Rest...ice...mobility...it might be working- and a little reminder from my past helps get my mind right

 Its no secret that I have been struggling a bit. My eating is coming back around and I am happy about that but I feel like my wodding is still so off. I sometimes get so frustrated when I can't make progress as quickly as I would like to. I tend to start wondering if it's all worth it etc..etc..all that silly negative stuff that we as humans do. This week I came across this picture. April 2009 SLC Half Marathon. Its hard to believe that this is really me. I mean it certainly looks like me..I looked at this and kind of got my second wind for the week. Its all for something! Its things like this that I need to use a reminders to push me through the tougher times! This week I focused on some mobility for my achy spots-I have been icing and trying not to overuse those joints if I don't have to- hopefully this will get me back to 100% and get me over this little hill I have been stuck on!




2 of my favorite pics from this week of this baby girl! She has just a sweet personality. This week while the kiddos were wodding I got to hold her and she had discovered she had feet! So glad that I am not missing moments like this because of my crazy busy life.
She is such a joy!



Food stuff is kind of all over the board this week. I wanted to try something new and then my sis Amy was talking about clam chowder and all of the sudden...I needed to find a Paleo recipe for this. I found one. Its definitely not budget friendly. And I am only about halfway done with it so the review of how it all turned out will have to wait. Here are the 2 things that I do have complete. Cashews are soaking

-and veggies are all cut up (it's the ocd in me) and I think I have about another hour before I can start putting this one together. 

The link to the recipe is below and I will let you know how it all turns out. 

http://www.thetastyalternative.com/2013/02/thick-and-creamy-dairy-free-new-england.html

Saturday I needed a break from my frittatas that I have been eating. Her is a quick and easy breakfast idea. Its literally 2 ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to prep. 

1 large sweet potato peeled and grated 
4 eggs
(I added a few cups of spinach in this time but you can put just about anything you want in this)

Grate the sweet potato and season with a little salt and pepper - a little onion powder and garlic powder (be careful with these they can make it salty quick) Cook the sweet potato through. I like to get it a little crispy which takes a little time. Then just press down 4 spots with the end of a spoon-

 drop the eggs in cover and cook to your liking. I leave the yoke runny because when you reheat them it cooks them through and I personally love a runny yoke

The cost breaks down to this- I bought 2 medium sweet potatoes and together they were 1.57- I already had eggs but the ones I buy are 2.69 a dozen-so roughly .89 and then spinach I have no idea .50 at best? So even if I used 2 sweet potatoes this would run roughly .74 a serving? This is also great to eat right after working out and it is not bad at all just cold

I like to smother it with hot sauce. 

I also opted to make a recipe I saw on PaleOMG that she posted a week or so go ago. Might have been a little longer. This seemed easy and that is kind of what I was going for. I am a little worried about the starch from the spaghetti squash but I am giving a shot either way. I grabbed some fish from my Dad and I have a big bag of salad so I will just eat this sparingly and see how it goes. 

http://paleomg.com/almost-5-ingredient-pizza-spaghetti-pie/

These fish are gorgeous!!

The finished product!!!
I followed the recipe with the exception of using fresh basil in place of dried basil and for some reason mine made this big pan and not an 8x8 so I will be sharing this with my kiddos- OH and I used turkey sausage as well.

Well that's it. Its all I have for this week. Kind of boring I know! I did get registered for the CrossFit Open last Wednesday and I am looking forward to having something to focus on and work toward for the next little while. I am excited to see if I can't break out of this little funk and really train like I want to!

Hope everyone has a great week- stay focused and if you have lost your focus..I completely understand how that feels! BUT PULL IT TOGETHER!!! Find a reason to confirm it's all worth it!

Croni- out!

Just need to keep pushing forward....and food matters! it really does!

ALWAYS HAVE TO OPEN WITH A PICTURE OF SWEET SCARLET!!! 
She is growing up so fast. 

Such a happy baby!!!

Ever have one of those weeks where no matter what you do...you somehow manage to leave your workout a little disappointed?? THAT WAS ME LAST WEEK!!

I have about 100 theories about what is wrong with me or what is NOT wrong with me. 

1. I am working wayyyyyy too much
2. I am getting old...body takes longer to recover
3. I have peaked/plateaued 

ETC...ETC...ETC...

Excuses...that's all they really are. There is nothing WRONG with me. I am working too much but its not forever..just for now...age is just a number...and if I work at it hard enough I will get those PR's I am dying to get. I know it takes time and persistence. Time? eh...don't have alot of it right now...persistence? have plenty of it. So..this week- starting with a fresh mind- a new perspective..instead of beating myself up so badly I will find ONE thing- that may have gone right! That's it.....my Sunday rant! 


