Posts Tagged ‘Food’

Technical Controversies

Posted: July 22, 2013 in Food, Ramadan
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Today’s Iftar meal consists of a much debated paleo food, green beans. Green beans have been long debated by the paleo nerds of whether it’s truly considered paleo or not. I’m here to tell you that there is no need to get so technical. If it tastes good and your body reacts well with it, just eat it. There is no perfect recipe or meal that covers everything each human body needs. Take Rich Froning for example, the worlds fittest person and CrossFit Games winner of 2011 and 2012. He has said many times that his diet consists of a lot of chocolate milk and PB&J. That obviously works for him but I don’t suggest you and I try that on a daily basis if we expect to get anywhere. The point is, do what feels right to you within the general guidelines of healthy eating.

For Sahoor

This morning I put a little more effort into Sahoor and made a shrimp frittata. This can be made with any leftover meat you may have. I had some cooked shrimp so I used that.

  • Shrimp or other leftover meat
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 Tbsp of coconut milk
  • 1/2 cup of broccoli
  • 1 Tbsp of coconut oil
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Warm up a deep skillet with coconut oil and add in the broccoli.
  3. Once the broccoli starts to get tender, add in all of the ingredients and mix everything up.
  4. Cook for a few minutes on the skillet as everything starts to set (3-4 minutes).
  5. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes.

The frittata should puff up and be cooked all the way through. You can serve it sliced, pizza style. I added some cholula hot sauce to it and ate with a fork. It’s a subtle way to eat meat in the morning without feeling sick. Of course, hydrate!

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For Iftar

Continuing on the seafood trend for the day, I cooked up a tilapia dish for Iftar with vegetables and (gasp) green beans. This requires marinating the fish beforehand so the spices can seep in.

  • A couple of slices of tilapia
  • 1/2 tsp Sea salt
  • 1 tsp of chili powder (or to taste)
  • 1 tsp of chaat masala (or to taste)
  • 1/4 cup broccoli
  • 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
  • 1 small banana pepper, sliced
  • 1/2 cup of green beans
  • 1/2 tsp of olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp of coconut oil
  1. Marinate the fish with the salt and spices and let it sit for about 30 minutes to an hour.
  2. Warm up a pan and add in the coconut oil.
  3. Add in the fish and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes. Flip it.
  4. Put a cover over the pan and let it cook for another 4 minutes.
  5. When the fish is starting to look done, add in the broccoli, tomatoes and banana peppers.
  6. Place a cover on it, lower the heat, and let it simmer until all of the vegetables are tender.
  7. Place the greens in boiling water and place a top on it. Let it cook for about 7-10 minutes or until tender
  8. Drain the water and add in the olive oil to the pot of green beans. Mix it up.
  9. Add in a little bit sea salt and let it simmer for a few minutes on low heat.

Serve the fish with the green beans. If you want, cut up half a cucumber and dress the fish with it.

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So there you have it, a controversial paleo meal and I still feel great. Just remember, listen to your body and learn to give it what it needs, not what it wants. There is no need to dive into the technical details of what might work and what might not because truth be told, the chances of that fitting you are slim to none. At the end of the day, nutrition should be a fun thing so it doesn’t seem like a task but more of a lifestyle.

Lifestyle my friends. I hope everyone has a happy Monday!

Hydration FTW

Posted: July 19, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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The heat wave in DC continues but it’s ok, I was able to make it to the gym on time today after work and the heat wasn’t going to stop me. Today’s workout was mostly strength related so I didn’t expect there to be a lot of sweating (or at least as much as one would during a met con). I guess I underestimated the heat, even for 6.30pm because the pool of sweat I saw people swimming in as I walked into the gym disproved my assumptions real fast. This brings up a point I’ve mentioned in several entries now: hydration. I feel myself getting back on track with hydration and that I believe is the key to me being able to have enough energy when it’s time to workout. On days like today, had I not hydrated the night before and at Sahoor, there is no way I could have performed the workout successfully.

