by Sam Tackeff | Nov 17, 2013 | Meal Planning, Races
Racing, healing, cooking, reading, adventuring… a weekend the way I like to do it.
Here’s some advice: you should choose your wellness professionals based on their canine office companions. This is dear sweet Momo. Her mom helped me today with my hip flexors, back, and posture. She helped me today with her wagging, licking, and kisses. Frenchie kisses! Oh goodness, I really, really need a dog.
Yesterday, after the better part of four days spent sick in the house, I ventured out to run the Spartan Time Trial at Fenway with some adventurous members of the RunKeeper team. I knew that it was going to be rough given that I was feeling sick before we even started the race, but as a Sox fan, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to race through 20 obstacles at Fenway Park.
Here’s us, minus Bram, who was taking the picture.
In a nutshell: we burpee-d, climbed over (and under, and through) many walls, bear crawled, farmers-carried two very heavy water jugs down and up a set of stairs, jump roped with heavy ropes, did pushups in the Red Sox locker room!!, hopped on an erg for a sub 2:00 500, jumped up stairs, med ball tossed, climbed across walls, attempted rope climbs, climbed across monkey bars, hoisted a weight to the roof, attempted a javelin toss, ran through the entire stadium and the green monster seats, climbed a cargo net, box jumped, did many, many more burpees, and fought our way to the finish.
This may have been my slowest 5k, and I may have felt like death for most of it, but it certainly was one of the most fun! We finished in 1:14 – the mileage is off, because a good part of the course was indoors. (I started the timer a few minutes early so I could stick my phone…into a sock and into my spibelt to make sure that I didn’t accidentally destroy it on the course.) What I do for tracking!
A good part of the rest of the weekend was spent reading, and cooking. Here’s what I made this afternoon. (Not pictured – the Crescent Ridge Egg Nog I poured into my aeropress coffee.)
The Sunday Cook-up:
Three meals for the week, and some extra roasted vegetables. I’ll be out both Thursday and Friday, so there was less to cook! I still have a fourth meal to think about, but it’s likely going to be some quick fish. Or maybe some soup from the freezer.
:: Meatballs in mustard, beef broth and cream sauce, with a salad and crescent rolls.
:: Braised chicken with shallots, pancetta, cannelini beans, and parsnips. Finished with a swig of marsala.
:: Sausage with pancetta, baby potatoes, and brussels sprouts.
:: Roasted parsnips (coconut oil, salt, and pepper.)
Happy week, everyone!
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 1, 2013 | Books, Lists, Meal Planning
I’m curled up in bed tonight flipping through my new Nigel Slater: “Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food” – there really isn’t anything better than that. November is here, and although I love my winter kitchen, I’m not quite ready to brave the great outdoors in the most frigid months to come. Boots? Winter running gear? A warm jacket? All of these seem too daunting to think about. Fortunately today reached nearly 70 in Boston, proving, along with a World Series win this week, that anything is possible around here.
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Here’s a list that I’ve been mulling over. I started writing it just for myself, and then realized that it might actually be useful to share here.
Let’s be honest, life is not a Pinterest board. Life as a devoted food lover is difficult. Sometimes, you want to cook an entire meal out of Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc cookbook. And sometimes, you want to cook a box of Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese and call it a night. Here’s the secret: most nights I want to cook a box of Annie’s and call it a night. In my quest to find a mid-point between the two, I have a list of meals on standby – a backup plan for my weekly meal plan. Not all of these are 20-minute meals (though many of them are), but they are all things I like and make on a regular basis. Most of them are base recipes – ideas that allow for a hundred permutations to keep things from getting boring. When I have a craving, and need a little more guidance, I’ll identify the basic combination I’d like, and I’ll flip through one of my many cookbooks to find inspired variations – maybe a spice combination, or an ingredient I hadn’t thought about. These are largely meat meals, although you can just as easily make most of them meatless.
