give me a good opportunity to play around with food/recipes, research methods and comfortably adapt.

One of the great things about cooking meals was that it allowed me to plan the week ahead. With a fulltime internship and a part-time job I had to make the most of my time in the kitchen in order to avoid making the wrong food choices throughout the day. It worked out quite well actually. The internship was Mon – Thursday 9-5:30 and then working shifts Friday, Saturday “or” Sunday. That was the routine for the next 15 weeks so knowing in advance the weeks ahead really allowed me to plan effectively.

Small changes, one step at a time and nothing to drastic at once or else risk the whole thing crumbling down. A lot of what I was doing at the beginning was very rigid. However, it was the rigidity of the process that would allow me to add variety and then see how things evolve.

Now that I had found a way that worked all I really had to do now was show up and perform.

Training & Nutrition: a new beginning

It’s the kind of situation when you say to yourself “but if only I started sooner I’d be x by now”. As I looked at myself in the mirror those were the kind of thoughts that once consumed my mind. That was back in January of this year – a blowout in the months leading up to the New year meant that I was now a stone heavier than I was six months previous and all of it was my own doing.

To be fair I wasn’t excessively overweight by any means anyway. But my belly was beginning to grow out from my waist and clothes that once fit comfortably where starting to feel a little tight. For the first time that I can remember I was beginning to feel uncomfortable in my appearance and that was spilling over and negatively impacting others areas of my life.

Having turned 27 in November of 2016 it wasn’t the end of the world by a long shot. Time is in my side – I get that. However, finding myself in that situation was still far from ideal and I knew that some changes needed to be made so in perhaps in 3 years time at the ripe old age of 30 I can look back and say “I’m happy I started sooner!”

Having envisioned my future self as an unhealthy, overweight, inactive human being was a bit of a shock if I’m honest. I love being outdoors having fun, hiking hills and spending time with family and friend’s. Being unable to experience life like that due to poor mobility, unhappy etc. was a disturbing prospect and something that wasn’t far off should I continue making the same silly choices while expecting everything to be fine.

Things were not going to be fine, the days of late teens/early twenties extremities, heavy drinking minus the hangovers, binge eating rubbish food and staying up all night had now run it’s course (athough some of this had been diluted over the years and became less extreme). The body was beginning to respond with signs that this way of living cannot continue without dire consequences to my health. Something clicked and that vision really hit home and provided a glimspe of what life could be like continuing down that path. There had been attempts in the past to get “fit & healthy” usually due to external forces such as holidays abroad or weddings. Events like these are planned way ahead of time allowing a time frame to be set and a target to be achieved which (for me) usually conclude in a blow out and falling completely off the wagon for weeks if not months on end. This time it was different. The feeling for change came from the inside. Not only was there a need for change but a desire to “want” to change. Not for holidays or weddings or … instead for me, to feel, move and look better. No more half-arsed attempts. This time is real, now more important then ever before. At this age there’s still a good chance to write some wrongs, get my shit together and become a better version of myself.

Accepting the long road

Fully accepting that change doesn’t happen overnight was like a revelation when it occurred. The journey ahead was going to be a long one. No quick fixes!! I didn’t want to change overnight either. I want to see progress overtime. Slowly the results will show and in that I will also have the time to make amendments when needed.

Most importantly I wanted to enjoy the process and of course learn from it too. No doubt there will be setbacks but that’s the challenge I want. There is no rush. Time is on my side, for now anyway. I say that because I’m not interested in just becoming “shredded” that will hopefully come as a result of being a fitter and healthier person. First and foremost health, be it physical or mental is my primary goal. Physical in reference to mobility and functionality of the body. Mentally – simply being happy. Looks and appearance: although they are secondary I’m not completely writing them off either 😉

January 2017 – all of this excitement of change is very encouraging and the initial reaction is to jump headfirst and balls deep into it changing everything overnight. Which is all well said and done until it starts to become undone 3 weeks when the excitement wears off and reality starts to begin.

Having been through this before I knew it was coming so the plan was to pace myself and not get to ahead of to quickly. Small changes and small wins will become big changes and big wins overtime. Consistency is key, not perfection. Sounds corny?! Recently I read in a book that eventually your thoughts become your actions and your actions become your habits. No doubt that remembering these phrases or others like it have been a source of motivation towards staying on the right track.

Having not done any physical activity/training in the previous 3-4+ months it was going to be a struggle to get going again. Establishing a routine around eating, sleeping, hydration and training alone can sometimes feel like a part-time job. What’s more is a fulltime unpaid internship and part-time minimum wage job had now began peeking over the horizon. I was already feeling overwheled. Adding all of this on top was throwing fuel on the fire. The next 15 weeks from January – April would be a challenge. The hardest thing for me to do now was actually get my head down and in the game. First things first make a plan of action.

To be continued in part 2. How I intended to plan my meals and the food that I eat. Training splits and finding a personal trainer.

Tupperware warrior

To those of you who have come over form the #tasteofeire page firslty thank you and welcome. Here I try to detail the food/recipes posted on social media so you guys can get a clearer understanding of how it is made and what little effort it takes to cook delicious food. I am always on the lookout for new ideas so if there are any suggestions please feel free to engage with me on here or on Instagram etc. as I am really interested in learning more about food, cooking, ingredients, diets, health and everything in between.

I eat therefore I lift

My name is Shane, 27 from Dublin. I am currently a F/T business student in DIT. I almost never post the nutritional value of food but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I measure everything to the gram bar the veggies unless I’m eating large quantities.
I’m not a PT, not quite shredded either (although working hard on that) but mainly I just love to Eat Delicious food and need to compensate for that. The point is, dieting, eating healthy, counting macros etc isn’t my area of expertise but cooking certainly is. Somehow I’m trying to combine the two and strike a balance that allows me to stay on track but also enjoy it at the same time. Real food doesn’t have to be boring and certainly shouldn’t make you fell guilty either. As Tony Bourdain said ” the body is not a temple, it’s a roller coaster that goes up and down so enjoy the ride.

