http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Maria Siriano)
Homemade deep-dish pizza is something of a commitment and hardly one you’re likely to make on a weeknight. But we like the idea of a pizza casserole and have found the muffin tin puts a weeknight-friendly spin on the concept, producing single-serve deep-dish pizzas that are a breeze to put together.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Miss Moss)
From Apartment Therapy → What Kitchen Sink Is Right For You? A Look at Stainless, Cast Iron, Marble & More
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
Hosting dinner parties is one of my favorite ways to spend time and catch up with friends. And while I love whiling away a Saturday prepping for the evening, I also love a more casual gathering on a weeknight.
But after a long day at work, it can be tough to squeeze in the time to get everything together before dinner guests arrive. As meal kits like Blue Apron and Plated are designed to streamline dinner at home on such nights, I decided to see how I could use them to my advantage to pull off a small weeknight dinner party.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Barnaby Chambers/Shutterstock)
From organic Gatorade to cage-free Egg McMuffins, American food staples are trending toward healthier ingredients. The latest to hop on this trend is none other than the college dorm staple, Cup Noodles. Nissin Foods has revamped their just-add-water instant noodles by decreasing the sodium content by 20 percent in their most popular chicken, beef, and shrimp flavors. They also removed added MSG from all their flavors and replaced artificial flavors with natural flavors.
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/
Name: Staci Bond
Age: 45
Location: Cincinnati, OH
How did you find out about the Girls Gone Strong community?
I am an avid exerciser and was looking for some new training ideas. I found the GGS website while looking online at many different fitness sites and was intrigued by how well articulated and “real” the content was and how it really spoke to all women and not just fitness competitors or professional athletes.
What does being a Girl Gone Strong mean to you? It means standing in your power and owning it. Loving yourself fully as you are now even as you work toward your goals, and living an unapologetically authentic life of your choosing. It means standing up for what you believe in and not letting obstacles get in the way of pursuing your best life.
It means being real, being true, and defining your own success and what that looks like for you, and you alone.
Strongest You Coaching Registration is Open!
Apply today!
What do you do
I’m a registered radiographer (x-ray technologist), and hold registries as well in nuclear medicine technology and mammography. While my initial career was focused on working in hospitals with patient care-which I loved, a little over 15 years ago I decided to switch gears, try a new challenge, and go to work in sales focusing my sales efforts on Medical Imaging products which reflects my background. I’m currently the Regional Director of Sales for Konica Minolta Heathcare, Americas and lead the sales efforts of my team covering a quarter of the continental USA. I get the best of both worlds focusing on my background of Radiology while getting to coach a team on how to be successful representing our line of work class healthcare products.
What else do you do?
I genuinely and truly enjoy all forms of exercise but especially strength training and HIIT workouts as well as kettlebell training. When I’m not working at my job or training in the gym I am a devout reader. I adore all kinds of books but especially love the latest/greatest fiction novels or inspirational literature. I can’t get enough live music of any genre, people watching, window shopping, burning yummy scented candles at home, sitting on the deck with a really nice glass of red wine, and going on long walks with my daughter while having our “girl talks”. I also enjoy spending time cooking healthy meals with my family and trying new recipes.
Oh and I cannot forget—we are huge sports fans at our house, and we love cheering on the Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Bengals, and The Ohio State Buckeyes!
How did you get introduced to strength training, and how long have you been training?
Time has flown by, but 22 years ago I weighed 245 pounds, felt miserable, lethargic, and depressed. After being diagnosed as morbidly obese, I made the decision that I needed to take care of my health once and for all so I decided to join my local YMCA. 
It was there that I met some of my nearest and dearest friends even to this day, and I began my fitness journey. When I was in the process of losing that weight I was learning how to train my body and was introduced to strength training using Nautilus type circuit machines.
To be honest, most of my training was cardio based and I only used weight circuit machines for many years until the mid 2000’s when I started working out with a personal trainer. My trainer at that time introduced me to more free-weight type exercises but even then I just dabbled in it doing basic biceps curls and such. This went on with the majority of my focus on intense cardio until about 18 months ago when I joined a new gym-(shout out to my Snap Fitness Hebron family!) and learned about HIIT and metabolic type training and it was there that my interest in true strength training peaked. I loved how strong and powerful those girls looked!
I saw the amazing things that could happen lifting heavy weights and my fear of “bulking up” was finally laid to rest.
