Grass fed steak, organic red beets, bell peppers, onions, garlic, and some herbs.

I haven’t really ever thought to post about the dinners that I make, but this one was just so good that I felt I must share it with the world. Who knows, maybe this could become a common theme and go along with my passion for food and nutrition.

Basically I just chopped up all the ingredients and put them into the pan with some water on the bottom so nothing would stick.

Also I made sure to boil the beets for a while before adding all the other ingredients.

If you make a similar dish, please leave a comment below and tell me how tasty it was!

I tend to use things that work and work hard. One thing I hate is light-weight or plastic kitchen tools.

With that sentiment I was both pleased and annoyed to read a report that the Environmental Protection Agency recently released on Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Florinated Telomers, two chemicals found in non-stick cookware. The EPA says that Teflon and other chemicals commonly found in non-stick pots and pans are not good for you. They cause developmental defects and can potentially cause cancer. A big fuck you to the companies that make these terrible poisonous products. My previous landlord worked for a company that helped develop Teflon and find practical applications for it. One of these practical applications was in cookware. He said that knowing what he knows about Teflon and the other chemicals they put into their non-stick compounds he would NEVER use the stuff.

Only recently have all us idiots forgotten how to care for quality tools and gone instead for the cheap, easy, potentially poisonous, and poorly make kitchen tools. Time to get reacquainted with one of the best friends you’ll ever have in your kitchen.

CAST IRON

Cast Iron pots and pans are more versatile and perform better than non-stick pots and pans as long as you know how to treat them. It’s not complicated to season and take good care of your cast iron cookware, and when you learn how you’ll be so pleased because a) you are inherently lazy and b) they are so easy to clean it’€™s a joke.

How to Season your cast iron skillet

Unless your cast iron is brand new you probably need to re-season it. If there is any sign of rust or if food sticks to your pan, seasoning it will bring it back to its non-stick-like glory days. Here€™s how you do it.

1) Rub the inside of the pan with oil. Use an oil or fat that withstands high heat, Canola oil works fine and I also like using coconut oil which I’m obsessed with. It is awesome for frying fish, cooking potatoes, anything that you would use oil for, except salad dressings. It comes as a solid which might freak some people out but I promise you’ll love Coconut oil. It rubs the oil on the pan, then

Nutiva makes my favorite coconut oil at the moment.

2) It places the pan UPSIDE DOWN on a baking sheet.

3) Bake the pan in the oven somewhere between 350 degrees and 500 degrees. The oven will smoke a bit, don’t worry as that is normal. Bake the skillet for an hour and a half and then turn the oven off and using oven mitts (that thing will be HOT!) turn the skillet right side up. Leave it in the oven to cool slowly.

4) Your skillet is now seasoned! You will need to do this a few times over the life of your skillet, I bet it looks super fly now!

How to care for your cast iron skillet

1) If possible do not wash your cast iron with soap, just use water and a sponge and rub it out. Using soap will slowly remove the oil that is imbedded in your skillet.

2) Do not leave your skillet sitting in water. Also, if you put a hot skillet into cold water your seasoned skillet will quickly lose the oil that makes it non-stick-like. Let it slowly cool down.

3) Continue to cook and bake in your cast iron (Yes, you can use it in the oven to bake with!) using your favorite oil and it should stay seasoned. If one of your house guests ends up washing it with soap just re-season it. Small price to pay for not exposing yourself to the cancerous chemicals in non-stick Teflon cookware.

Where to get a great cast iron skillet

Le Crueset makes the most baller cast iron skillets. They are expensive and awesome and really beautiful.

The Le Crueset Skillet is top of the line.

Lodge is the standard cast iron that is cheap and durable. Not quite as easy to season as the Le Crueset, but still a great pan.

The Lodge Skillet is a less expensive choice.

There are so many different styles too! Have a great time cooking! Willy.

EPA report on PFOA and Teflon – http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/

A convincing argument against this value is our ancestry. Consider a caveman in his life-long struggle of finding and securing food as a hunter-gatherer. Such an individual would have access to only the nutrients and resources in his immediate vicinity, and given the stark absence of refined carbohydrate in the Paleolithic period, these nutrients would have come in the forms of meats, seeds, fruits, and vegetables (Grains and legumes were not consumed in the Paleolithic period simply on account of their toxicity. Only when humans began to cook most of their food did they overcome the toxins present in raw grains and legumes). Out of these nutrients, fruits and vegetables are the only providers of carbohydrate, barring the negligible amount found in seeds. Knowing that, it would be safe to say that the average caveman?s intake of carbohydrate was minimal due to the scarcity of its presence in his everyday life. Even if they were so fortunate as to come across a carbohydrate dense food such as fruit and gorged, they would still come nowhere near the 300 grams that is suggested by the Daily Value. However, if a caveman miraculously obtained access to a naturally occurring Safeway-like variety of fruits and vegetables, this is what their diet might have looked like if it met the Daily Value for carbohydrate:

