Paleo Chicken Parm

Last night I ended up going to the early CrossFit class (where I completed death by power cleans...ouch!) so I had time to make dinner once I got home.

I was feeling extra Italian so I decided to make some Paleo Chicken Parmesan and I wanted to make it fast and easy.

I used Trader Joes Marinara for the sauce- I always add extra garlic, red pepper flakes and italian seasoning to my sauce.

What ya need: 
-Chicken breasts 
-A can of marinara 
-3 small or 1 large zucchini squash 
-3/4 bag of spinach 
-olive oil 
-butter 
-spices (basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, s&p) 
-almond flour
-2 eggs 

 I am in a rush so instead of writing out each instruction I will show you what to do via pictures. Start by pre heating your oven to 375.

 Start by heating up that marinara and leaving it to simmer while you do everything else. Add all of the spices to this sauce and let it meld together (is meld a word?!).  Next grab two eggs and beat them together. Get some almond flour and mix it with spices (I used basil, oregano and red pepper flakes).

Butterfly your chicken breasts and set up a little "breading" station. Dip a piece of chicken and cover both sides in the egg mixture then do the same with the almond flour. Place the chicken onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Throw those suckers in the oven at 375 for 35 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking grab your zucchini and use a mandolin slicer to make it look like spaghetti but so much healthier. I have made a decision. I know I am big about spaghetti squash- but this is 10x easier and I think tastes 10x better- SO I would like to formally say I like zucchini noodles better. Feels good getting that off my chest.

Grab a bag of spinach (just for added flavor and nutritional value) and saute about 3/4 of it in a pan with olive oil. When it is wilted add in your zucchini noodles and warm everything up. I added a bit of butter and put it in the microwave to keep it warm.

When the chicken looked finished and crispy plate it by adding the noodles first then the chicken and finally add some of that sauce to the top. I like adding parmesan to the top too because I love cheese but you don't have to!

ENJOY!!!!

Quick Catch Up- Hungry for Change

WOAH! it has been waaaay too long!! I am exhausted after CrossFit so I do not have enough energy to write more than a little bit. We have been doing really well and eating some pretty tasty and healthy food lately. Over the weekend we watched an AMAZING documentary called- Hungry for Change.

If you have an hour and a half to spare I HIGHLY encourage you to watch Hungry for Change. It opened my eyes to a lot of things that I was not aware of before.

Seriously. Watch it. ASAP.

I took notes I loved it so much-what kind of nerd takes notes while watching a documentary? This girl.

One of the quotes that truly impacted me was in regards to changing the way you think about food if you ever want to be healthy. This was the quote:

"Instead of thinking 'I really want that but I CAN'T have it- say I CAN have that but I don't want it'".

Mind. Blown.

Stop dieting! Start LEARNING about what you are putting into your mouth. Learn about how harmful chemically altered and processed foods are for you. Food is killing us and as a country we haven't opened our eyes and accepted it. The next time you are staring at that grocery store blueberry muffin (which I learned in the documentary has NO blueberries in it- the 'blueberries' are a mixture of toxic chemicals and dyes) instead of thinking "Oh man if I wasn't on a diet I would eat that I really want it" Think to yourself, "Wow, I could eat that right now but knowing what is in it repulses me". If you are really DYING for a blueberry muffin- get off your a** get some blueberries, flour, etc. and make a fresh one!!

Am I perfect? No. Do I eat bad things sometimes (see last post on Taco Bell). Yes. After seeing this film am I changing the way I think? YES!! I just hope the next time I am tempted to have something like that I think about what I have learned and I won't WANT it anymore. Will that be hard? Of course. I have spent 23 out of 25 years of my life eating highly addictive and processed foods not having a clue about what I was putting in my body.

All I know is after watching this film I am more educated and inspired to change my way of thinking.

Rant over.

Pulled Pork & The Importance of Preparation

I completely forgot to add the recipe of the pulled pork from last week. It is super simple and we had leftovers for days.