Now when I say hydrate, that also doesn’t mean you should be forcing a gallon of water into your body in the last 5 minutes of Sahoor. As good as water is for you, it can be damaging if it isn’t consumed properly. My 19 year old self can tell you a story about when he accepted a challenge to drink a liter of water in a minute. Clearly I wasn’t bright when I was 19 and it led to a painful rest of the day. Anyhow, the point is, know your body and use common sense. If you aren’t used to drinking a lot of water, start increasing your intake slowly. Your body will reject any sudden increase in water intake and pass it right through.

Here is a great calculator to determine how much water you need a day: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm

The results will seem like a lot, but keep in mind that the food you eat contains water as well so that goes towards your final count. Enough about water for now. Tomorrow I will get into the importance of electrolytes, especially during days like today and yesterday.

For Sahoor

I had been hydrating the night before so I continued that this morning. I had a tall glass of water before I started eating my typical 2 egg/ 4 egg white omelette. Then as I ate, I consumed another glass or two. Then when I finished I had more water. I didn’t keep a count but it was probably close to 40-50oz over the course of 45 minutes. My body is used to doing that so I had no problem with it.

Workout of the Day

Today’s workout was all about Power Cleans. Normally one would squat when doing a clean so you can get further underneath the bar which means you have to pull the bar up less. However, with the power clean, you are working on building a strong pull which will inevitably help you get stronger for squat cleans.

Warmup: Run 400 meters, inch worms, 2 rounds – 10 pull ups, 15 kettle bell swings, side straddles, 2 rounds – 10 squats, 10 ring rows, pvc pipe pass throughs

Spend 20 minutes to find a 1 rep max Power Clean.
-then-
at 90% of your one rep max weight – every minute on the minute do 1 power clean.

The workout felt great. I clearly didn’t have 100% percent of my strength as you can see in the video.  My legs did not land properly on some of the reps but it wasn’t terrible either. I was able to max at 225# and failed at 235#. It wasn’t a PR (personal record) but it will do. I attribute the success to being properly hydrated otherwise there is no way I could have maintained composure while lifting that bar.

For Iftar

For Iftar I made chili chicken. It’s another quick recipe that you can put together but it does require some prep ahead of time.

  • 1 lb of chicken breast, diced
  • 1/4 tsp of cumin
  • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp of chaat masala
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
  • 3 scallions, diced
  • coconut oil
  • small amount of cilantro to garnish
  1. Marinate the chicken with the cumin, chili powder, chaat masala, and salt. You can either put it in a bowl and do it or you can put the ingredients into a plastic bag and shake it up.
  2. Set the chicken mixture aside, or put it in the fridge for about an hour.
  3. Heat up a pan and put in the coconut oil
  4. Add in the chicken and let it cook. Stir often.
  5. Once the chicken starts browning, add in the scallions and peppers
  6. Add in lime juice and cilantro and stir some more.
  7. Place a top on the pan and let the chicken simmer for a few minutes before you eat it

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You can serve this with guacamole and it would taste amazing. That was my plan until I went for the avocados and saw that they were spoiled. Fail. Lesson learned, Wegman’s avocados don’t last 10 days. Oh well it’s on my shopping list for this weekend. Speaking of which, it’s the weekend! If you have any recipes or dishes you want me to try out, please let me know!

Guac Cameo

Posted: July 16, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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Those of you who followed this blog last Ramadan must be wondering where the guacamole has been hiding. Honestly I’m not sure what happened to it. I still love guac but haven’t gotten around to making it the past 7 days. Well today, even though it really didn’t fit into the dish, it made its appearance. I still love the stuff and still think it’s something I could eat everyday.

For Sahoor

I had a decent amount of Thai Red Curry from last night left over so instead of making anything new, I had a healthy serving of it with the cauliflower rice. I had a peach to go with it and plenty of water. I need to start doing this more often, making enough food the night before to eat for Sahoor the next morning. It takes a lot of pressure off of you and allows you to just sit down and eat with one eye still closed (yeah you know what I mean).

