30 Day Paleo & Crossfit Challenge

Here we go again!  Gonna try 30 days of Paleo & as much Crossfit as my body can handle.  Recipes and results to follow.


Day 1-
WOD (Workout Of the Day)
Part A- 10:00 build to max Overhead Snatch -  My max was 75lbs.  Weak sauce.
Part B- 1-5 ladder 55lb overhead snatch + 5 push up, 10 pistols, 15 pull ups in between sets.
Total Part B time:  13:35.

Amazing that a total of 23:35 minute workout can beat you up.

Paleo Plan-


Breakfast:  scrambled eggs with bell pepper, onion, avocado & sausage.
Lunch:  Tuna Salad
Snack:  Apple + nuts
Dinner:  Going out to Italian, it's going to be tough!

Stay tuned for recipes!

Roasted Pepper & Hummus Wrap

OMG she's blogging two days in a row?!  Stop it.  

So I saw a recipe like this in my Cooking Light magazine I subscribe to and it looked delightful.  I created a spin off of what I saw there for lunch today.  It was the perfect light lunch for a busy work day.

This was simple enough for me to prepare in less than 10 minutes on the way out the door.  If you are making it for work, it would be an easy one to prepare the night before as well.

Ingredients

Red bell pepper - thinly sliced

Cucumber- thinly sliced

Crumbled goat cheese

Onion - thinly sliced

Spicy hummus

Wheat tortilla

*No measurements used only because I just stuffed as much of each as I could into the wrap.  And to be honest, you will want seconds, or your friend may steal this from you.  So extras are OK.

Preparation

Lightly brown the bell pepper & onions in skillet.  I didn't use any oil because I wanted them to get the charred taste, I suggest the same.  But using a little olive oil would be good too.  

Once those are browned, assemble your wrap!  I spread the hummus out first, then stacked veggies and topped it with goat cheese.  

Eat up!

Shrimp & Vodka Bow Tie

"Write whatever you just did down immediately, that's making the cookbook" 

- Trinity.  AKA professional recipe tester.

Simple Ingredients

Farafalle (AKA bow tie pasta)

Fresh Basil - thinly sliced for garnish as shown above

1/2 lb cooked jumbo shrimp

4oz heavy whipping cream

8oz package mini pearl grape tomatoes - chopped in half

1/2 cup good quality vodka 

3 garlic gloves - minced

2 shallots - finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Olive oil

Nom Nom Directions

Start boiling water for pasta first.  When it's ready, throw in desired amount of pasta, a dash of salt & start your vodka sauce.

In large sauce pan, coat a few times around with olive oil & throw in the shallots.  Sauté over medium heat for a minute, then add the vodka, tomatoes, garlic, & heavy whipping cream, spices & bring to a boil.  Let the alcohol cook off a few minutes and allow sauce to reduce.  Take the sauce out and pour into a blender or food processor.  Blend together until almost smooth (some chunks are kind of nice).

Put the sauce back in the sauce pan & add shrimp.  Cook for a five minutes over medium heat, allowing all of the flavors to mix together and shrimp to warm up.

Serve immediately and add fresh basil garnish on top.

Enjoy!  And keep reading... more delicious original recipes coming soon!

This Week's Lineup

It's seems there's never enough time in the day to do what you want.  For me it's blogging.  I'm going to try 4-5 new recipes every week starting now, and make the time to blog about them!  Here's my lineup for this week:

1. Hummus & Grilled Veggie Wrap  

2. PB Omelet (this sounds disgusting but I'm going to give it a go)

3. Avocado & Egg Bake

4. Shrimp & Vodka Penne

Recipes starting TODAY!  Cheers.

Almost Paleo Chili

 

My recent decision to change to a mostly paleo diet is still holding strong.  From February 1st- 26th (the beginning of my epic trip to Honduras) I have made a pact with the Crossfit crew to eat paleo and Crossfit 5x week.  I'm on week two, day 1.  It's hard.  And I've definitely cheated with the paleo thing already, whoopsie!

This recipe has been past down to me from my late Grandma Barbara.  I am all about the original recipe, but over the years I have began to alter it a little.  I've made it a bit heart healthier, and given it a bit more Mexican flare.  I think it's great.  Here's where the recipe stands today...

Ingredients.

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can whole tomatoes

2 cans black beans (Paleo kids-remove beans/ sub steak)

1 package ground turkey

1 green bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 garlic cloves

2 yellow onions

1 can black olives

Herbs & Spices.

