So I'm just going to jump right in

Hello all. Happy 2015. Shit, I think I haven't posted in like 6 months or... 9. Whatever. I've been busy, what can I say. When you have two kids the time seems to move at light speed.

Well, two things to start off. I'm still Crossfitting after 4 years and I'm still cooking and trying new recipes. I'll admit the recipes are not 100% paleo but there is a definite influence there. I'm more about gluten free and just good clean tasting food. I'm proud to say 99% of it is clean, ie., no hard sugars, no wheat, no fried or junk ingredients. And yes, I'm still gluten free after 3 years. It's really not even a choice anymore, nor is it something I even think about. I'm smart enough to know by now what to eat and what not to eat. With that being said, I have a ton of new recipes, some my own, some from paleo cookbooks that you may or may not have tried. I'll get to posting them soon.

Sigh. As far as the crossfitting... well, yes, I'm still a crossfitter. That won't change. I have however cut back significantly on my weight training. It seems as though I'm not recovering as well as I used to. Not sure what changed or dare I use age as an excuse, but it's the truth. But hey, I'm 43 and I can still put up a 3rm squat clean at 85. I don't go all out doing the hero or lady wods anymore. And you know what, I'm sure that seems like a shite comment but hey, I'm not working towards the games or competitions. I just want to stay fit and do something I really love. And honestly after all these years I still love it.... even if it's about 2-3 days a week. I still love wrapping my hands around the bar and pushing myself. I just don't do it 6 days a week. Kudos to you that do. Like my husband who still gets out there at 6:30 am 5 days a week and works until he's sweating in a 20 degree garage. Ok, we did get new garage doors so maybe its like 35.


Anyway, my kids should be home in a few, hence, my me time is coming to an end.

So, here I am

Happy 2014... eight months late. I can't believe I haven't posted since Christmas. I can't possibly bore you with all the details of the past months, or can I? Actually I can't even remember so there you go. We did celebrate the New Year in the mountains with good friends which was fantastic. The rest of the winter was, cold. Snowy. Cold. Oh yeah and snowy. Lets not go back there anytime soon.

So my reason for posting was I just remembered August 10th was my 4th year of Crossfit. Four years. Still going stron...... eh, medium. And that lead me to remembering my blog. Not that I totally forgot it, just been busy is all.

Lets see, my little guy will be starting first grade in a few weeks which means for the first time in 9 years, I will have no children home with me during the day. Let me repeat I will have NO CHILDREN HOME WITH ME. Do I sound excited? Truth be told, I'm 50/50. Sad to see my babies grow up and move on, but happy to see my babies grow up and move on. It will be an exciting time for my little guy and I'm looking forward to his experience with full day schooling. He's always been home with me, at least part of the day for the past 7 years and it will be an adjustment for all of us. Me moreso than him. I may cry, but they will be tears of joy. Yeah, joy.

Anyway, so on with my workouts. I'm still Crossfitting after 4 years. I still love it, I still look forward to a good hard workout, although my tastes are changing. Most days I would much rather do strength work than a metcon. I mean, lets face it metcons suck. Not that I won't do one, but in the summer I get a chance to work in other sports too like rock climbing (which I love), riding the bike, kayaking, walking/running, hiking, skateboarding and hopefully soon surfing and hang gliding. So it's not like I don't get decent workouts in all the time. Rock climbing is a new experience for the Chase household and we all had a great time. The kids took to it rather well and put in some good hard work. I was surprised there was no fear or tears. Me, I almost cried the first time I let go of the wall to repel down. That was hell-a-frightening, but I got over it and had a great time.

Well, my time has run out. Things to do. Hopefully I'll get back on in a few and update on the new fantastic recipes I've come across. Two hints, Against All Grain and Paleo Happy Hour. Love.

Christmas is the time to say....

no thank you! Sigh. Why is it so hard to say no to the peppermint mocha lattes, warm apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate torte after all these years? Oh I know, because I'm human. Right. I'm not gonna lie, I've gained a few pounds, just a few and no one would probably notice but hell, once I start down that path of "I'll just have a bite, It's just one Milky Way or Hey, I have a gift card!"and yes,  I'm talking to YOU Starbucks! It's makes it that much harder to say no. I'm sorry, I love you peppermint white chocolate mocha latte.

Ok, so I'm trying to make piece with myself about enjoying the holidays, not meaning I'm going to eat my face off because the gluten free gods know I can't really do that. Just that I'm not going to stress over the fact I had a 'real' cookie or a slice of heavenly wheat flour and sugar filled apple pie. I'm going to make old fashion Pilsbury sugar cookies with the kids (and their friends) because not everything needs to be about me and what I can and can't eat. Is it healthier for the kids to eat my usual almond flour, maple syrup sweetened cookies? Probably but hey, it's Christmas and with the limited time I have to spend with them while they are little and somewhat adorable, I'm going to use it wisely.

So I'm finished shopping. Can't friggen believe it. First time ever. Well, I'm 99.5% done. I have a few little teacher gifts to get and something for the inlaws' inlaws. I'm hosting Christmas Eve this year which means lots of planning and cooking and baking and cooking and baking and tequila here and there to calm the nerves. The menu is set for the most part and it should be delicious. Not quite as 'clean' as it should be but gluten, refined sugar and over processed free. If I remember I'll try to take some pics and post the recipes, at least for the dishes Bob and I created on our own which include a citrus kale salad with walnuts and shallot and sweet potato casserole with baked apples and pears. Fabulous.

