Paleo Treats and Physical Feats

Ok, it took me way too long to think of a title for this post and it’s still lame.  But I had many different things going on here and no good way to wrap it up with a pretty bow (title) on top ;)

On Saturday, my Crossfit box had a little Intra-gym Throwdown to celebrate a year of being open!  The actual 1-year mark was back in early February but the celebration didn't’ happen until this weekend. 

The “throwdown” was just an extra special workout (actually 3 different workouts) followed by a Paleo potluck!

I love weekend workouts when there’s a big crowd, so I knew this would be fun, and I was excited to try my hand at a Paleo baked good that I would actually serve to other people besides Brian.

I’m still by NO means eating Paleo, but I still like to try out the recipes!  My Paleo almond-coconut pancakes have been a favorite weekend breakfast around here ever since I first made them (as you’ll see again shortly).

I was bummed I wasn’t going to have any pictures from the actual Throwdown but look what I saw when I checked my gym’s website today (they post each workout, usually with 1 photo from the day):

ME! (and my lovely frizz ball of a ponytail)

Obviously I didn’t even know my coach took this, but it’s a pretty cool photo!! 

This was the last workout of the day which was a ladder workout of Thrusters (45lb for women) and pull-ups.  Basically, the ladder means you do 1 thruster, then 1 pull=up, then 2 thrusters, 2 pull-ups…and so on.  We had 6 Minutes for this.  I ended up with 7 full rounds of each. 

A Thruster is when you squat with the bar, then”thrust” it up over head as you stand. 

The first 2 workouts before this one were:

1. option of the Open’s workout 12.2, which I had done on Thursday and did not feel like repeating it, or a 10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of:

30 ground-to-overhead (GTO) at 35lb

30 GTO at 55lb

30 GTO at 75 lb

I did the first 60, but 75lb was a bit too much for me so I just did a few 65lb GTO’s until the time was up.

2. Workout 2 was:

8 Min AMRAP:  100 sumo-deadlift-high-pulls, followed by 50 kettlebell swings (35lb), and then box jumps until the time is up.  Unfortunately the KB swing weight was a bit much for me and I didn’t make it to the box jumps (which I actually like!). 

So yeah, that was the throwdown!

For the pot luck I made some Paleo brownies and I’m currently obsessed with them!!

I was unsure at first, but I love them and want to make them again.

I used this recipe by Baker Gal with the following substitutions:

• used 1 cup raw honey
• 1 cup raw almond butter
• 2T apple sauce added
• used 1 egg
• added 1 oz of 72% dark chocolate to the honey in the pan to melt together.
• Baked for 40 minutes but my one change next time would be to check them earlier, I wish they were a little underdone :)

You’d never know there was no flour in those.  I was even asked what kind of flour I used.  They are not too sweet, just deep dark and chocolaty! 

Even Brian loves them.  I’m making sure he saves me the last one. 

Inadvertently, our breakfast this morning also ended up being (mostly) Paleo!  

I’m telling you, those Almond Coconut pancakes are damn good!!

Also had a few slices of ham that we threw on the griddle.

I made extra this time.  I wanted leftovers to stash in the freezer.

Lovely flowers from Brian…I was joking that my Valentine’s day flowers needed to be replaced since they were dying.  And this is what I came home to Friday!

A breakfast feast.

After some digesting and cleaning, we went out for a little run!

I was pumped to try out some of my New Balance gear

I’m wearing:

• the Icefil Short Sleeve
• NBx Prism Capris
• Tonic Crop sports bra
• NBx Cocona Low Cut Socks
• the 870v2 sneakers

Also wore:

The NBx Prism Half Zip 

Thoughts:

• Everything is SOOO soft!  Love the materials.
• The half zip is probably my favorite thing so far.  It fits great and I love that the sleeves can fold over your hands as mittens!  This was great for today’s run.
• Love the t-shirt, especially the neon pink color.  I’ve never really worked out in t-shirts (in warm weather, like instead of a tank) so I’ll have wait until it gets warm out to try that.
• The capris are great, they have a draw string which I love and felts so smooth on my legs.  The material isn’t as thick as some of my other capris but I’m sure that will be much better for the warmer weather.
• I like the sports bra, very comfortable, but I’d probably go for something with more support normally.  I even added cups from another sports bra (I always like a little padding), and was happy there was slots for my to insert the cups.  BONUS: is that it has a little cleavage stash pocket! 
• Verdict is still out on the sneakers.  They are stability shoes which is good for me, but I think I need a bit more arch support so I added my inserts that I always wore with any other running sneaker.  At one point I thought the inserts were bothering me so I stopped and took them out mid run.  But then once we started running again, I started feeling a little arch pain so I put them back in.  We’ll see.  In the end everything was fine, and I might just need to break them in. 