In no particular order, things that I like to eat for dinner:
lamb chops (or chicken, or pork tenderloin, or butter beans) with salsa verde – sometimes when I’m at a loss, I’ll start first with a sauce – with the knowledge that I’ll always be able to find something to cook with it. Salsa verde is one of my favorites – herby, with a little bit of vinegar to make you pucker. You can also spoon it over roasted vegetables, potatoes, fish, you name it.
crispy chicken thighs with baked baby potatoes and tomatoes – I like tray bakes where you can just squash everything in a pan, and roast it at around 400 for just under an hour. (Usually I’ll steam the potatoes in the microwave first, so that they are soft and quicker cooking.) I’ll also make this with italian sausages, or kielbasa.
meatballs of any kind – in Turkey, meatballs are called kofte, and they are ubiquitous. I have a special kofte spice from the spice bazaar in Istanbul that I use a lot of. Or, I’ll use a different type of seasoning based on my global mood. I’ll fry these on the stove top, and eat them on salad, or with a Turkish shepherd’s salad of tomato, cucumber and parsley.
citrus mustard chicken – I’ve been doing permutations of this one for a while – there’s a good recipe for apricot-mustard baked chicken in “Dinner, a Love Story”.
tex-mex soup – sometimes it’s chicken tortilla, sometimes I go for a spicy bean soup. Back in the early 90’s, we used to take a can of refried beans, some chicken stock, and a can of Rotel, simmer it for 30 minutes and call it dinner – I think that it was probably a Weight Watchers special, but variations on this are still pretty darn good. I also make a lot of no-tortilla soup – usually with leftover rotisserie chicken.
baked fish, potatoes, and green things of choice – on Sunday, I’ll head to the market to see what I can find. Sunday is one night that I can commit to buying fish and eating it fresh. Sometimes it’s salmon, sweet potato, and brussels sprouts. Other days scallops, new potatoes, and asparagus.
dinner salad – chopped salads, “BLAT” – bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato salad, or crabmeat salad with lemon, avocado, and tomatoes – are some of the usuals. I have a few salad-specific cookbooks that I poke through for inspiration, and quite honestly salad ideas are the first things I turn to when I get a new cookbook.
yogurt marinated grilled chicken – the nice thing about marinating chicken and then grilling it (or roasting it), is that you get a flavor packed meal, and it makes it’s own sauce. I’ll marinate in yogurt and Indian spices, or Moroccan spices, or Israeli spices. Then I cook it! This goes well with green salad.
baked chicken (or eggs) in tomato sauce – sometimes it’s a creamy tomato sauce, sometimes it’s Marcella’s quick tomato sauce, sometimes it’s a jar of Rao’s. When I want it slightly more exciting, I’ll add a tablespoon of curry powder and finish with a little cream.
Indian carrot salad with ground lamb (or) Vietnamese cucumber and carrot salad with ground beef – the idea here is to use well seasoned ground lamb or beef, to top a crunchy vegetable salad that is loaded with fresh herbs, and dressed with a bright dressing. For the Indian version I season my lamb with a homemade curry powder, and make an acidic dressing with lemon, cumin, ground coriander, and toss with plenty of fresh coriander (cilantro). For the Vietnamese version, I cook the beef with five spice powder, and make a dressing with lime and fish sauce, and top with lots of mint, cilantro, and basil.
chicken sausage and grilled pineapple – sometimes you just want a little sweetness. I’ll grab the chicken sausages with apple (or the Chardonnay ones from Trader Joe’s in a pinch), and then grill them with some pineapple wedges. When I eat this, I rarely make a vegetable, and feel a little bit like a picky three year old. But it’s good!
refried beans, eggs, and tortillas – Sometimes I’ll cook up some ground meat to mix with the beans, and usually I’ll eat mine over some greens instead of with the tortilla. This one has long been a house favorite.
I could keep going, but this list will keep me cooking for a while. What are some of your go-to easy peasy meals?
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 22, 2013 | Challenge, Meal Planning, Seafood
When in doubt, look for the light. I caught the light tonight at the John C. Potter estate right as the sun was starting to set – illuminating the stately mansard roof, and making the house feel magical. Somehow in the past two days nature has gotten the memo – the leaves are already starting to turn bright colors, and well, everything is beginning to look spectacular.