Workouts have been pretty decent. I'm going with my own programming for a few weeks. Not quite as intense as the strength bias program, but along the same lines by making sure I work in deadlifts, shoulder press and back squats every week. I've been feeling great so I must be doing something right. I figure after 3 years I should be able to program myself a few times a week and follow Outlaw for cleans, snatches and conditioning in between.

Holy Yoga!

Decided to do yoga 'for athletes' this morning. Wow. I'm sorry, I just can't bend like that. What do you mean put my hand behind my back and grab the other hand under my crotch? Oh no no no no, that ain't happenin my friend. It was insanely hard but I felt GREAT 5 minutes after. I really need to get back to doing it at least once every 2 weeks or so. Even if I have to modify a bit.

Lets see... my diet. Well, it has been shitty as of late. Actually since Halloween. My kids brought home 15lbs of candy. Seriously. It was obnoxious. If I was a good paleo/primal practicing mom I would have let the kids trade it in for a toy or money if they agreed but I'm not, so yes, I still have candy in my pantry. They haven't really touched it in weeks but it's still in there. The chocolate lover in me refuses to throw it away. The other reason for my poor dieting is just plain ole lack of control. 'Sure I'll have baked pineapple butter sugar dough casserole, hell give me another scoop! And add some of those oreo crumble truffles and a piece of pumpkin pie.' Yep, that was Thanksgiving this year for me. Not one of my finest moments. And yes, I paid the price that night. Hello gluten baby. But, my workout the next day was pretty good thanks to all the extra calories and carbs. I did Dirty Diane in 8 min. Not the best time, but I felt good and sometimes that's all that matters. In all reality though, the diet isn't that bad. I've been snacking more than usual but dinners are still on track. Stuffed chicken breast with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes, big salad with egg, avocado, pears and prosciutto over arugula and baby spinach.... still awesome. And I promise next time I do the chicken (since I've made it a few times now) I'll post the recipe. It's pretty damn good if you like artichokes or are looking for a different way to serve chicken. Lets face it, chicken is boring, the more recipes the better.

Speaking of new recipes. I've just about had it with eggs. I've done every possible combination known to man and some days, the thought of eating another egg makes me cry. So after taking a short break, I made eggs for breakfast today. And a thought occurred to me while deciding if I wanted fried or scrambled. Why not just saute my meat and veggies, in this case shrooms, green peppers and ham and just break the eggs in over top. If they break I'll have a loose scramble, if they don't I'll have a yummy fried egg. They actually came out terrific. One egg yolk broke the other didn't so I had this nice mix of runny yolk with my sauted veggies. Delicious. It's the little things.

Off to go shopping. 85% done. Go me.

Thanks for giving... and all that

Yeah yeah, I'm here. Still cooking, crossfitting, painting, dj'ing, skateboarding, writing... although not blogging. DJ you say? Yes. And I'm a natural if I must say so myself. I'm actually doing it right now (via the iPad) as I type this and it still sounds pretty good. Anyway, life has taken me in a different direction lately. Blogging, as much as I hate to say, has taken a back seat. Something has to give. I'm not Wonder Woman. Well, I'll never admit it publicly. The only reason I'm writing now is because my husband recently asked me if I've added a certain recipe to my blog. God no. I can't seem to make the time anymore. Not sure what the hell happened but needless to say, I haven't been able to get one up in months. I know, thats what she said.

So what have I been up to. The long short of it is. I don't know. I just don't. One day I'm happily scribbling down my recipes on a note pad beside the oven and cramming in the last season of Game of Thrones and Grey's Anatomy, next thing I know it's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm Christmas shopping my face off. Yes, I actually started earlier this year than ever. Doesn't mean I'll be finished sooner, I just won't have to spend endless amounts of time on "Huh, I wonder if dad would like a Pepperidge Farm beef stick this year?" Shudder.

We have added a new member to the family this past few weeks. George the Elf. He hasn't caused any mischief yet but I think he just needs a little time to adjust to his new family. I'm guessing he may start off small by tying everyones shoelaces together or something. Small yet insanely annoying. If you were thinking we may have gotten an animal, hell no. I'm still enjoying not cleaning up shit after 8 years.

Wods have been ok. Still plugging along 4-5 days a week. This time of year it's a little harder with my limited alone time I've been using it to shop and get holiday stuff done. Also the kids always have those 'parents come in and help bake, clean, make, craft, watch days' at school. I've volunteered quite a few times and figure next week I'll put in the last of my required hours for the year.

Still doing Outlaw programming although supplementing with a little strength bias here and there to work deadlifts back in. My back has been bugging me for a while and I wasn't quite sure why. I now know it's because Rudy doesn't program deadlifts very often and the lack of was hurting me. So now I do some 5x3's once a week and it's helped already. No need for the old lady heating pad anymore. Nothing new to report on the PR front, still working my cleans and snatches. They are improving slowly. I'm also still coaching my mom friend. She's doing well, hanging in there and doing whatever I tell her to do which is nice.

Oh well, time to head out got to pick up the kids. Recipes should start again soon.

Hello? Is it me you're looking for....

Wow, ok so it's October and my last post was the first week of August. So what have I done on my summer vacation?

The summer ended with a fantastic vacation in The Outer Banks NC. Between the fabulous weather, good friends, excellent meals and the fact that all our children were content to spend every waking minute playing nicely on the beach or in the pool, it was one of the most relaxing vacations we have had in a very long time. Anyone with small children will know 'family vacations' are usually anything but. We did not get to take surfing lessons but did get a fun 1/2 hour on the wave runners with the kids. I was with my daughter this year who had to keep reminding me I was going too slow. Yeah, 37 on a wave runner is fast enough for me. All I heard was 'daddy got his up to 42!'. Hey how about a thank you for taking me out on the wave runner for my birthday!?