Once I started SYC I really jumped all in with respect to heavy lifting and strength training and it’s been incredibly transforming for me and I’m so happy to no longer be doing hours upon hours of cardio! I have found that all of the intense cardio not only took up so much of my time, but for me it only served to make me voraciously hungry and exhausted and did nothing for the way be body performed.
Favorite Lift:
Do I have to pick one? I love them all, and although I tore my proximal hamstring pretty badly in the spring due to chronic tendonitis and still can’t lift as much weight as I used to, I would have to say the deadlift is definitely one of my favorites. I like to focus on strength moves that target multiple muscle groups—kettlebells, push presses, and I adore slam balls and wall balls too….. I can’t pick just one. I love these moves because they make me feel strong and powerful!
Top 3 things you must have with you at the gym or in your gym bag:
Water bottle with my BCAA’s, Athleta Sonar capri leggings, post-workout Vega Sport protein shake.
Do you prefer to train alone or with others? Why?
I love to have others around me. I think it’s so good to have someone first of all to spot you, but to also cheer you on and tell you “hey you got this girl”! It’s great to have someone to check your form and be there to give you a nudge when you aren’t feeling it that day or to just pump each other up. Emotional support is so important. I like to have someone that is counting on me to be there for my own accountability because if you have a workout scheduled you can’t leave a friend hanging! It’s such an awesome girl power moment of pride when it’s over and you both kicked ass!
Best compliment you’ve received lately
As much as I love the compliments I’ve gotten at the gym—most recently I was called “a beast” which was a huge compliment to me— the best compliment I have gotten recently would be from my husband who tells me what a great mom I am and from my daughter who wrote a paper on who her role model is and she selected me. That means more to me than any physical compliment I could ever possibly receive. 
Being a positive and inspiring role model for her is my top priority. I want to instill in her the confidence to be a true GGS by whatever definition she chooses that to be for her.
Most recent compliment you gave someone else:
I was at the gym and there was a newbie there and I was lifting heavy and she was watching curiously. She made a comment about how she would never be able to do that. I told her she is more capable and powerful than she knows and that I have been there and had those same feelings before. I told her that I was proud of her for showing up and giving it her absolute best. She needed to know that her body is beautiful and capable, and something to be proud of! It’s about consistency not perfection. We all had to start somewhere but showing up day after day is something to be extremely proud of!
Favorite way to treat yourself:
I love buying new makeup-nothing like a new lipstick color to make your day a bit brighter. Outside of that I’m totally addicted to Starbucks cold brew coffee, OMG-can’t live without it. I also allow myself to get massages for my achy muscles which is definitely a treat! My other weakness is workout clothes-especially cute t-shirts with crazy sayings on them.
Favorite quote:
“Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway” -Eleanor Roosevelt
Three words that best describe you:
loyal, dedicated, and competitive.
Favorite book:
Intentional Living by John C Maxwell. It’s about achieving significance and building a lasting legacy. It helps you to take that first step in living this kind of life.
What inspires and motivates you?
The smell of coffee!….there is no motivation without coffee-seriously I’d die w/o my morning Cup O Joe!
We only open registration two or three times a year, and they always sell out fast!
Describe a typical day in your life.
There really isn’t a typical day for me due to my type of work. I have to travel by plane quite often but when I’m home:
Wake up 6 am, get my daughter out the door for school.
7 am work in my home office checking email and getting my day set up.
8 am light breakfast pre-workout of some lean protein and berries.
9-10 workout time!
10 am post workout meal of starchy carb and protein while buckling down for a day of work!
1 pm lunch-usually a BAS-big ass salad with lots of veggies and protein!
I work all afternoon until 5 or 6 and then we like to make dinner as a family. We research new recipes that we’d like to try and have fun chopping veggies and cooking up something healthy and delicious! I’ve had to get pretty creative and open to trying new things since I have suffered from gastrointestinal issues for many years and made the decision earlier this year to eliminate dairy, gluten, and eggs and almonds from my diet due to intolerance issues.
9 pm I’m usually in bed with my face in a book!
10 pm lights out.
When did you join Strongest You Coaching, why did you decide to join, and what helped you make that decision?
I joined in Jan of 2016. I was honestly just worn out both physically as well as mentally. I was running myself ragged yet feeling puffy and sore all of the time with zero interest in training. I was typically taking spinning class for an hour two days a week, running for an hour two days a week, as well as doing two- to three-hour long fitness circuit training and metabolic training sessions per week. 
