spiphywarfare

Author: Grok Mole

  • “Jesus Christ and Carbohydrates”

    “Jesus Christ and Carbohydrates”

    BibleBreakfast

    So titled is a recent post on the blog My Zero Carb Life. A bit about the site first. The author, Kelly, has had tremendous success with eliminating carbs from her diet. It’s a well-written blog that anyone doing low-carb should read. I say this because she’s successfully eliminated carbs from her diet while claiming no ill effects. Yet, some people still want to insist that low-carb is dangerous.

    Anyway…

    She confronted one of the same issues that I did. How do my beliefs fit in with the way I am eating? I had pretty much eliminated grains. I found myself confronted with the fact that one of the qualities of the promised land that made it a good land was that it was “a land of wheat and barley” (Deuteronomy 8:7-8 ). I also had to reconcile the fact that blessings were promised for the one that sells grain (Proverbs 11:26).

    This caused me to put myself through the To Wheat or Not To Wheat test which is documented in three posts. When using organic wheat to make bread products, I gained no weight. This self-experiment is what led me down the real food path. The thing about biblical times… when you needed flour? You made it (Job 31:10, Luke 17:35). I realized I personally didn’t have to be a militant grain-hater.

    Perhaps the single most important concept to remember about your spiritual life and food is summed up by 1 COR 8:8 which she references and we’ve used in a class we taught:

    Food will not make us acceptable to God. We are not inferior if we don’t eat, and we are not better if we do eat. (HCSB)

    I couldn’t agree more with her statement:

    In my heart, I truly believe that God wants me to feel my physical best.  I know that this isn’t His primary concern.  He is mostly concerned with my spiritual well-being and my ability to glorify Him. He is far less concerned with how long I live on this earth and is more concerned with how prepared I am for eternal life.  He is less concerned with the size of my pants and more concerned with the size of my heart and my desire to please Him.

    My final reconciliation of diet and God’s word involved me eliminating as much of the stuff that He didn’t give us from my diet. For me, that works. Too many people make a religion out of diet. It’s not. The important fact about diet is that yours keeps you healthy. Healthy dietary patterns tend to involve decreased carbohydrates and fewer processed foods.

    So while I find that eating grain in a state that is as natural as possible works for me, it may not work for everyone. And that my friends, is ok.

    This article was first published on March 10, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • A Lotta Frittata

    A Lotta Frittata

    First Frittata

    We had family over last night. This morning the fridge had quite a few bowls with stuff from build your own salads. There were chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, olives, and some sliced portabella mushrooms not used the other night.

    When I saw them I thought about a conversation the wife and I had the other day regarding the difference between frittatas, quiche, and souffles. My search for the answers led me to erinnudi.com which sounded reasonable enough to me. So, with the cast iron pan on the oven waiting for something to be done with it I started yanking out the leftovers. I left the dairy products out as I have never made an actual frittata in my life.

    I tossed a little butter in it and as soon as it was melted the mushrooms and onions went in with a pinch of salt and pepper. When they were ready I put in some olives and poured in eggs with shredded cheddar cheese scrambled into them. I let them cook a while, sprinkled the tomato and a little more cheese on top and popped it into the oven for five minutes at 500° till they started to just turn brown.

    Put a piece on a plate. It was a little bit thin but the taste was delicious! A good way to make use of what’s on hand and still enjoy a great start to the day. My apologies for the crummy phone pic.

    frittata on plate

    This article was first published on March 8, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Napalm Chipotle Shrimp

    Napalm Chipotle Shrimp

    I’ve been adding protein sources into the diet without as much fat. I like stuff to be spicy and this shrimp dish hit both marks tonight!

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     This shrimp will put some POW into your meals. I came home from work and realized my carb count for the day was at six grams. A little low for my preferences. After looking at what we had available, I thought some spicy shrimp might be good. I love my cast iron skillet. I cook in that particular pan more than all the others combined. I heated it up and threw the shrimp in and went from there. The rest of the story is below in the recipe.

