Ground Lamb with Pumpkin

Ground Lamb and Pumpkin
(Serves 4)
1 lb ground lamb (I bought lean ground lamb from wf)
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced (oopsies, i forgot to add this, ha!)
1 tbsp fresh mint, minced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat oil in a large skillet, add onion and garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add lamb and cook until the lamb is almost done.  Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, cover and let simmer together for 2 minutes or until the zucchini is tender but not mushy.

For the pumpkin, use 1 small sugar pumpkin.  I peeled the skin completely off. Cut the pumpkin in 1/2 and removed the seeds. I then cut it into bite size cubes and put into a skillet with Coconut Oil and sauteed until tender. I added cinnamon and nutmeg. Once it became soft, I mashed in the pan.

This was the first time I have ever cooked lamb! To be honest, I really don't like the smell of lamb. I expected to not like it when I tasted it, but it tasted really good! The pumpkin was a nice addition to the meal.

Garlic and Dill Salmon with Broccoli

Not the prettiest food ever.....but it tasted good!
Garlic and Dill Salmon
(Serves 2)
2 salmon filets
2-3 tsps. Dill (I used dry Dill)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
lemon olive oil

Broccoli side - I used three medium sized broccoli florets. Cut off the stem and added them to a separate skillet with olive oil. Sauteed on medium low for 4-5 minutes.

Drizzle the olive oil into your skillet. Place salmon filets into skillet and put heat on medium. Press chopped garlic and dill into each salmon filet. Turn over and do the same to the other side. Cook until salmon is no longer translucent. I like mine a little cripsy!

Chicken Chili Soup

Ingredients 
(Serves 6)
3 cups chicken breast, cooked and chopped (I cooked in my cast iron while the onions were sauteeing)
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno or Fresno pepper, seeds removed and finely diced (I did not remove the seeds, whoah spice...whoah)
1 4 oz can of diced green chilis
4 cups chicken broth
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Fresh cilantro, diced
Avocado, diced

In a large soup pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and jalapeno together in the olive oil until the onions are tender.  Add the canned green chilis, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and black pepper.  Stir together and add the chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, turn down to medium low, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes.  Serve with fresh cilantro and avocado.
Enjoy!

Carne Asada

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds (grass fed) flank steak
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* Pinch cayenne pepper
* 2 limes, juiced
* 1 orange, juiced
* 12 oz of beef broth

Directions

Slice the flank steak on the diagonal into thin strips.
Combine all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag or in a shallow dish (meat should be completely covered in liquid).
Marinate in the refrigerator at least 3 hours. Take out and drain off the marinade. We cooked the meat in a skillet with coconut oil. Cook for 10 minutes on each side for medium-well.

Serving size is 4 oz. Makes 6 servings. We almost ate all of it. I do not recommend this. I am SO full.

Una fiesta en su boca!!

Tacos with Purple Cabbage Slaw tonight! Title of this post says it all.....

Purple Cabbage Slaw
3 cups purple cabbage, chopped
1 cup cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup purple onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup green mango, diced (I omitted this part because I'm trying to stay away from fruit right now)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. I have a ton of extra slaw after eating our tacos, which I'm pretty excited about, because it will be good tomorrow with shrimp, ground beef or just by itself!

Taco Meat
1 lb lean ground pork
1 large garlicclove
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 cup green salsa
1/2 jalapeno
Brown meat, add seasoning and salsa, stir and eat on a lettuce leaf topped with the purple cabbage slaw, avocado, and fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!!

Kale Chips

Kale has easily surpassed all other greens in my book, taking front seat as my favorite leafy green. I love it. I put it in salads, mix it in with eggs, I saute it with pine nuts and now, thanks to Miss Holly, I also bake it and make a yummy crunchy(ish) snack called Kale Chips!

Here's how you too can create this snack:
Baked Kale Chips
1 bunch of kale, olive oil (I used tuscan herb infused olive oil, which gave the kale a lot of flavor), cayenne pepper or any other seasoning you like.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take kale off stem, tear into small/medium pieces - put in a medium to large size bowl, depending on how large your bunch of kale is. Drizzle olive oil, mix with hands to spread around. Layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with seasonings. Cook 12 minutes or until crisp. Enjoy!

Good tip - make sure the kale is dry before you do this, it will have a better crunch & texture.
Thanks Holly!!

Turkey Trotting

Who is Turkey Trotting with me??? I love this race. The photo above was taken last year, when I ran in the trot up in Wisconsin. I'll be doing Chicago's this year and I am pretty excited about it. Since I'm signing up so late, I don't plan to do much training, but will continue my paleo/crossfit workout regime. We'll see how it goes. Last year I ran with Brian's dad and we kept around a 9 minute mile pace. I think I could push myself to run a little faster this year. My goal is to finish under 42 minutes (last year we finished in 46:24). 

