Blogging the Menu: Day 6

It's New Year's Eve!  I'm too old to really care.  Truthfully, I was never a "party" person.  I've been out on NYE until bar close, but I'm not sure I can honestly say I ever enjoyed it.  As I've admitted before, I am painfully introverted.  The bar scene exhausts me (always has), and I'm the kind of girl that gets hit on by two distinct groups of men:  The Very Old and The Crazy.

I know, I know.  All women think they get hit on by crazies.  I barely ever get hit on (which is totally fine by me, don't get me wrong), but when I do the dude is generally old enough to be my grandfather and/or takes high doses of psychotropic medications.  Seriously.  I once had a crazy dude hit on me, and when I rebuffed him? Asked me for a dollar for the bus.  I'm not what you'd call a dude magnet.

So.  This NYE I'm hanging out at home by myself.  This. Is. Bliss.  It is quiet, I did my speedwork on Torvald the Treader (800m repeats are fucking brutal.  B-R-U-T-A-L), and now I'm enjoying a lovely glass of red wine and giving myself a manicure.  I'll probably go to bed before 10pm.  Bliiiissssss.

So what did I eat this NYE?

My husband has been experimenting with making his own breakfast sausage.

The pork is from our pig purchase, and it's good, but not fatty enough we think.  The mouth feel is just a wee bit off.

 

 

To me NYE is a pseudo-holiday.  Shit closes early and doctor's offices shut down and stuff, but it's really just Tuesday.  So we went out for lunch.  Why not.  To Fajita Republic, which totally has half a red X.  Service is spotty, manager is...weird, and no one understands that it is impossible for 5 shrimp on a salad to be double shrimp.  Unless you only put 2.5 shrimp on the salad usually, you will never convince me that 5 shrimp is double shrimp.  I do math for a living.  And waitress lady?  Saying "Well, we usually only put 3 or 4 shrimp on the lunch salad, so that is extra" doesn't help your cause.  By that reasoning I should have SIX or EIGHT shrimp.  NOT FIVE.  It's ok.  I'm ok.  But this is the second time I have ordered "double shrimp" and gotten hosed.  One more bad experience and I'm out.  Forever. 

 



Sad thing is, it's a really tasty salad, and I like their iced tea.

So can you tell we had a boatload of clementines?

Cute and yummy.

Someone's kid is selling Vande Walle's candy bars for a Cub Scout fundraiser.  I tossed in my buck and got a dark chocolate bar to keep in my desk drawer.  I had two squares this afternoon.  They were pretty good. 

 Mmmmm....chocolate.

 

I really didn't know what to have for supper, and when I am feeling lazy or just don't feel like doing a bunch of clean up I eat eggs.  Tonight I made a Kai Jiao omelet (3 eggs) and just filled it with whatever chopped veggies I had in the fridge.  Leftover roasted peppers, tomatoes, a little onion, and some parsley for color.  And bacon.  Because...bacon. 

 





 I may never make an omelet without fish sauce again.  It makes eggs magical.

 

I got on the treader after dinner and watched an episode of Family Guy while I pounded out virtual laps.  400s are kind of fun, but 800s really suck.  Once I was done sweating like a pig, I had a little snack.  These pumpkin muffins are so good.  Lots of Paleo baked goods are dry or gritty, but these are so soft and muffiny.  Just like "real" muffins, without all the shitty grains and sugar.





Mmmmmmuffins!!

 

I realize I've had a lot of alcohol this week (by which I mean 3 drinks).  That's actually not my norm.  I'll go months at a time without drinking, but I was feeling boozy this week, so I indulged.  Sue me.

A little Cab to ring out 2013.

 

I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around 2014.  My baby boys will be 4 in three short months.  My daughter will be 7 this summer.  Time flies. 

 

Be safe tonight, people.  It's amateur night, and that means lots of people out getting fucked up and doing stupid shit.  Stay warm, and choose a sober driver!



Blogging the Menu: Day 5

'Twas the night before New Year's Eve...and we just got back from the movies.  I haven't seen a grown-up movie in the theater for ages.  We saw Catching Fire.  I'll let you decide if that's grown up.  I'll tell you what though, that theater was full of idiots.  Direct quote:  "Like, seriously?  That's the end?  I mean, I know there's a part two, but seriously?"

