A dear friend was kind enough to give me a task to research that would help her out. Her topic: What are crockpot dinners that are high in carbs and protein for a long distance runner? She works crazy long hours and would like to come home to a dinner that helps her reach her goals and won'e have burned the (fill in expletive of choice) out of her Crock-pot.
So, here are a few things I had to think about as far as this goes: food stuff that tastes good, carbs do not equal bread products always, and trying to wrap my mind (a pure machine driven work-outer) around the needs of a runner.
Best foods for Runners (there's a lot out there, but I found these most helpful):
Runners' World has a great list and reasons for each food product on there. If you are a runner I suggest that you read it. However, many of these foods are not crockpot friendly, so I gleaned the few that are: sweet potatoes, chicken, and black beans. The rest are lovely to go with a crockpot meal, i.e. salad, or as a post cooking addition, shaved almonds are awesome, but I won't be cooking salad anytime soon (with a few exceptions).
Competitor Running has a wonderful slideshow, again with excellent explanations for each one. It made me wish that Salmon was more crock-pot friendly! It gave the addition to the list of kale, old-fashioned oats, skim milk, and tomatoes. Yeah, so I'm not going to put these all together, but ingredients here are key!
RockMyRun on Pinterest has a whole board of food for runners and it would be easy to spend my day going through all of the posts. Lentils, Chickpeas, spinach, and shrimp seem to be a common theme.
The Recipes: Putting it all together
PeanutButterRunner has an awesome recipe for what my family refers to as "chicken slop" this stuff is crazy easy to make and tastes AWESOME! She add some more spices to it, but we do 1/2 a can of corn, 1/2 a can of black beans, raw chicken breasts, the rest of the corn and beans and then top with one of the big jars of salsa. It can cook forever and just gets better the longer it simmers. If you have a long time and don't want to deal with canned beans then rinse the dry beans, add a cup or more of water to them all a the bottom of the crockpot and then put the rest of the ingredients at the top. If you're gone all day then they will be soft and ready to eat when you come home.
Chili is an ever favorite. I usually don't make mine with meat, because by the time it sits in the crockpot all day it all tastes the same anyway and it makes the whole thing way cheaper. Luckily I am not alone in my love of the bean "chili" people out there. Men's Health has an awesome recipe for "Chili Non Carne" which is very similar to what I make during the winter months. Again it uses all those lovely beans, onions, chili peppers and can be cooked forever. Bean win!
In honor of my new residence in South, South GA and it's close proximity to awesome New Orleans/ Cajun food, then here's a Crock-pot shout out that is sure to please the runners with a love for spice. Cajun Chicken and Andouille Soup from Women's Health. To pack even more runner's punch or really for anyone worrying about their health, through some chopped up Kale into the mix. You can get it already cut down to some degree and then you run your knife through it a few more times. It suggests that the meal be served with rice, but it sounds pretty boss on it's own. Again, soups with a water base can go forever as long as you put enough water/ stock in there.
Now to mix up some of those ingredients:
Chicken with Sweet Potatoes from Food.com sounds super easy and can cook on low for 9 hours.
Budget Friendly Chicken and Sweet Potatoes from Diabetes.org would be a lovelySunday meal with a cook time of 5 to 7 hours
AllRecipes has an interesting one the combines Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Chicken, and Chickpeas. I would cook it on low to make it a whole day affair.
Sweet loves should enjoy "Slow Cooked Brown Sugar Chicken" from Eat at Home. This sounds like a winner for those people who would rather eat chocolate than potato chips. Cook it on low for an 8 hour cook time and word to the wise, this doesn't have much liquid to it, so it very well could be a sticky mess.
Moroccan Chicken and Lentils from SparksPeople.com sounds like a warming meal for these upcoming winter months and has turmeric which is a super food in itself. I would add more broth if you are leaving if for longer then the recommend time, but, again, meat cooked over a low heat for a long time tastes great no matter when you pull it out if you have enough liquid.
A 30 minute, Vegan soup that sounds Amazing: Kale and Lentil Soup from Girl Makes Food which has ingredients I keep in my house regularly (so the assumption is you may too)
Super Food Al A Kale, Lentil, Garlic, Tomato Crockpotness- Sounds like a winner and from a blogger that at only from a Crockpot for a whole year (crockpot365). Talk about a family who knows their stuff. If they liked it, then we most likely will too.