5 tablespoons chile powder

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon black pepper

Dash of oregano

Handful chopped parsley

Handful chopped cilantro

Cook it.

Chop up all the veggies.  Line a large pot with olive oil a few times around.  Throw in all the veggies and cook over low heat until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes).

While that is cooking, in another pan sauté the turkey meat.  Cook thoroughly adding salt & pepper.

When the veggies are done cooking, add the turkey, beans, and tomatoes to the pot.  Add all of the herbs and spices and lower the heat to a simmer.  Cook for 40min- 1hour covered.

Serve with freshly baked cornbread if you aren't doing a silly Paleo diet!  Enjoy!

Spice Up Your Life

Love me some spices. I think a lot of people that are just beginning to cook are a little afraid of them though. How much spice do I use? What do I buy and for what? The only way to find out is to just go for it! I'm pretty notorious for making things too spicy, but that's how I like it! I've made bland dishes, and dishes so spicy that I sweat while eating. You can't win 'em all, but you should try 'em all. Go buy some new spices for your cabinet. Here's what's in mine...

Well that's nice Steph, but what should I buy?
Here's some staples I just can't live without:
salt & pepper
seasoned salt
red pepper flakes
oregano
basil
parsley
curry powder
Buy and use these and you can make almost anything taste fantastic.
Thanks for reading!

Homemade Tortilla Soup

My friend Nicaela introduced me to La Siesta about a month ago, and the BEST tortilla soup of my life! Ever since then I dream about tortilla soup. Fresh cilantro, melty cheese, chunks of warm avocado... heaven in my mouth.

I can't say that I completely came up with this recipe. The truth is I googled how to make tortilla soup and stole bits and pieces of other people's recipes. I think this is completely acceptable though. After all, nothing is really original any more. And more than anything, I'm just trying to teach you how to cook!

So if you love tortilla soup as much as I do, try this one...


Ingredients

1 bunch of cilantro
2 chicken breasts
1 anaheim chile- Beware. I didn't remove the seeds and it was EXTRA spicy! If you are sensitive, remove the seeds.
1 yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
3 plum tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 can sweet white corn or 1 cob fresh white corn
1 avocado
2 corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded Oaxaca cheese
vegetable oil
salt & pepper

How to cook it

I was really surprised how simple this recipe is, yet how fancy it looks! No need to be intimidated on this one kids.

Start by putting the chicken broth in a large pot over high heat. While that is warming up, get out a griddle pan. Over medium heat place the garlic (peel on), onion (chopped in half and peeled), whole anaheim chile, and whole tomatoes on the griddle pan. Cook these until they are golden brown or have some nice grill color on the outside like pictured below. This will take about 5-8 minutes, turning frequently.



When the veggies are done cooking, remove them from the pan. Throw all of the veggies into a blender. Make sure to peel the garlic and chop the tomatoes, chile and onion into quartered chunks. This is going to sound weird, but I stole this from another recipe and it totally makes it great! Also throw in one corn tortilla into the blender along with some of the chicken broth. Blend everything together until smooth. Add the blended veggies & the corn to the simmering chicken broth.

Next cook your chicken. I just threw it on the same griddle pan I cooked the veggies on. Season it with some seasoned salt & pepper and grill until done. Shred it up into bite sized chunks and throw into the soup.

Once everything is in the soup you can let it simmer for as long as you want. I cooked it about an hour and was impressed by all the flavors.

The last step is to add the garnishes when serving. Make sure you add these garnished to individual cups rather than the whole pot of soup, they will get soggy and ruin the soup! I fried up a fresh corn tortilla on the chicken pan with some veggie oil until it was browned then chopped it up into tortilla strips. I think this is the best way to go, it really adds a lot of flavor. Chop up some cilantro, throw some cubes of avocado, and the shredded cheese in it and you're done!

It involves a lot of small tasks at the end, but the garnishes make the soup. Suck it up & do it.

Happy New Year!

Drunken Chicken & Asparagus

I think every time I write a new blog entry, I'm changing my diet. I stick to staying healthy, but I'm always trying something new. This month it's The Paleo Diet. Pretty much completely the opposite of my last diet- vegetarian! I just started Crossfit and they challenge you to do The Paleo Diet for the first six weeks of the classes. The diet basically consists of protein + veggies at every meal. No sugar, starches, no rice or bread, processed food, or bad fat. Lots of meat, lots of veggies, that's about it!