My workouts were “have to’s” instead of “want to’s” and they lacked any kind of fun factor. I felt tired, cranky, hungry, and emotional and not seeing any results despite all of my effort. I came across info for the program in an email from GGS and upon further review and a few questions during a chat session, I felt like it was exactly what I needed. A program designed for real life-not just a quick fix- that is sustainable, realistic, empowering, and fun. I needed to figure out how to enjoy my training and stop abusing my body.
One of the most important aspects of the program for me was the mindset piece. This was what really sold me on SYC. I already loved to work out and felt like I had a pretty good handle on nutrition but was I needed a mental makeover. I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin despite having lost 100 pounds many years prior. I still felt like I just didn’t measure up. The program takes the best of training, nutrition and mindset and puts them all together in a way that is much more sane and actually easier than what I was doing previously and I was able to get great results!
What has been your biggest challenge in the Strongest You Coaching program?
Letting go of the “lose 20 pounds in a month and get a bikini body” mentality and settling in for the long haul for long term and sustainable results. Realizing that being “on” and going balls to the wall all the time wasn’t serving me. As Jen Comas told us, we only have so much in our willpower tank until it’s empty. I needed to recognize that what I had been doing wasn’t healthy and to be open to a new mindset. I had to let go of being in constant control and trust that the program would work. Jen was amazing to work with as a coach. She never gave up on me and was a constant cheerleader throughout the entire process. She helped me realize that…
it’s ok to ask for what we need and to not let guilt and shame hold you back in life.
What has been your biggest success in the Strongest You Coaching program?
Definitely learning to love my body and not hate it into submission. To let go of perfectionism and control and recognize the true beauty of what my body is capable of doing and not just how it looks. Being proud of who I am today while still working toward my goals. I’m proud of the fact that although I had a major injury about six weeks into the program that could have sidelined me I chose to stick with it and persevere. A lot of obstacles were thrown into my path that I had to navigate through and it was tough. I had the hamstring issue, diagnosis of the inability to eat dairy, gluten, eggs, and a host of other items, and I also developed shingles.
I could have thrown in the towel, gotten really depressed and given up. Jen helped me recognize that obstacles are opportunities to grow and that sometimes when things happen that seem bad you can use them for good. Learning to relax and trust my body and my mind is incredibly liberating and something that I am so grateful for! Oh and the results, of course! My goal was to lean out, not necessarily to lose pounds but to gain strength and I’m proud to say I lost almost 12 inches overall and am much stronger than before the program!
What do you like best about the Strongest You Coaching community?
There are so many things to love. The training program in and of itself is amazing. It’s scalable and customized to the individual’s level of ability. I gained a ton of strength which was phenomenal. I think what I like most is just the team effort and the camaraderie and feeling like we are all in this thing together. I never felt like I was alone in the process because we all need a tribe! SYC gives you that tribe to cheer each other on, lift each other up, and bounce ideas off each other.
I also really appreciate the fact that this isn’t a quick fix or one size fits all approach. No meal plans, no crash dieting, just solid, informative, cutting edge, and well thought out information that you build upon week to week. The fact that this isn’t a quick fix is a testament to the GGS philosophy. A diet will of course work short term but then what? Most gain it all back and then some. I was impressed with the minimal effective dose philosophy.
Bottom line, SYC gave me the tools to make informed decisions on what is best for me with respect to training, nutrition, and mindset. I feel like GGS respects women enough to teach us how to be our own advocates and free thinkers and to help us make sound exercise and nutritional choices that are personalized to our individual goals and objectives.
No one knows their body more than the individual and sustainable changes will come when you look inward and determine how certain foods affect your hunger, energy and cravings.
What is the habit you’re currently working on most?
The hardest thing for me personally and the one thing that I will always be working on I believe is being mindful when I’m eating and stopping when satisfied and not overly full. I tend to multi-task and check email while eating or get on social media and that was something that I didn’t realize could be hindering my results. Learning to tune in and really taste of my food, to savor and enjoy it, was a habit I needed to learn and am still working on.
How has Strongest You Coaching changed your life?
It helped me realize that I have so much more to offer the world than my body and to take responsibility for my actions, wants, needs, and desires. I dug deep and found a way to eat and train forever in a manner than isn’t white knuckling my way through the day using every ounce of willpower I have. In a word, I found freedom.
What would you tell a woman who’s nervous about joining Strongest You Coaching?