So....no recipe tonight. I was all excited to try another new one and got home to realize my meat had spoiled. Shooooooot!

So I am taking this opportunity to remind everyone to check the sell by date on their meats before placing them in the fridge instead of the freezer. What a dummy I am, but in my defense...I bought said meat (it was grass fed flank steak) on Sunday, 11/14 at Whole Foods. It's sell by date was 11/14. What's up guy behind the meat counter, can't I get a warning after you wrap it?

Puerto Rican Beef

After being out of town all weekend, I am soooo glad to be home and back in the kitchen. Got some new recipes to try out this week!!! The first is one I found on the "Everyday Paleo" blog. I subbed a jalapeno for the green pepper. 

It's real nice.

Puerto Rican Beef

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1 bunch kale chopped

1 white onion sliced

1 red and yellow bell pepper sliced

1 jalapeno

1/2 cup pitted green olives

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp ground cumin (didn't realize I was out, so I omitted)

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp dried oregano

In a large skillet brown the ground beef.  Add the bell peppers, onions, and olive oil and saute until the onions and peppers are tender.  Add all of the spices and mix well.  Add the kale and green olives, continue cooking stirring often until the kale is tender (about 4-5 minutes).  

Serve by itself (which I did) or Everyday Paleo suggested sweet potatoes or avocado. 

Also something to note: You can make this as mild or as spicy as you want. I added one whole jalapeno but used half of the seeds. I also added a dash of cayenne. 

Enjoy!

Sea Bass

I had some girlfriends from work over tonight....after receiving a few, "what I eat and don't eat" guidelines, I ran with the Sea Bass with Romesco sauce recipe from the CFC Blog. I pretty much loved this recipe and felt like a real culinary genius. A) It's delicious B) It's, yes, SIMPLE C) Enjoy.

3 servings
3 six-ounce sea bass filets
1/3 cup raw walnuts (I don't have a food processor, walnuts are much softer, so I thought they would be a good sub for almonds. Indeed I was right, the Romesco sauce was gorgeous)
3 roasted red peppers
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic
Preheat oven 500F. Take your three red peppers and coat with olive oil, place on baking sheet and then into the oven. It took approximately 15 minutes of fighting the smoke detector (which I eventually disarmed), rotating the peppers and then eventually taking them out one by one until they were properly roasted. You will know they are roasted when their stems are black. Once you take out, they kind of deflate. Steam came out of mine. I did a choo choo routine, ha, it was fun. I had wine for support.

Once the peppers are cooled, take the steam out. Peel the skin off and place in a blender with walnuts, 1 clovec hopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and half squeeze of lemon. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place the sea bass filets in a baking dish. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of lemon juice over the fish and season each filet with salt free Mrs. Dash. Place in the oven and bake until cooked through (approximately 25-30 minutes). Top each cooked filet with a couple tablespoons of the romesco sauce and enjoy!

Pork Burgs

Pork burgers were on the menu tonight!! I made them mini, because, let's face it, they are just so cute. Also, because I can. ha. If you've been following my meals, you know that I like simple recipes and I like them spicy. This recipe definitely followed this theme. I typically make turkey burgers, in a similar fashion and honestly didn't even think to use ground pork until Karen forwarded me a similar recipe. So glad she did, because I think the pork burgers are a little more tastey. Thanks Kare!

Ingredients
1lb. Ground Pork
1/2 jalapeno chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
cilantro (for me, the more the merrier)

Instructions
Chop your jalapeno, onion, garlic and cilantro. Place all ingredients in a medium size bowl and mix together with your hands. Put a small amount of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Begin to section off the meat and place in the pan. You can easily make 4 large burgers or 8 mini burgers, shown above. Cook until the middle is no longer pink. I ate my mini burgers (2) atop an arugula salad with tomatos, mushrooms, vinegar and pine nuts. It was damn good.

Coconut Beef and Zucchini

This dish is by far one of the easiest dishes I've ever put together. Tonight, I paired it with an arugula, apple and walnut salad. I'm trying to cut out fruit this week, so I didn't eat the apples, but my girlfriend, who requested this salad, ate the apples AND added goat cheese. She thought it was amazing, which I totally believe. Something to repeat after the weight loss challenge, after all, isn't goat cheese paleo? maybe? :)

Ingredients
Lean beef (I used a lb. of grass fed beef, stew meat, from whole foods)
1 green zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/2 onion
turmeric
cayenne pepper
coconut oil

Put about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a deep skillet. Put burner on medium. Add your lean beef first and brown. Chop your onion, I keep them larger, not diced. Allow these two ingredients to simmer while you cut your zucchini and squash. Add both items in and stir. Add a little more coconut oil so the vegetables are lightly coated. Add your turmeric and cayenne pepper to taste. Be liberal with the turmeric. Your meat should be almost done or done, but allow everything to simmer for another 5 minutes or so, until the vegetables are slightly tender. Once your veggies are as tender as you want, you are ready to serve!