You have until Saturday to use my discount code for 15% off + free shipping at newbalance.com!!  There have been some issues with some of the other girl’s codes so please let me know if you try to use it and it doesn’t work!! 

By the way we did a 3 mile run, plus 2 mile walk with the dog :)

There’s a whole part 2 to this weekend’s activities that include MANY shenanigans at Elizabeth’s 30th birthday party but for now I’m going to keep this post all “healthy” ;)

Veggie + Goat Cheese + Chive Frittata

I had some really fantastic breakfasts this weekend! 

Funny, I went out to breakfast a few weeks ago when I was up in Portsmouth for the weekend for my friend’s birthday and I realized it was the first time I had been out to breakfast in a long time!!  I love going out for brunch/breakfast, but I’ve realized that making breakfast at home is my FAVORITE meal to cook on the weekends!

Our house gets nice and sunny, and I love sitting at our table with a fresh cappuccino and whatever breakfast dish we decide to cook up. 

Not to mention I can do this all while still in my PJ’s :)

Saturday morning, I was craving sweet! 

This is easily the 3rd or 4th time I’ve made these Almond-Coconut pancakes since I first came up with the recipe!

My tweaks this weekend were to add 2T of Oat Flour and increased the almond milk to 1/2 cup.  Of course the addition of the flour makes these not Paleo anymore, but that’s an easy thing to leave out.  Delicious both ways.  The flour made them just slightly softer. 

This weekend I enjoyed my pancakes with a few chocolate chips, some real maple syrup, and split a banana with Brian.

Sunday morning, I had no idea what I wanted.

Sweet?  Savory?  Eggs? 

Then I remembered that I wanted to make some sort of baked frittata or other egg dish I could pack up as leftovers to have for breakfast at work some days this week!

Frittatas are so simple and so delicious, plus the flavor combinations are endless!

Ever since I saw the cookbook Plenty on Megan’s blog, I knew I had to own it, and I bought it a couple weeks ago.  In it, there is a recipe for a Smoky Frittata made with cauliflower and smoked mozzarella.  It sounds so flavorful and the picture looks like cheese heaven. 

This recipe was my inspiration for the frittata I made this morning.  I used vegetables and cheeses I just happened to have on hand.  I also used some Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese to add some creaminess to the egg mixture. 

Cauliflower for breakfast.

 

Vegetable + Chive + Goat Cheese: Frittata

• 1T olive oil
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 cup baby spinach (about 2 big handfuls)
• 4 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 2T part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/tsp paprika
• salt & black pepper
• 2T finely chopped fresh chives
• 2oz goat cheese, crumbled (or more if you want)
• a sharp cheese to grate on top (I used Gouda Parrano)
• 3-4 cherry tomatoes, seeds removed, sliced (optional but delicious)

Pre-heat oven to 375

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites.  Then whisk in the Greek yogurt, ricotta, and mustard until all combined.  Add paprika, salt & pepper, and chopped chives.  Stir to combine and set aside.

In a cast iron or other oven proof skillet, heat oil over medium heat.

Add cauliflower and zucchini and sauté for 3-5 minutes until vegetables are tender (mine even got slightly browned in my pan which is good too).  Add the fresh spinach leaves and sauté for about 2 more minutes or until spinach is wilted down. 

Move around veggies in the pan so they are evenly distributed in the pan.  Pour in egg mixture, don’t stir.  Sprinkle the goat cheese around, place the sliced tomatoes on top, and grate as much of your sharp cheese as you want right on top.

Remove from stove and place in the oven.  Bake for 5 minutes, then turn oven onto broil and broil for 4-5 minutes until the frittata is set and the top is just getting slightly browned on the edges. 

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving!

Next time I’m going to add even more tomatoes, the bites I had with tomato were my favorite…well except for the big melty chunks of goat cheese.   

I enjoyed a big slice with an iced latte (topped with a little whipped cream), and 1 of my leftover almond-coconut pancakes.

Having whipped cream in the fridge is dangerous…mmm.

Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow!

So for those who pack their breakfasts for work…what do you bring when you’re craving something savory/salty??  Sometimes I just don’t want oatmeal, or yogurt…and those are the mornings I end up buying breakfast sandwiches.  But, of course, that’s something I don’t want to do too often. 

Sometimes I’ll even cook an egg in the microwave and add that to ham and cheese on toast.  It works. 

