At my most recent holiday gathering, I had some delicious new healthy spreads I wanted to share with you all. I put out some seite chips (which are made of cassava) and pickled veggies that were both a hit. But my favorite- and one that received a lot of compliments- was definitely the stuffed mushrooms.

Here's the secret: I used mini portobello mushrooms. In a non-stick pan I sautéed onions, garlic, the mushroom roots, and 1 yellow zucchini with salt and pepper. I mixed with them with baked sweet potatoes and about 1/4 of a cup of parmesan cheese. I sprayed them with a little avocado oil and cooked them for 12 minutes on 390 degress in my air fryer! It made 24, and they were gone before you could say "Happy Holidays." And healthy...  shhh. Try them, and enjoy the holidays guilt free!

It's easy to join: click here!

The Holiday Challenge is starting very soon! Get the support, motivation, and inspiration you need to keep showing up for yourself - and you could win great prizes along the way!

Register HERE. It's fun! free! Why wouldn't you?!

We will be posting all of the challenge events and workouts on Facebook.
Look for us on @fuertefitness on what ever social media you do.
Instagram is where we'll be doing joint workouts with others trainers and we'll post on FB group.
The YouTube channel is @fuertefitness, where you will find a library of workouts and exercises.
​​
If you want to finish the year strong and set yourself up with sustainable healthy habits for the new year, this challenge is for you. Take on the 6-week Holiday Challenge and create a healthier, more balanced life, and also build some momentum going into the new year. You can earn up to 10 points a day for working out, sleeping, eating well, and minding your mental health. The goal, however, is to earn 6 points a day. I know it is hard- and may not be fun- to be on point in all of these areas every single day. So we are intentionally leaving room for you to enjoy holiday parties and festivities without losing ground! Make it a game to earn points!

Maybe you threw in the towel last year because of COVID, and indulged in way too much food and drink over the holidays. We can have a different experience going into 2022. Because COVID is here to stay, for now at least, our bodies have to be functionally optimal for facing the uncertainty of our new normal. Let's do this together.

We all go through cycles of energy, motivation, and recovery. This is perfectly normal! Go with the flow. Keeping tracking of these areas- food, sleep, exercise, and mental health- will help you notice your cycles, create balance, and prevent any area from falling to the wayside.

For your commitment and effort, you could win some awesome prizes- we will be giving away more than $500 in all sorts of goodies- coaching and training sessions, boxing lessons, class passes, and travel kits.
 
1st Place: $250 in services
2nd Place: $125 in services
3rd Place: $75 in services

I'm here to support you. Make it a point to attend a semi-private session, or find motivation  on our YouTube channel. As always, be gentle with yourself and HAVE FUN!

​Join HERE

Inspired by https://www.recipetineats.com/wprm_print/20695

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 6 hrs
Total Time: 6 hrs 15 mins
Servings: 10 - 12  
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Serve with cabbage salad (https://www.fuertefitness.com/health-blog/camilas-no-mayo-coleslaw) rice and tortillas.

Ingredients

• 2 kg / 4 lb pork shoulder (pork butt) , skinless, boneless (5lb/2.5kg bone in) (Note 1)
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 onion , chopped
• 1 jalapeno , deseeded, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup juice from orange (2 oranges) 

Rub

• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• Rinse and dry the pork shoulder, rub all over with salt and pepper.
• Combine the Rub ingredients then rub all over the pork.
• Place the pork in a slow cooker (fat cap up), top with the onion, jalapeño, minced garlic (don't worry about spreading it) and squeeze over the juice of the oranges.
• I marinated for 2 days before cooking
• Slow Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 7 hours. (Note 2 for other cook methods) I used an instapot for 1 hours and 30 minutes and slowly released
• Pork should be tender enough to shred. Remove from slow cooker and let cool slightly. Then shred using two forks. It should be easy to pull apart.
• Optional: Skim off the fat from the juices remaining in the slow cooker and discard. 
• If you have a lot more than 2 cups of juice, then reduce it down to about 2 cups. The liquid will be salty, it is the seasoning for the pork. Set liquid aside - don't bother straining onion etc, it's super soft.

To Crisp: (you don’t have to do this) I did it once and it was good but I served twice without and no one noticed)

• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan or well seasoned skillet over high heat. Spread pork in the pan, drizzle over some juices. Wait until the juices evaporate and the bottom side is golden brown and crusty. Turn and just briefly sear the other side - you don't want to make it brown all over because then it's too crispy, need tender juicy bits.
• Remove pork from skillet. Repeat in batches (takes me 4 batches) - don't crowd the pan.
• Just before serving, drizzle over more juices and serve hot, stuffed in tacos (see notes for sides, other serving suggestion and storage/make ahead).

