Coach Kozak and I like to go vegan a few meals out of the week. Not for any particular reason other than it makes us feel better about going animal protein free. One morning while working and watching Bloomberg, we watched an interview with the CEO of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown. I immediately visited their website and particularly enjoyed their mission statement which states they “aim to improve human health, positively impacting climate change, conserving natural resources and respecting animal welfare.”

Beyond Meat currently offers chicken-free chicken strips and beefy crumbles. Their chicken-free strips come pre-seasoned in lightly seasoned strips, grilled strips, and southwest strips. Beefy crumbles are offered in regular flavor and feisty crumbles that adds more of a spicy kick. I love the product because one serving (6 strips/3oz) of the chicken-free strips offers of 120 calories and 20g of protein! In addition, they’re low carb. The beefy crumbles, for 1/2 cup serving you get 90 calories and 10g of protein and in all honesty, this product tastes like the real thing! The source of protein comes from non-GMO soy protein and pea protein isolate. The beef and chicken flavor comes from a unique blend of spices making you believe that you’re actually eating the real thing. We love Beyond Meat in this household but have had a hard time finding the beefy crumbles anywhere! Most beef substitutes are full of gluten and GMO soy, so I’m holding out hope I’ll get my hands on some soon.

Since by red meat loving brother has been staying with us, I’ve been doing my best to introduce him to whole foods and slowly showing him a vegan/vegetarian diet. For lunch yesterday I decided to take my chicken-free strips and make him a chicken salad. He was skeptical but open to it.

So I took the “meat” and heated it up according the to package recommendations; in the skillet.

While that worked up I chopped 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped 3/4 cup of baby carrots in the food processor along with 1/2 a small onion, and chopped up some fresh parsley. Once the chicken was heated, I placed the chicken in the food processor to get it to the shredded chicken consistency.

Once pulsed for about 8-10 seconds, I added it to the vegetable bowl and blended it all together.

Since the strips are already seasoned, I only added  little bit of pepper and cayenne for a little extra spice. Add in 2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt or vegan mayo and voila! Easy chicken-free chicken salad!

I’m happy to report my bro devoured his open faced sandwich and then asked for  a little more of the chicken salad by itself! I think that was a slam dunk for me. 🙂

The post Beyond Meat Review & Chicken-Free Chicken Salad Recipe appeared first on HASfit - Free Full Length Workout Videos and Fitness Programs.

Quinoa Tabouli Recipe Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups low sodium broth or water
1 large cucumber diced
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes halved
1/2 cup parsley
4 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped scallions or onion
1 clove of garlic minced
Juice of 1 large lemon
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Quinoa Recipe Directions:
1. Bring 2 cups of water to a rapid boil in a saucepan and stir in quinoa. Let boil for a minute and lower heat to low, cover, and simmer until broth is absorbed. Fluff quinoa with fork & let cool.
2. Once quinoa is cooled, in a bowl add cucumber, parsley, mint, tomatoes, onion and toss until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, add the minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper and whisk well.
4. Toss the dressing into the quinoa salad until completely mixed.
5. Best served chilled or at room temperature. Overnight is best to allow all the flavors to marry together and enjoy!

The nutrition information is for 1 serving. This recipe makes 6 servings.
Calories 205.6
Total Fat 11.1 g
Total Carbohydrate 22.8 g
Dietary Fiber 2.8 g
Sugars 1.5 g
Protein 4.7 g

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Baby its cold outside!

Ok, so I’m a super wimp when it comes to cold weather and I’m complaining because the high hardly got out of the 30’s today in south Texas. I realize that a lot of you are suffering with terrible temperatures and the snow piled high and for that, I’m sorry for ever complaining that 70 degrees is cold.

So first off, it’s incredibly cold for us Americans this first Monday of 2014 and it also happens to be Meatless Monday. I have just the thing for you guys, Quinoa Vegetable Soup! This soup is vegan and a nutritional powerhouse bringing together protein, fiber, and tons of vitamins and minerals, oh and it tastes incredible, how could I forget to mention that?

For this hearty, yet light calorie soup I’m hoping you guys have the majority of the ingredients on hand because I just know your pantries are stocked with healthy ingredients already , **nudge, nudge**, as I don’t want you all to have to step a foot out in this weather.

Grab your pens! Here’s the ingredient list:

4 cups of water or low sodium vegetable broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
½ of a medium yellow onion (finely chopped)
3 large stocks of celery (chopped)
4 large carrots (chopped)
2 cups of sliced or chopped zucchini
3 cups of kale (chopped and de-stemmed)
¾ cup quinoa
1 28 oz crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans
1 15 oz can of cannellini beans
1 tsp of turmeric
A pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish of your choice: I used nutritional yeast but you can add fresh basil or rosemary, light or fat free parmesan cheese right into your bowl.

Directions:

In a large soup pot, on medium heat add the two tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, allowing the oil to heat up.

Stay warm my friends!

12 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories              154.0

Total Fat             3.3 g

Saturated Fat   0.4 g

Polyunsaturated Fat     0.5 g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.7 g

Cholesterol       0.0 mg

Sodium               346.7 mg

Potassium         283.6 mg

Total Carbohydrate       26.7 g

Dietary Fiber    5.9 g

Sugars 4.3 g

Protein               10.1 g

The post Quinoa Vegetable Soup – Healthy Soup Recipe appeared first on HASfit - Free Full Length Workout Videos and Fitness Programs.