Archive for the ‘Challenge’ Category

The Hardest Day

Posted: July 9, 2013 in Challenge
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The hardest day that began at 4:21 am this morning came to an end at 8:36 pm. I say it’s the hardest day for a couple of reasons. For one, it’s a total shock to your body when it decides it’s breakfast or lunch time and you don’t satisfy its cravings. For me it takes a few days for my body to adjust before the breakfast and lunch time cravings disappear and I barely feel anything the whole day. The other adjustment is sleep. It’s not everyday where you wake up in the middle of the night, have a large breakfast and then try to sleep again.  Lastly, since Ramadan starts 10 days earlier every year, the first day of each year is the longest fast I have ever done. This will continue to be the case until Ramadan begins prior to the Summer Solstice.

I’ll try to mention my hunger levels and sleep adjustment over the next few days. There was no workout today either since I wanted to take the first day for my body to sort of get used to the adjusted diet and schedule. Now, on to the food!

For Sahoor

20130709_040640The first Sahoor has mixed feelings. You’re usually energetic enough because of the excitement of Ramadan starting, yet eating a lot is so difficult because your stomach is confused. So today I didn’t do anything fancy. I made an omelette using 2 egg yokes and about 4 egg whites. For the egg whites, I go to Wegmans and buy a carton of pure egg whites. It has no additives and tastes just like normal eggs. For the omelette I cut up a quarter onion, half a tomato, and a little bit of green pepper. I added a bit of sea salt and chili powder to it as well. I cooked it using extra virgin olive oil.

The omelette was joined on the plate with another cut up tomato and half of an avocado. Oh and since I love my spices, I added some Sriracha sauce to the plate.

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For those that know me, you already know that you are going to see avocados a lot this month. They are really good for you and extremely filling. It’s not a lot to eat but it will carry you.

As Sahoor time was coming to a close, I chugged down about 50 ounces of water. This was extremely difficult. I’m used to drinking over a gallon of water a day but drinking even 32 ounces proved to be a challenge.

For Iftar

Ah yes, my favorite meal time! So part of the point of this blog is to show that healthy Paleo dishes can be made without requiring a lot of time. Today’s dish took no more than 30 minutes to prepare.

Chicken with Shallots and Sweet Potatoes

  • 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 2″ pieces (I used organic)
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 Tbs chili powder
  • 1 Tbs coconut oil
  • 2 6ish oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
  • 2 shallots, sliced into thick rings
  • 1 Tbs fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 Tbs of cumin
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • Chaat masala, to taste

1. Wash and chop sweet potatoes into a pot and add in cold water.
2. Place the pot on a stove and let the water boil. Once it starts to boil, add 1 tsp sea salt and reduce heat. Let it simmer until they are tender. Skip to step 4 while this happens and then come back to step 3 in about 10-12 minutes.
3. Drain the water but keep about a 1/4 cup in the pot. If you like the skin, leave it, otherwise peel the skin off and mash the potatoes.
4. Meanwhile, season chicken with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and chili powder.
5. Heat coconut oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. When pan is hot, add sliced shallots and rosemary and cook for a minute.
7. Add chicken to the pan and pan-fry until golden brown and fully cooked. When it’s almost done, add in the diced tomatoes and cumin.
8. Serve with mashed sweet potatoes on the side. Sprinkle chaat masala on top of the sweet potatoes.

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I added a bit of salad to the plate and it was satisfying. The chaat masala on sweet potatoes might be a little unorthodox but give it a shot.

That’s it for tonight. Tomorrow will be my first workout while fasting. I will probably make it a strength day but we’ll see what happens. Stay tuned!

Ramadan 2013 Mubarak!

Posted: July 8, 2013 in Challenge
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Can anyone believe that almost a whole year has gone by already? For those scratching their heads thinking that Ramadan seems to be starting earlier this year, you’re right. Ramadan follows the lunar calendar which results in it starting about 10 days earlier each year.

