10 Reasons I Love Chipotle Mexican Grill

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good Chipotle burrito. They know about my daily cravings for a tortilla wrapped piece of heaven. Quite honestly, I can't get enough.

So I thought I would share the Top 10 reasons I love Chipotle...and why you might too.

1. Their advertising - never lame. Always clever. Always cool.                              
2. It tastes awesome. It is quite literally a gourmet burrito - for less than $7!
3. Chipotle supports sustainable agriculture and purchases much of its food from local, family farms who use sustainable methods in raising animals and crops - I went and visited one actually. Back when I managed the Chipotle in Coon Rapids we all had to take a field trip to Iowa to see one of our largest providers of pork, Nyman Ranch. They had free range pigs, they rotated their crops each year, and they were involved in a project to restore native prairie land (I went and saw it!). Chipotle intentionally chose to purchase food from them because of these practices. (Did you know that you can actually ask your local Chipotle manager which farm your meat came from? It's written on the box that the meat came in. Although you may want to wait a few weeks to go into the Elk River Chipotle and ask...they're getting real sick of me.)
4. Free Range Chicken and Pork - this is both a health and humanitarian plus. The chickens and pigs that Chipotle uses are not couped up in pens like on industrial farms (which is not only cruel, but also leads to a less healthy meat). They roam free...like chickens and pigs are meant to. This actually makes the meat tast better, too! (Yes, I realize the irony of raising the animals humanely only to later kill them for food. This is something that still causes dissonance for me.)
5. No growth hormones or antibiotics - The meat from Chipotle is chemical free! This is more natural for the animals (some cases of growth hormones being pumped into chickens actually make the chickens too large to simply walk around on their own. It's weird. It produces a bigger pay day for the farmers, but is awful for the chickens. And don't forget, whatever the chicken ingests, so do you if you eat that chicken meat.) So eat up professional athletes (not that you care about ingesting chemicals, anyhow...)! Too soon?
6. I can see the kitchen that my food is being prepared in! I can watch what the chefs are doing and how they are preparing the food. No tricks. No dubious additives being mixed in behind closed doors. No dudes walking around with their feet in my lettuce...ahem...Burger King. 
7. No microwaves - no microwaves means that nothing is being re-heated. It's all cooked fresh and ready to eat. And none of those weird red heating lamps, either. 
8. No can openers - their veggies don't come in cans, they come from the fields directly to the store. 
9. Their brown napkins - the napkins are brown because they are not dyed white (and they are made from recycled material). I'm cool with that. Thanks, Chipotle for not making me wipe my grill with dye. 
10. White cheese - do you know what makes cheese orange? Not milk. Milk is white. What makes cheese orange is more dye. I'll take the naturally white cheese please. 
11. BONUS: Did you know that because of Chipotle's large demand for Daisy Sour Cream, Daisy now makes sour cream without RBGH (growth hormone often used in cows that ends up in milk and then in the sour cream that you ingest)? Chipotle has become quite a power player in the industry and continues to demand that food is done right. Daisy listened. As Chipotle continues to grow, the need for healthier farming and food production will also increase. When Chipotle first started, they couldn't find enough cattle ranchers who met their naturally raised standards - but since Chipotle's demand has increased, they now source 100% of their beef from ranchers who meet the standard! Remember, for years restaurants like McD's and Burger King (and others) largely dictated how ranchers would raise cattle. Chipotle has spawned a revolution! And farmers have begun to change their ways. Viva la revolution!

An Actual Chipotle Cow

Eating Salads Can Ruin Your Health!

Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad with Oriental Vinaigrette
1,430 Calories!

Salads are healthy, right? A great option for any meal, right? (even though we'd probably give you a second look if you ordered one for breakfast). Salads have leafy greens, veggies, and often times some type of added protein, like chicken. So far so good, right? But what if I told you that I once came across a salad that weighed in at over 1,500 calories! Yes...1,500. Two zeros. Not one. 1,500 calories...for a salad. And what if I told you that five of six unhealthiest salads in America (according to Yahoo Health) topped the 1000 calories barrier? It might be enough to quit eating salads.

So what happened to our healthy salad? Well, it was hijacked by a throng of calorie monger thugs who filled it with all sorts of unhealthy ingredients...all but poisoning our once nourishing dish. The main culprits? Ingredients such as cheese, deep fried croutons, and enough high-calorie salad dressing to drown a fish. Toss enough of these together into a bowl and it doesn't really matter how much spinach, tomatoes, or cucumbers you add...it won't be enough to undo the damage.

