Catch up...

Hi All, 

Hope everyone's week is going smoothly. George and I are headed off to Hawaii next week for our honeymoon and getting VERY excited. We are staying on Kauai and it's our first time, so any recommendations are appreciated!

Check out this post from Robin at Everymom to Ironmom. Her story gave me chills. What an empowering post! I can't imagine being in that situation, nor being able to handle it as well as she did. I hope that I would.

Moving on, here are a few catch up photos from my phone I've taken in my recent travels...

becoming an expensive habit... would love to try and make my own someday.

getting more and more into beekeeping with my dad.

necessary quality check while we were spinning the honey :)

pretty successful day... 50+ pounds

wedding pig roast!

grilled chicken fajita salads! since we got our grill last year, we grill everything!

one of our many tomato plants

delicious marinated steak from Trader Joe's

tomato, mozzarella and basil salad from the garden. well not the mozzarella...

late night snack of apple and almond butter

strawberry salad with an ass ton of chicken from a local place near my work. so damn good.

90% of the time I pack a lunch for work, but occasionally I run out of time or just don't feel like throwing something together. Do you buy or bring your lunch to work?

epsom salt baths

i've been incorporating a new recovery technique into my regime, epsom salt baths! my mother used to always say that sore feet could be solved by soaking in epsom salt. i dug a little further. epsom salt, or hydrated magnesium sulfate, can be absorbed through the skin and has been known to, among many other things, reduce muscle soreness and inflammation. so i decided to try for myself. what better excuse to use my new claw foot tub???

the first time i tried it was after 5 x5 back squats at 175 pounds, i was starting to feel sore before i even got home! i drew a hot bath and put probably 2 cups (i didn't measure) into the water and let it dissolve. i checked the clock and geared up for 10-15 minutes. unless you have a VERY deep tub, use a face cloth to soak your upper back and shoulders. when you are done, don't rinse, just towel dry.

i don't know if the placebo effect has a strong hold on me, but i swear this made my recovery so much quicker! i found a big carton of epsom salt at my regular grocer for just about $5. you don't need anything fancy, straight up epsom salt should do the trick. but if you're feeling frisky, they make lavender scented, which might be nice before bed or eucalyptus mint. my friend Kelly hooked me up with some amazing scents for Christmas. white tea is my favorite.

George on the Vineyard... we love baths!

here are a bunch of other interesting uses for epsom salt: face cleanser, foot scrubs, splinter removal and more. 

so after your next heavy strength day and after your sweet potato, try an epsom salt bath!!

what do YOU do to aid recovery? a big post workout meal? fish oil?

you need to try this

last night we had pulled pork for supper. instead of making my own bbq sauce this time, i tried an all natural and pretty much paleo store bought brand that i found...

Bone Suckin' Sauce is amazing. it is one of the higher priced bbq sauces on the market, but the ingredient list and taste make it well worth it!

the ingredient list is as follows: Tomato Paste, Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey, Molasses, Mustard, Horseradish, Lemon Juice, Onions, Garlic, Peppers, Natural Hickory Smoke Flavor, Natural Spices, Salt & Xanthan Gum (A Natural Thickener). No MSG!

i'm pretty OK with that! it was smokey, sweet and little spicy.

i love thinner barbecue sauces and this one is perfect. we drizzled it over the steaming pulled pork and it was incredible. i highly recommend this product.

they have lots of other products too, including salsas, mustards, nuts and jerky. i've yet to run across any of these in the store, but i would definitely try them if i did!

p.s. paleo police can keep their snarky comments about honey and molasses in the ingredients to themselves. hi! i'm human. nice to meet you :)

muffins, pwo shake, a delicious appetizer and more!

i saw Health Bent's banana bread recipe and decided to make muffins to bring to my parents house one morning. i added walnuts to the batter and to the top. before paleo i used to do a ton of baking, so it was nice to bake again...

the muffins turned out great. they were a little on the dry side, but that is expected when you aren't using wheat flour. to help the dryness, we ate them heated with lots of butter. PROBLEM SOLVED.

i swear this tastes like a milkshake:

6 ice cubes, half a can of full fat coconut milk, 1 scoop of whey, 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of almond butter and a dash of cinnamon. blend until smooth. honestly, it doesn't need any added sweetener, but if you're looking for something a little sweeter a couple chunks of pineapple or a dab of honey would do the trick. it is SO delicious post work out.

it doesn't matter if you're feeding fellow cavemen or not, these are a great appetizer for everyone. pitted dates, stuffed with an almond, wrapped in bacon and baked until delicious. i found i didn't need to used a toothpick to keep them together. as long as you do a good wrapping job, they will stay together.

 i experimented with a few of the dates by stuffing them with goat's cheese...