My fellow athletes that train with me know of my struggle with fitness this year. Between major projects at work, my board positions, and businesses, I found myself in the midst of a perfect storm that kept me away from all 3 major dimensions of fitness: exercise, nutrition, and rest. I’ve seen my metcon ability go out the window and my strength numbers drop dramatically over the past 6 months. Sad times.

As I debated restarting this blog this Ramadan, I remembered how much fun it was and how dedicated I became in all aspects of my life. I was doing well in the gym, my nutrition was on par, and I practiced this month’s duties better than ever. Not to mention, the month flew by. It became an obvious answer; the challenge that I started last year as an experiment will be my fitness revival this year!

I plan on following a similar format as I did last year however I will be experimenting with some new techniques for working out and obviously new healthy recipes. I also hope to collaborate with some great nutrition minds that surround me. If you would like to be a part of this project or have any suggestions, please reach out to me!

Also I want to reiterate like I did last year that I am not in any way an expert of scholar in Islamic scholar nor should anything I say be taken as professional advice . I simply want to journal the experience of a Muslim breaking the common mindset that this month is an excuse to overindulge with samosas and avoid fitness.

Here is to the next 30 days! Oh and make sure to stretch out….38863_10150237681965263_2865409_n

Oops..

Posted: August 16, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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I’m an avid Amazon shopper and have subscriptions set up to many things like coconut water, home supplies, etc. I forgot that I also had a subscription to this treat until it showed up at my door:

Yeah oops! Haribo Gummy Bears are halal gummy bears and they are addicting. I apparently have a subscription set to send me a 5 POUND bag every 6 months. Yeah, 5 pounds! I didn’t realize you could buy sugar in that kind of quantity. The sad thing is, the last time I ordered these was when I had my surgery and in the week I was in bed recovering, I finished almost the whole bag! I need to get these out of sight ASAP.

Sahoor

For Sahoor, I kept it simple and made 2 sunny side up eggs with another 2 egg whites in olive oil. I mashed up some sweet potatoes and had that as well. I always knew egg yolks aren’t the best for you, but I recently read an article on just how bad they can be for you. I have to do some more research on that and see if I need to cut down on those a bit.

Iftar

I was busy volunteering tonight so I didn’t have much time to prepare Iftar. I was able to pull out the chicken chapli kabobs I had frozen and turn them into a bun-less burger. I added lots of lettuce and tomatoes and called it a meal. I also had some cantaloupe.

Workout

I borrowed this workout from a reader’s blog. There are some great workouts on that blog that you can do anywhere with minimal equipment. You can do this one anywhere as long as you have a pull up bar:

10 Handstand push-ups
20 Dead hang pull-ups
30 Burpees
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
60 Push-ups
 
 

I don’t have a lot to say in this post because I’ve been spending a little more time concentrating on Ramadan. I hope everyone is going strong these last couple of days and is able to finish strong. It’s almost over!

Pardon the Egg Roll and Snacking

Posted: August 15, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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So last night was another situation where I had Iftar at a friend’s house. I talked about this a few posts ago about creating a game plan when you are on foreign turf. I stuck with the same principles last night and I was able to get a great Paleo meal in. Much thanks to my friend and his family for great food!

Workout

This workout was 2 short workouts put together. There was a little bit of a break in between them to recover but there is only so much recovery when you haven’t eaten or drank all day. I got through it though and even ran!

3 Rounds
15 Hang Power Cleans 135lbs
15 Burpees
–10 Minute rest–
5 Rounds
35 Double Unders
Run 200 M

My stamina is building up and my body is adjusting to this so I will be curious to see how my body performs when it’s fully hydrated next week. If I’m starting to perform decent now, I should be a killer next week right??

Iftar

There you see some meat, some greens, a broiled tomato, and a unique lemon with spinach dish that I have to find the recipe for. I made sure to empty a jug of water.