Bitch, this is part two.  It's a motherfucking trilogy.  Did you (like, seriously?) walk in here not realizing this was the second of three? 

The dumbest thing I ever heard at a movie was right before Titanic started.  My aunt and I had been discussing the special effects.  I mentioned that I was most interested in the sinking scenes as I'd read they were longer than the actual sinking of the ship.  The woman behind me leaned forward and said "Thanks for ruining the movie for me!"  I turned around and said "The Titanic sank in 1912, it's not my fault you're ignorant."    Yeesh.

We ate out, but it wasn't a tragedy.  Behold the menu:

These should be looking familiar by now.  Also some melon.  We were out of bacon.

Oh, I also had a banana before CrossFit.  You'll have to take my word for it.

This happened.  That is one deep blister. 

Broccoli soup.  Chicken stock, onion, broccoli, aaaaaaaaand blend.

Bam, soup.

After lunch I was sorta bored so I ate some carrots. 

 

Then I was still bored so I ate some clementines.  They didn't really help with the boredom for long.  I successfully avoided the stupid candy that was EVERYWHERE today for some reason.  Stupid candy.

 

After work I came home to a quiet house.  My husband and I decided to hit Red Robin for dinner before our movie.  I had a cider.  It was good.  I also had sweet potato fries which are so much better than regular fries.  Every time I see them as an option on a restaurant menu, I smile.

Guacamole bacon burger, no bun.  I had to have some bacon today.  It's the rules.

Also the guac was really good.

 

And now it's off to bed.  Think I might sleep in tomorrow in preparation for a speed session tomorrow night.  Torvald the Treader and I have work to do!

 



Blogging the Menu: Day 4

Wow.  I just finished watching the Packers beat Chicago in the weirdest game ever.  Two things:  Randall Cobb is awesome and Aaron Rodgers is Jesus.  Ok,not like Jesus Jesus, but a strong Hey-zeus.  Can it be blasphemy if I'm atheist?  Probably not.

I'm on call this weekend and New Year's while my husband pulls a 48 hour shift at work.  My wonderful ILs have the smalls at their house, so it is quiet here and I got to hear the whole Packer game.  Not that listening to Joe Buck suck up to Troy Aikman is that great, because it's not, but still.

So, what did I eat today in all this silence?

Best part of Paleo pancake recipes?  Leftovers.  No walnuts today.

The coffee is Maple Sleigh from Brooklyn Bean Roastery. It is the bomb.

 

I went out for a bit this morning, including to Woodman's for a few items.  That place is great.  The produce is spotty, but they have every possible specialty item-it's really fantastic for the Paleo shopper.  Today I got some ghee, some pastured butter, some fish sauce, some organic sriracha, and boring stuff like milk and eggs.  I for lunch I took a half a dozen eggs, the fish sauce, some lime juice, some sriracha, and some tapioca flour and made these:

Kai Jiao from Nom Nom Paleo.  By rights it should be on a bed of cauliflower rice,

but ricing a whole head of cauli seemed like a lot of work and I was really hungry.

 

As you might imagine, 6 eggs leaves a person pretty full for a while.  I did have a little snack in the afternoon as I enjoyed the movie Lincoln (which I have been trying to watch for close to a month, but who can hear dialogue with three elephant children crashing around?) and knitted a hat.



Muffins with a little grass fed butter.  Butter rules.  I will forgo all other dairy,

but I must have butter.  I'll pay extra for the pastured stuff.

 

My loving husband made it home just after kickoff and we were able to enjoy the game together.  I drank about a gallon of water during the first half in preparation for this:

Pork rinds (ingredients: pork skin, salt) and a 90 minute IPA called Dogfish Head that the

neighbor brought over.  It's really delicious.  Also 18 proof.  I had one.  Now I feel a little silly.

 

The Packers won!  Yay!  That means a home playoff game against what appears to be the 49ers.  That is huge for this community, economically and from a hometown pride standpoint.  Normally at the end of a stressful game like that I'd be cramming my face full of whatever or pounding beers, but I didn't. 

 

I might have joined a yarn club and purchased the pattern for a handknitted dress.  Clean eating is expensive.