CAUTION: THESE ARE ADDICTING!

irish bangers were on sale at TJ's on St. Patricks Day week, so i bought a pack. roasted them in the oven with some onions and served them with mashed cauliflower and unsweetened applesauce...

made my paleo pot roast another night and served it with mashed cauliflower... are you seeing a cauliflower theme??

happy chickens lay happy eggs!

happy hump day :)

the meals in between

baked eggs in homemade red sauce



broccoli and artichoke scramble w/ bacon and ice coffee with heavy cream.



salad with chicken breast dressed in a balsamic reduction,
1 scoop of all natural whey & water and 6,000 IU of vitamin D



scrambled duck eggs covered in salsa w/ bacon



mmm grass fed burgers



chicken fajita leftovers and a scoop of all natural whey mixed with water and a dash of cinnamon




dessert! banana and coconut butter



sliced banana and fresh blueberries drizzled with honey, sprinkled with cinnamon & nutmeg




George made breakfast for dinner! eggs, bacon and homefries.



who needs chips? baby carrots dipped in guacamole.




scrambled duck eggs and homemade sausage




Whole Foods salad bar



chicken tikka masala

my brother gave me a few samples and i couldn't wait to try them. i got a few packs of a new backyard brew marinade (no sugar) and a firey 5 pepper seasoning. Douglas also gave me a couple of their new Recipe Inspirations: all the herbs and spices you need for a complete dish, already measured out! a recipe card is also included. how easy is that? first up, chicken tikka masala...

• 1 pound of boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks or strips
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 (14 oz.) can of died tomatoes
• juice of half a lemon
• olive oil, coconut oil or grassfed butter--your choice
• 1/3 cup of coconut milk
• 2 tsp. of paprika
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. gram masala
• 1/2 tsp. of cumin
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
• sea salt

first, saute the onion until it starts to become translucent in the cooking fat of your choice. next add the chicken and season with salt.

once the chicken is cooked all the way through, add all the spices and the lemon juice.

let everything cook together for another 2 minutes or so. finally add the coconut milk and diced tomatoes. let this simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes and serve! we had it over steamed broccoli 

chicken salad, pancakes, burgers and more!

for a quick supper one night, i grabbed a rotisserie chicken on the way home. instead of the normal approach, i decided to make a chicken salad. i used a green onion, some red bell pepper, salt & pepper, garlic powder, organic yellow mustard, lemon juice and mixed it well.

these were my take on zucchini pancakes by Diane at Balanced Bites. i grated WAY too much zucchini then the recipe called for and didn't want it to go to waste so i tried to adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly. didn't go as planned but the end result was still delicious. next time i'll stay on task and follow the directions a little closely...

i have seen this done so many times, but still insisted on eating my bun less burgers with a fork and knife. not anymore! this was so fun and delicious! huge grass fed burgers with all the fixins (grilled onions, fresh tomato, organic yellow mustard and a couple pickles) wrapped up in some iceberg lettuce. i think i ended up having two of them :-/



this was the brand i ended up getting... no complaints!

 


i found a new health food store near our house, Healthy Appetities Natural Foods. i decided to stop in one day and see what they had. lots of gluten free options, supplements and vitamins, bulk spices and other groceries. i ended up buying some coconut flour among other things. i've never used coconut flour before so i was anxious to try it. i found a coconut flour pancake recipe that looked pretty straightforward. i haven't had pancakes in SO long...







the recipe i used, from Crossfit El Paso, can be found here. i replaced the agave with local honey from my dad and added a sprinkle of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg.

consistency of the pancakes were great. i've NEVER been able to flip a pancake correctly in my entire life but these turned out ok :)

i topped them with grass fed butter, frozen berries that i had nuked and some coconut butter. the berries get a little soupy and make for a great "syrup". SOOO DELICIOUS! YOU MUST TRY!

with the understanding that they are healthy and NOT from a box, george rated them an 8! SUCCESS!

the meals in between



fuji apple w/ coconut butter



salad with double chicken and balsamic vinaigrette from Ruby Tuesday's



Danielle (old friend and new Crossfitter) got the same salad w/ salmon instead at Ruby Tuesday's.



shrimp rolls w/ cucumber, mint and cabbage from Whole Foods



prepping protein on the grill for a few meals 



salad w/ grilled chicken



quick grape tomato salad drizzled with a balsamic reduction



duck breast from one of my parents Silver Appleyards before it was pan seared and finished in the oven



chicken breasts and homemade chicken sausages on the grill



grass fed slider topped with caramelized Spanish onions and crumbled bacon (ALL COOKED IN BACON FAT)