Last night was also Laylatul Qadr, or night of power. It’s the 27th night of Ramadan and is a very special occasion. During the nights of Ramadan, there is a special prayer called Taraweeh every night. During these prayers, the Quran is recited in it’s entirety over the span of 27 days. Last night was when the last bit was read. The turn out was phenomenal. There had to have been over 2,000 people in the mosque. This was the case at mosques around the world. After that is done, people spend most of the night praying, reading the Quran, and worshiping in other ways. It’s said that worshiping in this night contains more reward than 1000 months. I’m all about good deals and that sounds like a good one to me. So I spent the night back and forth from the mosque. Now, dinner was around 8 pm, I didn’t sleep till 6 am. I had to have gotten hungry, so how did I snack?

I tried to stay healthy while snacking most of the night. I did indulge on a few Doritos (booo yeah I know), but I contained it. I had some mashed sweet potatoes left over from the other night so I ate that. I ate some watermelon to satisfy the sweet tooth, the almond butter came in handy as well. What was missing was guac… I need to fix that. Anyhow, I also snacked on gluten free hummus and drank lot’s of water.

Sahoor

This took me right into Sahoor and I made Chicken Stir Fry with eggs:

    • 3 eggs
    • 1 Tbs of water
    • 1/8 tsp of sea salt
    • 1/4 tsp of chili powder
    • 1/4 onion, chopped
    • 1 small tomato, chopped
    • 2 Tbs of coconut oil
    • 2 Scallions, cut in to 1 inch pieces
    • 1 bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 clove of garlic, minced
    • 2 chapli kabobs, diced or 1/2 lb of cooked chicken breast, diced

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the water, salt, chili powder, tomato, and onion. Heat up a pan and add the coconut oil. Add in the scallion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute for a few minutes until they are tender. Add in the egg mixture along with the chicken and start mixing it around. Keep mixing and scrambling until it’s done.

Serve it on a plate with some slivered almonds. A sliced avocado would go great with it too. I had some sweet potato remaining so I ate that with it. I drank 1.5 liters of water and was full.

This is it, less thanb 3 days left! Stay focused and let’s get through it.

International Meals

Posted: August 12, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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For Sahoor I went international and made a Mexican dish. For Iftar I decided to continue on the international road and traveled to Zanzibar to make something from there. This dish is usually made with chicken thighs or drumsticks. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not a fan of bone-in chicken. I will go out of my way if I have to get boneless chicken. Call me lazy but I like to just eat my food with a fork and not have to worry about picking meat off a bone. Although, that probably is more Cave Man style. Oh well. Tonight’s dish was Zanzibar Chicken:

    • 3/4 lb chicken thigh (boneless chunks for me)
    • 1/2 tsp sea salt
    • 1/4 tsp chili powder
    • 2 Tbsp of olive oil
    • 1/4 onion, chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 1/2 cup of 100% orange juice
    • 2 Tbs raisins
    • 1/4 cup of slivered almonds

Season the chicken with the salt and chili powder. Heat up a pan with the olive oil and add in the chicken. Cook the chicken until it’s brown. Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside for now. Add the onions to the pan and saute them until they become soft (2-3 minutes). Add in the garlic and mix it up. Drop the chicken back into the pan and mix it around. Now add the orange juice and raisins. Mix everything up for a few minutes. Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and let it simmer until the chicken is tender. Sprinkle the almonds on top and serve.

I’ve never had raisins and orange juice with chicken before so this was unique. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t hesitate while taking that first bite, but it was realllly good. Perfect balance of sweet vs spicy. I treated it like pho while eating it, fork for the meat and spoon for the “curry”. Even though the quantity of raisins is so low, they do their job of changing the flavor of the orange juice so it doesn’t taste purely like orange juice. This didn’t take very long to make either, just 15 minutes or so. I will make this again for sure if I am short on time.

Workout

Gym’s closed? No problem. Body weight workout time!

