New Recipe!

I totally love the CF community! Someone (thanks Shane!) sent a link to me with the following recipe. Amber told me about this the other day, too...I will add it to the developing recipe book. It sounds super fab!!!!

Baba Ganoush
Credit to: Scott Hagnas, December 2009, http://performancemenu.com/recipes/index.php

Baba Ganoush is a dish of Arabic origin. It can take many forms, varying from region to region. It is usually a side dish, or it can make a great topping. Traditionally, it will be used on some kind of pita bread. I find it goes well with celery sticks, tomatoes, or just eaten by itself.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup parsley, plus extra for garnish
• sea salt to taste

Poke the eggplant with several holes to release steam. Place on a baking sheet or dish, bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven; allow to cool.

Once the eggplant has cooled, peel it by simply pulling the skin off. If it has baked sufficiently, this should be relatively easy. You can also scoop out the pulp. Place the peeled eggplant into a food processor along with all of the other ingredients. Puree until you reach the desired consistency. Top with a few sprigs of parsley, then drizzle with olive oil. Chill before serving.

Zone info: 4 servings at .4 carb block, 4.5 fat blocks (3.5g carb, 7g fat)

Day 4

Paleo Challenge Day 4. I have to admit Saturday and Sunday afternoons I almost caved. The chocolate chip pecan pie was calling my name. I did everything in my power yesterday to avoid the Paleo pitfall, which means I ate continuously all. day. long. But at least it was all Paleo foods.

I made a beef brisket yesterday morning. I marinated it in a fabulous marinade courtesy of Amber. Here it is, somewhat tweaked to my tastes:

lime juice from 2 limes
lime zest from the above limes
minced garlic - 2 spoonfuls on each side
about 1 tsp of curry paste - 1 on each side
cumin
celtic sea salt and pepper
i rubbed all into the meat on both sides and refrigerated for a day.

I also got around to cooking the country sausage I ordered from Boutwell Farms. It is da*n good! I can't get enough of it! Although my ordering experience from them was not a good one, I might have to give them another chance simply so I can continue ordering the country sausage!

And then last night, I made the Paleo ice cream treats. I posted the recipe a few days ago, but here it is again:

1 can coconut milk, full fat
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tbsp vanilla extract (I think this is Paleo?)
Mix together and freeze in muffin cups

The above recipe got me over the chocolate chip pecan pie hump last night.

Tonight will be the first wod since last Tuesday at the gym....we'll see how the Thanksgiving cheat day treats me!

Day 1 Paleo Challenge

Today is Day 1 of the Paleo Challenge at Crossfit Rebellion. I think most all of the gym members are on board. Yesterday (Thanksgiving) was a pig-out fest on my account, and I'm sure the other gym members did the same. I don't want to forget the miserable feeling I felt yesterday afternoon after eating WAAAAAAY too much turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, and then all of it smothered in giblet gravy. Don't get me wrong...it was mm-mm-good, that's fo sho! But the after effects were debilitating. I topped my Thanksgiving feast off with 2 pieces of chocolate chip pecan pie. Needless to say I did not have to eat dinner last night since I was still stuffed (no pun intended), but I managed to put one more piece of chocolate cake down the gullet for "last meal's" sake.

Today is a new day! And I'm looking forward to the 28 days ahead! My first improvement of today is I did not use heavy whip in my coffee, although I'm dying to do so. It's my one treat. But I will make every improvement I can for the challenge.

I'm going nuts for some new veggie recipes, other than roasted veggies, however everything I've found is time-consuming. Today I'm going to make a bunch of veggie fritters and I'll roast some butternut squash. They are both time-consuming, but I have plenty of time today since I am not working and I'm sure as heck not going to the mall! I'll post pics of my veggie fritters and butternut squash along with the recipes a little later.

Until then.....

Oops...I forgot

And Moxie Black, aka Robyn, is on the journey too! (She just doesn't have the google chat capabilities that Amber and I so enjoy during our "real job" hours!) I just needed to give Moxie a little plug...didn't want her to think I forgot her! She's new to CF, but she is making tremendous strides too! I'm super stoked to see the progress she makes over the next year with her strength!!!

Thanksgiving Eve

I have been doing Paleo since September 24, 2009, but I have been doing strict Paleo for the past month. (What is Paleo? If you don't know, go here http://www.thepaleodiet.com/ and here http://robbwolf.com/ ...hopefully these folks won't mind the plug!) Amber has been doing it since Labor Day, with a cheat here and there, especially for her wedding. We both do Crossfit. I'm mentioning Amber because she has been my Paleo buddy....and well, my Crossfit buddy, too. See, I'm very competitive against others, and she keeps me going. I don't know if she even realizes how much I want to beat her at every wod we do! But I digress...back to Paleo. So Amber has been my Paleo buddy. We share tons of recipes. We both scour the internet for anything Paleo food-related, and we have a few ideas knocking around in our brains about these recipes. She has no idea I'm doing this blog...maybe I'll email it to her. Maybe I won't. But I've decided to start blogging about our journey and hopefully successes.

Both of us have made tremendous strides with Paleo and our wods over the past couple of weeks. She was stuck on 17 rounds of Cindy forever, and I recently witnessed her get 19. She motors through her wods like a little muscle car (she's about 5'2" and a buck fifteen), and I believe her improvements are due to her diet. And me, well, I've seen some improvements too! I still don't beat her (yet), but....we'll see how this little experiment goes.

So today is Thanksgiving Eve. Our gym www.crossfitrebellion.com is doing a 28-day Paleo challenge starting the day after Thanksgiving. I think everyone is on board! Pics were taken and menus have been discussed, debated and dissected. We are READY! I had a debate going on in this noodle of mine about "cheating" tomorrow, so for those of you in the same boat as me, here is some wisdom from a fellow Crossfitter in San Diego, CA:

"The beauty of it all is knowing you can and will make the next meal Paelo even if you have a T-day dinner. Its not a defeat, but living life. Its not a reward or cheat but a celebration of family that you know will only be one meal. No matter what you decide you have much to be thankful for. Trust your body and know that you will come back to Paleo next meal and recommit."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

My first recipe of the blog is as follows:

Paleo Ice Cream
1 can coconut milk (full fat)
2 cups frozen berries
1 tsp vanilla extract
Spoon mixture into muffin cups and freeze.

YUMMY! I haven't made this yet, but I will be sure to do this VERY soon!
My next post will be after Turkey Day....so until then. Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!