![Key protein tip 👉👉👉
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If you're an athletic women over 40 who's trying to build strength and muscle, you need the right combination of nutrition, training and recovery.
Protein intake is one very important aspect of performance nutrition.
You need enough quality protein daily to supply the essential amino acids (EAA) necessary for muscle protein synthesis (MPS).
[Note: Leucine is one of the 3 branched chain amino acids and it's important for triggering MPS. However / and all the EAA are needed to fully carry out MPS.]
Estrogen has an anabolic (building) effect on muscle.
As you progress over 40 and into peri/post-menopause, the eventual decline in estrogen means it's even more important to supply enough signal (via lifting heavy, HIIT, plyometrics, etc) and raw material (especially via protein) for you to keep you muscle protein synthesis exceeding the rate of muscle protein breakdown.
There's a lot to discuss about protein but take this tip with you today:
👉 Spread your protein intake more evenly throughout the day.
This will help supply a more consistent pool of amino acids AND also helps with satiety / feeling fuller.
PMID: 28642676, 34515969
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#strengthnutritionunlocked #feedyourstrength #fitover40 #liftingweights #getstronger #womeninsport #strengthtraining #womensstrengthtraining #womenathletes #womenathlete #liftweights #nutritionforlifting #fuelyourstrength #strengthathlete #womenstrength #femaleathlete #femaleathletes #strengthandconditioningtraining #strongwomenrock #liftheavyshit #fitoverforty #fitover40women #crossfitwomen #crossfitmasterswomen #protein](https://www.stephgaudreau.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Buffalo Chicken Salad is so simple and absolutely bursting with flavor!
My husband Z looked at me the other day and said, “You know that salad you made in a jar the other day? Can you make that again?”
That, my friends, is how you know you have a winner.
Now, surely you don’t have to store this Buffalo Chicken Salad in a Mason jar. You can definitely serve it in a big bowl skip the jar altogether. Do what makes the most sense for you!
I paired this with a Homemade Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing that uses mayo as the base. Scroll down to see that recipe.
To make the buffalo sauce, I used Frank’s Red Hot as the base. It’s just cayenne peppers, white vinegar, water, salt, and garlic powder. On its own, it’s a bit salty, so check the seasoning before you salt and pepper the final dish.
Buffalo chicken aficionados will quickly notice that I stripped down the buffalo sauce ingredient list. Don’t worry: This Buffalo Chicken Salad has plenty of flavor!
You can use any greens as the base of this Buffalo Chicken Salad. We don’t eat iceberg lettuce a ton, but I like it in this dish because it’s crispy. If you’re not into it, use whatever salad greens you like. This would be great on butter lettuce or chopped up romaine.
As for toppings, experiment! Instead of the green onions, some very thinly sliced red onion would be super tasty. Toss on a hard-cooked egg, crispy bacon, or even some extra veggies. It’s up to you!
Feel free to use whatever dressing you like to complement this Buffalo Chicken Salad. Traditionally, buffalo chicken is served with blue cheese dressing, but that’s pretty hard to make dairy-free.
Instead, I paired it with a dairy-free jazzed up version of ranch.
Buffalo Chicken Salad is so simple and absolutely bursting with flavor! It's perfect for packed lunches or quick dinners on any weeknight! Paleo, gluten-free, and whole30 friendly.
My recipes are all in a meal planner. Check it out!
Store-bought ranch dressing is either packed with unhealthy industrial seed oils or—in the rare case it’s made with good oils—hugely expensive. It’s too bad because homemade ranch dressing literally take 2 minutes to make and serves as a creamy, dreamy base to a myriad of dressings and sauces.
My recipes are all in a meal planner. Check it out!
Nutrition and fitness coach for women, Lord of the Rings nerd, and depending on who you ask, crazy cat lady. My mission is to help you fuel for more, not less: bigger muscles, strength, energy, and possibilities. We’ll do it with my signature blend of science, strategy…and a little bit of sass.
Build muscle, strength & power AND take all the guesswork out of your workout with this 3x weekly written-for-you dumbbell strength program.
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26 Responses
Hi Steph,
I’ve never done salad in jar before and I’m pretty new at Paleo. My question is how long does the salad be stored for? Will it last a few days? I truly love the idea of it all and being a single guy I think this would help with my prep as well.
Thank you
Steven
Hey Steven,
Sure it’ll last for 2-3 days in the fridge 🙂
Pardon the newb question Steph, but how do you eat the salad out of the jar. Do you shake it up with the dressing and get everything coated and just go for it? Or do you end up dumping everything out into a bowl and eat it that way?