For Iftaar

This was just a bunch of randomness tonight but in the end, it filled me up and tasted great. First I had even more leftovers of the Thai Red Curry (still not complaining since I love that stuff) along with cauliflower rice. I scraped what was left of it onto my plate. Second, I made a little bit of tilapia. I followed the same recipe I did last week, minus the olives, green peppers, and shallots. Last but not least, I had some guac. The recipe was the same as last years but over time I’ve reduced the amount of garlic I put in it. I guess garlic and I have grown apart recently. Here is the recipe again:

    • 2 ripe avocados, peeled
    • 1 lemon
    • 1/2 lime
    • 1/4 tsp of cumin
    • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
    • 1/2 clove of garlic (or less, or none), minced
    • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
    • 1  tomato, diced
    • 1/2 red onion, diced
    • handful of cilantro to garnish, finely chopped (how-to)

Instructions: Put everything in a bowl and mash it up with a fork until the avocado chunks can’t be seen anymore.Simple enough and it only takes a few minutes. It tastes best served right away. If you want to save some as leftovers, make sure you put it in tupperware and refrigerate it asap.

This is what all of this randomness looked on my plate:

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Workout of the Day

I was actually able to refrain from doing the metcon today and stuck with strength training. Ok fine it wasn’t that hard to stay away. The metcon was for one of my coach’s birthday and was 35 minutes long in this heat wave. No thank you (sorry Sara, I’ll make it after Ramadan!). This workout involves olympic lifting and then a sprint metcon.

7 rounds: 1 Snatch then 3 snatch grip push presses
*heaviest weight possible
-then-
50 Burpees for time

This is what a snatch + snatch grip push press looks like:

Today overall was a good day. I didn’t have to worry about preparing much food since a lot of it was already done ahead of time. It allowed me to relax a little in the morning and get my workout on in the evening.  8 days done folks!

Asian Invasion

Posted: July 15, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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I can’t believe we are 1/4 of the ways done already! I’ve now gotten to the point where I don’t even feel hungry or thirsty anymore. Rest is normalizing as much as it can as my body gets used to being able to sleep at certain times and with a certain amount of food in my stomach. Eating clean is a huge part of how good I’m feeling. With fun dishes like this past weekend and the one tonight, the time is just flying by!

For Sahoor

Alright so there isn’t much of a recipe here. I had left overs from the weekend so I had enchiladas and meatza. I then had some watermelon to fill any remaining spaces and aid with hydration. Food still tasted great and got me through the day just fine.

For Iftaar

Today I made one of my favorite Asian dishes, Thai Red Curry. It’s a really straight forward recipe and I’ll show you how to make “fried rice” for it too. Of course rice isn’t paleo so I will be using cauliflower in its place. This recipes serves about 4 people.

For the Curry

  • 1 lb chicken thigh, sliced or diced
  • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp of chili powder
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1-2 Tbsp of Thai Curry paste. Look for the brand Aroy-D or Mae Ploy.
  • 1 cup of coconut milk, full fat
  • 1/4 cup of basil leaves, shredded
  • 1 bell pepper, sliced
  • 1 large carrot, diced
  • Other optional vegetables – Mushrooms, squash, broccoli, etc
  • Coconut Oil

For the “Fried Rice”

  • 1 head of cauliflower
  • 2 eggs
  • small ginger root, minced
  • 2 scallions, diced
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • small handful of chopped cilantro

For the Curry

  1. Heat up a pan and add in coconut oil
  2. Add in the chicken and let it brown, stirring occasionally. Once it browns, take it out and set it aside.
  3. Add the scallions to the pan and saute until they are soft.
  4. Bring the chicken back into the pan and add in the curry paste. FYI, the more curry paste you add, the spicier it will be. Start with less if you aren’t a fan of spices
  5. Stir-fry it for a couple of minutes until the smell of spices is pungent.
  6. Pour in the coconut milk, bell peppers, carrots, and any other vegetables
  7. Raise the heat to High and stir it up. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat back to medium-low and let it simmer.
  8. Leave it for about 10 minutes (or until veggies are soft) stirring occasionally.
  9. Add in the basil leaves

