meals

Four Munros and a Marathon: week 3

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 5 Comments

This September and October, I’ll be running two tough races, three weeks apart: the inaugural Ring of Steall Skyrace and the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon. Every week, I’ll be reflecting on my training – what worked, what didn’t, changes made, fueling, diet, sleep, etc.

What I learned this week:

  • One of the reasons the Ring of Steall has a huge elevation gain (8200 feet or 2500 m) in so little distance (16 miles or 25km) is that it starts, and finishes, at sea level. There is a sea loch at Kinlochleven, the site of the race start/finish. This means, that rather than the usual inland ascent of say 2000 feet (which is still a lot but doable), we’re climbing from the very bottom to the very top of a munro, immediately. That’s over 3000 feet. Good thing I’m still in the early phases of training.
  • Take more clothes on long trail runs because you never know what Mother Nature will throw at you!
  • My fitness is much better than it was a few months ago. This training is paying off big time.
  • Never drink alcohol, even a small amount, the day of a long trail run. You’ll find out why!

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{WIAW} 70.3 weekend

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 6 Comments

It’s What I Ate Wednesday, where I show you all the paleo-primal food I eat in a day. This past weekend was Pat’s big triathlon, and we were on the road, so today’s post will show you how we do primal, on the road and for races. No link ups, no ‘blog parties,’ just real food. And racing.

Pat was competing in his first 70.3 triathlon, a half ironman distance, although not put on by Ironman. It was the Aberfeldy Middle Distance triathlon, which was also the Scottish National Middle Distance Championships.

Race weekend actually began Saturday, the day before the race, at home. Pat wanted his pre-race meals to be the same as what he would eat at home, so we took our own food for Saturday night’s dinner, and breakfast and lunch Sunday.This involved some cooking of chicken breast, boiling of organic white potatoes from our garden, making of multiple salads, and packing all sorts of primal essentials, like supplements, our espresso maker, coconut oil and my xylitol, (because I like sweet coffee). All non-perishables were packed in a cooler with ice packs. We then hit the road to Aberfeldy, in the middle of Scotland.

When we arrived, Pat picked up his race pack, and we attended the mandatory pre-race briefing. I was effectively Pat’s ‘sherpa’ wife for the weekend, and went to the race briefing as an extra set of ears, just in case. Then, it was off to our B & B for pre-packed dinners and an early bed. I went for an 8 mile run around the B & B, which coincidentally was also part of the half marathon route the following morning. When I got back, I ate a salad of chicken breast (seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic granules and paprika), with organic Swiss Chard from our garden, cucumber, tomato, snap peas, pepper and avocado; tossed in Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar.

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I also enjoyed a delicious, but melted, fat bomb. And a cup of peppermint tea. Both not pictured.

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What I Ate THIS Wednesday

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 10 Comments

Confession: Sometimes when I write a What I Ate Wednesday post, the photos aren’t what I ate that specific day. Today, is different. Today, my post is actually everything I’ve eaten on this day, to give you a clear idea of my primal food choices. I believe this is important; people need to see different food options are always out there.

*hint: click on the links for some delicious paleo, primal, keto and Whole30 compliant recipes.

Breakfast

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{WIAW} Eating in Berlin

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 5 Comments

If you didn’t already know, last week I was in Berlin. And, if you didn’t know already, Berlin is my favourite city in the world. One of the reasons I love it so much is the abundance of amazing, ethnic, diverse, and fresh food options that I just can’t get in my corner of Scotland. Don’t get me wrong, I love live in farm country Aberdeenshire, nestled between the North Sea and the Grampians, but there’s just a major lack of different food options where I live.

With that, let’s dive into my Berlin trip food allstars for this week’s edition of What I Ate Wednesday 🙂

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Thanks to Meghan at Clean Eats, Fast Feets and Jen at Peas and Crayons for hosting!

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{Recipe} Asian Cauliflower Rice + giveaway winner

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 5 Comments

Welcome to Recipe Week at Eat Primal, Run Hard! This week, I’m posting all the recipes that have been accumulating in my head and phone photo gallery. This week, you will have more primal options to add to your arsenal!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that my daily breakfast always includes one egg + vegetables. Sometimes, this has been in the form of my Whenever Quiche; other times it’s been stewed Italian vegetables + a fried egg. Lately, I’ve been making a vegetable dish that’s more Asian-inspired, one that’s reminiscent of my childhood. You see, when I was growing up, my mom made plenty of stir-fries. Apparently, the first time I tried a stir-fry, made with tofu, I loved it so much I took the bowl it was in and tipped it over my head, to get every last bite. Although I don’t make stir-fries nearly as often – basically because I forget – when I do, it always reminds me of my childhood.

This specific Cauliflower Rice recipe is part stir-fry, part Asian and a whole lotta delicious! It’s very quick and versatile: it can be eaten hot or cold, and as part of every meal, and can be made with all sorts of vegetables. Add a protein to it, and it is a meal! This is also another fantastic way to get in your veggies at every meal. As some paleo people say ‘More veggies than a vegetarian!’

