zucchini

Holy Tornadoes Batman! And other stuff!

So I know I’ve been Slack Action Jackson as of late and I’m sorry. Life has consumed me and I’ve neglected my blogging. Please still love me, Please! Heheheh. K or don’t. It’s fine by me.

Let me first tell you, North Texas got hit pretty hard with some crazy weather … tornadoes, hail, and rain – oh my! All jokes aside, I can report from my end that we are all safe and I pray that all those affected will come out of this craziness just fine. My home was narrowly missed as were the kid’s schools, thank GOD! I don’t know what I’d do without my family!!! There was so much damage in my neck of the woods. It makes my heart sad for all those that have to deal with this tragedy. Fortunately there were not any fatalities.

So now that my unofficial news reporting is over I just have a little rant for y’all and then I’ll kinda sorta recap the past several days of the BOOM BOX.

Listen up y’all – This is not a new rant, just extended from previous ones …. QUIT saying you need to start working out or eating healthy and then just go right on and eat junk and not move at all!

Seriously?!? WTH is wrong in your noggin? Does it feel good to SAY that you need to get on top of it? Does it really? Do you feel better after you say that then eat a double cheeseburger or a lean cuisine and soda (maybe even diet soda). I see and hear it everyday. It’s not good, I want to help you all, but I know I can’t. It has to come from within you. NO matter how bad I want good health for folks I can’t make you do it. I’m not perfect. I had my junkfilled haze just recently and it took a few days to get back on the straight and narrow.

But I will tell you, just that little bit of insanity from my end ruined my world. Ruined my stomach, ruined my head, ruined my overall self. I’m still recovering. It’s not good folks. I can’t imagine feeling like that day in and day out. I know I was like that a year ago and I seriously can’t recall feeling physically out of wack but I’m sure I did and I just didn’t realize it was a direct result of my everyday food intake. CRAP! mixed with healthy stuff but in general CRAP none the less! So please if y’all really want to do something then DO IT! Just give it a go for 30 days, then plan yourself a cheat day. But at least give it a go for more than 7 days before you treat yourself. Yes some of you may go bonkers without a “cheat” day but don’t try and convince yourself 2 days in that you need that office cookie or that handful of M&M’s. It’s not helping you at all! And get moving, even if it’s walking up and down your street. You don’t have to be a die hard worker outer bee. You need to eat right, eat clean…. that’s 80% of it folks. Not 10% or 20%. Nutrition is 80%!!!!! Thanks for listening. And sorry for the ramble. I just see it day in and day out and it just infuriates me. I want to shake people sometimes … but I can’t without fear of getting smacked or yelled at, hehehe!

ANYWAYS!!! So the last time I shared my WODs with you was Tuesday last week!!! Wow I am a slacker 😀

So here goes my wrap up. It will be short and sweet I hope.

3/29/2012

Skill/Strength – Band Dead Lifts 12 sets of 3. I can’t recall the weight but it was fairly light maybe 75lbs. Not 100% sure. But what you do is drape a mobility band over the top of the bar and let it rest on the ground. You then step on the band to add resistance and knock out 3 reps quicklike.

It took a couple of sets before I felt somewhat comfortable doing them. It is definitely a unique feeling and takes some core strength to stabilize yourself. After the 12 sets, we did one set without the bands. HOLY MOLY it was sooo weird and you feel crazy strong and really feel like you execute the lift properly no questions asked.

MetCon – Yes COACH brought up Toes to Bar. Even though he knows we had enough from the Open, he still had to bust those bad boys out. Well I could only manage to get 3 TTB in so I switched to Knees to Elbows for a workout instead of just struggling. All week had been upper body and I think this day I was just tired. I only managed to get 4 full rounds in and almost got 5 round completed. I know I worked, I just hate that bar! On a side note, Box Jumps at 20″ felt really nice. I finally feel like I have some spring in my legs, NOT MUCH mind you, but some 🙂

3/30/2012

Skill/Strength – Back Squat Deload. This is something I like to see. We aren’t trying to go for max weight here or crazy progressions. We are putting in work but it’s a nice “rest” if you will.

MetCon – TEAM WOD. Sometimes I dread these and sometimes I enjoy them. This was one that I was happy to share the workload. We had the option of doing 5 Muscle UPs (hhahahha), 15 Chest to Bar (hahahahhahah) or 30 Chin Ups. Well our team consisted of 3 of us who can not do pullups at all. So we used bands to help us and had no choice but to pick chin ups. After Chin Ups we could do 5 Handstand PushUps (hahahah), 15 Box HSPU OR 30 Hand Release Pushups. Well one of team mates had neck issues that prevented her to do the BOX HSPUs so we went with the 30 pushups. And we finish off the round with 90 Air Squats. So us ladies just split the load up evenly and we finished in 16:43! Go US! It was fun and a beating all at the same time.

4/2/2012

Skill/Strength – Snatch Practice. It’s always good to practice SNATCH! It’s just such a complicated movement. We only worked with PVC and the bar. We did not add any weight but just going through the motions and working up to a full snatch is work.

