This month, we'll feature some cooked fruit recipes. These are simple and can be used at breakfast, post-training, or really anytime. Those who have digestive difficulties with fruit may find they tolerate cooked fruit better than raw. You can really use most any fruit - cook in butter and add cinnamon; eat.

Cooked Fruit - Banana and Pears

Time: 12 minutes

• 2 bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1 pear, peeled, cored, and diced
• 2 Tbsp. grassfed butter
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium and add the pear. Cook for several minutes until beginning to soften, and then add the bananas and cinnamon. Cook until the bananas soften, then serve warm.

Nutritional info: 2 servings at 36g carb, 11g fat.


Cooked Fruit - Orange and Pomegranate

Time: 15 minutes

• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 5 mandarin oranges, peeled, segmented, and cut in half
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. cloves
• dash of salt

In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium and add all of the ingredients. Cook until the fruit softens some.

Nutritional info: 2 servings at 26g carb, 7g fat.




Continuing the theme of updating my old recipes, here is a recipe I wrote for the December 2005 issue of the Performance Menu. It was meant to be a quick on-the-go breakfast for busy athletes.

These days, I am not a fan of cooking with ground nuts or nuts in general. It seems like a really bad idea to use nut meal, which will be heavily oxidized by the time you use it - and then heat it, making it worse. In addition, many nuts are high in omega-6 fats. In this new version, I use rice instead but you could use any number of things. I've used buckwheat before and that works well also.

The new version takes a bit longer because I used fresh ingredients (excluding the pre-cooked rice). We'll start with the original:


Quick Mango Cereal
Scott Hagnas – Issue 11 (Dec 2005)

Time: 3 minutes

• 1 C frozen mangoes, thawed
• 1/4 C almond meal
• 2 chopped dates
• 1 oz. chopped walnuts
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Simply mix and heat a bit on the stove, or if you are really rushed you can use the microwave. With some lean protein, this makes a good 4X fat meal.

Zone Blocks: 4 blocks carb, 16 blocks fat


Quick Mango Cereal (updated version)

Time: 10 minutes

• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 cups diced mango
• 1/2 cup pre-cooked white rice
• 4 dates, pitted and chopped
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Peel and dice the mango; chop the dates. In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium and add all of the ingredients. Stir well until hot, and then serve.

Nutritional info: 2 servings at 70g carb, 7g fat.


Creamy Chicken & Veggies

Time: 25 minutes

• 1 ½ lbs. frozen chicken thighs or breast
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil or tallow
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 bunch of asparagus
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 oz. pepperjack cheese, grated (or 1/2 can of green chilies)
• salt & pepper to taste

Place the chicken into a pressure cooker or a pot of water. Bring to pressure or to a boil. Ten minutes at pressure should do if you have a pressure cooker, otherwise boil the chicken for 30 minutes. Drain the water and allow to cool some when done. Break the chicken up into bite-sized pieces once it's cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, prep the veggies. Sauté the onion in a large saucepan, along with the oil, until they begin to soften. Add the carrots; sauté for around 3 minutes. Add the chicken and coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add the asparagus. If the asparagus is thin, around 4 minutes should do. If it's thicker, 6-8 minutes may be needed. Add the grated cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir in well, then serve warm.

Those avoiding dairy can use 1/2 a can of green chilies instead.

Nutritional info: 4 servings at 15g carb, 41g prot, 36g fat.