Yes my kids both had birthdays in the past 2 months too. My daughter is now 8 and the dude is 6. And let me just tell you before you get any crazy ideas about having 9 girls between the ages of 8-10 over for a sleep over, DON'T DO IT. It was a waking nightmare. They all arrived about 7 and I lost control about 7:15. It was a crazy high pitched scream festival filled with candy, makeup, nail polish and drama. Oh the drama. They of course had a blast, Bob and I on the other hand were awake until 3am when I finally yelled at them to go to bed or I was going to start calling their parents to come pick them up. I now understand why parents shill out $300 on parties at Bounce U and other germ infested money suckers. It's totally worth it even if we all catch some flesh eating bacteria. Bud's birthday on the other hand was great. He had a few little friends over had some ice cream cake, candy and chased each other around with plastic guns and foam swords. A little boys dream.

Workouts. Well, between coaching my moms, vacation, Bob taking time off and having only 2 hours of free time, they have suffered. I've definitely lost some strength this summer which was apparent 2 weeks ago when I struggled to get a 185 back squat. My 1rm a few months ago was 205. I am however gaining in cleans and snatches and hit a new 3rm pr on clean and jerk at 95. The Outlaw Way programming has really helped me with that. And with the amount of back squat programming they do I should be up to 215 but like I said, I haven't been the best student. Hopefully I can get my shit together and get back on track. What I need to do is get started earlier so I can get my strength done first then do a metcon with the moms when they get here. The problem has been scaling. Some of the Outlaw stuff is way too much for them even scaled down. We've been managing but it's time consuming to find a good sub, watch and correct while I'm trying to do my own thing. What I'll probably have to do is take rest days and just teach, then on days they don't come over, do my own wods. I do enjoy it and so do they I assume... Even when I'm beating them up. Bob and I have been riding the bikes a least once a week putting in about 12-15 miles each time. That has been great and am looking forward to getting a road bike some day. I can't believe I just said that.

And believe it or not, I bought my own long board last week and bombed my first big hill that same night. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to do that but hey we all have to learn some time. Luckily for me when I got 'the shakes' (and if you have ridden a skateboard before you know exactly what I mean) I was able to keep it loose and not fall on my face doing 30 miles per hour. Yes, I bought a brain case too. Once I hit the bottom the street starts to go up a bit so I was able to naturally slow down without having to bail in someone's front yard. I'll tell you what, even though it was scary as hell, it was so god damn exciting that I couldn't stop smiling. Although, I won't be doing that again anytime soon. I might be dumb but I'm not stupid.

Skateboarding love

Thank god for vacation bible school camp. For 3 hours a day for the next 2 weeks my house will be quiet and clean. I won't have to listen to 'but she, well I, can we, it's my turn', well,  at least for a few hours a day anyway. Pure heaven.

*Edit - it's been 8 days since I started this post so technically I have 2 days left of my meager alone time in which I still can't seem to find time to actually get a post completely written and published.

Nothing special to report on the wod front. Still plugging away at The Way's programming. They've been ok. And by ok I really mean heavy and time consuming. Finally finished the Smolov squatting series. Man that sucked. I think I managed an average of 100 squats a week all between 80-90%. I did do my 1rm retest the other day and am still stuck at 205. Maybe it just wasn't a good day. Next time I'll have to actually eat breakfast first. I know. Duh. I'm so used to working out fasted that it really doesn't seem to affect me so much anymore with the exception of the strength test days... as it would seem.

The summer has been flying by and what have I been doing? Well, I took a few days off to move the kids rooms and paint. My daughter has graduated into the 'big room' and has been enjoying rubbing her friends faces in it. Not only was it a ton of work moving the furniture from room to room but I had to pick the hottest week EVER to do this. It was 100 degrees and a million percent humidity.

Bob and I decided to drain and move the pool since it was ever so slowly rolling down the backyard. That was a big pain in the ass, but it's level now and if the sun ever comes out again we'll be able to enjoy it once more.

My other new found passion this summer has been something quite unexpected for me, skateboarding. Bob got himself a long board for father's day this year and has spent most of his free time this summer cruising around the neighborhood while trying to teach the rest of us how to do it. As expected I was the most reluctant to just hop on give it a go so needless to say it took some a lot of liquid courage in the form of tequila before I would even let Bob talk me into it. My kids however fell in love with it immediately and my daughter now has her own board. Bud soon to follow I'm sure. Me on the other hand, well, I've been practicing the past few weeks and with my 7 year olds encouraging words, I have finally gotten to the point where I can ride down my street by myself. Let me tell you, the first ride was so fucking scary and yet exhilarating at the same time. Now I'm hooked.  And hell, it's just another fun outdoor activity the family can do together. Anything to get Bud away from the incessant use of technology.

With that, my free time has come to end, time to get the kids.

summertime

Summer is here and I'll tell ya, what the hell was I thinking when I said 'oh in the summer when the kids are finished school I'll have plenty of time to start The Outlaw Way programming'. Holy shit. First of all some days it's taking me an hour just to get thru warm up and barbell gymnastics let alone the strength and metcon. The kids are normally good about my exercise time but anything longer than an hour and I'm asking for trouble. Bud could care less what I do as long as he has the iPad but H needs to be busy and that involves me doing something...which 90% of the time, it's something I don't want to do.

And lucky me, I seemed to have joined The Way programming in the middle of this Smolov squat series. I got in on the second 3 week session and wow it is a tough one. Last week I couldn't make my 8x4 @160 and had to lower to 145. The other day I was able to get them at 160 but it was a struggle and I swear I almost blew a blood vessel on the last one. At this point I believe I've done about 156 squats in about 9 days. Yeah right? All of them pretty heavy too. 70%-85% of 200. Heavy enough. I'm pretty sure this is the last week so I'll be curious for my next 1RM test. If I was smart I would have done the CF total a few weeks ago then done it again after this session but sometimes I'm just not that smart.