10 rounds for time
10 walking lunges
10 push-ups

Return on Investment

Posted: August 12, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Before I get into today’s topic, I want to share something that I’ve been laughing to myself about all day. In my last post I talked about not giving in to peer pressure or those food temptations you would regret later. I think I could have used this yesterday at the froyo place:

Lol anyhow, return on investment, ROI. I could go on for pages about the ROI you can get from this month so I will just target what this blog is intended for. I’ve talked to a few people about their eating habits during Ramadan and I hear one answer pretty often. “Oh it’s Ramadan, so it’s my month off from watching my diet.” Sigh. I think we need to alter our thinking when it comes to this. If Ramadan was only one day like Eid or Thanksgiving, then sure, by all means do what you want. However, we are talking about 30 days of when we should be striving for perfection in all aspects of life. By cultural habit, these 30 days consist of some of the worst food your body will ever consume throughout the year and since our brains tell us we are starving, we indulge in gluttony. Why do everything else good this month but neglect our body? Ramadan is usually a month for change in a lot of our daily habits. We strive to be nicer, more charitable, more pious. Why not add “Healthy Lifestyle” to the list of habits you want to make a positive change on during this month. By binding yourself to those intentions for these 30 days, you could come out a changed person with a whole new lifestyle. Investing in yourself for these 30 days could return a lifetime of benefits like decreased medical bills and disease prevention.

I noticed my ROI decrease in recent days when I stopped putting in much effort for Sahoor. I was stuck in a cycle of waking up late and just throwing together an omelette. I got bored with this and started eating less, resulting in decreased energy throughout the day. I’ve decided that for the rest of Ramadan, I will be waking up much earlier to ensure I make something enticing for Sahoor. This will involve doing some preparations the night before too so I’m excited to wake up and get ready for Sahoor.

Sahoor – This morning I made a mexican breakfast dish, Huevos Rancheros. It’s essentially an egg omelette with salsa.

    • 1 tomato, chopped
    • 1 jalepeno pepper, chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 1/4 small onion, chopped
    • sea salt
    • 2 eggs and 3 egg whites
    • 2 Tbs of olive oil

Puree the tomato, jalepeno, garlic, and onions in a blender. Put 1 Tbs of oil on a hot pan and then add the salsa to it. Cook it until it starts getting thick. Move it to the side but keep it warm. Make the omelette to your desire. Add the salsa to the omelette and you have your self Huevos Rancheros.

Look, it’s a happy meal. Hahha…ha…ha. Anyways, it was a good breakfast. I had a couple of spoon fulls of almond butter as well. I drank 1.5 liters of water.

So I’ve told you what changes I will be making. Are there some that you are looking to make too?

Power of a Good Breakfast

Posted: August 10, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Hey, did you know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Snore. Duh, we’ve all been hearing this since we were little. Oh but do we really spend the time and effort every morning to eat a nutritional breakfast? By that I don’t mean pouring a bowl of sugar packed cereal or grabbing some toaster pastries as you are leaving the house. I mean actually budget time in the mornings to prepare a breakfast that contains protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. What you have for breakfast will affect the rest of your day every single time. Not only will it decide if you will have a sluggish or energetic day, it can greatly affect your workout. Today I was able to have a great meal for Sahoor and it resonated throughout my day, all the way to my CrossFit workout in the evening.

Sahoor

For starters, I had scrambled eggs, 2 eggs/2 egg whites (I ran out), mixed with onions and peppers. Going back to being prepared, I made guacamole the night before because I knew I wouldn’t have the energy nor time to make it in the morning. I added a generous amount to my plate. I even scooped some up with my fork and ate it afterwards by itself. I followed this with a protein shake and 1.5+ liters of water. I felt great already and knew it would be a good day!

The Workout

Today’s workout consisted of a strength portion followed by a met-con.

