2 Days To Go And Then.....

Recipes

Here are some recipes we are trying this week in the final days of Whole 30! The recipes were found, as usual, by using chowstalker.

Butternut-squash-casserole

Meatloaf

Hot Wings!

Steak with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Quick Tuna!


So Now What?

I am so proud of the group that took on this Whole 30 challenge. We are just about done, so now what do you do?!?

Well we took 30 days to get here so there is no rush to go out and change anything just yet.

Day 31 should be just like day 30, or day 20, or day 10! Keep up with the parts that were working for you and continue to focus on making healthy food choices.

Just because it is day 31 that does not mean the cream HAS to go back in the coffee! Go about the days after your Whole 30 much like the days of your Whole 30 and make good food choices. Sure now you are "allowed" to have a glass of wine or a piece of chocolate but you don't HAVE to!

When you do venture "off reservation" (as my dad calls it) try and make the best decision you can. Maybe opt for some dark chocolate with quality ingredients over the office candy bowl. Or indulge in a gluten free treat before inhaling an entire loaf of bread or bowl of pasta.

Another important way to look at eating "off reservation" is in relation to the amount of control you have when you do it. A coach I know once explained it like this:

"a treat is something you purposefully set out to have, and when you eat it you are in control. you eat just the right amount but do not over indulge"



"a cheat is when you have no control and you are just eating something because it is there, etc. and you eat too much of it"

More importantly, once you do eat "off reservation" get back on!

After doing a few rounds of Whole 30, I would encourage people to bring items back in slowly and one at a time to really see how your body reacts. Take notes about how you felt before and after and use that information to make the best decision you can going forward.

Below are some links to different articles by Melissa and Dallas at Whole 9 that you might also find helpful! Read them and then read them again!

Congrats to everyone who finished the Whole 30! Nice job!!!

Articles from Whole 9:

Check out the "Homework #2 section for the articles and this page too for some great links to many articles!

Chait Creations!

Halfway there!

First a big shout out to all the girls (and Steve and Matt!!!!!) who are just about finished with the first 15 days of Whole 30! Nice job everyone!

This has been a fun round of 30 for me with so many people from the gym (Crossfit Lake Oswego) participating and everyone getting involved to support each other and share tips and recipes!

Nice work ladies (and Steve and Matt!!!!!).

Post WOD
Almost everyone has been struggling with what to have post WOD. We all want to get our protein and clean carbs in, but packing it all up and having it handy post WOD has been a challenge. A few people have given up their non Whole 30 post WOD shakes and are now looking to replace that with something just as fast and convenient.

Brittany came up with an awesome shake recipe and it can be found on her blog-here! I know a lot of our Whole 30'ers have tried this recently and like it.

Allison recently came up with the "muffin" creation below and it seems like a nice portable option. Based on her math you would have to eat about 4 of these to get the right about of protein/carb, etc. post WOD. I am not sure how I feel about that. Seems like a lot but I am thinking 1-2 post WOD as I drive home before dinner might be good to get something in my body right after the WOD and before a bigger meal.


Here is the recipe Allison created!

8 eggs
1 can pumpkin
1 can coconut milk
2 small apples
vanilla powder
all spice
masala spice

Separate the 8 eggs.

Mix yolks with 1 can pumpkin, 2/3 cup of just the cream from a can of coconut milk (water drained and discarded).

Add 2 small peeled and diced apples with 1 tsp Madagascar vanilla powder, 1/2 tsp allspice,
1/4 tsp garam masala to the pumpkin mixture.

In separate bowl whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently FOLD with spatula into pumpkin mixture.

It's OK for fluffy bits of egg white to remain unincorporated.

Fill muffin tins all the way and bake at 375 for 35-40 min. (use a non stick pan, or lightly grease pan with a little olive oil.)


Note from Allison: When they smell good, pull em' out of the oven! We got 16 muffins and after all the math, I calculated 4 muffins = a 2 egg serving with carb and a touch of fat.

Menu this week

In addition to Allison's creation above on my menu this week:

LUNCH
From the wonderful Scotty Hagnas: Jambalaya
I am going to add less "liquid" (so less chicken broth and less tomato sauce) and more dense items (cans of dices tomatoes, etc) to this to make it more of a thick, hearty meal and less soup like.