Other wods have been pretty good lately now that I'm about 99% healthy. No, I just can't give myself that  1% because there is always something bugging me. Lately it's been my thumb and wrist, actually right in the middle between my thumb and forefinger. Hurts like a mother when I extend all the way or do something like grip and twist a door knob. I have no clue as to how it happened but it's been lingering for about 2 weeks now and is very annoying. Anyway, I did this ass kicker over the weekend. Oh my. 12 min amrap of 100' burpee broad jumps, 100' walking oh lunges with a 25# plate. Ok first of all, I'm short and so is my 'broad' jump. Yeah, the 'broad' part  is suspect, so needless to say I did more burpees than I would have liked. Walking lunges are already terrible let alone holding a plate over your head. Maybe I'm complaining more because it was so stinking hot that day, don't know but it certainly sucked. And this was after 35 back squats so my legs were already jelly.

Oh well. Suck it up and move on.

Off to go watch the kiddies in the pool 

I'm back! Sort of....

I can't even begin to remember what has been happening the past ummm, month or so since I last posted but all I know is I've been sick for the past 10 days, I made a pretty damn good stuffed chicken breast dinner last week and I got my first kipping pull ups.

So where to begin. Well, it's finally starting to wind down in the Chase household. Bud graduated preschool last week and the baseball/softball season is coming to a close. H will wrap up school this week and has her final softball game Thursday night under the lights on the 'big girl' field. It's been a pretty fun season for both of them. H really enjoyed playing and has already requested to play next year.

Bob and I have been busy as usual not only with the kids scheduled parties and play dates but between me starting to make the rounds with some touch up painting (trim and ceilings right now), coaching my moms in the garage, working on new recipes and him busy with work, the yard, the pool and replacing the bathroom sink it seems like the time has just flown by without a break. We did have one fantastic weekend a few weeks ago when it was really hot. We spent ALL day outside in the pool with the kids, I brought everything outside and cooked dinner on the grill, Bob brought the barbell out into the grass and kept our glasses filled with tequila... it was a much needed relaxing family bonding time weekend for all of us. I'm hoping we can get a few more of those in this summer... if it ever stops raining.

The garage mom training is going well. Well, was going well. I've been sick for almost 2 weeks, A has some sort of sickness and muscle spasm thing (not related to me and training thank god) and the other 2 have been busy with kid stuff. Hopefully next week we'll all get a chance to start fresh and keep a good schedule.

Speaking of that, I'm going to give myself one week to get back on the horse after this bout of sickness before I start on The Way's programming. Eeek. I'm making some good progress so it's time to move on and take it up another notch. And finally after almost 3 years of blood sweat and tears, literally, I was able to manage some kipping pull ups! Not sure how or why all of a sudden, but I finally got it. They were ugly and I could only manage about 3 at a time but it's a start. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with the fact that my shoulders are, dare I say 100%. Knock on wood, I haven't had any pain in months. I did however end up pretty sore on Saturday from the kipping. Wow. I must have done something right. Anyway, looking forward to practicing more so I can actually feel confident enough to try for my level 1. Yes, I think Bob and I are going to do it. We may get some help with the finance end of it, now all I have to do is look over the requirements and just get it over with. I'm hoping once Bud is in school full day I'll have enough time and experience under my belt to actually get a real job. We'll see.

Recipes? Lets see, last week I made this bacon wrapped stuffed chicken dish on the fly and it came out really well. Once I tweak a few technique issues, I'll post. Stuffing chicken is not my favorite thing to do since it's messy and could easily go horribly wrong in an instant, but, it is better than boring plain ole grilled or sauteed chicken. I had another go at stuffed peppers, trying to change it up. That still needs some work too. They were good but there is room for improvement. I don't make deserts so nothing new there other than I found that Talenti salted caramel gelato, which if you haven't tried it, it's freaking awesome, now comes in a dark chocolate covered popsicle. Yeah, it's no good for you but if you're going to treat yourself, treat yourself. Unfortunately when I bought them I was going thru this 'I've gained weight and not good weight, no junk for me ever again!' phase so Bob ate them all before I could try them. Oh well. Yes, I put on some good muscle weight, but I also added a little bad weight. Too much snacking but I cleaned up and cut out some little things and feel much better. Dropped 5lbs in a week so yeah, bad weight.

Got some stuff to get done outside before the rain, again. Gah. Oh and the garden has been great minus the little baby bunnies that ate ALL my spinach. We even put a fence. They still got at it. Bastards.

Ok, so it's been weeks

since I last posted. I'm sure I've mentioned before, I have no time anymore and I'm not quite sure what happened there. I also haven't been in the kitchen testing and making anything post worthy lately. Not that we haven't been eating well, but nothing has come up that I thought I needed to share. With that being said, I'm going to have to just post recipes when I can. Not sure what I was thinking when I said I would post one every week cause clearly, that ain't happenin.

Hmm, so what have I done. Well, I've added two more ladies to my list, Elizabeth and Helen. Both great wods. I could not do Liz as rx'd but came in close with 85# and 10 minutes. Helen was rx'd at 13 minutes. Most of my wods have been pretty good lately and I almost got a cool 95# on my shoulder press. I tried just for the hell of it and almost got it. Last year I struggled with 85. I will be starting The Way wods in a few weeks, probably when my little guy is finished school so I'll actually have time to get thru them. Overall been feeling good. My body has taken a beating with close to 200 kettlebell swings in 24 hours but it's all good. I feel stronger than ever, my shoulder pain is almost non existant and I'm still making good gains.

