Hey Reader!

In the 144th issue of The MF Kitchen, you'll slice into the details of:

• Recipes for my Taco Bell Fiesta Pasta Salad and Reese’s Puff Cereal Milk Protein Ice Cream!
• Snackable meal prep (for anyone on the go)...
• Boston got attacked by... molasses?
• 4 grocery swaps that do the work for you...

Preheat your ovens…

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Weekly Recipe Roundup 🍽️

Taco Bell Fiesta Pasta Salad The Taco Bell Fiesta Salad was delicious but they discontinued it. So had to bring it back but meal prep pasta salad style! And only 507 cals and 45g protein for a massive bowl! Click here for the recipe and PDF: ​Taco Bell Fiesta Pasta Salad​

Reese’s Puff Cereal Milk Protein Ice Cream A WHOLE Pint of Reese’s Puff Cereal Milk Protein Ice Cream for 351 Calories with 41g Protein! Click here for the recipe and PDF: ​Reese’s Puff Cereal Milk Protein Ice Cream​

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Recipe Recreation Of The Week 🤌

🔥 513 Cal Orange Chicken Ramen Stir Fry

Macros for 1/4th the Recipe:​
513 Cals, 57g Carbs, 14g Fat, 47g Protein

Here's the recipe and video:​
👉 ​​https://www.instagram.com/reels/DdRn0ezRJuC/​

If you haven't already, join the FDL Community so you can share your own creations.

​Click here to join now!​

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This Week's Flavor 🎥

240 Cal Chicken Chalupa Supremes My FAVORITE less then 500 calorie, 60g protein lunch! ​Here is the recipe and video.​

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Zach's Beats 🎧

​Cash - Fabian Mazur​​

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One FAQ ❓

Answer: I was reading some stoic philosophy the other day and read this quote that really stuck with me.

“One does not leave thy house without thy snacks. Because if thy gets hangry, thy will lose all virtue.”

😆

And this is exactly the gap most people miss.

You've got breakfast handled.

You've got dinner handled.

It's those hours in between (stuck somewhere with no good options) where everything falls apart.

So today I'm sharing 5 of my favorite grab-and-go recipes you can batch on Sunday and pull from the fridge all week.

I call this category Snackable Meal Prep.

And I'm going to my classic recipes for it!​
​

1.) 87 Cal Banana Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins

This is a fan favorite for snackable meal prep.

At only 87 calories with 8.5g protein, these are a perfect grab-and-go snack.

Full macros are:
87 Cals, 10g Carbs, 1.5g Fat, 8.5g Protein

Here's the link to the recipe and PDF:
👉 Banana Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins​
​

2.) 28 Cal Breakfast Brownie Bites

These are so easy to make and meal prep.

At only 28 cals per, you can eat 8 of these for just over 200 calories.

Macros per are:
28 Cals, 3.5g Carbs, 0.5g Fat, 2.5g Protein

Here's the link to the recipe:
👉 Breakfast Brownie Bites​
​

3.) 51 Cal Air Fryer Mini Protein Cheesecakes

I have made so many different variations of these!

OREO, Cosmic Brownie, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, and Biscoff!

Here's the link to the recipes:
👉 Fruity Pebbles version
​👉 Oreo version
​👉 Cosmic brownie version
​👉 Cinnamon Toast Crunch version​
​​👉 Biscoff version​
​

4.) Blended Overnight Proats (Protein Oatmeal) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!

A big batch for only 430 calories with 39g of protein (that's normal for a full breakfast!).

But if you want to just have a snack, cut the recipe in half!

Here's the link to the recipes:
​​👉 Oreo version​
👉 Chocolate chip cookie dough version​
👉 Snickerdoodle cheesecake cookie dough version​​
​

5.) 82 Cal No Bake Protein Chocolate Chip Cookies

So many layers of no-bake goodness going on here!

Have these in the fridge all week to grab and go.

