Instant Pot Mexican Casserole

If you need another reason to break out your Instant Pot (or take the leap to purchasing one), it may just be this easy, flavorful, and filling Mexican casserole! This Instant Pot casserole makes a complete meal (including carbohydrate, protein, and fat) all in one pot for quick clean up. The leftovers reheat well too. Add this dish to your meal plan as a Mexican themed dinner night and enjoy!

Instant Pot Mexican Casserole
By Joey Mock, RD, LD, CLT

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken (or turkey) breast
• ½ small red onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large orange or red bell pepper, sliced into ¼ inch strips and quartered
• 1 large yellow bell pepper, sliced into ¼ inch strips and quartered
• 1, 15-ounce can low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen and thawed, or drained from a can)
• ½ teaspoon chili powder (can add up to 2 teaspoons for additional spice)
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1, ~15-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes in their juices
• 2 cups of your favorite salsa
• 1 cup uncooked long grain brown rice (NO INSTANT rice), rinsed
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided

For serving: chopped fresh cilantro, diced avocado, chopped green onion, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (optional)

Preparation

1. Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, chicken, and salt. Cook and stir, breaking up the chicken as you go, until the meat is no longer pink. Add the bell peppers, black beans, corn, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Stir to combine making sure to scrape up any stuck on bits of food on the bottom of the pot.
2. Pour in the diced tomatoes in their juices and salsa. Spread on top but do not stir. Add the brown rice and once again do not stir. Add the water. With the back of a spoon, gently push the rice down and spread it evenly so that it is submerged in liquid.
3. Cover and seal the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure (manual) for 20 minutes (it takes about 15 minutes for the pot to come up to pressure before the cooking time begins). Once cooking is complete, allow the pressure to release naturally for 20 minutes and then vent to release any remaining pressure. Remove the lid and stir. Taste and adjust any seasonings as desired.
4. Stir in 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Keep the Instant Pot on warm and put the lid back on the pot (no need to seal-just make sure it is resting on top). Let rest about 10 additional minutes to allow the cheese to melt and more of the liquid to absorb. Serve hot with any optional toppings.
5. Enjoy!

Adapted from: Well Plated recipe.

Broccoli and cheese spaghetti squash casserole

In my last blog post, I talked about the importance of meal planning for athletes with a few of my helpful meal prep tips.
It's important that you do not overwhelm yourself with food prep and meal planning but instead, make the effort to plan ahead instead of always making it an afterthought.

Sometimes good intentions backfire when you try to do too much at once or have this vision of "healthy eating" that isn't practical for you right now in your nutritional journey.

Every athlete is going to have a unique starting point when it comes to meal prepping.

Perhaps you are trying to move away from always having an English muffin, egg, piece of ham and chips for dinner or you trying to break a habit of always having pasta or fast food, or eating out or a frozen meal for dinner most nights per week.

Or maybe you are in a meal prep rut and need to challenge yourself with a more complicated meal or recipe as you have been resorting to quick and easy, despite having the time, passion and energy for cooking.

With so many food blogs, magazines and articles promoting recipes, sometimes looking at perfect food pictures, a list of ingredients and many steps can be overwhelming for some athletes and it can actually take the fun away from creating a meal that you will eventually yum over.

Sometimes cooking is like a hard workout. It looks daunting at first and you assume you will fail (or you don't have the energy or time for it) but when you give an effort and the process is over, you are not only happy that you did it but you feel really great about what you accomplished.

For myself, I like to plan and prep meals that are quick and easy for me but perhaps for someone else, my meals may look complicated and time-consuming.

 When considering what you will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if you are new to meal prepping and planning meals, don't overwhelm yourself with extremely detailed recipes or dishes that require lots of steps or extended cooking time every night of the week.

Healthy eating is much easier to accomplish when you shop, plan and prepare ahead of time.

What you make is up to you!

