WLC week 4 workouts

Day 1:
2 min burpees
2 min sit ups
2 min push ups
2 min squats
2 min flutter kicks  (laying on your back with your chin to your chest and your lower back pressed into the floor, move your legs up and down from the hips (keep knees straight) as if you’re kicking in the water) 

Day 2:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out. 

Day 3:
Squat Hold - 2 min (come down into the bottom of a squat and hold - use an object to hold on to only if necessary) 
Plank Hold - 4 min (from forearms OR hands - keep glutes tight and no ‘swayback’) 
Cobra Hold - 2 min (laying on stomach with arms back at sides, lift chest, arms and legs up off the ground as high as possible.  Hold) 
Squat Hold - 2 min 

Day 4:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out. 

Day 5:
Repeat 8 times:
20” (seconds) Flutter kicks
10” rest (this is a total of 4 minutes) 
rest 1 minute 
Repeat 8 times:
20” push ups
10” rest 

Day 6:
Go for a long run, row, surfing session, bike ride, kayak, walk, or hike.  Spend at least 60 minutes and up to 3 hours outside. 

Day 7:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out.

Chicken casserole

• 1.5-2lbs chicken thighs, excess fat removed, diced
• 5 medium heads of broccoli, stems removed, chopped into florets
• 1 head of cauliflower, stem removed, chopped into florets
• 1 container of sliced mushrooms
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 (14oz) cans of coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or other fat)
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat (or other fat)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place your cauliflower and broccoli florets in a 9×12 glass baking dish. Pour your olive oil on top of the florets and salt and pepper, as well. Mix around to coat the florets.
3. Baking for 15-18 minutes or until your broccoli and cauliflower have a slightly darker color to them.
4. While your florets are cooking, place a large skillet over high heat and add your bacon fat.
5. Once skillet is very hot, add your chicken. You want your skillet to be very hot so you will get a nice sear to your chicken.
6. Salt and pepper your chicken while it cooks in your pan.
7. Cook on both sides for 4-5 minutes, depending on how small you diced your chicken.
8. Once chicken is ALMOST cooked through, remove from pan and place either on a plate or directly into your baking dish with your florets if that has come out of the oven.
9. Now add your minced garlic directly to your pan that is placed under medium heat now.
10. Then add your diced onions in. Cook until translucent.
11. Then add your coconut milk and vegetable broth, as well as your garlic powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and a bit of salt and pepper and mix well.
12. Once it is all thoroughly combined, pour directly onto your chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower dish.
13. Now toss in your mushrooms.
14. Add in a bit more salt and pepper.
15. Mix it all together into one large mess.
16. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
17. Let cool to help the sauce thicken.
18. Eat.

Easy food list for traveling

• Almond milk
• Coconut milk
• Packet of sliced Salami
• Packet of butter from Grass Fed Cows
• Single Origen Coffee 
• Small bag of Chia Seeds
• Jar coconut oil
• Bushel of bananas
• Pack of berries
• 1-3 cans of tuna
• 2 Avocados
• Hard-boiled eggs 
• Nuts or almond butter

Chia seed pudding

Ingredients
1 cup almond milk, unsweetened
⅓ cup chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Instructions
Whisk all ingredients together.
Pour into serving glasses.
Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.

Pork meatballs with apple and sweet potato

1 lb ground pork
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 sweet potato, peeled and shredded
1 apple, peeled and shredded

Combine all ingredients and form into patties. You can either put them on a skillet in coconut oil, or bake them in the oven at 425 for 10 min, then flip them and bake another 10 min. Finish by broiling them for 3-4 min

Paleo Ranch Dressing

• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise 
• 1 tbsp full-fat canned coconut milk
• 1 tsp dried dill 
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic 
• Black Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Gently stir all ingredients together and serve as a dressing for salads or a dip for veggies, sliced chicken breasts, or anything else you might want to dip.  

