I forgot

You know what I just remembered? Dr Pepper Lip Smackers!!!

YUM! Remember Lip Smackers necklaces?

You know what else I just remembered? 

This blog.... OOPS!

Tends to happen when you're pregnant and fish and chicken sound disgusting and it's all you can do to keep crossfitting until you're 7 months pregnant. I quit going after that because of all the ultrasound bills...and I couldn't tie my shoes anymore. And now we have a beautiful 6 week old baby girl. She's absolutely the light of my life!!!

Anyways...I'm going to try to get back to doing some recipes. I've already got a good paleo dessert recipe that I'm going to try to make this weekend while Grease Monkey is home on Sunday. We'll see if I can get to the grocery store between now and then. We'll also see if Ladybug (not her real name, don't worry) will let me step away for a bit. Hopefully I can get more on top of this until I can go back to crossfit. I'll get cleared next week, but the medical bills are pretty crazy, so I won't go back until those get under control. So, I'll post when I get a chance and let y'all know when that is. :)

Where did I go?/Paleo Sweet Bacon Chicken

Where have I been? Seems like I was doing well there for a few weeks. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

WELL.....I got pregnant, for starters! 

Can you see that widdle face?  This was at 20 weeks. I'm 27 weeks now. But, what is it? 

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

IT'S A GIRL!
(Thanks, Mia)

My due date is April 13th and we're expecting little Lily Mae. 

Don't worry I know that it's something like .000001% (ok maybe that's an exaggeration) of babies are born on their due date so, yeah...

I was wondering if I'd even have a bump, since I'm a big girl. But, I definitely do. LOL

So that's been part of it. I looked back and I've been gone since the end of July. Grease Monkey got pneumonia for a MONTH. Then I got sick, too. Did a hero/partner WOD back in August then tried a competition for Crossfit, but missed my chance that day and had a meltdown and didn't bother trying to get into the competition (hormonal maybe?)

Yes, I'm still crossfitting. I'm so glad I came back after I was over all my sickness. Yes, I'm scaling weight, reps, rounds, whatever I need to (like grabbing the rower handle THEN sitting down because then I can't reach, and having Grease Monkey tie my shoes) I'm also not lifting weight from the floor, I've got my own jerk blocks. Kind of. 

Don't be jealous! LOL I have to get hubs to set this up every time I lift. HAHA!

Keeping up a cooking/workout blog was hard with all the morning all day sickness I had for several weeks. I still haven't been able to eat chicken or salmon at home. It's not the raw meat aspect of it, or cooking it, it's the smell and taste. I have had chicken sandwiches and salmon in restaurants, but can't seem to stand it at home. Another part of not updating has been this TREMENDOUS case of baby brain I've had. WOW! I really always thought that was made up. Nope. It's for real! 

So, where does that put the blog? Well, my intentions for now are to start cooking things up and coming up with a post, then saving it and setting them to maybe auto publish after my little ladybug gets here. :) But, until then I'll try to make recipe posts once or twice a week. Ambitious, I know. 

So, today I'll make a peace offering. 

Paleo Sweet Bacon Wrapped Chicken

For the last couple of years I've been making chicken wrapped in bacon rolled in brown sugar. Saw it on (say it with me) PINTEREST. And the husband LOVES it and so do I. But, it's a little TOO sweet. 

So, let's make it Paleo

8 Boneless Organic chicken breast halves

8 bacon strips

4 Tbsp Organic Honey 

(thankfully Grease Monkey's parents keep bees and we get organic raw honey)

3 Tbsp Mustard

2 Jalapenos, optional

Instructions: 

Flatten chicken to 1/2 inch thickness

Slice jalapenos in quarters length wise and remove all seeds

Wrap 1 slice of jalapeno inside chicken breast

Preheat oven to 400

Mix honey and mustard together in a bowl

Spread Honey Mustard on chicken

Wrap each piece in bacon

Place in baking pan

Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes

**Got this recipe from Jackie Ladner, so Jackie if you see this, here's your credit, it's DELICIOUS!! Just can't remember WHERE I got this from so I can't link it**

Before

 After

Hope you enjoy this like I did, even though it's chicken made at home. 