This dish is also one that is great to make for a weekend meal prep. I make us a huge batch: I eat it as part of my breakfast, while Pat eats it after work, with some protein of his choice. It only lasts four days in our house, not because it goes bad quickly, but because we eat it up!

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Said breakfast, mixed with scrambled egg

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{WIAW} New Primal Eats and Treats

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 14 Comments

Hello food gawkers, and welcome to What I Ate Wednesday, the weekly potluck blog party where bloggers from all over snap photos of their food to show the world what they eat. This is also a way for you readers to see what I eat in a day, and get some new recipe ideas.

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Thanks to Arman for hosting this week!

Breakfast

Same old, same old… but not. I still stuck to my usual egg + vegetables, but this week, I decided my vegetables would take the form of cauliflower rice with Asian flavours.
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This is basically a paleo fried cauliflower rice, with added vegetables and scrambled egg, all tossed in a nutty Satay sauce. I was sick of the Italian-inspired stewed veg, and wanted something different. This was so good and hit the spot. When life stops being so hectic, I will post this recipe.
I also had my two Old Faithfuls: a bowl of 3 fruits and coconut cream, topped with a Nutter Bomb. I know, I post this every WIAW, but I never get tired of it!
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My other Old Faithful? You guessed it: bulletproof espresso, made with 2 shots espresso, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp butter and xylitol for sweetness.
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Lunch
Spring is kinda here in Scotland, because spring = cold temperatures, blowing wind and rain, right? 😉
As a result of not so cold temperatures, I’ve started eating salads almost daily again. Today’s salad consisted of spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions (green onions), and avocado, topped with Nom Nom Paleo’s Mint Chimichurri sauce (recipe only in the cookbook!), a new recipe I made this past weekend. WOW is all I can say! That stuff takes delicious to another level. My salad was topped with leftover roasted chicken breast.
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For (my daily) dessert, I had a fat bomb made by Pat the husband, and a very large cup of Match Green Tea.
Lately, after school, I’ve been having a cheeky snack of one or two Medjool dates dipped in either almond butter, or my new treat find: Whole Earth peanut butter with sunflower, pumpkin and flax seeds. What a great discovery at Tesco! The ingredients are literally peanuts, the mentioned seeds, palm oil and sea salt. ALL primal ingredients. The combination of date + nutter butter is like a chocolate bar minus the sickly chocolate. Honestly, it’s amazing.
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Not pictured was a small bowl of homemade vegetable soup, which was eaten before heading out to running club at 7pm because I was hungry. If I wasn’t running, I wouldn’t have eaten that snack.
Dinner
Every week, as part of our meal prep, Pat makes us a homemade curry. He loves the stuff as a result of backpacking in India in his early adult years; I love that all the ingredients to the pastes and curries themselves are all primal. And that Pat makes it.
This week’s curry was Lamb Rogan Josh with cauliflower and added wilted spinach, served with a heaping spoonful of tumeric rice because we’re #teamwhiterice.
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This was eaten after 9pm, when I got home from running. A great meal to restock glycogen stores after 6 miles of long, hilly intervals…
My night cap was a large cup of Three Mint tea.
What’s your favourite curry?
What did you eat today?
What treats have you discovered at your grocery store lately?
Don’t forget to enter my Spartan Race entry giveaway! The winner will be announced Monday!
*I’m aware of the awkward formatting in this post. I’m fairly certain I know how it happened, just don’t know how to fix it.

{WIAW} Eggcellent Primal Eats

/ Danielle @ Eat Primal, Run Hard / 2 Comments

As a primal eater, a question I often get asked from many non-primal people is “But what do you eat?????”

What I Ate Wednesday posts are a way to answer that question and to be completely transparent with my meals. It’s also a resource for new meal ideas!

The answer to that question is eggs…. judging by today’s post 😉

Breakfast was my usual:

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A bulletproof espresso, made of 2 shots of Lavazza espresso, 2 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp butter and a heaped tsp of xylitol to sweeten it. Have you tried the goodness that is a bulletproof coffee? This is what I get up for in the morning!

One egg fried over hard in butter, with salt and pepper. Served with stewed vegetables, (I will post the recipe soon enough).

I cut up my egg and mix it all together because this – besides scrambling eggs – is about the only way I’ll eat the yoke too. I just don’t like the consistency of egg yoke at all, but I know it’s a nutritional powerhouse, cholesterol included. Eggs aren’t nicknamed ‘Nature’s multivitamin’ for nothing!

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No breakfast is complete without a bowl of three fruits (mango, kiwi, plum) with coconut cream and a crumbled Nutter bomb. I will never tire of this. Ever.

20150506_072103 (2)Lunch consisted of more eggy goodness:

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A 2-egg omelette with mushrooms, kale, red pepper and green onion. Served with fried, sliced prosciutto on top! A bit protein heavy, but totally hit the spot and kept me satisfied.

Dinner was oven-baked chicken leg and thigh, cooked in ghee and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. I also baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and peppers in the same seasoning. We had steamed broccoli on the side.

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Dessert was a bowl of sliced strawberries, more coconut cream and some stewed rhubarb I made, flavoured with vanilla and orange. It was so. good.

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