 Broccoli and cheese spaghetti squash casserole

Cooking time: 10 min to prep, 25-60 min to cook

Ingredients 

1 spaghetti squash (a 7-9 inch squash should feed 2 but buy bigger if you want leftovers)
Marinara sauce
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
2 heads of broccoli
Cheese - sharp or cheddar (I use Cabot)
Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Salt/pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450°F

2. Cut squash length-wise and place cut-side down on baking sheet (sprayed with non stick spray) for 40-50 minutes. (You can also cook in microwave in 15 minutes.).
3. Steam broccoli on stove top in large pot (stems removed).
4. Use a fork to remove the seeds.
5. Drizzle olive oil (a few tsp) on bottom of a casserole dish to lightly cover.
6. Scrape squash from the shell and place into the casserole dish. (this is fun, have your kids help!)
7. Add chopped garlic, a pinch of salt/pepper and about 1/2-3/4 cup marinara sauce to cover the squash. Mix together with your fork until evenly combined. OK to add more sauce to your liking.
8. Add steamed broccoli and mix together in dish. Broccoli will fall apart but OK to leave some chunks of broccoli.
9. Top with a little Parmesan to lightly cover the top of the broccoli/squash mixture and then sprinkle on a little shredded cheese.
10. Place casserole dish on lower rack (in oven) and bake for 10-15 minutes.
Best if served warm.

Serve with your choice of protein (chicken, beef, tempeh, tofu).

I hope you yum as loud as we did!

No more excuses - meal planning

Sitting down to a home-cooked meal in the evening is not an everyday occurrence for many people in our society for a variety of reasons; being too tired or hungry, wanting something easy, needing something quick and convenient, feeling too busy, not knowing what to eat or not liking to cook.

As an athlete, you already have so much to squeeze into the day that it’s easy to see why dinner may be an afterthought, especially if you have been up since 5am or you are finishing an evening workout around 6:30 or 7pm. 

But, that's not a good excuse. 

Let's get serious...
You aren't too busy to train so it's all about priorities when you say you are too busy to cook. 

As an athlete myself, I can empathize with how overwhelming it can be to plan nutritious meals, every day of the week and still squeeze in workouts. And this is in addition to work, family and everything else on a never-ending to-do list. 

I realize that I do not share many of my meal creations on this blog but I have to be honest with you, I'm passionate about healthy eating and I love sharing my food pics but my job is not a food blogger. And I also don't like to measure food and make my meals precise for you to replicate.

I am a board certified sport dietitian who spends all day helping athletes maximize performance by personally addressing and tweaking lifestyle, nutrition and sport nutrition limiters.

I regularly share my food pics on Facebook with the hope that you can be inspired to prepare healthy and satisfying home-cooked meals that will work for your active lifestyle but I never want you to feel overwhelmed when it comes to food shopping and food prepping.
There are hundreds and hundreds of food bloggers with amazing pictures, stories and recipes of food.
You should have no problem finding recipes that will work for you...but the key is making the time to actually prep and cook those meals. 

As far as I know, athletes love having a plan to follow so if it works for you to have a training plan, consider a meal plan to guide you in a successful week of eating. 

There’s no need to be obsessed with food as you need to let food enhance your life, not control your life. And there is nothing wrong with the occasional off day of eating. 

I actually feel that allowing yourself an "of" day (ex. breakfast for dinner, yogurt, granola and fruit for lunch, PB & J and a smoothie for breakfast, etc.) can actually keep you on track for healthy eating the rest of the week. It's kinda like a vacation from "typical" eating.  

Above all, you should love to eat and your meals should work for your health, body composition and performance goals. 

Place a similar amount of passion, effort and enthusiasm into your daily diet (and fueling regime) so that you can experience the rewards of having a healthy, nourished and well-fueled body. 

Here are a few of my meal planning tips that will work for your busy lifestyle. 
But in order to make them work.....
 make an effort, not excuses. 

1. Prepare meals on the weekend and always plan for leftovers. A little meal prep goes a long way. Dice, chop, wash, cook — do as much as you can when you have the time so you at least have options for a upcoming meal. Don't overwhelm yourself. Plan for 2-3 days and then do a light meal prep to last you the rest of the week.