Today I had my first coaching session after a long hiatus – I’m not sure what prompted the shift, but I realized a few months ago that I was missing something, and working with women to help them reach their health goals is something that I really love to do. I always hear coaches and trainers going on about how much they cherish their work, and how much they learn from their clients, but I’d forgotten how true it is: listening to a client be open, honest, and trusting with you is a very special experience – and an incredibly inspiring one.
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The rest of my day was low key and relaxed. I spent a good deal of time cleaning the house, organizing, and tidying. I didn’t need to do much batch cooking today because this week will be full of evening activities and most of my dinners will be solo. My meal plan will be simple: salads, eggs, some chicken are on the docket. Last minute cooking for one is so much easier than last minute cooking for two. My reluctance to cook when tired stems directly from anxiety about the meal not being fulfilling for both of us – but when I’m on my own, I’m happy enough with the simplest of foods: a mess of greens, a tin of sardines, leftovers, poached eggs.
The kitchen did get some use today – first order of business was making a pitcher of green juice to sip on for the next few days. This version has fistfuls of spinach, a large cucumber, the juice of three limes, a few green apples, and some filtered water. Typically you don’t need water with a juicer, but I made this in my Vitamix and you need a little bit of liquid to get things going.
And then there was dinner. Sunday is fish night in this house, and flounder was on sale for $6 off a pound. I grabbed a pound of fillets from the fishmonger, and brought them home with me with plans to make a riff on rollmops – stuffed pickled herring filets that are often served with buttery potatoes. I’m pretty sure that rollmops wouldn’t be appreciated by anyone other than me in this household, but stuffed flounder is another story. I preheated my oven to 400, then I took my fish and stuffed them with Whole Foods feta salsa – a mix of feta, sun dried tomato, parsley, and dill. Then I rolled them up, put them on a bed of pre-steamed baby potatoes (which I had nuked in the microwave for 6 minutes), nestled in a few halved tomatoes, seasoned with salt and pepper, and slicked everything with some olive oil. They baked for 20 minutes, and dinner was served.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 18, 2013 | Challenge, Fitness, Meal Planning, Seafood
Hello! Today was a quiet day, I dropped off Devon at work at 8, and headed over to Trader Joe’s to pick up some food so that I wasn’t lost without options. Newly armed with chicken thighs, broccoli, and several samples, I headed over to Formaggio Kitchen to pick up my cup of George Howell coffee, and an egg salad sandwich on caraway bread for lunch, and made it home in time for my first meeting.
I worked from home today, and it was largely full of meetings, calls, coordination, and follow up work. It was blissfully uneventful… except for a small period of panic as I waited patiently for the iOS 7 release. After several false starts: “Sorry, your phone is too damn full, this program needs 3.1 GB of storage!“, and “Sorry, you’ve waited two hours but Software Update is unavailable at this time, sucker!“, I can finally say that in my hands is the flat design and brand-spankin’ new features we’ve all been waiting for.
Actually, I’m having trouble adjusting. But I just don’t like change.
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If you are only around for the food, warning, fitness rambling ahead! Just go ahead and skip below the fold for my dinner notes.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been missing many weekday CrossFit classes because I haven’t been able to make the commuting work, so a few months ago I decided to commit to Wednesday afternoons to head in for the WOD, and for Olympic Lifting class. Despite my attempts, because of traffic, I was barely making it to the later classes, so a few weeks ago I decided to try working from home on Wednesdays so that I’d avoid the nearly two hour rush hour trip from Boston to Needham. Many folks in my office work from home a few days a week – and unlike at Yahoo, we get things done! – and I feel so fortunate to have such flexibility. Today’s workout was the scheduled Lurong Paleo Challenge workout, and although I’m not competing, I jumped right in with the group.