I just dump it onto a plate or bowl 🙂 The jar is more for transport / storage.
I make a pot of chicken broth every week. We drink the broth at least once a day. Some days I turn it into chicken soup. Other days, we just eat the chicken (great to slice and put into a kid’s lunch box). But sometimes we get tired of plain chicken, and I add some seasoning (although the plain chicken is definitely way faster). I am always on the lookup for fairly simple recipes for adding some variety and seasoning to the chicken. Will be giving this a try.
That’s a great approach, Nancy!
Sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it. TFS
Sweet!! Super glad to hear that, Dorothy!
I have used other salad in a jar recipes and this one looks great. Can’t wait to try it. What I’ve done in the past for transport/storage was put the dressing in the bottom and load the heavier veg into the dressing then all the meat and add-ins like bacon or nuts, then the greens on top away from the dressing where they won’t get wilty. when you are ready to eat, shake it up and pour it out.
You can certainly do that but I didn’t want the ranch dressing to mix with the buffalo sauce and turn orange 😉
I made this today and it got a thumbs up from my 15 year old son, Richard. I botched the dressing by grabbing garlic salt so we didn’t eat the dressing. The salad tastes great without it. Thank you
Marsha, I’m excited to hear that you enjoyed it!
Making it for the third time today…my husband also asks for this delicious salad. Thanks so much for sharing another recipe that makes my life as a celiac much easier!
Sweet!! Super glad to hear that, Maggie!
Hi,
Sooooooooglad I stumbled accross this site.
Can I use coconut oil instead of ghee?
Thank You
Hi there…you could but one of the special ingredients of buffalo sauce is the buttery flavor from the ghee. Traditional recipes use butter. If you didn’t want to leave ghee, I would probably just use the hot sauce and skip the coconut oil. I don’t think you’d be happy with how the taste comes out with coconut.
Very good for a quick and easy meal when you don’t have time to cook a huge dinner. The only thing I changed was I used 1/2 cup of Frank’s Buffalo Hot. I love mine spicy!
First…. this sounds amazing. I need to make this!
I’ve been talking about making salads in a jar for (like) ever……. It’s time!
OH wow……. Lightbulb moment…
this would be amazing for my retreat in September…….
So easy to make ahead…. and pretty to photograph…
Heading spinning….
Second…. the photos are gorgeous…. I especially love the top one!!
Hi Kim! There’s something about the Mason jar that’s just more fun 🙂 I was trying to work out a little bento scenario with a 1/2 pint jar for the dressing but I couldn’t get it to nest. There’s a company called Cuppow that makes cute BPA-free dressing cups that fit right inside the mouth of the jar.
I can’t wait to see what you create…the sky is really the limit!
Thank you for such kind words 🙂 I used a diffuser because I wanted to limit the reflection off the jars…I think it worked pretty well! <3
Paleo is great and all but i think cutting out all carbs will make you be too lean and skinny. You need to be bulkier and food is the key to having some size. Cutting carbs makes you skinny, and be skinny doesn’t bode well with the ladies
George, nobody said paleo is about cutting out all carbs, my friend. That’s a common misconception. I eat carbs and have good muscle mass.
I’m not a fan of boiled chicken, but wanted shredded vs. pan fried or baked. I put my chicken in my crockpot with bone broth, franks, ranch, minced garlic, apple cider vinegar, salt, peppper, paprika, parsley, and ghee. Let it cook, pulled it out and shredded it, and put it back in for a little while on low. Strained the chicken, tossed it with the reccommendations, and served on 1/2 iceburg 1/2 spring mix with cucumber, celery, feta, and ranch. This is my new favorite thing. Thank you for the idea! I’m going to eat the leftovers in butter lettuce “boats”
Oh and obviously omit the feta for paleo
Hi Stephanie, Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m sure you’ll find more valuable information exploring the site. Have fun!
I had some leftover chicken in the fridge and was really dreading whatever boring thing I was going to do with it (woe is me.. ho hummm) but THEN I saw this recipe on your Instagram feed and suddenly I knew what i was going to do with that leftover chicken! YIPPEE.. It did not disappoint.. it was scrumptious and now, I have another go to recipe to use with leftover chicken that won’t make me go ho-hum! I added the optional avocado and bacon – so worth it! Thanks!
Hi LeAnn, Thank you for sharing your thoughts, I’m sure you’ll find more valuable information exploring the site. Have fun!