The Importance of Being Healthy

It’s Monday and I think you and I should have a little talk.
No food or recipes to share on this post, just a talk among friends.
“About what?” You may ask.
About being healthy.
Because it says right there on the blog’s header “The Iron You | Eat Well. Exercise more. Become A Healthier You”, hence we should talk about it, at least sometimes…

12 Chia Seed Recipes

Chia seeds have gotten a lot of hype this past few years as the new superfood — a long way from chia seed pet that you water and puffs up into some grass poodle.
I don’t think it’s a fad to go away though; because I don’t think it’s a fad anymore.
Actually I would go as far as saying they’re mainstream now, or at least on the way of becoming mainstream.

Shawarma Chicken Quesadillas

Do you clean up as you cook or wait until you're done?
Personally, I try to clean up as I go so I'm not left with a huge mess. I can't stand to face a chaotic jumble, plus my grandma said a good cook keeps a clean kitchen — and grandma was always right.
Not to mention that I loathe the idea of sitting down to a meal knowing that I left the kitchen a mess. It just takes the life out of me.
I have to be honest though, it’s still a task I'm trying to perfect — ideally I would like to have someone on retainer who cleans while I cook. But that’s not going to happen in the short term
(and probably not in the long term either) so I try to put my best efforts to clean up as I go.

The thing I do is to gradually put each utensil or dish in the dishwasher and put away ingredients as I use them.
It takes almost no time at all, and while I cook I have a fair amount of time waiting on things to get done anyway.
At the end of the lunch/dinner, I simply store any leftovers and put plates/cutlery/glasses in the dishwasher. Said and done.

Mango Spinach Chia Smoothie

One of the things I can tell you about me is that I'm clearly not a morning person.
I've got a friend who's a badass morning person. As soon as he opens his eyes he’s like BING! Awake and ready to go.
I’m not like that, at all.
It’s not laziness. Some people just work on a different cycle. I don't like waking up, I don’t like mornings. That’s it.
Even when I wake up at 6am to go for a morning run: my legs might be moving, but I’m still dozing off.

Spinach and Cheddar Egg Muffins

So this was lunch today.
I was going to save some for tomorrow — it didn’t happen.
It was too good for me to resist.
Now, if I could just figure out what to make for tomorrow's lunch.
You know what? Maybe I’ll make another batch of these Spinach and Cheddar Egg Muffins.
They’re so good. They’re so simple. They’re so easy.
And simple is good, quick is good, easy is...awesome.
Especially when you’re pressed for time. And we're all pressed for time. So yeah...

Indian Flavored Pounded Chicken

One the things I like most about cooking is learning new cooking techniques and trying new cooking methods.
I always find it fascinating. I’m like “Whoa this is genius, I should have thought of it myself!”
Take a chicken breast for instance, how many ways can you cook it?
Well, you can boil it (blah!), broil it, bake it, fry it, slow-cook it, grill it, smoke it, even burn it
OR
you can butterfly the breast and pound the meat thin (so thin it looks like a chicken pizza), season it, and briefly cook it over high heat.
After just 2 minutes in a hot pan, you have a crazy tender, deliciously thin chicken breast that is so succulent and juicy I can say without fear it’s one of the most great tasting piece of chicken I had in a long time.

Homemade (Paleo) Mayonnaise

You certainly don’t need me to tell you how to make mayonnaise.
You might need me to tell you how to make Homemade Sriracha or Homemade Ketchup, and tell you not to go to a chinese place to pick up a food delivery order you placed online: "I had a delivery" "Why are you here, then?" [DUMB]
Mayonnaise though...I’m sure you can handle that on your own.
Maybe I just need to remind myself how to make mayonnaise. And that mayo is a simple emulsion made of just oil, egg yolks and either vinegar or lemon juice. There’s no place for water, HFCS, sugar, modified corn starch, dried eggs, CALCIUM DISODIUM ETA (ugh!), natural flavors, etc.
Not mention that homemade mayo tastes well...like real mayo and that it’s so delicious.
Homemade mayonnaise is an entirely different species when compared to store-bought mayo. Creamy, rich, flavorful, so quick and easy to make - it literally takes 1 minute.

Garlic Butter Zoodles with Herbs

I’m the kind of person who’s terribly suspicious of people that don’t like garlic.
I don’t really mistrust them, but it certainly raises questions as to whether they’re vampires or not.
Plus I have found that the people I’m closest to do love garlic as much as I do.
Like there’s some sort of kinship among garlic lovers. We love garlic taste and we’re not bothered by the bad breath/odor: HA!
Seriously though, people that appreciate garlic fries, garlic breadsticks, bruschetta, garlic mashed potatoes, garlic steak, or garlic shrimp know what’s what. Those who don’t, well…they’re missing out on something IMO.
And I’m not even mentioning how healthy garlic is; it’s like the superfood of superfoods.

Garlic Thyme Potatoes Anna

So you’re probably thinking: Potatoes again? Really?
Like I posted a recipe for potatoes two weeks ago for heaven’s sake, and here we are again.
I don’t know what to say to you guys, it’s just that lately I’ve been craving potatoes like crazy.
It’s literally all I want to eat.
Baked, plain, mashed, in soups, skillets, whatever.
It’s kind of weird.

Cauliflower Crust Hamburgers

I have to give full credit to Alan for this idea.
He’s so THE man — not only he "invented" this cauliflower crust hamburger but he's a triathlete and he's training for the Ironman too. Hello?
Basically Alan took my recipe for cauliflower crust grilled cheese and made it into a burger.
When he first posted it two weeks ago on Instagram I was like “Whooooooa, that’s awesome!”