how to cook rabbit

Rabbit is one of the most lean animals you can eat, its perfect for an Olympic weightlifter!

Back in 2011 i got ran over by avehicle while training for Ironman Arizona. i was unable work for  a while and the family was struggling without my income. I started raising rabbits so my family could eat. I've become pretty good at cooking rabbit after 4 years of raising and eating them.
I got this recipe off the Livestrong.com its the best rabbit recipe i've tried so far.

Rabbit is one of the easiest game animals for novices to work with, because of its compact size. Rabbit is easy to cut up and doesn't require a lot of complicated preparation, and ordinary methods are usually all that's required to cook it. Most chicken recipes can be adapted to use rabbit, though the meat is leaner and usually chewier than chicken. Young fryer rabbits can be fried or grilled, but slow cooking in a crock pot will make any rabbit tender and tasty.

Heat a heavy skillet over moderately high heat. While the skillet is warming up, dredge the rabbit pieces in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pour 1 tablespoon of oil or butter into the hot skillet. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides. Transfer the rabbit pieces to your preheated crock pot. Add 1/2 cup of water or other liquid to the hot skillet, and stir it to loosen the browned-on juices. Add this liquid to the crock pot.

Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf to your crock pot. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, and add enough water, broth or wine to almost cover the rabbit pieces.

Add vegetables to the pot if you want them to cook with the rabbit. Otherwise, prepare them separately and have them ready when the rabbit has finished cooking.

Cook the rabbit on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or on low for 4 to 5 hours, until it is fork-tender. Remove the rabbit from your crock pot, as well as the vegetables if you've cooked them in the pot. 

Strain the cooking liquid from the crock pot into a small saucepan. To make a concentrated sauce, reduce the liquid until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If you want more sauce, whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water, then stir that into the cooking juices. Stop stirring once the sauce thickens.

Serve the rabbit and vegetables hot, with the sauce or gravy made from your cooking juices.

Things You'll Need

1 stewing rabbit or smaller fryer

Sharp knife

Heavy skillet

Flour

Salt and pepper

oil or butter

Water, broth or wine

1/2 medium onion, 

diced1 clove garlic, minced

1 small bay leaf

Mixed vegetables (optional)

SaucepanSpoon

Cornstarch

back squat day and increased calories

Today i was scheduled for 2X4 sets of back squat @147k (315lbs). On any other day that would be an easy couple sets, but it was a rough night last night at the prison. After all the adrenaline from last night my body was exhausted. It was all force of will and determination, but i was able to make the lifts.

About a week ago i started to struggle to finish my workouts so i increased my calories. Increasing my calories helped a ton. I maintained my weight during that week and started to feel 100% again. As of last night i decreased my calories again to 3250 calories a day. I'll lose about a pound a week with that. I'll keep you informed on how the weightlifting is going with the decreased calories. 

hydrostatic body fat test and Olympic weightlifting goals

Like i wrote on my blog yesterday,  I'm a flake. After i set a goal i get overly excited about a different goal and give up on my original. I've been losing weight since December and recently started thinking, "is this really worth it? What if I just maintain where I'm at? As long as I'm eating healthy foods and exercising why should it matter how much i weigh?". To help me decide what i should do in regards to my weight I went to get a hydrostatic body fat test at the University of New Mexico exercise physiology department.  The numbers i recieved were humbling. No. They were heart breaking. I'm currently weighing,  by their scale,  288.4lbs, i am 35.2% body fat, 187lbs lean mass, 101.5lbs fat. Alright, that hit me hard. I'll stay dieting. Yup, i need to drop 50-75 pounds. I think i need to set, AND STICK TO, a long term goal of getting to and maintaining 205-235 pounds.

Here are my hydrostatic body fat tests over the years:

March 2015: 288.4 pounds @ 35.2% body fat. 187 pounds lean mass. 101.5 pounds fat.

Nov 2013: 274.7 pounds @ 34.52% body fat. 179.9 pounds lean mass.  95.8 pounds fat.

April 2013: 229.7 pounds @ 23.12% body fat.  176.6 pounds lean mass. 53.1 pounds fat.

Feb 12 2013: 241.1 pounds @ 28.14% body fat. 173.3 pounds lean mass. 67.8 pounds fat.

Oct 2011: 181 pounds @ 6.86% body fat. 169.3 pounds lean mass. 12.5 pounds fat.

June 2011: 188.4 pounds @ 10.9%. 169.4 pounds lean mass. 19 pounds fat.

Nov 2010: 222.2 pounds at 19.01% body fat. 180 pounds lean mass. 42.2 pounds fat.

July 2010: 189 pounds at 9.81% body fat. 170.6 pounds lean mass. 18.5 pounds fat.

I'm a flake and OCD both

I used to drive my old triathlon coach Pete Alfino nuts. I'd set a goal to compete at a race and a couple months into training for it i'd get the itch and want to change my goal. And here i am contemplating changing my goal again.  Since December I'd been gradually losing weight. My goal was to get to the 105k weight class. Although i was still gaining strength as i was losing weight, I'm not gaining as much as I do when I'm not trying to lose weight. So now of course I'm attempting to  justify staying at current weight. There's no doubt I'd look better if i lost weight. I'm sure I'd also feel better about myself at a lighter weight. But if i stay my current weight I'll be stronger for Olympic style weightlifting. And i REALLY LOVE Olympic style weightlifting! I'm even better at weightlifting than i was at triathlon, and i ended up being a highly decorated triathlete. I also have a really legitimate fear of getting obsessed with weight loss. I have a tendency to get a little out of control with sports and food. I found a picture of when i was a hard core triathlete. I was to thin and absolutely not eating enough.

And here's one of me now. 

I'd love to lose 80-90 pounds, but I'm afraid of going off the deep end with my eating again. 

What to do? What to do? 

increased calories, PR's, and phone data

The last few workouts I've struggled to finish my workouts. I'm running out of energy which is an obvious sign that i need to increase my calories for awhile. I'll be raising it to my metabolic rate of 4000 calories a day for approximately 1-2 weeks depending how i feel.

I pick up my youngest son from pre-k before i go to weightlift each day. He's really well behaved for a 5 years old, but 1-2 hours in the gym everyday is a struggle for him. Last week i increased the data on my phone plan so he can watch NetFlix while I'm working out. That's been one of the best decisions I've made in awhile. I can lift with less interruptions and stress, and he's entertained and happy. Win win.

I lifted an 81k snatch rather easily last week which tied my training PR. The last time i got up an 81k snatch was in January and it was a struggle. Two weeks ago i squated 2 sets of 6 reps at 3301lb another PR. I'm looking forward to my next meet in April. I'm on track to crush my old PR's.

metabolic rate and Olympic weightlifting

In the last week I've lost 1.6 pounds. That's a little quicker than i had originally planned, but my strength doesn't seem to be affected at all. Last week i squated 301 pounds 6 times.  And today i tied a training PR snatch of 81k. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 1.75 inches around my waist. I've accomplished all that while eating 3,250 calories a day plus eating any calories burned from working out.  That means my metabolic rate is still hovering at around 4,000 calories a day. The life & metabolism of an Olympic weightlifter is great!