The salad was tossed with balsamic, 1/2 chopped honeycrisp apple, 1/3 cup walnuts, arugula. Goat cheese optional.

Today's Food Log
BREAKFAST
1 coffee with heavy whip
12 cashews
LUNCH
Whole Foods salad bar - kale, spinach, mushrooms, roasted chicken, cabbage, sesame seed oil, balsamic, cayenne pepper
two slices turkey lunch meat
SNACK
1 coffee with heavy whip (I worked out in the AM and really needed a boost on my drive home!)
DINNER
Arugula and walnut salad, with balsamic
Coconut beef with Zucchini

Today's workout Log
Hang Power Clean - 65(3)-75(3)-80(3)

4 rounds of:
400M Run
10 Overhead Squats @80
10 Pull-ups
Finished in 16:02....slowww

I joined the am crew this morning. Felt good to get the workout out of the way early, but wow, was I stiff this morning. My back and arms felt really tight, so I made a point to really focus on stretching my back out in warmup.My hands were also sore from the pullups on Saturday. This really slowed me down. OHS were solid, probably could have gone up a little bit actually. I need to work on speeding up my pullups.

Ground Beef and Brussels

I searched the web tonight for a good ground beef and brussel recipe and could not find anything. I just thought this sounded like a match, so I went for it. Glad I did, because it turned out quite delicious!

Ground Beef and Brussels
Servings 2-4

1lb. Grass fed ground beef
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bag of brussel sprouts
1 cup of mushrooms
cayenne pepper (or crushed red pepper)
olive oil
mrs. dash salt free (or other seasoning)

Choose a deep skillet for this meal. Lubricate your pan with olive oil or spray. Chop onions and garlic and place in skillet. I usually let the onions have a few minutes to themselves and then I throw the garlic in. Once onions begin to look slightly translucent, place the ground beef into the pan and brown. In the meantime start chopping your brussels. Trim the ends off of the brussel and peel off any brown or bruised layers. Add the mushrooms to the pan. Begin to chop and quarter your brussels. Once this is done, place the brussels into the pan and season as desired with cayenne pepper and mrs. dash, salt free seasoning. Allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally. Once the brussels are soft, you know it's done. I served this in bowls.

Today's Food Log
BREAKFAST
4 egg whites with Kale
3 slices of turkey bacon
small coffee with coconut milk
SNACK
3 slices of turkey bacon post workout
1 glass coconut water
SNACK
8 almonds
kales chips - did I mention I just discovered these? Made them for the first time today. Wow, they are good.
I made 1 bushel from whole foods. Brian and I polished them off in 20 minutes.
DINNER
GB and Brussels
1 espresso

Today's Workout Log
5 Rounds for time of:
5 Unbroken jerks @ 85
10 Unbroken pull-ups
15 Unbroken squats
Time: 7:52 (I think)
I was so nervous about this wod! what weight should I do? Will I be able to do the pullups unbroken? geeez, such a worrier I am! I ended up really enjoying this workout. Glad I went with 85, actually wonder what 100 would have felt like. I thought I was going to have to use a band for the pullups but made it through without. yay!

Chops!

 

I almost lost a chop tonight. Oh yeah, I'm not always perfect with my presentation or food placement. The chops, Sage Walnut Pork Chops that is, were done, so I began placing the first one on the plate. Once I picked up the second chop with my tongs, I completely lost hold of the sucker and it went flying across the first plate and landed on the second. ha. It was hilarious and so graceful. Whatevs, it still tasted amazing!

Another Erin O. recipe!!! I really liked it. Decided to pair it with broccoli, which turned out pretty nice. I cooked the broccoli a little different than usual. Instead of steaming, I cut the florets and placed them in a deep skillet with some garlic olive oil and simply sauteed them. Yum. 

Sage Walnut Pork Chops

2 Servings

2 boneless pork chops, 2 inches thick

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons fresh sage, roughly chopped

walnut oil

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In food processor, chop the walnuts finely. Add the sage to walnuts and chop briefly to combine. Press sage and walnut mixture into each side of the chops. In an oven proof skillet (I use my cast iron), heat the walnut oil over medium heat. Add pork chops and brown on first side. 

When browned, turn chops over and add 1/2 cup water to prevent burning. Place skillet into the oven. Roast chops until cooked. I cooked mine for 18 minutes. 