The girls are still with me in the garage gym and actually coming along quite nicely. I've decided to just have them do scaled versions of my Outlaw wods. Snicker snicker. There has been a lot of whining and complaining but overall, I think they like it. They keep coming back so I'll keep beating them up. We haven't been working on snatches or front squats yet and only briefly touched on cleans, deadlifts and overhead squats (with the stick). But as far as everything else, the girls are making some great improvements. Once school is over and things settle down we'll all have more time to devote to actual lifting which I'm looking forward too. Just last week Ali was able to back squat 2x3 @85 and do 30/ 45# thrusters. This is someone who has never done anything like this before so I think she is starting to see that this 'weightlifting thing' is no joke.

We haven't tried any new recipes lately, at least nothing to brag about. Now that it is warming up it's salad season for us. Nothing like a good hearty salad. My favs lately have been marinated artichoke hearts, radishes, olive medleys and arugula. I've been adding them to everything. Left over chicken, shrimp, tuna fish... it's all good. Recipe tip for you right there! See, I'm not a complete slacker.

The future coach K?

In my quest to do all the girls this year, I'm 5 down with 25 more to go? I don't know. A lot. Elizabeth was on the menu today. Love cleans, don't love dips but I am making progress on them. I came in at 10 minutes using 85# and doing the dips on the handles of our ghd. I can do ring dips but not 45 of them with any consistency. Last weekend I screwed my right wrist up, not sure how but it's still bothering me. Now that we have The Book in the house, I've tried the dreaded and painful floss band technique a few times hoping that would give me some relief. Unsure if it is or it's just a matter of rest and time. Neither of which I can afford.

Since the last time I've posted my training partner has made some great progress. And since then, we now have another victim, err... puppy (I'm stealing the 'puppy' term from BrandX because it is fitting) in training and possibly a third tomorrow. Not that I don't love that there is interest in all things Crossfit, but hell, I'm stretched to my max right now. Programming for 3 is challenging. Ali has been thru all the basic lifts and movements so the past week now she has been doing modified versions of either my Outlaw wod or mainsite which has been great for both of us. Everyone always needs a little competition/motivation. I don't get it that often. But Krista doesn't know most of the lifts and movements yet. Unfortunately for her I think that she's going to learn on the fly for most of it. She's pretty strong and athletic already. She has good flexibility and can actually do one unassisted pull up so honestly I think she'll be able to handle most of what I throw at her if she sticks with it. I'm hoping once summer rolls around we'll all be less pressed for time with kid stuff and I'll be able to really get them moving some decent weight and push them harder. Now if I only had more equipment.

I wil say this, even though this has been time consuming and throwing my schedule out of whack, I'm learning a little more each day. When you're explaining how to do a back squat or throw a wall ball, something that I take for granted after 3 years, you realize that A, you know more than you think you do and B, it's really hard to describe something that seems to come natural like squatting. I'm amazed at how many people physically cannot get down in that position. For me, as someone who can express more with her face than words, it's hard to watch sometimes lets be honest. But you gotta start somewhere.

Anyway, so my goal is to get these ladies in shape this summer and hopefully turn this into something worth while. Maybe if we're lucky Bob and I can get certified and really do this for real one day.

Recipe: Kale, bacon and shallot stuffed chicken breast

This was a spur of the moment 'I have all those ingredients' meal and it came out fantastic. Chicken is boring so I'm always trying to think of new ways to serve it. Stuffing it isn't fun and it's messy, but it is worth it in the end. For you people who do a bit of dairy every so often, add some blue cheese. You'll thank me later. Not the best photo but by the time it was time to eat, I forgot. Happens sometimes.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts
serves 2 

What you need:
2 skinless breasts
2 good handfuls of chopped kale
1/2 medium shallot, sliced thin
3-4 pieces uncured bacon
kosher salt & pepper
couple nuggets blue cheese *optional

toothpicks or string to secure chicken

What to do:
Chop bacon into pieces, (not too small) and cook it in a cast iron or chefs pan til it's crispy but not burned. Meanwhile chop kale into bite size pieces and slice shallot. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and put aside. Cook kale and shallot in bacon fat for about 7-8 minutes on medium high heat, sprinkle with salt and pepper.


While that stuff is cooking place chicken on cutting board, cover with plastic wrap and pound the crap out of it until it's relatively thin. Salt and pepper both sides.

Preheat oven 350. 

When kale is wilted and the onion is translucent remove from the pan with the slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl with the bacon. We want any bacon fat to sear the chicken. Let kale mixture cool a bit. Once cooled place half of the mixture in the center of the chicken, almost like you're making a taco. (If you can remember how to do that) Add your blue cheese if using. Start rolling at one end, then secure closed with a few toothpicks or string. Toothpicks are way easier. Don't overstuff.

Heat cast iron on high, add a little more fat, 1-2 tbsp if needed. Your reserved bacon fat that you diligently keep in the fridge in a mason jar would be awesome at this point, but you can use whatever oil/fat you like. Add the chicken seam side down first and sear about 3 minutes. Sear all sides 2-3 min each. When browned, throw whole cast iron skillet into oven and finish cooking about 10-12 minutes. Poke test it around 10 minutes. If it springs back, it's done.

Remove skillet from oven, remove chicken from skillet and let it rest about 5 min. Done!


I served mine with roasted brussels sprouts and a sliced tomato with basil, evoo and red wine vinegar.