1 apple = 19 g
4 cups carrots = 24 g
2 cups grapes = 32 g
4 cups raspberries = 60 g
2 bananas = 70 g
15 cups asparagus = 45 g
10 cups broccoli = 50 g
Total (g) Carbohydrate = 300

That is an undeniable ass-ton of produce, far too much for an individual to comfortably consume in a day. Moreover, the likelihood of a caveman finding even one of the more carbohydrate dense items listed was fairly low. Finding all of them and in such lavish amounts would have been next to impossible. On this premise, any caveman who required around 300 grams of carbohydrate a day would have had a severe and lethal disadvantage to both his fellow humans as well as other species. Any genes that coded for such great need would have been quickly eradicated via natural selection.

This brings us to our current situation. These days, we actually have access to the previously listed volume and variety of fruits and vegetables. On top of that, we have countless other forms of dense carbohydrate that were unavailable to our ancestors. This makes carbohydrate’s Daily Value of 300 grams seem feasible, on the account of the ease with which it can now be met. But has our genetic makeup really changed all that much? The answer is no; our genes have more or less remained the same since some of our early ancestors, and thus our carbohydrate need has remained equally identical. Our bodies are not programmed to be able take in a surfeit of carbohydrate, and the excess that accumulates is stored invariably as fat. Long term over consumption of carbohydrate thus leads to obesity, and has also been linked to a host of other chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancers.

Just because we can consume vast amounts of carbohydrates doesn’t mean we should. It is time to reconsider the Daily Value for carbohydrates, just as it is time to reconsider the way our nation as a whole eats. Our health and our carbohydrate intake are inextricably linked, and each individual should know what that means to him or her. What’s your daily carbohydrate intake? How do you feel/perform when you vary this intake?

Eight ways to avoid headaches:

1. Say hydrated.

2. Limit caffeine.

3. (Especially for exertional headaches) Warm up thoroughly before working out. This will help your body get use to the shift in bloodflow.

4. Limit alcohol.

5. Eat a healthy and balanced diet.

6. Take multivitamins.

7. Limit sodium.

8. Sleep!

Fish have essential omega-3 fatty acids, which are apart of the membrane of all cells of the body and reduce the risk of colon cancer, Alzheimer’s and heart disease, asthma, stroke and more. Green tea helps prevent arthritis, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and is is loaded with antioxidants that prevent cancer.

Both tea and fish are excellent for your health, but even better when eaten together.

Workout:
Duration: All day

Wake up:
-Bicep Curr: Hawaii 5-0: 50 reps curls, 50 shoulder presses, 50 squats, (weight varies depending how many palm fronds you use.), 50 synclined pushups, 50 dips

-Bicycurr: Ride bicycle to beach (Alternative is to drive: if you choose this, put yo seat back and do situps to techno music the whole way. People may think you’re having a seizure in your truck, but they’ll be mighty impressed when they see your abs.)

-Then comes Facing yo Furr:
Burn yo Furr: Walk as slowly as you can across the smolderingly hot sand to the ocean, before your feet burn off. Pain.
Swim real furr: Swim as hard as you can until you can’t. (This is actually a lot more difficult in Maui since the water is so warm and your muscles dont seize up as fast, thus making your workout longer.) Pain and Fear.
Flip off Thurr: Do flip variations until chicks either come up and talk to you, or start cheering you on. Then you go talk to them. Fear.

-Gain Melonurr: This is an all day activity. Sunburns may be the leading cause of skin cancer (who knows) but boy do they ever lead to a sweet ass tan. Even if you wear sunscreen, spend all day outside gaining melonin and getting black (did I really say that?).

-Play Volleyburr: This next part is simple: Drink beer, then burn off those calories you just gained by playing beach volleyball as hard as you can until 9 pm (There should be lights at the court). Don’t forget to take at least one moment to appriciate the beauty of the place you’re at! Hunger, Pain, & Fear of drunk guy taking you out from under the net.

-Mack Some Guurl: The bars are right across the street from the beach! If you “Played Volleyburr right, you shouldn’t even have to buy drinks from the place, as they’ll be costing you an arm and a leg.

-Don’t Die!: Riding your bike home at 1:30 am in Hawai’i is some dangerous s***. Tourists drive like maniacs, and locals can harass you. If you have friends, or know some girls at a resort nearby, this may be a better bet for you if your house isnt exactly on the beach.

