If you are an endurance athlete
and live in the Northern hemisphere the chances are that you’re now in the
off-season and you are probably training with less volume and intensity. For those
following metabolic
efficiency (synonymous with blood
sugar control), remember that periodising your nutrition is also a key part of
the concept; certainly during the off-reason you won’t need as many
carbohydrates as you did during the racing season. Not only use the off-season
period to plan your exciting races for next year, but also spend time working
on your metabolic efficiency again.
To help you do that I’m going to
share a couple of my own recipe ideas. I hope you enjoy them!
Almond Flour Pancakes – if you search online there will be
many almond flour pancake recipes out there and I have tried several in the
past. With a bit of experimentation I came up with my own recipe which I make
regularly. They are easy to make and can be enjoyed in many forms. I
particularly enjoy them as a bacon and egg sandwich and a coffee on a Sun
morning, or with sugar-free peanut butter and raspberries/blueberries on top. I
make sandwiches with them during the week to take to work as lunch with a
filling of tuna mayo or cheese and ham. Once you learn how to make them you can
use your own imagination and eat them the way you like.
·
1 egg
·
25g unflavoured whey protein (1 scoop)
·
35g of almond flour/ground
·
40ml of olive oil
·
50ml milk
·
a pinch of salt
·
1 teaspoon of baking powder
·
a dash of vanilla essence (optional)
Ideally you
will also use a mini frying pan (10cm diameter), this makes them nice and
uniformly round and olive oil spray.
Mix the egg,
oil, salt, vanilla and whey protein well in a measuring jug. Then add the
almond flour, milk and baking powder to the mixture and whisk well until
combined. You want a batter that is not too runny or too thick, you can adjust this
by adding a bit of extra milk or almond flour.
Heat up your
mini frying pan on a medium heat and spray the surface with olive oil. Then
pour enough mixture to cover the surface of the pan and cook until bubbles
start popping open or the batter has started go brown in colour underneath. You
will need a metal spatula to flip the pancake and cook the opposite side.
Repeat the process of spraying the pan before cooking each pancake. You will
normally get 5 to 6 pancakes with each recipe; it can be doubled if you want to
make more pancakes. They can last around 3 days if stored in an air proof
container.
Tips: You can
easily mess up the first pancake if you don’t have the patience to wait for the
pan to fully heat up. Also try mixing a bit of coconut flour to the mixture to
vary the flour from time to time.
Thin-cut Turkey steaks in an Almond
flour batter – this recipe is a real winner with my kids and my wife
and I probably make it once a week. I borrowed the idea from one of my mum’s recipes;
however she uses chicken and breadcrumbs rather than almond flour. For my family
we easily get through 6 turkey steaks for dinner, so adjust the recipe
according to your needs.
Whisk one egg
on top of a plate and season it with salt. Add enough almond flour/ground to cover
another plate. Cover both sides of a thin-cut turkey steak with egg then dip
one side at time on the almond flour until it’s completely covered (see pic)
and place it on a clean dish. Repeat the process with each turkey steak. Once
done, let them dry and settle a bit on the side before frying.
When ready to
eat shallow-fry each steak on a medium to high heat until golden and crisp.
Place them on another plate covered with kitchen towels to remove the excess
oil. I use beef dripping to fry them rather than highly processed vegetable (including
sunflower/ canola, etc) and corn oils.
I love them
served with a bit of mayonnaise, roasted cauliflower and courgettes and fried
pointy red peppers.
Tip: if you
can’t find thin-cut turkey steaks you can always buy normal sized and flatten
them with a tenderiser and chopping board.
If you’re
tired of the same breakfast every day, why not try making this ‘muesli’.
