Avocado Pineapple Burgers

So yummy! Don't think I have a picture for this yet, but I'll take one the next time I make them.

Ingrediants

• 1 avocado
• 1/3 of a lemon
• 1 lb ground meat (used beef)
• 1 onion
• Mushrooms
• Garlic
• Spices
• 1 pinapple

Mush the avocado in a bowl. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Set mixture aside.

Cut the pineapple into desired sized chunks.

Season the meat. Separate into quarters. For each quarter, divide it in half. Make each half into a small patty. Spread the avocado mixture on the patty. Put the second patty on top of the first one and fold the edges together  If you don't get them all the way together, that's ok, just know that avocado will leak into your pan/onto your grill. Repeat for the remainder of the burgers.

Heat the pan and place 2 burgers in it. If you have a lid, cover the pan. You want to cook the burgers on medium heat. Flip when sides start to brown.

While the first burgers are cooking, saute the onions (chopped as desired), mushrooms, and garlic in another pan. Use as a topping or a side. 

Place the pineapple or onions and mushrooms on top of the burgers and enjoy!

Repercussions

I like eating Paleo. I feel better, I sleep better, and I enjoy my food. But on the weekends, especially when I go to visit friends or go on long rides/big workouts, I don't eat nearly as well. This past weekend was no exception.

Friday night I was at home, so I made some yummy yummy cauli-pizza (and fried the extra "dough" on the stove to make fritters - yum!). It was a good time.

Saturday was messier. I went to an open water swim for the first time (turns out opening my eyes underwater, yes with goggles, makes me feel clausterphobic when I can only see to my elbows) and so breakfast consisted of a Larabar after the swim, a banana and a Builder bar after the bike ride, and plenty of water and Gatorade. Saturday night found me at the boardwalk eating a bacon cheeseburger (fine except the bun), Crabby Sweets (which apparently are the only sweet potato fries I like), and frozen custard.

Sunday was full of bagels and tons of fruit (which normally I love, but I was craving some protein), some fries and chicken fingers, and nuts/raisins on the train back home. When I got back, I overloaded on the protein with fish, chicken, and eggs, with some veggies and spinach on the side of course.

I'm sure you're wondering, "What are these repercussions you're talking about?" Try mood fluctuations, grogginess (which could be due to a late night beach visit that I'm recovering from), and restless sleeping for the past 2 nights. Not to mention that I just felt inflated after eating all those fried, sugary foods and the bagels. Ugh. It makes me want to do a ton of pushups to verify my muscles haven't disintegrated.

I'm aiming to eat as well as possible this week, with lots of veggies and protein, because I know that's what makes me feel good. Well, that, and dark chocolate. Unfortunately, something similar is going to probably happen the next two weekends. On the upside, Larabars are as Paleo as a granola bar can get (Apple Pie is good), I have butternut squash and zucchini in my fridge, and I'll be getting a new cooking buddy next week!

Paleo Lessons: Week 6

I like yogurt, but it's a common place for high fructose corn syrup to sneak in. I was disappointed when I read the ingredients on my favorite flavor (Trader Joe's Vanilla Greek Yogurt) and saw that sugar was the second ingredient and corn syrup was on the list as well. I got some of the plain Greek yogurt instead, because it at least doesn't have any added sugars or syrups, forgetting that I consider it to be fairly bitter and tart. I will say though, it's much better with honey added and it makes a great veggie dip. Just keep in mind that the honey sinks to the bottom if you add the honey and then put the container back into the fridge without mixing (oops).

Variety is the spice of life. Wednesday, something struck me. I was eating the same handful of meals every week! Yes they're familiar and safe, and I know they don't cost much, but man do they get dull after a while.

It's not as scary to tell people as I thought it would be. Maybe I just have nice friends though, or maybe it has to do with being in college where everyone tries new things. The few friends I've told have been very accepting of my choice - especially my buddy who has been away researching in beautiful Costa Rica and will be sharing the kitchen with me when she gets back.

Don't grocery shop when you're hungry. I thought this problem would go away with eating Paleo, but it doesn't. It just means you look to foods that aren't bread products instead of those yummy looking donuts.

