Hey Reader!

In the 149th issue of The MF Kitchen, you'll slice into the details of:

• Recipes for my Crispy Jalapeño Popper Pockets and Cosmic Brownie Ice Cream Protein Waffle Tacos!
• Halloween candy IS NOT bad (so long as you follow this one trick)...
• How grocery stores trick you into buying MORE...
• Double the size of any meal without doubling the calories...

Preheat your ovens…

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Weekly Recipe Roundup 🍽️

Crispy Jalapeño Popper Pockets These Jalapeño Popper Pockets are NEXT LEVEL and only 101 calories! Perfect for macro friendly meal prep 🤌 Click here for the recipe and PDF: ​Crispy Jalapeno Popper Pockets​

Cosmic Brownie Ice Cream Protein Waffle Tacos The Cold Stone OREO Waffle Tacos have been going viral so I had to make my own but Cosmic Brownie! Perfect to tackle that low calorie sweet treat meal prep! Click here for the recipe and PDF: ​Cosmic Brownie Ice Cream Protein Waffle Tacos​

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Recipe Recreation Of The Week 🤌

Hawaiian Roll Protein Cinnamon Rolls

Macros per Roll w/frosting:​
137 Cals, 23g Carbs, 2g Fat, 6g Protein

Here's the recipe and video:​
👉 ​​https://www.instagram.com/p/DPtt1Yrkaks/?hl=en​

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 🎥

264 Cal XL Crispy Beef Tacos One of my favorite quick and easy meals when I want a lot of flavor and protein for very little work! ​Here is the recipe and video.​

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Zach's Beats 🎧

Always a good throwback ​Bonfire - Childish Gambino​

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One FAQ ❓

Answer: What a perfect time to answer this! Because...

Halloween is next weekend.

And if you have kids, there will be a lot of candy introduced to your food environment.

Or even if you don’t have kiddos, just having a house in a neighborhood with kids means you are giving out candy.

Unless you're this person.

The moral of the story: there will be leftover candy in your house going into November.

And I am here to tell you that you can't have that candy.

Not even one piece.

Even just the smallest amount of sugar present in that candy will lead to a catastrophic blood sugar spike.

Thus immediately adding body fat to your frame and deteriorating your health.

This sounds so incredibly dramatic right?

But these are the exact fear-mongering tactics used to make you think sugar is the devil's cocaine.

Rest assured, I do not think sugar is the devil's cocaine lol.

I actually think it’s the angel's little reminder that life is meant to be sweet!

So what's the best way to eat candy without it ruining your diet?

The worst way of doing it would be to eat it when you are starving and craving candy.

You have no food in your system to slow digestion and no energy in your bloodstream already.

That will put that candy in a position to cause an insane rush of deliciousness, a huge influx of blood sugar in your bloodstream, and then lead to you being immediately even more hungry for more.

But how can you have that candy without causing this blood glucose spike thus causing you to crush the whole bag?

It’s a magical solution that I should keep a secret.

It's going to blow your mind.

Ready for it?

Just eat it when you are full and satisfied after a macro-balanced meal.

This looks like a protein-dominant meal rounded off with fats, carbs, and fiber.

Let’s say:

• 35%-40% Protein
• 35% Carbs
• 25% Fats

So the digestion of that candy will be slowed by those macronutrients.

And you will be in a position to just enjoy that piece of candy for what it is.

Just a piece of candy.

Without it throwing you down a slippery slope of getting chocolate wasted.

So my challenge to you is to give this a try.

I know it’s scary to have candy around.

But to truly be in control of your diet and to achieve true nutritional freedom, foods cannot have this much power over you.

You are the one in control, not the food.

And this is a challenge that unlocks even more food freedom.

Please keep me posted on how it goes!

And if you have experience with overcoming these hurdles by adding candy, cookies, etc back in your diet in moderation, please reply telling me your story.

Always love learning from your stories.

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Weird Food Fact 🤓

You walk into the grocery store for three things:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Bread

The doors slide open and you’re hit with the smell of fresh-baked bread from the bakery.

Bright, colorful produce right in front of you.

Some calm, mellow music playing overhead.

Forty-five minutes later, you’re at the checkout with a full cart and maybe even a candy bar you grabbed in line.

That wasn’t an accident lol.

Grocery stores are designed down to the inch to get you to buy more.

Here are a few of the sneakiest tricks:

• The music is slowing you down. In a famous 1982 study, researcher Ronald Milliman found that when a supermarket played slow music, shoppers walked slower, stayed longer, and sales jumped about 38% compared to days with fast music.
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• The music can even pick your wine. In another study, a store alternated French and German music next to its wine section. French music days? French wine flew off the shelf. German music days? German wine won. If i had to guess, country music would make people buy beer 🤣 But shoppers had no idea the music had anything to do with it!
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• The milk is in the back for a reason. Part of it is logistics (fridges near the loading docks), but it also means you have to walk past aisle after aisle of everything else to grab the one thing almost everyone came for.
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• Eye level is buy level. The products brands most want you to grab sit right at eye level. The cheaper store brands? Often on the bottom shelf. And the stuff they want kids to see is at their eye level!
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• The smell and the colors get you in a good mood. Bakeries and fresh produce near the entrance make you feel good the moment you walk in. And a happy shopper is a spending shopper.

The best defense to all these 'tricks'?

Walk in with a plan, a grocery list, and maybe some fast music in your headphones 😆

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Serving Surprise 😮

As you guys know, I love pizza.

And sometimes I don’t feel like making macro friendly pizza at home.

So I have been on the pursuit for many years to find a great frozen pizza with equally great macros.

And I think I found it!

Cheese Pinsa Pizza

• Calories: 380
• Protein: 30g
• Fat: 10g
• Carbs: 42g

Pepperoni Pinsa Pizza

• Calories: 390
• Protein: 30g
• Fat: 12g
• Carbs: 42g

They killed it honestly.

Was super skeptical.

But the crust is crispy.

Great flavor.

Highly recommend.

Found it at Target!

Here’s a store locator I found:
👉 https://eatcounter.com/pages/findstores​

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And in case you're wondering...

My top 5 favorite candies of all time are:

1. Purple Bag Skittles
2. Sour Patch Kids
3. Take 5 Candy Bar
4. Reese’s PB Cup
5. Nerd’s Ropes

Worst of all time: Tootsie Rolls lol.

Happy (almost) Halloween!

Much love and happy cooking,
​Zach