For the Rice

  1. Place the cauliflower into a food processor and hit go.
  2. Add eggs to a pan with coconut oil and whisk. Make it an omelette and remove it from the pan
  3. Add in the scallions and salt to the pan.
  4. Saute until they are browning and then add in the ginger. Stir for about 1/2 a minute and then add cauliflower.
  5. Put a lid on it and turn the heat to low. Leave it that way for about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Slice the omelette and add it and the cilantro into the mix. Stir it all up again and leave on the stove for another couple minutes until the cauliflower is soft.
  7. Remove it from the pan and into a dish.

Serve the curry with the rice. Keep it separate until you are ready to eat other wise everything gets soggy.20130715_205619 20130715_20563620130715_205936

It turned out to be great. The cauliflower obviously has a little more pungent taste than regular rice but when mixed with the curry, you could barely tell that you were eating a paleo meal. It tasted great, wasn’t super complicated to make, and most importantly, it’s healthy.

I’m craving some right now. Luckily there were leftovers so it will probably make an appearance tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!

No WOD today. I had a busy personal day and wasn’t able to cook early enough to go work out. Tomorrow for sure though! If not, someone yell at me to keep me accountable. Thanks.

Trading the Grain for Almond

Posted: July 14, 2013 in Challenge, Food, Ramadan
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Today I made a couple of dishes that are usually heavy in starch, carbs, sugar, and everything else that leaves you with a stomach ache. For the most part, it’s as simple as swapping out the grain for almond flour! I made pancakes for Sahoor and enchiladas for Iftar. The recipes below are examples of how you can still enjoy everyday food without feeling guilty or fat.

For Sahoor

This is a recipe for about 2 servings of Paleo Pancakes with syrup. Huh? Syrup? Just read on..

For the Syrup:

  1. Pour the juice into a sauce pan and and heat over high. Bring it to a slight broil.
  2. Once it starts to broil, lower the heat to medium and let it reduce. This takes about 10 minutes but in my experience, once it starts to reduce, it goes fast and becomes thick. You want it to thicken up a bit but too much is annoying.
  3. Once it’s at syrup thickness, take it off the stove and let it cool for a little bit before pouring it on your pancakes.

For the Pancakes:

  1. In a bowl, mix the almond flour, baking powder, sea salt, and cinnamon.
  2. In a seprate bowl, mix the milk and eggs. Mash in a banana if you want to.
  3. Combine into a cup that you will use to pour the mixture into the pan. I use a measuring cup that has a spout. Mix it all up.
  4. Heat up a skillet and add a little bit of coconut oil to it
  5. Pour less than 1/4 cup of the mixture into the skillet at a time.
  6. Cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes or until the sides start to brown up
  7. Flip and cook the other side for only a minute or so. Be careful while flipping, these are very fragile and take one or two rounds to get the feel of it before you can flip them without breaking them. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Once everything was done, I placed the pancakes on to a plate, put a little bit of the Kerrygold butter on top and then drizzled syrup on it. Tasted better than packaged pancake batter and kept me full in a healthy way throughout the day.

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For Iftar

I love Mexican food. Mexican food does not like human bodies or else it wouldn’t be so evil. It helped Mexico beat America in becoming the fattest country in the world! I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. Today with the assistance of my sister, I made open enchiladas. This dish is a little more time consuming to make so plan ahead and have a partner. It serves 2-3 people.

