WODs of June 2014

Posted on June 30, 2014 by chatty

I really ought to include the year in these post titles, as I’ve now been doing this crossfit thing for well over a year (2 years in September). I’m still only slightly embarrassed about it. Anyway, it’s benchmark time, so we are repeating several of the “girls” and I am noticing my times are slower than last year. I’m carrying a little more weight than I was last year (going to have to start shedding those winter pounds at some point).

I know I missed taking a couple of pics, possibly of a benchmark. I also missed class at least once (due to lack of sleep).

Karen. Slower this time around, I think because a) I counted more accurately and b) I tried not to cheat and count bad reps and c) I’m just slower these days. It’s a benchmark WOD trend this summer.

Hmm. Barely remember this one.

You can do anything for 60 seconds. Something I like to remember when working out. It’s that abs routine on the side that kills me.

First, I did not PR in my 1-rep max attempt at the DL. Then the WOD, where I’m guessing the Double Unders gave me quite a bit of trouble, as they usually do.

Headstands are harder than you think!

Lookin’ good, Helen! Lookin a few seconds faster this time around.

I cranked it in the row, then died doing the KB swings. Sad story.

That time I thought I beat my time by like a minute, only to realize I actually was 4 seconds slower.

Look at my time. I’m much slower than the others. Working on form for my pull ups. Yeah, that’s what it was.

This was today. Bar-facing burpees are getting easier. Still annoying, but not as annoying.

Happy Lifting.

Hearty paleo breakfast (and one not so much)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by chatty

Some things just scream paleo, don’t they. This makes up for the donut run I made with my work spouse earlier this week. And the $1 milkshake I just had to try at the office cafeteria.

Portobello mushroom, pan-fried using coconut oil,seasoned with coconut aminos and balsalmic vinegar. On top of that, a fried egg. On top of that, some leftover spaghetti squash seasoned with sea salt and pepper, and a little Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning.

Seriously, wouldn’t you rather …

Can’t these both be breakfast of champions?

BLTs, take 2

Posted on June 15, 2014 by chatty

“Lily, get moving, it’s dinner time”

(Kid lounging on the couch, not moving)

“Your dinner’s getting cold. I made this tasty sandwich for you.”

(no movement)

“This sandwich has bacon in it…”

(shuffle, scramble, jump off the couch, runs toward dining table)

… And that, more or less, sums up the relationship our future kindergartner has with bacon.

For this round of B.L.T.’s I used the oven to bake the bacon rather than the stove-top. This gave me more time to do other things on the stove (such as conjure up some sweet potato noodle buns, which I must say, I’ve not been able to match the patty-like texture consistently since the first time I tried to make them). The verdict from the husband is to cook the bacon longer. He and the kid likes their bacon crispy. I have a hard time cooking to their preferred crispiness, for fear of burning it, and ruining some perfectly good bacon, a treat we rarely make ourselves. I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing.

BLT atop of a sweet potato noodle patty smeared with guacamole, and a side salad

By the way, I discovered these gluten-free crackers from Wellaby’s, available at our local PCC.

I don’t normally buy crackers all that often, on account of this grain-free diet I try to maintain. Once in a while the husband will buy some multi-grain Wheat Thins (not the wheat thins I grew up with as a kid, though I was always more of a Triscuit fan). But I happen to have a couple of small jars of caviar (yes, caviar. What can I say, it was birthday month and Cost Plus gave me a 10% off anything you buy coupon. They have these little jars for like $6 and did I mention it was my birthday?) so I wanted to try something. I had had some Glutino cheese crackers at a pre-school meeting earlier in the spring and couldn’t get enough of them, but didn’t want to buy a box, as I assumed I would consume the entire contents of said box in a day. This smaller box seemed a safer bet.

Apparently, I can’t get enough of these, too. And not surprisingly, if left to my own devices, I will eat the entire box. Then have to buy another box so that others may enjoy the riches. This may have happened over the past week. This may be why I don’t buy tasty crackers all that often.

Tonight we also enjoyed this with some fancy Honey-Hazelnut Pate, a small sliver that the husband found in the Petit Fromage section in our fancy cheese counter at the fancy store. Fancy.

Like that time we went to Bar Cantinetta

Posted on June 15, 2014 by chatty

When you go off the rails on a no-grains diet, it’s essential that you really go OFF the rails. What better place to go, than a small Italian restaurant for happy hour and appetizers.

(because I’m a “dessert first” kind of gal) … Zeppole: Nutella, mascarpone, citrus sugar

Ricotta Spinach Gnudi: preserved tomato, guanciale

Fontina Fonduta: white truffle butter, baguette

All of this enjoyed with a couple of glasses of Chianti. And some good friends.

For whatever reason this post reminds me of one of the first times I ever took pics of our dishes at a restaurant. Back then it was a quirky thing to do. Now it’s like no big deal. Of course back then not everyone had a camera on their phone, or even a phone, for that matter.

WODs of May

Posted on June 9, 2014 by chatty

Lots of Wendler, and other fun to be had. FYI, these are in no particular order, only the order in which WordPress uploads the photos, I suppose.

When you walk in and see this written on the wall, you know it’s not actually going to be a “Good Time” … this was 8 hill sprints. My first sprint was “with the guys”, from 38th up to 35th on 55th Ave NE. The next 6 were from 37th up, and the last one, because we were running out of time, was from 36th up. The debate then arose, would you rather do Sprints, or Karen? I said sprints. But last week I did Karen, and I’ve since changed my mind. Ha!

We do the Push Press/Chin Up routine every so often. The trick is to make sure you’re counting appropriately. But the “then” part was new and improved.

This was the morning I barely got a wink of sleep, ended up missing the 5:30am and shooting for 9:30am instead. The 5:30 class killed it. Me, not so much.