LETS TALK FOOD PEOPLE! 
Loved the soup recipe from last week-quickly learned it was too much starch for me. Which bummed me out alot! Starch is one thing I have to really watch. But if you can tolerate it that recipe is so good!

This week I decided to go kind of simple. I wanted to badly to try the cauliflower tortilla shell recipe so I kind of planned my menu around that. 
These are delicious. I made them way TOO thick but I will know for next time. I grabbed a lb of ground chicken and cooked it with lots of spice. I grabbed some greens - I will end of eating this kind of as a chicken tostada salad.
http://slimpalate.com/cauliflower-tortillas-paleo-grain-free-gluten-free/ 

I have also been wanting to try to do a brisket. I know there are so many ways to cook this and I really wanted to try a dry rub but I have to be honest- no idea what I was doing so I just googled a Paleo recipe. I found this one and I love how simple it is and it's still cooking- so I can't really tell you how this is quite yet. But look at it!!! ( I do not eat much red meat so this should be interesting!) You kind of make your own clean bbq sauce!
http://fedandfit.com/2013/04/13/crockpot-paleo-bbq-pulled-beef

I also have been craving salmon. Strange I know so I grabbed some salmon-drenched it in lemon- seasoned it with sea salt, pepper and threw some dill on there. AND YES I GRILLED IT OUTSIDE ....I tried to get a pic of how it was snowing while I had this on the grill but it didn't really turn out. I grabbed a huge bag of broccoli. I was able to get 4 good size pieces of out of this slab. Again- with broccoli and or salad. This will make a great lunch!

And breakfast. Again- frittata. This one is mushroom-kale, zucchini, a little red onion and I added olives..not sure why, just sounded good. I love this- it's SO easy to make and pack- and I of course add avocado. Smiths has their avocados 10 for 10.00 and they are good ones- all good sized!

I did a little cost analysis on this frittata.
Kale- .98  I buy this and just tear it and chop it- you can buy it already chopped up but its alot more.
zucchini - 1.50 (estimated I bought 3 small ones and used 2)
6 eggs- 1.34 I buy the Omega 3 eggs..2.69 for a dozen 
mushrooms-1.69 these were already sliced
onion .32 I used less than a 1/4 
olives .33 I used about 10 olive and sliced them myself so I used about 1/3 of the can the can was .99 
So TOTAL-6.16  I get 8 slices so this breakfast ends up being .77- add 1/2 and avocado .50 and total breakfast cost is 1.27. 
That is my frugal breakfast share. I guess if you got something off the dollar menu at McDonalds it could be cheaper but this is actually real food and so good for you!

My last share is a treat share- for those of you doing challenges you could still make these just double check all of your ingredients. This is my second try at these and Kat suggested just omitting the coconut sugar. I did and they are still delicious! They freeze great they are soft even after being frozen.

http://paleomg.com/soft-chewy-molasses-spice-cookies/ 

Well we are heading into week 3 of good eating. I am finally starting to feel better. Its insane to me how poor food effects you. And not just how it impacts your wod performance but how some foods can make you just feel so sluggish and tired amongst 100 other things! Stay on track peeps. If you have failed already - get the hell back on. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR????

REGISTRATION FOR THE CROSSFIT GAMES OPEN IS THIS WEEK!!! SO EXCITED. I won't be chasing anyone down this year begging them to sign up. It's not for everyone. Me? I have a goal..I am putting it out there right now. I am pushing to finish in the top 200 women in my age group. I don't know if its realistic or possible. Last year I finished 232. And honestly I feel like I have been going backward. Don't care...if I am going to do it I have to have something to push for and this is it!
Saw this on the Games FB page and loved it!! Not to mention she is a complete bad ass!!!

1. "I can't control the outcome, but I can control the effort I put in."
   
   - Elisabeth Akinwale, 7th - CrossFit Games

 













That's all I have! Have a great week everyone! Croni- out!

I had this grand idea!....Week 2 of back on track-finding my center and focus again!

Let me start by saying GO NINERS!!!! Love it! I have been a Niners fan for a long time now. I am not some huge fan of the NFL but I do love football. So YES!! Nicely done Niners!




I had this grand idea for my blog today. 13 memories of 2013. I actually started it, then realized...eh...not for Sunday. Its coming though. I can say looking back..pretty satisfied with my accomplishments last year can't wait to top it this year.

