Cooking with Carlos, An Intro to Beyond Organic, and a Meet Up with Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf

Yinz ain’t seen nothing yet! This may be one of my most epic post on this blog to date (even though it just launched a week or so ago. HA!) Anyway, a ton has been happening over the past few days and of course, this Burgher had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. I have a tendency to want to shout to the world about all the awesome things going on in my life and around this city, so let’s cut right to the chase.

For those of you who may be interested in who Carlos is, allow me to introduce you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven’t yet invested in a crock pot, yunz guys better do so, ya heard? All Pittsburghese aside though, having a crock pot is probably one of the best things you can do for yourself if you are like me and have 5 million things going on in your life. I purchased Carlos at a whopping $35 and he has made me some stellar meals. If you have a bout 5 to 10 minutes to spend preparing things ahead of time (which I know you all have. NO EXCUSES!), then you can literally just through a whole mess of ingredients in a crock pot and eat for a week straight. RIGHTEOUS!

Speaking of which, remember how I bought all that food at Market District and from Beyond Organic? Well I am still going strong as we are into are second week of eating and I still have left overs. Extra kale and Cajun  Salmon anyone? No seriously, if you are in Pittsburgh come to the South Side and hit me up. I need help eating all this stuff!

I want to take the time to mention a neat little recipe me and Carlos came up with using one of the Beyond Organic products I hoarded form the internet, the grass fed hot dogs. If you aren’t already familiar with the company Beyond Organic, check out this link. In short, Beyond Organic was founded by Jordan Rubin. Serious foodies may recall this guy form the Maker’s Diet. Jordan has been through A LOT in his life and has made it his mission to distribute raw, grass fed dairy and grass fed beef to the masses. Not only that, but if you sign up for  Preferred customer membership you will receive products at a 20% discount. Check out all the awesome Beyond Organic opportunities  here! Ok, getting back to my weird hot dog concoction!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I work 40 to 50 hours a week at times plus all my training for HKC can be time consuming. I find that prepping things ahead of time aids in reducing your stress about needing to cook when you’re tired after work/working out/ whatever else. Inspired by a dish I had here in the South Side from the German restaurant, the Hofbrauhaus (by the way, If you haven’t been to Hofbrauhaus yet and you live in Pittsburgh, GO!), me and Carlos put the following items together for an interesting bit of deliciousness.

 

Weird, Pseudo German, Paleo Mix (The actual title to this recipe).

4-6 Apples (I used green ones because I like tartness over sweetness. Use as many as will fit in your crock pot given the other ingredients. I used about 4).

1 head red cabbage

6 ounces bacon

2 packages Beyond Organic grass fed beef hot dogs.

1 cup water.

Directions: Slice and dice everything up, put it in the crock pot, pour in the water, let it sit for  8 hours on low. Really. That simple!

 

See where I am going with this? It’s like a weird apple-kraut with frankfurter thing. AND IT IS AWESOME! AND IT SAVES YOU TIME! God Carlos, we are a match made in primal heaven!

 

Finally, I would like to take the time to mention that I had the amazing opportunity to meet Lacey Sturm, the Lead Singer of my favorite band of all time, Flyleaf. I had always envisioned meeting Lacey at a concert, begging for an autograph behind an entourage of people. Never in my life did I think I would A.) find out she is practically my neighbor and B.) be standing in her house, playing with her adorable son Jack, rocking out to music and talking about all things spiritual. This woman is simply amazing and the band truly has been the biggest inspiration in my life when it comes to music. When I was sick, down and out, I always listened to Flyleaf to carry me through the roughest times. Please check them out!