Taco Salad

I have to say, the grassfed part of Paleo has been a challenge. Not because it's not plentiful here in the Bay Area, but because it's expensive and we don't have money to spare (who does?). Needless to say, we've been having a LOT of meals made up of grassfed ground beef--which I can score for about 5/pound at Farmer Joe's. But after a multitude of dinners of burgers and sliders (not that I'm complaining), I've started trying to get creative. Cue dinner the other night: Taco Salad! (Triumphant music plays)

1 head butter/gem lettuce

@ 1 pound ground beef

Beef seasonings: chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, minced garlic

1 can green peppers

1 avocado

1 small cucumber

1 cup organic salsa (I like Costco's -- no additives, just tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.)

A couple ounces shredded cheddar for the hubby's salad -- no cheese for me this time

I sauteed the beef for a few minutes with the seasonings above and let cool to just above room temperature. After that, it's just chopping and assembling the other ingredients. 

I tossed this with my default homemade dressing of olive oil and red wine vinegar. It was a huge hit and very filling. I think you could also add corn, sour cream, fresh tomatoes, and a lime dressing if you were so inclined.

Chicken Drumsticks and Kale

This has been another goto for us with Paleo, since it's extremely affordable and delicious and good for you. A pack of chicken legs is under 3 dollars for about 6 legs, and if you buy in bulk it's even less. Kale is in season and I can find a giant bunch at my farmer's market or Farmer Joe's nearby for a couple bucks (or less).

6 chicken drumsticks
Olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika

1 large bunch kale, olive oil, salt, pepper
A few garlic cloves, to taste

For my chicken, I just preheat my over to 400 and lay the chicken legs out in a baking dish. I coat them in olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika and pop them in there for about an hour until they're done. They come out crispy on the outside, moist inside, and delicious.

For the kale, I take my garlic and slice it thinly, then sautee in olive oil until it's soft. I just toss the kale on top of that and sautee until it's soft enough for me-- just a few minutes. I add homemade chicken stock if I feel like it's getting dry. The sauteed garlic in oil really makes this dish though.

Avocado Egg

I think I'm overdue for more actual food and cooking posts here. I'm still "doing" Paleo. But I hate saying I'm "doing" it or "on" it because at this point, it's really just my lifestyle, which is eating whole and unprocessed food. Yes, all wheat products are processed. Anyway, here is a picture of an avocado with an egg baked inside:

I just sliced and avocado in half, removed the pit, and then cracked an egg into each one. Next time, I think I would use the smallest egg possible since these ran over a little bit. I think I would also doctor it with some hot sauce and garlic too, but we were so overcome with our avocado egg, we didn't add much:

1 large avocado

1 small egg

Salt, pepper

Shredded cheese for the husband

Crack the egg into each avocado, salt and pepper it to taste, adding cheese if that's your thing.

Bake until the egg is cooked to your liking at 350 degrees. I think ours took about 15-20 minutes.

We loved these for breakfast, and now pretty much all I want to do is find ways to stuff avocados and places to crack eggs into.

Crossfit -- Day 2

Day 2 was yesterday, and I have mixed feelings but the mixed part is all my fault! We learned deadlift form, and push presses. AWESOME. This is exactly what I've been waiting for. We worked with weighted ball overhead throws and goblet squats. Then, our WOD:

3 rounds for time:

200m run
10 goblet squats
10 overhead ball throws
5 burpees

All fine, except I ran so slow :( I don't know why running is such a mental block for me, I get out there and by my third 200m, instead of sprinting like I should have I was out of gas. There's no excuse for being out of gas on the 600m of the day, so it's something I have to work on and overcome. Which is exactly the reason for taking CrossFit in the beginning-- to overcome all kinds of things.

Woo!

Can't wait for tomorrow's 7 am class.

Crossfit -- Day 1

So yesterday I started my Crossfit "On Ramp" program: 4 weeks, 3 times a week, MWF, 7 AM. I might be crazy.

Yesterday, we did some warm ups, discussed form for certain moves, practiced basic moves, then we did a workout for time:

Run 200m

15/12/9 (3 rounds of that many reps): 8 LB Dumbell Squat Thrusters & Pushups

Run 200m

I finished the above in 9:31 which is really neither here nor there. During my last set of pushups, I had to move to the wall pushups because my arms were failing on the ground. And I was only using 8 LB dumbells, which seems ridiculous. And I was most likely hungover (ooops).

Today I'm thankfully not as sore as I thought I'd be all over. I tried to drink plenty of water (and bone broth!), eat protein, and stretch yesterday, so today the only part of me that's TRULY messed up are my glutes. Evil evil squats.

I love it though, I'm curious to see what my results will be for the same workout above on the last day of class in 4 weeks.

I'm curious to see how much overall will have changed in the next 4 weeks -- I really want a workout I can give my all that's more than just a check-in and check-out at a normal gym. Hopefully I've found that place.