Bison Chili and Gluten-Free Corn Bread

So tonight my beloved brother, his wife (one of my favorite people in the world), and their two lil' girlies are coming to visit us for a couple of days. I figure there is roughly 100square feet per person with them in our tiny house but couldn't care less! Im so excited! Anyway, so they get in pretty late (its 11pm now and they aren't here yet) and I reckoned they would be pretty hungry (we generally tend to be in my family :) so for dinner tonight I whipped up a big pot of chili and some crusty corn bread since it's the kind of thing that will be as tasty later as it was at 7. Having never made chili before in my life I tried my hand at a batch a few weeks ago and have been making it (upon popular request) on a weekly basis ever since. My basic recipe came from SmittenKitchen, a food blog I adore, and have since made a few tweaks that seemed to render it worth posting up here for y'all. The gluten-free corn bread is a slight variation on my (southerner) mom's classic recipe in which you heat the oil in a cast iron skillet before mixing it in to the batter and it makes you the tastiest crusty corn bread you ever did try... Those of you who are avoiding gluten will appreciate that it tastes no different (if not better) than most with gluten, although those of you on the 4HB diet will have to save this part for binge day.

So! On to the recipes!

Bison and Red Bean Chili (with secret zucchini and cocoa powder)

- 2-4 strips pasture raised bacon, chopped into little pieces

- 1 large shallot (mine was huge- an onion can work too)

- 3-5 cloves garlic (your choice)

- 2lbs ground bison

- 1c beef broth (extra points if you make a bone broth and use that)

- 1 14.5oz can organic crushed tomatoes

- 1 large zucchini, grated

- 1/4 C chili powder

- 1T ground cumin

- 1T unsweetened cocoa (strange? perhaps, but SK swears by it and now I do too)

- 2 15oz cans of kidney beans (rinsed and drained)

- 1 T apple cider vinegar

- salt (I like smoked salt for this one but kosher works too)

optional toppings (which are, in my opinion, hardly optional):

- chopped fresh cilantro

- sour cream*

- sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese

1. In a large stock pot cook the bacon until done through or even a little crispy (depending on your preference)

2. Throw in the chopped shallot and/or onion and cook till translucent (add a dash of olive oil if needed)

3. Add the bison and brown

4. Stir in crushed garlic, chili, cumin, and cocoa

5. Add in grated zucchini and cook for 1-2 minutes

6. Add tomatoes and simmer on low for 10 minutes

7. Add beans and vinegar, season to taste

8. Eat it all up! YUM!

* If you are going to eat dairy, try your best to find diry from pasture raised organic cows. SOO much tastier and much much better for you and the planet. I've just discovered this company, Kalona Super Naturals, and oh my gawd, is there stuff great! I still cant do much of it but when I chose to I make sure it's good!

Mama's Best Cornbread (made gluten-free!)

- Olive Oil (and/or bacon drippings if you are so inclined)

- 1/4C Pamela's Gluten-Free baking mix

- 1 1/4C Cornmeal (I like to mix textures but if you can only chose one choose smooth ground)

- 2 1/4t baking powder

- 1/4t baking soda

-1t salt

- 1c buttermilk (milk with a splash of apple cider vinegar works too)

- 1 egg

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450F. Fill the bottom of a cast iron skillet with approx 1/4" of oil and put in oven to heat.

2. In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients (note- if you have a 2c measure you can measure all the flours in it like this:

3. Measure out the milk then add the cup to the cup and beat till mixed (saves a dish!)

4. Add the wet to the dry, mixing only very BRIEFLY

5. Once oil is hot in oven, pour excess into the batter, stir until just incorporated, and immediately pour back into hot skillet.

6. Spread batter out to edges and bake for 20-30minutes or until golden brown.

7. Cut into slices, spread with pasture butter and honey and enjoy!

MyPlate Remix

While researching industrial strength D-rings and carabiners this evening (hopefully I will get to show you why soon... :) I somehow found myself on the Precision Nutrition site reading an interesting article about the gov's new MyPlate food campaign. For those who aren't familiar with the MyPlate campaign it was the government's recent redux of the food pyramid (that cost lots and lots of money to do and somehow isn't all that different from the trusty pyramid).Precision Nutrition's writer John Berardi discusses the shortcomings of the MyPlate campaign and offers an alternative I happen to fully agree with... Check the article out for a more in depth look at the pros and cons (and potential reasons behind the government's selections), and use his handy re-dux of the MyPlate to guide your meals...

A few plates to ponder...