Every Minute on the Minute for 7 Minutes
1 Clean and Jerk – 185 lb
 
3 Rounds for Time
7 Front Squats – 185 lb
21 Kettle Bell Swings – 53 lb
Run 200 meters

The only thing I modified was the run. The rest of the athletes ran 400 meters. Other than that, I was able to do all of the Clean and Jerks at that weight with no issue. The 7th one was challenging to maintain form but it didn’t feel heavy! For the met-con, in order to do your Front Squats, you have to Clean the bar to your shoulders and then squat. So the key is to do them unbroken. As soon as you drop that bar, you have to spend a decent amount of energy to pick that 185 lbs up to your shoulders. I was pretty good at doing those unbroken until the very last Front Squat in the very last round! Picking that bar up took some time since your quads are getting destroyed by the KB swings as well as the run. Nonetheless, I was excited that I was able to finish it in a good time, WITHOUT feeling dizzy!! I honestly feel that my nutrient filled breakfast attributed to my successful workout.

Iftar

For tonight’s Iftar, I decided to make another bunless burger. This time around I used Chicken Chapli Kabobs.

    • ground chicken meat
    • onions
    • green peppers
    • tomatoes
    • chili powder
    • eggs
    • olive oil

Add the onions, peppers, tomatoes, and chili powder to a food processor. Blend it up and then add the mixture along with the eggs and oil to the ground chicken. Use your hands to mix it up real well. Grab a meatball sized amount of meat into your hands and then form it into a circular pattie. Slap it onto a grill and let it cook. I usually use a George Foreman grill and make a large batch at one time. I then freeze them for future use. They are great to pull out for a quick meal when you don’t have time to cook.

I added a layer of lettuce to my plate, added on 4 or 5 chicken patties, topped with some sliced onions, cucumbers, organic Dijon mustard and the remaining guac. You can really add whatever you would normally enjoy on a burger (as long as it’s not processed and loaded with junk!) I had a protein shake and some fish oil as well. Great way to end the day.

To recap, breakfast = very important. Breakfast….=….very important. Note what you eat in the mornings and you will find a direct correlation to the function of your day. Make that meal count!

Weighing In

Posted: August 8, 2012 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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It’s important to assess your progress (or retrogress) in any activity you take on. In CrossFit, this is done by doing Benchmark Workouts or by checking your maxes in different Olympic and Power lifts. Along with those numbers, keeping track of your body fat (and sometimes weight) is important as well. With Ramadan 2/3s over, it was time to do a “weigh in” to see what sort of progress I had made and if I am still in line with my goals. First let’s talk about what I ate.

Sahoor – Again, (sorry) another day of scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes. Yeah I’m starting to get sick of this too. I also had a protein shake and a liter of water. I’ll try to get creative here soon, I promise. It’s actually hurting my workouts because I’m not getting enough fats in. I think it might be time for some more guac…

Iftar – I opened my fast with a protein shake at the gym since I was running late. Luckily I was having dinner with the family so I didn’t have to cook. My family isn’t exactly Paleo compliant but they are aware of what I am doing so they made sure I was accommodated. The dinner consisted of marinated whole chicken, chicken nuggets, fries, other carbs, and salad. Can you guess what I stuck with?I hacked some different parts of the chicken on to my plate, added in the salad, and indulged in some family bonding. Growing up, this was one of my favorite meals. The chicken is marinated in a blend of spices including chili powder, chaat masala, and crushed peppers all mixed with lemon and lime juice. You literally take a whole chicken, dip it in this mixture and bake it until it’s done. The spice mixture will drip off as it bakes but you can scoop it right back up to have with your chicken when it’s done.

Weighing In

So I weighed myself and I had a bit of a shock. I am down 13 pounds! To the average person that sounds great but to an athlete it could be detrimental. Is it 13 lbs of fat? Was it muscle? Has my body fat gone up since I’m eating less? Have I lost lean body mass?

Given that it’s Ramadan and those obligations comes first to me, I went into this knowing I would lose some muscle and strength but 13 lbs was a little scary. Sure, since my surgery my diet had been horrible and I barely made it to the gym so I had some pounds to spare. I made it over to Max Muscle to get my body fat tested. The result, I have lost almost 2% body fat! That may not sound like a lot but being at 11%, I don’t have a lot to lose there. Side note, when I first started CrossFit, I was over 20% body fat. Yummy.

