Bye September!

September is coming to an end, which means the fun fall stuff begins!! HOORAY!!
I love fall. I love hoodies, boots, fall colors, falling leaves, scarves, hot drinks, cuddling, open windows, brisk walks, sweaters, and pumpkin flavored anything.
I've been working on a little fall photography project, which you will not see till winter. Because duh Fall just begun. :)

I made it to BDCF yesterday after the soreness of FGB wore off a little and I was able to lift my arms. Yesterday's workout was:
Strength - BS

5 x 75%
3 x 85%
1+ x 95%

M/C - 10 min AMRAP

6 x kb sn (ea. arm)*
4 x ohs. (2 ea. arm)
2 x goblet squats
* 9 / 12 / 16 / 20 / 24kg kb’s

I used a 11kg kettlebell and I managed 108 total reps. The first round I completely forgot the motion of a snatch, but after I put these mega hips to good use, I got the hang of it in round 2. Not bad.

I've been still slaving away in the kitchen, in the best way you can make slaving possible. And since it's still sorta nice out I can still use the grill. Food just taste better off the grill, seriously. It's going to be a sad winter with me couped up with the broiler and no grill marks. This weeks eats were the easiest of the easy(lazy cooking is what I do). Lots of salads and meat. I did attempt to make some more egg cup thingies, but with bacon and sweet potato(great for an after workout meal). I may need to pre-cook the bacon/sweet potatoes before adding egg next time. They can't all be winners the first time around.

From 2011-09-28

From 2011-09-28

This week I made some lamb in the crockpot, baked some salmon and tilapia for lunch, grilled some remarkable chicken breasts, seasoned some steak to grill tomorrow and rubbed down a whole chicken to roast for dinner tonight. Gosh that was a lot and it's only Thursday. Welcome to cooking ALL YOUR MEALS. I know it's awesome, get used to it.

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My secret to a perfect roasted chicken is 5 items. Salt, Pepper, Lemon, Coconut Oil and a good roasting pan. That is IT. Your chicken will be crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.

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If you're wondering where the lemon went..

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And for everyone who eats a Lean Cuisine for lunch. You can make your own. My lunch below. baked tilipa with frozen broccoli. You can make this in advance and freeze them to save even more time.

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On a non-food note, my puppy Charlie has been hanging out with me in the bathroom while I get ready in the morning. Each day he inches closer until.....He's right freakin under me!

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I think he's trying to tell me he wants a bath!!!

And my favorite part of the week. Guess who shaved 10 seconds off her stair climb challenge?! Come on..guess! THIS GIRL!! Woo!!

From 2011-09-28

Weekender

The great thing about long term relationships is that you can wear pj's and watch movies on a Friday night and it's still considered a date night. And that is exactly how the weekend played out.

What better way to celebrate the first day of Fall, then to grill. I made burgers (I know shocking) and Italian Sausage for dinner. I do love me some grilled meat. Do you know what goes good with eating meat?! Forcing my kite to watch chick flicks. Those two combos made it one of the LAZIEST BEST WEEKEND'S EVER!!

Oh the burgers weren't exactly Paleo. I used non-paleo barbecue sauce in the mixture. Why you ask, because 1. It came with a little brush and I'm a sucker for that and 2. Because shut up, that's why.

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The remainder of the weekend was spent sporting my new scarf that I got from
Megan Lee Designs. Who knew it would go so well with sweats.

From 2011-09-25

And reading one of my dearest friend Matt's Newest Blog . He adores Disney like I do (actually more since he's been there). Check it out if you want a little Disney experience.

I didn't do much cooking this weekend, but I did whip up a quick salad with tuna. My favorite part of opening a can of tuna is seeing my lazy old cat actually move. She'll come strolling running with her chubby belly swaying for tuna. Note to self, eat more tuna.

From 2011-09-25

And last but not least. My favorite part of the weekend. As you know my little bro came home last weekend and he wanted to check out my gym. So we went to Sunday Funday at BDCF. It was fun hanging out with him and showing him around, he got to meet some of the fun people there including my trainer Gio. He warmed up with the baseline workout. It took him 5m 15s. And because KARMA hates me, I purposely didn't participate FGB6 last weekend (because that shit looked hard), guess what we ended up doing for Sunday Funday? FGB...UGH! Guess what? That shit WAS hard!! In case you don't know the workout is seventeen minutes of hell or...

3 rounds of

1 minute WB
1 minute SDHP
1 minute BJ
1 minute PP
1 minute Row for Cal
1 minute rest

We did great!! Andres got 222 total reps and I got 170 total reps RX. That's right people my first RX. I know I'm a Badass..tell everybody!

