Wall Balls and Braised Beef
Today was our first day back at CrossFit in 2 weeks. 2 WEEKS!! I can’t believe we took that much time off, but sometimes life and crappy head colds just get in the way. It was nice having a break to relax, but I felt bloated, frumpy, and weak the entire time. It’s amazing to me how much CrossFit improves my overall mood and energy levels, it’s like a slimming shot of coffee – if that existed, ha! I was pretty nervous that I might die my first class back would be super rough, but it ended up being kind of awesome. I couldn’t believe how good I felt during our warm-up and workout, I was sure two weeks off would be long enough to knock me down. The workout was definitely a tough one, but I ended up using a heavier wall ball than normal and adding a few inches to my box jumps. Crazy right – 2 weeks people!! Check it out:
During the box jumps on my third round, I did feel a bit queasy, which is never a great feeling. Luckily for everyone, that went away pretty quickly once I started on my last set of wall balls. I finished in 17:48 – woot!
Besides CrossFit, life has been pretty mundane. I’m definitely not complaining though, mundane means easy breezy and that’s the way I like it. I do have to rave about one of the new recipes we’ve tried this week thus far, the Oven Braised Mexican Beef from Nom Nom Paleo was amazing! I really had no idea just how much better food tasted slowly braised in the oven versus the slow cooker. If you aren’t planning to already, then you need to try this recipe ASAP. It. was. delicious.
Mexican Braised Beef with Guacamole and Zucchini Fritters
Last night’s dinner wasn’t too shabby either. The chicken was a bit plain, but other than that, a win.
Marinated Grilled Chicken with Roasted Parsnips and Cole Slaw
Alright, time to relax on the couch and not think about anything. I hope you all have a fabulous Wednesday!
It’s the Weekend?
Days go by so fast when you have somewhere to be everyday. I’m in shock over the fact that tomorrow is Friday and I haven’t given a single thought to what we might do this weekend. I’m thinking it’s going to take some time before I start feeling like I’m in the groove of this new schedule. My plan to work out in the mornings has gone to the dogs… well one dog, Tessie. Here’s her impersonation of me when Michael tells me it’s time to wake up and work out:
Sad I know… I think I need to try something else, like going into work later, or even getting sweaty at lunch. Wah! Okay, enough whining, let’s talk about something exciting, like food! Lately there’s been a lot of chatter in the Paleo blogosphere about Coconut Pure Wraps, so I had to try them. These little Heaven sent creations have only 3 ingredients (coconut meat, coconut water, and salt) and are perfect for quick sandwich wraps at work.
They make me feel like it’s the old days, when I gorged on sandwiches, paninis, and all things sad (standard american diet), and they’re sooo yummy! You can purchase the wraps from their website here, or if you’re lucky you might find them in a local specialty grocery store.
Here’s some more pictures of our Whole 30 approved dinners from the week:
Left: Nom Nom Paleo’s Kalua Pig with Cauliflower Puree
Middle: Leftovers!
Right: Beef with Broccoli with Cauliflower Fried Rice
Life Just Got Busy!
My oh my how easy it was to forget what it’s like to have to go into an actual job everyday. I’m already exhausted and it’s only Tuesday! At least I’m trading in my energy for a job that I actually find interesting, yay! My only issue thus far is trying to find the optimum time to exercise. I just don’t have the motivation after being at work all day to cook dinner and work out. One of those things has to give, so I’m trying to shift my work outs to the morning. The big issue with that is just getting my butt out of bed! Wow, it’s hard to move when all I want is 30 more minutes of precious sleep. I was successful this morning, so hopefully I can keep the momentum going. And for those of you wondering, lunchtime workouts aren’t an option, I just get waaaaay too sweaty for that!
In other news, I made some amazing new pancakes this weekend that I have to share. We had some carrots that were going to go bad, so I thought, why not try some pancakes. They were delicious, I hope you give these a shot!
