Sweet and Hot Brussels Sprouts

Originally from The Fit Ink - my new home on the net

The thought of cooking Brussels sprouts scares a lot of people. They tend to grow bitter if you overcook them, soggy if you boil them. Some swear by chopping them in tiny shreds and cooking them ever so slightly for no longer than 3 minutes so they stay deliciously cabbage-y without being too Brussels sprout-y.
Contrary to popular belief, Roland and I have found a few very tasty ways to enjoy them and today it's my pleasure to share the latest - Sweet and Hot Brussels Sprouts - by themselves or in a salad - your choice.

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To make 2 very generous servings of these Sweet and Hot Roasted Brussels Sprouts you need:

4 cups Brussels sprouts, cleaned and halved
1 tbsp olive oil or expeller pressed coconut oil (this is what we use)
sea salt to taste
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp cayenne or red hot pepper flakes

To prepare the sprouts simply preheat the oven to 350 F and toss the sprouts in a cast iron pan, drizzling the oil and salt over them for 15-20 minutes. While they are cooking mix the honey with the hot pepper. Take the pan out and pour the honey in - it will melt. Stir well to make sure all sprouts are coated and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Feel free to add bits of bacon at this time if you feel like an extra indulgence. Once ready you can serve these as a side or use them in a recipe like I did.

To make 2 servings of the delicious Hot Brussels sprouts and mushroom salad, you need:

the cooked Brussels sprouts from the recipe above
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tbsp butter
2 cups baby greens
2 oz Emental or other light cheese of your choice
olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you choose to dress the salad
 



Start by cooking the mushrooms and butter over medium heat for about 3 minutes. In a bowl, combine the baby greens, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms and cheese cut in small pieces. If you enjoy dressings, mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a 3:1 ratio and dress as you like.
Next time you are at the grocery store, grab some Brussels sprouts and let us know how your salad turned out!

A guest post from Roland

Some of you may know that Roland and I have had a few projects under construction - ''Man on top'', a new joint website, so maybe you want to know what's going on and why the @!#%$%^ are you not holding the book in your hands right now and where is that new website? Shhhhh, the website won't be announced till Monday, but in the meantime, read this guest post by Roland, who's done a great job of bringing all the news together :)

So, what's going on?

"What are you waiting for?" you might ask.

I've made all sorts of semi or pre-announcements, here and on JPFitness, yet we continue to hold off on actually putting our stuff "out there." Here are the excuses. Here's the backstory!

Man on Top

The book is as done as we (Galya and I) can make it without a little help.

The cover design is beautiful, and we are awaiting some final touches to it before publishing. For a sneak peak, take a look here.

I said we could only go so far without help, and suddenly we got a little extra help. A pre-reader finished the book and had some questions, which led to some suggestions, which convinced me to make a few small changes. It's all good stuff, and in the blessing-in-disguise department, it also gave our cover designer time to revamp a few things, and Galya time to take a break from the book process and go on an internship; learning some amazing stuff! More on that, later...

The book is coming soon, and I think you're going to love it. If you want more info, sign up for the book announcements on the upper right of this site, where it says "Sign up for upcoming news on the new book!"

The Fit Ink

The Fit Ink is a the name of our newest project. TheFitInk isn't just a place on the internet, nor are Galya and I merely, collectively, TheFitInk; I think it's going to be greater than the sum of its parts, plus many more awesome clichés! Gal and I will be writing there, together and individually, and we're really excited about this thing.

Galya and I have been looking forward to writing together more and more; after talking about it for years. We have another book in the works, along with many article and blog ideas. This new site isn't just a consolidation of our two sites, but a substantive change in voice (at least for me), which allows us to drop some old blog habits, practices, and inhibitions, leaving behind some of the past. For me, my diary-style blogging history tended to keep me from writing more about nutrition and fitness. My old blog started as a journal, before I knew much about nutrition and fitness, and was merely a place to practice writing.

Galya and I, along with our good friend Sean, worked long and hard to come up with a website that's nice to look at, easy to manage, and flexible for the future. Sean did a great job meeting our requirements, and we are very happy with it (and him).

So why the delay? Well, you want everything to be perfect before you spread the word, but we're not perfect people... I'm something of an irregular guy. I'm happy, for example, to shop in an outlet store, where they feature clothes that are also "irregular." Galya, who's more normal, would have likely been happy to "just start," back when the site was more or less ready. Oh well, now we're both ready.

The Fit Ink Team can be found at TheFitInk.com, starting now, even before the official launch. To get updates, you can subscribe there now, or just watch this blog, Galya's blog, and Facebook for updates. We have some fun things coming, including some giveaways, prizes, and contests.

The No-Time-To-Workout Workout

The number one reason I hear for not working out, is lack of time. Workouts take too long, the gym is too far away, home gym equipment is too expensive, ugly, or takes up too much room! Hey, I'm no different; when I get busy, I not only don't train, but I feel guilty about it, which spurs my desire to emotionally eat! Not good. Not good.

Well, finally, I decided to do something about it and write myself a program that would meet my current requirements. But, after a few chats with other busy guys and gals, I decided to take it a step further and actually write it down in a way that others could use, too. I've even tested this baby myself, so I know it's working.

Here's the gist of the program:

• Free
• Short and sweet
• 20-30 minutes per session, including warmups!
• Home or gym friendly.
• Photos and descriptions of all the exercises
• Train as little as twice a week, using short full body workouts
• Train in as little as 30 minutes, and get great results
• Requires just one adjustable dumbbell, although if you have a set  of dumbbells, that works great!
• Fits your schedule, since you can do these short 20-30 minute workouts from 2 to 5 days per week
• A lunch hour workout is now possible, even with a shower!

I could just paste the workout in and leave you to it, but instead, you'll get the system, with pictures, explanations, and tracking forms, plus tips and tricks to make the most of your valuable training time.

It's almost ready to go, so keep a lookout for it! Comment, email me, or let me know on facebook if you want the heads up when it's ready, okay?