 



Blogging the Menu: Day 3

Today's eating is ending early.  Why?  I don't feel well.  I thought my neck/traps were just sore from wall climbs/forward rolls (which it is), but the swollen glands would seem to indicate that I may also have a cold.  Blah.  The achy stage of a cold is the worst, so I'm drinking a shitload of water and tea and trying to head this stupid thing off at the pass.

Since it's Saturday, I didn't have to hurry to get breakfast on the table.  That means I got to make something a little special.

 Paleo pumpkin spice pancakes with grassfed butter, a sprinkle of walnuts, and just a little real maple syrup.

And bacon. Of course.

I was kind of at a loss as to what to eat for lunch, so I pulled a chicken breast out of the fridge, grabbed the George Foreman and made faux-jitas.  

 The lettuce is really only there because it wasn't enough for a salad and I didn't know what to do with it.

The dressing is homemade mayo mixed with hot sauce.

After lunch I was tempted by a container of brownies on the counter.  Rum brownies that a neighbor brought over at Christmas.  I think they actually have a proof rating.  So instead of eating brownies I made these:

 Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from PaleOMG.  

What can I say? I had some pumpkin left over from breakfast.

After putting the kids down for a non-nap I tried to rest a little.  It didn't go well.  The boys are like a herd of extremely heavy elephants banging around.  No one slept, including me.  Instead I had a cup of tea and a few Christmas cookies.  Not Paleo, but not processed either.  

 My MIL made these.  It's a recipe her mother used to make at Christmas.  It's a sandwich cookie, the center is made from dates.

They are just a little sweet, and very soft.  They pass the "Is it special?" test, and these are the last three.

I started feeling really cruddy this afternoon, so I made-you guessed it-more tea.  Lots more tea.

By dinner I was feeling worn out, and all I really wanted was something hot, I didn't care what.  So I heated up some chicken broth (free range, organic) and called it dinner.  My heart of hearts wants some saltines with butter to go along with it, but I'll pass.

Mmmm.  Dinner.

Last night I cut the shit out of my thumb on my spiral slicer.  I was cleaning the blade and not paying enough attention, clearly.  You know how much is sucks to crack eggs when your right thumb is out of commission?  A lot.  I've been through a lot of band-aids today.

So that's it.  I'm hoping that I'll feel better after a good night's sleep.  I'm certainly well hydrated.  I'm going to skip the treader tonight in hopes that I'll feel well enough to go out for 4 miles tomorrow.  Tomorrow is Packers/Bears and I have to be home to watch that for sure, plus the neighbor brought over some IPA that must be tried.  

2 hours until bedtime...

Blogging the Menu: Day 2

Hello again!  This morning I got up at 4:20am so I could go have my ass handed to me at CrossFit.  We did a hero WOD called "Adrian".  It involved somersaults (which I suck at), wall climbs (which I have never done before but guess what, I suck at), toes to bar (which I used to be able to do, but for some reason can't lately), and box jumps at 30" (I did 20" because overly tall slightly tubby white girls can't jump).  It took me 23:50.  On paper it looked kind of fun, in practice it was kind of ouchy. 

This was not enough food prior to that WOD

Banana has always been my pre-workout go-to food. 

After a while they get a little sickening.  Might be time to switch to oranges.

I discovered the hard way that I can't eat grapes pre-workout.

Afterwards I came home and made myself some real breakfast.  No avocado this morning. Have you ever noticed that avocados are perfectly ripe for about 28 seconds?  And it's never when you want to eat them.  Hardasrocks hardasrocks hardasrocks perfectcreamyawesomeness brownmush



Ye olde standby.  Clucks and pork.

I could eat bacon every day.  Oh wait.  I do.  And yet my LDL cholesterol is 92.  Go figure.

These carrots were awesome.  Crunchy and sweet. 

I hate it when a bitter carrot ruins my morning, don't you?

I was going to post a picture I took of myself with a carrot moustache.  Then I looked at the photo and not only did my nose look huge but also oddly phallic (I hope due to the lighting, otherwise I've been walking around with genitalia on my face), and I'm not that confident a person.

I had a hankering for a buffalo chicken salad.  I love Frank's Red Hot. 

Seriously, I could drink that shit.

After lunch we went for a walk.  It was not that cold, but holy jeebus did we run into wind.  Every time we go walking we discuss walking the loop in the other direction because of the wind.  We never actually do it, but we discuss it!

Who's a cute little Clementine? 