And finally, it's ok to not be perfect. The lovely Diane over at Balanced Bits reminded me with this article that I am human (that is to say, imperfect), I am a college student (that is to say, financially constrained), and it's ok that I love chocolate (ok, so maybe she didn't say that exactly). So you know what? If I'm eating Greek yogurt instead of Kefir, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead of the plain stuff sometimes, it's better than I was eating before. It's better than choosing ice cream every night. And it's not a huge deal if I do choose ice cream every now and again.

An Honest Quandery

I like really like really really like chocolate. Before my tea days, before the brief stint when I drank hot chocolate-vanilla cappuchinos from the crappy coffee machine in the dining hall (they were pretty delicious but I shudder to think about what I was consuming), I would drink hot chocolate. It was warm and delicious and very easy to make. My parents gave me a huge container of hot chocolate mix when I moved in my freshman year.

It's not Paleo in the slightest.

In the evenings, I roam through the apartment searching for a piece of chocolate. I long for that sweet little bite right before bed. Hot chocolate would be an easy, obvious solution. It would also help me hydrate more, I could drink it at work, and it's chocolate. Er, chocolate flavored. It would stop the craving and halt the evening hunt.

A few days ago I found out about Choffy. It's a drink similar to coffee, but made with cacao nibs instead of coffee beans. It's recommended you make it in a French press, but it can be made in a regular coffee maker too.

I own neither of those products, having sworn off coffee after I had nasty, nasty caffine jitters from 2 cups of chocolate vanilla cappuchinos during a final my freshman year. (It wasn't even all that much caffine! The drinks were half hot chocolate and half whatever the vanilla cappuchino mix was. It was the equivalent of a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of cappuchino. Clearly my body does not handle caffine well.) It has tons of antioxidants (more than blueberries, believe it or not) and no caffine (a plus for me!). It does however have theobromine, which is a more mild stimulant than caffine, but it's still a stimulant. It sounds like I'd have to get a French press and a 12 oz bag if I wanted to try it, but that would be a waste of money if I didn't like it.

EDIT: just found out Choffy can be brewed in a tea infuser for 5 minutes! Now to find somewhere I can try a cup before splurging on a $15 bag...

But I do love tea.

Tea was the next logical step after the coffee fueled final debacle. I didn't like tea, really at all, before college. Super A got me to drink it. I started drinking black tea, since sometimes I needed the caffine first thing in the morning. There's one that tastes just like a cookie, it's incredible. Usually I have the fruit infused black teas, or this really yummy vanilla caramel one that tastes the way coffee smells (yes I still really like the smell, residual from childhood and a mother who drinks coffee every single morning). I'll even drink chamomille and herbal cinnamon apple teas now. I'm starting to run out of the flavored ones, though, so I'm looking for more to replace them. Generally, I'd like to find fruity or chai teas, but then I stumbled on this:

It's rooibos tea with chai spices and chocolate pieces. I'm not sure how Paleo it is, but it's caffine free and certainly better for you than hot chocolate mix. Cha Tea Company sells the blend in the picture above and Urbane Tea Company sells a chocolate hazelnut blend (also caffine free as it's made with honeybush leaves). They both come out to $6.00 for 2 oz. I imagine Cha's tastes cinnamony and chocolatey while Urbane's might taste like liquid Nutella. I'm not sure which one sounds better, so I might just have to get a bit of both (as well as more of the blueberry tea I'm drinking as I write this).

Chocolate cravings satisfied?

Easiest Breakfast Ever?

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don't doubt that. I've found over the past few years that skipping breakfast leaves me cranky and ravenous by noon. I don't quite have that problem anymore, but I still agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast sets the tone for the day (if that day is Monday, it can set the tone for your week). A nice, yummy, relaxed breakfast leaves you refreshed and ready for anything. A stressed running-out-the-door-late-for-work breakfast leaves you haggard and can very easily result in falling off the Paleo wagon for a meal.