MetCon – RUNNING! UGH! I almost stayed in bed after I checked the website. I despise running and this was designed to “sprint” the distances. I mean I can’t SPRINT 800m, but it’s the idea of pushing hard right? Our distance is unofficial so don’t think I’m super BEAST for getting a time of 2:32. The :24 was for the “200”, which was probably less. I think I can sprint a 100 yds in 17/18 seconds so ya. There ya have it. We rested 1 minute after each run. I hate running!

4/3/2012

Skill Strength – Deadlifts 5, 5, 5+ We had to do math and it’s hard to do at 5am. I can’t recall our weights, but I don know on my last round I just went 5. I didn’t mean to put the bar down, I just wasn’t using my brain. I had at least 2 more in me. So we’ll just go with I would have done 7 reps on my last round! Sound good? OK GREAT!

MetCon – 5 rounds of 30 sec plank, 1:00 of Thrusters and 1:00 rest. The idea was to match your max thruster count each round. Add up your rounds and voila that’s your score for the day. I managed a 10, 10, 11, 8, and 10 giving me a total of 49 @ 65lbs. Thrusters are not easy. I seriously pushed my butt off. I know I did what appeared to be a lot of standing around but I just was so out of breath and believe me .. just out of it. I don’t think I could have done more in a minute. I did know I had to push but when my push was out I dropped the bar. It’s hard to WANT to get it back up. It’s hard to breathe too! I feel I finished strong. Good MetCon!

And that’s a wrap for the WODs. I’ll close with some food shots.

If you want a quick meal that  you can partially prep over the weekend then try some sweet potato hash. I just shred up 2-3 sweet potatoes and put them in a storage container and keep in fridge. Each morning I take a handful of my shredded yumminess and saute it in one teaspoon of coconut oil. Top it with 2 fried eggs. I might add some bacon or fruit. Easy breezy and delicious!

Sweet Potato Hash topped with Fried Eggs!

And this was my lunch today. Sauteed shredded zucchini with meat sauce, 3 oz of steak and some steamed broccoli. It was  great filling lunch 🙂

Steak, Broccoli and Shredded Zucchinni topped with meat sauce 🙂

Happy Hump Day Folks! Make it great!

Zucchini-Getti and Baby It’s Cold Outside

It’s midway through the week and the sun finally came out to show it’s pretty face today! Finally! It was a balmy 25° outside and the box inside was good degree warmer coming in at 38° – WOOOO! So cold and not fun. But at the BOOM Box we warmed up rather quickly.

A little warmer than outside

After our warm up, we followed up with more warm up on the rowers. 3 sets of 250M row to get the blood circulating. We then proceeded to KB thrusters. I’m thinking they were 24lb kettle bells but I honestly have blanked :/ 3 sets of 8. A little tougher than I had anticipated but mission accomplished! All this time I’d been staring at the MetCon on the board wondering what weight I would be doing for the Ground to Overhead (GTOH) and thinking the bar will be cold, and just so many random thoughts. Come to find out the GTOH is with a plate. Wow easy enough I thought! Hehe, I wish I wouldn’t have those “easy” thoughts! It is a shoulder burnout then add HR pushups to that! Woooo, It was a good, quick and intense knock you out kind of workout. As you can see in the picture I finished at 6:49. Not bad. I flew the first 2 rounds, then kind of lost all hope after that. Thankfully we only had to do a “buy-in” 400 m run at the start because the air was chilly outside.

WOD 12/07/11

Zucchini-Getti and Meat Sauce

This isn’t my first time to make this dish but of course now that I’ve begun my blogging adventure I will share with you my meal. I don’t have anyone to give true credit to because I’ve just really looked at pictures and got the general idea. I did read somewhere and I feel bad that I don’t recall where I read it that you should let your zucchini dry out some after you slice it up. So leave it on the counter top for 15-20 minutes or put it in the fridge for a few hours (for me it was overnight). This will make more sense in just a few moments.

Tuesday night I decided I would prep the zucchini. I rinsed off about 8 zucchini’s and cut the ends off of each of them. I then slice them in half. I use a mandolin slicer to make thin strips but I’ve just sliced them thinly as well without the slicer so whichever you prefer.  After you have then strips I cut them into even thinner strips. Depending on preference you could have thin or thick “faux” noodles. As mentioned above, I lay them out to dry. I line a cookie sheet with paper towels and lay the zucchini strips on there and for me it is best to keep them in fridge until I was ready to use them last night.

Slicing the Zuchinni

Slicing thin strips to create the Getti part of the Zucchini

Zucchini-Getti Layed out to dry

We buy grass fed beef and I used a little over 1.5 lbs for this meal. I brown it over medium heat with some salt, pepper and cumin. I don’t have the time or patience to make a “homemade” sauce so I go with what looks good at the store. And not only what looks good but what is CHEAP(er). So I found an organic, natural sauce and I get that warming up. While meat is browning and sauce is simmering, I sauteed up some fresh tomato, garlic and mushrooms that I will add to sauce. Once the beef is good I add the beef and veggies to the pasta sauce and let it simmer all together.