2. Prep a meal before a workout.
You don’t want to finish your workout hungry with no patience to meal prep. Prepare as much as you can before working out. This is a game changer. You won't believe how your food choices will change (and how less complicated "healthy" eating can be) when you know that a meal is prepared before you workout. More often than not, if you finish a workout hungry, you will almost always go for what's quick and easy and not always healthy or performance enhancing and find an excuse or reason to eat it (even though you know you should be eating something healthier.)

3. Have a menu for the week.
Knowing what you will eat for dinner (and breakfast, lunch and snacks) will ensure you have those items available. No need to make this menu extravagant, just make a plan. Theme meals or staple meals work really well, especially when you are getting started with this habit.

4. Allow yourself one night a week to get a little help from a pre-made or semi-homemade meal.
Sure, you could dine-out but let's be honest, eating out takes time and it's expensive...you have to wait for food, eat and pay and travel to and from the restaurant. Consider getting help once a week (Wed or Thurs) from a salad bar, pre-made meal option from the grocery, pick-up/take-out healthy item or making something super easy and semi-homemade. Make sure this meal works for you as your meals should never make you feel guilty or should negatively affect your next days workout. 

5. Use your time wisely
Think about your entire day (M-F) - when do you have the most free time? And by free time, this means watching TV or spending time on your smart phone/computer at home. Could you make more time in your day?
Hopefully, there are times when you are home and you can find 10 to 30 minutes in the early morning, when you get home from work or in the evening that you can do some cooking or prepping. Oftentimes, the cooking and meal prep is an afterthought and athletes get busy doing something else or feel too exhausted and hungry to do anything but sit.....and eat something convenient.

As an athlete, food should be high on your to-do list. This means eating, cooking and planning. 

You know how important consistency is with training and you love the results when you follow your training plan.
Put that same focus and attention on your eating habits as you do with your training and you will find yourself doing amazing things your healthy, well fueled and nourished body. 

Eggplant and tofu lasagna

My body has not disappointed me in a long time and that is a great thing because I live a super busy and active lifestyle and I need my body ever single minute of every single day.

I have always told my body that we make a great team because if I don't take care of it, it will not take care of me. 

Just like so many of you all, I have a lot to balance in life. My priorities rarely change for triathlons are my lifestyle, not my life. Triathlons do not pay the bills but I do feel that because of triathlons I have become much more mentally and physically stronger in life and thus I am a better person because of what I have learned from calling myself a triathlete.

Thankfully, my body has performed beautifully over the past two months since I started my 2014 tri season and I am just so excited to use my trained body when it is time for our race-cations this year. 

With our 2014 Trimarni Triathlon Endurance Training Camp taking place in Clermont FL on Feb 28-March 2nd, we have had a lot on our plate lately, alongside Karel staying super busy with RETUL bike fits, our coaching business and me helping athletes and fitness enthusiasts reach personal fitness/performance/health goals.

With a busy life, I must keep myself in optimal health all the time. Sleep, stress management and daily movement are critical to functioning well in life but my passion for a real food diet never gets pushed to the side because I am too busy to cook.
Additionally, because I choose to train my body for performance, it is even more vital that I nourish my body so that I can live with a healthy immune system. 

Oh how I love my oven and stove top!
The oven is perfect for busy days. The key, however, is to make sure you don't find yourself too busy that you forget to start your meal so that it has time to cook. 

This meal is perfect to prep in the morning, afternoon or evening (or even for the next day). In less than 30 minutes, you have a delicious, heart healthy and satisfying meal that will make you want to slow down and enjoy this meal....at a table, with a fork and yumming with every bite.  

Eggplant and tofu lasagna

Squash slices
Purple Onions sliced
Eggplant slices
Marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. In large casserole dish, lightly cover with marinara sauce. 

3. Add thin (about thumbnail size) slices of eggplant to cover bottom of the dish on top of marinara (do not overlap), the top with sliced squash and chopped onions. 

