Tast Tuesday-Paleo Pancakes

Hi again! It's that time of the week: Tasty Tuesday.

Today I'm going to share a breakfast recipe. I'm a breakfast NUT! I could eat breakfast foods 3 times a day/7 days a week/365 days a year and be ok with that! Even if I wake up at noon (which never happens) hubs wants a burger and I want eggs and bacon!

So, to force me to be experimental with breakfast and not just eat bacon and eggs this morning I made pancakes.

What's so special about pancakes? Well, my friend these pancakes are dairy free/ grain free/ gluten free and DELICIOUS! :)

Ingredients:
4 eggs at room temperature (I buy from a farm)
1 cup coconut milk (I use unsweetened)
2 tsp. vanilla (I used vanillin)
1 Tbsp. honey (My father in law happens to have bees so I get raw honey)
1/2 cup coconut flour (I don't have a side note for this) :)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
coconut oil for cooking

Beat eggs for 2 minutes. I set a timer because 2 minutes in my head turns into 15 seconds and "That's good enough."
Mix in milk, vanilla and honey.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate larger bowl.
Stir wet ingredients INTO dry ingredients.
Let sit for 5 minutes.

Abby took the sit for 5 literally.

I started at medium heat and made 3 dog pancakes (You know that first one or two or in this case 3 that are burnt on the outside and raw on the inside? I call those dog pancakes.)

I turned the heat down JUST a little bit and it was perfect. 

Use 1/4 cup of batter at a time. Makes about 10 pancakes. I would top with honey or even some kind of nut butter or seed butter. Sunflower butter is popular at my house because Grease Monkey can't have peanuts or almonds. Toss those banana slices on top of that!

Try 'em! Tell me what you think!

Tasty Tuesday-Paleo Greek Chicken

First, I have to brag on myself. I did something today that was on my "2013 Goal List" but honestly, between us, I really didn't think I would get there before the end of the year and if my calculations (and the googles) are correct I did it with 196 days left! :)

There was such a mental block in my mind against box jumps. I was so afraid I was going to hit my shins and fall over. I had no idea how high I could jump. So, after my WOD was over I saw a little girl at Crossfit Kids doing box jumps and figured, "Wow, if she can do it, why can't I?" (She has no inhibitions or fear, because kids don't and that's great... and is the daughter of one of the COOLEST ladies I know at Crossfit.) 

So, I pulled a 12 inch box out and tried to psych myself out to do it and I just kept stepping up or stopping or jumping one foot at a time. But, with everybody cheering me on and offering to hold my hand, I finally decided I had to do it for myself and get it over with so I would either get it done or have an eternal fear of box jumps. :) 

This is a video of the 3rd time I did it, the first time was finished with much cheering. I absolutely love my Crossfit family. They truly are the best. I can't believe the amazing support I find there no matter which class I go to, whether I know people in the class or not. It's phenomenal! 

Now, for Tasty Tuesday!

Today I have for you: Greek Chicken and Dairy Free Avocado Tzatziki Sauce!

Do you have to make it dairy free? Of course not. But, me being lactose intolerant gives me no other option. But, I'm telling you it's DELISH! 

Ingredients:

Chicken: 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast sliced into bite size (or a little bigger) chunks

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

2 Tbsp olive oil

Tzatziki Sauce: 

1 avocado, pitted

1/2 cup plain So Delicious brand greek style yogurt

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp black pepper 

1 Tbsp lemon juice 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp oregano

Instructions:

-In a blender, add avocado, greek yogurt for tzatziki sauce and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients for sauce and blend again. 

-Put in a covered bowl and refrigerate until ready to eat.

-Take a gallon sized bag and add all of your chicken and chicken ingredients zip and shake. 

-You can use metal skewers or bamboo skewers and add chicken evenly spaced and grill about 5 minutes per side. 

-Serve chicken hot and sauce cold. 

IT IS TO DIE FOR!!! 

I'm so not a food photographer, but here's what it looked like with only a SMALL dollop of the sauce. 

SOOOO GOOD! 

I shoved a piece of chicken with sauce on it in Grease Monkey's mouth as soon as he walked in! LOL!

I would add rosemary potatoes to this and dip those in it, too.

I would do this with beef gyros on a pita. 

I would put it on a turkey sandwich.

Heck, I would dip tortilla chips in it! This will be your new BBQ/Picnic favorite! 

Make it and tell me what you think! 

Motivation Monday

Do you ever have really weird dreams? ..... NO, I mean REALLY weird dreams.