Here's the link to the recipe:
👉 No bake cookies​

​
Make one or two of these on Sunday and you'll never be stuck raiding a vending machine again.

That's the whole point of snackable meal prep.

The decision is already made before you walk out the door.

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Weird Food Fact 🤓

It's January 15, 1919.

Just past 12:30pm in Boston's North End.

Unusually warm for January at 43 degrees.

People are heading to lunch.

Workers are loading freight cars.

Totally ordinary Wednesday.

Then you hear it.

A rumble. A hiss. The sound of bolts popping off a steel tank like gunshots.

And then 2.3 million gallons of molasses comes at you at 35 miles per hour.

I'm not making this up.

Looming over that neighborhood was a 50-foot steel tank holding 2.3 million gallons of molasses (about 26 million pounds of it).

The thing is, that tank had been groaning and leaking for years.

Neighbors noticed. Kids in the North End would literally scrape the leaks off the side with sticks as a free treat.

At least one employee straight up warned his bosses it wasn't structurally sound.

The company's solution? They re-caulked it. That's it 😅

On January 15th it finally gave.

The tank ripped open and sent a wall of molasses through the streets.

Estimates put the wave anywhere from 15 to 40 feet high and moving fast enough to snap telegraph poles, level six buildings, and bend the steel supports of an elevated train line.

And here's the part that stuck with me most.

Cleanup took months.

But for decades afterward, North End residents swore that on hot summer days, you could still smell molasses in the air.

CRAZY to think about seeing that, I couldn't imagine what would be going through my head.

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Serving Surprise 😮

Some of the easiest calorie wins happen before you ever turn on the stove...

Right in the grocery store.

Here are four swaps I make every single time (and none of them cost you flavor).
​

1.) Center-cut bacon

Here's what most people don't realize...

Center-cut bacon is just regular bacon with the fatty end trimmed off.

Same bacon, same taste, same crisp, and roughly half the calories per slice!

That's the whole swap.

You're not sacrificing anything, you're just not eating the part that was mostly fat anyway.
​

2.) Turkey pepperoni

I've said this before and I'll say it again...

This might be the single most underrated macro swap in the store.

Turkey pepperoni tastes basically identical to regular pepperoni.

AND about half the calories with MORE protein.

Put it on a pizza, chop it into a pasta, throw it in a wrap/sandwich.

Nobody has ever once told me "hmm, something's off about this pepperoni" 😆
​

3.) 2% cheese

The reason I go 2% instead of fat-free is simple... it actually MELTS.

Fat-free cheese does this sad little rubbery thing where it just sort of… sits there.

2% melts like the real deal, pulls like the real deal, tastes like the real deal (for a solid chunk fewer calories).

After years of testing, I've found it's the sweet spot for cheese.
​

4.) Salsa

Go walk down the salsa aisle and really look at it.

• Mango
• Chipotle
• Roasted garlic
• Peach
• Verde
• Habanero

There are DOZENS of flavor options sitting there for around 10 calories a serving.

Compare that to ranch (70+ per tbsp) or mayo (90+ per tbsp) and it's not even close.

Basically any savory meal gets better with salsa and it costs you almost nothing.

​
And the best part about all these swaps?

None of these require you to cook differently.

You just grab a different package 😎

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Here’s an obvious but not so obvious stat I want to leave you with.

Every week is 2% of the year.

When I first hear this, my brain goes, “well duh.”

But then it sets in that, “damn that’s a lot of the year.”

Weeks fly by and I don’t even notice.

So this is just a reminder to myself and maybe a helpful reminder to you that time will fly by if we let it.

How do I plan to slow down time?

I know when I challenge myself outside of my comfort zone, time tends to stand still.

I am more present than ever.

The irony that:
Hard = more present = you slow down time.

Just a random thought I wanted to share haha.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far in the email.

Means the world to have your support.

Sending you all the good vibes for an amazing week.

Get after it!

Much love and happy cooking,
​Zach