This meal has been my go-to for the past week or so. It's got protein and fat from the eggs and ham and you get a nice serving of veggies and vitamins and minerals from the spinach.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• large handful of spinach
• 2-3 slices of ham
• seasonings (salt, pepper, and garlic powder are my favorite right now)
• cooking fat (I'm using bacon grease that I store in a jar in my fridge)

Heat your cooking fat in a pan on the stove. When it's warm, drop in chunks of your ham and all the spinach. Let cook until the spinach is dark green and the ham is starting to brown. Crack your eggs into the pan and mix it all up for a pseudo omelet. When the eggs are mostly cooked, add your spices and sprinkle on the cheese. If it's circle shaped, fold the eggs in half to make a nice omelet looking thing. Remove from pan and enjoy!

I've actually been putting mine straight into a to-go container and eating it at work with some tea once it's cooled a bit. Use whatever add-ins or seasonings you want, this is just my current favorite.

Paleo Lessons: Week 5

Be careful on cheat days. I had kinda a weekend long cheat and spent the first few days this week readjusting to Paleo. Not necessarily worth it (although the mac and cheese and regular brownies were delicious). 

Preparing food the day you get it can save time during the week. Grating cauliflower is a pain, but if you do it all at once while watching tv or chatting with a friend, it's not that much of a hassle. Cutting veggies ensures you have a premade snack ready when you pop your head into the fridge.

Buy larger sizes and make your own "snack packs". The bigger sizes are often cheaper than the individually packages, and by making your own in reusable baggies or containers you can help the environment, too.

One Month of Paleo!

One month ago today I decided to try eating Paleo. The specific challenge was just to eat Paleo for a month and see what I thought. After adjusting to a low carb diet (read: after 3 weeks of low carb flu) I can say this was a good choice. I sleep better and have an easier time falling asleep. I'm calmer. I certainly eat more veggies. I feel more relaxed. I suspect my body's natural chemistry is leveling itself out. I don't need to drink tea for the caffine, I can drink it because I want to (although I'm trying to stay away from black tea currently). I have a bunch of new recipes. I enjoy cauliflower. I can cut a pineapple. I have a new appreciation for dishwashers. I know more about what I'm putting into my body and how it affects me.

This past weekend Super A and I went to a party his family was hosting. There was lots of really good food there, but not much of it was Paleo. I cut myself a break and did what I could (lots of salad and some fruit) but also indulged in mac and cheese, desserts (real brownies!), pasta salad, fried chicken, and pork bbq (although that last one was probably the closest to Paleo out of all of them). I was hungry more often, I had mood swings, and I kept wanting to eat more. It was delicious food, don't get me wrong, and I still do love mac and cheese, but I think that eating Paleo is probably better for me right now than eating the average American high-carb, low-fat diet.

My verdict: this was a good choice.

My next goals are to find more published research on food, chemistry, and how the human body reacts to it. I'm considering cutting out cow milk for various reasons and replacing it with almond or coconut milk. I'm planning to invest in a food processor (gasp!). Oh yeah, and I might want to figure out how to explain to people (including my parents) why eating this way is a good choice for me.

The journey continues!

The Perils of Grocery Stores

This past week I decided to try something new. I went to a regular grocery store.

Not happening again. At least not that store.

The produce section was severely lacking - there were exactly 4 zucchinis when I went. I couldn't find any romaine heads, and the bagged salads were two for $7. $7 for a less than a week's worth of salad doesn't sound like a good idea. The berries might have been a decent price, but this store has a history of moldy fruit. The mangos looked kinda sad. Have I mentioned that I love baked goods? It's hard to pass by an Enteman's sale or a sale on Life cereal even when you're not eating Paleo.

The main reason I would go to this store is the meat section, but I think I can probably do about the same at the Trader Joe's I normally frequent. I did score a bit on the cheese, so maybe it will become a 5 minute stop on the way home from work for cheese and cheese alone, maybe meat too. I also got the single spaghetti squash, but not much else from the produce department. I think I'll stick to TJ's for my weekly grocery needs. It's better quality and more variety.

