Hey [FIRST NAME GOES HERE]!

In the 37th issue of The MF Kitchen, you'll slice into the details of:

• Recipes for my Gochujang Chicken Sandwich and Birthday Cake Batter Protein Ice Cream!
• I cannot believe Capri Sun did this...
• How to make my recipes when you're lactose intolerant (there is a way!)
• A much-anticipated recipe is now all yours!

Preheat your ovens…

---

Weekly Recipe Roundup 🍽️

Gochujang Chicken Sandwich There is a strong case in my heart that this is the best sandwich I’ve ever made. It’s insane especially because of the flavors, the sheer size and it’s only 540 calories with 60g of protein! Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself: ​Gochujang Chicken Burgers With Kimchi Bacon.pdf​

Birthday Cake Batter Protein Ice Cream A WHOLE pint of Birthday Cake Batter Protein Ice Cream for only 255 calories with 36g of protein! Click below to download the recipe and make it easy yourself: ​Birthday Cake Batter Protein Ice Cream.pdf​

---

Recipe Recreations Of The Week 🤌

A juicy, delicious, and massive double cheeseburger for only 425 calories with 57g protein!?

Macros for each WHOLE Double Cheeseburger:
​425 Cals, 20g Carbs, 13g Fat, 57g Protein

Here's the video and recipe:
👉 https://www.instagram.com/p/C7j1YB8shLq/​

---

Zach's Beats 🎧

Idk how I am just finding these. This shit is gold (especially for my fellow 90s babies). ​Feed The Animals - Girl Talk​

---

Weird Food Fact 🤓

Earlier this past week, I was doing my once-a-day (lol maybe more than that) mindless scroll of my IG explore feed.

And I saw something that kinda pissed me off.

Well it didn't really piss me off. I just thought it was dumb.

Actually it did piss me off haha. It was an attack on a childhood love of mine.

It was the rebrand of Capri Sun.

From the beloved pouch to this? Part of the aura of the Capri Sun was stabbing the top with the straw and then drinking literally to the absolute last drop by squeeze it as tight as you can. Then blowing it back up and to then make sure you got every single last drop. And then sucking so hard and having it suction cup to your tongue or lip with no hands. *hoping that wasn’t just me 🤣

So then that led me down a deep rabbit hole of trying to understand this move.

Diving into the history of Capri Suns and also how they are currently doing as a company.

So here’s what I found:

1969: Capri-Sun (originally spelled “Capri-Sonne”) was created by Rudolf Wild, a German food scientist and entrepreneur in Germany. The drink was named after the Italian island of Capri, reflecting its sunny and refreshing image.

1970s: Capri-Sun was first marketed in Germany as a natural fruit juice drink for children. It quickly gained popularity due to its unique packaging and fruit flavors.

1980s: It expanded to the US after much success. But it took 10+ years for it to actually become a staple in the beverage market because who the hell drinks a juice drink out of a little pouch?

1990s-2000s: These were the golden years for Capri-Sun! The pouch became iconic. They were a staple in my lunch box from elementary school all the way through even high school haha.

2010s-Present: The fall from popularity that leads us to this moment. So this rebrand seems to be a last-ditch effort to save the brand rather than a “concern about the environment.” Yes, that’s what they are saying the rebrand is for. And they are adopting paper straws for the kid's pouches. Paper straws!? Piercing the pouch was hard enough with a plastic straw 😭

I think the real reason for the rebrand is that the kids who grew up drinking these are now adults who don’t really drink capri-suns anymore. So it’s trying to use the brand name to repackage these for adult consumption. Aka bottle, sparkling options, etc. Anyways, thought this whole story was wild and wanted to share it! What’s your take on all this? Any theories you have?

---

One FAQ ❓

Answer: Ok so I have a confession.

Have never really talked about this before.

I am lactose intolerant.

And have been since I was born.

MAN I wish I wasn’t (because it is annoying) but it’s the reality.

So how do I still eat dairy while being lactose intolerant?