You can basically stuff chicken with anything. If you have spinach or collard greens they work just as well. Only rule with stuffing chicken is have at least one item with a lot of flavor or punch. IE - blue cheese, feta cheese, olives, capers, sun dried tomatoes etc since chicken is mild.

I know I've been lame about posting

It seems like every day I just run out of time. I'm getting a lot accomplished, but it never seems to end. Spring time means tons of yard work of course. This year we planted some new shrubs, moved ornamental grass and plants and planted a new Dogwood tree. Today the 500 tons of mulch was delivered. Ok, not 500 tons but enough so I can't pull my car up all the way in the driveway. Tomorrow will be back breaking shoveling and hauling heavy loads around the house. Good thing I do Crossfit otherwise I would never be able to handle the damn wheelbarrow (wheelbarrel?) all day.

Wods have been good. Took a Crossfit mental health day yesterday. Body felt good, brain wanted no parts of a workout though. It doesn't happen very often but over the years I've learned to go with my gut and not force it. I did get the ceiling in the hallway painted so it wasn't a wasted day off thats for sure. Today was heavy back squats in which I was able to partially get 205. The first time I got stuck but the next 2 were a little better. I'm not sure if I got all the way down. I guess if I'm not sure, then I probably didn't so I'm not counting it as a new PR today. They did feel pretty good so maybe next time I'll hit it full on. The metcon was sucky today. Three rounds 400m, ttb and heavy push jerks. Yikers they were heavy at 105# but I slogged thru them. Time was slower than I would have liked but didn't really feel the need to scale. Sucking it up!

Training with A is going well. Back squats were the focus today. She actually had her best squatting form today. Weight on the back will do that and that's what I was hoping for. I had her in the cage too so I guess for her the fear of falling with the bar was gone. Slowly but surely we are making progress. Only a few more basics to get thru, wall balls, cleans, push jerks... then I'll start her on buttercup wods on BrandX. Going to jump into it head on. She has a goal in mind which is good. In 5 weeks she needs to be in a bathing suit for a carnival dunk tank. Good motivation for both of us.

Gotta a few new recipes in the bank... just a matter of tweaking and photographing.

Kids are doing well in baseball. My daughter made the first and only fly ball catch so far. So proud of her. Sure, it was probably more luck than anything but she was excited about it and it can only make her more confident in the future.

Recipe: Babaganosh

If you know anything about me you'll know I love hummus so I decided to make my own. I personally don't think there is any harm in the chic pea but the paleo police would disagree. This is my recipe for Babaganosh, traditional hummus made with eggplant.

I've made it a few times, with and without roasting the eggplant and garlic. Trust me, it's worth the extra time and effort to roast. Raw eggplant tastes like dirt. Dirt with seeds. Tahini already tastes like dirt so you need something sweet to balance it out. Maybe I should call this Babagadirt since I'm not making it sound very appetizing right now even though it really is.

Babaganosh
makes about 2 cups

1 egglplant - halved
1 whole head garlic
1/3 cup tahini
1-2 tsp cumin
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (approx)
olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375. While oven is preheating wrap whole head of garlic in foil, making sure to seal completely. Cut the eggplant lengthwise, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place face down on baking sheet along with wrapped garlic head and roast for about 20-25 minutes. Once the egglplant is soft and browned remove from the oven and let cool. At this point, turn the oven off but leave the garlic in there.

Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle scoop out flesh into the food processor. Add tahini, salt and pepper, cumin and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.

Remove garlic from oven and unwrap foil. The best way to get the garlic out is to cut the tips off the top with scissors then flip it over and squeeze it out from the bottom. Add the garlic to the blended eggplant and blend all until smooth.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Done.


I served mine with gluten free organic blue chips since I didn't have any homemade crackers.

No Mr Heavy Back Squat, I do not like you

today. Don't you hate it when your back squats feel like your trying to lift a car... or a house? Ok, mobile home. Thats how mine felt today. As soon as I got under the 165 I thought, ut oh. Normally I'm able to squash those thoughts pretty quickly. Not today for some reason. After the third set of 3 I moved the bar into the cage, juuuust incase. At that point I think just having the safety pin as backup, I was able to get the rest (175, 185) with no real issues. Other than it just sucking. Past 2 wods have beat me up for sure but overall, happy with the progress and the ability to finally do most of Outlaw's wods as rx'd (over 2 months now) and recover relatively well from them. That only solidifies my decision to move on to The Way's programming this summer. I'm pretty sure May/June will be a year with Outlaw and I've seen some pretty terrific progress with them so I'm hoping with the increase in workload with The Way, I'll hit some new pr's this summer.

My mom friend is coming along pretty well with her workouts. Still with me after 5 wods so that's a plus. Today was intro to the deadlift and burpee. No real issues so far other than full rom on squats, which we are working on. And surprisingly I'm finding that I'm a pretty decent coach, at least with the easy stuff so far. We'll see what happens when I really have to motivate later when wods get harder and heavier. I'm pretty good at telling people what to do so I should be able to handle it effectively. I may have one less friend, but it's a chance I'll take. Kidding of course. Actually I may have 2 more moms by next week. A is the guinea pig. If she survives I'm sure the other 2 moms will give in. Fear of the unknown I guess. And I noticed today that she noticed those ring rows today were a tiny bit easier. That makes me happy. She even pointed it out, 'hey did you notice I leaned back farther?' Yes I did.

Nothing new on the recipe front. Grilling up some grassfed rib eyes tonight with some grilled raddichio, blue cheese and balsamic (if it comes out as yummy as I hope I'll post it), and some sweet pots. Tomorrow or Sunday will probably be Bob's bison chili. Other than that, baseball and yardwork on the menu again this weekend. Fun fun.