For Enchiladas:

  • 1 lb of chicken, diced (you can actually use whatever meat you want)
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2-3 tsp of chili powder
  • 1 tsp of cumin
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  • coconut oil

For Tortillas

  • 4 tablespoons of Almond Flour
  • 1/4 tsp of baking powder
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 table spoons of almond or coconut milk
  • 1 tsp coconut oil per tortilla
  1. Preheat your oven to 370 degrees
  2. Place the meat onto a baking dish and bake it for about 15 minutes
  3. Heat up a pan and saute the onions on medium heat until they become soft.
  4. Add in the tomato puree, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Stir it up while it simmers on low heat for about 15-20 minutes
  5. Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until it’s a smooth sauce.
  6. Place the tortillas in the baking dish and place the almost cooked chicken on top of them.
  7. Pour the enchilada sauce on top.
  8. Cover the enchiladas with aluminum foil and place back into the over for about 10 minutes.
  9. Cut up an avocado and some lime to enjoy with the dish.

Making the tortillas is pretty simple. Adjust the amount of ingredients to make how many you want. I would make these during step 4 above.

  1. In a bowl or cup that has a spout, mix in the almond flour, baking powder, eggs, and milk. Mix until all of the lumps are gone.
  2. Heat up a pan and add in coconut oil.
  3. Pour the batter into the pan. Move the pan around to thin it out. You can make the tortillas small if you want to make open enchiladas like I did or make them large if you plan on wrapping them closed.
  4. Cook for about 1 minute and flip them. Cook for another 30 seconds or so and they are done.

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So there you have it. Delicious meals that normally would have you feeling guilty for a week done in a healthy way. I hope you enjoy them!

Know Thy Limits

Posted: July 11, 2013 in Challenge, Food
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A jam packed day 3 is in the books and it was full of stupid decisions by this guy. Well really just one big stupid decision and it came when I went to the gym. More on that in a bit. Hunger wise I found my self holding up real well today so my body is starting to get used to it. I was working from home today so I was able sleep an extra hour or 3 which helped. I felt a little hungry in the morning and felt a bit dehydrated during the workout. Based on past experience, the first part will go away on its own but the second part will require some effort from me. I need to start hydrating better! It’s not easy chugging water in the morning after you’ve just eaten so I have to find a better way. Coach Dan B. once told me to start hydrating the night before. I’ll have to stop being lazy and try that advice out. We’ll see how many times I wake up in the middle of the night…

For Sahoor

I had a bit smaller omelette this morning, 2 egg yokes and 3 egg whites. This freed up room for some mashed up sweet potatoes I had left over from the other night. Sweet potatoes is another thing I found that keeps me full for longer and gives me good energy. I also had an apple, fuji of course, and drank about 64 oz of water. The water intake is going to have to increase if I want to WOD in this heat. Other than that, this meal held me up very well throughout the day so you will see this pop up again.
Again, I promise I have some fun recipes outside off just eggs coming up. These first few days of Ramadan have just been hectic with all of the adjustments.

For Iftar

I’ve made chicken dishes for the past few days so it was time to switch it up. Today I made a Greek-ish fish meal.

2 filets of tilapia
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed pepper flakes
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup of olives, halved
1/4 green pepper, sliced
2 shallots, diced
extra virgin olive oil
*Disclaimer* – I like my food spicy so adjust the peppers to your taste

Mix the chili powder, black pepper, crushed pepper, lemon juice, and salt into a bowl. Coat the fish with this mixture. In the mean time, warm up a pan and add olive oil to it. Once the  oil is warm, make sure the stove is on medium heat and place the marinated fish on the pan. Fish cooks fairly fast so keep an eye on it. I cooked it for about 12 minutes.

While that cooks, heat up another pan and add about a Tbsp of olive oil to it. Once the oil is warm, add the olives, green peppers, and shallots to the pan. Saute this for a few minutes constantly mixing it. Once they appear done, turn the stove to the lowest setting and finish cooking the fish.
Once the fish is done, place it on a plate, add the olive mixture on top and you have yourself a great finding nemo meal. If you like a tangier taste, squeeze some lemon juice on the fish.