Chicken!
I am going to bake in the oven a batch of chicken that is marinating in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and cilantro and another batch that is marinating in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary (from my garden!).

I am going to pair the chicken with this summer salad recipe I found - but going to leave out the honey! (not Whole 30!). I am going to keep the veg and "dressing" separate and toss it all together right before I eat each day-to keep the veg from getting soggy.

That should be enough for lunch!

BREAKFAST
For breakfast this week I am just going with hard boiled eggs and going to cook a little extra each night at dinner and save a few bites to go with my eggs in the morning.

DINNER
Dinner will be fajitas, salmon and zucchini (both cooked with lots of dill!) , and stir-fry with stew meat (if you add some coconut Amonis you get a nice flavor for a stir fry without having to use a non clean marinade or soy sauce!).

It's time!!!!

Whole 30 Day 1 (week 1) is here!

This week's menu is nothing fancy or new (for us). My goal was to make some good clean food but not to have to think about it too much because the Crossfit Games are on this weekend and with the finals on Sunday I'd rather be watching that then spending a lot of time doing meal prep!

Breakfast

Breakfast will be an egg/sausage frittata type thing using the idea from a recipe I posted earlier. I am not going to add the sweet potato for this round and replaced the bacon with clean chicken sausage and will use an entire head of kale and double the onions. I will just watch the cooking time. It might be less without the dense sweet potato in there. One round of this in a 9x13 pan will get me through the week (sharing some with my husband!).

Lunch

Sloppy Joes. This recipe is by one of the fabulous owners at Crossfit Portland-Scotty Hagnas. The cocoa powder could be questionable for Whole 30, but at 2 TPS and it having no sugar I am going with it and calling it good! I also usually add an entire can of tomato puree and 1 can of tomato paste when I make this. I also usually cook up 2 lbs of meat for this (that is just the serving package sizes we usually have). I will put this over tons of spinach and sliced tomato for lunch!

Eggplant-Caponata

I also posted this one before. I will make it and then after it is cooked I will add fresh basil (from my garden!) and eat it cold at work for a snack. Just before I eat it, I will also add walnuts!

Chicken Artichoke Salad

I will make this as is, but will not use mayo. I don't make my own mayo and not sure even if I did if that would be Whole 30. I will use an oil and vinegar combination and eat it over a big salad of spinach and tomato and anything else we have around for salad makings!

Dinner

I suspect having just watched the games all weekend there will not be many rest days in our house this week. Dinner is just some good old classics that will not take too long to make after getting home from the gym at night!!!

Taco Salad

We just brown up some grass fed ground beef and add spices and place it on top of a ton of spinach, sliced peppers, onions and whatever else we have. Sometimes I add some clean salsa for the dressing and extra veg! Also sometimes I add some black olives and then use the olive juice for dressing! YUM!!!

Shrimp with "peanut" sauce

I can't get enough of this one! But be careful not to go crazy with nut butters and nuts epically when making the change to paleo or Whole 30. I will also make a cucumber salad with sliced cucumbers and green onion and oil and vinegar for the veg.


Salmon and spinach sauteed with onions and mushrooms

I will just take some wild salmon and cook it up with dill! I like to saute the veg together, maybe add some balsamic vinegar. Be sure to add the spinach at the end and take it off the heat just before the spinach is completely cooked and wilted.

Eggplant Chicken Sandwiches

I love this! I just use the recipe (since some of it isn't Whole 30 clean-the mayo) to prepare the eggplant for the sandwich top and bottom! I then usually cook up some chicken and add fresh onion and whatever spices I am in the mood for. Just add whatever "taste" you are looking for!

Other!

Some other items I added to the grocery list this week to help through the first week of Whole 30:
Sliced, raw, pecans. (remember, don't go NUTS with the nuts!)
Organic, unsweetened coconut flakes
Black Olives
Cantaloupe

Also, usually on Whole 30 I focus more on pre and post WOD meals. I will save some of my lunch to eat just before the workout and post workout I will go to hard boiled eggs and baby food as needed.

I will try and get more exciting next week (especially for the pre and post WOD meals) when I have more time.

Another week...another menu!