Well, that's at least a start. I'll keep digging in here and add some more with a later post. Have fun running!
So, here are a few things I had to think about as far as this goes: food stuff that tastes good, carbs do not equal bread products always, and trying to wrap my mind (a pure machine driven work-outer) around the needs of a runner.
Best foods for Runners (there's a lot out there, but I found these most helpful):
Runners' World has a great list and reasons for each food product on there. If you are a runner I suggest that you read it. However, many of these foods are not crockpot friendly, so I gleaned the few that are: sweet potatoes, chicken, and black beans. The rest are lovely to go with a crockpot meal, i.e. salad, or as a post cooking addition, shaved almonds are awesome, but I won't be cooking salad anytime soon (with a few exceptions).
Competitor Running has a wonderful slideshow, again with excellent explanations for each one. It made me wish that Salmon was more crock-pot friendly! It gave the addition to the list of kale, old-fashioned oats, skim milk, and tomatoes. Yeah, so I'm not going to put these all together, but ingredients here are key!
RockMyRun on Pinterest has a whole board of food for runners and it would be easy to spend my day going through all of the posts. Lentils, Chickpeas, spinach, and shrimp seem to be a common theme.
The Recipes: Putting it all together
PeanutButterRunner has an awesome recipe for what my family refers to as "chicken slop" this stuff is crazy easy to make and tastes AWESOME! She add some more spices to it, but we do 1/2 a can of corn, 1/2 a can of black beans, raw chicken breasts, the rest of the corn and beans and then top with one of the big jars of salsa. It can cook forever and just gets better the longer it simmers. If you have a long time and don't want to deal with canned beans then rinse the dry beans, add a cup or more of water to them all a the bottom of the crockpot and then put the rest of the ingredients at the top. If you're gone all day then they will be soft and ready to eat when you come home.
Chili is an ever favorite. I usually don't make mine with meat, because by the time it sits in the crockpot all day it all tastes the same anyway and it makes the whole thing way cheaper. Luckily I am not alone in my love of the bean "chili" people out there. Men's Health has an awesome recipe for "Chili Non Carne" which is very similar to what I make during the winter months. Again it uses all those lovely beans, onions, chili peppers and can be cooked forever. Bean win!
In honor of my new residence in South, South GA and it's close proximity to awesome New Orleans/ Cajun food, then here's a Crock-pot shout out that is sure to please the runners with a love for spice. Cajun Chicken and Andouille Soup from Women's Health. To pack even more runner's punch or really for anyone worrying about their health, through some chopped up Kale into the mix. You can get it already cut down to some degree and then you run your knife through it a few more times. It suggests that the meal be served with rice, but it sounds pretty boss on it's own. Again, soups with a water base can go forever as long as you put enough water/ stock in there.
Now to mix up some of those ingredients:
Chicken with Sweet Potatoes from Food.com sounds super easy and can cook on low for 9 hours.
Budget Friendly Chicken and Sweet Potatoes from Diabetes.org would be a lovelySunday meal with a cook time of 5 to 7 hours
AllRecipes has an interesting one the combines Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Chicken, and Chickpeas. I would cook it on low to make it a whole day affair.
Sweet loves should enjoy "Slow Cooked Brown Sugar Chicken" from Eat at Home. This sounds like a winner for those people who would rather eat chocolate than potato chips. Cook it on low for an 8 hour cook time and word to the wise, this doesn't have much liquid to it, so it very well could be a sticky mess.
Moroccan Chicken and Lentils from SparksPeople.com sounds like a warming meal for these upcoming winter months and has turmeric which is a super food in itself. I would add more broth if you are leaving if for longer then the recommend time, but, again, meat cooked over a low heat for a long time tastes great no matter when you pull it out if you have enough liquid.
A 30 minute, Vegan soup that sounds Amazing: Kale and Lentil Soup from Girl Makes Food which has ingredients I keep in my house regularly (so the assumption is you may too)
Super Food Al A Kale, Lentil, Garlic, Tomato Crockpotness- Sounds like a winner and from a blogger that at only from a Crockpot for a whole year (crockpot365). Talk about a family who knows their stuff. If they liked it, then we most likely will too.
Well, that's at least a start. I'll keep digging in here and add some more with a later post. Have fun running!
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