Not really a recipe per se

It's not rocket science when it comes to making good bacon and eggs. Or is it? Want a little twist, stir fry some chopped green beans (they are cheap and plentiful in the summer months) and kale in the bacon grease you get from the pan and add a little fresh or dried thyme to your fried eggies. Phoning it in today friends.

Been super busy lately between training my friend, getting the yard in order, planting the veggie garden, kids practices and games, getting my own wods and the normal household stuff done. The days are flying by with what seems like nothing to show. How does that happen?

The training sessions are going well with A. Still in basics mode. Later today will be introduction to the kettlebell, jump rope and more work on squatting form and push ups.

I was able to get my full wod in today so that is a plus. Clean and jerks which I love and am making some great progress on, 7 sets of 2 @ 95# and hspu and pull ups. Pull ups still slow me down but I'm still seeing slow progress each time on them too. I also practiced something new today. Behind the neck snatch grip squat press. Yeah. It's as challenging as it sounds. I'm sure I'm not labeling it right but that's what it was. Man, they are tough. I only used the stick then the 16# bar. That was enough. Funny just when you think your form is improving, theres always another humbling movement. It was in a journal article the other day. Thought it sounded interesting and that it would help my squat snatch since I suck at them.

Anyway, off to get some stuff done and take care of my daughter who is home with a cold today.

Housewife army!

So. My neighbor mommy friend has decided to join me in the garage for the daily beatings. And next week she is brining another mutual mom friend. Muhahaha, and so it begins. My own mini army. Seriously though. I'm really excited to share my experience and knowledge with the ladies. No I'm no certified trainer but after almost 3 years, I know enough to teach a beginner the basics and to get them started on the right path. I'm hoping they stick with me for at least a month.

This morning I had mom #1 or "A" in for a basic run thru on why and how to warmup and stretch then the baseline test. Squats, sit ups, push ups and pull ups. She did ok and I think was surprised she could do pull ups even with the band. Thinking I'll go thru 2 new movements each session if I can before moving on to scaled mainsite wods. Maybe something like shoulder presses and step ups on the box. Should be interesting and am looking forward to seeing the results. Getting my wods in may be a challenge but, I'll figure it out.

That being said I did get to do some strength today after A was finished. Semi heavy back squats with 30 and 45 second 'rest' holds in between reps. No racking. That was no fun and had to bail out on the last set @ 150#. Wasn't sure I would get out of the hole if I went down and my back was rounding a bit so I had re rack and try again. Haven't done heavy back squats in about 3 weeks so I'm sure my legs will be nice and sore tomorrow. Just in time for the long day at the baseball field.

Opening day is tomorrow for the kids baseball season. Parade starts at 8:30, games at 10 and 12. Long day but exciting for them. Later on Bob and I are going to see Evil Dead. No, I don't really want to see it. I'm a chicken sh*t when it comes to overly freaky horror movies and this one seems to meet that criteria. My only hope is that everyone else around me will drown out my shrieks of terror.

Not to end with a sad note but I have to say goodbye to my mom and dad's dog Zoe who passed this morning. She was a sweet little soul and will be missed terribly.

Recipe: Veggie salad gluten free wrap

I love love love the tortilla wrap sandwich and recently I found a great gluten free wrap made of brown rice. So, needless to say I'll be wrapping everything and anything this summer. This was one I made on a whim just because I wasn't in the mood for meat. You can basically use any veggie you have on hand, it's all good. Yeah, it's hard to take a good picture of a wrap sandwich but you get the idea.

Veggie Salad wrap
makes 2 large sandwiches

handful of bean sprouts (optional)
1 cucumber - julienned
2 medium carrots - julienned
2-3 handfuls arugula (or other green you like)
12 sliced grape tomatoes (or chop/slice whatever tomato you have on hand)
1 avocado (smashed)
tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
olive oil
white or red wine vinegar

2 gluten free wraps (I use Food for Life)

The how to:
I'm in love with my julien peeler and if you had one, you would be too. I just think julienned slices are more manageable for a wrap but if you don't have one, use your skills and slice the cucs pretty thin. I would suggest matchstick style for the carrot. Once your cuc is sliced put it in a colander with some kosher salt and let it drain while you chop and gather the rest of the ingredients.

Mix cucumber, carrots, arugula, tomatoes, bean sprouts in a large bowl with some olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper.

Smash the avocado in a small bowl, add a dash of salt and pepper and chopped cilantro.

Cover the wraps with a moist paper towel and warm them in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Spread the avocado on the wrap like sauce on a pizza. Edge to edge. Then place your veggie salad in the middle. Use a good 2-3 handfuls, roll half way, tuck one end, roll over. The end tuck may be a bit tricky since the tort is a little less plyable than traditional flour torts. Don't stress it's all good.

There, quick summer salad warp. Enjoy.

13.4 and 13.5 done and ehh

Well the open wods are finally finished and I must say even though I sucked at 75% of them, it was enjoyable and I actually found out I am a little stronger than I thought. Although, I do always look to the negative so when, or, if I do surpass expectations, it feels much more satisfying. Take for example the last wod 13.5. Everyone that reads this blog knows I despise thrusters immensely let alone the Fran combo. No I do not 'heart' Fran. She's a bitch and we don't get along. And my chance of stringing any pull ups together is only second to getting struck by lightning. Needless to say my expectations were very low. I thought ok, 4 minutes, I can-at-least-should-be-able-may-be-close-not-sure-I-will-get-more-than-possibly-30 reps. Way to be positive. But alas, I came in with 46 reps. Then because I was feeling like 4 minutes wasn't really enough, I did a scaled Diane and went for a slow family bike ride. If only I could have put that extra energy into the wod and pushed harder.

