Learn From The Coaches - Recipes

In our Learn From The Coaches series, our goal is to deliver information to you (the athlete) from the everyday lives of our coaches.  This will be information and insight that at one time or another all of our coaches at CrossFit Sixth City have given to our athletes, but will be re-enforced by the demonstration of our real life application.  Simply put - we do it as well and we will show you how.

Today we're talking recipes for our coaches' favorite go-to meals.  We will give a brief description of each coach's diet, the recipe for their meal and how he/she likes to utilize it in their meal plan. 

Coach A - Adam Daugherty

My Diet is mostly Paleo (about 80 to 90%), except for a starch for dinner and some days breakfast as well.  The quality of my diet stems from my dietary needs as I have IBS.  The quantity of calories and macro nutrients is based off my needs for maintaining my current weight and receiving enough fuel for my athletic CrossFit goals.  I do not count calories and macros anymore.  I have developed a pretty good sense for the quantities since I have been tracking and analyzing my nutrition on and off for about 15 years.  Usually my calories fall between 2500 and 3000, grams of protein is right around my weight (195 lbs), grams of carbohydrate is about 10% to 20% below protein, fat is around 100 grams and I try and keep sugar under 50 grams.

My Meal is called The Paleo Bowl of Doom.  It might be my second favorite meal to Thanksgiving and can be eaten anytime of day depending on when I need carbs.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground bison or lean ground beef
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced small (about 3 cups)
• 1 tbsp avocado oil (or other healthy fat)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• side of salsa (I like to get it fresh from Mexican grocer)
• avocado, sliced
• 1-2 eggs, any style

Steps:

• Heat large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tbsp avocado oil, when hot, add sweet potatoes with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until tender and lightly browned on the edges (about 7 minutes).  Pour cooked potatoes into a bowl and set aside while browning meat.
• Add in ground bison or ground beef and salt and pepper to taste. Break up the meat and cook until meat is cooked through (about 5 minutes).  Drain off excess fat if necessary.
• Turn heat down to low, add the sweet potatoes back in and add chopped cilantro.  Leave on low heat to stay warm while you prepare egg(s).
• Cook eggs to liking - scrambled, over easy, etc.
• Divide meat and sweet potato mixture between two bowls.  Top each with the egg(s), with half of a sliced avocado and a side of salsa.

Coach Dad - Dan Cronin

My Diet is whatever I can get my hands on.  I'm always on the go so I usually eat whatever is convenient.  Usually, I prepare 8 to 10 chicken breasts, 2 bags of broccoli and a box of brown rice for the coming week.  This constitutes at least one of my meals everyday.  Additionally, everyday I usually have 3 to 4 eggs, 4 pieces of bacon and a 1/2 cup of oatmeal with brown sugar.  The final meal of the day is always a mix (hopefully Chipotle).  I try and avoid dairy because it has been upsetting my stomach recently.  I absolutely do not count my calories, but I track my water intake and sleep patterns constantly.  I eat whenever I am hungry, but try to focus on quality snacks to supplement my so called "diet".  I probably eat 60-75% of my calories in proteins and fats with the remainder in carbs.

My Meal is just a plain old fried egg sandwich.  It's something quick, easy and filling whenever I don't have the time to make a gourmet meal like Adam (truth be told his girlfriend makes it...).

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 eggs
• 2 to 3 pieces of bacon
• 2 pieces of your favorite bread
• 5 dashes of Frank's Red Hot 
• 1 dash of milk
• 1 dash of Pepper
• 2 pieces of cheese

Steps:

• In medium pan cook bacon on medium heat, flipping every minute or two until it reaches desired crunchiness.
• Beat eggs, hot sauce and milk in a cup and stir until mixed.
• Preheat a small pan on high and pour the mixture slowly into the pan. 
• Reduce heat to medium as the bottom solidifies and sprinkle some pepper (I like to have a little brown/burn on the bottom side).
• Place two pieces of bread in the toaster.
• Flip the eggs one time and cook the top portion until it solidifies.  Pepper to taste.
• When toast is done put cheese on each slice and layer the bacon evenly on top of the cheese on both pieces.
• Center the fried eggs on the sandwich and slice the excess from the sides. Put a little cheese on the egg and cover it with the excess egg.
• Eat sandwich and get huge like Todd!

Coach J - Jeff Brannigan

My Diet is see food eat food.  Since my goal is to gain weight I am fairly flexible with what I eat.  This doesn’t mean McDonald's and candy!  But it does include a heavy dose of grains and starches.  Bulking up can extremely difficult for some people as most often have to eat even when they don’t feel like eating.  This can make it can make it easy to over do it on carbohydrates.  Protein is the key.  At a minimum, most people need to hit the common recommendation of one gram per pound of bodyweight.  This will typically be more than one would eat while trying to maintain or lose weight.  A typical day of eating for me will usually consist of 5 meals. Two will have a lean protein (chicken), two will have a fatty protein (beef, pork) and one is a post workout shake that is calorically significant enough to count as a meal.  Usually only one or two meals will have greens, while most meals will have either a grain or starch as a carbohydrate source.  Fat consumption usually consists of either peanut butter or actual butter, and some olive oil.  Don’t ever let me hear about anyone eating margarine!

I don’t have a go to meal, so My Meal deals will speak to post workout nutrition.  This is usually where I will take supplements (whey protein and creatine).  I believe in getting a large amount of calories quickly post workout, so my go-to meal is a shake.  A magic bullet goes along way to making shakes easy to make and easy to clean up.