Hazmat

Well, I owe y'all some motivation and some recipes. Grease Monkey has had pneumonia for the last 3 weeks and its been the worst it's been the last 3 days. We're working through it and I'll be back ASAP. 

Motivation Monday

Well, Grease Monkey has bestowed upon me whatever 'crud' he's been sick with the last couple weeks. Maybe I can be a big whiney baby, now that it's my turn.  ;-)

So, while I'm taking a break on working out today, which is driving me nuts, I'm staying super on top of my eating....besides the real sugar (no corn syrup) Coke I had earlier. I'm Mitzi's offspring for sure...we crave Coke when we're sick. Here's your Motivation for this Monday. :)

Tasty Tuesday on a Wednesday

Ok. You're going to love these. That's all there is to it....trust me. You have no choice.

I present ACTUALLY delicious PALEO cookiiiiiiiiiieeeesssss!

OM NOM NOM!

Ok, so the first time I used SunButter I was so pleasantly surprised. I had never used any other kind of 'nut butter' besides peanut butter. (This is not a nut butter. This is, in fact, a seed butter.) ((Grease monkey is allergic to peanuts and almonds.))  I made cookies. I gave some to my neighbor, some to my husband in his lunch, then some to my mother-in-law. Then, I went and ran errands and got a call from my mother in law to find out why her cookies were green.

Hold the phone....DID YOU SAY GREEN?!

Oh no! I've poisoned everyone! A few calls later and a few frantic minutes on the internet later I found that it's perfectly normal to have things turn green with SunButter when using Baking Soda.

  <-- not today's cookies

The chlorogenic acid (chlorophyll) in sunflower seeds react with the baking soda/powder when baked causing the green color when the product cools down. ----www.sunbutter.com

Whew! But, it seriously had me going for a while. 

We're not doing that today, though. Just wanted to share it because it was funny....to me. 

Today, we're making Paleo SunButter cookies!

^ These are today's cookies!  So Moist and Crumbly!

Ingredients:
1 cup SunButter
2 2/3 cup coconut flour
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup coconut milk (or almond milk)

-Cream SunButter and sugar together.
-Beat in egg. Add milk.
-Stir in vanilla
-Combine flour and salt in separate bowl and stir into mixture.
-Cover and chill for an hour (chill the dough...not you...well, you can chill too but you've probably got stuff to do)
- Preheat oven to 400°F
-Form dough into balls and place on ungreased chilled cookie sheet (press with fork if desired) and bake 8-10 minutes, when edges are golden brown.
-Take cookie sheets out and let them cool on a wire rack.
-Enjoy!

How easy are those? And they won't turn green!

Motivation Monday on a Tuesday!

Sorry, y'all! I've been running behind.

And with running behind I've been working my behind off, too!

**Translation: Tabatas are 8 rounds of 20 seconds max effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. These were all kettlebell movements. Your score (on top) is the lowest number of reps you get in a round, so it pushes you to do more!**

For the first time yesterday I Rx'd a workout at Crossfit. Meaning I used the prescribed weight. I also did 5 back squats at 105 lbs. Which is crazy because before my one rep max was 95 lb and I was too scared to go any higher.

Been a little off my game lately. But what better way to get back on it than signing up for a Crossfit Competition??? That's right. Me, Lindsay. I signed up for a Crossfit Competition!!! It's called No Baby, Leave the Socks On.

Your one requirement is to wear weighlifting socks and booty shorts are optional! 

Hahahaha!

So, I'll stick with finding tall socks and rock my usual workout wear! I'm in the scaled division which means I can't do unassisted pullups, big box jumps or lots of weight yet. But, I'll get there. Not sure if I'll ever be comfortable enough to wear the booty shorts, though! 

Ok, let's keep the motivation part of this light and airy shall we?

I used to eat at McDonald's every single day, multiple times a day and now their food makes me so sick. Physically, I get so sick. I can't stand it anymore.