I don’t ever recall doing “bar-facing burpees” until after “The Open” this year … now they’re, like, all the rage or something. Not a favorite, because you lose your rhythm every time you have to stop, jump, turnaround, etc.

So, there’s this one …

I tried to do handstand pushups and I still can’t. I can do handstands against the wall like a boss, I can manage the “negative”, just can’t manage the getting my arms straightened up again part. Kinda freaks me out.

I think the goal here was to do the swings unbroken. I’m pretty sure I broke them up after the first round. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don’t.

That time I tried to lead an erging session for my classmates. I hope it was helpful. It sure was a lot of rowing.

It was either this one or another WOD when I vividly recall trying my first round of T2B and feeling bad things in my back. Know when to say when, and just say yes to scaled workouts (i.e. knees to chest)

What’s up with these HSPUs? I did try and succeed at doing the “kick” to get myself up into the handstand position, for the first time. That was cool. Sometimes when I do the cartwheel like motion, I stop short. There’s some weird mental thing I have with handstands, and it makes me do moronic things.

These are good days to interject into the ones where you think you’re gonna pass out. I like the ones I can hardly remember. At least I think I do.

The abs/core workout is the worst. Those flippin scissor kicks still get to me.

Last but not least (and not really last of the month, since Memorial Day came early this year) … My first attempt at the full version of “Murph”. Not too shabby, though my pull-ups and push-ups were not RX … I started my push-ups on the floor and ended up on the bar. Also, my legs hurt for days after this due to all the squats. Sheesh. But, I’m happy I did it, even though I did hem and haw over which one to do up until the timer started.

Strawberry Picking – First Pick Best Pick

Posted on June 8, 2014 by chatty

Seems summer has decided to show up in Seattle a little bit earlier than usual this year, and I am not complaining. It’s been lovely to see the longer days and to actually have the weather to complement (Suck it, June-uary). Might not last for long, but I am taking full advantage.

And so is Biringer Farms, who opened its doors to U-Pick season for strawberries on Saturday. We showed up bright and early Sunday to indulge. Can’t go wrong with being among the first to pick the first of the crop.

We ate more strawberries than we should have today, but so worth it. Bought some shortcakes at the farm (they know how to get your $$, just keep these by the cashier), and with some homemade whipped cream, had a final decadent dessert, to end a very enjoyable weekend of grains. Lots and lots of grains.

Here was our fun dessert, Instagram style:

Life is good.

Pulled Pork

Posted on June 8, 2014 by chatty

Darn Drafts folder. These have been patiently waiting to be published since Memorial Day.

I did a simple Slow Cooker Pulled Pork, using nothing but the pork (boston butt, ha ha) and some Bone Suckin’ Sauce (one jar of the Thicker Style variety). The first time I did pulled pork, I followed the recipe to a tee, including marinating the sucker overnight. This was more of a dump and go kind of thing, and believe it or not you could kind of tell the difference.

Still delicious, though. I surrounded mine in greens: a mixed salad and steamed broccoli.

Here is the pre-schooler (soon to be kindergartner, yeeks) plate … using one of her dad’s favorite rolls, the ciabatta bun from Macrina Bakery.

Summer is starting early here in Seattle. I may be putting my SC away for a few months.

Morning Shake

Posted on May 28, 2014 by chatty

Not the shakes. A shake, like a refreshing beverage. We had about a cup of brewed coffee left in the pot. I had about a cup of leftover coconut milk (light) in the fridge. Add them together with a little bit if sweetener (I used a tbsp of agave nectar) and 3 tbsp of chia seeds to create a shake.

I was lazy. I vaguely recalled a recipe from PaleOMG with similar ingredients, but didn’t want to access the Web at that moment. I didn’t even want to take the blender out. So I combined everything into a tupperware and shook it. Thus, the Coffee Shake.

I kept it in the fridge for at least a day, with a few intermittent shakes of the container. Had a few slurps in between then and today. The remainder came in this morning, when we had no eggs in the house and I was in search of a pick-me-up while doing a little worky-work on this rare middle-of-the-week vacation day.

It was a decent change of pace, but next time I will not be so lazy, and add a few more ingredients, like cocoa powder or vanilla.

Paleo baking

Posted on May 15, 2014 by chatty

It’s funny, the 180 i did on Whole 30 and Paleo. Whereas at first I thought, how could I possibly eat clean without some funkily fake baked god? Then I realized those fake bakes are never as good as the real thing. Right now I’m not really following either diet to a tee, though still visiting my fave blogs regularly, so I decided to have a little kitchen fun.

I’ve been craving toast lately, so last week I baked a paleo bread. It was all right. I found a medium sized loaf pan and used that in an effort to keep the bread looking like a quick bread. You can’t create a sandwich with it, and looking back I see now what I really wanted was a sandwich. Instead I enjoyed a toasted slice in the mornings with my usual egg, or some freezer jam.

Then I made this thing that was called a sweet potato brownie? Really not a brownie, but a decent cocoa-flavored sweet potato square. The kid enjoyed them, more so than the paleo bread. But in the poor paleo bread’s defense we also had this sweet yeasty cinnamon bread in the house, with a sticky sugary glaze strewn across. She much preferred that.

Back to the sweet potato brownie, aka the CFSPS, it is not something I’ll repeat. I’ll use that SP for a tasty patty/bun, and buy a brownie from the store. They have gluten-free ones, you know…

Well, that was a fun weekend afternoon project. Next time I’ll just read a book.

WODs – April 2014

Posted on May 9, 2014 by chatty

Did a poor job of taking pics… Boo… This is in no particular order, definitely not chronological.

04-07-14 “Get Your Goat” implies that you work on things you need to work on. I believe I did front squats and firehouse run. really I could have worked on my DUs, but, well I didn’t.