Mr. Sweaty and I make dinner together most nights. It's a form of entertainment for us, and we keep it interesting by trying lots of new recipes. Only the best make it into the Recipe Roundup.

Our December menus featured protein, as we're both trying to increase our daily intake to help us lean out while supporting our increased aerobic workload. And, of course, we threw in some holiday splurges.

Here are the month's winners:

Vietnamese-Style Meatballs with Chili Sauce
These were so good! As meatballs go, they're on the easy side because all the cooking is done in the oven -- no messy stovetop sautéing. We made the recipe exactly as written. Don't skip the peanuts unless you're allergic to them; they make a perfect finishing touch.

Kefi Lamb Gyro
Have you ever made your own gyro -- as in the meat terrine itself, not just assembling the sandwich? We hadn't either. We gave it a try as a little project for a winter day, and the result was quite tasty. If you're taking it easy on carbs or bread, you can always skip the pita and just enjoy the fillings with tzatziki and a side of Greek salad.

Peruvian-Style Roast Chicken with Green Sauce
This dish was a vibrant change from the usual (boring) chicken meal. We used bone-in, skin-on chicken quarters (leg & thigh) instead of a whole chicken. The green sauce had quite a kick because I left the seeds in two out of the three jalapeños. Next time I'll cut that back a touch.

Crash Hot Potatoes
Call me late to the party, but I had never heard of these before! Who wouldn't like crispy, buttery bites of smashed baby potatoes? They're super easy to make; just finish them off in the oven while your steaks are on the grill.

We tried these a couple different ways. The first time, I used the recipe linked above and substituted grass-fed butter for the olive oil. Delicious! The second time, I added a sprinkle of parmesan a' la The Pioneer Woman. Shockingly, I actually liked the first way better.

Arugula & Fennel Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
This salad made for a light, zingy, springy side to balance out all that heavier winter fare. If you're looking to move beyond your usual veggie repertoire, this is a good place to start. Super quick and just different enough to be interesting.

Slow-Cooked Green Beans with Harissa and Cumin
Speaking of moving beyond the usual, here's a take on green beans that I'd never seen before. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to find fresh green beans around the holidays. The harissa paste, on the other hand, arrived courtesy of the interwebs. If you like some heat, you've got to try it for a new flavor twist! The final dish was simple and delicious; however, I'd recommend cutting back the oil by at least half.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
Need I say more?? We served this as our Christmas Eve dessert, and it was a huge hit.

I didn't have a tart pan with a removable bottom, so I followed the advice to use a springform instead. I also put the crust on the bottom only, rather than up the sides. 

Also, I couldn't find the Nabisco Chocolate Wafers, so I used chocolate graham crackers instead. Perhaps that's why my crust turned out too dry and crumbly, as though it could have used an extra stick of butter to hold it together. I'll take that into account next time I make this recipe, which probably won't be for quite a while! 

That's it for December! I project that January's roundup will look a little lower on carbs. Stay tuned.

Protein is satiating. Not only is protein essential for human life, it is also deeply satisfying. Eating additional protein keeps us feeling full, automatically pushing out lower-value foods like starches and sugars and reducing the urge to snack.

Increased protein consumption combined with resistance training is the optimal formula, but even dietary protein alone helps minimize sarcopenia (muscle loss) as we age. What horse doesn't want a leaner, stronger rider?

Protein stabilizes blood sugar. Protein doesn't rapidly drive up insulin or lead to a sugar crash like carbohydrates notoriously do. Instead, it can have a hormonal effect that actually reduces anxiety. This means that it offers not only sustained energy, but also improved focus and mood: just what we need to pilot our horses over many miles of trail.  No more getting hangry on the third loop!

Protein promotes recovery. Injury recovery, I mean. Next time we take a fall or get our feet stepped on, we'd be wise to ramp up our dietary protein to supply extra building blocks for rapid tissue repair. Protein is good for injury prevention, too, contributing to stronger bones, connective tissue, and even immune response.

This is not an easy question to answer. A bit of googling will find suggestions all over the map. After much reading (both lately and over the past decade), I've landed on two, solid recommendations:

One gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. This is an extremely common recommendation in the athletic realm. It is sometimes modified to refer to one gram of protein per pound of lean bodyweight (a calculation for which you need to know your bodyfat percentage in order to subtract out the corresponding pounds) or one gram of protein per pound of ideal bodyweight (useful particularly for those who are very overweight).

Since I'm pretty lean, but would like to get leaner while also building muscle, the plain-Jane version is a good baseline for me. I weigh 125 pounds, so that puts my target protein intake at 125 grams per day.

Now that I have the math out of the way, it's time to actually put something on my plate. For all its benefits, protein isn't the most convenient macronutrient to consume. I'll need to be intentional about getting enough. Here's my plan:

Don't skip breakfast. Because protein is so satiating, it's hard to pack adequate consumption into less than a full day. I find that if I don't start with a high protein breakfast, I won't be able to make up for it later.

Don't skip lunch. Protein really does keep my energy level steady. As a result, it's all too easy to motor along after high protein breakfast, completely forgetting to get more grams in at lunchtime. Once again, though, skipping a meal means I don't hit my target for the day.

Eat protein first. If protein is a priority, it makes sense to give it first dibs on stomach space. Doing so has the bonus effect of curbing any tendency to overeat because our brains have time to register that we're full before we pack in those starchy sides or sugary desserts.

Plan ahead. This one is huge. I have to make sure I buy enough proteins during my weekly grocery trip, pre-cook some of them for later convenience, and have protein-centric recipes in mind to keep me interested.

