Hey Reader!

In the 114th issue of The MF Kitchen, you'll slice into the details of:

• Recipes for my STACKED Grinder Sandwich and Cosmic Brownie Protein Mini Cheesecakes!
• 7 macro friendly recipes you can make with simple tortillas! Here they all are...​
• How to hit your protein goal each day (without stuffing down boring chicken)...
• To get juicy meat every single time you cook, do this ONE thing...
• A chicken nugget with 1.5g of carbs? How is it possible...

Preheat your ovens…

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Weekly Recipe Roundup 🍽️

STACKED Grinder Sandwich Grinder Sandwiches and Salads are all over social so I decided to make it MUCH more macro-friendly while also being STACKED! Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself: ​​​The Grinder Sandwich.pdf​

Cosmic Brownie Protein Mini Cheesecakes These are a super quick and easy mini cheesecake recipe 🤌🏻 And ONLY 46 calories with 8g protein per! Just 368 calories for all 8! ​​Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself:​ ​​​Cosmic Brownie Protein Mini Cheesecakes.pdf​

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Recipe Recreations Of The Week 🤌

🍕 102 Cal Pepperoni Pizza Pockets

Macros for each Pizza Pocket:​
102 Cals, 8g Carbs, 4g Fat, 8.5g Protein

👉 Here's the recipe and video​

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This Week’s Flavor 🎥

7 Macro Friendly Recipes You Can Make With Simple Tortillas! Myself and 1000s of others have used these exact 7 recipes to lose fat SO much easier. ​Here's the video and recipes.​

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Zach's Beats 🎧

This song came across the shuffle recently and everyone was like, “damn I forgot how much of a banger this song was!” Think you might feel the same so wanted to share 🫶🏻 ​Chillin - Wale​

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One FAQ ❓

Answer: I've been there my guy! Staring at MyFitnessPal at 9pm realizing I still need 60g of protein and not feeling like eating anything high in protein.

Not fun lol.

Here's what changed everything for me:
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1.) Figure out your number and break it up.

You are going to hear a TON to hit 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.

That’s not true.

It should be 1g protein per pound of GOAL bodyweight.

So if you are 200lbs and your goal weight is 150lbs, then let’s do that 150g of protein.

But here's the thing, don't think about it as one giant scary number.

Break it into meals.

Three meals a day? That's 50g per meal. Four meals? ~37g each.

See how that feels different? It's not "holy shit I need 150g of protein today." It's just "let me hit 50g right now." MUCH more manageable.

And you might find that getting in 40g for breakfast and then 60g for dinner breaks things up more, just figure out what works for you!
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2.) Focus on having protein at every meal.

Eat your protein source FIRST at each meal.

Before the carbs (get it in and then enjoy the rest).

Every meal. Every snack. Something with protein.

No more "naked" meals where it's just carbs and vibes lol.

I think the point of having protein at every meal is super important.

Think what delicious protein is going to be the base of this meal and how am I going to build off of that.

This doesn't have to be complicated either.

Most days, I'll just have my protein cookie dough for breakfast.

35+ grams of protein without even trying.

I give SOOO many ways of making protein delicious!

3.) Find your go-to's.

You need a roster of easy, reliable protein sources you actually ENJOY eating.

Mine consists of:

1. Chicken tenders/nuggets
2. Random plate of deliciousness (lots of ground beef)
3. Greek yogurt or cottage cheese
4. High protein ice cream

And obviously all of my other recipes 😉

When you have your go-to's dialed in, hitting protein stops feeling like a chore.

It just becomes... what you do.

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Weird Food Fact 🤓

You just cooked a beautiful piece of chicken. It's golden. It's crispy. It smells incredible.

And you want to cut into it immediately!

But hold on for just a few minutes...

Have you ever heard someone say:

What does that even mean, and why do I have to wait to eat 😭🙏

Well here's what's happening...

As it cooks, the heat pushes all the juices toward the center.

So right when it comes off the heat, all that moisture is bunched up in the middle with nowhere to go.

If you cut into it too early, all those juices spill out onto your cutting board instead of staying in the meat.

That's why your chicken sometimes comes out dry even though you cooked it perfectly (you didn't let it rest).

When you let meat rest for even just 5-10 minutes, those juices redistribute throughout the entire piece. The muscle fibers relax. And the moisture spreads back out evenly.

The result? Juicier, more flavorful meat with every single bite.

So next time you're cooking up some chicken, steak, or even pork, let it sit for a little.

I know it's hard, but your taste buds will thank you 🙏

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Serving Surprise 😮

I think it’s safe to say you guys know I LOVE to cook haha.

BUT...

There are times when I just want a super convenient protein source.

Not one that I have already prepped ahead of time to reheat.

But one that has zero dishes and is ready from start to finish in 10 minutes.

Enter stage left… Frozen Chicken Nuggies.

I have been on the search for the perfect ones for a long time.

Great taste and great macros.

Simple equation but hard to find.

But I have finally found the holy grail!

These are incredible.

The biggest issue with these lower cal nuggies is the texture.

These have that KFC Popcorn Chicken vibe and the texture of the chicken is not chewy like they used low quality chicken (I got this a lot with other brands).

They are an HEB store brand so if you are not in Texas, I apologize 😭

I have tried the Real Good Foods ones.

They are ok but not as good as these.

Here are a few other brands I haven’t tried yet but have heard great things:

• Simple Truth Lightly Breaded Chicken Tenders
• Tyson Simple Ingredients Chicken Breast Strips (They have Chicken Bites and Blackened Chicken Tenders too).
• Just Bare Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Tenders or Bites

And there are tons of others coming into the market so not a bad thing for some more competition to drive the prices down!

Homemade is always going to be the cheapest option, but these are a convenient protein source.

Let me know if you’ve tried any of these or if I missed a brand to add to the list!

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And that's all I got for you this week!

Quick reminder from today's weird food fact...

Let your meat rest before cutting into it.

I know it's hard. I know it smells amazing. But those 5-10 minutes are the difference between juicy chicken and dry chicken.

Patience pays off 🙏

Hope you got some value from this one.

See you next Sunday!

Much love and happy cooking,​
Zach