It is Sunday again and that means weekly prep! With the start of another round of Whole 30 approaching on August 1 I was determined this week to find new recipes, but also recipes that are Whole 30 clean as I get ready for another challenge.

Paleo Casserole
Ingredients as listed are Whole 30 clean! I am also going to make this today (Sunday) and we will take slices all week for breakfast.

Thai Eggplant
Used regular eggplant (but Chines eggplant as it calls for would be OK also!).
The sauce looks good but I have a hard time finding those items paleo/Whole 30 clean. I am just going to use Coconut Aminos, ginger, and sesame oil.

I might chop the items for this today to be ready on Monday night (or another night early in the week) to add it as the veg/side dish with the salmon below.

Summer Slaw
Ingredients as listed are Whole 30 clean! (just make sure your mustard is clean!).

I am going to make this today and then we will have it all week in case we need to add more veg to a meal or need a snack!

Apple Lime Chicken Stir Fry
I am not using the seasoning mix listed, I don't have it and don't know if it is clean. I will used either curry powder or a combination of clean chili powder, paprika, and cumin.

I am going to make this today and we will take it for lunch. Should get enough from this recipe for Brian and I to eat it twice if we pair it with the slaw!

Italian Meatballs
Leaving out the cheese on this one, but will probably add a tablespoon or 2 of almond flour.

I am going to make these today and then we can have them all week to add to a meal if still hungry, or have as a snack.

Pistachio Apricot Salmon
Ingredients as listed are Whole 30 clean!

Blueberry Basil Salsa
Ingredients as listed are Whole 30 clean!

I am just going to use the salsa part of this recipe as we already have a salmon dish above for another night. We are going to put this over some nice scallops though. Should be good! Really excited for this one!!! Also for extra veg (you can never get enough!) we will add to this meal some chopped cucumbers and green onion with a "dressing" of oil, vinegar and ginger! So crisp and refreshing, especially for the summer! (or what we like to think is summer here in Oregon!)

All the above recipes were found, as usual, by starting with Chowstalker. It took me, maybe 10 minutes to find them all and figure out how to tweak recipes as needed for my Paleo/Whole 30 goals.

I will never say that I love all the weekly prep, making menu's, or shopping list every week. But I do love eating clean and finding new flavors and recipes!

Here is to another week of eating clean....cheers!

Weekly prep is key!

Tonight’s WOD was cook for the week for time! 1 round, as many meals as possible.

We were away in NY visiting family last week and so our eating and prep routine was a little off. Ok it was A LOT off. While it is possible to travel 3000 miles across the country and eat clean I will admit that I did not eat clean 100% of the time. There were a few things that I made the decision to indulge in. These were things I would literally only get once all year-a NY salt bagel and my mom’s famous homemade rainbow cookies. There was also a family wedding and a few meals out at restaurants that I chose to eat “off the reservation” as my Dad likes to call it.

While some choices were to stray off the reservation there were also many choices to stay clean! While at home in NY with my Mom and Dad my Mom always made sure we had a ton of clean food around and did some grocery shopping before we arrived stocking the house up with some clean favorites! THANKS MOM YOU ARE THE BEST!

While in Poughkeepsie NY for a wedding we found a local place, All Shook Up Cafe, that specialized in “healthy meals”. This translated into many gluten free options and even a grass fed burger. This place was great and an amazing find in the middle of a few days were menus and meals were prearranged by other people.

After a week in NY we arrived back in Portland around 5pm on Sunday. With unpacking and getting ready for work on Monday this left little time for my usual Sunday prep.

Also after a week on and off the reservation it left me not craving more bagels and cookies, but rather I was craving real food!

We were lucky enough to have enough clean food that we brought home with us on the plane to get through breakfast and lunch for Monday. AGAIN-THANKS MOM-YOU ARE THE BEST.

I made the decision to skip the WOD on Monday night in favor of getting home earlier to catch up on meal prep. I felt clean meals for the week would be better for my body then going to the gym for a WOD and then being stressed all week about having enough clean food etc.

Tonight’s prep was nothing spectacular and we called on a few solid standby favorites to get through. I will look to get more creative and find new recipes next week.

We planned out the menu on the plane ride home and my husband was wonderful and went food shopping as soon as we got home on Sunday so we would have food for prep, etc.