Ingredients:

• 8 to 10 oz smoothie Mix, I prefer Naked strawberry banana (30-38g carbs)
• 2 tablespoon peanut butter (16g fat, 8g carbs)
• 5 grams creatine monohydrate, I prefer Optimum Nutrition
• 1.5 scoops whey protein (36g protein)

Steps:

• Combine ingredients in a blender.
• Place peanut butter in the center of the cup as to not stick to the sides.
• Blend until smooth in texture.
• Best if cooled in refrigerator for a couple hours.

Coach Jen - Jennifer Britton

My Diet consists of eating mostly whole, fresh foods.  I do eat some pasta, rice and bread, but I have significantly reduced the amount over the past couple of years, and I try to stick to the brown/whole-wheat versions when I do eat them.  I also try to avoid processed sugars by sweetening things with honey or maple syrup… though I love dark chocolate and will never give it up.  I believe that when the body is craving something "bad," it's okay to indulge so long as it's in moderation (see note above about dark chocolate).  On my phone, I keep a daily menu that details what I am going to eat and when, and I usually eat every 2 to 3 hours.  Each meal/snack consists of carbs and protein, with the balance shifting throughout the day - heavier on carbs in the morning for energy and heavier on protein in the evening for recovery.

My Meal is a go-to recipe for me that is quick, easy, and nutritious is stuffed sweet potatoes.  The stuffing varies based on whatever is in my fridge - turkey sausage with spinach and onions (seasoned with garlic), chicken with bell peppers (seasoned with chili and cumin powder) and beef with broccoli and mushrooms (seasoned with black pepper and soy sauce) are some of my favorites.  This is a modified recipe from PaleOMG.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium - large sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, ghee, or coconut oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 pound turkey sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1-2 tablespoons Sriracha 
• 6 cups of FRESH spinach (frozen doesn't work)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

Potatoes

• Make ahead of time by wrapping them in foil and placing them in a slow cooker on low (no holes). Two potatoes will take about 6 hours. Increase time by an hour with each potato you add to the slow cooker.
• If baking in the oven, poke holes in the potato with a fork, wrap in foil, and bake at 425 for about an hour or until a fork can be easily inserted.

Turkey Sausage Stuffing

• Add chosen cooking fat to a large pan over medium-high heat.
• Sauté onions until they are almost translucent (about 7 minutes), then add garlic and continue cooking for another minute. Be careful not to scorch the garlic.
• Add the turkey sausage, breaking up the chunks with a spoon.
• Mix in the chili powder and Sriracha.
• When the turkey is almost cooked through, add the spinach then cover the pan so the spinach steams and softens.
• After a few minutes of steaming, mix the spinach and turkey mixture together.
• Add your salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove the pan from the heat.

Prep the potatoes by slicing them down the center and fluffing the inside with a fork.  Scoop the turkey stuffing into the potatoes and then stuff your face!

Coach 2.0 - Kyle Ciccarello 

My Diet is pretty consistent as my work schedule stays pretty consistent.  I eat three meals daily with a snack on days I head to the gym to workout.  Breakfast usually consists of 3 to 4 eggs, 2 slices of sprouted grain bread, a banana or apple and coffee.  For lunch I tend to give myself two options - a prepared meal of 6 to 8 oz of chicken, green vegetable and potato from Whole Foods or a bowl from Chipotle with plain white rice (no added sodium), fajita veggies, chicken, tomato salsa, corn salsa and guacamole.  Dinner is 6 to 8 oz of chicken or beef, a mashed potato and spinach.  On training days my pre-workout snack is an RX Bar or trail mix and an apple.

My Meal is a breakfast skillet.

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 diced baked potatoes
• 1 pepper
• 1 onion
• Meat of choice (I usually use leftovers from dinner)
• Spinach
• Cheese (optional)

Steps:

• Saute peppers, onions and potatoes over medium heat.
• Once potatoes have browned, add meat of choice.
• In separate pan, cook two eggs over easy.
• Add spinach and cheese during final couple minutes of cooking.
• Place eggs over skillet items.
• Top with Sriracha for some added heat.

Coach Meg - Megan Wolansky

My Diet is mainly paleo, with MusclePharm protein powder and the occasional sweet treat.  Lately, I have been eating intuitively making sure that I include protein with every meal.  My protein intake is mainly around my weight, if I would keep track. Other than protein, I make sure that I eat veggies, healthy fats (almond butter, avocados) and occasionally some Paleo Bread from Julian Bakery.  I eat about 4-6 meals a day, depending on how big or small the meals are that day.  Most work days include: protein coffee for breakfast, followed by lunch (tuna, mustard, green peppers, almonds), an afternoon snack (protein shake, apple), dinner (big salad with tomatoes, chicken, red wine vinegar for dressing) and my protein almond milk hot chocolate before bed.  My focus has been on feeling good during the day and keeping up with my rotating schedule which makes it hard to measure and weigh foods as I can be up for 20+ hours a day and then 8 hours the next.  My favorite meal is the protein coffee... which I could drink and have all day :)  But I'll give you a real recipe that is my actual go-to in times of need.

My Meal of choice is Sweet Potato Buffalo Chicken Casserole.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 5 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 6 tablespoon hot sauce
• ½ cup olive oil or melted ghee
• 1 cup bacon, cooked and cut into pieces
• 1 cup green onions, sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400.
• In a large bowl, combine together the olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, hot sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add sweet potatoes and chicken, stir to coat.
• Empty bowl into a casserole dish.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add green onions and bacon to the dish and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes to let the flavors combine.