Don’t wait-there is nothing at all to fear. GGS is 100 percent dedicated to your success in obtaining your goals. This has been an amazing experience for me. SYC is truly life altering and liberating. They will walk you through the program and are there for any question or need you might have. The concepts are put together in a way that you can understand and implement in real life. If you want a program that nurtures your mind, body, and spirit and to walk away with the tools you need for your best life this is the program for you!
In our Strongest You Coaching program, we help women just like you reach their health, physique, and mindset goals. Strongest You Coaching is about more than just training and nutrition. It’s about changing your self-talk and inner dialogue, learning to let fitness enhance your life instead of rule your life, and finally healing your relationship with food and your body, all with the help of your Girls Gone Strong Coach, and your fellow Strongest You Coaching group.
The post GGS Spotlight: Staci Bond appeared first on Girls Gone Strong.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Maria Siriano)
Whether you’re setting up a new kitchen or considering upgrading the tools you currently have, a knife set can seem like a good idea. The advantages are that you get a lot of knives (and, often, kitchen shears and a honing steel) at a reasonable price and you don’t have to think too much about it.
But are you really better off purchasing a block set? The experts agree: probably not, and here’s why.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Sweet Recipeas)
Magic cake has been around for a few years now, but in the last week or so the internet has become pretty obsessed with this baking phenomenon. Magic cake, at its basic level, is one very loose cake batter that magically turns into a three-layered custard cake. The cake looks like it took a ton of effort and time, but it’s actually super easy to create. Not convinced? I’ve rounded up 15 magic cake recipes that will make you a believer.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
The growth of the Primal movement has not gone unnoticed. Food producers have latched on because, as much as we emphasize foraging the perimeter of the grocery store—the produce, the meats, the bulk goods—and eschewing processed foods, we remain creatures of convenience. Not everyone has the time or inclination to personally prepare every single morsel that enters their mouths. Sometimes we just need something quick and easy to snack on. And the food industry has risen to the occasion, offering ostensibly healthy Primal-friendly snack foods.
But are they really healthy?
It’s certainly better than previous incarnations of “healthy snack food.”
I’m thinking of the low-fat craze of the 90s, which spawned such obesogenic fare as non-fat Snackwells and yogurts, which made up for the missing fat with extra sugar, and the unholy chips cooked in artificial fat your body couldn’t even absorb—but that your underwear certainly could. This era saw obesity and diabetes rates skyrocket.
Then there are the “100% real juice” products (as opposed to what? I gotta ask). You’d hope the juice is “real.”
And don’t forget about the “healthy whole grains” emblazoned across anything with even a hint of bran and germ. It should just read “soon-to-be sugar, plus some gut irritants.”
The “no high fructose corn syrup” labels that gloss over the fact that they’ve simply replaced HFCS with an equal (and equally damaging) amount of sugar.
The fancy names for sugar: “Evaporated cane juice” (mined from natural sugar springs, no doubt), “crystalline fructose” (ooh, it must be breathtaking under a microscope!), “agave nectar” (hand milked from heritage agave plants on ancestral Hohokam tribal lands, no doubt), “brown rice syrup” (hey, that’s a healthywholegrain!), “raw sugar” (it’s kinda brown so it must be good for you), and all the others.
It’s easy to poke holes in conventionally-healthy snack foods. That’s what we do around here.
Some are, some aren’t. As I said, we like convenience. Often, we require it just to stay sane and make life go smoothly. Snack food will be on the menu, so we need to understand how to navigate the sordid world of Primal-friendly snack food. How can we do it? What should we watch out for?
Is honey Primal? Sure. Are dates? Yep. How about cacao? Of course. And tapioca starch? I’ll give it to you. Coconut oil? Hell yes. Combining excessive amounts of them all into an amorphous blob doesn’t make the healthiest thing you can eat, though. It gives you a subpar brownie if not done correctly.
We all agree that nuts can be a beneficial part of a healthy Primal eating plan, but that doesn’t mean you should grind up a cup of them, throw in some coconut milk, coconut syrup, and eggs and make pancakes every morning.
So here are a few things you should do when picking out your next Primal-friendly snack food.
They’re the first things you’ll see. And while they can be informative, they’re also misleading.
“Paleo-approved.” People are beginning to stick “paleo-approved” or “paleo” on just about everything. I like it. Helps you separate the (gluten-free) wheat from the chaff. But it can also be misleading if you don’t do some extra investigating.
“Gluten-free.” Gluten-free crackers, cookies, cakes, and muffins are still crackers, cookies, cakes, and muffins. I’m not opposed to gluten-free crackers (see below), but let’s be honest with ourselves.