Carrot Pancakes
1 Large Carrot
3 Eggs
1 Ripe Banana
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp. Almond Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pinch Salt
Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Heat a skillet over medium – medium low heat. If your skillet tends to get sticky then melt about 2 tbsp of coconut oil in it. Fry the pancakes until they start bubbling, about 2-3 minutes, then flip. Cook until browned on the other side. Enjoy!
Another Week in the Books!
Michael and I have been having an awesome time learning our new city. So far we’ve visited Muir Woods, the SF Museum of Modern Art, gotten sunburned at a music festival (oops!), and eaten at some aMazIng restaurants. All this, while trying to maintain a somewhat normal eating and workout pattern. We haven’t stayed completely on track, but have managed to at least keep all gluten at bay. Starting and stopping the workouts is a miserable experience. I can’t stand it when we don’t exercise for a while, and start again. It’s physically painful and mentally depressing to realize just how those 2 weeks knocked you back down to girl push-ups and gorilla noises when finishing that last minute of lunges. Ouch. Ah well, at least we’re trying.
Here’s a peek at this week’s menu:
Sunday
B: Eggs & Hashbrowns
L: Scrounge
D: Beef w/Broccoli
Monday
L: Leftover Beef w/Broccoli
D: Chili
Tuesday
L: Out
D: Steaks w/Asparagus
Wednesday
L: Scrounge
D: Garlic Ginger Chicken w/Roasted Turnips & Carrots
Thursday
L: Leftover Ginger Chicken w/Turnips
D: Enchilada Chicken Stew
Friday
L: Leftover Chicken Stew
D: Slow Cooker Sauerkraut Pork Tenderloin w/Roasted Potatoes
Saturday
B: Eggs & Pancakes
L: Leftover Slow Cooker Pork
D: Out
And here’s some pictures of our excursions thus far…
Left: A picture Michael insisted on taking, my first day at my new job.
Right: A building a pass by on my walk to work. Do What You Love!
Both: Muir Woods
Both: BFD Music Festival in Mountain View, CA.
At the SFMOMA… pretty fitting if you ask me!
I’m Awake
It’s amazing how much more awake I feel in the morning when Michael and I exercise. The ride to work is where I really notice the difference. Chatting with Michael, planning my day, thinking about what I’ll do when I get to work are all things I don’t do when I’m running on coffee alone. I don’t think I’ve ever made it to the stage where I actually WANT to work out, but I might be getting close. I’ll be able to do real push-ups (no knees required) in no time!
On a food note, we made a white fish recipe for dinner the other night that turned out pretty well. Here’s the recipe:
Haddock in a White Wine Sauce
1 lb. Haddock filets (or fish of your choice)
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 tbsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1/4 cup diced onion
Juice from half a lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Salt and pepper the fish filets and sit aside. In a medium sized skillet, heat the butter until bubbling. Add the fish and sear on both sides. Remove the fish from the pan and add the garlic, onion, and spices. Cook for a few minutes and then add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add the fish back to the pan. Cook for a few minutes more, just until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve and enjoy!
Breaking a sweat
I despise exercise, which is sort of an anti-paleo attitude but I just can’t help it. I have to force myself to do any form of working out, and most of the time I find a way to talk myself out of it. Thank goodness for Michael, he only accepts my excuses when they have merit. It is really disappointing though when we stop for awhile, then try to get back into it and I realize how out of shape I got. I’m really going to try and dedicate at least 3 days a week to train. A little bit of weights and a little bit of cardio is all there is to it, how hard can that be?
Alright, enough about sweating and onto the important stuff, food! Last night we made a zucchini lasagna, which was very good. I saw the idea in The Food Lovers Make it Paleo and decided to tweak it a bit. This lasagna uses a pre-made marinara, lots of onion, and lots of red pepper flakes. I like to have a little bit of heat in my Italian food. The beauty of this recipe is that you can enjoy that lasagna flavor without all the gluten filled noodles, the zucchini takes it place.
For dessert we had some vacuum fried banana chips. These little nuggets of awesomeness can be found at Trader Joes. I highly recommend them!