The reality is, the food photographs on Instagram are only a small percentage of what is eaten throughout the week. Everyday “foodporn” on a plate is unrealistic and unsustainable unless you can stay ant home all day and cook it. Usually, the visually appealing food is made maybe twice or three times a week. Most of the time it’s basic and eaten out of a lunch box. Nutritional value is far greater than the visual so be sure to lay those foundations first and then move onto the aesthetics.

The Recipe

Scroll down to see how 4 basic ingredients transform into an amazing meal.
Stongroots sweet potatoes x100g
Turkey burger X1
Spring onion
Spinach
Mayonnaise/dressing

293 calories
28 Protein
22 Carbs
9 Fat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finding food inspiration online and beyond

I made this the other night as a last stitch effort to break the boring chicken and veg dinners that I mostly eat during the week, that if I’m honest don’t make it onto the Instagram stories (after all who wants to see a repeat of the same shit over and over again). The dish itself is is nothing special but that’s the beauty of it – hear me out. Having decided I wanted to change things up and inject some excitement I had a quick look at what was available in the house and ended up having one of the nicest meals in a  long time. Throughout the week people have been asking me how I think of new dishes and make them look so appealing.

The answer…. frankly I don’t know because as I said there is nothing special about this dish. Look at it! It is literally a breast of chicken, a tortilla wrap and some veggies with a tablespoon of chipotle sauce from the bottle. That is why I think it is so great. Simple ingredients that are available in all stores and most likely already sitting in the fridge in your house right now. I had gotten the idea to make this from a random post on Instagram earlier that day which happened to catch my attention.

I get by with  a little help from my friends…. online

Find your tribe and do what they do. When it comes to creating new recipes I always try to take inspiration from whoever I can without completely ripping them off. Instagram a great platform for getting new ideas and is widely used by some of the best foodies out there to promote their own creations. Even better is there are plenty of “normal” people who are also great cooks that post pictures of food that actually look like it hasn’t been painted onto the screen. Further more, chances are that their ingredients and cooking methods are more applicable and easier to relate to because they cook as a side gig, on a budget, in a small kitchen with basic equipment. The added benefit of food finding food inspiration online is that you don’t always need an exact recipe to recreate it. In saying that sometimes a recipe is required especially when baking or cooking large quantities of food over long periods of time. But most of the time all you really need is a picture and Boooom there it is an idea for something different.

I’ll use the featured image as an example. So say you’re scrolling through Instagram and you come across the picture above. Straight away you can see what it involves: chicken, tortillas, peppers, red onions, tomatoes, spinach and jalapenos. Again all of which are very easy to source. Next is the caption “chipotle”chicken. Even if you have no idea what this is – Google it and in less then 5 seconds you’ll have an idea of what chipotle is, where it comes from, what its made from, where you can buy it and even how to make it if you really want to go that extra step. The point being is that not all recipes require the exact ingredients. Simply by looking at a picture is more than suffice as you can tweak it overtime to make it look or taste better.

Going beyond the shackles of the screens bright light

Unfortunately there is a downside to finding inspiration for food online because the inability to taste what you see. Yep, food that is appealing to look at will always generate an interest at first glance. However, taste is King and is far more powerful on the senses than sight. Besides being social and having fun, eating out is an amazing experience. Fortunately living in Dublin has allowed me to visit many of the restaurants, deli’s, cafes, coffee shops, smoke houses and burger joints around the city. I recommend wherever you live to try sample different places and draw inspiration from how they do things.

Roughly 5 years ago when I was still working in kitchens my life was completely taken over by food and how to improve. Back then I was on a whole different level compared to now. Eager to watch, taste, eat and understand why people where cooking the way they did was an obsession. I was eating all around me eager to know. At restaurants after having a 3 course meal I would order another dessert, not because I was hungry but merely intrigued by the menu that I had to know how it was made and how it tasted. I was a sucker for it. Luckily back then I was a lot younger and my metabolism burned like a house on fire. As the years went on, I moved on of kitchens, no longer a chef I became less active began to see the weight pilling on.

So I  cut back on the amount if food being consumed, eating more at home and to some extent everything in moderation. But still, to this day I am a sucker for seeing something on a menu and wanting to have it. That obsession still lurks in the background but I suppose I have become more aware of it and want to control it. I guess its jut the excitement of eating out that leads to eyes-bigger-than-bellyitus. When there’s something on the menu that’s a “must have” I just make sure to only order the one and not five.

On a final note, they way in which I cook is heavily influenced by many different factors ranging from budget, diet, time frames, work – life balance to name a few. Most nights I”ll eat the same food just because its economical and efficient and then when I have some free time I’ll usually try something new. It doesn’t always work out .Cooking is a skill, therefore anyone can learn how to do it. At times it can be really frustrating because of how consuming it becomes and the end result doesn’t always meet what we expected. But that’s okay because if that happens at least you know what NOT to do the next time. Just give it a little tweak and try again in a few days. Stick with it and practice the same recipes one or twice a week and overtime you will begin to notice ways of improving it. Keep a diary of any changes in the ingredients or methods and before you know it it becomes a staple of your weekly breakfast/lunch/dinner and then its time to find the next one. Remember, one dish at a time. Try it, improve it, master it and then move on.

 

Hope this post provides some insight when looking for some food inspo. The beauty of social media is that there is a surplus of supply out there. The same goes for eating out as any reputable food joint worth visiting is sure to have a  social media presence. Its just a matter of finding like minded folks and following in their footsteps.

 

Have a good weekend – happy eating

Shane