3…2…1.. go!

Sunday night I set up the crock pot for the world’s easiest meal! The fabulous Sara Mulroy found this a long time ago (I forget the site where we first got the idea...sorry!!!) and it has been a classic in our house ever since.

Crock Pot Chicken Salsa (we will use this for lunch)

Take 2 packages of chicken (I used Trader Joes organic dark meat) and empty into crock pot.

Take 2 jars or salsa (I used different varieties from Trader Joes, read the label. Make sure no sugar or other items added..keep it clean!) and add on top of the chicken.

Place crock pot on low for 6-7 hours.

I plugged the crock pot in Monday morning before work and when I came home it was ready.

I left the setting on "keep warm" (and to get some veg into this meal easily) and added 2 chopped green peppers and a large chopped yellow onion. I added these for about 1 hour (on keep warm) and then dished it all up to take to work during the week.

We will also add an avocado to this meal each time we serve it up to get a good balance of fat with the protein and veg.

Total prep time: 10 min. Total meals: 4

Sausage, onions, and cabbage (we will eat this for breakfast)

I took 2 pounds of Pacific Village pork sausage from New Seasons (New Seasons has a lot of nice sausage and meat choices! Just always ask for the ingredients in the sausage before you buy. Some have honey in them in case you are being strict with sugar or on Whole 30.) and started to cook it up in a large pan.

While cooking I chopped 1 large yellow onion and 1 head of cabbage.

When the sausage was just about done I added the onion and cabbage and left everything on the stove, stirring occasionally, until it was all cooked down.

We are going to re-heat this all week in the microwave so if the veg is a little under cooked it will have a chance to get cooked a bit more when it is re-heated.

Total prep time: 15 min. Total meals: 7.5

Ground beef with tomato sauce and veg (we will take this for lunch)

I took 1.5 pounds of grass fed ground beef and cooked it on the stove until it was just about done.

While cooking I chopped up mushrooms, yellow onion, and black olives.

When the meat was just about done I added the veggies, ½ of a jar of Trader Joes Puttanesca Sauce (clean!), and 1 - 11oz can of tomato puree. I don’t like the taste of just the Puttanesca sauce so I stared only using ½ of the jar and adding some Hunts Tomato Puree or Tomato Paste to make it have more of a “tomato” flavor and make the consistency thicker. The Puttanesca tends to get watery and has a strong garlic and clove flavor.

I let that simmer on the stove until the veggies were cooked enough.

Total prep time: 15 min. Total meals: 2.5 (usually we do 2 lbs of beef and get 4-5 meals out of it)

Also, while all of this was cooking, I had tonight’s dinner in the oven. I posted this before and since I had to be in the kitchen anyway and had some Trader Joes Organic Drumsticks in the freezer I figured I would make this, Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake. I followed the recipe as is but doubled the cook time since I was starting with frozen chicken. Also since I used 2 packages of chicken I will get more than just 1 dinner out of this-bonus!

Total prep time: 5 min Total meals: 4.5

My prep time might seem a little low to some people just staring out. Trust me I first spent hours and hours in the kitchen chopping and reading recipes over and over. As time went on (over a 1.5 years now!) I got faster at everything!!!!

I generally follow a recipe the first time I make a meal but after that I just use it for a guide, mostly for cook time and temperature. I have gotten better about throwing items together based on what we have, or what is seasonal, etc.

I also don’t worry about how something looks when I prep. I don’t worry if all the pieces of onion are not the same or the pieces of cabbage are a little big. My slices of onion are large because then there is less chopping, same with my cabbage, etc. Sometimes I just dump the can of black olives in the tomato sauce and don’t slice them in half first. As long as I can cook it and fit it in the pan I am good to go!

Sunday (or for this week Monday!) prep is not my favorite thing to do, but it makes a huge difference when you want to eat each meal clean and you also work or have other commitments that take you away from your house or kitchen for long periods of time.

We also divide and conquer in our house. We usually set the menu together but my husband does all of the grocery shopping and then I usually do all of the prep. Brian jumps in to help if prep includes a lot of chopping one week and sometimes I can convince him to do clean up also!