I can't turn down a challenge so I'm doing it... and cheating on occasion. So if you dare try the diet, here's a simple dinner to cook sometime.

DRUNKEN CHICKEN & ASPARAGUS

Ingredients

1 Boneless/ Skinless Chicken Breast
Trader Joes Vodka Sauce
Panko Crumbs (cheating, I know)
1 Egg
1/4 Sweet Onion - chopped
1 Garlic Clove - minced
Asparagus

Seasonings

Salt & Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Basil

Simple Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Get out two small bowls. In one bowl mix together some panko crumbs, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. In the other bowl, beat an egg. Dip the chicken first in the egg, and then coat both sides in the panko creation. Put the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 26 minutes.

I usually don't cheat on tomato sauce, I like to make it from scratch. But I was lazy tonight and decided to try the Vodka Sauce at Trader Joes. To spice it up a bit, we will add the fresh onion and garlic.

Coat a small pot with olive oil and throw in the chopped onion over medium heat. Cook a couple minutes until onions are translucent, then throw in the minced garlic. Only let the garlic cook for less than a minute to take the edge off, don't let it burn. Next throw in the Vodka Sauce- use as much as you want to cover the chicken. Lower the heat to medium low or low and let it simmer until the chicken is done.

Steam the asparagus on the stove or in a veggie steamer. This should be your last step- asparagus cooks pretty quickly.

When chicken is done, remove from oven & pour sauce on top. Top it off with some freshly chopped basil and parmesan cheese and eat up!

Cooking With Tofu- Easier than it sounds

So I got weird at the grocery store yesterday and decided to pick up tofu. Perhaps it's because I just got back from a vacation to the glorious island of Oahu, where every food seems to have some Asian flare. Not to mention, I went with a veggie friend and ended up eating a delicious tofu dish at a restaurant we went to. Yum yum, I can make that at home.

Like most things I fall in love with, I didn't know the first thing about tofu. The only time I've ever really eaten tofu was in Hot & Sour Soup (love) and at the restaurant this past weekend (love). So, I guess I love tofu. Who knew?

Just like any new recipe, I'm starting off easy.

TOFU STIR-FRY WITH SOY GLAZE



Stir Fry Ingredients
1/4 onion
1/4 head cabbage
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/4 package fresh tofu
1 garlic clove
pinch of red pepper flakes
... if you like it hot... I always throw in a dash of Sriracha.

Soy Glaze
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 Sapporo
1/4 cup sugar
dash of water

Dishes Needed:
Small Frying Pan
Small Pot

First things first- chopping! Chop the onion, cabbage, pepper & tofu into small thin strips. Then mince the garlic. Keep these ingredients aside for now.

Mix all of the glaze ingredients together in the small pot and bring to a boil. Cook these and stir well until the sugar melts and liquids start to thicken into glaze. Cook over high heat around 5-6 minutes.

While the glaze is going, pour a little oil (peanut oil is best, but it doesn't really matter) into the frying pan and heat to medium. Throw in the garlic for a few seconds and then gently place the tofu in the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides. This will only take a few minutes. Remove from heat.

When the glaze is done pour into a serving cup and return the pot to medium heat. Throw in all the veggies. Add a little of the glaze and cook for 3-5 minutes, until veggies start to wilt. Remove from heat.


Personally I like this dish with a little brown rice medley from Trader Joes.

To serve...

First lay down the rice, then the veggies. On top lay the tofu and pour over the glaze. And you're done! Easy and healthful.


Enjoy!

I'm goin Veggie!

As in my book, I'm starting a new chapter in my life. I'm goin veggie. So for the next month I'm going to dedicate all of my blogs to a vegetarian diet. I started this a little over a week ago, so starting today I'll share some of my new found recipies.

I'll start out with one my good friend Kacee gave me. Thanks buddy!

STRAWBERRY & GOAT CHEESE SAMMY:

Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries
Goat Cheese
Organic Baby Greens
Wheat Bread
Honey

Start by toasting up your bread. As that's toasting, slice up the strawberries into thin slices and put to the side. When the toast is done, spread a good amount of cheese on the bottom half of the bread. Follow by stacking a mound of strawberries and greens on top, pour a dash of honey over it all, and dig in!



This is the perfect for brunch, or a yummy way to start a veggie lifestyle like me!

Thanks for reading,
Steph