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.

1. Eat less cooked fat.

Cooked fat especially unsaturated fats such as canola oil are extremely dangerous to the human body. Cooking fat produces free radicals which causes cellular damage within your body’s cells. Fried foods are well known to be one of the leading cause of heart disease.

2. Eat more protein.

Protein is what your body needs to rebuild its structural integrity. There are 8 essential amino acids which your body cannot manufacture by itself. By eating more daily protein such as meat, milk, and eggs you can insure a healthy amount of essential amino acids. Every single cell in your body requires amino acids, even your teeth and bones require amino acids for formation, growth, and rebuilding.

3. Cut back on sugar.

Sugar might taste good, but it is one of the worst things you can put in your body. Excessive sugar consumption leads to many diseases, a weakened immune system, obesity, and diabetes. There is no such thing as essential sugar molecules, your body does not need a constant supply of sugar to function, grow, and rebuild.

4. Cut back on Alcohol.

We all know that alcohol is bad for us, however we insist on consuming it. Recent research has linked alcohol consumption with a higher rate of tumors of the breast, liver, and mouth, along with an added susceptibility to high blood pressure. If you want to achieve a better state of health, alcohol should only be enjoyed in extreme moderation.

5. Drink more water.

With so many sports drinks, sodas, and other drinks out there we often forget what our body really needs. The answer is simple: water. Attaining good quality water from a reliable source should be one of the main things that you keep in mind for you overall health. Even more than protein, carbohydrates, or fat… water is the most essential element for your health.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Common Vitamins:

1. Your body needs Vitamin A (retinol) found in egg yolks, fish, and liver in order to stimulate the secretion of gastric acids. These acids work to break down protein into amino acids, which your body uses to rebuild its hard tissues.

2.  Recent reseach states the a defieicency in Vitamin B Complex found in whole grains, seeds, meat, and legumes is the root cause for anorexia.

3. Vitamin C found in oranges, strawberries is essential for the formation of collagen, which your body uses to make skin.

4. Vitamin D found in fish oil, milk, protects the body against cancer. The body manufactures vitamin d from cholesterol in the presence of sunlight.

5. Vitamin E found in nuts and seeds is essential for tissue repair. It has been known to retard the aging process.

6. Vitamin K found in dark leafy vegetables helps maintain strong bones.

7. Vitamin Q, also known as Coenzyme Q10 found in all animal products is a nutrient that every cell in your body needs to produce energy.

8.  Calcium found in milk, bone broth is essential for your body to maintain a proper ph balance of the blood. Sugar comsumption depletes your bodies calcium stores.

9. Zinc found in red meat and oysters is essential for the production of semen.

10. Magnesium found in seafood, nuts, and dairy products is essential for bone formation. Magnesium deficiency leads to heart disease.

Did you learn anything that you didn’t know? Are you considering taking your daliy multivitamin?

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

I have found that competition is one of the most essential aspects to overall fitness. Competition during a workout is an adaptive strategy that pushes you to your fullest potential. It creates an atmosphere where both the winner and loser of the workout can gain enabling maximum growth for both.

Over the past couple years, I have always been scared of competing against others during a workout. The idea of counting reps or timing how long it would take me to finish the workout and comparing seemed embarrassing. I have found that working out this way is essential to growing both physically and as a athlete.

Darwinian Fitness is this very principle. When working out, you gain the most when in competition with another. This competition is what pushes you, it is motive behind doing one more pull up when you think you can’t. It is this motivation, this immense drive that I find comes only with competition that goes back to what Darwin observed. Competition creates for the strongest, the ultimate plant or animal and that means one that will survive. Darwinian Fitness creates this same competition to create for the ultimate athlete.

    The Camu Camu fruit contains the highest concentrated source of naturally occurring vitamin C (thirty times more than an orange) in the world, along with ten times as much iron, three times as much niacin, twice as much riboflavin and fifty percent more phosphorus. It is a significant source of potassium, minerals and amino acids. The fruit also contains a wide variety of bioflavonoids. Camu has also been known to increase the level of serotonin in the brain acting as a natural antidepressant. Each nutrient provides many benefits:

Vitamin C: potent antioxidant preventing premature aging of cells, supports the immune system and cardiovascular health. Supports proper levels of serotonin associated with a sense of well-being and happiness. Iron, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium: essential for an energetic body and sharp mind, supports the nervous system and helps maintain a regular heartbeat. Leucine: Increases production of growth hormone. Serine: supports proper functioning of the brain and nervous system. Beta-carotene, riboflavin and niacin: optimizes healthy skin, hair and nails. B-vitamins (B1, B2 and B3) supports mental and emotional balance. Limonene: shown to reduce appetite and aid in weight loss.