Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Dessert is approved!

I didn't blog last night because I was too busy cooking! So I'll share my culinary experiments today. I made an amazing stew/soup last night "inspired" by Blair's recipe:

SAUSAGE & KALE SOUP
Ingredients:
3 links sausage, sliced & cut in half (I used hot chicken sausage from t-joes)
6 small potatoes, cubed - (I used 1 sweet potato, in Blair's original recipe, she prefers purple ones for those of you who want to try it!)
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups beef broth
healthy pinch of dried red pepper flakes
3/4 of a large bag of kale
Directions:
In a stock pot with some olive oil, heat the sausage on medium until cooked (or if already cooked, just heated through).  
Add the onion, garlic, potatoes, red pepper flakes & salt/pepper.
Stir occasionally until the potatoes are getting tender and the olive and onion are cooked.
Add the broths and de-glaze the bottom of the pot (that means scrape the dried seasoning up off the bottom of the pot with your wooden spoon)
Heat thoroughly
Add the kale, turn to low and cover
Stir occasionally for 5-10 min and you're done.
You can add more or less broth depending on your personal broth-level preferences:)
So, I used 2 links of chorizo, forgot the rest of the onion at Hank's, garlic powder (mainly cause I'm lazy), only beef broth (3 cups- I didn't have a big enough pot at my house), no red pepper flakes so I used cayenne pepper (it was a spicy soup!), and I had about a 1/2 cup or so of crushed tomatoes left so I threw those in with the broth as well. It is so yummy. Thanks Blair, I loved it and I'll make a closer version sometime soon. I love that I posed this challenge, I have a recipe waiting from Ginny & Brandy too- can't wait to try them out.

I also baked a dessert item I made up- and I am so excited about it!
PALEO FRUIT TART
Ingredients:
crust: 2 cups of almond flour, 1 heaping tbsp of almond butter, 1 egg (I meant to add nutmeg, forgot that as well!)
fillings: 5-7 or so blueberries, 4-6 tiny slices of banana, topped with coconut milk whipped cream (click for recipe) whipped with lots of cinnamon
Directions: (Bear with me I don't know all the baking lingo, ha)
Combine the crust ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands, once mixed take a tablespoon of the crust mixture and spread it across the bottom and just a tad up the sides of a muffin liner- you should be able to make close to 15 crusts. 
Place liners with crust in a muffin baking pan, and bake for about 15 maybe 20 minutes (I just watched it and guessed), take out and let cool for a few minutes.
As far as the filling goes, you could probably mix the ingredients together if you want or do what I did, place the blueberries and bananas in the tart and top with about a tbsp of the whipped cream- add more cinnamon. You could maybe add honey to the fruit, although I don't know if its needed?? Would depend on how much of a sweet tooth you had. Sometimes they stay together and other times it helps to dump on a plate. 
I brought my creation into work to test on my co-workers-- and they loved it! (Unless they were lying, but I am pretty sure they were being honest. :)...) Hank loved it too (I can tell when he is lying, I hope.) Its actually hard not to eat a bunch of them- while its very healthy I doubt I am supposed to eat like 5 at a time (I've only had two at a time, and I've had two today but I really want the last two, trying to have willpower to save them for tomorrow.)

I also made paleo almost oatmeal for breakfast yesterday- it was good but it was actually pretty rich, had left over meatballs & spaghetti squash for lunch- snacked on a larabar and some almonds. Workout at Crossfit Brigade was the following (I'm deciding just to paste the workouts- including the warmups for y'all to see): 
Warmup: Run, Row, or Jump Rope for 2 minutes, then, as a Group, 2×10 of: Rolling V-Sits, Shoulder Dislocations, OHS, Leg Swings, Arm Circles, Lateral LungesWork: Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:--18 Box jumps, 24″ box (I did 2 at 16" cause of space- 4 rounds at 20" once there was space to jump on the tire), 15 Toes to bar (I did knees to armpits), 12 Pull-ups (assisted with band)- finished 6 rounds +25.Strength: Shoulder Press 5 @65%, 5 @ 70%, Max Reps at 75%.- I did 5 at 19kg.
Today's meals: smoothie (instead of Greek yogurt I used coconut milk, I also added a tablespoon of almond butter and a couple tbsp's of unsweetened applesauce-- all ingredients from the almost oatmeal), had a little leftover soup for a snack, then we had a celebration lunch at Taziki's and I ordered the lamb salad with no feta & no dressing. Dinner was pre-made paleo hamburger, greens & sweet potato fries. Larabar for dessert.

Today's workout:

Warmup: Run 400M, Row 500M, or practice DUs for 2 minutes. Then, 10 Rolling V-Sits on the Mats, then Spiderman to Rig for hanging stretches for a minute; Crab Walk to Mats, 20 Bridges; Bear Crawl to Rig – back stretch Holds; Toy Soldiers to Mats, 10 Scorpions, 10 Windmills, 10 Cherrypickers.Skills: Focus on technique & form for each of the lifts performed in the WOD.Work: Five rounds for time of (I used 15 kg):Deadlift, 9 repsHang power snatch, 6 repsOverhead squat, 3 repsMobility: Yoga (Down-dog, Warriors, Triangle, Pigeon)
Pretty good workout, finished in 5:10- the deadlifts were pretty easy, I just have a hard time doing those fast, even when the weight is light. Getting a little better at the snatches, ohs's were tough! I didn't get enough depth at first and the bar was too far back, but I improved. Patience- I need to remember patience and learning- embrace it! I'm relatively new at all of this lifting and I've made great strides, especially in certain lifts...so I just need to keep at it- I'll make my way to the big girl weights. 
Okay, I can't stand it- I have to have one more of my desserts. :) Goodnight!

1 comment:

  1. You took coaching exceptionally well last night girl & are making excellent progress. Here is a recipe of my favorite soup - it is better with the cream but that can be left out for dairy-free..

    Chicken Rosemary Soup
    Stock:
    1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
    3 1/2 quarts water
    1 onion, peeled and diced
    1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
    3 cloves garlic, minced
    4 bay leaves
    3 chicken bouillon cubes
    Kosher salt and pepper

    Soup:
    2 cups sliced carrots
    1 cup sliced mushrooms
    3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
    1/3 cup cooking sherry (I use cream sherry - it's the best)
    2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
    3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
    Seasoning salt
    pepper
    ..

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