Veggies that will be sauteed and added to sauce

Browing Ground Beef and Heating up Sauce

It’s time to get some olive oil in a pan. I sauteed some chopped up garlic then added the zucchini. I season the zucchini with ground thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. The zucchini softens pretty quickly and only takes a few minutes before it’s ready. So plate, spoon out some sauce and you’re good to go.

Sauteing Up the Zucchini-Getti

Finished Meal - Zucchini-Getti and Meat Sauce

And there ya have it. Here’s a rough list of ingredients:

1.5 lbs grass fed beef

8 zucchini

1 tomato

3 cloves of garlic

2 bottles of organic, natural pasta sauce

1 carton of mushrooms

spices you prefer (I used salt, pepper, cumin, ground thyme, oregano)

 

Paleo Cake Ball FAIL and other fun stuff

Before I get to CAKE BALL FAIL… I’ll discuss my workout this morning… then I’ll move on to last nights cookin’!

It was a windchill of 21° this morning as I drove to bootcamp. Thank goodness we have an indoor option! Although we did have a run that included being in the FREEZING COLD – not fun. Come on now, we’re in TEXAS! I’m not made for the cold! As always boxing is my favorite part of the Tuesday workout. We’re always mixing it up and I feel like I’m getting quicker every week. AJ makes sure to keep me on my toes! In addition to boxing we did a 20 minute AMRAP if you will. There were 8 movments where we had to do 25-50 reps of something and then run with a 20 minute time limit. (pushups, bicep curls, alligator plank, burpees, jack knife dead lifts, star jumps, up/down plank, run) I got through 1 round and 4 movements into the second round! Woohoo. I felt good today. I suppose I got some good sleep 🙂

Now for last night…..So my Paleo Cake Balls were an epic FAIL, my kids including myself were sure we would never erase the taste from our mouths. When you get too much unsweetened chocolate in one large ball it’s pretty disgusting! Although they came out just as pretty looking as any NON PALEO cake balls I have ever made. There will be a round 2, I promise, I just have to find a “good” PALEO frosting to mix with my cake crumbles.

Cake Balls lookin pretty .... TASTE HORRIBLE!

So now that’s off my chest and I admitted my failure, lets move on to the goodness that did pan out last night. PALEO PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE which I took from PaleoOMG blog http://paleohmygoodness.blogspot.com/2011/10/paleo-pumpkin-cream-chicken-casserole.html

It turned out quite tasty and the family seemed to agree. I feel that I liked it best since I scarfed it down or maybe I was just that hungry.

Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole

Paleo Pumpkin Cream Chicken Casserole Served!

What you need:
1-1.5 lbs chicken breasts, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 medium sized spaghetti squash cooked and shredded
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 can canned coconut milk
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
Time to roast our veggggggies! Chop your cauliflower and put it in a baking dish topped with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. Then cut your spaghetti squash in half, use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and extra threads, place face down on a baking pan. Add the cauliflower and spaghetti squash to the oven, side by side if possible, to roast for around 25 minutes. (Depending how big your spaghetti squash is, the cauliflower made roast a little quicker, but mine cooked at the same time) You will know your spaghetti squash is cooked when you can poke the outside skin and it gives a bit.

While the squash and cauliflower are cooking, it’s time to cook up your chicken. Pull out either a LARGE saucepan or a large pot and put under medium-high heat.

Add olive oil to it along with your minced garlic. Once the garlic begins to smell, add your chopped onions and cook until translucent.

Add your chopped chicken to the cooking onions, cover and let steam for around 5 minutes.
Once the chicken is about 2/3 cooked through, add your can of pumpkin, half can of coconut milk, and spices directly to the pan. Mix thoroughly. Taste to see if you need any more spices or salt.

Once your squash and cauliflower is done cooking, and chicken saucey mixture is heated up, de-thread spaghetti squash with a fork, running the fork the opposite way of the threads.

Add your spaghetti squash threads, roasted cauliflower, and chicken saucey mixture to a 9×11 glass baking dish and add dish to the oven under the broiler. Cook for about 5 minutes, getting a little dark on the top.

Remove from oven and let sit for around 10 minutes to help the sauce thicken up. Then EAT! It’s good stuff and rather easy to make.

AFTER I had cleaned up dishes and had my cake ball disaster I decided I would get a jump start on tonight’s prepping and got zucchini all sliced up to cook as my “spaghetti”. It’s just prepped and in the fridge for now

But post prep I had some zucchini ideas, ran it past the kiddos and they were on board so we made tiny zucchini sandwiches! This was quickly packed away into containers for their lunches. They were very excited about them and tried out a couple. There’s one for the WIN column. I hope they enjoy them today at lunch. MY 8 year old says the kids at school think what he eats at lunch is GROSS! Then he procedes to tell me “they have no idea what GOOD food is… raspberries are awesome and my sandwiches are going to be good today! They all eat chips and crackers, and sugar stuff. That’s stuff isn’t good for you” He’s a good kid that Jakob. 🙂

So I’ll leave you with a pic of our little zucchini sandwiches. They have all natural, minimally processed, nitrate free ham, carrot slice and of course zucchini. Have a great Tuesday!

Zucchini Sandwiches for Kids Lunch