Mushrooms sliced
Jasmine rice (or your choice of rice/grain) - about 1 cup cooked

4. Top with mushrooms and rice. 

Firm tofu - crumbled
Marinara sauce
Onions
Garlic powder, pepper and basil

5. Crumble firm tofu (about 3/4 package) on top of rice/mushroom mixture and then spoon a bit more of marina on top and add a few more chopped onion.
Sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper and basil.

Eggplant slices
Shredded mozzarella
Marinara

6. Top with the rest of the eggplant slices and a few more spoonfuls of marinara. Spread marinara around and top with cheese. 

7. Cook for 25-28 minutes or until the top of the eggplant turns golden brown. 

8. Enjoy!

(If you think you don't like tofu, the flavors of the ingredients will mask the bland taste of tofu. This should serve 2 people with leftovers OR 304 people for one meal).

Creations to fuel your lifestyle - pizza, recovery meal and veggie casserole

RECOVERY MEAL

Bread, fruit and eggs. A few of my favorite things in a recovery meal. 

Are you confused as to the best method of recovery after endurance activity? I know it can be confusing to understand sport nutrition because what you eat around workouts is not what is preached by the media in terms of "heart healthy" eating. This is why I am a firm believer, health first, performance second. When I was at the Oakley Women event in LA this past week, I talked about fueling around workouts and my primary focus was to help the audience understand that we don't need high fiber, high fat, high protein around our workouts. We want foods to be quick to digest and to be energy dense. So if you are snacking on quick digesting foods throughout the day when your body is not active, this is where the confusion comes in as you are likely very vulnerable to your body around a workout and want to eat "healthy and clean". Pass on the salads, high protein/fat foods and fibrous foods around your workouts as that is not the time to be giving your body slow digesting foods. Learn to create a diet that keeps your body nourished and with stable blood sugar and you will find yourself better understanding how to properly fuel around workouts....without feeling as if you are going to gain weight or change body composition with higher glycemic foods.

The immediate consumption of carbohydrates post-exercise is critical for muscle glycogen repletion. Although your recovery "window" is open for 24 hours, the keys to a quick recovery (based on research) are consuming liquid protein as soon as possible post workout (no more than 30g for best absorption) such as whey or vegan protein powder, milk or chocolate milk, followed by  a high glycemic carb breakfast with a little protein (a little fat is fine as well). Avoid stuffing yourself after a workout as the best recovery will come when you can eat every few hours to ensure adequate glycogen storage. If you are finishing a workout extremely weak or starving or feeling full/bloated, consider working with a RD specializing in sport nutrition to help you out with with your sport nutrition fueling regime.

For a yummy and healthy recovery meal: try to start with milk and cereal (ex. rice or corn based if you tend to have trouble with consuming foods after workouts) or fruit, veggie and whey/vegan smoothie as something small to kick start the recovery process. Then when you are ready for your actual meal, think about a variety of fruit for electrolytes, vitamins and minerals and to keep your immune system strong with lots of colors on your plate. Choose your easy to digest quality protein (ex. around 20-30g of protein in your meal such as 1-2 egg whites + 1 whole egg) and your starch/carb (around 40-70g carbs would be a good start to aim for depending on your workout volume/intensity) and I always believe in having some type of veggie with my meal so I used kale and garlic as pictured above with a little hummus on the bread and cheese on the egg. YUM!

VEGGIE CASSEROLE

Do you have those days that are super busy and the last thing you want to do is cook? Yeah, I have them too. BUT, I know that my busy and active lifestyle can be not be fueled off cereal and ice cream...or any other "quick" option that does not provide vital nutrients to my body and mind. My business keeps me busy but with athletes and fitness enthusiasts from around the world relying on me to provide practical information, to review food logs in a timely manner and to communicate passionately and realistically, I would be letting down others, along with myself, if I didn't make time to prepare nourishing meals. Additionally, with every meal comes a workout to follow the next day so it would be a disservice to my body to tell myself that I am too busy to cook and then get upset the next day that I didn't have the right fuel in my body to have an awesome workout. 