This is one of the biggest reasons I love Crossfit. The loudest cheers are for those who finish last.

One of our crossfit coaches has 4 babies and she looks A-mazing! No excuses.

Come back tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday on a Wednesday! ;)

How did I get here?

Today I went through one of the towns I grew up in. Yes, there were several. Ten to be exact. But lived in more rent houses/apartments than that. And that was just until I graduated high school. No, we weren't military.

As I drove through this small east Texas town that I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old, I surprised myself by recognizing things. A mural in town, a payless that had been visited on Halloween to find witch shoes because I was finally going to beat the kid that kept coming to the costume contest in overalls and a jack-o-lantern on his head every year. (He maintained his winning streak.) I passed the Donut Palace that we went to ALL. THE. TIME. Then I saw Herschels. Herschels is like a Dairy Queen, but more country. Is that possible? I remember they had steak finger baskets and ice cream and a juke box that I would play Tim McGraw's "Don't Take The Girl" and John Michael Montgomery's "Be My Baby Tonight". Oh, and Mazzio's pizza...they had the best game room and was also where I stopped to tie my shoes by myself for the first time. I called my dad and told him I'd be going through that town and into the next town over and asked him if he remembered going to Ken's pizza and a cafe called Jams when we lived there. I drove past the country store that he would send me into to get us a bottle of YooHoo, a bottle of Dr. Pepper and 2 cans of snuff. Yes, they sold it to me, because they could see my dad in the truck outside. (The gas station in my grandmother's home town, however, would not sell me lottery tickets, she had to come in and get them herself.) I drove past the church where I attended Pre-K and during VBS a couple of years later got saved. They served us Eggo waffles with grape jelly on them in Pre-K.

As I was sipping my sweet tea from Chicken Express (I didn't have many options and chose my favorite in all the world...get over it) I realized I only was recognizing food places. Then I thought of the next town we moved to and the Italian food place we went to all the time over the course of the year that we lived there. Then, we moved to a small central Texas town. We lived there for three years and I remember riding my bike to the library, and eating at the auction barn...yes..the auction barn...it was like a truck stop. And a pizza place there that had THE thinnest crust. This town is also known for their kolaches. Usually I didn't get kolaches, but we ate at the gas station ALL the time. Our town couldn't support a grocery store. So we would go into the next big town over and go to the movies, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, a diner that had something to do with Elvis, or had a picture of him, or something, Fazoli's, etc. The next town we lived in was back in east Texas and we ate out with my dad's co workers every day that summer at one of TWO restaurants. It alternated between one Mexican food place and Pizza Hut buffet. We moved again...found new restaurants...I moved to California with my mom and found In 'N Out Burger and an Italian place called Strings (don't get me started on that place I just know that I'm lactose intolerant now, and I blame their Fettucini Alfredo!)

My point is, my memories are mostly tied to food....and music. Though, the latter isn't dangerous.

 Did I recognize this house?

No.

I called my dad again and asked him how to get there. Got lost on the way. Then recognized a spot on the black top road where I had a HUGE bike wreck. (Not really, I recognized the neighbor's rusty basketball goal and our septic tank.) This is the house where I learned to ride my bike. Learned to ride horses. Was the first one on the bus and the last one off because we lived so far out in the country. We had 3 horses (Red, Katy, and Cody), 2 dogs (Bonnie and Amigo) and a cat that I can't remember the name of for the life of me. 

So, here I am. Totally addicted to junk food and soda. It's my drug of choice. Happy? I eat. Celebrating? I eat. Bored? I eat. Then, something happens like when I lost my mother 2 years ago and I moved away from all family and friends and was alone (besides Grease Monkey) with no job, no friends, no family near. I ate. A lot. And gained. A lot. I lie about how much I eat, where I've eaten, what I've eaten. Even to myself. 

I learned bad habits all my life from my parents' bad habits. But, I am not a child anymore. I have to be responsible for my actions now. I have to make better choices. I have to re-program myself to do better. To want better for myself and my future.

To Be Continued...