Pumpkin Brownies - Paleo style!

Each Fall, me and my girlfriends all have one huge "Girls Night" at our friend Corinne's house. The night consists of 12-15 girls who all bring atleast 2 bottles of wine each, plus a dessert; Corinne has a couple of pizza stones so she provides a variety of exquisite homemade pizzas. The whole night screams "NON" Paleo. So I figured now would be the perfect time to practice my paleo dessert baking skills. Don't get me wrong - I do plan to steal a bite of pizza and try some desserts.....and this girl is bringing 3 bottles of champagne!

But back to our Paleo talk. I love love pumpkin and wanted to do a dessert that incorporates pumpkin puree, since it was already in my cabinet. My girl Kelsey pointed me in the direction of a Pumpkin Brownies recipe found at her box's paleo blog (Found Here).

As I love organization, I first lined up all the ingredients on the counter, ready to be mixed. And then I looked at them with much doubt; I was to make brownies with JUST these ingredients?! I mean, how many times have you baked non-paleo desserts with a shit ton of flour, right?



Well, either way, I needed to give it a try! So according to this recipe, I added all of these ingredients into a bowl and mixed mixed mixed:

1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup mashed pumpkin (from a can)
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps unsweetened baking cocoa (I added this)

This one is incredibly easy, just combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Pour into a lightly greased 8 x 8" pan. Top with a handful of pecans and/or walnuts if you prefer. Bake at 350 degrees for 26 minutes.



Of course, I had to taste-test the batter - and it tasted pretty damn tasty. I was starting to gain some hope in my lil baking experiment! The first batch didn't look very big when I put it in a pan so I decided to make a second batch:



For the second patch, I added 1/2 cup of coconut flour; why? Why not! I had the ipod going, the first batch looked promising, and I wanted to experiment! So 1/2 cup of coconut flour and more honey to taste; the batter wasn't tasting as sweet as I want it to be.



The recipe originally called for baking for 26 minutes; after cutting a slice for me and my lucky roommate to try, we decided it was still alittle too gooey so I put it back in for 5 minutes; the 2nd batch was still cooking. After that, I decided on an additional 10 more minutes for both, bringing the baking time up to 40 minutes. I don't want to dry them out and they are tasting good but I also don't want them too gooey.

The verdict....

Definitely a winner! After 40 minutes, they were still a tad mushy, but nothing eating with a fork or even just a napkin won't fix.

After eating so strict for weeks now, I've lost my desire for super sweet desserts. The only thing that really trips my trigger anymore is ice cream - and it always will. My second batch, with the coconut flour, was not very sweet at all and I found it delicious! But anyone making this recipe can taste the batter before baking to add or subtract honey to get the right level of sweetness desired.

I can't wait to serve these up tomorrow night! No one's going to know just how healthy they really are..... ;)

Where does your meat come from?

If you are following the Paleo diet, there's a very good chance the main component in your diet is meat, especially if you also do Crossfit. Protein, protein, protein! Growing up, I had the normal diet that is common in the United States, which is basically meat with every meal. In the winter of 2008, I moved to Chicago to be with my boyfriend, who only ate fish and chicken; no beef, no pork. I quickly adopted his diet, since we lived together and it was just easier when cooking our meals. I had no problems or stress with this diet change, since Chicago is a big city and living here does make it easier when you have 'dietary restrictions', as my coworkers call it.

A couple of months later after the move, I read the book "Skinny Bitch" and it changed my life and my views of the foods I was putting in my body. I quickly changed to a vegetarian, or rather, pescatarian diet, since I was still eating fish. I started buying soy milk instead of dairy, rarely ate cheese, and never bought eggs. After spending the weekend with a vegan in December of 2009, I decided to go all out vegetarian; no fish, no meat, no eggs of any sort. I still didn't drink milk, but I did enjoy cheese. And I had no problems with this diet. You can say the main motivator behind this diet choice for me was the inethical treatment of 'factory farm' animals, which is where most of the US meats come from.

Four months after that: enter Crossfit. Initially I went back right away to eating fish in order to get in my protein. But since I no longer live on the coast, where fresh ocean seafood is plentiful and inexpensive, it became difficult to afford eating fish all day, every day. It got pretty boring. So against my wishes, I started adding chicken back into my diet.

I hated it. I felt guilty with every piece of chicken I ate. But I knew it my body needed it and that my first and foremost concern should be my health. So to ease my guilt, I made it a goal of mine to try to find the best chicken around, in terms of healthiness and humane treatment of the chickens.

Thankfully, I didn't have to look far; Treasure Island in Lakeview/Boystown sells Miller Amish chicken. Although this chicken is much more expensive than your regular brands ($12 for 2lbs, which is roughly 3 large breasts), it is well worth it to me for what you get at that price and it helps ease my guilt.

