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How to Engineer the Perfect Batch of Chili to Build Muscle

March 19, 2015 by Chad Rodgers Leave a Comment

Engineering The Perfect Batch of Chili

There are few meals that can compete with the delicious and nutritious powerhouse of a well constructed bowl of chili. When made correctly, this food concoction provides a plethora of health benefits including, but not limited to, increased muscle retention, testosterone production in men (especially when grass fed/hormone free beef is used), and immune system protection with all the veggies and tomato variations. I’m sure most of you have either tried a variation of chili, or enjoy it on a consistent basis, however the following directions will give you a blueprint for an affordable, simple to make, and extremely healthy option everytime you go back to the fridge. This recipe will be adjusted for approximately 2 weeks of meals, considering you’ll have a bowl per day and maybe a few extra.

Grocery Store Items You’ll Need

(1. MEAT) 5 pounds of your choice of ground meat ( I prefer grass fed beef for taste and health benefits), but you may choose ground turkey, ground chicken, ground tofurkey for vegetarians, or regular ground beef. (2. VEGGIES AND BEANS) 2 whole onions, 2 whole green or red bell peppers, 1 clove of garlic, 2 cans of 14.5oz stewed or diced tomatoes, 1 can of 16 oz tomato sauce, 1 can of 15-16oz can of light red kidney beans, 1 can of 15-16oz dark red kidney beans, 1 can of 15-16oz garbanzo beans, and 1 small can of corn. (3. SPICES) 3 tablespoons of chili powder, 3 tablespoons of salt, 3 tablespoons of pepper, 1 tablespoon of turmeric. (4. COOKING OIL) One tablespoon of coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil.

My favorite meat choice!

Kitchen Utensils You’ll Need

One Large Pot, Spatula (preferably metal), strainer, can opener, storage container.

Steps to Chili Success

Cut up onion, pepper, and garlic finely, and put into pot with the oil of choice. Turn the heat on medium/high at this point.
Cut open meat, and mix in with the vegetables.
Use the spatula to mix everything together nicely until the meat is browned completely though. Turn the heat on the stove to low at this point. Also, add your spices while browning the meat.

You must make sure meat is brown before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Open the cans of beans and corn and empty into the strainer. Wash them thoroughly.
Pour the beans and corn into pot and stir.
Open the cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce using the can opener.
Pour the tomatoes and sauce into pot and stir until items appear blended properly.
Keep pot on low heat and cover with lid.
Leave the pot on the stove for 30 min on low heat and stir every 10 minutes.

Here a bowl of our final product!

Storage

Contrary to popular belief, chili does just fine in the refrigerator for long periods of time. Many people make the mistake of freezing it, ruining the quality and taste of the meat. I suggest making just enough for a week to two weeks and keeping it in a secured and closed container such as a pyrex or tupperware. I really like this as an option for those heavily into fitness. It gives you nutrient dense meals all throughout the week, and provides people on a budget with affordable ways to eat great.

Hacking Your Offseason Volume 5 : The Art of Meal Preperation

October 25, 2013 by Chad Rodgers 1 Comment

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Unfortunately that’s not my own grill above. It’s making me extremely hungry right now. If I were to eat that thing, I probably would just leave a few remnants of bones similar to what you might find in owl pellets…..You know the ones we dissected in grade school?….No?…Haha ok sorry, not hungry anymore anyways. I just crushed some chili. Some chili that I made in one hour and will last me 2 whole weeks. << That sentence right there is the absolute key to successful eating….. What is the meaning successful eating you ask?

Successful Eating- Or eating for success, is a phrase I use to describe the most optimal, most consistent diet, that consists of mostly whole, real, and minimally processed foods.

But what makes a person successful at eating healthy? I believe there are a number of factors varying in importance. People that eat well tend to possess and/or adhere to most of these …

– People who eat well generally train pretty consistently. If they didn’t eat well, they would feel like shit, be sore all the time, and look the exact same as they did a month ago.

– People who eat well at least have decent basic cooking skills. They love to grill, bake, broil, steam, but have no idea how to fry something.

– People who eat well have some sort of fitness or sports goal. It could be as simple as fitting into your high school jeans, or as daunting as winning Mr. Olympia. Either way, when the person puts that goal on the front burner, good things tend to start happening in the kitchen.

– People who eat well have a solid game plan in the grocery store, and stick on the outside aisles, where the real foods are.

– People who eat well….drumrolll please……

MEAL PREP ON THEIR DAY OFF!!!

This one is so important that it requires a blog post all to itself. Bottom line is people, no matter how positive the intentions, fail if they aren’t prepared. Preparing the bulk of your week’s food all in one day, sets you up for success, even when your schedule may get a bit crazy.

I’m huge believer that the tips below will help you become a much more successful eater, get you closer to your physique, strength, and wellness goals, and help you avoid falling off the wagon of optimal heath.