    Napalm Chipotle Shrimp
    Serves 4
    Shrimp that’s… well.. hot!
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    Total Time
    45 min
    Total Time
    45 min
    243 calories
    9 g
    262 g
    11 g
    27 g
    6 g
    193 g
    1118 g
    3 g
    0 g
    4 g
    Nutrition Facts
    Serving Size
    193g
    Servings
    4
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 243
    Calories from Fat 95
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 11g
    17%
    Saturated Fat 6g
    30%
    Trans Fat 0g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
    Monounsaturated Fat 3g
    Cholesterol 262mg
    87%
    Sodium 1118mg
    47%
    Total Carbohydrates 9g
    3%
    Dietary Fiber 1g
    6%
    Sugars 3g
    Protein 27g
    Vitamin A
    32%
    Vitamin C
    71%
    Calcium
    13%
    Iron
    4%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
    Does this look wrong?
    Ingredients
    1. 1 red bell pepper chopped
    2. 1 medium onion chopped
    3. 1 small stalk celery chopped
    4. 1 pound shrimp
    5. 1 Can Rotel
    6. 3 Tablespoons Butter
    7. 3 Tablespoons minced garlic
    8. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
    9. pinch of salt
    10. dash of cumin
    11. 1/4 teaspoon parsley
    12. 1/4 teaspoon Ground Smoked Chipotle
    Instructions
    1. Throw the shrimp into a hot skillet (cast iron is BEST!)
    2. Let it sear briefly and put in butter
    3. When butter is melted add everything else
    4. Cook on medium heat until vegetables start to tender and shrimp is cooked
    5. Dash some parsley on when served
    Notes
    1. So to be honest, I might have added a little more chipotle than what’s above but I toned it down a bit as my taste buds are maybe a little burnt out on spicy foods. If you like it hot, add a dash or two more after it starts cooking and simmer it a couple of extra minutes.
    beta
    calories
    243
    fat
    11g
    protein
    27g
    carbs
    9g
    more
    spiphywarfare http://spiphywarfare.com/

    This article was first published on March 5, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Bacon Jalapeño Chicken Rolls

    Bacon Jalapeño Chicken Rolls

    I’ve been looking to incorporate a little more chicken into my diet. The result of some discussion on how to prepare it with what was on-hand led to a plate full of these things:

    bacon-jalapeño-chicken

    What you see here is a chicken breast flattened out, covered with a mixture of cheddar, cream cheese, jalapeño, and bacon, then rolled up. This is the second shot at making these and they turned out great this time.

    The jalapeño was diced up and mixed with about equal parts grated cheddar, cream cheese, and cooked bacon (crumbled up). The chicken breast was pounded out to about 1/4 inch thick. Both sides were salted and peppered.

    The cheese mix was put on the flattened breasts and they were rolled up and placed in a pan. We cooked them at 450º for about 25 minutes. Cook them until the internal temperature is 165º.

    I think the only improvement might be to sauté the jalapeño a little before putting them into the mixture.

    This article was first published on March 3, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Triple Threat Video Diary

    Triple Threat Video Diary 03.01.15 from spiphywarfare on GodTube.

    Keeping up with #triplethreat training goals in all conditions is NOT easy!  In this video I talk a little about how important music is to me when I am training.

    Last night I downloaded a song by #Matisyahu that proved wonderful to me in beating some of the blah I felt after not training for a few days due to weather.

    When I hear this chorus:

    Today, today, live like you wanna,
    Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire,
    Fight like a warrior,
    I can’t help but think that we’d all benefit from putting yesterdays failures, disappointments, and regrets into a fire and starting over with a renewed dedication to do that which is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.

    This article was first published on March 1, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Spring Fever

    Spring Fever

    SavedPicture-2015212101136.jpg

    We enjoyed a few warm days earlier this month and took advantage with some garden prepping.

    This is our second year trying to grow some of our own food.

    Last year we did manage a few tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and herbs.

    This article was first published on February 24, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Cross Training

    While we were camping recently, I rolled out of bed one morning several hours before the sun was scheduled to make an appearance. When I stood I thought, “My calves are killing me!”

    The previous day we went for a short trail ride (thirty minutes), a decent walk (ninetyish minutes), and a short run  (thirty or so minutes). I don’t usually go on long walks. Not in minimalist shoes. Certainly not on outdoor trails. While I can comfortably ride outdoors all day, walks are usually an afternoon or evening event around the neighborhood.