 I ended up in the office until just after 5pm waiting for a phone call that never came.  By the time I got home I was ravenous.  I had planned to have scallops and sautéed zucchini, but I opted for some schmancy spiral cut zoodles with a little toasted almond meal and red pepper flake (and garlic, duh) for my scallops to rest upon.  This is 4 small zucchinis worth and I ATE IT AAAAAALLLLLLL!!

This was sooooo worth every moment it took to prep and cook it. 

Kombucha again as beverage.  A little fizzy, a little fruity, and ever so slightly alcoholic.

I'm not normally one for a "dessert".  I'm more of an "eat a whole sleeve of Oreos while watching The Biggest Loser" kind of girl.  That said, this mousse is really delicious and the fact that the only sweet thing in it is a green tipped banana is kind of incredible.  Find it in the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook.  

Mmmmm....avocado.

La la laaaaaaa....day 2 down.  Tomorrow I've got the kids while the husband works, I might brave the on call plus kids plus CrossFit combo, but more likely I'll do my long run (if you can count 4 miles as a long run) on Torvald the Treader and hit the box on Sunday.  Let's see how well I stay on the clean eating train with three little vultures circling...

Happy Friday!

Blogging the Menu: Day 1

Day 1: I decided to go all 21-Day Sugar Detox today.  After eating everything that was not nailed down yesterday (none of which was actually food) my teeth actually hurt.  That is not an exaggeration.  My teeth hurt.  So I was on a mission today to get off the sugar-heroin train.

Here it is.  Wow.  This is going to get reeeeeally boring for you.

2 fried eggs, 3 bacon, and half an avocado.  Coffee, black. 

Bacon makes the day brighter.

 

Roasted chicken salad with peppers and avocado.  Olive oil and balsamic with cracked pepper for dressing.

That's not a soda, BTW, it's a sparkling water (lime flavored if you care, and I know you don't)

 

Sliced red peppers, a hard-boiled egg (which did not peel worth a DAMN, I HATE peeling eggs!), and

a soothing cup of mint tea.

 







 Grilled steak and roasted peppers, taco salad style with a little impromptu guac.

The glass contains citrus flavored kombucha.

 

A little dessert.  Fake mousse made from an avocado, a banana, coconut milk, and cocoa.

A few cacao nibs tossed on for crunch.

 

 

I swear my diet is not usually so avocado heavy.  I do eat a lot of peppers.  Those things are delicious.  I doubt these will look as pretty as the days and weeks wear on, but my food was lovely today at least.  Another personal goal...don't eat ugly food!

 

How did you do today?  Did you go for the cookie tray, or did you end up like me...hiding from the cookie/candy tray and feeling slightly nauseated?

 



 

 

 

Time for a Little Saturnalia Blogging

Happy Saturnalia, bitches!

Saturnalia was the Roman festival honoring the god Saturn (duh) with parties, gifts, gambling, and owners serving their slaves (sound like Christmas and Boxing Day to anyone?).  It fell on or around Dec 17th and lasted between 3 and 7 days depending on who was emperor at the time.  It was a national holiday for Rome, meaning the government shut down and people partied it up.  On the Julian calendar, Saturnalia fell on or around Dec. 25th.  As Christianity became the Roman religion of choice, Saturnalia was re-adapted to fit the Christian church calendar.  In any case, it was a celebration of the days getting longer and the darkest days of winter passing by. 

Whatever holiday you celebrate-Saturnalia, Yule, Christmas, or Festivus, I hope you had or are having a lovely one.  I'm hanging out inside my house with a bunch of highly sugared, deeply greedy, suddenly unbelievably mercenary little rugrats.  A small sampling of the carnage:

Radio controlled cars.  Both antennas are already broken. 

 

We had Christmas with the ILs yesterday.  My kids were appropriately excited and thankful (for which I am glad-they might be monsters for me, but at least they're polite in social situations).  Today?  Their behavior is shameful.  Sneaking candy before breakfast (I asked them to not eat the candy before breakfast-not an unreasonable request), breaking toys, leaving things all over the place, and just generally being insanely loud and irrational.  At the moment they are "napping" which involves jumping up and down and screaming, then falling and hurting themselves.  Napping also involves waiting for me to get in the shower at which point all children (who protested that they absolutely did NOT need to go to the bathroom) design a coordinated group poop which requires me to wrap myself in a towel and drip down the hallway to wipe their butts. Apparently the shower turning on is a powerful laxative.