Meal Prep Tip 1. Buy your protein source in bulk

Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s club are the big 3 warehouse wholesale clubs that offer foods in massive quantities. If you are a member at one of theses places, great! Check out their meat, seafood, and/or poultry section to get a good deal on a shit ton of quality meat to cook up. If you don’t have one of these places close, don’t sweat it. There are still incredible deals to watch out for at most grocery stores. The key here is to know how many servings of this meat/protein source you are gonna need in the upcoming week. For example, I enjoy chicken thighs. So, I want 3 every other day for lunch. I eat clean for 6 days out of the week, and three of them I want chicken thighs. Thats 9 I will cook all on Sunday while watching football. Boom. Done.

Meal Prep Tip 2. Have your vegetables either ready to eat now, or available to quickly make

I might strike some people as lazy when it comes to getting my veggies in, but I get them in so don’t talk shit. I admit its lazy…I buy a ton of steamer bags of mixed vegetables at the local grocery store for a whopping $1 a bag. Each bag has a mans serving of cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and green beans. All I have to do is plop it in the micro for like 5 min and I’m golden…Pair that up with the meat I’ve prepared and I have a badass meal, quick.

Meal Prep Tip 3. Have protein smoothie ingredients stocked up

Here’s a list of what I have filled up at the beginning of every week. Almost all of the ingredients here will last a long time, since my smoothies only take up two of my filler meals each day. Once after training, and once before bed.

Stock Up >Almond, Coconut, and/or Hemp Milk, Protein Powder (Usually Whey. It”s the most versatile), Frozen Spinach, Mixed Nuts (Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts), Greek Yogurt, Natural Peanut Butter, Chia Seeds, Cacao Powder, Mixed Frozen Fruit, Cinnamon, and Raw Canned Pumpkin in the Fall 🙂

Meal Prep Tip 4. Eggs For Breakfast! Eggs For Breakfast! Eggs For Breakfast!…….Ummm Bacon…

This is where consistency plays a huge roll in your success..You roll out of bed hungry and groggy, but the last thing you want to do is tear up the kitchen like Emril. You know you need something healthy, quick, and hassle free. Well friends, good old eggs and bacon is a fabulous option. A high fat, high protein, slow digesting meal like the one above will fuel you properly for the day, giving you all the nutrients you need to take on the day. I like to use some spinach or mixed peppers, or if I’m feeling frisky then both. This gives me even more of a boost nutritionally, knocking out a serving of veggies in the process. So my suggestion to you is to stock up on some cage free eggs, some bacon or turkey bacon, and enjoy incredible tasting first meals all week. I eat 6 eggs every morning so I usually get 4 dozen. Costs me 10 bucks.

Meal Prep Tip 5. Learn to like chili-

There’s a nutritionist out there that I truthfully can’t thank enough. He’s added pounds of lean muscle to my frame, given me tools to become healthy on an elite level, and most of all he gave me the best chili recipe in the history of ground beef. But really. Brian St. Pierre, a former nutritionist a Cressey Performance, and current consultant at Precision Nutrition, offered up a very cheap, incredibly healthy and delicious recipe for homemade chili that has become a weekly staple in my food preparation. I’m going to post this link below that has become my secret to saving money while eating great, and my meal of choice to fall back on in a pinch, because I always have it stocked at the beginning of each week in the fridge.

This here will give you the ingredients of, how to cook, and how to enjoy a ridiculously manly powerhouse of a meal.

Brian St. Pierre and His Wife’s World Famous Chili Recipe-

Again, I cannot overstate the importance of cooking and planning the bulk of your food for the week. Of course its fine to go out and enjoy a nice meal with friends or family. Of course its fine to grab coffee and breakfast with a co-worker. But when you’re hungry as hell, and rushing all around, if something healthy and tasty has already been prepared, you are far less likely to abandon your good intentions. Take our advice and start picking out a day each week to knock all this out. I make it a fun event while I’m watching football on Sunday. I enjoy a good beer and start getting into the process of ripping up the kitchen. Remember above all this offseason….

You can work all you want in the gym, but if you don’t work just as hard in the kitchen, and put as much focus there, you’ll get nowhere. Nowhere is no fun.

Path to Greatness: Reads of the Week

September 28, 2013 by showmestrength Leave a Comment

Show Me Strength is dedicated to delivering you the best of the best. Our goal through our writing, whether it concerns training, nutrition, or even anecdotal stories about life, is to hand you the tools and information to better yourself a little day by day. After all, Ray Lewis said greatness is just a lot of small things done well, stacked on top of each other.

This is our first installment of reads of the week (yes, we’re continuing our motivational reads as well). Each week we will pick three or so posts that we feel really add value to the conversation and further our journey to greatness (our “winners” more or less). These will be supplemented by three other posts that we feel our deserving of our recognition as well.

