Baked chicken with zuchinni,peas and mint.

This is a quick and tasty one. Hmm maybe even to good to give away! These ingredients all go together really well. We have some good textures with this dish, the soft zucchini which were going to pan fray and then add our peas at the end to give it some pop.

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast or thigh. 150 grams
• Zucchini, 100 grams. Cut into rounds.
• Peas, 80 grams. You can also use snow-peas or sugar snaps if you don't want to use frozen peas.
• Half a bunch of mint, roughly chopped.
• 2 garlic cloves chopped up finely or grated.
• 2 tbs of oil.

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees. Chicken breasts take longer to cook than thighs, so you can either butterfly it through the middle or cut it into smaller pieces. Cook in the oven for roughly 15 to 20 minutes. Also to speed up cooking time in the oven, before hand sear the chicken each side in a hot pan with a little oil. Chicken should be cooked above 75 degrees or if you do not have a thermometer, clear juice should start to come out.
• While the chicken is cooking heat a skillet with some oil, once it starts to smoke place zucchini in and toss quickly. Let the zucchini get a little brown in colour , then place the peas garlic and mint and toss in the pan so ingredients are all combined.
• Cooking time for the zucchini garnish should be nice and quick, so no more than 4 to 5 minutes.
• Place all ingredients on a plate and devourer.

Makes:2 to 3 serves

Prep/cook time: 30 minutes.

• Gluten free
• Dairy free
• Nightshades free
• Egg free

My decaffeinated adventures

I never thought I'd do it. But it's come to pass. Not only am I off the booze for the month of January, I'm off caffeine. It's a test for me. I'm not addicted but I do love my coffee. No withdrawal headaches. No other issues. It's an interesting test.

I can't say whether I'm sleeping better or not (due to having a one month old in the house). I don't really feel any different. It's tough to tell exactly what's going on. I was expecting more of a noticeable difference. I am leaning out, maybe the reduced caffeine is having an effect on that?

There's a lot written about the evils of caffeine. I just don't seem to notice them. Maybe I've not exceeded the critical dose. Or perhaps I need to measure things more scientifically. Perhaps I'm too subjective in my testing. Maybe an expert would see a difference in my cortisol levels right now as compared to "normal."

Anyway, I think I'll hedge my bets once the month is over. I'll be back on the real stuff when I'm out on the town but at home it might be decaf.

Have you got anything to add about your (de)caffeinated adventures?

Leftovers curry

A couple of nights back I bought two huge rib eye steaks. I cooked the suckers on the BBQ. Nice. Alas, there was just too much meat for my wife and I. We had to leave some for later.

But, fear not, the steak didn't go to the dogs. I ended up whacking together a tasty beef curry with very little effort for lunch the next day.

Now, truth be told I may have stretched the Whole 30 rules just a little but bear with me. I think I've done okay. You see I did use a curry paste that I didn't make myself. However, I intently studied the ingredients and it would have been no different to what I'd use at home.

The ingredients:

• leftover steak, sliced
• eggplant, 1/2, diced
• zucchini, diced
• coconut cream
• water
• massaman curry paste

All I did was mix the curry paste, coconut cream and a splash of water in a wok until combined then whack in the steak and veg and simmer for 30 minutes.

More about the curry paste: I used Valcom Massaman Curry Paste. Check it out at your local supermarket. It's good stuff and not full of crap.

Some Whole30 inspiration

Read these great Whole30 testimonials to get an idea of what this month of detox is all about.

Portuguese-style BBQ chicken

My darling wife, Erica, made prepared a cracking main last night. All I had to do was whack it on the BBQ. She got the recipe from Australian Women's Weekly. I know, amazing, some decent content in that rag!

Here's what you need:

• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1kg of chicken (we used breast but thigh would be good too)
• olive oil

The method is easy:

• Mix the powdered ingredients in a plastic bag
• Slice the chicken evenly
• Throw the chicken in the bag and coat it evenly
• Cook on the BBQ (I sealed it on the plate then grilled it for a little more flavour)

We ate it with a salad. Lots of avocado as the chook was a tad spicy.

Note: you could remove the salt if you really wanted to.

Post-Christmas eggs - an easy breakie

Okay, all you need is your left-over ham, some eggs, olive oil and pepper.

Dice the ham, mix the eggs, heat some oil in a pan.
Throw the ham in, give it a sizzle, throw the eggs on top, season with pepper. Cook until ready.
Eat (and give half to your 2.5 year old son if you have one - seems to be mandatory).

There ya go.
Stop complaining that breakfast is too hard.

You could also consider throwing in roast vegies, other roast meats and so on.
A big egg-based mix-up, very simple.

January is detox month

Many people do a no alcohol detox in February. No doubt this is because it is the shortest month of the year. Those extra few days could kill ya.

At Firebrand Fitness, some of the members and staff are taking part in the Whole 30 in the month of January. It's a dietary detox par excellence. Effectively, you get to eat real food for the month and no crap. Pretty simple.

So, in order to assist those souls who are wondering how the heck to stay fed without all the garbage that can be consumed, we will be providing some help. Paleo Brothers style-e.

I'm starting with my dinner for day 1. Tonight, my wife - who is joining me on the Whole 30 adventure - and I will be eating a chicken salad. Here's how it breaks down...

Grab:

• enough mixed leaves to amply feed two
• cherry tomatoes (one punnet)
• an avocado
• some olives
• three small chicken fillets
• pepper
• a lime
• olive oil

Then:

• slice the chook
• marinate it in the olive oil, lime and pepper for about 30 minutes
• slice and dice the salad goodies and mix them together
• fry (or grill) the chook
• pop the chook ato the salad and serve
• eat
• relax

We haven't eaten yet but I'm really looking forward to it.

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