Jaakko's Oat Power Cookies.

Here's a guest post from out Favorite Finnish triathlete, Jaakko Hiekkarana. He races and trains in some pretty harsh conditions but has more dedication and desire than most. I am trying to get him out to California for a training camp... and to introduce him to some of the ladies!

Here's the recipe straight from Jaakko in Finland (check out original post on his blog):

G'day!

Ok here's a quick recipe for making your own powercookies. These are great for snacks, training nutrition or in-hurry breakfast with some fruit to go with.

ingredients for 15 cookies:

- 7-8dl oats
- 2 tbls sugar-free cocoa powder
- 1 scoop whey protein
- 1 egg
- 2dl water

Mix all of the above in a bowl. Preheat the oven to 225C. Shape the mass in to cookies on a sheet. Put it in to the oven for 7-8 minutes and Voilà! Delicious, energious, healthy, easy and cheap. You can add sugar if you want more sweetness but that'd somewhat lessen the health-factor.

Mexican Chicken and Veggie Stoup

That's right I said "stoup"... lame. I'm a kook. As much as I think Rachel Ray is annoying I don't think there anything else to call this. It heartier than a soup, but not as this as stew. So there you have it.... Stoup(id)

Beth and I recently bought a crock pot and this was my second attempt at using it. My first attempt came out OK. It was a Chicken and Veggie soup. A slow cooker/crock pot is perfect for us with how busy we are. Just throw all the ingredients in the pot before we leave the house in the morning, set it low... and BAM... dinner is ready and waiting after a long day of work and training. No cooking.

Like I said, my first concoction came out just OK. I made a couple of bad vegetable choice (broccoli & Brussels sprouts) that did not hold up well in the slow cooking process. The rest of the veggies (carrots, sweet potato, celery, onion) and the chicken came out well, but the bad veggies kind of killed it.

So this time I was a little smarter and decided to mexi-fy (sweet word... I'm sure it's in the dictionary) it. So here's the recipe.

1 sweet potato, rough chopped
6 celery stalks, rough chopped
1 Huge sweet onion, rough chopped
2 parsnips. rough chopped
4 large carrots, rough chopped
4 small red potatoes, quartered
3 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, slliced
2 basil leaves
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can smoked, diced green chilies
6 cups of chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste.

I chopped all the veggies and chicken up the night before so the morning was easy. All of this was thrown into the crock pot in the morning after getting off the bike and heading out the door to work. I set it on low for 7 hours and once the cooking time expires it switches to "keep warm" mode for up to 4 more hours. Perfect.

Beth and I both ran with the lululemon run and when we got home dinner was already ready already. sweet.

I topped it with organic, baked yellow corn tortilla chips, avocado, hot sauce, and some sour cream.

It was good and hit the spot.... but still not great. There was something missing. I could have seasoned it a little better. Maybe some cumin or chili powder, ot added some stewed tomatoes... not sure. Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Next week I'll give the crock pot another go. This time I am thinking beef stew.... or come kind of seafood stew.... or carnitas. We'll see.

8oz Burger Bar

This will be the first resaurant review here on Vo2 Maxxed. It's something I have been meaning to do for quite some time just never have. So here it goes.

It's now secret that I am huge fan of Mexican food, and in particular, healthy burritos usually filled with grilled fish and veggies... and plenty of guac. A close second for me is a good burger. When I say a good burger I mean quality meat (it can be chicken or turkey too) and these I am always on the lookout for grass-fed/organic options.

This weekend I was up in Los Angeles hanging out with my sister and I was looking for new restaurant to try. She first suggest Tart, which looks good, but I wanted an epic burger. So I discovered 8oz Burger Bar and all it took was one look at the menu and I was in... and what sealed the deal it that they have Green Flash West Coast IPA on draft. I just posted on my beer blog a couple of weeks ago that this could be my new favorite beer. So I was stoked.

Green Flash West Coast IPA


The menu is simple. You basically just pick your burger and then can pick from a bunch of killer toppings. I ordered their signature "8oz" and my sister ordered the "Melrose".

Here's the description of the burgers from the site:

"The 8oz" signature burther, as well as the "Melrose", are made using only humanly raised, hormone-free Blank Angus sirloin, short rib, and chuck. Meat is ground in-house then aged in a Himalayan salt-tiled meat locker before being grilled on live oak.

I got mine with lettuce, pickle, 80z special sauce, and balsamic grilled red onions. I also got a side of their sweet potato chips and heirloom tomato ketchup.

My sister got her "Melrose" as is which comes with wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes, and red onion marmalade with a side of roasted baby broccoli.

The crazy cocktail my sister got.


Our food was awesome. It's definitely one the best burgers I have ever had... if the not the best. I can't wait to go back and try some more of their epic food and beers.

Blue corn encrusted Mahi Mahi

This was a bit of an experiment. Last week I pan fried some breaded Tilapia fillets and they came out great. Since those came out so well I want to try another "crust" and make if more of a Mexican meal.