Paleo mayonnaise

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 cups light olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Using either a hand-held mixer, food processor, or a blender that does not get too hot, add the egg yolks, vinegar, mustard, sea salt, and cayenne pepper and blend together for 5 seconds.
2. Leave the blender or hand-held mixer running and slowly, slowly, slowly, drop by drop or in a very slow drizzle, add the oil.  Be patient.  Do not dump all the oil in quickly and give up!
3. When the mixture begins to emulsify, or thicken, only then can you be a bit faster about pouring in the oil, but still take your time.  If you see your may start to turn grainy, or separate, stop the blender.  Turn the blender or hand-held mixer off once the oil is in and the mayo is thickened to your desired consistency.
4. I like it best with Grey Poupon mustard, paprika, lime juice and 1 cup avocado oil

Sunday cooking marathon-5 hours

This is going to be a very busy week, so I thought I'd better get a head start on it on Sunday.  Sam and I have realized that we have pretty much moved into a mode where I cook a bunch of stuff and we each pick something to eat every day.  Leeny had posted a recipe for Chimicurri sauce, so I thought I'd make some and see how it was.  She has been putting it on everything so it's a good opportunity to try it out on the meatballs I made yesterday (they are below)

I have come to the realization that we really do need plantain pancakes on hand all the time. They are just THAT GOOD and handy to have as an accompaniment to many of the meat dishes I make in the week

I made some taro root chips while I had the oven on.  I can't eat them while I am doing the Whole Life Challenge, but everyone else loves them so much.  I think Ben ate the vast majority of them

I made sweet potato hummus.  It's great with the taro chips or with raw vegetables.  Easy snack to have on hand

The meat offering was these pork meatballs.  I got some ground pork from Soulard farmers' market the other week and added chives, ginger, garlic and coconut.  When they were cooking, I realized that she said the pork was seasoned with sage.  I thought the flavour combination would be disastrous but they turned out fine-a little salty though.  Will remember not to season as much next time

On top of all of this, I made pizza for Sam and Maggie for dinner.  Ben doesn't like my pizza and it's off limits for me right now.  After I made lunches for Monday, I'd been in the kitchen for 5 hours!!!!

WLC workouts for week 3

Day 1:
Run/Row/Ride (your choice)
2 min easy
2 min HARD
1 min easy
1 min HARD
2 min easy
2 min HARD
2 min cool down

Day 2:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice. Minimum of 10 minutes. Keep heart rate in recovery range. Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out.

Day 3:
Run/Row/Ride (your choice)
2 min warm up
7 min HARD
2 min cool down

Day 4:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice. Minimum of 10 minutes. Keep heart rate in recovery range. Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out.

Day 5: Run/Row/Ride (your choice)
warm up
Repeat up to 8 times:
30” hard
90” easy
cool down

Day 6:
2 min burpees
2 min run (1 min out & 1 min back)
1 min rest
2 min burpees
2 min run (1 min out & 1 min back - try to make it as far as you did the first time)

Day 7:
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice. Minimum of 10 minutes. Keep heart rate in recovery range. Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out.

Chicken with Chimichurri sauce

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 medium size vine ripened tomatoes
2 ripe avocados
Alfalfa and Clove Sprouts
Salt and pepper

Chimichurri Sauce:
1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

Serving size: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 8-10 minutes

Directions:

Chimichurri Sauce:
Combine all ingredients for Chimichurri sauce and blend until smooth.   You can cover and save any extra chimichurri sauce.  

Chicken:
Salt and pepper both sides of chicken breasts.  Place on a grill over medium heat and cook until internal juices run clear.  Remove and allow to sit for a few minutes before slicing.

To plate:
Cut avocados in half and remove pit.  Thinly slice avocado and arrange 1/2 in the middle of each place.  Add a layer of sliced tomato and then a handful of alfalfa and clove sprouts.
Top 1 sliced chicken breast per plate (1 inch thick pieces) and then spoon Chimichurri sauce over the top.  

Lemon Drop 5K

How can you not run a race that is called "Lemon Drop"?????
We ran in 32:55 this morning.
http://results.bazumedia.com/event/results/event/event-2957?entryID=5355778 
I wanted to be faster, but I haven't run much recently at all.  I've got a long way to go to beat 30 in the Turkey Trot!!!!
There were over 700 people there this morning.  More than they expected, but it was a beautiful morning

 Before and after pictures.  I think we look better after the run than before it!!!!

WLC salad suggestion

1 can of tuna packed in olive oil (Some people use anchovies – which is OK too, just not both!), drained and broken up
1 garlic clove
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut in quarters
1 small cucumber, seeded and sliced
2 radishes, sliced thin
1/2 # Haricot vert or green beans (Haricot vert at a French version that are much thinner and shorter than green beans)
Nicoise olives (If you can get pitted olives, they’re much better for a tossed salad)
Lettuce, such as Bibb or arugula
Basil leaves, chopped (stack them like cards and roll them up and you can cut beautiful thin ribbons)
3 eggs, hard boiled**

1. First you’re going to take those quartered tomatoes, salt them, and sit them in a colander in the sink. They’ll season up and they’ll drain the water they release so your salad isn’t wet.
2. If you have a wooden salad bowl, rub the garlic clove all over the inside. This won’t work so well with a metal bowl. Add the cucumbers, radish slices, haricot vert, olives, and lettuce to the bowl.
3. Toss the basil with salt and olive oil. This is your dressing. Unlike many other salads, this one isn't traditionally made with vinegar. If you like a vinaigrette, you can add vinegar at this point.
4. Add the tomatoes to the bowl with your tuna and toss with your salad dressing.
5. Plate your salad.
6. Slice your eggs into wedges and place on top of the salad and drizzle with dressing.