Mexican Pulled Pork 

What you Need:

-1-2lb pork loin
-1 onion
-Green Chiles (I used small Trader Joe's Can)
-Vegetable or chicken stock or broth (you just need liquid)
-1 pack of taco seasoning

This recipe is so simple. All you do is
1. Mix the taco seasoning and broth
2. Throw all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 10 hours
(I was in a hurry so I cooked on high for about 3 hours and low for 4ish-you know it is done when you can easily pull the pork apart with a fork).

We enjoyed these with some brussel sprouts, guacamole and salsa. The next day we had these again with some asparagus and we munched on leftovers for a couple days after that. It is really great to have something like this in the fridge when doing Paleo (especially a challenge) because I find myself hungry during the day or needing lunch and not having anything to eat. I think that is one of the reasons I have been SO off track lately- because I am not prepared. I will go more into that later.

 First I want to introduce you to a new recipe that was super simple and really tasty. After CrossFit on Saturday Matt and I found ourselves roaming around Whole Foods searching for something to make for brunch. Matt found a bag of sauerkraut and got really excited. Before my journey into eating Paleo there were A LOT of foods I did not like. Just to name a few of things I used to hate but now love: broccoli, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, onions, mushrooms (I still am on the fence about these) and sauerkraut. Out of the list sauerkraut was probably the top thing I disliked. After realizing that I was picky and did not give things a fair try because I actually liked so many of the things I used to hate I decided to give the same shot to sauerkraut. So we grabbed some spicy chicken sausages from the meat counter and I gave sauerkraut a shot.

Paleo Kraut & Weenies 

What you need:
-A high quality chicken sausage (free range, anti-botic free, etc.)
-A bag of Sauerkraut (we found ours at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section)
-Spices (salt, pepper)

All I did was fill up a pan with a little bit of water (enough to cover half of the sausage or a little less) and I cooked the chicken sausages. I then emptied the pan and added the sauerkraut. I cut the sausages into pieces and added to the mixture. I waited until it heated up and we served it with some mustard. We also made eggs and had a few snacks on the side. It was actually really good. My next goal is to make sauerkraut from scratch.

This was so simple I think I will add it to my list of easy things when in a bind that I can throw together instead of going out to eat. We have been going out to eat too much and it has caused me to fall from my healthy ways. The worst part of having a night like Saturday is the bounce back. It has always been my downfall- whenever I slip a little it turns into an avalanche of bad choices. Last night I went to happy hour and dinner with some friends and there I was again eating chips, salsa and everything in sight. Not to mention all the SUGAR from margaritas. I have decided SUGAR is my biggest downfall. In becoming a healthy person that has been the ONE thing that I know holds me back. Why?? Because I am not prepared enough. For example: yesterday was a busy day. I babysat from 11 to 4 PM and I always struggle on these days because I think I bring enough "snacks" but I never do. I brought a banana, some trail mix and a Lara Bar. After eating the Lara Bar I couldn't choke down more almonds and dried fruit so all I had for lunch was a banana and a Lara Bar. I WAS STARVING by the time I got home but had to quickly change and rush to happy hour. So I show up starving and down one million chips and salsa. If I would have made myself a large lunch and ate it around 1PM I would not have been ravenous come happy hour and I wouldn't have ate my bodyweight in chips.
I am considering a 21 day sugar detox. I think I need one pretty badly. I am not sure when this will occur but I have been mulling it over. I made some more Egg Cups on Monday and I added chopped up jalepeno to them. They were really good and a great first step to staying prepared with food on hand. In a nutshell here are the issues I am having:
1. I am not eating ENOUGH
2. I am eating TOO MUCH crap
These things are 100 percent related. Because I am not eating enough of THE RIGHT stuff and OFTEN I am finding myself starving and eating TOO MUCH junk. So the goal for the rest of the week is to eat more, eat more often and to stop eating crap.

Happy Eating!!

