I am a glass case of emotion.

So, the past few days have been riddled with "cranky Jenn" and headaches galore. At first I thought I was just cranky... because, let's be honest ... you all know me!  But once the headaches came I knew, I just knew it was the side effects of going Paleo.  How scary to think that your body is withdrawing from all that sugar and preservatives.  I am not that much a carb ho, but definitely YES! with the sugar.  Today has been much better... but one day too late.  Last night's performance at the Box was lackluster:


WOD
Max push-ups and pull-ups for four rounds. Rest between rounds but not between exercises.
I modified with the blue band.  (FYI the push-ups link is one of my favorite Cross-fit demos!  The music just gets you going :)


RESULTS
(23/7) (20,6) (12,7) (17,5)


ANALYSIS
I was, and remain, very happy with my push-ups.  No modifying and I definitely held my own.  Now if there had been hand release ... well those numbers might have dropped a few ;)  Then came the pull-ups.  Devastated.  I expected more of myself and just couldn't produce.  I told Andrew that I wasn't strong, and thats exactly what I was feeling. I would have liked to see double those numbers.  Now, as I cooled off a bit and thought more about why I performed so poorly, I came to these conclusions - probably not mutually exclusive or the answer. Sometimes a girl just has an off night: diet change, third day ON, and womanly factors (ladies you know how it goes).  I look forward to CRUSHING these results in October.


On a side note I have three recipes comments:


BANANA PANCAKES (the follow-up)
2 bananas mashed, 1 egg, heaping spoonful of almond butter

Mix and cook in skillet with butter or olive oil. My feedback: add a teaspoon or so of arrowroot to thicken. I also added blueberries which gave the pancakes a bit of tart against the sweet banana - you could add fresh coconut, other fruit, etc. I would cook with coconut oil instead of butter or olive oil - gave it great flavor! And finally, be sure to let the cakes brown around the edges and bubble a little before flipping - the arrowroot will help firm them up, but I found mine to not want to hold their perfect pancake form! They were delicious and quite filling.


HEATHER'S AMAZING PEACH PIE (which I will try with the ladies tonight!)
Crust
1/4 C pecans
1/4 C walnuts
4 medjool dates
Mix in a food processor w/ spread thin (or thick, make more than above) on plate

Filling
1 or 2 apples (or peaches, plums, etc) chopped in food processor
1/4 tspn cinnamon
1/8 tspn nutmeg
1/2 tspn lemon juice (optional)

Directions
Spread mix over crust. Chop 3/4C pecans and spread around the circumference  of pie. Takes about 5 minutes to make. A GREAT DESSERT! Pretty basic and  easy to make. (serves 3 or more)
**I am also going to try to whip almond milk into a cream - similar to using heavy cream. We'll see how that turns out ... not sure its whip-able?


WARM ARUGULA SALAD
6 strips nitrate free bacon diced
2 shallots finely chopped
7 oz arugula
1/4 cup olive oil
Handful of chopped walnuts
Ground black pepper to taste
Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and set aside. In a medium sized skillet brown the diced bacon. Add the shallots and saute with the bacon until the shallots are translucent. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat just until warm. Pour the olive oil, bacon, shallot mixture over the arugula and mix well. The heat from the bacon mixture will slightly wilt the arugula – this is what you want! Add some fresh ground black pepper and serve immediately topped with a sprinkle of walnuts.

Shrimp and Acorn Squash Medley

Delicious concoction I made this evening if I do say so myself. Quick, easy, tasty and enough left over for a healthy lunch serving.

1 lb frozen shrimp - I like the Key West jumbo shrimp from Whole Foods; tastes like lighter lobsta meat!  Fresh shrimp would work as well but I require the luxury of the frozen kind ;)

1 acorn squash

1 cup tomato sauce - it's official, I am obsessed with Monte Bene. You can get it from any organic market.  No sugar or preservatives added... it tastes like you roasted tomatoes and basil, from your garden, for hours, in your kitchen.  DELIC!