 

I did not get my husband a gift.  You know, that whole 270 bottles of whiskey thing?  That's going to cover a lot of holidays.  He did get me a gift.  Here's a picture.  I laughed pretty hard.  You will too if you're aca-awesome.

What?  You have juice pouches and Rocky!

 

I got myself a little Saturnalia gift in the form of a goal journal.  Food and workout tracking for the New Year.  I've fallen pretty hard of the wagon a few times in the last few weeks and I'm starting to feel it physically.  I've seen pretty substantial gains in my running fitness over the last month or so, but that's going to stop if I can't lock down my nutrition.  I want to do it, and my gym owner has agreed to be my conscience going into this project. 

 

Big things could happen this winter.  This spring could be my best racing season yet.  The path to that place is clear and simple:  Live well. 

 

Super trite.  But it has to be true.  The CrossFit Open is in March.  I could be in a place to be my very best by then with some well placed effort now.  I'll amend that by saying I have no interest in actually competing in the Games.  None. Still, I'd like to make a good showing for the box.

 

I have a goal 5k in February...there's a PR there.  I can feel it.  Every time I run, I can feel it. 

 

The Point Bock is March 1st.  It's high time for a new 5 mile PR as well.  My best there is about 48 minutes.  If I keep up my speed work, could I hit sub-45?

 

A Ragnar friend implied that with all the races on my spring calendar, a sub-2 hour half should be in my future.  It sounded crazy at the time, but why?  The Dam to Dam in Des Moines was always a 20k, but this year they are making it a half marathon...there's a lot of downhill on that course, maybe it's a sign?  Or the Cellcom, site of my best half time of 2:12-a race day that included running straight into the howling winds of hell for the last three miles...if the weather is favorable for once, could that be the one?

 

A lot of what keeps me from achieving my goals is fear.  Fear of failing.  With runs it's fear of running completely out of gas and not being able to finish.  Thing is, I've never really pushed myself during a race.  I've bullied myself into finishing races when I wanted to quit (Grandma's 2013, anyone?), but I've never truly pushed the limit.  I've run hard, but I've never finished a race feeling like I left it all out on the course.  Granted, many times I have to drive home and pay a sitter then care for three highly energetic children for 18-24 hours, so leaving it all on the course is ill advised.  Still, I've never gone balls to the wall in a 5k.  Not once.  Isn't that sad?  I don't even know where my limit is.  Might be time to find it.

 

I have no intention of truly racing every event I've signed up for.  Most of the running I do is for the experience (and the medal and t-shirt and beer-I have priorities).  I train for my sanity and for some quiet time with my thoughts...or with loud angry music. 

 

All these things begin with fuel.  The right fuel.  Whole food.  I've put together 3 months of whole food meals starting Jan. 1.  We'll be making old favorites and getting some new culinary experiences.  Eating well and pushing my limits.  The plan for 2014.  Just because I'm getting old doesn't mean I can't get (more) awesome.

 

I'm thinking of taking pictures of my food all day and blogging it.  Three months of pictures of my lunch.  That is going to be boring as fuck.  Better than cluttering up Facebook with it.  Might also inspire me to make my plate pretty, and presentation counts.  Or so I hear. 

 

If you've been thinking about keeping a fitness journal, might I recommend JournalMenu ? 

They are the best.

 

During the Lurong Challenge I had a sweater project to keep my hands busy.  It took me the whole challenge to finish it, and I wore it to the afterparty.

Nine weeks of work.  That shit is handcrafted.

 

So I obviously need a busy hands project for Balls Out New Year 2014.  I am a member of a sock knitting club (I know.  Lame-o McLamerson.) for 2014 and I started early with these babies:

Solfar by Cookie A in Tardis Blue from StitchJones

 

These bitches are being finished TO. DAY.

 

I love hand knitted socks.  They are warm and infinitely more awesome that store bought socks.  You laugh it up.  By the end of the year I'm going to have a drawerful of woolies custom made for me by me.  When I get my first real pull-up this spring, I might do it in hand knitted socks.

 

A shiny New Year to everyone reading (all 4 of you).  Go out and push your limits!