Well, I hope this (very brief) guide will give you some insight as to how one may better themselves Island Style. See you at Kamaol’e Beach!
-Tap

Andrei Arlovski: “I take Gamma O 2x a day and I try to only eat chicken, fish, fruits and vegetables.”

Randy Couture: “The green drink has been a phenomenal addition to my diet and training plan.”

Sean Salmon: “You know, I wasn’t getting as many calories as I needed, which in turn was affecting my training. This time around, I started training real hard, you know, two a day and three a day workouts at twelve weeks out but I didn’t do a thing with my diet until four weeks out and that kind of enabled me to give me those extra calories, extra sugar, extra fat to really keep my training intensity real high and my motivation real high. So, I think this has been my best, most productive training camp ever and I think that’s one of the reasons why.”

Elvis Sinosic: “No specific diet. I try and stay away from carbohydrates after 6pm. I try to eat smaller meals (to keep my metabolism up). I tend to eat lots of chicken, rice, and pastas in the lead up to a fight.”

Mac Danzig: “It wasn’t until I was 20 and I got a job working at an animal sanctuary in Pennsylvania called Ooh-Mah-Nee Farm that I was able to meet people who were vegan and realize how strongly some people felt about it and how many healthy alternatives to animal products there were. I experimented with a vegan diet for about a year, but once I started training full-time for fighting, I believed what certain people said and started eating chicken again because I thought that I had to have some kind of animal protein in order to be a successful athlete. It was crazy because my diet was still pretty much vegan, except for chicken about three times a week. It never sat right with me. I would still go through spells where I just couldn’t eat it, and about 2 years ago, I read a Mike Mahler article on an animal rights Web site where he explained his vegan diet for training in detail, and I said, That’s it, I can do it too, and I started 100 percent vegan again for life and I’ve never looked back. I feel great.”

Ingredients

5 raw eggs – Ideally home grown, from chickens raised on the farm or running free. You don’t want to eat too many raw eggs from the store if you have a weak immune system. You might die of salmonella bacteria infection.

Cup of Yogurt – Raw yogurt is best, but if you don’t have access to  a good source, then I would get the Strauss Whole Milk Yogurt.

Bag of frozen berries - Frozen wild blueberries are my personal favorite, but lately organic strawberries have been coming up in the game.

10 slices of raw calf liver – Calf liver is much better than liver from an older animal. If you have access to liver from wild deer, this is optimal. Other wise, calf liver from a health food store is fine. Remember to freeze it for 10 days before eating to kill all bacteria.

1 tablespoon of Cod Liver oil – Arctic Cod Liver oil is prime.

1 tablespoon of Raw Honey – When picking honey try to get a source that is local, raw and fresh.

*Bee Pollen – Can be expensive and hard to find. Check your local hippie health food store.

*Sand Crabs -The poor mans addition to the liver smoothie. If you live near the beach try digging in the sand and you might find some sand crabs.

*These are  optional ingredients, depending on the season, location and essential funds.

Final Note: Grub this concoction at your own risk.

Anyway, I find that the times I have the most energy are in the middle of my 2 hour lecture classes, where I just want to pop out a quick hundred pushups. Unfortunately, thats exactly when I have to be focused, and the energy intterupts that. So I started doing my own workout in the 10 minute break we have during the middle of class.

-10x Volleyball Approaches down the hallway, touching the approx 10′ ceiling.
-Walk back down hallway on your hands, falling down prohibited.
-Jog down stairs.
-Hold Handstand in between two rocks. Repeat for about 6 minutes with as little pauses as possible. Do pushups if you can.
-5 Backflips off rock.
-5 Standing Back Tucks on flat ground.
-50 Pushups
-Jog up stairs.
-Walk the hallways on your hands, falling down ok this time.
-10x Volleyball approaches back to class, where people will be kind of staring at you like you are out of your mind.

It’s not a lot, and its not like its terribly difficult. But banging it all out in 10 minutes is fun, and you seriously burn off a ton of energy doing it. If you have a boring class, or boring job with a small break, this might be something you’d really benifit from doing. If it seems too easy, add weight. Wear your backpack with all your books while you do your jump approaches and pushups. Or substitute handstand pushups for the rock, do them on a wall. Listening to some cool song like “Eye of the Tiger” while you do this can inspire you to do more (or finish!) so get on that iTunes and make a playlist of pump up songs.

Oh, also this workout is a big hit with the opposite sex. If you can’t do a handstand to save your life, its time to start working on it.

Work out: Go surfing and teach east coasters how to surf, then feel like puking. After that go to a wedding and eat as much as you can and talk to people you have never met but are now your family.

Fin Go to a east coaster shin dig and talk about life with them, learn valuable lessons that show you how to be successful and make it in the real world.
Peace.