13.4 was another disaster for me. Not that I didn't enjoy the movements and reps, but multiple 95lb clean and jerks are heavy for me. It's only been in the past month or so that I could even get a handful of them off the ground. Maybe it was because it was the first wod I did after vacation and my body was ready to go, unsure but I managed about 26 reps. Oh well, there's always next year. Got a nice 3 mile walk/run in today at the park. Totally spur of the moment but decided I needed to be outside in the great weather rather than in the garage. Practiced the non heel strike motion since I was wearing my minimus sneakers. I have a feeling my calves are not going to be happy later.

On to food. This weekend I made another great recipe from The Domestic Man. Chicken Pad Thai. It was really good and holy hell it was spicy! I even cut back on the peppers and it was still a bit much. My advice is if you like a little spice 1/4 the peppers, if you like spice that makes your nose run do about 3/4 and if you are a hardcore spice fanatic use what the recipe calls for. Seriously. It was HOT. Yeah I know it's supposed to be but damnit, there's a limit. I will definitely try this again with shrimp and zoodles thats for sure. Bob found the Tamarind in Whole Foods. Actually we had to use Tamarind chutney and I believe it was in the Indian Foods section. I didn't even know what it was but I'll tell you it's pretty good and I'm planning on using the rest of it in a BBQ mixture for pork or maybe a burger dip or topper. If I get a recipe together using it I'll post it.

Speaking of recipes, still nothing on the iphoto thing. Not only have I just not had the time, I also seemed to have lost the handful of recipes I had typed up. Damn Pages app won't open. I did however make a pretty delicious, fast and light veggie wrap last night using gluten free wraps. Bob and I are big on salads in the warmer months and am looking forward to trying some new combinations. Because really, who can eat the same ole chef salad over and over.

Need to wrap up and get some more gardening done. Got a great start the past few days and planted tons of veggie seeds, trimmed, weeded, seeded, fertilized and air rated the lawn and still a ton left to do.

On the family front lets see.... kids are playing baseball and softball, 2 nights a week with opening day starting this Saturday. Bob is coaching Bud's team again and I have to fulfill like 4 hours of volunteer duty at some point this season. Should be interesting working around the schedules between both kids games and have a feeling Saturday wods and any other non baseball activities are going to be non existant for the next 8 weeks. At least they are getting outside and playing and having fun. Better than sitting around the house fighting over the ipad.

Road tripping

and the things I learned. Other people's kids are annoying, Disney is grossly overpriced, my kids are pretty damn good travelers and it's not impossible to stay on track and eat clean.

Lets start off by saying my kids can be annoying, I know this and I'll be the first admit it. But after spending 11 hours in Disney, you realize two things. One, your own children are less annoying than most and two, you don't want to have any more children. That being said, we did have a pretty good time in the park. And it was exactly what I expected, overwhelming, overpriced and overcrowded. You really have to know the system to get things done there. We did not, but, we did manage to hit a majority of the big rides and see the light parade and fireworks which were stunning even from a distance. The kids were super excited, over stimulated and exhausted by the end of the night. It was definitely worth it. Ok, maybe not definitely, but it was a good day.

Eating clean in Disney was tough and even I had succumb to a little gluten filled indulgence. I wasn't about to let Bud's $9 chicken and fries go to waste. It was only a few bites and I peeled off most of the breading. Sooo high maintenance. And I also had ketchup, milk chocolate, fries and potato chips. Call the paleo police! Hey, it was one day. Most of the week though I'm happy to say Bob and I did really well keeping to a good healthy Crossfitter/paleo routine. I made a ton of great food for us on the way down so we didn't have to stop and eat crap. Once we were at my mom's we had a great dinner of crock pot pork ribs and sauerkraut. Then about 3 meals out at restaurants, including this greek place Hellas in Tarpon Springs. Yep, it was tacky looking and filled with tons of retirees but the food was delicious and sitting on the open air patio in the warm weather couldn't be beat. I got a Gyro platter (so it wasn't wrapped). Bob got a sampler with stuffed grape leaves, gyro and pastitsio. And as a sidenote, leftover lamb was awesome in our eggs the next morning. No, even I could not finish the whole thing.

We also managed to get some wods done a few days. Day 1 in the hotel was a 10, 9, 8 burpee ladder. Day 2 was a 1.5 mile walk with the kb held in various positions. Day 3 was...800 meters, 10, 9, 8... push up, kbs, 800 meters. I wanna say we did another one but I can't remember. Then that was about it for me. Time was not on our side and we had a few long days and late nights. All in all it was a good trip. The weather was beautiful, palm trees and turquoise water were picturesque, the kids were great in the car and even Easter in the beach side bar with my daughter throwing up wasn't bad. Yes, little princess got a stomach bug Sunday while we were visiting my grandmother in Vero Beach for Easter Sunday. That continued to Monday's travel day home which was fun. Word to the wise, when your 7 year old says 'I'm going to throw up', that means right that second. Yeah, in the car all over her seat. Gah. There is nothing worse than throwing up in the car and trying to pull over to the side of the road while on a bridge doing 75 miles an hour in traffic. Total chaos. At least for Bud, Bob and I, the bug waited until we got home. We're all almost a 100% now, but it wasn't a very good homecoming.

Hoping to bang out last weeks open wod of clean and jerks tomorrow then get on to last nights thruster pull up wod on Sunday. Two of my favorites. Not. I expect that will be a 4 minute wod for me. Oh well. It will feel good to get back on the bar though. Having a week off was probably good for my body but I'm starting to feel the urge to get my ass kicked again. How sick is that?