My weekly grocery list usually looks something like this:
Veggies - zucchini, spinach, romaine, squash or eggplant, onions, cauliflower, sometimes peppers or tomatoes
Fruit - berries (fresh or frozen), mango, pineapple, bananas, occasionally regular apples
Meat - ground beef or turkey, bacon, chicken
Other - nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans), Greek yogurt, cheese, coconut or almond milk, occasionally sweet potatoes

Chocolate Truffles

I've been trying to work extra long days at the beginning of the week so I can take Friday afternoons off to grocery shop and run errands. A couple of weeks ago, I gave in and bought coconut oil and coconut milk - mostly so I could make this recipe by Michelle over at Nom Nom Paleo.

Michelle makes her truffles into balls, but I ended up sticking the entire "pan" (my pan was a Chinese takeout container) in the freezer and realized they'd make a great, rich fudge too. I cut them into squares. I'd recommend doing that at the 4 hour mark, before freezing them.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz dark chocolate (70% or higher)
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Very carefully shave the dark chocolate into small pieces. Going on the diagonal seemed to work best for me. Put the dark chocolate into a bowl with the coconut oil. Don't worry about melting it.

In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a simmer. Pour it into the bowl and gently stir until the chocolate is melted and everything is thoroughly combined. Add vanilla. Pour mixture into a tray/pan and place in refrigerator for 4+ hours. 

Scoop out truffles and shape into balls. Roll in cocoa powder or shredded coconut. 

OR

Cut truffles into squares.

Keeps in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for 3 months.

If keeping in the freezer, Michelle says to put the truffles in the fridge for a half an hour before serving. I'm keeping my squares in the freezer and whenever Super A wants one, we just take it straight out of the container in the freezer without worrying about defrosting. The kind of melt in your hands, anyway. Maybe that's just the type of chocolate I got. 

Happy snacking!

Paleo Lessons: Week 4

This week was my first week when it didn't feel like I was still adapting to eating Paleo - meaning no "low carb flu" symptoms. I'm trying to figure out what proportions of what types of food my body needs to consume to feel full and certainly still learning how to eat when I'm hungry and not eat when I'm not hungry. It's all about balance.

I saw this article earlier this week and it made me laugh a little. It's about a gentleman of age 26 in the United Kingdom who lived off of $18 of groceries for the week. Intrigued, I started reading and found that most of his diet is heavy in carbs. He said that it was difficult to get enough protein on such a low budget. He also struggled with getting enough fruit and veggies and mainly relied on pasta, bread, and potatoes to meet his caloric intake goals (which actually weren't met from what I can tell). Here's his original article (more extensive than the interview).

What does this have to do with anything? Since going Paleo, I've been spending what's felt like a somewhat ridiculous amount of money each week on food. Super A helped me put it in perspective (making purchases that will last a while, like spices, coconut oil, and nut products), but this article helped me realize that this might be the monetary price I'll pay for living a more healthy lifestyle. If I spend $25 more a week some weeks, but I eat healthier food, I can live with that.

I overheard a co-worked talking about his wife going Paleo and that he was doing it to support her. He said it was really, really hard because basically you can't get anything you normally would at the grocery store. It made me smile - it's surprising how much food you can still actually eat when you're Paleo, especially when you do your research and cook for yourself.

The last lesson for this week is stock up. Get food items that keep for a while, such as frozen berries, nuts, dried fruit, frozen veggies, frozen meat (check the ingredients list first), onions, sweet potatoes, and apples. Spices are also worth the investment and can make all the difference in a dish.

Bacon Grease

It's Wednesday. Whoo! The week is halfway through!

Whoa, wait, the week is halfway through? I'm not ready for the weekend yet! I have yet to do any of the things I've been counting on getting done this week, let alone tried a new recipe out. Yesterday my stomach decided to be a hungry hungry hippo after I went swimming (3000 yards, possibly the biggest swim workout I've done yet), which was awesome and unfortunate. 

Awesome because now I don't have any more leftovers. I chowed down on some cauliflower fried rice, eggplant pizzas, fish, and zucchini noodles and it was deliciously awesome!

Unfortunate because now I don't have any more leftovers. I have what I think is a mild but persistent case of plantar fasciitis (pf) and I started treating it over the weekend using Sock Doc's recommendation of trigger point therapy. So far, so good, but my legs feel like they're covered in bruises. Getting back on track, I realized that standing in the kitchen and cooking for an hour or more every night after work probably wasn't helping. Hence the no new recipes. 