Last night I dreamt that I was at the box (what Crossfit gyms are called) and decided I was going to climb the rope. So, I go and I start climbing it like a champ (that's how I knew I was dreaming) and I get not only to the top, but to the rafters. Everybody's calling for me to come down and I start to come down, but I slip and I start falling. Somehow I do a flip in the air (really dreaming, now) and land on my face on the floor. My neck isn't hurt, my back isn't hurt. But, I get up and my nose is definitely broken and all my teeth are gross and loose, but not gone. Then I cried in front of everyone. I'm afraid to break my nose, and lose my teeth, but really afraid to cry in front of people. Hmm.

But, I've been known to beat sharks to death with my flip flops in dreams, so there ya go. (One came swimming out of a car I was trying to buy from a lady. She was pretty keen to get rid of the car quick. Then I found out it was because it was full of water and a 10 foot Great White Shark. I had nothing else to kill it with, so my trust flip flop was my obvious choice, duh!) I may have had a high fever and strep throat when that happened.

How 'bout some motivational things to start your week?

I'll see you here tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday!

Goal Check

So, on Monday I stated that my goal for the week was to go to Crossfit four times. FOUR TIMES!!! I went

Monday:

Tuesday (please note the 8 A.M. IN THE CORNER...SHEESH!)

 

 Wednesday Night

(This is a hero WOD and was SERIOUSLY modified for me" 

3 Rounds

20

20

400 M

I got thrown off my groove Thursday. I told myself "Man, you could go 5 times a week...you could do this!" But, I originally intended to take Thursday off, anyways.

Then I walked in to see this Friday at 10 A.M. 

Um, what? "Doesn't have to be for time" doesn't compute in my little brain. I need parameters.

 So, I did 250 single skips (jump ropes), 4 heavy prowler pushes, 10 rope lowers, and talked....a lot. LOL! So, to be nice to the coach that was there (who was working night shift and needed to go home and sleep) I said, "I'll come finish at 6 since Grease Monkey will be there, too." 

Well, when I got there I was like "Man, I'll just start the WOD over." I did 15 rope lowers, 5 prowler pushes and got to 250 single skips and my shins were SCREAMING!!! So, I just split the difference on that and considered that I completed the jump ropes half that morning and half that evening. Then, I sat down to row. Once you sit down to row, you have to finish. You can't go jump rope or push prowlers...you row. 

Normally a part of my warm up is to row 400 M or run 400 M. So, I thought, "Eh. No big deal."

"MIIIIIKE MIKE-UH MIKEMIKEMIKEMIKE" 

"WHAT?!?!" 

"I need a break from rowing. My knees are on fire, my quads are on fire, my hamstrings are about to seize up and die, my toes hurt." 

"How far have you rowed?"

"1460 Meters" 

"You only have 540 left. :)  " 

"mumbling hateful things under my breath about being fat and out of shape and I need a gel seat for the rower like the bikes get cuz my butt's big but not cushy." 

I finished and laid on the floor and faked an asthma attack, a heart attack, death and wheezed. Then...

I realized I had gone to Crossfit FIVE times that week!!!!! 

HOLY SHAMOLEY!!!

I feel sexier already. Not gonna lie. :)

Not enough weight ^^

Haha. Yes, that's me pushing a prowler with a 100 plate and my husband. :)

What's your goal for this week? Get moving? Having a plan for food? Have a specific plan! 

Whatever it is...you can meet it and exceed it! 

See you tomorrow for Motivation Monday! 

Tasty Tuesday-Savory Salmon

I woke up at 6 something this morning to drag myself to crossfit. I don't know what it is, but in the mornings my sleepy face looks like this without the smile:

My eyelids droop when I'm sleepy so my eyebrows think they have to over compensate to keep my eyes open. UGH! 

Today is TASTYYYY TUUUUESDAYYYY! A little excited...so, today I've got a SUPER easy salmon recipe with a total of 5 count 'em 5 ingredients.

You'll need:

Salmon fillets (I get them fresh from the seafood counter at H-E-B, so the skins are still on and that's fine!) 

1.5 Tablespoons mayo (I use the kind with Olive Oil, because Grease Monkey buys the mayonnaise because he's allergic to corn and that kind is what he picked that was corn free)

3 Tbsp fresh parsley

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon lime juice.

Preheat your oven to 400 F

Get a pyrex dish and spray it with Pam. Place your fillets skin side down in the dish.

In a separate bowl mix all of the other ingredients like-a-dees:

Now, brush it onto your salmon like-a-dees: 

Pop in the oven for 14 minutes and it'll look like-a-dees: 

Alright, I know I lost some of you at Mayonnaise. I'm not the biggest mayo fan either, but it's basically a vehicle for the other flavors, you can't even taste it once it's all cooked. Now, Flip your fillets over and take a fork, knife, spatula, finger, whatever's handy and lift up a corner of the salmon skin. It should pull off easily. Much more easily than before you cook it. 