Soak frozen shrimp in lukewarm water for 15 minutes.  In meantime, boil pot of water. Add shrimp to the boiling water and couple dashes of salt.  Boil for 3-5 minutes.  Run under cool water, peel and dip in tomato sauce.

For squash, cut in half and scoop out seeds.  Smooth olive oil over squash and salt and pepper.  Bake in oven, flesh side up (about 400 degrees) for about 30 minutes. OR if you are always eating around 9pm like me, use your microwave.  I cooked one half for 5 minutes on high in the micro (still rub on olive oil and season).  After the squash is done cooking, pour tomato sauce over squash.

If you wanted to create a spaghetti with shrimp of-sorts, you could scoop the meat out of the acorn, place sauce and shrimp over mashed squash.  Spaghetti squash would also work - I just happen to think acorn squash has a bit more flavor... it tastes like fall to me :)  and if tomato sauce isn't your fancy, cinnamon, cocoa powder, nutmeg ... they would all work as seasoning after the squash is cooked.  Manja!  Manja!

Ready, Set, GO PALEO!

So today is my first day on the Paleo Diet. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I have three friends doing it with me. It's great support (thanks Betsy for your email this morning!) and a resource for recipes (Liz, I can't wait to make those smoothies and pancakes). I am feeling in control, for today, but remain nervous about my week of travel Sept 19-27th. Luckily I am traveling to three of the healthiest cities in this country (if not the world) Denver, San Fran and Seattle. I am also lucky that I have already made contact at a crossfit box right outside of Seattle SnoRidge Crossfit - and am looking forward to working out there while in town. I am setting myself up for success and it feels good!

Some of you may have noticed that I removed the Delicious What-Not's page at the top of my blog - others may not have noticed ;) That's because, as I have recently learned, I can't post blogs to new pages; I can only update them with static information. And I would like to tag recipes for easy access - who doesn't love easy access?! So, here are my first two recipes, to be filed under BREAKFAST and Dinner. I capitalize BREAKFAST because it's the meal I have the most difficulty eating enough at on a paleo diet. I look forward to fixing that across the next 30 days!  Thanks again Liz for the pancake link!

Wild-Caught Alaskan Salmon grilled on cedar planks and Sautéed Spinach with Bacon and Cherry Tomatoes  
You can find cedar planks (4 for $14) at World Market or Costco (and many other places, but that’s where I find them to be relatively inexpensive).  Someday I will share the story of how I carried a 20 lb Alaskan Salmon from Seattle to DC via plane.  Someday.

Soak your cedar planks for at least one hour, then dry in a hot oven for 5 mins. Coat your fish in olive oil, salt and pepper, then squeeze fresh lemon and slice placing slices on top of fish. If you buy a high quality fish, you won’t need much to season it - plus you want to taste to “smoke” from your planks. Grill or bake fish - it will take about twice as long on the planks as it does directly on the grill or in a baking pan.

Bake bacon or cook on stove top. If you cook on stove top, save some of the drippings for the spinach. Once bacon is cooked, sauté spinach in same pan (draining most of the bacon grease or use a very light olive oil coating). Once completely “wilted” add cherry tomatoes that have been halved and salt and pepper. Sprinkle spinach and tomatoes with crumbled bacon bits when ready to serve (if you add bacon too early it will soften).

You can really add any veges you want to spinach - mushrooms, garlic, onions, etc. I just happen to like the way the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes compliment the bitter spinach. I also squeeze fresh lemon over the spinach right before I serve it. Feel free to also sub in coconut oil instead of olive oil if thats your preference - in fact, that might be delicious on the salmon! It was all YUM! :)

Almond Banana Pancakes
2 bananas
1 egg
1 heaping tablespoon of almond butter

Mash the bananas. Add egg and mix well. Stir in almond butter, adding an additional tablespoon if you prefer thicker "pancake-like" mix.
Warm butter in pan on low heat, pour in mix making small pancakes. Brown (let them get crispy on edges BEFORE flipping). Eat.

I imagine you can sub lots of stuff for the bananas - almond flour, pumpkin, shredded apples, etc.