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WOD

Ladder with a Partner – Reps are done between two people.
10 Burpees
20 Toes to Bar (on a pull up bar)
30 lunges
40 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls with a Kettle Bell
50 Squats
40 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls with a Kettle Bell
30 lunges
20 Toes to Bar (on a pull up bar)
10 Burpees
-Then-
Partner Core Work – switch off with partner as often as you want. Not for time.
Partner hold plank – other partner does 20 Toes to Bar
Partner hangs from a bar – other partner does 30 Pull Ups
Partner holds handstand – other partner does 15 hand stand pushups
Partner holds squat – other partner does 50 hollow rocks

This is where I got a little senseless. I had wanted to start out slow and just do strength training today. However when I got to the gym, I saw it was a fun little partner metcon. Next thing you know I’m warming up to do it. I survived the WOD pretty well but then there were extra core workouts we were to do. Half way into the core work, the dizziness from dehydration hit me hard. I had to stop for a little while before I got back into it. Of course that was the big mistake. I should have quit when I had the chance. I finished the hollow rocks but life was not fun for the next 15 minutes or so. Luckily I didn’t get sick or pass out but I don’t think I was far off. I guess it’s part of the adjustment so this shouldn’t scare anyone off from working out. Just know your limits and know at what point you have to stop. This isn’t your everyday working out. It takes a whole different level of thought and today, I left all that at home. Oh well lesson learned. 

On to tomorrow!

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

Craving the Curry

Posted: August 7, 2012 in Food
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So let’s be honest, I’m from a Pakistani family and I love Thai food. It was only a matter of time before I would crave some curry based dish. I had some extra time today so I decided to make something curry-ish for Iftar that was Paleo friendly.

First though, for Sahoor I had scrambled eggs (2 eggs, 3 egg white) mixed with onions and tomatoes. I had some tilapia left over from last night that I added to it. I’m not sure if I have ever had fish and eggs before but it was a good combo. The lemon juice was still sponged in the fish, even after sitting in the fridge all night and then being heated up. It was spicy so no need for spices on the eggs. I drank about a liter of water as well.

Iftar

The curry dish I made was Chicken and Vegetables curry. It takes a little longer and requires more attention to make than my normal chicken dishes but it’s probably because it required several things going on at one time. I’ll try to make the instructions as clear as possible.

    • 1/2 lb of skinless chicken thigh, diced
    • 1/4 can of coconut milk
    • 1/4 onion, sliced
    • handful of broccoli, chopped up
    • 1 carrot, shaved
    • 1 tsp of garlic, minced
    • 1 tsp of ginger, minced
    • 1 tsp of curry powder
    • 3-4 plum tomatoes
    • sea salt and black pepper
    • 4 Tbs of coconut oil

Add 2 Tbs of coconut oil in to a hot pan and add in the chicken. Let the chicken brown, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt and black pepper on it. While the chicken cooks, add 2 Tbs of coconut oil to a hot skillet and drop in the onions. Saute the onions for about 5-10 of minutes until they show signs of browning.

While the onions are being done, place the the broccolli and carrot shavings into a pot full of water and put it on the stove to steam. Mix it up once in a while until they get tender.

Now back to the onions. Add in the curry powder, garlic, and ginger to the skillet and saute it for a couple of minutes. Add in the coconut milk and let it simmer for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Add in the steamed vegetables and chicken to the skillet. Stir frequently for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender and chicken looks done. Pour it on to a plate and serve with some chopped tomatoes.

It took some effort and caused a mess in the kitchen but it was so worth it. Another great Paleo meal in the books! Only thing I would have changed is that I let the coconut milk simmer too long so it evaporated a bit. Great, now I’m hungry again..

The Workout

Today was a rest day. Tomorrow will be an interesting day because I will be doing a weigh in and strength check. I don’t expect to be making any strength gains this month but the goal was to try to maintain as much as possible. Will I match my existing PRs? Will I hit a new PR?? Tune in tomorrow!

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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