Feed Zone

Sports physiologist Dr. Allen Lim unpacks hunger, your gut barometer, and shares a surprisingly simple tip to lose weight easily over time.

Enjoy a holiday treat after a hard workout. These shortbread cookies with jam are a perfect way to treat yourself.

Here are some favorite Feed Zone recipes that draw from traditional fall flavors. 7 of these recipes are available as samples from the book that you can download and try at home.

In this post on the Skratch Labs website, Lim describes how coconut water is actually the "the exact opposite of what we need when we are sweating heavily during exercise."

Try this recipe for spinach and red pepper polenta cakes, a delicious portable snack made from real food.

Do you know the #1 reason ultrarunners drop out of a race? It's gastro-intestinal issues. Try Feed Zone Portables, which make great portable fuel for ultramarathon.

Real food and sports nutrition products are pretty similar except in one important way: The packaged products are very dry while real food contains a lot of water. In this new video from Skratch Labs, Lim demonstrates the difference between sports bars that contain 3-10% water by mass and the rice cakes found in Feed Zone Portables, which contain 60-80% water by mass.

Dr. Allen Lim started making his now famous Bacon and Egg Rice Cakes at training camps and races to give athletes something savory and fresh to eat while on the bike. They became a huge hit because riders were tired of pre-packaged, sweet foods. Sometimes savory hits the spot!

Dr. Allen Lim found that real food and sports nutrition products are pretty similar except in one important way: The packaged products are very dry while real food contains a lot of water.

Chocolate and Sea Salt Sticky Bites are an athlete favorite for their one-bite combo of salty sweetness.

Readers concerned about food safety have been asking: is it safe to keep portable snacks in my hot, sweaty pocket? For how long? Dr. Allen Lim and chef Biju Thomas respond.

Try Torn Bread & Radicchio Salad from Feed Zone Table! This free-form, rustic salad highlights some unique flavors and textures—bitter and peppery radicchio, sweet charred broccoli, and toasted bread and nuts to bring it all into balance.

In his thought-provoking introduction to Feed Zone Table, Dr. Allen Lim explores the evidence for the many health and performance benefits of sharing meals with others.

Though many of us intuitively feel that meals with others are beneficial, there is also clear scientific evidence that children who eat more frequently with their families are physically and psychologically better off.

One culture that’s getting mealtime right is the French. The French excel as a nation when it comes to creating consistent and structured meal patterns. A five-year study on French eating patterns found some fascinating habits.

Try Bitter Chard on Grilled Bread from Feed Zone Table! Simply grill or toast some bread to enjoy this tasty appetizer. You can split a baguette lengthwise, pile everything on, and cut before serving.

Try Eggplant & Onion Fried Wild Rice from Feed Zone Table! Fried rice is a great meal to have in your repertoire. There are countless variations in every culture. Dishes like this one can be reinvented from week to week to feature whatever great finds turn up at the farmers’ market or to sub in leftovers.

This is a simplified version of the classic miso-marinated black cod made famous in the United States by Master Sushi Chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Try Arancini Italian Rice Balls with Red Pepper Oil from Feed Zone Table! Also known as arancini, these rice balls are the perfect fare for a large gathering. You can also serve them as a carbohydrate boost to a fresh green salad. You’ll want to use fresh-cooked, warm rice, which helps the rice balls stick together.

Try Roast Pork Loin with Peach Glaze & Butter Beans from Feed Zone Table! This pork is great for sandwiches or wraps, or you can serve it on top of a warm white bean salad with fresh chopped herbs.

Try Chopped Chicken Salad with Pickled Onions from Feed Zone Table! This is a great last-minute salad to make use of leftover chicken. You can change it up throughout the year to include the most colorful vegetables you can find.

Try Chilled Soba with Spicy Red Beans & Poached Eggs from Feed Zone Table! I like to enjoy this dish on a hot summer afternoon, however you could also serve it hot any time of the year. Many of these ingredients you’ll already have on hand.

Try Cauliflower & Corn Chowder with Red Pepper Oil from Feed Zone Table! This is a light soup that pairs well with a hearty chopped salad or roasted chicken. Be sure to use all of the tender parts of the cauliflower, stalk included.

Try Salmon Steak Sandwiches with Mustard Dressing from Feed Zone Table! Next time you plan a game-day party or summertime lunch, serve up a platter of these sandwiches.

Try Almond Cornbread with Grilled Stone Fruit from Feed Zone Table! This is a delicious gluten-free cornbread that you can serve as a great dessert or hearty side to your meal.

