Honey chicken meal prep for a week
Easy honey chicken prep to stay lean and shredded
meal prep is something i've been meaning to do for so long a delicious honey chicken this one makes five one liter containers they can be put in the fridge or in the freezer depending on what you want to do of it but let's get straight into this please sit back relax and enjoy all right as per usual let's start by prepping our ingredients with the first one being four cloves of freshly peeled garlic that can be ran across a fine microplane or box grater which is going to create a nice smooth paste extracting more of the allicin compound which is what gives garlic a strong flavor and aroma two medium sized heads of broccoli is also needed and can be substituted for a wide range of your favorite vegetables if you're using broccoli stand the stalks upwards and trim around them to remove the florets trimming any large ones making sure that they're all the same size then with the stalks themselves let's slice off both ends and cut around the stem removing the outer layer which can be bitter and save all of those scraps for compost if you have one with the remaining stalk this contains lots of nutrients and has a really nice sweet flavor so let's then trim this up making sure that they're all the same size for even cooking times next is an optional ingredient which is one spring onion or scallion which i had left over in the fridge we are going to use the green stem so save the root end for another recipe or stock and with the green stem this can be thinly sliced on an angle or straight if you prefer and this is going to be used as a garnish and like i said this is optional i'm only using it so it doesn't go to waste so don't go out and buy a whole bunch just for one onion unless of course you use them regularly with that out the way we're then going to need 1 kilo or 2.2 pounds of boneless and skinless chicken thigh which can be slapped onto a clean chopping board and trimmed into five or six diced pieces depending on size trying to be as consistent as possible so that it all cooks at the same time leaving us with all of this that can then be transferred to a mixing bowl along with one teaspoon or two and a half grams of onion powder for a pungent sweet concentrated flavor the minced garlic that we did before sea salt flakes to taste with myself using one teaspoon or five grams worth and of course cracked black pepper which i'm going to give 20 cracks worth get your clean hands in there massaging those thighs nice and deep like just until everything is evenly distributed and well coated mainly concentrating on the garlic as it can clamp up then pop this out of the way for the time being now in another mixing bowl to create a delicious sauce add in 70 grams or 2.4 ounces of honey which obviously creates sweetness but also helps it glaze the chicken really well 50 grams or 1.7 ounces of sriracha sauce to create a nice little tang which actually gets neutralized by the honey so it's not overly spicy at all 30 grams or 1.06 ounces of apple cider vinegar to give us a sweet acidic touch 10 grams or 0.3 ounces of sesame oil for a nice nutty flavor and a pinch of sea salt flakes give this all a mix with a whisk just until smooth and combined popping it aside and if you don't like sriracha it can be substituted with tabasco gotchu chang perry perry sambal olek or left out completely but i do recommend using at least one of those sauces at the very least as for cooking place a saucepan over a high heat and add in 350 grams or 12.3 ounces of washed basmati rice along with 700 milliliters or 700 grams of cold water and a small pinch of sea salt flakes give it a quick mix through to break up any clumps and bring it to a boil once boiling place on a lid or foil if you don't have one reduce the heat to low and cook this for 14 minutes undisturbed in the meantime place a large pan over medium high heat add in 1 tablespoon or 20 milliliters of peanut oil allowing it to get hot add in the seasoned diced chicken thighs scraping in anything that may be stuck in the bowl also spreading it out and whilst moving it around occasionally let's sear this for 10 minutes which will allow it to create and obtain a nice golden color of course cooking it through and still be nice and juicy in the center and nothing is worse than dry crusty chicken after 10 minutes our chicken is becoming nicely golden and has released quite a lot of moisture creating flavor in the pan let's then add in the honey sauce scraping it all in there to avoid waste and yes i did add it all in before anyone says anything then give this all a really good mix through allowing those flavors to become friends and bring the sauce to a boil and cook for one minute at a boil you may also be thinking that your sauce doesn't like it sticking to the chicken but once it starts to boil the natural sugars in the honey will start to slightly caramelize which will then become nice and sticky all right so this is now a boil when it's been cooking for one minute and the sauce has thickened up which is what i was talking about just before reduce the heat to low and this is optional but i'm adding in a light sprinkle of both black and white sesame seeds you really don't have to do this but they are high in protein fiber magnesium copper and zinc and they also do look quite nice through the chicken and sauce all we have to do with this now is mix them through turn this off the heat and remove it from the stove top at this stage the rice timer would have just gone off so turn this off the heat and let it sit for a final four minutes with the lid still on again undisturbed then carefully remove the lid give it a quick fluff up with a fork or spatula and remove it from the stovetop last but not least place another pan over medium-high heat add in half a tablespoon or 10 milliliters of peanut oil allowing it to get hot then slide in the broccoli florets and stems along with a small pinch of sea salt flakes and 10 cracks of black pepper and saute whilst moving it around regularly for about five to six minutes just until it starts to slightly soften and obtain a nice golden crust which creates the most beautiful flavor and aroma also depending on the type of pan and power of your stovetop you may need to lower the heat so just keep an eye out for that as a precaution anyway once that's done and this is nicely softened with a slight bite and golden in color remove it from the stovetop as for portioning you really can do it however you'd like but traditionally it's done in sections depending on which containers you're using i'm going with rice on one end sauteed broccoli in the middle and the delicious chicken on the opposite side make sure to add over any remaining sauce garnish with the spring onions or scallions if you're using them and you can also sprinkle over a few more sesame seeds too if you'd like and did you really meal prep if you didn't instagram it with storing once they're slightly cooled the lids can be put on nice and tight and you can also pop the little vent in the lid to prevent any condensation and once that's done these will last up to five days in the fridge and four months in the freezer so you can have a different option throughout the week if you'd like to change it up for reheating place them in the microwave and bursts until hot
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Heavy lift vs. light lift for muscle growth
anybody want to be a bodybuilder but don't nobody want to lift no heavy ass wait conventional wisdom has us convinced that high reps and light weights builds muscle endurance and makes little contribution to gains in muscle mass heavier weights in the low to moderate rep range on the other hand has long been accepted as the best way to maximize muscle growth in fact many of you are probably familiar with simplified charts like these showing that moderate to heavy loads leads to greater hypertrophy and strength whereas lighter loads leads to more muscular endurance with less contribution to hypertrophy so based on this it may seem that heavier loads is the way to go in terms of hypertrophy but to determine whether this is a valid perspective or not in this video we'll cover the research behind the use of heavy weights versus light weights and which is more optimal in terms of muscle growth so let's start by quickly covering the research behind it which is pretty clear cut a lot of the 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