When choosing a salad at a restaurant be sure to explore the ingredients. Ask the server to leave the croutons off and ditch large amounts of cheese (or cheese altogether if you're up for it). If there is a protein added make sure that it isn't deep fried protein, but grilled. And probably most importantly, take it easy on the dressing. If you are really hard core about eating healthy and/or losing weight, just ask the server for some olive oil, salt and pepper, and a lemon slice/lemon juice and then add these to your salad to taste. If you are not as hard core, simply stay closer to the vinaigrette dressings and the "Light" dressing and don't overdo it. A few tablespoons is all you really need. When making salads at home, toss your salad ingredients into a large zip-lock baggie with your salad dressing (a few tablespoons) and shake it up. This will help coat ALL the leaves with the dressing, ensuring a flavor burst with each bite and helping you to avoid the temptation to soak the veggies with more.

Another way to give your salad a boost is to stick with dark leafy greens as opposed to the whiter/lighter lettuce. Ice burg lettuce won't hurt you, but it doesn't really help you either. Mostly water, ice burg lettuce has little nutritional value at all. Instead, opt for the spinach, romaine, kale, or other dark leafy greens. (Do this at places like Subway, too, which is notorious for its ubiquitous ice burg lettuce, but which also has a fresh spinach option, though less publicized).

A lot of restaurants refuse to disclose their nutritional stats, so be careful. The "Eat This, Not That!" app for the iPhone might be worth the download! (the books are great, too! and they have a "For Kids" version!)

It's time we take back the salad! Who's with me?

Add a Blast to Any Smoothie

Well done, my man. Well done.

So over the last year or so I have become quite the smoothie connoisseur. And I don't mean just by buying pre-made smoothies mixes from the grocery store or from the guy selling "SMOOTHIE BOD-X" products (or whatever they call those products). In fact, as a connoisseur, I consider buying pre-packaged products cheating. It's like hiring someone else to win that colossal stuffed Dora doll at the Minnesota State Fair and then giving it to my daughter, as if I won it on my own. We all know it's not the same. I, myself, want to spend the $42 to toss that ball (made from moon rubber...which scientists have shown to be 7X's more bouncy than normal rubber) into that bamboo basket which is actually made from a trampoline powered by rocket fuel to reject your moon ball! And then I want to be the one to carry that Dora doll, the size of a small NY city sky scraper, around the Fair all day, knocking over little children and taking up three seats on every ride.

So by connoisseur, I guess I mean that I have experimented over the last year with smoothie recipes made from natural fruits and veggies, and I have discovered some great ideas for smoothie making. (In all seriousness, those pre-packaged smoothie mixes or the "SMOOTHIE BOD-X" products are actually great ideas and better than nothing. They are quick and easy and filled with some smoothie essentials. But they also cost a lot more than just making your own. A lot more.)

Here are two of the things that I have learned about smoothie making:

     

1. If you want to add a blast of nutrition to every smoothie, drop in a handful of fresh spinach. We all should be eating "greens" at every meal anyhow, so this is a good way to get some in while drinking a smoothie. Spinach is awesome for you, and you really can't even taste it in the smoothie - trust me. If you have the extra coin, buy organic baby spinach, since spinach is on the dirty dozen list and the baby spinach contains the most nutrients. But, if you are like me and trying to save some coin, just buy pre-washed (or wash it yourself using this homemade recipe) spinach of any type (not necessarily the baby spinach). I like to buy mine from either Wal-Mart or Costco. To add some greens to your lunch, make a spinach salad, with the same spinach, with some fruit and homemade vinaigrette. 
2. If you want to sweeten up any smoothie, don't add sugar, add an apple. Apples are packed with fiber (and other vitamins) and are a natural sweetener. They make a great addition to any smoothie. If an entire apple makes your drink too much to drink down in one sitting, use a half an apple. 

So live dangerously and experiment with your own smoothie recipes. Toss in some fruits and veggies and blend away. Add some spinach for a nutrition blast, and an apple to sweeten the deal. You could also add some honey or agave nectar as a sweetener. And when tossing the moon ball at the Fair, aim low and let the ball bounce up, keeping it in the basket. You might just save a few bucks and impress your daughter.

Frequent Feeder

As you may have guessed...I love food. I could probably eat all day long as I also really enjoy the eating experience. I like the tastes, the colors, the friends and conversation that often comes with eating. One of my achilles heals, in fact, is that I eat when I'm bored...because it somehow makes things more interesting. (Don't do this, by the way.)