Organic is nice but not sufficient. All else being equal, I’ll take the organic snack over the non-organic snack. But things are rarely equal. Read the rest of the label.
Watch for sugar. Remember all the synonyms listed above.
Avoid weird oils and fats. The healthiest-sounding snack can be derailed by a big whack of “organic free-range soybean oil.”
Placement determines predominance. Food producers must list ingredients in descending order of predominance by weight. If there’s more honey than anything else, honey gets top billing. Use this to determine the relative proportion of problematic ingredients.
Taking each ingredient on its own can make a product look impressive and nutritious. Consider the almond pancake I mentioned earlier. Yes, all those things are “good” for us. But in the end, it’s still a pancake (or a brownie, or a cookie, or whatever it is you’re contemplating eating).
“Wow, this bar has dark chocolate, figs, and blueberries! Those are all healthy foods that I enjoy on the regular. This bar must be the healthiest thing ever!”
Actually, it’s just a dense brick of dates, nuts, and other fruits. Very little protein, a ton of sugar, and more calories than you think. It’s real food, it’s nothing our bodies aren’t expecting, but the dense structure and high calorie content make it easy to put away a ton of food without realizing it. I’ve seen people eat three or four Lara Bars in a single sitting—close to 800 calories chock full of sugar—as a snack.
I have nothing against fruit. Far more than just a “bag of sugar,” it’s a great source of polyphenols and fiber. If you’re looking for carbs or something sweet, fruit is probably a good option. But just eat the fruit. The vast majority of “all-fruit” strips achieve their status by using “fruit juice concentrates.” Sure, that banana blueberry fruit strip you gobbled as you stalked the aisles of Trader Joe’s didn’t have any refined sugar, but it did receive infusions of grape syrup.
I won’t tell you to never eat those gluten-free chia seed-festooned sprouted wild rice flour crackers (partly because I know you’re going to get them regardless). Just don’t eat an entire box of them by themselves. Instead, throw some aged gouda on top and have fewer crackers. Spread some lamb liver paté on top. Have them with cream cheese and smoked salmon. This applies to any type of paleo-approved version of otherwise forbidden edible vehicles (bread, chips, wraps, etc).
Hell, one of my favorite pastimes is going into Costco, beelining for the organic section at the front of the store, and browsing all the snacks and treats. There’s always something new. Most of it is candy and other types of junk masquerading as healthy food—organic fruit snacks, trail mixes, high-cacao dark chocolate-covered pomegranate gummies—but occasionally you’ll find a gem. Like the time my local Costco had something called “Grok Chips.”
These things were the real deal. Grana padano cheese, oven-baked into crackers. They were crunchy and filling and rich in protein and calcium. And that name—what are the chances? I still wish I’d bought a case of them when I had the opportunity. Alas, I’ve never seen them since.
But there are some great products out there that both cater to a growing market and provide excellent nutrition. How about that: a company profiting by providing goods that truly serve a need and desire.
For Primal Kitchen, I’ve focused almost exclusively on real-food products that either replace a hard-to-make food or offer a hard-to-find nutrient. Everyone loves to eat it but hates making mayo, so I came up with some using avocado oil. Everyone knows they should be eating more gelatin/collagen but making bone broth is a pain, so I came up with a delicious chocolate almond bar (and now, coconut cashew bar) full of it.
If you’re having the classics, might I recommend:
As well as some newcomers:
If you’re still floundering in the sea of snacks, check out my “Essential Paleo Pantry Foods” post. It’s got a section for Sisson-approved snacks.
Again, I’m all about personal agency. You have to make your own choices. You can eat whatever you want. Just know that not every food producer trying to capitalize on the ancestral health movement is producing nutrient-dense foods. Hopefully after reading today’s post, you feel better equipped to determine which ones deserve your dollars.
Thanks for reading, everyone. How do you scrutinize snacks? What criteria do you follow?
The post How to Snack Responsibly in the New World of Health Food Marketing appeared first on Mark’s Daily Apple.
http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain
(Image credit: Lauren Volo)
As cooler weather settles in, the craving for something warm and gooey becomes fierce — here’s the solution. These melts, stuffed with chicken, cheddar, and apples, bring together some of the best flavors of the season to satisfy that craving. They’re hot and toasty and made in one big batch on a baking sheet, which makes them a simple yet ideal way to cap off a fall day.
For now classes are 6pm and 640pm at 2840 Wildwood st in the Boise Cloggers studio.
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