Step 1: Understanding Lactose

If you are lactose intolerant, lactose is your kryptonite.

Here’s the boring but insightful definition of this process:

Lactose intolerance occurs when the body is unable to properly digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and dairy products. This happens because the small intestine doesn't produce enough of an enzyme called lactase, which is necessary to break down lactose into two simpler sugars, glucose and galactose, that can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

So are we fu*ked to never consume dairy ever again?

Not exactly. Actually not at all.

Step 2: Understanding Lactase

What makes us lactose intolerant is not producing lactase.

And maybe you were not born lactose intolerant but became it over time.

How?

This usually happens to most of us if we have had long bouts of no high lactose dairy foods thus our body doesn’t feel the need to produce the lactase enzyme anymore.

And when I say long bouts, it can be as short as 3-6 months.

Step 3: Call the Lactase Reinforcements

Have you ever wondered how milk products like Fairlife can be lactose-free?

It’s not that they are taking the lactose out of the milk.

It’s that they are adding the lactase enzyme into the milk, in the perfect amount, to match the amount of lactose.

So then the lactose can be digested because the lactate is there to do so.

And thus it is “lactose-free.”

You can do this with lactate enzyme supplementation when eating high-lactose dairy as well.

This is a bit more tricky just because of the timing and how much to actually supplement with in order to match the amount of lactose in the food/meal.

Here’s a chart I made many many years ago for myself to help me know how much lactase is in certain foods.

​
All you need to know from this is some dairy is lower lactose while others are higher.

So then you can be aware of how to supplement or that you should just stay away from the higher lactose dairy.

Step 4: The Lactose-Free Game Plan

Now to finally answer your question.

There is a movement to create more and more lactose-free products.

Here are three I use all the time:

So when I have a recipe that calls for Greek yogurt, I’d say first try and use the lactose-free options.

Because the dairy-free options taste awful (the texture is runny and the macros are even worse).

Hope this helps!

If you are lactose intolerant, please reply to this email because I am curious to know how many of you are.

It’s something I’d like to make more content on but I have zero idea of how many of you are here.

---

Serving Surprise 😮

As you guys know, I prefer frozen veggies over fresh ones for a LONG list of reasons.

So while at HEB (where I do most of my shopping), I was in the frozen veggies aisle snagging my many bags for the week.

Then in the corner of my eye, I see this bag:

I look at the ingredients because most times with the frozen diced potatoes, they are already covered in oil and the macros are terrible. BUT these were not. It was literally just potatoes, peppers, and onions. So not only was this macro friendly BUT also convenient as hell because dicing up potatoes, peppers and onions that small would be annoying. So I snagged a bag. And MAN am I glad I did. The meal I created with these was unreal.

And the macros are immaculate 🤌🏻 635 Cals, 63g Carbs, 17g Fat, 61g Protein Let me show you how. Just like my “Easiest Fries Ever” recipe, I just throw the potatoes into the air fryer raw dog (aka just the potatoes, no oil, no seasoning, nothing). I put about 350g into the air fryer.

I air fry them at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, mixing them around every 5-7 minutes to make sure they cook evenly. And then once golden, I add them to a bowl, spray them with avocado or olive oil, and toss. Then I add my sea salt and garlic powder and toss some more. These will be the base of the meal. I then added some chopped cheese ground chicken on top along with salsa, sriracha, pickled red onions/jalapenos, and avocado.

MY GOODNESS was this meal amazing. So wanted to share this because potatoes are extremely underrated as a high-volume/macro-friendly carb source. And this meal was incredible with them. If you don’t have an HEB, I think there will be something similar at your grocery store. The concept is the same. Let me know when you give it a try!

---

To the amazing people who replied when I asked if they bought a Creami because of me...

THANK YOU!

To give you an idea, this is what my inbox looked like 😅

Still getting through all the emails but I really appreciate the feedback.

I'll see what kind of special deal I can work out with Ninja to get you some cool stuff 😎

Updates to come!

Your friend and fellow Creami lover,
​Zach

​

​

​