It takes practice and time but now we have a system that is pretty much flawless and maximizes good clean food and minimizes prep time and hours spent in the kitchen. It was hard in the beginning but just like anything with Crossfit, you get better and more efficient the more you do it!

Next week I will try and post a menu of all new/Whole 30 approved meals in honor of the group of us at Crossfit Lake Oswego who are going to do the Whole 30 challenge August 1! I am so excited for this group to experience this! They are going to crush it!

The menu this week!

I have been bored with our recent paleo meals. Every week it seemed every meal tasted the same. It all tasted like soggy peppers and chicken to me even if what I was eating was neither of those items.

This week I am armed with new recipes and new tastes and some new summer flavors!

I will provide the link to the actual recipes below, but I found all of these by starting with Chowstalker! I have said it before, but I will say it again...they really do make it so easy. I just get onto their site and browse and click until I have a week's worth of clean food!

Our menu this week

Up this week for breakfast is this really great egg dish! I made this last week also, so this week I doubled the amount of onions and kale for extra veg. It is easy to make and cooks up well and all week we just take slices for breakfast at work.

Frittata-creation!

For lunch we have some old favorites but with a new twist!

Tuna salad!

I am going to eat the tuna dish with cabbage leaves and make "lettuce wraps" out of it all. I also added sliced almonds to the recipe since that is what I usually have in the tuna. Usually we used mayo and dill so this will be a nice new flavor for sure!

Eggplant-Caponata

I made this eggplant dish a lot last summer. I found eating it cold (after it was cooked as the recipe says!) was a great option also. I used the recipe above and then used ideas from this recipe, below, to add some new flavor to the dish. I added some basil both before I cooked it and after and then I have a bag of walnuts to toss on top when I actually eat it.

Tomato-walnut salad

Dinner will look like this:

Crispy Chicken

These might end up as dinner or a lunch item. They are cooking now, so whichever meal comes up first that we need something for in pinch we will have these ready! I hope they are good!

We usually eat a lot of salmon but haven't been recently and have been hitting the ground beef pretty hard (grass fed of course!). To get us back in the swing of things with seafood I found this recipe that looks good!

Ginger honey salmon

Last we have something I made a big batch of a few weeks ago and then we took it for breakfast all week. They are much better when you eat them right away and not once packaged up to be heated up again and eaten later. I doubled the spinach the last time I made it and will likely do that again! You can never have enough veg!

Egg-foo-young!

BOOMSAUCE! It’s not a kickball team.

Last week I was wearing a shirt that said “BOOMSAUCE” on it for my WOD’s. No it isn’t a kickball team, it's more like team Tyminski!

Daniel Tyminski of Long Island, owner of Crossfit Lindy competed in the 2011 Crossfit Games Regionals last weekend. He took second in what some consider to be one of the more competitive regions! Dan will be heading to California for the finals of the 2011 Crossfit Games competition and we wish him all the best!!!!

I have been trading WOD stories with Dan for a little over a year now and when I go back home to Long Island I get the chance to workout at his box. It is always a good time and he is always thinking up killer WOD’s for us. Our first time in, before we even met, he knew we were coming and planned a WOD for us called “Portland”. Dan is awesome!!!!

Below is an interview I did with him about his experience at the regionals competition. Enjoy!

1. This was your 3rd time competing in the crossfit regionals right? This being your best finish to date and putting you into the finals in CA what was different this time?

This was my 3rd regional. It was different because I played it smarter. I focused on my weakness throughout the year and never stopped with them. Strength being my weakness.

2. What was it like during the 3 days regional competition? Did you focus on yourself and your own goals or did you get distracted by those around you who were going faster? Or slower then you and use that to game your performance?

During the competition I tried to focus on not getting caught up in the standards. They were very strict and I tried not to let the 1000 missed reps get to me. I also came in a little confident. I’ve always said cockiness builds confidence and if you’re not confident then you probably won’t succeed. And I knew my own pace and I stuck with that as best possible.

3. You took first in the 100’s WOD and then came back the next day and took first in Amanda-both very different types of WOD’s. Do you think this was because of your strengths? Fast ability to recover? Or What?

It was definitely because of my strengths. I also love muscle ups and snatches. Probably my favorite movements. And I tend to recover faster than most. The last 2 days were my best placings. And WOD4 and WOD5 I think were the hardest WODs there. If you were sore and fatigued from the previous WODs then you were probably not going to do so well later.

