Half marathon training.......

Slow cooker lamb curry

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bone-in lamb shoulder

1 small onion, about 1 cup, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, about 1 tbsp minced

2 slices fresh ginger (about 1/4 inch thick each)

1 can coconut milk (13 oz)

1/8 cup rice vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

fresh cilantro for garnish

Break lamb into smaller pieces

Place other ingredients in slow cooker

Add lamb

Cook for 6 hours

Slow cooked Moroccan chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 1 14 oz can of Tomato Sauce
• ⅓ cup of Apricot Puree or Jam
• Juice of 1 small Lemon
• 1 teaspoon of Cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground Ginger
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• ½ teaspoon of Sweet Paprika
• 4 lbs of Chicken Thighs
• 2 Yellow Onions, sliced
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 Tablespoon of Fresh Grated Ginger
• 3 Cinnamon Sticks
• ⅓ cup of Almond Butter
• 1-2 cups of Water
• 3 Tablespoons of Cooking Fat (coconut oil, ghee, or lard)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the tomato sauce, apricot, lemon juice, cumin, ground ginger, salt, and paprika into a bowl and mix.
2. Heat a frying pan to medium high and add 2 tablespoons of cooking fat.
3. Pat dry the chicken and add to the pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side.
4. Transfer the chicken into the crock pot.
5. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan and cook until barely translucent (about 2 minutes), add more cooking fat if necessary. Transfer to the crock pot.
6. Turn off the heat for the frying pan and add the sauce mixture to the frying pan, deglazing the brown bits.
7. Mix in 1 cup of water and almond butter to the sauce.
8. Pour the contents into the crock pot and add the cinnamon sticks.
9. Add more water to barely cover the meat.
10. Cover and cook on low for at least 6 hours.

2015-will this be a good year?

I just read the first entry on this blog.  I started it right after my first Whole30 with Leeny.  I had written that I hoped I could keep up the paleo lifestyle.  Since then, I have gone back and forth on it.  I've tried complete strictness, something I think I can stay with, cutting out grains and keeping dairy, etc.  My weight has gone up and down like never before.  I need to try to stick to a program I can live with indefinitely, and not go on and off exercising.  In 2015, my goal is to get down to the weight I want to and to do some exercise every day.  The next Whole Life Challenge starts soon, I'm going to try to start getting ready for it from today.  I want to lose 12 or 13 lbs.  I have been at that weight before, but only when I was doing crossfit a lot.  This will be quite a challenge
My blog entries also went down to 1/3 in 2014 over 2013 and 2012.  I need to do better with that too

Commitment Day 2015-January run

Commitment Day run 2015.  It was 26 this morning and we really wondered what on earth we were doing.  It was a hard run and I walked a lot of the way, so I was surprised that I ran in 33:06.  I thought it was more like 36 or 37 minutes!!!!   Good start to the year