I can however give you a really good recommendation: eat more bacon. 

First of all, it's bacon. Second of all, a slice or two makes a good Paleo snack between meals. Third of all, the grease can be kept in a jar and used for cooking. You know how it works - you cook a bunch of bacon in a frying pan, bacon grease puddles up in the bottom of the pan, and you have to dump it out before putting the next batch in so your arms don't get covered in grease burns. Instead of pouring that melted fat down the drain, pour it into a jelly jar and put it in your fridge. Reach for that next time you need to sautée anything. 

Paleo Monday Update

For the time being, I am discontinuing my Meatless Mondays. They generally left me hungry and in varying degrees of grouchiness, in part because I'm still adapting to eating Paleo. My previous Meatless Monday dinners usually included some sort of pasta, and at least once a day (every day) there was a peanut butter sandwich.

Question: why would you do a Meatless Monday in the first place?

People can quote their science and studies at you until they're blue in the face. For all intents and purposes, my reason was that I have friends who are vegetarian and vegan and it was my gesture of support for them.

Follow up question: why did you stick with if after converting to Paleo?

For another simple reason: I wanted to see if I could do it. Turns out, I can. I need more experience though, both in the kitchen and as a Paleo eater, before I'm ready to do it in a way that's healthy and fulfilling.

Cauliflower Rice

Like any other college student, I don't have a food processor (yet). Unlike most of the college students I know, I have a cheese grater.

It's beautiful.

It also means I might be able to get away with making Paleo food I would normally need a food processor for, such as cauliflower rice. This turned out a little better than I expected and it certainly filled me up. You can use any veggies you like, I used what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 zucchini
• 1 lb of mushrooms
• 1 large onion
• 1 pineapple
• 2 eggs

Wash the cauliflower, cut off the florets, and grate. All of it. You probably want to squeeze it out too to get rid of some of the water. Wash and chop all other veggies and the pineapple.

In a pan/wok/large saucepot (you want a large surface area), melt butter or other cooking fat (I think I used coconut oil). Cook the onion and the zucchini first, then add the mushrooms and cauliflower after a while. 

Push all the veggies and "rice" to the edges of the pan. Crack your eggs, mix, and cook for a few more minutes. Add in the pineapple slices just before you're ready to serve. Toss everything so you have well mixed rice and serve!

NB: cauliflower gives off a lot of water when cooked. I suggest squeezing it out before adding it to the pan, but cooking it briefly in the microwave would probably help get more water out of it.

Baked Bananas

This idea was my special 4th of July treat for Super A. Originally from Paleo Mom, it was inspired by the movie The Croods, which is about a family of cavemen. It's a really sweet dessert and it's even better topped with ice cream (I know, that's not really Paleo, but I can tell you it is delicious).

We sorta ate the first one before I realized it!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 2-3 bananas
• cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Chop the nuts as finely as you desire. Mix with cinnamon

Put the bananas on a cookie tray. Start at the top of the banana and cut through the peel and through 3/4 of the banana lengthwise down to the base of the banana. Don't cut through the other side of the peel.

Using your fingers and maybe a spoon, put the nut mixture into the groove your just cut down each banana. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon if desired. 

Put bananas into the oven for 12-14 minutes. Allow them to cool slightly upon removal. Enjoy straight from the oven, over Elana's Chocolate Zucchini Bread, or as the base for a banana sundae.

Snacks

Problem: you just started eating Paleo and you have the munchies - all the time. What do you do?

For starters, try eating more at meals. Make bigger meals - more meat/protein and good fats, more veggies. The veggies can fill you up if you eat enough of them, but protein and fat keeps you full.

When you're fully adapted, you probably won't have this problem nearly as bad. Here's some suggestions for those between meal snacks:

• Apple slices and nut butter
• Veggie sticks and Greek yogurt or guacamole
• A slice of bacon
• Deli sliders: lunch meat topped with something else (personal favorite - ham and cheddar cheese)
• Cheese cubes
• Hard boiled eggs
• Drumstick (for a bit bigger of a snack)
• Nuts!
• Jerky

Feel free to add your favorites in the comments!