B. “The Triplet Tester”
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Wall Ball 20/14
Deadlift 115/75
Box Jump 24/20
For this workout, there was an 18 minute cap. I chose the prescribed weights, and the wall balls nearly killed me. I knew going in it would be hard work, but I assumed that I’d get closer to finishing – but… no dice. I made it through the 21 and 18 round with a rough time on the wall balls, and only made it through 12 wall balls of the 15 round. This was *not* my best work, and I kept missing the wall target. But, I do still feel quite sore from the weekend, and I’m not going to beat myself up about it. It felt so good just to be in there working hard.
After the workout, I stayed for Lifting class – we spent an hour warming up, doing drills, and practicing Squat Cleans. I’ve been trying to get back to heavier weights, but I know that I need to commit to the best form possible, even if that means a light bar. I spent most of the hour focusing intently on leaning back, pulling the bar close, and getting my elbows up. I know these classes pay off in the end, but man, is it an exercise in patience!
After the gym I headed back into the city to pick up Devon from work before heading home.
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And then we eat!
When I got home, I was keen on prepping dinner quickly – it was already past 8 when we walked in the door. After 10 minutes at the fish counter debating flounder (on sale) or scallops, the scallops won out. I think it was Adam Roberts’ instagram that got me hungry for them this week, and I knew I wanted to take them home and sear them in butter. Butttttttah.
I took out my stainless steel pan, added a few pats of Kerrygold butter, and let it heat up until it was just starting to foam and brown. The scallops, which were quite large, got seasoned with salt and pepper, and I popped them in the pan and let them sizzle in the bubbling butter. I gave them about three minutes on the first side without so much as poking them, flipped them over, and let them have another two. Afterwards I let them rest on a plate while I reheated some asparagus (leftovers from Devon’s dinner last night at Capitol Grille – I can’t complain, because yesterday I was eating lobster), heated up his small piece of leftover filet mignon, some potatoes, and cooked some pre-steamed fairytale eggplant and cherry tomatoes in the buttery dregs of the pan. After I plated, I sprinkled the eggplant and tomato with some sherry vinegar, and dinner was served!
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And now? Tonight’s episode of Broadchurch. Are you watching it? It’s the newest series to premiere on BBC America – a small seaside town crime series starring the former Doctor, David Tennant, and it’s completely captivating! Are you watching it? Do you have a favorite BBC series?
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 9, 2013 | Local stores, Meal Planning
When was the last time you got yourself a bouquet of flowers? I’m ashamed to say it had been far too long since I’d done so – and flowers really do make me smile every time I walk by them. I picked up this gorgeous bouquet of dahlias last Sunday at Russo’s in Watertown, and they’ve lasted me all week long.
This week, I’ve been following the prompts for Sarah Jenks‘ ‘Live More, Weigh Less Challenge’. As a health coach, I’m particularly fond of following the work of others in the health and wellness space, and Sarah does some really great work changing women’s lives. One of the reasons I went to nutrition school was purely for self-education, and I’ve learned so much not just from my teachers, but from my peers. Nearly a decade into my journey to good health, I feel like there is still so much to learn about myself, so participating in challenges like this is my version of continuing education.
The challenges this week have been utterly joyful, and there’s something very satisfying knowing that you are participating in self-care with a large group of people who are committed to doing the same. We’ve been instructed to buy ourselves flowers, make a luscious green smoothie, hike, and watch the sunset. All of which, I’ve documented on my Instagram if you’d like a peek: @alphaprep – I’d love to connect there. Now, these are all things that I know I should be doing, but sometimes I need a little prompting to put myself first and get out there. Maybe you do too? If so, I’m fairly sure you can jump into the challenge at any time. (And lest this sounds like too much of a shill, I’m not affiliated with Sarah in any way, other than I think she’s great!)
This week I sat down at a new (to me) coffee shop called Fuel to get my meal planning on. I ordered a Cortado (espresso with milk), and a large iced coffee, and got to writing.
Before leaving my house, I took a quick snapshot of the contents of my fridge and freezer to avoid letting produce go to waste, and used leftovers as the basis for this week’s list.
Week of September 9th.
Sunday :: Cast-iron flounder, a mess of kale, and a few potato latkes. Sunday is always fish night around here, and local flounder was on sale. The monkfish also looked delicious, but I haven’t had flounder for a while, and although it’s a mild fish, I always quite enjoy it. The potato latkes – not homemade, but a treat from Trader Joe’s.