So weight is down, body fat is down, how is my strength? I decided to measure my Press, Push Press, and Jerk lifts. I did several sets of each movement to find a 1 rep max.

    • Press – I didn’t come anywhere near my 1 rep max and I was really discouraged. I was failing at about 20# below my PR (Personal Record). I think I just wasn’t warmed up (or awake) enough at this point.
    • Push press – I picked up where I left off with the press to do a push press. I failed on my first one and this is when I began to worry. Had I lost that much? Or maybe I just didn’t eat right today? I decided to drop the weight down by 20# and work my way up. Success. I was able to work my way up pretty fast. I didn’t hit a PR or match my existing one but I came pretty close.
    • Jerk – I hit real success on this movement. I started a few lbs under where I left the push press off at. This movement requires some real explosion when you split your legs and I definitely felt myself weaker than normal days. I had to compensate by using more arm strength but I made it work. I was able to match my PR!! I mighthave been able to hit a new PR but I was pretty wiped after almost 30 reps at this point. Also, it was time for Iftar so I didn’t have time for another rep.

Here is a video of my one rep before I matched my PR. As you as can see I don’t have the explosiveness I should at all but I blame fatigue and hunger for that!

Overall I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my results. I knew I wasn’t going to make great gains this month but I’m happy to see that I was able to match my PR. I will do some more of these in the coming days with other movements to see how this Ramadan Challenge is shaping up to be!

Go Upside Down

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Gymnastics isn’t something that the average gym goer incorporates into their training but it definitely should be. Gymnastic movements will help you build balance, coordination, and crazy core strength. When I first started CrossFit, I was afraid of Olympic lifting and didn’t have much respect for gymnastics. It didn’t take long after I scored my first oly lift and then was able to do a handstand to fall in love with these sports. Now these two elements are what I look forward to in a workout. My lack of respect for gymnastics was just ignorance. I had seen it on TV and the professionals made it look SO easy. I mean these guys pull themselves up on rings with such ease and do an Iron Cross as if it was as easy as standing up. My first time trying to pull myself up on rings was enough to give me a lifetime worth of respect for that sport. Some of the strongest and fittest people I have met have a background in gymnastics. Leaves me wishing I had taken on gymnastics when I was little instead of thinking I had a career as a Pro Wrestler. Oh well.

The Workout – Today’s workout was a couplet consisting of Olympic lifting and gymnastics.

5 Rounds
10 Handstand Push Ups
10 Power Cleans 155#
 

This was my first workout being upside down during Ramadan. It didn’t help with the dizziness I feel during workouts these days but I’m not sure how much of  it was from not eating vs a surgery I had a few months back. Every since then, I seem to get a head rush a lot faster. I spoke with a fellow CrossFitter who recently had a surgery in the same area and he is experiencing something similar. I’ll have to consult with Dr. Google on this.

I was able to do the handstand push ups unbroken first couple of rounds and then broke them into 5s after that. The weight on the Power Cleans didn’t feel too bad. I was able to string them together as I normally do with that amount of weight.

Food

Sahoor –  I had a scrambled eggs made in olive oil (2 eggs 3 whites).  I added some green peppers, chili sauce, onions and tomatoes to it. I had one Paleo muffin left over from last week so I had that as well. I drank 1.5 liters of water. Looking back I should have had some meat in the morning to have some more energy for the workout.