Sometimes You Just Need Taco Bell

I know. Taco Bell should be called Toxic Hell because health wise it is pretty horrible. You know what else is awful? Little Cesar's Hot N' Ready. But you know what tastes pretty amazing at 3 AM? Taco Bell. And what hits the spot the next afternoon? Pizza. The hubs and I don't really go out that often (okay, we barely go out and we are pretty lame). We are usually asleep by 10:30 every night and yes even on weekend nights. Saturday after our WOD a lot of our friends we're talking about going out downtown and we decided it was time we stopped being boring and joined everyone! We know ourselves far too well so a nap was taken that afternoon and bulletproof coffee (click on that to see what we recently discovered and have been drinking) was consumed and we made it out. Honestly, we usually are out for the count around midnight but last night we went to sleep around 4 AM. Just writing it hurts my body. We NEVER stay up until the AM's. And no- the night wasn't even some crazy time. We had a really fun time playing shuffleboard and talking and hanging out with our CrossFit buddies. I am literally in SHOCK that we stayed out that late early. It has proven to me that bulletproof coffee is pretty much the most amazing shiz out there. You know how you know you are old?? Even when you go to sleep at 4 AM your body still wakes you up around 8. I fought it but couldn't fall back into a good sleep and eventually gave up. I am a useless excuse for a human being with 4 hours of sleep. Thank goodness it's Sunday because we have watched 2 movies and laid on the couch all day long.
So what does this mean for the healthy lifestyle we have been trying so very hard to live? Well it means days like today are 1,000 times harder than they used to be. Maybe it's because we are getting older or maybe it is because we have been taking such good care of ourselves- but I don't think I could walk more than 20 feet right now. No I am not hungover- it is purely from lack of sleep and it amazes me how much this affecting me. In college we would go out late on the weekends EVERY week and during the week I would barely sleep because of studying and just not caring about sleeping enough. I could function almost totally normally and now I feel like a zombie. I honestly think days like this when you totally throw your system off you can see all the progress you have made. I know that sounds backwards- but I have had my body in a healthy pattern of sleeping 8 hours plus and eating mostly clean for such a long extended period that one day off causes this much of an effect on me.
So is it worth it??? After all of this hard work?? Umm...yes. Totally worth it. I think in the pursuit of health and happiness it is necessary to give yourself a weekend once in a while. Could I have had made better eating choices? Of course I could have, but where is the fun in that? I could have come home and ate a banana with almond butter and left all of our friends hours earlier to make sure we got more sleep- but sometimes in the pursuit of being healthy to live longer we forget to actually live. What is the point in living to age 100 if you live too strict and confined within your healthy ways and leave no room for spontaneous fun? Now- am I going to do this every weekend? NOWAY. Number 1- it might actually kill me and Number 2- my body would never heal.
This actually reminds me of an article I was reading the other day. It was about a woman named Elsie who was the oldest person in America at age 113 when she recently passed. Here is the article. The article wasn't full of comments on how healthy she ate or how she always got 8 hours of sleep- but it was about her big heart. She said she loved people. She would wake up every morning and say "what a beautiful day it is" and if it was raining she would say, "we will make our own sunshine today". How inspiring is that? Isn't that point of our lives- to love one another and to bring sunshine everywhere we go? I know I blog about eating Paleo and trying my best to be healthy- but the reasoning behind these decisions in the way I eat all go back to what makes me feel like my happiest, my most whole- self. And I can tell you right now if I stayed up to 4 AM every day and ate Taco Bell I would be very unhappy, and on the flip side if I didn't allow myself that fun once in a while I also wouldn't be very happy. Balance is one of the hardest concepts to master and I honestly think I will spend my life in pursuit of true balance- and I am fine with that. But I think the absolute most important part of living a long and healthy and happy life is loving other people and making your own sunshine. I think we all can take a few pages out of Elsie's book and the next time we get angry or we feel dislike for someone else we think about what that does to our bodies. I think feeling hate and meanness towards others is worse for our health than drinking a liter of mountain dew and eating a box of twinkies. I hope that every day I can brighten someone else's day in a small way and that I can find my happiness by being the best version of myself that I can be.
I know this was a long rant and tomorrow I will post some recipes of the healthy stuff we ate this week :)

Back to Business

It has been a while! We have been busy this past week but we have been doing a pretty good job of sticking to Paleo. This weekend we started on our quest to live more simply and we went through all of our things in our outside storage unit. Matt also went through a lot of his clothes and I went through a lot of our stuff and this is the pile we brought to Goodwill.