No, bud...this is not what I mean.

So you may not be surprised to hear that I am what people refer to as a "Frequent Feeder." I typically eat...all day. Well, actually I eat six times a day. Yes, six times. Now I don't eat six large meals a day. I'm not Michael Phelps. Most of my meals are smaller meals, or snacks. So I wanted to share with you when I eat, and why I do it this way.

7:00 - Breakfast (I typically have a very large breakfast - especially if I have just worked out at the gym. This is when we "break our fast," so I like to celebrate it by making it a feast. Actually, it's just a good way to kick-start the metabolism and fuel up the body for the day. If you are not a big fan of breakfast, try having something small to eat right after waking up. Then follow it up with a larger snack about an hour later. This will help you to start waking up hungry, which is a good thing. Skipping breakfast entirely isn't ideal.)

10:30 - Snack (Sometimes I'm not always hungry at this point in the day, after my large breakfast celebration, but I try to put back something...especially with protein. For this snack I might drop a handful of almonds and maybe a slice of fruit. Just something to keep my metabolism fired up.)

12:30 - Lunch (Chipotle today at noon, anyone?)

3:30 - Snack (Something light, but which contains protein. Maybe an apple with some peanut-butter. You can never really go wrong with fruit/veggies and peanut-butter. If you have an extra dime to drop, use almond butter.)

6:00 - Dinner (I try to eat a smaller dinner to signal to my body that it is time to start winding down. I don't need as much fuel later in the day.)

8:30 - Bedtime snack (I keep this one really light. A small bowl of cereal is my favorite bedtime snack. Whatever you do, don't overeat at this meal. Remember, your body doesn't need a lot of fuel at this point. Plus, it gives you crazy dreams...and not the fun kind.)

Eating frequently helps you not to overeat at your next meal, too. Typically when we wait long periods before our next fuel-up, we show up to it feeling starved. So our bodies tell us to eat more in order to avoid feeling like this. But eating regularly signals to the body that it will get fed again in a bit, so to chill out with the cravings.

I also like how eating regularly keeps the metabolism fired up. Your body will continue to burn fat instead of store it up (which is what tends to happen when you starve the body for long periods of time).

The key, though, is to eat good foods at each meal and to decrease the size of each meal. We, Americans, already struggle with gargantuan sized portions...so take it easy, Kobayashi, and eat smaller meals with healthier foods.

What is your eating schedule like? Share with us in the comment section below!

Thank you, McDonald's French Fry Guy!

I love(d) French fries. Back when I used to eat at McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants, the French fries were the darling of my meal. I would often ask the pimply faced teenage kid at the register to wait until a new batch of fries were made to serve me up some golden goodness because who wants old fries, right?

Actual Size

But alas, just like the boiled meat from Taco Bell, the dinosaur shaped “chicken” from McD’s, and the Super Big Gulps from 7-11 that were large enough to drown a small deer in, I have had to say “goodbye” to this old friend.

After a few months in a French-fry-less stooper, in which I walked around like an NFL player with a concussion (sorry, too soon?), I discovered an alternative. (Cue the hallelujah chorus!) Homemade Sweet Potato Fries!

Here is why the Sweet Potato is worth a look:

·      They are packed with antioxidants

·      These fibrous vitamin (C, iron, calcium) bombs are great for digestion

·      They are high in folate

·      They come loaded with potassium which can aid in muscle cramping and prevent injuries

·      You can grow them yourself!

While reading Tony Gonzalez’s All-Pro Diet book, I stumbled upon a recipe for making sweet potato fries, which brought me out of my stooper. Tony Gonzalez, remember, is the All-Pro NFL Tight End who decided to become a vegan and shares his secrets in his book. Here is the recipe:

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into ¼” thick slices

2 tablespoons of oil (Tony recommends macadamia nut oil which requires a bank loan for most of us to continually purchase, so I use olive oil)

Sea Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Pinch of ground red pepper (or another of your favorite seasoning…just don’t overdo it on the sodium)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

2. Sprinkle the potato slices with oil and then toss them in the mix of seasonings

3. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes on each side or until golden brown and soft on the inside (I tend to bake mine for longer since I like them crispy)

I still love fries…just a different kind these days. And I still check on that pimply-faced teenager every now and again. He quit McDonald’s and got a job working at Chipotle Mexican Grill. He worked his way up to become General Manager, got married, had a couple of kids and lives in the country. A happy ending for both of us.