So I breaded Mahi Mahi with baked blue corn tortillas.



Step 1: Making the "crust"

Baked chips in food processor with a couple tablespoons of Panko bread crumbs. In the mix I also added some cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.

Breading the fish. Simple. I beat one egg and put the chip mixture on a plate. I just dipped the fish in the egg, shook of the the extra, and pressed in the chip mix to cover.




Cooking the fish. Heat a pan over medium heat and throw them in. Cook them until they are done. About 4 min a side.




To go along with the fish I made a healthy tartar sauce.

1 cup fage greek yogurt
2 tbsp lite mayo
2 tbsp lite sour cream
1 tbsp diced capers
2 tbsp dill relish
juice of half of a lemon
salt & pepper to taste
Tapatio (mexian hot sauce) to taste


All of it came out really good. I topped it with some southwest salsa and had some steamed veggies on the side.

Chicken & Veggie Tortilla Soup - Perfected!

First of all... as always... we have been slacking on the food blog front. But we now have some new motivation. Our friend Ryan and his girlfriend Angie just started a killer new blog: Primal Fusion. They are already making us look bad and have posted some really good stuff. Check it out.

For my birthday dinner Beth cooked me one of my favorite meals... Chicken Tortilla Soup. She has made it for me a handful of times and each time it's been a bit different, but always very good. We order chicken tortilla soup when we go out to eat to try find the right combo of spice, veggies, and chicken with out it being to heavy (creamy).

El Caribe probably has our favorite version so we have been wanting to duplicate it.... and even make it better. Well... Beth nailed and made me hands down the best Chicken and Veggie Tortilla soup I have ever had. It was probably the best soup I have ever had.

Beth doing work in her new killer sweat suit.


Here's how it went down.

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with jalepeno's
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 2 celery stocks, chopped
  
• 2 large carrots, sliced
  
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Everything but the chicken was cooked in one pot. Just chuck all the veggies in the pot and let them cook a bit and then add the Chicken broth. After the vegetables are almost done throw in the chicken. We used organic, free-range chicken breast from traders that we steamed in steamer bags and the she shredded it. They came out perfect.

Once the chicken is shredded throw it in the pot and let if cook for a while so everything is cooked through. Turn down the heat and let all the flavor combine.


I was responsible for making the guac.

• 2 avocados
• 1 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
• juice of one lime
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 small heirloom tomatoes, diced
  
• 2 tbsp of greek yogurt (makes is creamy and works well in the soup)

For the tortillas we used our favorite corn tortillas from La Fe. The La Fe Tortilla Factory is local and they make killer tortillas with very few ingredients. All the package lists are corn, water, lime juice, and salt. You can't beat that. We put the tortillas in the toaster oven to get them crispy and then broke them up into chips of the soup... and some extra for the guacamole.

That's it. It was awesome.

Blythe's holiday turkey burgers

CRANBERRY-FETA TURKEY BIRGERS

'Tis the season to put a holiday twist on everything. Up in San Francisco this weekend, Blythe put together a fantastic pre-party dinner of cranberry & feta turkey burgers on whole grain buns, organic green salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado, and oven-baked sweet potato fries. I had to post about this one because the turkey burgers were genius- why didn't I think of that?!?! Here's the pre-cooked burgers (i think we had too mcuh wine beofre we actually ate the meal to remember to take a picture of the finished product with all the fixins :)

For 8 good size burgers use:

2 packages lean or extra lean ground turkey (Blythe mixed one extra lean (99% fat free) with one lean (93% fat free)- perfect! )

3/4 cup dried cranberries (just throw in a couple handfuls)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mix 'em together and grill 'em up- about 8 minutes per side. These were PERFECT as is, but james and I were just talking and thinking they could be spiced up even more with chopped celery and onions (kind of like turkey stuffing burgers) or some spices (sage or rosemary?) would both go well.

Serve with oven-baked sweet potato fries of course!

and a picture with the cook!

Matisse & Jacks Cranberry Pumpkin Power Snacks

Just in time for the holidays... a healthy bar. Perfect for your pre-Thanksgiving day ride or run... or a good way to sneak a healthy snack on to the table during the holidays.


Last week before the 12 hour mountain bike race I baked 5 batches of Matisse & Jacks bars and tried a little something different with each one. The one that turned out the best and the ones that got eaten the fastest were the Chocolate Chip Power Snacks that I added Pumpkin and Agave Nectar too.

So last night I made another batch, but this time I used the Cranberry power snacks to make it more of a Holiday/Thanksgiving bar. Here's the recipe... super simple. I think it took about 5 minutes to mix up and get in the oven.

1 box of Matisse & Jack Cranberry Power Snacks
1 heaping cup of pumpkin (all natural)
2 tbsp of Agave Nectar (i put in the microwave for 15 seconds before mixing it in.
4 tbsp water
Pumpkin Spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice) to taste

Put it in an 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. When it's done let it cool for 20-30 minutes before ripping into them.