4. How did you prepare for this year’s competition season? Did you find yourself doing more physical prep or mental? And which do you think is harder?

In preparing for this year I really just focused on my weaknesses and that was not being strong. I knew I had a decent work capacity but I wanted to get stronger. I think improving my strength definitely helped increasing my work capacity as well. Mentally I’ve always been strong, being able to push myself and not get down on myself. So I just had to tweak some things physically.

5. Where there any big surprises in the regionals weekend, or anything that was harder to deal with then you anticipated?

The Standards. They were uber strict and I probably lost a total of 75 reps the whole weekend. The biggest rep I missed was the thruster. I successfully thrustered 255# and my judge said it was good, but a roaming judge said it was a no go. That dropped down 4 places in that WOD. I could have taken 2nd but landed a 6th spot. Just hitting every thruster I was full of anxiety.

6. There is always talk of crossfit athletes being able to sustain the high level of intensity and focus that it takes to really compete. Having been competing for 3 years now what is the plan for next year?

Well honestly, every year I’ve competed, I’ve just wanted to have fun. This is what I do and love to do so why make it stressful. I love to exercise so when I workout I push myself hard and have a good time. I think the key it not to get mad or stressed if you didn’t hit a PR a certain day. Just go with it and you will see that results take time.

7. You own your own box and go to school full time how do you find time to do all of that, to eat correctly? Program for your box? And get your own training in?

Its being busy that actually keeps me going. If I didn’t work and go to school full time I think I would be lazy. Constantly moving and having things to do keeps me focused and staying on the right track. Eating correctly is easy, just have to plan ahead and know what works for you. And since I own my own box, I allow myself to put in specific hours for me to train.

8. What is your plan for the next few weeks before California? Will you change anything in terms of training, eating, rest?

I think I will go back to my normal programming. Heavy lifting in the morning then hit a metcon at night. 3 on 1 off. It worked very well for me this year and it doesn’t destroy my CNS which allows me to train harder and longer. And if anything I will probably get more sleep.

9. You mentioned in an interview recently that you did want to peak at regionals bc just going to the games would be like winning it, that being said what will your goals and focus be for the actual WOD’s that come up in CA?

Of course I am going to try my hardest, but if I get cut the first round, I won’t get sad. I know I performed and it was the biggest accomplishment for me. But I would love to get top 10 at the games this year and I definitely think I can do it.

10. What do you want to see most in CA? What do you want to see least?

More muscle ups and cleans. And I would hate to see heavy overhead squats and pistols.

11. Tell us about BOOMSAUCE-what does it mean? Where did it come from?

BOOMSAUCE!!! - a job well done; congratulations, way to FSU!!!. I got it from the Army. I wasn’t the most well behaved soldier so whenever I did something right, being from Long Island and being very obnoxious it just came out one day. I got into a lot of trouble that day ahhhha.

12. Now tell us about those pink shorts you were sporting all weekend?

Since I am apart of Team 2Pood, I roomed with the owner Baker Levitt and he had his shipment of shorts sent to the hotel. He told me to open the box and see what was in them and I saw the new Pink Flex shorts for the women and had to try them on. I took a pic and as a joke told him I was going to wear them for the regionals and he said to do it...so I did lol.

13. How did it feel when the competition was over and you knew you were on your way to CA? and what was the post regional meal of choice?

I actually still don’t think it fully hit me yet. I mean I know I am going but it just seems unreal. I know when I am on a bird flying out, it will hit me. Post regional meal was Cracker Barrel. I had pancakes, French toast, biscuits and gravy, fried apples, and a blueberry muffin. So good.

14. Now that it was announced athletes will be "uniforms by reebok" what are your thoughts on this? Good idea? no big deal? who cares? or shouldn't be done?

I don’t like it....I didn’t sign a contract with them to wear their products that I probably do not like.

15. Anything else to add?

Dreams come true...work hard and never quit.

One final note: There was a quote from Dan’s dad on Sunday in a post on the games site that summed it all up. From the article:In the stands during the awards ceremony as the men were presented with their medals, Daniel Tyminski’s dad expressed to another spectator, “Best Father’s Day ever.”