Breakfast frittata recipe

• 10 large eggs;
• 5 bacon slices, cut into small chunks;
• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced;
• 4 oz. baby spinach leaves;
• 2 small ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced;
• 3 tsp. wholegrain or homemade mustard;
• Fresh basil leaves to taste (for garnishing);
• 1 tbsp. Paleo cooking fat or clarified butter;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk the eggs and mustard in a bowl, and season to taste.
3. Heat the cooking fat in an oven-proof skillet over a medium heat. Cook the bacon and onion until the onion is golden (about 5 to 6 minutes).
4. Add the spinach to the skillet, and cook for another minute or two or until the spinach wilts.
5. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Cook until it harden just a little, and place the tomatoes on top.
6. Once the frittata is set around the edges but still runny in the center, transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the frittata turns to a nice golden color.
7. Sprinkle some basil leaves on top and serve.

Week 2 workouts from Whole Life Challenge

Day 1
2 minute run (if you can't logistically manage a run, walk for 2 minutes)
Go immediately into:
30 sec max squats
1 min rest
30 sec max squats
1 min rest
1 min max squats
1 min rest
1 min max squats
1 min rest
30 sec max squats 

Day 2 (Tuesday)
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range - should be able to sing a song without losing your breath.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out. 

Day 3 (Wednesday)
2 minute run (if you can't logistically manage a run, at least walk for 2 minutes)
Go immediately into:
30 sec max sit ups
30 sec rest
30 sec max sit ups
30 sec rest
1 minute max sit ups
1 min rest
1 min max sit ups
1 min rest
30 sec max sit ups
30 sec rest
30 sec max sit ups 

Day 4 (Thursday)
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out. 

Day 5 (Friday)
Sprint 8's
Run, Row, Ride
8 rounds:
30" of max effort for distance
90" of easy recovery (not stop)
Do as many of these as you can. 
If you are supposed to be starting one, but you can't breathe, then simply take it off... recover the full 2 minutes and start on the next one. 

Day 6 (Saturday)
2 minute run (if you can't logistically manage a run, at least walk for 2 minutes)
Go immediately into:
30 sec max push ups (standard, from knees or 'peel up')
30 sec rest
30 sec max push ups
30 sec rest
1 minute max push ups
1 min rest
1 min max push ups
1 min rest
30 sec max push ups
30 sec rest
30 sec max push ups 

Day 7 (Sunday)
Easy cardio/metabolic conditioning of your choice.  Minimum of 10 minutes.  Keep heart rate in recovery range.  Finish feeling good and fresh, not tired and wiped out.

Life on the Whole Life Challenge

I've been doing the WLC for 9 days now and doing OK.  It's hard to fulfill each requirement.  I wish I could remember to get them done before the end of the day-last night I still had a bunch of water to drink, take a supplement and workout and do mobility!!!

Sam grilled beef tenderloin and I made sweet potato pancakes and cucumber salad.  It was really good and both kids ate it too!!!!

Avocado and eggs

Green, eggs and, well...eggs
1 Avocado
2 Eggs
Olive oil
Salt
Cayenne

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cut your avocado in half and pull out the pit. 
2. You’re going to want to scoop out a little more avocado than the pit makes room for. It’s a teensy place to put an egg, so make it comfortable. Season the avocado with some salt.
3. Place the yolk in the comfy pit you made and spoon in a little egg white to fill it up the rest of the way. Repeat with the other half and the other egg 
4. Drizzle the eggs with olive oil, season with salt and dust with cayenne.
5. Now stick the two avocado halves in a pan (it helps to make a little nest for each out of foil to keep them on an even keel) and bake for about 15 minutes. You should check after 10 or 12, but it may take a little longer. When the whites have become solid, they’re done!

Zucchini chips

Ingredients:

• One Zucchini
• Paleo friendly cooking spray
• Salt & Pepper

1. Slice your Zucchini as thin as possible. I just use a food processor. It is faster and more consistent with the slicing.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Spray your baking sheet with your paleo friendly cooking spray.
4. Lay out all the chips and spray cooking sprat lightly on the chips.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until they get to the right level of crispiness for you.
6. Eat within two to three hours.