Monday :: Cheddar dogs, baked beans, and greens. Cheddar dogs. Yes, not quite health food, but my love loves them, and nostalgia wins out on occasion.
Tuesday :: Taco salad, with cabbage slaw. Typically this is some sort of protein with all the fixins’ of a regular taco. Since I’m craving seafood, we might have fish taco salad. Unless I don’t get to the store, in which case, some sort of ground meat in the freezer from my butcher will win out. We’ll see.
Wednesday :: Vietnamese braised beef brisket. Last week I got a copy of Luke Nguyen’s new cookbook ‘Greater Mekong‘ in the mail, and I’ve been longing for Vietnam – the country is on my top five culinary travel destinations. This recipe is actually out of one of Luke’s older cookbooks, ‘Indochine‘.
Thursday :: Orange pork tenderloin. Or maybe spice-rubbed pork tenderloin. Or pork tenderloin medallions in red curry. Or something else. I have the tenderloin, hopefully the inspiration will come.
Friday and Saturday, I’ll be eating my meals out of a van while I compete in the New Balance Reach The Beach Relay. I’ll be running three legs (about 14 miles, total), of 200 miles with 11 of my coworkers at RunKeeper, and I’m expecting that I’ll have to push myself in ways I’m not prepared for. I’m still trying to figure out how to feed myself on this trip. We’ll see.
And you? What are you eating this week? Also, will you get yourself a bouquet of flowers please, and let me know that you’ve done so? It’ll make me smile!
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 3, 2013 | Blogging, Meal Planning
Why hello there! We’re having a house guest this week, it’s the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and the work week is only four days long. I still felt the need to do a grand cook up this week, and a meal plan, you know, just in case.
Things I prepped tonight, mostly for lunches:
– baked chicken thighs with garlic powder, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted cauliflower with coconut oil, chile powder, salt and pepper
– roasted green beans (in the liquid from the baked chicken…ie: saves a pan!)
– chopped up three bell peppers, and a large cucumber
– pot of chicken broth in the slow cooker all afternoon
– pot of Rancho Gordo white limas
The hands on time for this stuff was less than an hour, and I’ll have lots and lots of options for mix and match meals.
No matter how tired, lazy, or busy I’ll be this week, at least I’ll have a good, healthy lunch.
(FYI: breakfast is pretty much the same every morning except for Friday (cough *Sportello bagel* cough) – a very large iced coffee, and three boiled eggs spaced in intervals from 10, to around noon. Lunch at 2:30. I’m a weirdo, but it works for me.)
We got a brand spankin’ new Breville Juicer in the office on Friday, and I’m dying to take it for a spin – I’m thinking that I might bring in some kale, apple, cucumber and celery just to give her a go.
Monday :: Since this Labor Day Monday was pretty much Sunday – which around here means seafood night – fish was on the menu. Fish cooks up quickly, and I always commit to eating it the night of purchasing it so that it’s as fresh as can be. This week crab-stuffed flounder was on sale at Whole Foods, so I got one for each of us, and served it with a heaping portion of asparagus, tossed in shallot oil and roasted, and some fresh tomatoes slices.
Tuesday :: Chicken sausage, roasted baby potatoes, garlicky kale, salad with tomato and avocado.
Wednesday :: Rosh Hashanah dinner! I’m not sure what’s on the menu, but I can pretty much be sure that there will be some homemade chicken soup, some gefilte fish slathered with horseradish, tsimmes (braised beef, carrots, and sweet potato), potato pancake, and my mom is making carrot cake.
Thursday :: Vietnamese Bun bowls and/or goat stew. I have goat meat, but I’m not 100% sure that guest (a former vegetarian) will be able to deal with the goat. In which case it’ll have to wait until next week!
Friday :: Out.
The weekend? Not sure yet! I know, I know.. what good is a plan when you only have a few days squared away? Wait, no, it’s better than no plan at all. This’ll largely depend on what we decide to do for the weekend…
What are you eating this week?