Sweet and Savory Pancakes {paleo}

I experimented with a couple pancake recipes this weekend, both of which would fall under the “paleo” category.  Of course then I went a head and had maple syrup on the sweet ones, and cheese on the savory ones…but really, who wouldn’t? 

First on Saturday, I made some Almond-Coconut pancakes!



Almond Coconut Pancakes
serves 2

• 1 cup Almond Flour (or Almond Meal works too)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (or unsweetened coconut, I actually had some organic unsweetened defatted coconut that I used)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3-3/4 cup unsweetened Almond Milk (I used vanilla flavored unsweetened Almond milk)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil (melted if needed)
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine almond flour, coconut, baking soda, and salt.  Whisk together to combine.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs with a fork then add almond milk, coconut oil, and honey.  Mix to combine, then add wet ingredients to dry.  Stir until mixture is combined.  If your batter is looking too thick, or thickens upon standing, add a little milk until it's pancake batter consistency!

Heat a griddle or skillet over med heat.  Use coconut oil or grassfed butter to grease the pan.  Once the pan is hot, add batter in desired size, cook until edges look done then flip.  Adjust heat while cooking incase the pan gets too hot.  Cook 2-3 more minutes or until pancakes look done. 

Serve as desired! 

Like I said we had real maple syrup, banana sliced, and Brian had butter on his (I’ve never been a fan of butter on pancakes). 

These were light, and had a nice subtle coconut flavor to them!  Really delicious.  I’m think next time I might add 1/4 tsp almond extract to really make the almond flavor come out as well. 

Brian loved them too, and he could care less about them being Paleo/low carb.



My savory pancake recipe was a true experiment, as I’ve never made anything like them before.  
I was flying solo this morning, Brian had gone up to NH for a friend’s b-day Sat night-Sunday, I stayed home with my new cold that came about Friday :/

I was hungry but had no idea what I was in the mood for.  Then I spotted a leftover, fully cooked sweet potato from the other night!  I also wanted an egg, and maybe something with cheese and hot sauce. 

It’s been a long time since I’ve made potato pancakes but I do remember egg was the binder.  I guess this would be more like a mashed (sweet) potato pancake!

Savory Sweet Potato Pancake
serves 1

• 1 small cooked sweet potato
• 1 egg, beaten
• hot sauce (to you’re liking)
• 1/4 tsp dried garlic (or garlic powder)
• 1-2 tsp butter
• optional: cheddar or gouda (or your favorite) cheese, about 1 slice or a few small slices if it’s cut from a large chunk.

Cut your cooked sweet potato in half then scrap out all the flesh into a small mixing bowl.  Mash with a fork to get rid of any big lumps.  Add the beaten egg, hot sauce (I did about 4-5 shakes, wish I did more!), and garlic (I used Garlic Gold).  At this point you could really add any other seasonings you might want! 

Heat a small skillet over med-high heat, melt some butter in the pan, just enough to have a nice coating on the bottom.  Once the pan is good and hot, make 2 equal size pancakes with your batter.  Cook 3-5 min per side until cooked through and golden browned. 

Add cheese on one half and place other pancake on top.



Serve with sour cream if you like!  I actually added some more hot sauce on top too.
I really loved these!  I think next time I’d grate the cheese and add it right into the batter. 
If I had to eat them without the cheese or sour cream, I’d like some sliced tomato with them to add a cool refreshing contrast to the pancake. 



For a breakfast “dessert” I had some blueberries and banana



In other news, I have an important decision to make.  I ordered some new sneakers for Crossfit and of course it’s down to the colors ;)



My initial favorite was the pink/green, but I’m actually leading towards the purple/orange ones!  Thoughts?  I’m picking one by the time I go to Crossfit tomorrow night!
And for fun, and Outfit post!

  

One of these days I’ll take a nice "fashion” shot, outdoors with the wind blowing in my hair and the sun casting a nice glow on my skin. 
But for now, it’s iphone in the office bathroom…  yeah. 
This outfit was revolved around that blue skirt…love that skirt.

• blue pencil skirt – Ann Taylor
• grey cardigan – Old Navy
• magenta shirt (which you can’t see) – Banana Republic
• mustard scarf – Target
• grey/yellow/gold t-strap heals – Seychelles from Nordstrom

If you have tomorrow off…lucky you!  I’ll be heading back to work like normal.  At least traffic will be a lot better.

Time for some frozen yogurt and then getting to bed early!  I hope :)

What’s your favorite thing to put in or on pancakes???  Maple syrup…all the way, the real stuff of course.  I look for any excuse to put maple syrup on anything!!  (except savory pancakes that is)

2012: A little Champagne with my Cupcakes

Happy 2012!!