Note: to see them bigger check out the original article where they have a link to download a large version for print..

NIKE does it right

Ok. So for several years now the primary thing NIKE has been associated with in my brain is tragic (in my case entirely made-up) images of smokey sweatshops where small children slave over cheap shoes till their fingers bleed... From what I now understand this may be a bit overdramatic and (hopefully) not even accurate, however, I have yet to personally visit one of their factories so to be entirely honest I just can't know for sure (though apparently they have been doing a lot of work to improve this image). One thing I do know is that their new NIKE-Women campaign is about ten kinds of awesome. Not saying that this justifies sweat shops, but I have to say, this is one thing they really are doing right. The ad campaign uses 7 world-class athletes and some flashy interactive media to inspire, educate, and unite female athletes everywhere. My personal favorite part? That they are planting an image of female athletes in the collective consciousness as beautiful, driven, and completely kick-ass. I take it as a good sign of the times when women are admired who are muscular, fierce, and passionate. The idea that strong women are ok, is a relatively new one (think back to fainting couches or bound feet) and portraying them as attractive and enviable is definitely a new thing.

So, Yey Nike! Thank you for supporting women around the globe to 'make themselves' and empowering them as athletes. Keep cleaning up your manufacturing practices and I may just start sportin' your pants...

PLANK IT!

OK. So I know for many of you the plank is the most dreaded part of our workout (or class) so I thought you might appreciate knowing that there is a strange subculture of random plank artists who have created a global trend out of planking in weird places. Note: their 'plank' is a bit different than ours but still...

For more fabulous and inspiring (and sometimes disturbing) planking photos click here.

HAPPY PLANKING!! :)

ONLINE BOOKING!!

I am pleased to announce ONLINE BOOKING for both my personal training clients and my classes. To book, simply follow this LINK and create a profile. Payment can be done in person (which I then update to your profile) and you can receive confirmations and reminders via text or email! Very snazzy, huh?

Hope this helps!

My Favorite 10-min Dinner: Taco Night at the Wood's

So it occurred to me the other day when the clock struck 7:45pm and we still had nothing planned for dinner, and were both ravenous (and therefore grumpy), that we may not be the only two people in the world who sometimes wait too long to figure out what to eat and need something FAST but still want it to be healthy and yummy and, did I mention, that we need it NOW!? In a situation like this, which seems to happen way more often than I'd like, we have a few key meals we often fall back on. One of which is: Taco Night. Taco Night is always fun (i am decidedly pro-finger/hand foods due to my irrational hatred of utensil washing- don't ask), flavorful, and can be as elaborate as you want. You can fill them with roast duck or grilled salmon (both suuuper yummy options), and top them with everything from black beans to grilled pineapple. They can be a casual quick bite on the go or a fun interactive meal for beloved guests. The sky is the limit on your options and they are easily customizable for guests with tricky diets (remember my dinner with the gluten-dairy-cashew-coconut-and pineapple free guest? bingo!).

For our purpose tonight I am going to show you the how-to for the FAST yummy tacos that I made last night (perhaps later we will get into the fancy pants versions).

You Will Need:

-sprouted corn tortillas

-butter (preferably pasture-raised)

-1 warm rotisserie chicken (I highly recommend Bumblebees for this, although whole foods does a decent one in a pinch)

Toppings:

-black beans

-sunflower sprouts

-cilantro

-rosted bell peppers (make your own or buy a jar full)

-arugula

-salsa

-organic sour cream

Directions:

1. In a small frying pan melt a little butter and fry your tortilla on both sides (omitting this step is not recommended- it is key to the yumminess factor of the end result. Unfried sprouted tortillas tend to taste like thin cardboard in my humble opinion).

2. Pile on as many toppings as you desire and eat.

Now wasn't that easy? And tasty? I think so. Try it and let me know your favorite topping combinations you come up with...

SUGAR: It's different than you think...

Now, I know a lot about sugar. Or, at least, I thought I did. This guy explains sugar (and it's connection to obesity) in a way that blew my socks off. It's a lot different than we all think. Think everything is just the law of thermodynamics (calories in vs. calories out= your body composition)? Or how about the commonly held belief that "if you eat it, you better burn it, or you'll store it"? Think fat is simply the result of 'gluttony' and 'sloth'?

Watch. And Learn.

Is Sugar Toxic? Fabulous article from the NY Times (refers to this video). Author Gary Taubes is also the author of "Good Calories. Bad Calories." and "Why We Get Fat" two books I highly recommend.