Whole Life Challenge, Day 4

This is Day #4 on the Whole Life Challenge.  It was super-hard on Day 1, mostly because I have to drink 60 oz water each day.  I didn't start drinking water early enough in the day and was having to drink too much at night.  It has been much better since then, but my primary focus each day has been drinking enough water.  This challenge is a little different to Whole30 and there are some things you can eat and others you can't.  You can't have any sugar or artificial sweeteners at all, same as Whole30, but this time I'm being strict and not even chewing gum.  You also have to exercise and do mobility for at least 10 minutes every day.  It's hard to do each day and I'm sure the next 8 weeks will feel really long, but hopefully it will make a difference in the end....

Major cooking episode

Well, we had absolutely nothing to eat in the house after coming back from Little Rock, so I set about making a bunch of things for this week.  I made a batch of plantain pancakes.  I think my plantains were not as ripe as the last batch and the pancakes came out a little better.  They are really good.  I baked a couple of sweet potatoes while the oven was on so I could make some hummus.

I fried up a batch of chicken chunks.  I haven't made any for a while because Sam hasn't been eating as many salads, but he likes to snack on them.  The kids will eat them for lunch or dinner too.

A friend gave me some butternut squash from her garden so I made a batch of curry with one of them.

One of Sam's favourite things to eat are these meatballs.  They are pretty easy to make, just beef, sun-dried tomatoes and basil.

The kids had Richard's ribs for dinner.  They look pretty happy with them.....

I also made a batch of no-oat oatmeal and put together a crockpot meal with chicken and apricots to eat tonight....
All told, it took me about 4 hours to cook everything and get cleaned up

Weekend away

We went to Little Rock for the weekend. My diet went to hell very quickly.  Little Rock has way too many good eating places for a paleo diet!!!  We had pretty much eaten all the food in the house, so I took the kids to Hot Pot Smoothie for dinner-I had a Groupon for it and they have some good paleo dishes.  I got my favourite-lemon mango curry with chicken.  So far, so good......

We went to U.S. Pizza for lunch on Sam's birthday.  Sam and I split a house salad and then I had pepperoni pizza.  This is the place where Sam gave me my engagement ring, so it has a special place in my heart.  The food is good too!!!!  Later, Sam went to meet a friend, so Ben and I went to Purple Cow and got Triple Chocolate Treat Malts-yes there are as many calories in them as the name implies!!!!  Maggie always prefers vanilla and they are purple-cool!!!!

Milly had bought this enormous cup cake for Sam's birthday-we shared it between us

I made pizza when we got home.  It was amazing.  I've had lots of practice

Oh no, after eating all that, I put on 3 lbs over the weekend.....

Cauliflower side dish

Roasted Cauliflower à la Mary Celeste

- one large head cauliflower
- olive oil for cooking
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (lemon juice may be substituted, but lime is better)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- chili sauce, to taste
- one good handful hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
- one small bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

First, prepare the cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Slice large florets off the center stem of the cauliflower, and tear those into smaller florets with your fingers. Trim and discard the bottom of the stem that seems woody. Cut the rest of the stem into 1-cm (1/3-inch) slices then quarter these slices.

Arrange the florets and stem slices on a greased rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Insert into the oven and roast for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through, until tender and dark brown at the edges (see note in post above). Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a serving bowl. (This could be prepared a day ahead and refrigerated.)

In a small bowl, combine the sesame oil, lime juice, fish sauce, and chili sauce. Whisk to emulsify, then drizzle over the cauliflower. Add the hazelnuts and cilantro, and toss gently to combine. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Whole Life Challenge

Leeny signed up and created a team to do this challenge.  I decided to sign up for it.  It's a little different to the Whole30 challenge, and it incorporates food and exercise.  I think it will be fun
https://www.wholelifechallenge.com/wlcfall2013/hub

Start of challenge workout for points:

Part 1

As many 25-yard shuttles as possible in 2 minutes

Rest 1 minute

Part 2

Repeat for as many reps in 2 minutes as possible:

• 5 Push-ups
• 10 Squats

Rest 1 minute

Part 3

As many sit-ups as possible in 2 minutes

Rest 1 minute

Part 4

As many 25-yard shuttles as possible in 2 minutes

SCORING

Parts 1 & 4

Five (5) points for every 25-meter distance

Parts 2 & 3

One(1) point for every repetition completed