london broil

while searching for recipes to cook the london broil i got on super special at the grocery store, i learned that london broil is not, in fact, a cut of meat, but instead is a way of preparing it. hmm, i guess the kroger butchers/meat packagers have not yet been so enlightened.

anywho, i googled and found this recipe from a site that i have never gotten recipes from before. it turned out ABSOULTELY DELICIOUS, without question the best dish of meat i have ever prepared! and the best part is that it is a paleo recipe! and, it was pretty simple (although i made donny cut it after because it's supposed to be sliced really thin and i really dislike cutting/slicing/chopping of any kind.

london broil (from about.com's american food section... weird, right?)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 lb boneless top round "London Broil" steak, about 2-inches thick
• 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• salt as needed

Preparation:

In a small bowl whisk together the vinegar, oil, garlic, and rosemary, and Place the beef on a plate and poke both sides all over with a fork. Transfer to a plastic freezer bag and pour in the marinade. Seal and refrigerate overnight. 

Turn broil on high. Remove the London broil from the marinade and pat dry. Salt generously, and rub in the freshly ground black pepper, on both sides. Place on a broiler pan, or other oven-safe pan. Broil about 8 inches under the flame for approximately 6-7 minutes per side for medium rare - internal temp of 130 degrees F. 

Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil; let rest for 10 minutes. To serve, cut against the grain into very thin slices. Serve hot, topped with any juices from the plate on which it rested.

eggplant parmesan "pizzas"

in my ongoing attempts to not only be more domestic, but also become healthier and more conscientious about what i put into my body, i have continued to periodically try out new, paleo-friendly recipes...

this yummy meal was loosely based on a paleo recipe i found, but with quite a few adaptations and improvisations based on ingredients we had available... i LOVED how it turned out, delicious!!

first off, we didn't have enough of all of the ingredients to make they ooey gooey casserole, so instead i made individual servings like mini pizzas, where the slice of eggplant served as the "crust". second, we didn't have any ground meat so this was vegetarian eggplant parmesan... next time i will for sure add ground turkey though! third, we didn't have mozzarella so i used white american, which we actually loved! here's the improvised recipe:

1 eggplant

~1/2 cup almond meal/crushed almonds

~1/4 cup grated parmesan

1 egg

your fave marinara sauce

several slices of mozzarella (or american) cheese

olive oil

salt and pepper

*ground turkey/beef- maybe 1/2 pound?

preheat oven to 350 degrees. slice eggplant into circles about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. beat egg in a bowl. mix almond meal, parmesan, and some salt and pepper in another bowl. heat stove top and put several tablespoons of olive oil in pan. dip each slice of eggplant into egg, then dip in almond meal mixture to lightly coat it. then put in frying to pan to brown. make sure you add more olive oil with each batch of eggplant!

arrange browned eggplant slices on a cookie sheet lined with foil. **if you are using ground meat, i would add a spoonful of browned and seasoned ground meat first ** add spoonful (or however much you want) of marinara to each slice, then add a square of sliced cheese to the top. bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown on top. i ate my pizzas with my hands, although my civilized husband opted for a fork. enjoy! (and leftovers nuked in the microwave were great, although may have been even better had i used the toaster oven or oven)

i almost forgot that i made the BEST london broil ever a few weeks ago... i'll post that recipe soon if i can track it down :) also, i'll be posting may and june WOD's (i know, super exciting)

eating like a cavewoman

+ had a great weekend! happy birthday to my wifey, becca, as well as my dear friend and beautiful new-ish mama, lindsey "LJ"! love y'all

so, i am finally back on the crossfit wagon after about 6 weeks of sporadic workouts (thanks to wedding, honeymoon, and the holiday break). i feel like i've started all over as far as soreness, strength, and conditioning go. blah. but, it feels good to be active again... stuffing my face while sitting on the couch, as lovely as it was, was starting to get a bit tiresome! mainly because a) i gained at least 5 lbs (although i probably really lost like 5 lbs of muscle and gained 10 lbs of fat lol), and b) i was completely devoid of energy and pretty much sleepy all the time. and i'm sure my diet didn't help, either! and, to that end, we've started a new (possibly temporary) diet/lifestyle change. donny is joining me in a paleo challenge that crossfit atm is putting on.