Choose appealing foods. Speaking of planning, there's the obvious question of what proteins to eat. The basics are obvious: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, and some plants (kind of). Naturally, everyone is going to prefer some sources over others.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of eggs and although I do okay on dairy, I suspect it isn't the ideal source of protein for the majority of people. (Lactose intolerance is common, and the hormonal response dairy provokes can promote bodyfat gain.)

Here are some ideas I'm trying out:

• Meat and poultry dishes for dinner, making extra to heat up at breakfast or lunch. Canned chicken is nice to have on hand for low-leftover days.
• Fish grilled or baked for dinner. Canned tuna and kippers for quick lunches.
• Deli meats for lunch. Sliced roast beef or turkey is good wrapped around a bit of cream cheese and some veggies for an easy meal.
• Eggs aren't my favorite, but they're surprisingly fluffy scrambled with cottage cheese. To get a full meal's worth of easy protein, add some ham or corned beef.
• Plain Greek yogurt with fruit and toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds for breakfast variety (go easy on nuts and seeds, though -- the calories add up quicker than the protein).
• Legumes offer occasional variety. Lentils and navy beans are relatively high in protein, as plant proteins go. However, I find that the micronutrient and protein bang usually isn't worth my calorie and carbohydrate buck.

I'm keeping my eyes open for new, high-protein recipes. With any luck, some of them will appear in my next Recipe Roundup. Got suggestions? Drop them in the comments!

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Mr. Sweaty and I make dinner together most nights. It's a form of entertainment for us, and we keep it interesting by trying lots of new recipes. Only the best make it into the Recipe Roundup.

Here are our November winners:

Apple, Dried Cherry, and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing
We tried this salad out on company (live dangerously, I say!) and it was a hit, even with the teenager. We've made it at least three times since. It's excellent exactly as written. If you share my distaste for soybean oil mayo, Primal Kitchen's avocado oil version is a great option.

Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad
Mr. Sweaty was suspicious of this one, but he's glad I prevailed. Even if you aren't a Brussels sprout fan -- or a kale fan -- you should give it a try. No mushy, boiled veggies here. The sprouts are served raw, sliced thinly and treated like crisp micro greens. I added a handful of dried cranberries to really take the salad over the top.

Grilled Red Pepper Dip
I assigned this dip to my mom, who hates to cook, for a Thanksgiving appetizer. She used jarred roasted red peppers instead of grilling fresh ones, and it still turned out delicious. We microwaved the dip to soften it up before serving. Hint: melt leftover dip into scrambled eggs for a savory breakfast. Yum.

Chicken Piccata
The prep on this takes a bit of time, so pour a glass of wine and enjoy the process. It's hardly egregious, just more effort than I think the average home cook spends on a weekday evening. Trust me, the silky, tangy, buttery sauce is worth it.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Ah-ha! Finally, a make-at-home sweet and sour chicken that tastes like good Chinese takeout! The recipe I linked to served as our starting place, but I mixed and matched from several other recipes to invent my own sauce.

Here's how to make the dish the Sweaty Equestrian way:

Eliminate the sauce ingredients (the last 6, sugar through garlic) from the original recipe. Make the rest of the recipe as instructed, but use this sauce instead:

3 Tbs soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice (actually, a touch less than 1 cup) saved from the canned pineapple chunks
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs sambal oelek
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tbs water (aka cornstarch slurry)

Combine the pineapple juice and soy sauce to equal 1 cup of liquid. Combine the pineapple-soy mixture with  the next four ingredients (brown sugar through sambal oelek) in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently. Add the cornstarch slurry and simmer, stirring, until sauce reaches desired thickness.

Three Cities of Spain Cheesecake
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new house cheesecake! (That makes two.) I served this on Thanksgiving to rave reviews. A few notes:

1. The recipe mysteriously fails to specify pan size. I used a 9-inch springform.

2. I used my own graham cracker crust recipe. It's just crumbs and butter, pressed into the bottom of the springform pan only (not up the sides), baked at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes, and cooled before pouring in the cheesecake batter.

3. I baked the cake in a water bath with great success, thanks to this silicone pan protector, which may represent the best $20 I have ever spent. 

4. In a nod to Thanksgiving tradition, I topped the cheesecake with Homemade Salted Caramel and toasted pecans. The caramel was delicious, but I'm more of a cheesecake purist, so I'll skip it next time.

That's it for November! Be sure to follow The Sweaty Equestrian on Facebook to get a heads-up on next month's roundup.

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My diet is a nutritional choice, not a religion. I make exceptions without guilt. There are no good foods or bad foods; just choices and consequences.

When did food become a necessary evil? Why do so many people believe they must earn the sustenance they require to survive? 

​I am not an employee of the refrigerator, being paid in calories for minutes on the treadmill. No more am I a child who needs to be bribed or rewarded for going to the gym.

I am not a nutritionist, a dietician, or a functional medicine practitioner. I'm just a layperson who has drawn informed conclusions over the past twenty-something years of reading across the spectrum of nutrition-related literature. I've changed my mind before based on the evidence, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. But for now, here's where I stand:

1. Ancestral Eating is Foundational - Call it "paleo" or "primal" or whatever you like. The upshot is that I function best on the diet I evolved to stomach; that is, whole, unprocessed foods.
2. Protein is Queen - Protein (mostly animal protein) gets pride of place in my diet because I value muscle mass, satiety, and metabolic health.
3. Fat is Not the Devil - I'm not afraid of fat, except for highly processed, industrial seed oils.
4. Low-Carb is a Useful Tool - I stay leanest and feel best on a relatively low-carb diet with lots of vegetables, some fruit, minimal grain, and little sugar.

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