1) The President's Message specifically talks about their humane treatment of the chickens
2) All of the farms and processing centers are in close proximity to each other in the Midwest and to me, which makes their carbon footprint minimal
3) They are fed an all-vegetable, drug free diet and are hormone and antibiotic free.

So long story short, what's my point? Know where your food comes from. Know how your food is being grown, how it's being processed. You work so hard to achieve great fitness, whether it's marathon training or Crossfit, so you should also work hard to ensure you are giving your body exactly what it needs, and nothing less.

My Kick Ass Crossfit Birthday!

Originally for my birthday weekend, I was going to fly to San Antonio to run the Rock and Roll Half and make a long overdue visit to some friends. A few weeks out, I did a 180 and switched up the plans - I decided to fly to the NC coast to surprise my parents. It was one of the best things I've done all year!

I spent Friday morning (11/12) doing 'Tabata Something' with some Marines on Cherry Point base with the super friendly folks at CrossFit Cherry Point. It was definitely a blast and an honor to work out with them the day after Veterans Day. My only regret was not being able to return on Saturday for their WOD/BBQ.



My pull ups were shit (seriously, only 20?! And with a thin band too) but I was pretty strong on the other movements. Wish I had gotten 3 more pull ups to make it an even 300!



Saturday, 11/13: What better way to spend your birthday than 3 hours in a stellar CrossFit box?! My original plan was to head to CrossFit Coastal because their schedule said they had a ~2 hour OLY training class from 10am - 12pm and I really wanted to do some OLY practice with only 4 weeks left until my meet. Hello to box #29, state #12.



I cannot say enough great things about CrossFit Coastal. They had a pretty spacious, well equiped box and everyone was super friendly! We started the day with a 1030am Team WOD - what better way to get to know people?! I love team WODs and this one was fun! Zeke (owner) really put some thought into writing it on the board! :)



Before the team WOD, a few of the CrossFitters helped me perfect my kipping pull up; I can't do them unbroken yet but I have the techique down and I'm well on my way! (1st accomplishment of the day)

After the team WOD, Jane coached me on how to work my feet and legs to climb ropes, which I have never done before. Let's just say, now you can't keep me off 'em!! (Accomplishment #2)



I had made a "GOALS" list on Thursday night of movements I want to perfect before competing in sectionals in February and rope climbs were one of them - scratch that off the list!

Jane and I cheered each other on during our OLY practice and we both finished with PRs:

Snatch: 85#
Clean & Jerk: 115#

I'm pretty sure I could get a 120# C&J, I was so close!, but after 2.5 hours of CFing....my body was juice-less at this point.

This sign sums up my day; I was hella motivated and I left with 2 new PRs, plus pull ups and rope climbs under my belt. Best birthday ever. :)

OLY Meet and Homemade Shakes

I've been doing CrossFit religiously for just over 6 months now and as the result of this dedication, I've met a lot of small goals and have seen myself progress rapidly in some areas. (Remember when you ladies couldn't do even one push up or pull up?!)

As much as I love and appreciate all of these little victories, I am now super excited to have a big goal to work towards - the 2nd Annual WCCF Winter Weightlifting Meet! This OLY Meet is here in Chicago, exactly 5 weeks from tomorrow, and consists of a snatch and then a clean & jerk. This will be my first competition as a CrossFitter and I'm excited that its an OLY competition since that's my favorite part of CrossFit. I am on Day 5 of strict Paleo/no alcohol and plan on keeping that up until the competition.

As of today, my numbers are as follows:

Cleans: 3 Rep Max at 105# on 11/5/2010
Jerks: 1 Rep Max Split Jerk at 115# on 9/15/2010
Snatch: 1 Rep Max at 80# on 8/31/2010

One of my coaches told me last week that I have a pretty solid split jerk, which makes me happy, but as you can see I haven't worked on snatches in months! I'm hoping to drop into a 2 hour OLY class at CrossFit Coastal next Saturday and get in some more practice.

One of my dietary goals for this month is to try to get in more protein. I'm not a big meat eater and tend to only eat meat with lunch and dinner, so it can be hard for me to get in the recommended 120-160g of protein a WOD day that my body needs. If I were to guess, I would say that I am around 80-90g a day, so I am constantly trying to find ways to sneak in more protein when I can.

Even before CrossFit, one of my favorite post workout meals has always been the protein shake. I've always tried to stay away from sugar and processed products so I've always made them homemade, and find them delicious! I'm always looking for ways to switch up my shakes so let me know any suggestions you have.

My shake today:



1 Scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
1 Medium Frozen Banana
1 Raw Egg
1 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
4 Fresh Strawberries

I have two canisters of Beverly Protein Powder; Chocolate and Vanilla. I like to switch off between the above recipe and a Vanilla Powder/Frozen Banana/Frozen Blueberries version. I use to love to put peanut butter in my chocolate shakes for the added fat/protein/taste but I'm trying to kick my peanut butter habit so that is forbidden right now. I find that the frozen banana gives the shake the condensity of a milkshake - such a treat after a hard WOD!