Breakfast With Champions

Since I stressed the importance of nutrition in my last post, I will delve into it a little further today. On Tuesday morning, Christy Phillips - my dear friend and 6th Place finisher at the 2010 CrossFit Games - came over for breakfast. And since she's eating strict Paleo at the moment, I did my best to prepare a Paleo-friendly meal. Here is photo of the meal half-ready:


First off, I totally agree with you: my kitchen countertops are to die for! Secondly, how delicious does that look? I'll do a little rundown of what you're looking at...

Counterclockwise from the top:
-Various spices
-2 sliced chicken breasts
-6 Beaten eggs
-Diced tomato and onion
-1 sliced avocado
-Almond & walnut slivers
-Frozen mixed berries
-1 can of coconut milk
-6 strips of bacon

Alright, let's dig a little deeper into this meal, shall we?

1) Spices. I reckon the spice of life is spice itself - seasonings, not the channel you all used to watch when you were 13. Let me get something straight: I'm no chef. Honestly, I know shit about cooking. But if something has the word "chipotle" on it, I'll throw it on something. Mix it up, try different combinations. Changes the whole attitude of the meal.

2) Chicken. Anyone who doesn't eat meat in the morning is worse than Mel Gibson. That's right, if you don't eat meat in the morning, you may in fact be an alcoholic anti-Semite. Chicken, steak, pork - it's all gravy, baby!

3) Eggs. Protein = Awesome. And don't ditch the yolks, either. They're full of nutrients you're missing out on. Cholesterol is a myth. I'll save that discussion for a later date.

4) Tomato & Onion. In retrospect, this meal should have had more vegetables, but damn it, do I ever love meat.

5) Avocado. Eat a lot of these. Very high in monounsaturated fats and very high in deliciousness.

6) Almond & Walnut slivers. More monounsaturated fats.

7) Mixed Berries. "Fruit, motherfucker!" -Samuel L. Jackson. Note: That may not be an actual Samuel L. Jackson quote, but I was just picturing him saying it.

8) Coconut milk. High in saturated fat, which is not nearly as bad for you as people like to think (this will be covered more in the cholesterol topic).

9) Bacon. Six strips is never enough. Especially for two people. When in doubt, add more bacon.

Now, Christy brought ingredients 6-7 to make "Paleo cereal." Sounded odd to me at first. But you just throw the nuts and berries into a bowl, dump some coconut milk in and that's it. And it's good as hell. Captain Crunch was a dick anyways - did you ever see that guy actually captain a ship? But I digress. Anyways, I cooked the eggs, threw the vegetables and some spices in, and here is the finished product...


How motherf'ing good does that look? Presentation is half the battle, of course. The point of this story, however, is really simple: if I can cook a Paleo meal, any of you can as well. It just takes a little time and creativity. If you really loathe cooking, you need to make enjoying it a priority. Pretend you're on a cooking show and talk to an invisible audience (I actually do this). Your roommates and neighbors might think you're insane, but it really enhances the whole cooking experience. Now get out there and refine your collective palates, people!