Today's Food Log

BREAKFAST

1banana

1 americano, dash of heavy whip

LUNCH

4 egg whites, kale and 1/2 jalapeno

12 cashews

SNACK

1 apple

1/2 delicata squash and coconut oil

DINNER 

1 walnut/sage pork chop

2 cups broccoli with olive oil

Looking back at my food today, made me wonder - am I eating enough protein? Am I eating enough in general? I think this has been a theme for my week. While I was in NYC, I had a lot of back to back meetings. One day I ate a protein bar for breakfast at 8am and then didn't eat anything until 7pm at night! Ridiculous. Needless to say, I am so glad to be home and having the opportunity to cook something!

Another thing - I think I'm going to try and give up fruit and see what happens. I just realized I had two pieces today. Sucks when you think you are doing pretty well and then you see your food log. booo. Anyway, I've hit a plateau. I'm not losing any weight, time to try something different. I do feel good though! 

Today's Workout Log

Snatch Grip Deadlift 5 x 5 @ 30X1
50-95-105-105-105
Paleo Challenge Workout!
15 min AMRAP of:
5 Power snatch @65
10 Box jumps @14
16 rounds plus 1 PS
I liked this workout, it was a good one. I felt like I pushed myself towards the latter half, but probably could have pushed myself more in the beginning. It's great to do a lower box jump, because I can focus on stringing these together. I feel like this will help me the next time I do a 20inch.

Post – 40 GHD Sit-ups

Delicata Squash

NYC today through Thursday....so no home cooked meals for me :(( That's ok, I've got recipes and photos on stock pile! ha. The above was taken last week, it was our dessert - Delicata Squash with coconut oil. I am pretty obsessed with squash these days. You will be too once you try this combo, big thanks to Mia for the hot tip on this one! 

Take one delicata squash and cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and place on a cookie sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly drizzle coconut oil onto each half. Cook until tender (approximately 15-20 minutes). We ate them right out of the skins.

Today's Food Log
BREAKFAST
1 banana
16 cashews
1 grande american with heavy whip
LUNCH
chipotle salad, with chicken, pico, medium salsa and corn relish
SNACK
6 cashews
DINNER (working dinner, so had to go where the boss wanted)
2 salmon sashimi pieces
1/2 of 3 rolls
I was so hungry, but everything tasted so salty. Tried to use little to no soy sauce.

Today's Workout log
4 mile run (28:23)
30 pushups
30 situps
40 side touches with feet off floor and 10lb weight

Going to Crossfit Gotham tomorrow AM. Should be fun!

Gawd that was good

I admit, I fell off the paleo wagon on Sunday. Right on my rump. Ok ok, I had wedding cake on Saturday too, but it was a sliver!!! haha, regardless, I am back on my paleo diet. FOCUSED. Also decided I needed to get with it and try one of Erin O's recipes.....I must say - Lady! you have outdone yourself!

I went with the Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, this recipe is so EASY! AND SO GOOD! Look at how yummy it looks! I named this post - "gawd that was good", because Brian and I both kept saying that....as we were cleaning up.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Serves 3-4

1lb. boneless pork tenderloin, butterflied
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped swiss chard (I used one bunch from whole foods, definitely more than one cup, but swiss chard cooks down - very fast I might add, so make sure you watch it)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a couple tablespoons olive oil in your oven safe skillet (I just recently bought a cast iron skillet. I LOVE IT). Saute the onions for about 3 minutes on medium, I started to sprinkle the oregano in at this time. Add garlic to the skillet. After about 1-2 more minutes, add your swiss chard. As I mentioned, swiss chard cooks very quickly, so make sure you watch it. Saute until chard is wilted. Remove from pan and place in a bowl to cool.

Take butterflied tenderloin and season with oregano and cayenne. Stuff the onion/chard mixture into the butterflied pork. I used cooking twine to tie the sides together to avoid spilling the onion/chard goodness. Heat a little more olive oil in the skillet and place the loin in, brown on one side and then turn over. Once you turn over, place the skillet into the oven and cook until it reaches an internal temp of 145F for medium, 160F for well done. Remove from oven and place on cutting board to rest. After a couple minutes slice and serve it up!  BOOM, amazing meal.

Today's Food Log
BREAKFAST 
I wasn't hungry at all this morning, I think it's because of the cheating I did yesterday, so I just had coffee on my way to work, with some coconut milk
@9am 12 cashews, 1 banana
SNACK
20 baby carrots
LUNCH
Jimmy John's unwich - turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon (won't be doing this again, it kind of sucked, bacon tasted really salty)
SNACK
1 hard boiled egg
DINNER

Stuffed pork tenderloin


Today's Workout Log
1RM Overhead Squat - got up to 135, felt great, then went for the 155 and couldn't pull it. If I had more time, I think I could do it. But I'm bummed, I wanted a new PR. Next time.

5 Rounds for time of:
5 Handstand push-ups (1 abmat, #25lb)
10 Sumo-deadlift high-pulls (#65)
20 Lunges

Post – 20 Back extensions (I had to split!)