Notes
1. The Pork: Use pork with the skin removed but leaving some of the fat cap on. The fat adds juiciness to the carnitas - and excess fat can be skimmed off later.

Different sizes: Recipe fine as is for 1.7 - 2.5kg / 3.5 - 5 lb pork. If larger / smaller, scale recipe using recipe scaler (hover/click on servings and slide) and the other ingredients will change. These are boneless pork weights (add 0.5kg/1lb for bone):

1 - 1.5 kg / 2 - 3 lb: 8 hours on low.1.5 - 3 kg / 3 - 6 lb: Cook time per recipe. 3 - 4 kg / 6 - 8 lb: Use large oval slow cooker, 12 hours on low.

2. Other cooking methods:

Electric pressure cooker or Instant Pot: 1 h 30 minutes on high. Let pressure release naturally. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe.

Stove pressure cooker: use a rack or balls of scrunched up foil to elevate it from the base OR add 3/4 cup of water. Cook 1 h 30 minutes. Proceed with Step 5 of recipe.

Oven: Follow recipe but put pork in roasting pan. Add 2 cups water around pork. Cover tightly with foil, roast in 325F/160C oven for 2 hours, then roast for a further 1 to 1.5 hours uncovered. Add more water if the liquid dries out too much. You should end up with 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid when it finishes cooking, and you can skip the pan frying step because you will get a nice brown crust on your pork. Shred pork then drizzled with juices.

3. Taco Fixings: Diced avocado or make a real proper Guacamole, Pico de Gallo or Restaurant Style Salsa or even just sliced tomato, grated cheese,  and  sour cream. Sliced lettuce or pickled cabbage / red onions would also be great, but unlike other tacos, you don't need it for the texture because the carnitas have the crispy bits! Also see this Carnitas Tacos dinner spread.

4. Other Ways to use Carnitas: Burritos, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Sliders, with Mexican Red Rice, in Taco Soup or Enchilada Soup.

5. Storing / Make Ahead: Crispiness is retained very well, main thing is loss of moisture as meat cools (happens with all meat, shredded meat cools faster).

a) Best way to store: Shred pork but don't pan fry. Keep pork and juice separate, refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months (for freezer, I put pork in containers/ bags and put juice in ziplock bags in the same container).

Gently reheat juice to make it pourable (congeals when cold). Pan fry per recipe, drizzling with juice.

b) Storing leftovers after pan frying: Keeps extremely well, but tends to lose juiciness when it cools down. Just drizzle with juice, cover with cling wrap and reheat - the crispy bits hold up very well. It's not quite as crispy as when cooked fresh, but still seriously tasty.

c) Brown pork a few hours ahead / keep warm: Works extremely well. Brown pork per recipe, then transfer to slow cooker on warm setting or food warmer and drizzle generously with juices to keep it moist. Cover loosely. As long as the pork is warm when served, it's really juicy. The crispiness holds up extremely well.

6. Source: This is a recipe I've been making for over a decade now, with minor tweaks over time so I can't remember the exact source. I want to say Rick Bayless but I can't find the recipe, however, I did find this one from Food Network which is very similar. However, I'm not sure when it was published.

7. Nutrition per serving, pork only, assuming 12 servings. Calories is higher than it actually is because it does not take into account discarded fat.

NutritionServing: 205g | Calories: 578cal | Carbohydrates: 1.7g | Protein: 45g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 173mg | Sodium: 616mg | Potassium: 664mg | Sugar: 0.5g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 4.3mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 2.9mg

​I'm always looking for ways to get more veggies into my diet. I found this gem in the whole30 recipe book. Give it a try- it's super yummy!

Prep time: 25 min

Ingredients:
2 small zucchini (I used 1 large one)
1 small cucumber 
2 carrots, peeled and shredded  
1/2 cup bean sprouts  
1/4 cup chopped cashews  
1/4 cup chopped cilantro 
1/2 cup sunshine sauce

Sunshine sauce:
1/2 cup unsweetened sunflower seed butter or almond butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
Juice of one lime
1 tbsp coconut aminos or tamari sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Peel the zucchini with a regular peeler. Then, using a julienne peeler, make long slices along one side of one zucchini until you get down to the seeded core. Rotate the zucchini and continue to peel until you’ve done all four sides. Repeat the process with the remaining zucchini and the cucumber. You should have about 2 cups of vegetable noodles. If you have a spiralizer, you can use that instead. Compost cores.

Place the zucchini and cucumber noodles in a medium mixing bowl. Add the shredded carrots, bean sprouts, and top with chopped cashews and cilantro.

Make it a meal by adding cooked shrimp, chicken, or hard boiled eggs. Or serve alongside fish.