There is always value in the written word. Take something from each of these posts. It doesn’t have to be monumental or life changing but there are lessons to be learned nonetheless. Even if the context of the article doesn’t interest you, the author may be making a subtle point about the bigger picture. Without further ado, here are our inaugural Show Me Strength’s Path to Greatness Reads of the Week.

Winners of the Week

Cutting Crossfit a Break by Tony Gentilcore:

I’ve often heard it said that nothing in life is ever as good or as a bad as we think. From a baseball perspective I can relate, as you weren’t nearly as good or bad as you thought on any given night. Crossfit is no different. It’s not black and white and with the good also comes the bad. So often in the fitness industry, writers like to play the part of Internet troll and take shots at Crossfit without offering up anything constructive. It’s not to say that these criticisms don’t have merit, but if you’re not bringing value to the conversation why start it in the first place? Crossfit actually does have a lot of good things going for it and Tony does a good job exposing these positive attributes while offering up areas where Crossfit can take the next step and improve it’s model. Crossfit isn’t going anywhere so instead of trying to tear it down, let’s acknowledge the positives and offer suggestions for continual improvement as it becomes more and more Americans first gym of choice.

Is Clean Eating a Scam? Cleat Eating vs. IIFYM by JC Deen

Want to know the keys to a best selling diet book: butcher science, fudge data, and make it as extreme as possible. Sexy sells, science doesn’t. I’ve always said that a monkey could teach someone how to lose weight, eat a little less and move a little more. When you break it down, it’s really that simple. Unfortunately, money talks so born are these extreme diet methodologies and the zealots that come with them. Now, that’s not to say that there are not beneficial aspects of paleo or low carb strategies as I think it’s best to implement bits and bits to fit your needs. JC Deen does a good job exposing the ambiguity of “clean eating” while showing you the path to navigate the many dieting methodologies out there to find the right one for you.

Teaching a Kid to Lift by Chris Colucci

I wish I had someone with me to train with when I was growing up. I always joke around with my younger brother that I “built” him because he didn’t make the same training mistakes as I did, in which I made many. I’ve always been one to work hard, but I can’t say that early on I ever worked smart. I’m better for it now as I learned immensely through the trial and error that is going through the fire. Most kids in the entitlement generation are given access to the best coaches money can buy and lost in the fold is the most important part: learning to grind and work hard. They never learn how to grow up because they never were forced to go through the fire and learn. If you have the opportunity to train younger athletes, honor this opportunity. As Chris says, it’s a privilege and an opportunity to foster a relationship that your athlete may have with the iron for the next 50 years. Cherish it.

Exit Sandman: Baseball Bids Adieu to Mariano Rivera

A model of grace and consistency, Mariano is a living legend whose presence will be sorely missed. He did it the right way and is someone we all can aspire to be like, baseball players or not.

Honorable Mention:

Hacking Sleep: Engineering a High Quality, Restful Night by Brian St. Pierre:

Sleep more and thank me later. ‘Nough said.

Dear College Students by Jason Ferruggia:

Whether you’re an athlete, aspiring bodybuilder, or even a weekend warrior, learn to strike a balance in life. Work hard but make sure you leave time to have some fun. I’ve always found that I play better when I care less (or stop being so fixated on playing well). It’s an incredibly frustrating thing to experience, but if you learn to be loose and have some fun, you’ll find life to be that much more enjoyable and your training will see similar improvements.

Beast Reality: Shitty Days by Erik Eggers

Show up everyday. Show up when it’s the last thing you want to do in the world. Be accountable to yourself and everyone else who depends on you. These aren’t just power lifting lessons, they’re lessons in life.

What I’m Thankful For in 2011

January 11, 2012 by showmestrength 4 Comments

Happy 2012 from Show-Me Strength!

The New Year always brings new years resolutions and goals- that time of the year where many attempt to change their habits but more often than not, revert back to their own previous ways. The first step to seeing a resolution or goal through is to put it in writing and get it out there to friends and family who can help guide you and hold you accountable if need be. Here are a couple great New Years articles to inspire you and your business for 2012:

My Resolutions for 2012- Tony Gentilcore
10+ Ways to Rock 2012s Face Off- Rog Law
100 Ways to Create WOW- Todd Durkin

Instead of doing more of the same (although I do have goals written down) I’d like to do more of a reflection of 2011 and what I’m thankful for in my baseball career.

2011 was a tremendously exciting year for me as I made the transition from a released catcher/first baseman into a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. My winding journey [Read more…]

Training Nutrition 101- A Day In the Life of My Stomach

October 25, 2011 by showmestrength 4 Comments

One of my most favorite quoted athletes of all time, Yogi Berra, once said, “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.” Granted his math doesn’t quite add up, but there is a subtle sense in his madness. I’d like to adapt this favorite quote of mine to training and say that “Fitness is 90% nutrition, the other half is physical.” Here’s why:

Nutrition is one of the most important, arguably the most important part of any proper training program. You can train hard and train smart, but if you are not supplying [Read more…]