Nark's Coconut & Raisin Oatmeal Cookies!

NarkSide: September 16th 2011



Hey all! It's September 16th... 7 days before my birthday. September, for me, is my 'peak month': i.e. the month where I push myself extra hard to be in peak form, so I can celebrate my birthday in my best shape ever. As such, my diet gets extra tight at this time.

If you guys have been following my "Dieting should never be boring" series, you'll know that 'tight', for me, doesn't equate to 'tasteless'.

I thought I'd show you how I get a 'sweet treat' in on night's like tonight when I'm craving something of the sort. Here goes!!!

Ingredients:

• 6 packets of splenda (or the equivalent in stevia OR 1/2 cup honey)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried coconut
• 1/2 cup rum
• 1/2 cup quick oatmeal
• 1/2 cup multigrain flour (rye, cracked wheat, corn grits, barley flakes, rolled oats, rye malt, sesame seeds, millet)
• 1 cup vanilla protein powder (Or plain if you prefer a milder taste)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• Water (as needed to achieve correct consistency)
• Pam Cooking spray
• 1 sexy toothpick

Pre-directions:

• Add rum to raisins... and allow the raisins to soak (covered, and refrigerated) overnight.

Directions:

1. Drain the Raisins, and save the fluid for later use.
2. Add all dry ingredients to a bowl and stir evenly.
3. To the dry ingredients add apple juice, the rum-flavored fluid from the raisins. Stir until evenly mixed. (NB: If the mixture isn't moist enough, add just enough water to achieve the desired consistency.)
4. Cover the mixture, and let it sit for 20 minutes.
5. Fold in the raisins by hand, until they are just about evenly distributed.
6. Next, grease a flat baking pan with cooking spray.
7. Using a spoon, start dropping the cookie dough onto the baking pan.
8. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Place baking pan into oven, and bake cookies at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
10. When the 15 minute timer goes off, poke the middle of one of the cookies with a toothpick to assess doneness. The toothpick should come out clean. (NB: should it not be clean, turn the oven off and let the cookies sit in the still-hot oven for 5 minutes more).
11. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes before removing from baking pan.
12. Stuff yourself without losing your abs. :-D 

Enjoy!
And Happy Birthday to all of your Libras and Virgos out there!

-Corey "Narkissos" Springer
Owner of:
"The NarkSide" Fitness Forums
Apollo Fitness Barbados
NarkSide Apparel

NarkSide's Tuna Burger Recipe!

NarkSide: July 2011

^^Suggested serving: #OmNomNom!
Hey all!

Recently, some followers of the NarkSide forum and Facebook asked that I share recipes for some of the dishes that I post in my "Dieting should never be boring album."

i.e. Some of foods I cook daily.

I thought I'd start off with something simple... so here goes!

Tuna burger recipeBy Corey Springer

Ingredients:
-3 cans albacore tuna
-1 large onion (Diced)
-1 large sweet pepper (Diced)
-3 cloves garlic (Diced)
-2 tbsp salsa...medium spiciness
-1 lime
- Binder (organic kamut flour, organic oat flour, organic soymilk powdery) to desired consistency
-Pinch of baking powder
-Water to desired consistency
-star anise, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, & fennel powder to taste

Directions:
-Shred tuna chunks to make it more malleable
-Halve the lime... Squeeze the juice over tuna. Cover, and allow it to 'sit' for 5 minutes.
-mix all dry ingredients together
-Add small amounts of water until flour is sufficiently saturated to act as a binder
-fold in onions/peppers/garlic
-shape mixture into patties
-grease grill and heat


-when hot, place tuna patties on grill/grill pan
-cook until brown on one side. Press, and flip.
-Repeat on other side
-plate



-Enjoy :-)

-Corey "Narkissos" Springer
Owner of:
"The NarkSide" Fitness ForumsApollo Fitness Barbados
NarkSide Apparel

7000 sit-up Challenge for June 2011!!!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=165257250207729

^^The 7000 sit-up challenge.

I created the challenge to give people an incentive to workout harder (or start working out) in the month of July.

I also gave 'em free diet and training advice to support their goals...as part of my 'give-back' initiative.

350 people have confirmed participation... but truth-be-told, it's gone viral. Hundreds more in my country alone are doing it. People on blackberry messenger have told me that their contacts have spread it to their contacts. Some soldiers in the middle east told me they spread it to their mates... so it's been hectic but fun.

...and, more so, humbling.

'Cus, I mean, there are middle-aged mothers doing it as well (mainly because their daughters are doing it), and they're taking time out of their day to hit their quota. So days when I don't even feel like working out (as it happens from time to time) I remember that some little old lady across the ocean isn't punking out.

As of tonight, July 18th, I've hit 6000 sit-ups. 13 days to go... and only 1000 reps more to be done. I may end up around the 10k mark

Last month I started a push-up challenge that went similarly viral. Hopefully next month we'll be able to build on the same drive...and encourage a couple hundred people to get up and be more active.

How the Challenge has affected me personally:
Thus far I've found that the challenge hasn't negatively affected my body composition, or my recovery. I was training twice per day leading up to it, so I was already operating at a high work capacity. So, I'm getting a little harder as it goes on. 


What I've found tho is that my core is way stronger, and I feel 'better' overall. I've experienced no soreness at all over these past 18 days ( - strange... I know). The latter is a surprise for me, as I hadn't prioritized or seriously trained core since I needed to bust through the 500lb deadlift barrier in 2005 or so. Sure, I tossed in some abs here and there...and did box jumps/planks/plyos as part of my conditioning work or the bootcamp classes I teach... but no serious direct work.

As to my previous injuries: My back is feeling healthier... and so are my hips.

The plan is to hit up the chiropractor at the end of July to get re-aligned...and then, I think I'm going to see how this increased core stability carries over onto my deadlift.

Next month, I think I'll make the challenge a squat challenge...and I'll switch my training over to the Smolov squat routine to compliment this.

August is going to be an interesting month... for sure.
Anyway... just wanted to share it with you guys here.

Regards,
-Corey "Narkissos" Springer
Owner of:
"The NarkSide" Fitness Forums
Apollo Fitness Barbados
NarkSide Apparel


PS! --> Commemorative T-shirts for this challenge have been released! Get yours today!!!! ---> http://www.cafepress.com/NarkSide/7892847

Challenge Tees
^^Completed the challenge? Get the shirt!