Try Mac 'n' Cheese Bolognese from Feed Zone Table! Professional cycling teams are served plenty of boiled chicken and overcooked spaghetti when they are traveling from race to race and eating hotel fare. At the 2015 Tour of California, Mark Cavendish requested that we make him some Bolognese. Our team made him a special batch, and he went on to win that day’s stage . . . just saying.

Try Red Chicken with Baked Biriyani from Feed Zone Table! This fragrant and colorful dish can easily feed a large group. Beets were traditionally used in dishes like tandoori chicken to get that vibrant red color. I think you’ll find this made-from-scratch marinade is well worth your time.

Try Chicken Pad Thai from Feed Zone Table! This is a light dish that balances fresh ingredients with a hint of heat and a subtle sweetness. Once you learn the timing of the different components, it’s easy to make pad Thai at home in as little as 30 minutes. Best of all, you can dial in a flavor all your own. I like mine mild, without a lot of fish sauce.

Chef Biju Thomas and Dr. Allen Lim have returned to the kitchen to champion dinner, the most social meal of the day. In their third cookbook, Feed Zone Table, Biju and Allen offer over 100 all-new recipes to bring friends and family to the table in a way that nourishes life and sport. See what's inside.

Skratch Labs has just announced Skratch Labs Skratch Paper, a new parchment paper that is strong and shape holding for protecting your portables while still being easy to open during activity. Better yet, Skratch Paper is pre-cut, which eliminates scissoring and guesswork.

Terrie at Velotry offers this "non-expert" perspective on how Feed Zone Portables has helped her cycling and her family: for pretty much everything.

Made with almond flour, these pancakes are gluten-free and lower in carbs than traditional pancakes. Skip the sugar crash and fuel up for morning rides with these hearty pancakes that have an ideal mix of carbs, protein, and fat.

We’ve put a gluten-free spin on the classic fig cookies that many of us grew up eating. These cakes make a sweet portable snack, but because of the excellent fiber that is in the dried fruit, they work even better as a snack following a workout or between meals. If figs aren’t your favorite, try raisins or dates instead.

How do pro cyclists manage to stay hydrated when they sweat so much?

Pro cyclists need to consume almost three times the number of calories when racing or training as the average person—about 6000-7000 calories per day.

Before your next long ride, trail run, or hike, you can whip up this free sample recipe from Feed Zone Portables: Gluten-Free Banana Waffles. Watch this video on how to make this delicious portable snack recipe.

Why is Chicken Fried Rice an ideal meal for after your next workout? It's a quick and easy recipe to make. It's savory and salty, which means it will taste heavenly after a hard workout. And it's got an ideal mix of fast uptake carbs, proteins, and fats to refuel your body quickly for tomorrow.

Together, The Feed Zone Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables offer cyclists, runners, and triathletes over 150 vegetarian and 150 gluten-free recipes.

In the Feed Zone, the menu has changed and no one can argue with the results: real food is better. Real food tastes better, digests quickly, and helps you perform at your best.

At this week's AMGEN Tour of California, Skratch Labs is cooking food and providing their hydration beverages to all teams and staff, both on the race course and in the race hotels!

In a first for the cycling world, the authors of The Feed Zone Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables will provide “neutral human support” for those actual human beings racing bikes at the AMGEN Tour of California.

A Feed Zone reader Tony H. asked, “For the past few months, I’ve adopted a more low-carb approach. I don’t mean a ketogenic diet, but I am limiting my carbs...Are there recipes in your cookbooks that are targeted toward low-carb athletes?”

During the colder months, this Mushroom Pecan Pate is one of my favorite, most versatile recipes. You can make a vegetarian pate that can double as a stuffing; a quick salad dressing; a spread on sandwiches, toast or bagels; or as a topping for seafood, chicken, pork, and many other dishes.

I've always thought that fruitcake gets a bad rap. Most fruitcake recipes are complicated and include too many ingredients. Here's my take on a simple and more healthy version.

Dr. Allen Lim discusses the importance of staying hydrated and fueled during cold weather exercise in this Skratch Labs Blog.

In this new video from Skratch Labs, chef Biju Thomas demonstrates how to wrap a round portable snack like Basic Baked Eggs.

Jeremy Morgan is a mtb racer with the Twin Six team and the rider behind the blog RubberSideDown and he is living in the Feed Zone. See how he's using the Feed Zone cookbooks to improve his nutrition and riding.

Fuel your workouts and racing with seasonal flavors!

According to Dr. Allen Lim and chef Biju Thomas, eggs are the peloton's favorite source of protein. Why? It's as much about practicality as it is about taste. At home or on the road, eggs are affordable, easy to find, and simple to prepare in a variety of ways.

This video The Man That Feeds the Peloton shows Biju explaining how he's not just cooking for riders or individual teams anymore. The Tour of California asked Biju to write up the menu for ALL the teams at the race. The Feed Zone approach is reaching more pros than ever.