    The last time I felt similar soreness was when I moved several railroad ties to make a raised garden bed.

    Sticking to one type of exercise in training neglects certain muscles or their parts. These neglected muscles may play a key supporting role that prevents injury during your preferred exercise when they are used during cross training. Cross training is cited elsewhere as helping in recovery and reducing the monotony of training among other things.

    Interestingly, cross training in the workplace has similar organizational benefits. Cross training in the workplace provides protections against injury when key players are out. It help employees stay motivated by breaking up the monotony of their job. It strengthens the entire organization by having more trained employees to apply to a problem when needed.

    So why am I writing about calf pain and organizational health in the same post?

    I’ve written in the past that underlying principles appeal to me more than specifics.

    We just completed teaching a class at our church over generally becoming more healthy. It wasn’t anything we sought out but rather were asked. It certainly exercised some atrophied parts of my person. Those parts that involve speaking to a group of people. I have never cared for doing that. In the end, the class strengthened parts of me unrelated to speaking in front of people. It helped reduce a repetition in my walk with God. A repetition that could easily lead to monotony and eventual boredom if one were not careful.

    1. Sunday – go to church
    2. Monday – read Bible in the morning
    3. Tuesday – read Bible in the morning
    4. Wednesday – read Bible in the morning
    5. Thursday – read Bible in the morning
    6. Friday – read Bible in the morning
    7. Saturday – read Bible in the morning
      repeat ad infinitium

    So the principle here is that going outside of your normal routine will promote growth, increase strength, reduce the risk of injury, and help motivation through reduced monotony. If you are experiencing boredom, lack of growth, or want to prevent injury in your life, throw some cross training in. Mix it up a little bit and reduce the monotony. Feel the burn from using parts of yourself that have been abandoned. Even if, like my calves, there is some initial discomfort, going outside of your routine will do wonders.

    This article was first published on February 23, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Not Always Easy

    Not Always Easy

    One of the hardest times for me to stay away from eating poorly is when I’m enjoying God’s Great Outdoors. Something about sitting around free from the city sounds, stress of work, and normal daily demands makes me want to munch. A lot. On easy food.

    We decided to take a weekend getaway for the grown-ups (Thanks Mom!) and  headed down the road. Along the way we stopped in the little town of Muenster, TX (Population 1,561). Muenster was founded by German settlers in 1889 and has done well keeping it’s small-town charm without turning into a ghost town. One of those reasons has to be the Fischer’s Meat Market founded in 1927. We stopped in to look and walked out with a small bag of goodies.

    Fischer's Products

    Pictured above are Pepper Cheddar cheese, Smoked Habanero Jack Cheese, Pastrami, and some delicious horseradish sauce. Not pictured are the equally tasty jalapeño stuffed green olives.

    The pastrami and the Pepper Cheddar paired up nicely. Cooked in the skillet this stuff was great! The horseradish sauce only served to make it better.

    grilled pastrami with pepper cheddar

    It was fairly quick and was a great way to end the day without resorting to a bag of chips and loading up on carbs.

    This article was first published on February 21, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • The Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

    The Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

    really does work. I used swerve and no sugar added peanut butter. After I put the dough on the cookie sheet, I used a fork to make cross hatches to make them look more like peanut butter cookies.

    SavedPicture-2015212101332.jpg

    The recipe can be found here.

    This article was first published on February 19, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.

  • Surf ‘n’ Turf for Dinner

    Yum.

    I wanted to make something delicious for dinner tonight. Have I told you a couple of years ago I couldn’t stand mushrooms? Well it’s true. Today? I love them. These garlic and herb mushrooms were based on a recipe I found on recipe.com except I didn’t measure anything and made them with portabella mushrooms.

    They go especially well with shrimp scampi, an eight ounce rib eye steak, and some asparagus.

    Who says eating low-carb and healthy can’t be delicious?

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    I don’t know but if you find them, tell them they are wrong!

    I would add that it was a very nice dinner and can be made for under thirty (30) dollars. That is not exactly cheap. However, it is less than the cost of its equal dining out. There were leftovers to boot. Not only that, dining out brings uncertainty regarding what is in your food and you miss out on the time together in the kitchen.

    Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.

    This article was first published on February 16, 2015 and was recovered using AI and web.archive.org.