I love casseroles because they are super easy. I think we all need go-to easy meals just as much as we should enjoy spending a little extra time in the kitchen. Although this meal took about 40-45 min to make, I wasn't in the kitchen more than 10 minutes so I was able to get things done around the house...thus still staying busy but with a meal ready for me and Karel when it was time to eat. 

1 can favorite soup

2 eggs

Frozen veggies (enough to cover bottom of casserole dish

Seasonings of your choice

Panko bread crumbs

Cheese

Grain or starch of your liking - I used brown rice, potatoes would be a yummy additional as well as you can stick them in the microwave or oven.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a glass casserole dish, spray lightly with non stick spray and place veggies in dish until 1/2 full. Drain 1/2 liquid from soup (unless you are using a broth based soup - then you can keep the broth for another time, I recommend a vegetable soup (vegetarian) or your favorite chunky style soup) and pour over the veggies. Use seasonings of your choice on top - ex. garlic, oregano, chili flakes, pepper, turmeric, onion, etc. Scramble two eggs and a dallop of greek yogurt together and pour over the veggie mix and lightly mix in until evenly combined. Sprinkle with bread crumbs (lightly) and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove casserole from oven and turn off heat. Top with cheese when veggie casserole is firm and place in oven for 2-3 minutes to let cheese melt. Serve with 1/2 - 1 cup whole grain/starch and Enjoy! 

Matzoh Pizza and Salad

As you may tell, I am not much of a sandwich eater. I've said it in the past but you can only stuff so many plants between two slices of bread. I use to eat sandwiches and when I travel I love a good PB&J for the road/plane or a filling egg, cheese and veggie sandwich from a local eatery. But on a day to day basis, sandwiches don't work for me because I like the volume and nutrient density in plant strong meals and I prefer to use my "bread" for workout nutrition (pre and post) and incorporate more whole grains into my meals instead.

As you may also know, I LOVE pizza. I don't think it's the triangle shape but the combination of flavors - marinara sauce, toppings, bread...yum! In my mind you can make a pizza out of anything or at least, enjoy the flavors of pizza anytime if you want to be creative.

For this yummy creation, I first created a delicious salad of mango, spinach, leeks, celery, carrots, tomatoes topped with a sliced egg (I eat 1 whole egg daily for health benefits). I think used my oven to roast veggies - I tossed peppers, mushrooms, onions and then tofu in a little olive oil and placed in a casserole dish and baked at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes until roasted. Karel had some leftover chicken that he cooked so I was able to use chicken for his pizza (rt side pic - with a little tofu since he likes it) and tofu for me (left side picture).

After the veggies were roasted, I took two Matzoh's and spread a spoonful or two of marinara and then topped with basil, oregano and garlic (dried herbs/spices). The oven was turned off so I just placed the 'pizzas' in the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese was melted and then topped each pizza with the toppings. 

You could use any type of flat bread for this or fresh pizza dough which we often use. I really like Matzoh to eat pre workout because it has a good amount of carbohydrates for 1 slice to be combined with PB and banana slices but it doesn't leave you stuffed like bread or bagel before a workout.

DESSERT

It's not typical that Karel and I will have dessert after dinner.......I just don't see the point of eating after you eat? It's like everything that was prepared for dinner was forgotten and dessert is the only way to feel satisfied. Sometimes we need a little something sweet after a meal but that is often confused with a lot of something. Many times I find that people undereat throughout the day and thus overeat in the evening as our body has a natural way to regulate how many calories we need on a daily basis. Considering that we do very little activity after 8pm, it would be better for your metabolism to spread out your budget of calories throughout the day instead of eating a lot at one time or overeating on something sweet after a meal.

As you can see from my pic above, this is a "dessert" of mixed fruit. The key however is to not overdo it on any one thing. I used 3 strawberries, 4 orange slices and a few banana slices along with a few grapes. Not a lot as I was satisfied after my meal but just needed a little something after the meal. Another great option for dessert is 1/2 - 3/4 ounce dark chocolate which is another one of our favorites in our house.