Do you know the #1 reason ultrarunners drop out of a race? It's gastro-intestinal issues. Try Feed Zone Portables, which make great portable fuel for ultramarathon.

In this new video from Skratch Labs, Chef Biju shows how to whip up a whole tray of Blueberry and Chocolate Coconut Rice Cakes before your next big group ride.

Chocolate and Sea Salt Sticky Bites are an athlete favorite for their one-bite combo of salty sweetness.

The Crispy Rice Omelet is a perfect mix of fuel and flavor. Chef Biju shows you how to whip up an omelet in just a few minutes. Take a look!

In this video from Skratch Labs, Allen Lim demonstrates how his rice cake wrapping technique can wrap, well, pretty much any snack.

Feed Zone Cookbook reader Matthew S. asked us for more ways to make vegetarian burgers.

Create your own ultimate Feed Zone kitchen with Chef Biju Thomas' recommended shopping list for food and kitchen gear. Check out this Amazon List to help find the gear and appliances more easily.

In this Feed Zone Portables video from Skratch Labs, Chef Biju shows how to make gluten-free cookies that actually taste good! And you’ll see in the video that this is a simple, quick recipe. Enjoy the video, buy your copy of Feed Zone Portables, or try out the sample recipe below. Try this recipe yourself! Read more »

See what professional athletes say about Feed Zone Portables.

Slowtwitch caught up with Dr. Allen Lim recently and asked him, in so many words, why he has devoted so much time to working with athletes on their nutrition. During the discussion, Lim reveals the biggest mistake most triathletes make: drinking their calories.

VeloPress has improved distribution of the e-book edition of The Feed Zone Cookbook to more countries. See the list.

Skratch Labs produced this commercial to talk about their philosophy that real food is better for performance.

But what to do after you cross the finish line? Clean up and fuel up are tops on the list, not necessarily in that order. Indeed, even though most amateur cyclocross races last only 45 minutes, your body still needs food for recovery, and it needs it quickly.

It’s 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Three hours from now you’ll be lining up at the start of a cyclocross race, readying for 45 minutes of full-throttle action. What does your body need for this mammoth, heart-pounding effort?

The Feed Zone Cookbook uses eggs quite a bit, so this poses a problem for our now eggless friends. Fortunately, chef Biju knows how to substitute for pretty much anything.

Let's face it: cooking for Thanksgiving can be a little stressful, especially when the in-laws are coming over. This weekend, tune-up your Thanksgiving dinner procedure with a dress rehearsal from The Feed Zone Cookbook!

Using a juicer improves the nutrient density of athletes’ diets by significantly increasing the quantity of fruits and vegetables they can handle without the worry of an unbearable amount of fiber load in their GI tract. Try this Beet Juice recipe!

At Interbike last week, one of the VeloPress staff paid a visit to the Skratch Labs booth where Feed Zone Cookbook author Allen Lim was chatting with a bike shop retailer. He stood behind Allen, waiting to say hi, while the retailer thanked Allen for the book saying, "Your book changed my life! People ask me what I've done differently this year to make such a big difference in my racing, and I tell them I bought a cookbook!"

Who's the fastest rice cake wrapper in Boulder? Watch this showdown between author Allen Lim and Dish Gourmet's Carlos.

In this video from Skratch Labs, Feed Zone Cookbook co-author and cycling coach Allen Lim demonstrates how to prepare a lot of paper foil at once to speed up wrapping all those portable snacks.

Allen Lim presents a video guide to wrapping rice cakes.

Pro cyclist Julian Kyer shares how he eats healthy while traveling using a mini "travel kitchen" he developed with Dr. Allen Lim.

"I've been playing around with some of the recipes especially for the portables, but I'm not sure what to substitute for nuts since I have a nut allergy. Instead of just skipping nuts from recipes, which really changes the amount of protein, I'd be interested to know what Biju recommends as substitutions."

In short, Lim graduated with a doctorate in physiology and left the lab to work with pro cyclists. What he found was shocking: professional cyclists riding Grand Tours and eating breakfast cereal for dinner. They knew little about sports nutrition and nothing about cooking.

Allen Lim and Biju Thomas have helped overhaul the way several professional cycling teams approach nutrition. During their time cooking at the Tour de France, Lim and Thomas discovered that one of the favorite dishes after finishing a stage was Lim's Chicken Fried Rice

Just after the official start of summer, we posted this great selection of Feed Zone recipes that you can make on the grill.

Jens Voigt refused to break away without a hearty breakfast from The Feed Zone Cookbook. Just kidding. Jens Voigt always breaks away!