the parameters of the challenge are as follows:

- NO grains (wheat, flour, corn, rice, etc)

- NO dairy

- NO sugars or artificial sweeteners (only honey and pure maple syrup)

- NO legumes (beans of all kinds, including soy and peanuts)

- NO white potatoes

- AT least 3 CF WOD's per week

what CAN we eat, you may be wondering? well...

meats (lean meats recommended), fish, veggies, fruits, eggs, nuts, seeds, spices, nut butters, vegetable oils (unless they use veggies that aren't allowed), coffee and wine in moderation

it sounds crazy difficult, but you'd be surprised at the yummy meals donny and i have already made at home, and we aren't even a whole week into it yet. my favorites so far have been chorizo, meatloaf, pancakes, and mango steak salad with poppy seed dressing. donny said the meatloaf was the best he's ever had, and the pancakes really hit the spot for me today as i was seriously craving bready, sweet stuff.

chorizo

100% natural chorizo (can be tough to find, i only found one kind that didn't have forbidden additives)

eggs

chopped onions

pepper

olive oil

cook chorizo and onions in a skillet with a splash of olive oil. add eggs and scramble, add pepper to taste. that's it!

paleo meatloaf

2 lbs ground lean beef

2/3 cup chopped almonds (can use ground almonds/almond meal, but if they are slightly bigger they give a nice, distinctive crunchy texture that we loved!)

4 tblsp pureed tomatoes

1 egg

1/4 cup each of chopped onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers

1 tblsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp mustard powder

some salt and pepper

dash of tabasco/hot sauce

dash of red wine vinegar

mix all ingredients in a bowl and press into loaf ban. bake for about an hour at 325. serve with homemade ketchup on top! (made with pureed tomatoes, vinegar, garlic powder, and onion powder)

paleo pancakes

from scott hagnas of performancemenu.com

1/2 cup nut butter (we used almond)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

coconut oil to grease skillet

mix all ingredients (except coconut oil) in a bowl until well blended. pout onto skillet and cook on low-medium heat for 1-2 minutes on each side. be careful when flipping! we topped them with pure maple syrup... YUM!!

poppy seed salad dressing

from jordan at crossfitatm

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup olive oil

juice from one lemon

1 1/2 tblsp poppy seeds (we didn't have this so our poppy seed dressing was poppy seed-less lol)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard (i left this out)

happy hour + crossfit = fail

+ i love my fiance so much it's ridiculous.

last night donny and i had a soccer game- not only did we win (against an all female team, but still, a win's a win), but donny scored a goal!! i was so proud of him. i almost scored as well and i played pretty darn well. and before the game, i made my first batch of fro yo in our new frozen yogurt maker- it was tart frozen yogurt and it is delicious.... not berripop or swirll or yogurt planet delicious, but not half bad. all around a successful night!

tart frozen yogurt

32oz (4 cups) plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup sugar

easy as that! yesterday i crushed up a reeses peanut butter cup in it and today a bite size butterfinger... a yummy and not-too-unhealthy meal substitution.

so today after work i went to happy hour in honor of one of my awesome coworker's birthday. i was "good" and only had a glass of red wine and a few chips with salsa (no queso and no 'ritas!). i stayed too late to make it to CF, but i looked up the workout on their blog and realized i could do it at home. i also convinced donny to do it with me... his first CF workout!!