Now, you CAN eat the skin. Don't look at me like that. You can eat the skin! It's got a lot of important nutrients in the skin that are stored in a fatty layer between the skin and meat and when cooked the skin soaks up these great Omega 3's. I don't eat it, but knock yourself out. 

Now, I need to go find my ice pack. I apparently pulled a muscle in my groin-ish area. I don't even want to say that because it sounds weird. But, there. I said it. I pulled my groin. My crossfit trainer looked at me like I was crazy and asked how I did that. Psh! How did I do that?! Maybe I ran 984 miles on Friday and did my best version of pistol squats (holding the rails on either side of me and leaning back with one leg in the air haha), jumping pull ups, sand volleyball, snatches and squats today and because I'M OUTTA SHAPE! (So, if you're reading this, Mike, that's why).

Oh, and then they asked me if I could do tumbles today.

So, I did pushups, because, I mean....this body is built for comfort not speed. I'm pretty sure if I started to tumble my body would be like, "Hey, you need to not do this, let's break your neck and lay in bed for the next year." CRACK! 

Either way, this was the WOD:

50 Air Squats to med ball

30 Thrusters

25 Knee to Elbow

15 Tumbles

25 Knee to Elbow

30 Thrusters

50 Air Squats to med ball

Did it in 21:00.    

What kind of recipe would you like to see next Tasty Tuesday? Main dish? Chicken? Beef? Crockpot? Breakfast? You tell me.

Motivation Monday/My Favorite Things

I've gotten a pretty incredible response from my first blog post, so that motivates me to keep going. (Even though I've only done one, if I quit now what kind of blogger would I be?) Speaking of motivation I've got a couple things today.

First, I'll share with you one of my favorite things I use in the kitchen. Then, I'll leave you with some motivation. :)

Ok. So, for me, chicken is my go to protein for dinner. It's easy. I know how to cook it. I've gotten to a place where it's pretty fool proof for me. But...IT. IS. SO. BORING!!! Well, it can be for me!

Here's my favorite seasoning for chicken:

Ask Grease Monkey, he'll tell you this is a big deal for me to like anything Cajun. I will tell you myself, I don't like anything hotter than black pepper. Sonny's spices are A-MAZING. You can use as little or as much as you want by themselves or all together to make GREAT flavors EVERY time you cook chicken. We have Miraculous, Angel Dust, Gourmet Blackening, and Spicy Gourmet Herbs. (Found Here) They're all unique flavors that when mixed together or even done separately makes for chicken that will "Make you Hurt Yo-Self." We saw Sonny in Canton, TX at the First Monday there right after we got married in 2010. He was selling so much he could hardly keep up with the people asking. We bought 4 of his 5 flavors simply because I'm not a huge fan of lime, but if you are...DO IT!!! The best part about all of his seasonings: low to no salt! Seriously, you won't regret this! Every time we cook chicken for people we put Crazy Cajun on there and people can't believe how good it is. I pan sear it in butter (vegan butter for us, we're lactose intolerant at our house) and then I steam rice and pour the seasoning/rest of butter into the rice and mix it all in and it's GREAT!!! I can't rave enough about it! And it lasts for a long time, too. We've only had to order 2 times since we've been married, but I'm about to order again! You go order some, too!

SONNY'S CRAZY CAJUN SEASONINGS

What is your goal for this week? Mine is to start making it to Crossfit 4 times a week starting this week. I've lost 8 pounds in the last two weeks from monitoring my calories closely using the Lose It app on my iPhone and working out. I'm real goofy about it, too. I've got to work myself up to something in my head and plan for it. So, I already know I'm going to go Monday morning, Tuesday Morning, Wednesday Evening, Thursday off and go either morning or evening on Friday. So, again...what's your goal? You have to set goals that are small and attainable! So, to motivate me...oh, and you, too...I'm leaving you with some motivational pictures, quotes, sayings, whatever I found good this week to start off our Monday. So, happy Monday! 

Ok, Ryan. Just for you! :) 

 Seriously, this lady is 83 and Crossfits...what's your excuse?

 I put this picture on here because, really...who doesn't want to work out in their panties? I mean, I could never do it because I'd be worried about wedgies. But, you go for it! 

Have a great week. Stick to your goals. If you have a set back (like our Papa Murphy's pizza we had tonight for the first time OHMYGOODNESS why did we even open that Pandora's box of awesome?!!) just start again. It doesn't have to wait until next Monday or the next day. It starts with your next choice!