Peak Performance Fitness

Lynbrook | New Hyde Park | NY

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Recipe of the Week: AUTUMN BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Makes: 12 servings
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 50 min
Total Time: 70 min

INGREDIENTS

  • 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, quartered
  • 1.5 pounds potatoes, diced into 1/2-inch cubes (try half sweet potatoes, half Yukon gold)
  • 1 large red bell pepper, cored and diced
  • 1 medium white or yellow onion, peeled and diced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
  • 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or breakfast sausage)
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2 handfuls roughly-chopped fresh kale, tough stems discarded
  • 15 eggs, whisked
  • 2/3 cup milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning, to taste

 INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 400°F.  Line a large baking sheet (or two medium baking sheets) with parchment paper; set aside.  Lightly mist a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
  2. Drizzle evenly with the oil, and season with a few generous pinches of salt and pepper.  Toss the veggies until they are evenly coated with the oil and arranged in an even layer.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.  Remove baking sheet(s) from the oven, and carefully transfer the veggies into the prepared baking dish; set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, as the veggies are roasting, cook the sausage in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until browned.  Once the sausage is browned, add in the garlic and kale and sauté for an extra 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Remove pan from heat, and transfer the sausage into the prepared baking dish; set aside.
  4. In a separate large bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, Old Bay seasoning, plus an extra 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
  5. Once the veggies and sausage have been cooked and added to the baking dish, use a spoon to give them a brief toss.  Then spread the mixture out in an even layer in the baking dish.  Carefully pour the whisked egg mixture evenly on top of the veggies and sausage.
  6. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out completely clean. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Serve warm. Then slice, serve, and enjoy!  Or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

 

Original recipe can be found here!

Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Spice Superhero Muffins

“Superhero Muffins” are a staple from the cookbook Run Fast, Eat Slow written by elite runner, Shalane Flanagan, and chef & nutrition coach, Elyse Kopecky. This week, Shalane announced her retirement from professional running; so to celebrate her career, we are sharing this fall ready version of their famous muffins. (Learn more about Shalane here!)

Since it is Turkey Trot Training season here at Peak Performance, this week’s recipe is ready to fuel your body for a long training run on a Saturday morning (or Sunday if that’s your preference).

Makes 1 dozen

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
  • 6 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup raisins, walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond meal, oats, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, butter, maple syrup and vanilla.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined. If using raisins or chocolate chips, fold them in.
  5. Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling them to the top.
  6. Bake for 32-35 minutes, until cooked through in the center and browned on top.

 

 

Recipe adapted from “Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.” by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky.

Running & Walking Efficiency

Walking and running both seem simple enough- just put one foot in front of the other. However, in order to walk or run efficiently you must understand how to move your body. Use these simple tips to help you cross that finish line with ease!

Posture

How are you standing or sitting now as you read this? Think of a string running through your center to pull you straight up and maintain that tall posture. This way you are not leaning forward or backward. By paying specific attention to keeping your core tight, this will directly help your posture.

Stride Length

Maintain a short, quick stride when you are walking/running. When we plant our foot in front, the goal is to have the hips knee over the ankle. Rather than trying to reach forward with your foot, focusing on a faster turnover will help plant the foot properly. Not only is this more efficient movement, but it may help you prevent injury.

Stride Rate

This goes along with our stride length. A faster step will help you move more efficiently than trying to take longer steps. Specifically for running, an ideal stride rate is about 180 strides per minute (or 90 per foot). Slower stride rates may indicate more vertical movement, which is less efficient (wasting energy). If you listen to music, try a faster bpm and try to match the cadence – remember this will not change immediately and takes time to learn.

Arm Swing

When running, try keeping keep your elbows bent at about 90*. Your goal to avoid letting your arms creep up too high (think T-Rex arms) or shrugging the shoulders. As you’re moving, be sure to keep your arms at your sides and avoid letting them cross over in front. If you keep pumping those arms at your sides, your legs will follow!

Relax Your Shoulders & Hands

Take the tension out of your shoulders and hands. Relax your shoulders by keeping them down and away from your ears (think back to that long, tall posture). Avoid keeping a tight fist and open your hands to let them naturally swing at your sides.

 

By Louise Mills-Strasser, MS

Recipe of the Week: Zucchini Linguine in JETS Sauce

Shout out to Peak Performance Fitness member, Wendie, for sharing her family’s recipe this week! Serve up this zucchini linguine with shrimp for Sunday night dinner. It’s prepared in homemade sauce, appropriately named for some Sunday football – JETS Sauce!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans crushed tomatoes
  • 5 cloves of garlic (whole)
  • 5 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • ½ minced onion
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 10 basil leaves (fresh)
  • 24 large shrimp (peeled & deveined)
  • 2 large zucchinis (spiralized or shredded)

Directions:

  1. In a large pasta pot, pour in 2 Tbsp of olive oil on low heat. Once the oil is hot, toss in the whole garlic cloves. Cook until lightly browns. Toss in the minced garlic and onions and cook for 5 minutes.
  2. Toss in the crushed tomatoes. Add in 10 basil leaves and cook uncovered for 45 minutes on medium heat mixing occasionally so that the sauce doesn’t burn.
  3. Add in the zucchini and mix together so the sauce covers it all. Place a lid on the pot and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add in the shrimp, mix together and keep covered for 5 minutes or until pink.
  5. Serve it hot & enjoy!

 

 

Set the Tone with Dynamic Stretching

When walking into the arena to begin exercise, whether that arena is in the gym or the great outdoors, it is important that you set the tone for the day. Your workout needs to begin with a warm-up that compliments the intensity of your exercise. The greatest threat to performance is the lack of preparation or a poor warm-up routine.  When going for a run or walk many people have a routine before they begin exercise: whether that routine is swinging their legs back and forth to create motion around the hips or twisting to the left and right to loosen up their lower back: Whatever it may be, are you consciously thinking about the activity you are about to engage in, the intensity you are about to give, the time in which you plan on exercising for and the current injuries or ailments you are battling at the time?  So much goes in to planning a workout therefore it is essential that equal thought is placed on planning your warm-up resulting in ultimately crushing your planned workout while minimizing injury or local muscle fatigue.

A large part of a dynamic warm-up is neurological in the sense that you are making a mind-to-muscle connection. The dynamic warm-up gives your body ample time to understand and process the stress you are about to place on your body so it can respond with the correct rate of force by recruiting select muscle fibers.  Take the guessing out of the equation and allow your body to go through a 15 minute dynamic warm-up to maximize efficiency.  If you’re going for a run ask yourself, what specific deficits do i have?  When you go for a run do you start to develop tightness around the ankles?  Adding in some ankle mobility would be a good idea with the objective to loosen up the ankles and get them tracking properly to disperse energy into the appropriate areas via tendons and ligaments.  Try performing walking heel raises to improve the elasticity in your calves, butt kicks to wake up the hamstrings, or work on mobility with deep squats to open the ankles and hips.

Everyone’s warm-up will be different and tailored to their specific needs required for the workout. Setting the tone with dynamic stretching  will help prevent injuries and keep your body working at maximal efficiency.

 

-Brandon Ayala, CSCS