Meal Prep: Meatballs

This meal is a little more leg work on the front end. However, it makes prepping easier; especially if two people with different macros are prepping together! We make our raw balls 2 oz each. I get 2 and Sean gets 3.

Ingredients:

• 2-pounds lean ground beef (<80/20)

• 1 cup Bread Crumbs

• 5 tbsp Egg Whites

• 1/4 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

• Salt & Pepper, to taste

• 2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

  • Or make your own; This recipe will make 8 tbsp of seasoning

    • 2 tablespoons dried basil

    • 2 tablespoons dried oregano

    • 1 tablespoons dried rosemary

    • 2 tablespoons dried parsley

    • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

    • 1 tablespoon red chili flakes

    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, bread crumbs, egg whites, and seasoning together. Roll together balls of meat and place onto the parchment. Bake for 15 mins then turn the meatballs over to brown evenly. Bake for another 10 mins. Serve with pasta or zoodles of your choice and sauce.

Pro Tips:

• Weigh and measure your meatballs prior to cooking. This makes the meal prep process easier.

• If the meat seems to dry, add more egg whites one tbsp at a time. If it is too wet, add bread crumbs.

• These can also be frozen prior to cooking for easy future meals.

• If you’re less dairy/fat conscious, you can add more cheese. We honestly added closer to a cup each time.

Meal Prep: Chicken Shawarma

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken breast strips

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 2 tsp paprika

• 2 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp allspice

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp cayenne

• salt & pepper as desired

Mix all seasoning together in a bowl or gallon bag. Add chicken and let marinate for at least an hour to overnight. Preheat oven to 425. Place chicken on a lined baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes or until done. Transfer to a pan on the stove and saute for 5-10 minutes to crisp the outside.

Best served with rice, couscous, or quinoa.

Notes:

• You can use breast or thigh meat for this recipe.

• Chop up some cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and tahini dressing as your vegetable.

Meal Prep: Korean Beef

This is a fan favorite here at HMB. It makes an appearance at least once a month in our meal prep rotations (sometimes more)! It is easy, quick, and tasty. Plus it is easy to portion out into containers.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef 90% lean

• 3 garlic cloves minced or 3 crushed garlic cubes

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• (optional) 2 tbsp sriracha

• 2 cups hot cooked white or brown rice

• (optional) sliced green onions and/or sesame seeds for garnish

1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef and garlic breaking it into crumbles over medium heat until no longer pink.

2. While the beef is browning, whisk brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, Sriracha, and pepper in a separate bowl.

3. Drain the beef. If you are using anything over 90/10, you will have a bit of fat in the skillet that should be drained off before adding the sauce.

4. Pour the wet mixture over the ground beef and let simmer for another minute or two over low heat.

5. Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.

Notes:

• If you like your food spicier, add more sriracha and red pepper flakes.

• To make this dish paleo, substitute coconut aminos for soy sauce and honey or agave for brown sugar.

• You can switch out ground beef for a nice cut of beef. It will need to marinate in the wet mixture prior to cooking. We have not done this but it sounds like a tasty alternative

Make 2020 The Year of the Goal Digger

Welcome to 2020! It’s that time that so many of us are ready to set resolutions. If you don’t want to blunder down this dark road alone, you came to the right place. Heavy Metal Barbell is here to help. We have created an easy FIVE step program for smashing your goals (and even have a handy dandy printable sheet to help)! 

Why 60 days? 66 days -  that is how long it takes to make a behavior a habit. However, 66 days isn’t as sexy as 60 days. Also, if you were to implement this goal-setting process every 60 days, you could smash 6 goals a year! This is a great way to really attack that Wishlist you will set in a minute. 

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1. Dream Big! 
This is the first set to goal setting. Grab a sheet of paper and a pen. Then start jotting down all the things you want to achieve in the next 12 months of your life. These goals can be related to the gym, your career, family, or finances. The sky is the limit at this stage so don’t hold back!

2. Setting Your Main Goal
Now that you have a wishlist of actions that you want, pick just ONE to focus on first. This goal can be the easiest to implement or the most impactful. If this is your first time breaking down your goals, it is usually easier to start small. When you feel you have met this goal, you can always start on another goal from your wishlist. This is just to get started.

If you are using the HMB 60 Day Goal Planner sheet,  write this goal in the “Main Goal” box.

3. Breaking That Into Habits
We have a destination so let’s map out the route! Break down the goal into FOUR habits that will help you achieve your Main Goal. These habits should just be action statements.  (This is what the four habit sections on the 60 Day Goal Planner sheet are for.) For Example, if my main goal is to “Go to the Gym 5 Days a Week”, one of my action items might be “Pack My Gym Bag Each Night”. This is an easy, implementable habit that will contribute to the success of my Main Goal.

4. Habit Tracker
A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit that day. Since we are focusing on four habits over 60 days, you have four rows and 60 columns. At the end of each day or the beginning of the next day, sit for a few minutes and reflect on your habits. If you successfully completed the habit, mark off the box. If you didn’t leave it blank. This process demands that you are honest with yourself. If you are not honest or willing to take half-truths as a success, then you are not committing to implementing your Main Goal. The point of this whole process is to be honest with yourself and work on personal growth. 

Failing to implement a habit for one day is not a failure. Too often, we fall into an all-or-nothing cycle with our habits. The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can't do something perfectly, then you shouldn't do it at all. Get back on the wagon the next and remember that we are all human! 

5. Day 61 - Now What?
Congrats! You had it through 60 days of habit tracking. Does this mean this goal is now met? Most likely not. However, you have laid the groundwork to make it apart of your automatic daily process. If your goal is to go to the gym 5 days a week, this doesn’t stop at day 61. Hopefully, you will not have a process in place and want to go to the gym 5 days a week without needing to map it out as a goal.

If you enjoyed this process, you can map out another goal from your Wishlist. When habits become automatic, you can pursue different goals. Maybe this time, instead of focusing on your health, pursue career development, or financial independence goals!