Elana's Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Oh. My. Gosh.

In my quest to find a flourless brownie, I decided to try a Paleo recipe that includes almond flour. Elana from Elana's Pantry came up with this great Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe. I don't have the same sized pan that she used, so I made it in a brownie pan and added chocolate chips.

The result: fluffy, moist, chocolatey, and completely Paleo brownies. Delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour or almond meal
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 c honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 c zucchini (grated)
• pinch of salt
• handful of chocolate chips

Combine the almond flour and the cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and baking soda. Make sure it's well combined.

Add eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, and honey. Make sure the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the zucchini.

Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 pan, sprinkle on chocolate chips, and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool and serve.

Paleo Lessons: Week 3

I need to get more veggies. Period. I thought I was doing well on this front until this past Monday. One of my favorite meals is pancakes - Paleo pancakes that is. They're delicious with bananas, but I eat too much fruit (I don't see the problem, fruit is delicious and nutritious). Then I remembered some zucchini pancakes I found a recipe for last summer. I'm working on modifying them (because I think they call for flour) so I can use way less banana in my regular pancakes. The only problem? As soon as I thought of this, my brain jumped in with a "No, you can't use those zucchinis for pancakes. You need them for .... something. Something else. You need those zucchinis for something else."

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I've found that if my breakfast leaves me ravenous in less than two hours, it's going to be a hungry day. On good breakfast days though, I'm full until at least 10. I think there was one day where I was actually not hungry until after when I normally grab lunch. An alternative I might start trying is to skip breakfast if I'm not hungry - that way my metabolism doesn't "wake up" until lunch.

I now need over 2 dozen eggs a week. I'm not sure what that says about Paleo and my eating habits, but I'm really glad they're cheap.

Pay attention when you cook bacon. Nuff said.

Cauliflower Pizza: College Style

aka Paleo pizza you don't need a food processor to make.

How excited were you reading that? First of all, PALEO PIZZA! Second of all, no food processor required. You can use one if you have one, it probably is easier and less time consuming.

Originally this recipe is from Michelle over at the Lucky Penny. She calls it "The BEST Cauliflower Crust Pizza!" I have to agree with her. I grew up making pizza dough with a recipe that required no fewer than 6 cups of flour, so I was slightly skeptical about any other pizza crust recipe, let alone a Paleo one.

Well. I shouldn't have been. This is delicious. I modified it a little bit since I don't have a

Ingredients:

• 1 cauliflower head (or 2-3 cups of cauliflower rice)
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg
• salt
• pepper
• dried basil
• dried oregano
• garlic powder
• 1 tbsp almond meal (optional)
• Toppings and sauce as desired!

Wash and dry your cauliflower head. Cut off the florets and grate with a box grater. You don't want or need too much of the stem.

Cook the cauliflower snow for about 4 minutes in the microwave. I couldn't fit all of my snow into the single microwave safe bowl I own, so I used takeout containers as well. Place the snow on a clean towel and allow it to cool. 

Wrap the cauliflower in the towel and wring it out. You want to get some of the excess water out. You only need to squeeze it a few times - don't rip your towel.

In a bowl, combine the cauliflower, cheese, spices, and egg. Mix with your hands. Form the pizza crust on a greased baking sheet. Bake it at 450 F for 8 - 11 min until the top starts to turn golden.

Remove from oven and add sauce and toppings. Bake for an additional 5 - 7 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown. 

The hardest part: allow it to cool slightly for a few minutes. Enjoy!

I topped mine with tomato sauce, 3 different cheeses, and some ham. For the next one, I'm planning on ham, bacon, and spinach. I also ate the entire thing, it was so delicious. I only used about half a cauliflower head, too. I'm also planning on making one two when Super A is here next (we both eat enough that we probably need our own).

UPDATE: Here's the bacon and spinach pizza! It was for both myself and Super A, so I filled the whole pan. It probably could have used a longer cook time and I would have lined the pan with aluminum foil to make it easier to actually get slices out of the pan.