Rice? In the morning? {The Feed Zone Cookbook}

Food actually bores me. I like it ok, and I eat it a lot, but when you are seemingly always hungry, food gets boring. Oh, hi, look, another banana. Great. What's for breakfast? PB and J? Again? Fine. Oatmeal. Fruits. Veggies. Chicken. Ice cream. It ALL gets old. I even threw away 10 cupcakes once because they went bad before I could eat them. I didn't eat them because they weren't interesting to me. That is just sad, you guys.

RIP, cupcakes.

The other problem is that eating crap all the time doesn't produce the best sporty results and can leave you dragging, tired, and crabby, so eating plenty of good for you foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats and brownies is essential. When you are training for a long race, your food is your FUEL.

Great. So, healthy foods then? I hate cooking. Like, really hate cooking. A lot. I hate making a mess. I hate cleaning it up. I hate chopping. I hate mixing. I hate taking things out of the oven. I hate tupperware. I hate measuring things. {Note: I don't measure things.}

The only thing I like is knowing there is a freezer full of food when it's all I can do to carry my bike back up 3 flights of stairs, drop everything and put something into the microwave before I fall on my face from hunger. So, cook I must. {I've often said I'd like a nanny. My mom is like, but you don't have any kids! And I'm like, MOM. You are missing the point. I want a nanny for ME.}

I had long been hooked on Rachel Ray and her easy 30-minute one pan meals but they weren't always quite as healthy as I would have liked. A bag of cheese? Ok, if that's what the recipe calls for! I'm still hooked on a lot of her recipes and have a bunch memorized. There's a cous-cous, broccoli, chicken dish that is out of this world (and healthy.) (and only requires one pan to clean!!) She's got great stoups (not as thick as stew, but thicker than a soup) that are perfect for freezing and reheating. I'm not abandoning Rachel. It's just that I found a new love.

New book! Still wrapped in plastic!

Enter: The Feed Zone Cookbook: Fast and Flavorful Food for Athletes. It's written by Chef Biju Thomas and Dr. Allen Lim. They both have experiece working with professional cyclists, including Lim's work on Team Radio Shack and Team Garmin-Transitions. Thomas also developed menus for successful restaurants in Denver and Boulder, CO.

I went on a quest for this book after a fellow morning computrainer classmate brought in some of the rice muffins made from one of Lim's recipes. They were interesting, because, rice? In the morning? Who would have ever thought of such a thing? But, also, they were good, and filling and, hey, maybe this Lim guy is on to something. If he can properly fuel Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong, probably there are other good ideas in there. I was, surprisingly, excited to cook.

As promised, the recipes are easy to make, good to eat, and perfect for someone who does a lot of sportz. I even sampled one of the recipes out on the girls of The Off Season Tri.

Rice cakes w bacon, anyone? #Yum

My recent foot injury provided me with way too much free time freed up some weekend hours to spend some quality time in the kitchen, so I decided to use that time wisely. I think I spent around $150 at Giant and 4-5 hours in the kitchen one Saturday. I came away with 3 pots of soup, some quiche, a pan of chicken fried rice and a batch of cookies. Not bad for someone on the bench! I'll post some more reviews but here are some of my favorites. 

Veggie Quiche. I think I heard my mom's mouth drop open when I told her I made a quiche from scratch. I quickly explained: bread crumbs, lots of eggs, mini veggie chopper, some shredded cheese: bake. She recovered. One quiche went directly into the freezer for a brunch a week later (where it was quickly gone.) One was cut into bite sized pieces and put into a tupperware for mid morning post workout snacks. APPROVED.

There's cheese in there, too!

Red Lentil Stew. I like curry. I wasn't so sure about lentils, but they seemed harmless, and it's the #yearofGeorge, so I figured what the hell. Yadda, yadda, yadda...I made a second batch this weekend. Topped w a bit of salt, some greek yogurt and fresh tomatoes, and...APPROVED.

Greek yogurt goes on everything, amirite?

Chicken Fried Rice. I know. It doesn't *sound* healthy, but really it is. This one is perfect for the freezer. Aside from the fact that I try not to handle raw meat, like, ever, this is another one of my favorites. I'm going to make another pan of it this weekend. APPROVED.

Giant bag of frozen veggies FTW.

And, right on cue, now I'm hungry. Any favorite quick, healthy recipe sources to share?