FoodRxD

Warm bacon, egg and avocado salad

For some reason, I just haven't been into salads this summer.   Most of my veggies have been barbequed (eggplant, peppers, asparagus), roasted (kumara, carrots, red onion), or in stir fries (cabbage, carrot, peppers, brocolli).

But after the hottest New Zealand summer on record, topped off with a couple of 40+ degree days in Australia, I finally felt a bit of a craving for some greens. 

Panfried some old style streaky bacon, a diced onion and chopped red pepper. 

Poached 4 big free range eggs, and peeled a whole avocado, perfectly ripe.

Then I lost my nerve..........

I think what I dislike most about salads is the work it takes to fork down half a dozen cups of mixed greens. 

So I found the solution.  I chucked them in the pan with the bacon and onions, and wilted them down to about 2 cups.  I piled it all up in the bowl with a few cherry tomatoes, and topped it off with a drizzle of avocado oil. 

FYI: Everything tastes good with bacon grease and egg yolk on it.......

PS: Yes that is a callus shaver beside the fork......I didn't actually use it for eating, I promise.....

Whole grains. FAIL.

It seems like everywhere I look I see advertising that trumpets the benefits of whole grains for health.  I hear all about the slew of vitamins and minerals that they contain, the ton of fibre, and lets not even go near the protein for building ironmen..........do mothers really believe they are building their boys into strong, healthy men by feeding them bowls of extruded, sweetened corn paste?! Shame on you Terrenzo (Ironman NZ really) for manipulating the mums, you know they all have a crush on you.......

The fact of the matter is that, anti-nutrients and excess carbohydrates aside; we can get all the nutrients we need and more, from seafood, meat, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds.  Grains simply don't measure up.

Check out this cool table from Robb Wolf laying out the cold hard numbers.

Nutritional analysis of Paleo foods vs. whole grains

Mean nutrient density of various food groups (418-kJ samples)*

Nutrient	Whole grains	Whole milk	Fruit	Vegetables	Seafood	Lean Meats	Nuts and Seeds
Vitamin B-12 (µg)	0.00 [4]	0.58 [5]	0.00 [4]	0.00 [4]	7.42 [7]	0.63 [6]	0.00 [4]
Vitamin B-3 (mg)	1.12 [4]	0.14 [1]	0.89 [3]	2.73 [5]	3.19 [6]	4.73 [7]	0.35 [2]
Phosphorus (mg)	90 [3]	152 [5]	33 [1]	157 [6]	219 [7]	151 [4]	80 [2]
Riboflavin (mg)	0.05 [2]	0.26 [6]	0.09 [3]	0.33 [7]	0.09 [4]	0.14 [5]	0.04 [1]
Thiamine (mg)	0.12 [5]	0.06 [1]	0.11 [3]	0.26 [7]	0.08 [2]	0.18 [6]	0.12 [4]
Folate (µg)	10.3 [4]	8.1 [2]	25.0 [6]	208.3 [7]	10.8 [3]	3.8 [1]	11.0 [5]
Vitamin C (mg)	1.53 [3]	74.2 [5]	221.3 [7]	93.6 [6]	1.9 [4]	0.1 [1]	0.4 [2]
Iron (mg)	0.90 [4]	0.08 [1]	0.69 [2]	2.59 [7]	2.07 [6]	1.10 [5]	0.86 [3]
Vitamin B-6 (mg)	0.09 [3]	0.07 [1]	0.20 [5]	0.42 [7]	0.19 [4]	0.32 [6]	0.08 [2]
Vitamin A (RE)	2 [2]	50 [5]	94 [6]	687 [7]	32 [4]	1 [1]	2 [3]
Magnesium (mg)	32.6 [4]	21.9 [2]	24.6 [3]	54.5 [7]	36.1 [6]	18.0 [1]	35.8 [5]
Calcium (mg)	7.6 [2]	194.3 [7]	43.0 [4]	116.8 [6]	43.1 [5]	6.1 [1]	17.5 [3]
Zinc (mg)	0.67 [4]	0.62 [3]	0.25 [1]	1.04 [5]	7.6 [7]	1.9 [6]	0.6 [2]
Sum rank score	44	44	48	81	65	50	38

* Food types within food groups are based on the most commonly consumed foods in the US diet. Values in brackets represent relative ranking (7=highest; 1=lowest). The micronutrient concentrations for each food group were derived from reference 64. RE, retinol equivalents.

That's right, you are almost better off eating the box the cereal comes in.........

Mums, if you want to build your kids into ironmen and women, then this is what breakfast should look like.

It virtually is this simple........

Saw this on CrossFit Brisbanes site, had to share.

Living off the land (sea)

My flatmate Atalay Paleo came through with the goods yet again last night.  While I was at the gym coaching, he had the oven full of fish he had spent the day catching.  We all sat around the table even, it was very grown up. 

We tend to forget how accessible it is to get hold of wild food in this country.  Fish, mussels, crayfish, paua, scallops, and for the hunters, pork and venison too.

A couple of my goals for 2011 are to start spearfishing, and to hunt a pig or deer.  As an ex-farmboy, I have plenty of experience in killing animals for the table, but I have not had to chase them further than the end of the pen they were caged in.  

I've also been on a turkey shoot, and it made me realise how accurate the definition of Turkey Shoot actually is.  Those dumb birds just stood still and let half a dozen teenage idiots run into their midst with shotguns blazing.  It's actually a fluke we didn't kill ourselves......

And let's not forget the gathering part of being a caveman either.  We used to pick mushrooms when I was a kid (pity I didn't like mushrooms back then.........)  Plant some veggies in your back yard.  Check out One Square Metre Garden if you want to argue that you don't have the room.