Iftar – Today was a fish night and I made Peppered Lemon Tilapia. Fish has all of the nutrients an athlete needs plus more. It’s a great source of protein, it has the all of the healthy fats you need, vitamin D, calcium, etc. Who needs pasteurized milk when you have good fish?? This does require a little more time than the other dishes so plan ahead. It’s completely worth it. Also, tonight I made enough for two meals so I could have this for Sahoor as well. This recipe is for 2 servings:

      • 4 Tbs of coconut oil
      • 1 lemon
      • 4 fillets of tilapia (or catfish, salmon, etc)
      • 1 tsp of chaat masala
      • 1 tsp of crushed pepper
      • 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
      • sea salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while you prepare the fish. In an OVEN PROOF skillet (not repeating yesterday’s fiasco), heat up the coconut oil and lemon juice. Season the fish with sea salt and pepper and place into the skillet. Coat both sides and lay them side by side. Mix the chaat masala, crushed peppers, and garlic powder up and sprinkle on to the top side of the fillets. Place the fish into oven and bake it for about 30 minutes. You’ll see the pan starting to blacken but that’s ok. The liquid from the oil and lemon will keep the fish nice and moist.

I pulled out two of the fillets for dinner and added some salad to the plate. Maybe I just got lucky but the fish melted in my mouth every time I took a bite and the lemon juice that was sponged up inside would gush out. It was purely amazing and it will be making a repeat appearance. Oh since I made extra, I guess it will be making an appearance in the morning, YES! For dessert, I had a bowl of watermelon after taraweeh prayer. Perfect end to a good day for me.

Careful, It Might Be Hot

Posted: August 6, 2012 in Challenge, Food
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Hmm, I wonder if there is a direct correlation between lagged physiological response and hunger. I suffered my first burn in a long time while cooking and it’s sort of a funny story. Not only did I do it once, but twice the same way! This is after making the mistake of putting a pan with a wooden handle in the oven. I mean who does that??

I know I’ve been posting a day late recently but I will try to get back to posting sooner. Also I promised a change up in Sahoor items and I will try to do that this week. Omlette and scrambled eggs are just so easy to make! So for Sahoor I had the typical 2 egg/3 egg white omlette with a ground chicken pattie. I drank the typical 1.5 liters of water as well.

The Workout – This is a quick body weight workout that can be done literally anywhere. Just warm up your core and stretch your legs with squats and lunges.

10 rounds for time
10 hand-release push-ups
10 v-ups
10 squats
 

For Iftar, along with burning myself, I made Turmeric Chicken. Turmeric is a plant that is usually grown to powder form and used in curry based dishes. It’s used heavily in South Asian and Thai dishes. Recent research is proving some major health benefits in this plant including treating Alzheimer’s. Here is how the dish was made:

    • 1/2 lb of chicken breast, diced – seasoned with sea salt and chili powder
    • 1/2 an onion, sliced
    • 1 clove of garlic, diced
    • 1.5 tablespoon of turmeric
    • 1/2 lemon’
    • handful of cherry tomatoes
    • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
    • extra virgin olive oil
    • chopped of parsley

Coat a skillet (ahem, not a pan with a wooden handle) with olive oil and heat it up with medium heat. Once it’s warm, add in the onions and saute them for a minute or two. Add in the seasoned chicken to the skillet and let it cook for about 7-8 minutes. Add in the turmeric powder, garlic, and lemon. Stir it around and let it cook for another 10 minutes or so until it starts browning to your desire. In the mean time, set your oven to high broil. Coat your cherry tomatoes with salt and olive oil. When the chicken is done, add in the tomatoes and place the skillet in the oven. Listen for the tomatoes to start popping. Once they have popped, pull it out (with an oven mitt!) and add in the parsley. Done:

I burnt my onions a bit so that taste lingered. Other than that it smelled great and the turmeric was a great touch. Add some more greens to it and you have a meal!

So how did I burn myself? Well, my first mistake was using a pan instead of a skillet. Rookie mistake. Then, when I went to pull the pan out of the oven, my sister (assisting me) tells me it might be hot. It just didnt register in time. I found myself holding the burning hot handle thinking, hmm something isn’t right. Doh! So I came to my senses and used an oven mitt to pull it out of the oven and on to the counter. A few minutes later I went to transfer the chicken to a plate and I grabbed it again! Seriously?! I blame the hunger.

Lessons learned, pans do not go in the oven and things from the oven might be hot. Be careful kids..

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