I’m enjoying the last few hours of my glorious 4-day weekend, and feel fully relaxed and ready (sort of) for work tomorrow.  At least as ready as I’ll ever be. 

Some highlights from my weekend?

A fun Friday night dinner date with Elizabeth and the husbands.  We decided to cash in on gift cards we received at that Blogger Bash earlier this fall at MJ O’Conners. 

Luckily it wasn’t a late night because I was RIGHT about the “300” workout at Crossfit, only it was slightly different than the version I found online.  Our workout went like this:

• 25 pull-ups (green band)
• 50 deadlifts (65lb)
• 50 push-ups
• 50 Ab-mat sit-ups
• 50 box jumps
• 50 ground to overheads (25 each arm, I used 15lb)
• 25 pull-ups (green band)

I can never remember my time…but I think it was 16:50, definitely in the 16’s. 

Sometimes the green band for pull-ups feels easy, but the blue band (next one down), is usually too hard.  What’s a girl to do.  I think I’ll still with green until they feel easier.  Those 2 sets of 25 were by no means easy.

Looking back I also could have done a higher weight for the ground to over-heads but I’m fine with it. 

I like box jumps!  They never seem hard, but all of a sudden I’m so out of breath!! 

Great workout in our new location!!  It was really fun with so many people too!  I think there were around 35 which is the most I’ve experienced.  Before the WOD, we did a team drill with flipping those HUGE tires down and back.  4 teams, my team beat our first opponent but ended up in 2nd :)  Those tires are massive and I found myself using my leg a little to flip it!

(taken from my Crossfit’s website…you can kind of see me in the line on the left in the pink)

I also really wanted to get in a run this weekend, but well that just didn’t happen. 

What I did do was make the most beautiful cupcakes to come out of my kitchen to date!

Pretty right??  I think so :)

For New Years Eve, we got together with a group of friends and the plan was to go out to dinner then eventually head back to one of their condo’s in South Boston and maybe hit a bar or two on the way back.

I decided to make some Champagne cupcakes to have as dessert for when we got back to the condo.

I even bought new fun liners and was excited to finally use the decorating pearls I had!

 

After scouring the internets for the best recipe, I found a bunch of different blogs that all referenced the same recipe…must be good right??

I used the version here, but I think it originated from this recipe at All Recipes.    The All Recipes version was for a 10” round cake, and others I saw converted it to 36 mini cupcakes, but I wanted regular cupcakes!  The version I used made 20 regular sized cupcakes and the frosting recipe was a perfect amount. 

The recipes I saw all suggested using a sweet Rose champagne instead of the usually dry version most people drink.  I went with a cheap $8.99 bottle…

I know everyone says to use what you like to drink when cooking with wine…but I knew I’d hate any sweet champagne plus the amount used in relation to the cupcake recipe was not enough that I was worried. 

It was great for sweet cupcakes…not so much to drink.

My alterations to this recipe:

• I added flavorings:
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp almond (basically just a few drops) 

The egg whites make the cake nice and fluffy.

They smelt so good that I had to try some plain warm cake!!

YUM!!!  These are good as is!! 

But not so pretty….so I went on with the champagne butter cream!

I was also excited because I finally picked up a coupler for my large icing tips!! 

I had plans to decorate with the sugar pearls and sliced strawberries…but in the end I thought they were pretty enough without the berries.  

 

I tried a strawberry in one…

Not needed :)

I also baked them in the silver linings, and added the black/white ones after.

I was very pleased with the taste and appearance :)

It was a really fun night out with our friends!! 

However, after dinner one of our stops was at a Mexican restaurant where everyone got margaritas…bad idea!!  Sugary mixed drinks and me do NOT mix especially since I’d had my fair share of champagne at this point.  I’ve learned this lesson in the past too…apparently not memorable enough ;)  Needless to say, we headed home around 12:30…not the end of the world though…still had fun and wasn’t out ridiculously late.

Sunday was an awesomely lazy recovery day, if you will.

Woke up, immediately craved pancakes, made said pancakes…

With iced coffee, banana, strawberries, syrup….yum!

Then took a lovely nap on the couch, woke up, at lunch, took Bromley to the dog park, picked up some BBQ at Blue Ribbon, ate, fell asleep on the couch again, cleaned, lounged, and bed time.  Haven’t had a day like that in a LONG time!!!  LOVED IT!!

I haven’t really thought much about resolutions yet for this year, but I’ll be sure to update when I do!

Completely unrelated, but I’m in the market for a new blender and looking for recommendations!?!  Ideally under $100…I know I’d love a Vita-Mix but that just isn’t happening.