Fish tacos are excellent year-round. Stock your freezer with frozen filets, which are affordable and readily available. Thin, firm filets like tilapia, snapper, or sole work especially well. Allow 12–24 hours to thaw the fish in the fridge and pat it dry with a paper towel prior to cooking. This allows the breading to cook up crispy and delicious.

Skratch Labs new rice cake apple-cinnamon rice cakes

In this video Allen Lim talks about why beet juice is an essential part of our athletes daily nutrition and also briefly demonstrates how easy it is to use our Omega Juicer.

Their Skratch Labs website has a super cool video series that shows what it takes to support a pro team during a stage race.

Take a look inside the Skratch Labs Mobile Kitchen.

Dr. Allen Lim performs a science experiment on eggs at Skratch Labs to demonstrate why athletes need to eat real food during exercise instead of drinking all their calories in the form of gels and high-calorie drink mixes.

Readers concerned about food safety have been sending in several versions of these two questions: How long will they last in the fridge or in my pocket? Can I freeze portables?

Leftover rice makes a fast, filling breakfast with this Sweet Rice Porridge recipe. With the help of the egg yolk and the banana, you’ll get just enough protein and sugars.

With the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, we're pleased to present this post-ride meal, Pasta Salad with Olives and Beets, a sweet and savory meal that will restore lost sodium and refuel your muscles with a mix of simple and complex carbs.

Pro cyclist Julian Kyer sent in this report from the road during his week at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, where he finished second on the individual time trial. Sick of eating on the road, Kyer challenged himself to make every meal from a rice cooker! Enjoy.

Of course, you can easily and affordably purchase rotisserie chicken at your local market, but there's something special about roasting your own. And the leftovers are great when used in other recipes.

Q: When I make rice for Allen Lim's Rice Cake recipe, I end up with more rice cakes than I can handle. Can I freeze extra rice cakes for use another day?

Skratch Labs new food truck and mobile kitchen

A 10-year old says, "If you are a parent, you should totally let your kids eat on the trampoline and make meals from The Feed Zone." See their story and the recipes they chose.

How many vegetarian and gluten-free recipes are in The Feed Zone Cookbook?

Outside Magazine Declares: "Best Energy Bar Ever!"

A kid squishes meatballs for The Feed Zone Cookbook recipe Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce.

The New York Times has published a story by a cookbook ghostwriter that gives an interesting view into what we at VeloPress think is a bit of a strange corner of book publishing.

Allen Lim answers questions about iron, bone density, and eating real food on this website for active women.

Allen Lim and Biju Thomas are co-authors of The Feed Zone Cookbook, but they have day jobs, too. Lim has founded Skratch Labs, a company that aims to improve how athletes support their training and racing through better food and drinks.

Athlete review of Feed Zone Cookbook recipe: Sweet Rice Porridge

Let's just get this out there: we've all got an endurance sports junk food drawer. It might be a desk drawer at work, space in a locker, or a shelf in a cabinet at home that is brimming with pre-packaged, store-bought sports junk food.

A reader Patricia was kind enough to post a comment about a new product she's found useful for wrapping some of the portable recipes in The Feed Zone Cookbook: Reynolds Wrap non-stick Pan Lining Paper.

Racing Weight and The Feed Zone Cookbook can help you eat healthy this year.

VeloNews.com has posted the last of its cooking show video series Inside the Feed Zone.

Every once in awhile, Biju sends in a recipe just for the heck of it!

Rice or pasta are common pre-race breakfast staples for professional cyclists, but at the 2011 Tour of California Chris Horner and the RadioShack team proved that oatmeal can be the breakfast of champions.

We here in The Feed Zone Cookbook Test Kitchen are big fans of Biju's Whole Roasted Chicken recipe.

Outside Magazine Profiles The Feed Zone Cookbook, Releases Free Recipe

Pumpkins and squash are everywhere right now and super cheap. Follow this easy 2-step recipe to roast a perfect winter squash or pumpkin every time.

VeloNews.com has begun a video series on its website featuring Dr. Allen Lim and Chef Biju Tho

For those readers who, like us, are celebrating Thanksgiving, we offer this repost of The Feed Zone Cookbook's Whole Roasted Chicken recipe. This recipe offers a meal much like Thanksgiving, but with about a tenth of the work and expense.

Chef Biju's Snow Day Banana Cobbler is not in The Feed Zone Cookbook, but the book does have several healthy dessert indulgences that scratch the sugar itch.

When Dr. Allen Lim left the lab to work with pro cyclists, he found a peloton weary of food. For years the sport’s elite athletes had been underperforming on bland fare and processed bars and gels. Science held few easy answers for nutrition in the real world.

See what professional athletes have said about Dr. Allen Lim, chef Biju Thomas, and The Feed Zone Cookbook.