One of my favorite quotes that my bro mentioned was after the workout he said, "I hated every second of that, but I feel good". Sounds like a true crossfitter, I love that kid.

From 2011-09-25

Fall You Have Arrived..

Happy first day of Fall everyone.
I started this brisk morning by heading to BDCF at 5:30AM to get my wod on. Today's workout was:

Strength - FS
3 x 70%
3 x 80%
3+ x 90%

Two rounds for time:
50 x DL 1/3 bw
50 x flutter kicks
50 x superman’s
50 x lateral jumps

My front squat were 70#, 80#, and 90# and 3 box jumps after each set. I felt good and then I hit the wod. My time was 9m 40s, after a little friendly competition to get us going. ;)


After the gym I started the day with Paleo version of Pumpkin Spiced Latte. It was certainly pretty, but I need to work on the ingredients a bit. In case you were wondering I got the recipe from Stupid Easy Paleo's site. I followed it to a T. I even made a little jar of pumpkin spice to keep handy. Along with my latte I made these egg and ham cups. Here's the original RECIPE. All the prep work went in last night, so this morning was heat up and eat and eat and eat and also eat.

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From 2011-09-23

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Another workout note, I started a little personal goal with myself. I work on the 19th floor of a building in Chicago. And I decided to start taking the stairs to go up and down. My goal is to climb the 19 floors in three minutes or less. So far this week it's been close to five minutes (One day I was carrying a latte, so COM'ON I get a break on that), but I did hit a low # this week 4m 31s. Stay tuned I'll get there! :)

Weekday Paleo Cooktastic

This week certainly felt like fall, literally leaves were falling on my head. It definitely put me in the mood for cooking, not like it takes much. I love food and can actually come up with a meal within seconds of opening the fridge. It's a gift. Don't hate.

I wish I could share some recipes with you all, but I play everything by ear, a pinch of cross my fingers, a dash of make a wish and one tablespoon of hope it comes out okay. Ninety percent of the time it's pretty darn good, and the rest is at least edible. Cooking is definitely a fun experiment for me. And the the most important thing is cooking all my meals allows me to make sure I know what I'm putting in my body. In return I feel great.

Today my co-worker said her husband wasn't home last night so she had no reason to cook. Do you know what she had? She had a bagel for dinner. A freakin' BAGEL! I wish I was there to slap her with that bagel. The funny thing is my kite has been out of town this week on a business trip and that still hasn't stopped me from cooking. It probably gave me a better reason, mainly because I got to use onions. I love onions and he hates them and since he wasn't here to make out with, it was onion city up in my house.

Last night I prepped two things before I went to bed (Took 12 minutes of my time, gosh). I seasoned chicken thighs to make my version of honey chicken in the crockpot and I rubbed down a beef roast to make well ROAST. I woke up this morning to my place smelling fantastic. I love love LOVE my crockpot and it loves me back!

Tonight I roasted the roast in a bag, old fashion style, along with sweet potatoes, carrots, and shallots. It's now ready for tomorrow's lunch/dinner. Tonight I had honey chicken and a light salad (note the onion). It was yummy in this tummy.

From 2011-09-21

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Have you cooked today, what did you make? It better have not come from a box.

Not As Planned Weekend

Well the weekend did NOT go as planned. The Michigan plans got canceled due to the weather. It was a total BUMMER!

But the good news is this also happens to be the weekend my baby brother(and his little family) came home from the Army for good. He's been stationed in Washington as Staff Sergeant for 2 years and he was in Iraq for a year prior to that. It really was unreal to have him just be home, especially since I haven't seen him for a whole year. My niece Arianny was born in April and I only got to see her and my SIL once since she's been born. So now I finally get to see her on a daily basis. She is absolutely precious and one lucky little gal to have such a crazy wonderful family.

Here are only a few not so great pictures, my hands were busy with either my niece or a beer. I know good combo. Wait till you see what this girl was drinking, then you may put me in the white trash hall of fame.

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This weekend was also spent sporting my Steven Madden twins. Keep the drooling to a minimal, I have't water proofed this babies yet.

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There also was some Paleo eats this weekend, but not a lot of cooking. Breakfast foods are my go to dishes when I'm running around. I also, managed to put together a slow cooker quiche with sweet potato, bacon, and red pepper. It was quite the time saver. Also, one night we didn't feel like cooking, so we ordered Chinese food from our favorite Chinese place. I ordered Roast Duck and asked them to hold the sauce and cook it in coconut oil. It was fantastic. I love me some duck..or fat.

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From 2011-09-19

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I'll end this weekend recap with this cute pic of Charlie and he's "spot"

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Weekend Success!!