It felt really great to start this process and our apartment is already looking a lot cleaner and less cluttered. Last week I made a recipe that was worth posting:

Twice Baked BBQ Turkey Sweet Potatoes 

What you need: 
-2 large sweet potatoes 
-1lb ground turkey 
-1 onion 
-3-4 garlic cloves
-Spices to your liking. I used red pepper flakes, oregano, salt, pepper and a little chipotle seasoning 

This is a fairly easy recipe. First- cut your sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and throw them in the oven which should be set to about 400-425 degrees. Let these cook until while you make your turkey.

For the turkey:
Add some olive oil to a pan and cook the onions for about 3 minutes. Add your chopped garlic and then your turkey. Cook your turkey until cooked all the way through and add spices.

After about 30 min (my oven takes longer than all other ovens) your potatoes should be mushy enough so you can spoon the insides out very carefully. Be sure not to tear the skin or you will not be able to fill them. Take the insides and add it to the turkey mixture. Take scoops of the mixture and add it to the skins then cook for about 5 minutes until the tops are hardened. We added BBQ sauce to the tops and really enjoyed these.

On Sunday after all of the labor to go through our storage unit we were hungry for some sandwiches. Sandwiches are hard to achieve while on Paleo but we ran to Publix and grabbed some fresh sliced deli meats, an onion and tomato. I was able to make a huge sub on a Against the Grain baguette. I just thawed it out and then stuck it in the oven on broil for about 1 minute (It will burn quickly if you don't take it right out!). We ate the sandwiches with some plantain chips and watermelon.

On Monday I found a new place that we can eat Paleo!! It is called Humdingers and I have already had it twice and it is only Wednesday. For lunch I got some fresh fish on top of HUGE grilled veggies.

I have had a very off week. Monday we did CrossFit totals and I was really happy that I PR'ed on my dead-lift (from 250 to 265) and strict press (from 85 to 90). Unfortunately, with my ankle I could not even come close to my old squat max due to pain so I kept it the same from last totals. Overall, I went up 20 pounds and from a 505 to a 525!! I was really happy and very relieved because I was worried that being from being injured for the past month I would decrease on everything.
I finally went to the Dr for my ankle yesterday and it didn't go so well. I am starting physical therapy twice a week for the next 3 weeks. He said if it does not improve and if the MRI/X-rays come back with a lot of ligament issues then surgery is a possibility. Honestly, I was shocked. I have sprained many an ankle and never has it taken this long to heal and never have the words "possible surgery" come out of anyones mouth. I have to admit I was pissed off yesterday. I went to CrossFit pissed off and in a bad mood. The WOD was basically all of the things I can't do (double unders, running, etc). and I got even more pissed off. I am a very stubborn person and I cannot stand being unable to do the regular WOD's nor do I handle injuries very well. So after the workout and on the way to the car all of this anger turned into what it really was- disappointment and sadness. My poor hubby had to deal with an emotional wreck for the rest of the night. Yes- the rest of the night. Usually, I am only upset for a short period of time and I can get over it but last night the waterworks kept pouring. Which made me realize that obviously this was about more than my ankle. Isn't it funny how we try to ignore our emotions when we know that doesn't work and eventually they will catch up with us? I always tell my clients that holding in and ignoring emotions will only end badly. I also tell them that anger is usually a mask for another emotion because being angry is so much easier than feeling sad, disappointed, unworthy, etc. So last night I went through the stages of being angry and then it turning into all of the things that have been going on inside for the past month. It is exhausting. I woke up today feeling cleansed and with a resolve be more connected with what I am feeling. I know it sounds silly but it is really important to our emotional/spiritual/physical well being to take time every day to check in with ourselves and see what we are feeling and why. Self growth is an ongoing process with many facets that each require time and energy every day. 
I will jump off step off my soapbox (bc I am not cleared for box jumps yet) and get back to the Paleo cooking! Today I am trying to make some mexican pulled pork and will let you know how that goes after we eat it tonight. I also bought some cocoa powder for various baking adventures and would like to start with Paleo brownies and homemade Lara bars. Again- I will let you know how those go.
Happy eating!