My sweet grand baby Lady Scarlet is growing up so fast!!! Just a few pics from last week. Man I love this sweet little girl!!!

My New Year started with a new PR. I set a goal for January to work on a few things I have been avoiding. The overhead squat is one of them. I hate them. It absolutely displays every weakness that I have. So after avoiding it for months and months and months. I hit a new PR. 118..I can only go up from here! 

Looking forward to really working hard for the next few months and starting with a new PR has me excited to see what else I can do! For those of you not tracking your progress-this is a great tool!! As you can see I have a good history of where I have been! XFit PR app is cheap and pretty easy to use!

I had a pretty successful week last week getting my eating cleaned up. My goodness, it's so easy to fall back into bad habits, especially when life is crazy busy. But I am happy to say that I am feeling focused again. I just took it one day at a time and it seemed to work.

I have a GREAT salad tip. I had made a large green salad mixed with kale for a family party- there was quite a bit leftover so I loaded up a large Ziploc and believe it or not it lasted the entire week! I was able to have a little salad everyday it stay so fresh I was shocked. I still had plenty of mix leftover and plenty of kale so I grabbed a cucumber-some radishes-red pepper and a fat tomato cut it all up-put it in a ziploc and I am ready for the week again- since I made a ton of dressing I split that into 4 small servings and I am good to go. This is just red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon and greek seasoning. 

I have been LOVING soup for lunch lately. I have been doing soup and salad and its been great! So I was super pumped when Christy shared this recipe with me! I am going to type it out for you. 
INGREDIENTS
2 garlic cloves minced
2 carrots peeled and cubed
1 cup butternut squash peeled and cubed
1 small sweet potato peeled and cubed
1/2 yellow onion quartered
2 T olive oil
4 c chicken stock
2-3 cups leftover shredded chicken or 1 lb chicken breast 
3/4 t dried parsley
1 t sea salt
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried rosemary
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t cracked black pepper
1 cup water
2 cups baby spinach 
Preheat oven to 425
Toss the veggies with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper roast for 20 min or until veggies are soft

These veggies just look gorgeous

While the veggies cook bring the chicken stock-chicken, herbs and salt and pepper to a simmer in a large pot. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes - if using raw chicken cook 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked enough to shred with a fork.

I used cooked chicken thighs

When the veggies are ready add half the veggies to the soup and the other half in a blender-make sure to put the onion quarters in the blender. Puree the veggies with 1 cup of water.
Add the vegetable puree and baby spinach to the soup and simmer 5-10 minutes until the spinach is wilted and the soup is hot. 





This was before I added the spinach. I didn't have to add anything once it was cooked. It was seasoned well and I followed the recipe with the exception that I used shredded chicken thighs. AND I think if I make it again I will throw in just a little more spinach! Thanks again Christy for sharing.




So my lunches are taken care of this soup seems pretty hearty so I may not need a salad with it but I will be packing it just in case. I am determined to be super strict during the week so that when I want to have a little "cheat meal" on Saturday i don't feel guilty. 
I also made a big batch of meatball. Lets be honest you can't really go wrong with meatballs. 

Mediterranean Meatballs

This is just ground turkey-2 turkey italian sausage links-fresh parsley, 1/2  red onion- greek seasoning, mint, dried basil and chopped kalmata olives. Bake at 350 or about 30 minutes is. 

I am still hooked on frittatas for breakfast. I made one on Wed last week and I still have 6 good servings. I followed kind of the same recipe only I subbed shredded sweet potato for the zucchini - so clearly I need to really watch any other starch this week. I usually have the frittata with a 1/2 of a SMALL avocado. 

I cant believe that we are already a week into the New Year AND THAT THE REGISTRATION FOR THE CROSSFIT OPEN STARTS JANUARY 15TH!!! Its insane and make me happy to give me something new to work toward. First WOD will be at the end of February AND SW Regionals will be in SLC again. So awesome.
Well folks. That's it for a Sunday. I am working on putting together some posts for eating Paleo on a budget. One thing I did notice when I started going a little more strict Paleo was that my grocery bill increased. For me I have learned to live with it but I know that there are many people out there who would love to eat clean but find it's more pricey. So I have been working on getting some meals put together that wont kill the budget. With as much as I am working I may not get it done this month. But I am sure going to try!!!
Have a great week everyone- stay focused-and if you haven't started already- GET FOCUSED!! A little something funny in closing...for those of you who WOD with me :)
Croni-OUT