CrossFit 11.2.09 (at home)

WOD

"annie"

50-40-30-20-10

double unders (substituted tuck jumps due to equipment malfunction)

sit-ups

time= 12:09

this workout did not go exactly as planned... to begin with, the jump rope we had (which i had bought from the target dollar section some time ago) was a piece of trash. the handles were so heavy they threw off my rhythm, but even worse the rope was so kinked there was almost no way to jump successfully. so, i did tuck jumps in place of double unders. also, my happy hour indulgences caused some SERIOUS reflux/heartburn. i was swallowing back bile the whole time and therefore had a difficult job really pushing myself. in fact, by the end i felt like i should have worked much harder... i wasn't very tired. there's always tomorrow though...

burpees part 2

+ it's Halloween! donny and i will be attending a Halloween party, maybe two, tonight. no costumes, but good food, friends, and some cute kids in costumes! should be a fun time.

recipes, as promised:

homemade granola bars

5 cups of nuts/seeds (i used 2 cups of slivered almonds, 1 cup each of walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seed)

1 cup coconut flakes

1- 1.5 cups almond butter

1/3 cup oil (i used coconut oil)

1/3 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

preheat oven to 300. mix oil, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. remove from heat. pour nuts/seeds into a greased 9 x 13 pan and pour oil/honey mixture over them. mix well and distribute evenly before baking for 30 minutes. when you take out the pan, immediately add the almond butter and coconut flakes and mix well. then press mixture into bottom of pan and chill in freezer. cut into granola bars, about 14 (and i keep mine in the freezer or they start to get pretty soft). a yummy, protein-packed, quick meal!

tuna balls

a medium carrot, grated

a large sweet potato, peeled and diced

a large can of tuna in water, drained

half of a large, sweet onion, diced well

1 egg

1 tblsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

dash of pepper

preheat oven to 350. boil sweet potato until soft, drain and mash. mix in a bowl with all other ingredients. shape into balls on a foil-line baking sheet. bake for 25-28 minutes. yields about 12-25 depending on size of balls. can be served warm or cold, but i prefer warm!

yesterday's CF workout was the same one we did a month ago and it marked the end of october's "burpee challenge".

CrossFit 10.30.09

warm-up

3 sets of 10 reps of:

double unders

GHD/sit-ups

ring dips

strength

5-5-5-5-5 push press

weight= 52lbs

WOD

100 burpees

time= 8:32

i beat my previous time by 2 minutes and 20 seconds! it was still killer, and my burpees were still ugly from about 25 on, but the faster time definitely indicates significant progress, so i'm pleased! also, nothing we did today irritated my hand, so it is well on it's way to a full recovery :)

domesticity

+ i cooked a yummy dinner tonight, and the granola bars i made last night are decent. i am successfully becoming more domestic... and perfect timing since i'm getting married in a MONTH!! eek! i'm so excited yet at the same time nervous/stressed. in the end though, donny and i will be husband and wife, AND we will be in puerto vallarta on our honeymoon :)

if you hadn't already guessed, i cooked fish tacos tonight for dinner. they were delicious, healthy, nearly gluten free, and paleo-friendly (for any of you with various dietary restrictions)

fish tacos (borrowed from my CF trainer, jordan)

5 tilapia fillets

pepper

salt

garlic salt

lime juice (i substituted chipotle lime marinade)

butter (i left this off)

for the tacos:

corn tortillas

diced tomatoes

sliced avocados

2% shredded cheese (non-gluten-free addition)

rub salt, pepper, and garlic salt on thawed fillets, top with lime juice and a dollop of margarine, bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. make tacos to your liking and enjoy!

granola bar recipe coming soon...

CrossFit 10-28.09

warm-up

500m row

strength

3-2-1-1-1 power clean

weight= 42lbs (not even close to max)

WOD

team workout:

1 person does 20 cleans (42lbs), the other does as many knees-to-elbows (KTE) as possible during that time. then partners switch. when 2nd person is done with cleans, both partners do 20 box jumps before starting the next round.

3 rounds total

KTE per round= 8/13/10

total time= 13:24

i was terrible with the KTE, in part because of my torn callous bothering me, but also because i was tired and my hands kept slipping off due to sweat. our time was really good though- the second best time overall (out of about 7 or 8 teams). my partner, amanda, was really fast with cleans, which was nice for our time but also meant less KTE for me :) i liked the team workout, but this was a long, tough one, and my rip was definitely re-irritated. off to do more salt treatment tonight...