Freezer Meal for a busy week!

As Dave and I know we will have days that do not go as planned so we usually make a meal, freeze it and have it ready to go!

IT and Food & Beverage careers lend themselves to some unexpected working nights. We both know and understand this so on those nights whoever gets home first will turn the oven on and put the frozen dinner in the oven.

This weeks freezer meal was stuffed peppers. Our good family friends taught me how to make this when I was about 11. This meal is quick and easy and can have multiple variations!

Ingredients:
– 4 red or green peppers that stand up
– package of ground turkey or beef
– 1 jar of spaghetti sauce
– 1 onion cut up
– 2 cups of cooked rice (white or brown)
– olive oil

Preparation:
– cut tops off peppers and clean out the inside
– place in an oven safe tray
– put aside until stuffing is made

– prepare about 2 cups of cooked rice and set aside
– pour a thin coating of olive oil in a pan and bring to a hot temperature
– place onions in pan and cook for about 5 minutes
– add package of ground turkey and cook until browned
– when turkey is cooked pour some wine in the pan and stir
– remove from heat

– in a mixing bowl combine rice, meat, and spaghetti sauce
– spoon mixture into peppers
– place top of peppers on
– cover with aluminum foil and freeze

On those freezer meal nights, turn the oven to 400 degrees and place peppers in the oven. Allow to cook for 75 minutes or until center of stuffed pepper is hot. Enjoy!!

Everyone needs a cookie!

Growing up we always had dessert in our house. Cookies, cakes, brownies, ice cream… This is how we ended most family dinners!

As we train for triathlons and dirt biking we still try to keep some traditions going. Everyone has their own style of what they allow themselves to eat or what they think is ‘proper fuel’. For us, we will continue to bake desserts and enjoy sharing stories as we do so.

Often times, for long trail runs I will pack a cookie or two. Not standard running fuel for most, but the salt and sugar is exactly what I need some days. While out on the trail I’ll pull out my oatmeal or chocolate chip cookie, eat it, take some water, and am thankful that we like to bake!

We have multiple bins in our house: Regular, GF Flour, Corn Mean, Almond Flour. All color coded. It has worked well for us and is an easy identifier.

This week we made GF oatmeal cookies.

Our go to for baking these include:
– King Arthur’s GF flour
– Chex GF oatmeal

Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients & steps:
Mix the following in one bowl:
– 1 cup butter softened
– 1cup white sugar
– 1 cup light brown sugar
Add:
– 2 eggs
– splash of vanilla extract
Mix then add:
– 1 teaspoon baking sode

– 2 cups GF flour

– pinch of salt
– pinch of cinnamon
– pinch of nutmeg
Mix then add:
– 3 1/4 cups GF oats & 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Put in freezer for 15 minutes
Heat oven to 375 degrees

Drop cookies by the tablespoon full onto the cookie sheet

Bake 12 minutes

Enjoy! (You can always just use regular flour if you are not GF!)

Next time when you see me out on the trails with One Multisport & the One Elite team I might just have a cookie if you need something different from your regular bars!

Post Race/Pre-race

Some weekends challenge us with finding a balance. This weekend was one with my 52k trail race Saturday and Dave’s dirt bike race on Sunday. This means finding that balance of post race and pre-race food Saturday night. Something that would allow me to wake up Sunday with as little pain as possible and Dave ready to race.

After getting home from a sunny, windy, tough day on the running trails in my One Multisport kit, Dave was packing up his dirt bike gear. We decided earlier in the week we could make this work and came up with a plan. Teamwork. Dave would tackle the grocery store before his pre-qualification round of racing while I was running. When I got home I would start to make dinner and get his fuel plan (race day food) ready for Sunday.

So what is a good post race, pre-race meal that fits both individuals needs and is gluten free? Steak and Risotto!!!

Great combination of protein, carbs and fat. All of which are balanced in moderation to provide a meal that both fuels and aides in recovery. Balance is always the key to cooking and life. This meal is a great example of this. The steaks are New York Strips with the fat trimmed. Rubbed with Dave’s steak rub (recipe to follow). Drizzled with olive oil for the initial searing on the grill, then basted with melted all natural butter. This keeps the steak from drying out, and adds flavor and salt. We all know how important this is to both recovery and conditioning our bodies to take on the water it needs during exercise.

Risotto. Forget all recipes you have heard for cooking this dish. This is a technique not a recipe. Recipes often talk about a three step process of adding stock to cook risotto. This is wrong. Risotto is cooked by sautéing shallots or onions in olive oil, adding the arborio or carnaroli rice and slightly toasting the grains. Next add some white wine, till reduced. Then pour in enough stock to cover the rice. With a wooden spoon, continuously stir and scrape the bottom of the pan. When the stock has reduced add more. Enough to cover the rice again. Continue to do this until the rice is cooked (you can tell by tasting it). Finish by adding a little more wine, and freshly grated parmagiano reggiano cheese. That’s it. This will not take long, about 20 minutes or so. We like to add, peas, mushrooms, asparagus. Whatever you feel like. Once you get it down, this can be an easy addition to your weekly meal plans (we will discuss the WMP in future posts).

This a great meal. It is all about balance. Removing the fat from the steaks, and then adding different natural fats. Butter and olive oil. Post Race, Pre-Race.

Dave’s Steak Rub:
2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
2 teaspoons Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
2 teaspoons Ground Thyme
2 teaspoons Ground Oregano
2 teaspoons Powdered Garlic
1 teaspoon Ground Sage
1 teaspoon Ground Mustard Seed

Rub steaks at least 15-30 minutes ahead of placing on the grill. Drizzle steaks with olive oil just before placing on a fully preheated grill (hot as it will possibly get). Cook steaks with top open, until desire done-ness is achieved. When you flip them over, be sure to baste with melted butter. The most important part of grilling steak is to rest it for at least 5-10 minutes, after removing from the heat.

Mangiare!!! Buon appetito!!!

Trimmed Steaks

Steaks rubbed and ready to be grilled

Risotto in process – just add the frozen peas

Dinner is ready

Introduction

Hello.

My name is Maureen.

I thought I would start by introducing myself. I am a six-time Ironman. Along with having raced five 70.3 Ironman’s, and too many marathons to count. One Multisport Elite Team member. I am gluten free and not by choice.

This blog is about how I fuel myself by eating real foods, and not following trendy diets. I will not be alone in this, as I must confess I have a secret weapon. I am married to a classically trained chef.

This will be a blog that shares how we both maintain full-time jobs and are able to cook great meals to fuel athletes, without gluten.

My husband David, is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America with an associates degree in Culinary Arts, and a bachelor’s degree in Restaurant and Hospitality Management. He is also an athlete and has always viewed food as fuel that doesn’t need to boring.

We will share training, recipes, and gluten free product reviews. Along with stories, and other current occurrences. Make sure to watch the Butter Count, because that will be climbing faster than a Schleck brother in July.

Stay tuned for our next post.