Zucchini & Cauliflower Hummus

I am on day SIX of my 14-day nut butter detox...and I am alive! ;-) Okay, it hasn't been that bad at all. I have missed having a "dip" for fruits and veggies. I used to make my own hummus all of the time.  Soooo, I decided I would try my hand at making a bean-less hummus (since I don't eat any legumes).  Traditional hummus calls for: garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.  In place of the beans I would use zucchini and cauliflower.  I did not have tahini on hand, so I figured I would replace it with some nuts or nut butter (which I did not have readily available because of my detox).  It was super easy to make and super tasty!

In other news...since I am on a roll with the nut butter detox, I figured why not throw in another challenge or detox. Tomorrow I am starting The 21-Day Sugar Detox by Balanced Bites.  A sugar detox for me will entail eating less fruit and more veggies! I will do a more in depth blog about the detox this weekend.   I am very excited.

LeahBar: coffee goodness

If you have never had a Larabar I recommend trying one by making your own.  You may have seen these tasty treats at the store but like many people not bought them because of the price. They are not cheap - the regular cost is $1.65 for a 1.7oz bar - eeek. (You can find them cheaper sometimes, but not often.)  Larabars are amazing- they are great snacks made with super simple ingredients all of which you can actually pronounce! Dates, almonds and cherries are the three ingredients in one of my favorites, Cherry Pie.  I was blessed to come across a food processor that was in a friend's basement collecting dust. I "commandeered" it and now use no less than 3 times a week (Thanks to J and MVP!).  Once I had this fabulous piece of equipment, I thought "Why not make your own Larabars, Leah!??" Naturally, I began searching the fabulous internet for a little inspiration and got to experimenting!  Since last year, I have made a lot of "LeahBars" and perfected the process.  It is so satisfying making your own food. This is another great recipe to make with children- they love it, especially if you add chocolate chips.

I am going cold turkey!

Hi, my name is Leah and I am crazy addicted to nut butters. I love them - especially my homemade curried walnut butter (I will post a recipe later) and Trader Joe's Almond Butter w/ Roasted Flaxseeds. I can sit there and eat it like it is going out of style. So, I have decided to go cold turkey. This does not mean I am cutting out nuts, I don't have a problem with those,  it is the creamy goodness of nut butters I just can't resist. It is definitely my vice. Don't ask me how much I eat, I don't even want to know. I really do try to limit myself by putting 1-2 tablespoons on a plate and eating it with frozen berries or some veggies for a snack....but once I finish that I forget about putting it on my plate and just eat it out of the jar- no bueno.  I'm not saying nut butters (walnut and almond) are bad, but it is all about moderation, which I don't have right now.  So, I am going cold turkey to break this bad habit and as a result I will be forced to diversify my fat intake.

And so it begins, day one of my 14-day nut butter detox! :-)  I will get this vice under control. ;-)
What is your vice??

Until we meet again!

*Disclaimer- I may have a few recipes that I will need to use a little nut butter in sauces, etc. I will not count this as a "relapse." 

WOD-MOD Wednesday {wk 1}

I am sure you are wondering what on earth is WOD-MOD Wednesday?  Let me give you a little history.  About a year ago I was introduced to my WOD-MOD partner in crime, Meredith, through my best friend Sarah. (They are both crazy smart, pipetting all day in a lab trying to find cures to infectious diseases.)  Meredith and I have become great friends over the past year- our bond has definitely been fitness and food. She is just as crazy about working out and cooking yummy food as I am, she'll even go on 100 mile bike rides with me! A few months ago I invited Meredith to join me at the Y for a workout (WOD) and follow it by cooking up delicious meal (MOD) in "Leah's Kitchen" (an actual check in location on Facebook, thanks to Meredith!).  It instantly became a standing Wednesday date and as a result, we concluded we must blog about it. So, here the first post of many in the WOD-MOD series.

*Our title for this series is a work progress. Please post any title ideas in the comments. Thanks!

Thai Chicken and Cabbage Stir-fry

This is a simple and easy dinner to throw together, especially if you made the dressing from my Warm Coleslaw post!

Blackjack, anyone??

 

Did you really think I was referring to the card game?? That would be crazy talk! This workout is a gem. I was introduced to it by my old personal trainer, Madelyn (I will post about her later).  It is a great workout to do post-cardio or just on its own.  You can always swithc up the exersices too: burpees/situps or squats/pushups...there are endless combinations.

It is time to put your poker face on (and maybe put some Lady Gaga on! (Sorry, I just had to say it!)

If you aren't doing Blackjack after a cardio session, warmup with: 

3 sets of:
5 burpees
10 squats


Blackjack!!
AFAP (AsFastAsPossible)
Descending/Ascending Ladder

20 pushups, 1 situp
19 pushups, 2 situps
18 pushups, 3 situps
…
2 pushups, 19 situps
1 pushup, 20 situps


Depending on your level, you may want to start at 11/1 (situps/pushups),  working to 1/11 (situps/pushups). Scale sit-ups and push-ups as needed. As always, stretch after!!! 

Post your time below.

 

Place a folded towel at the curve of your back, like shown in the video. If you find doing these situps a little too hard (they should be challenging), place something between your feet, like a weight or leg of the couch, to "squeeze" as you come up.

Go to your knees if you have to. It is better to do better form on your knees, than bad form on your toes!

Coconut Chicken Fingers with Cauliflower Rice

Who doesn't love chicken fingers dipped in ketchup (or in guacamole)?! This is a dish I put cooked up a a few months after cutting dairy and gluten out of my diet last spring.  It was so nice to have something crunchy. I had my favorite young sous chefs in the kitchen when I made this, Molly (5 at the time), and Abby (2 at the time).  They loved eating it and making it. So if you have kids, let them partake in making their very own chicken fingers.

I ate this along with a little tomato sauce for dipping, cauliflower rice and green cabbage topped with a simple guacamole

 This is a delicious plate that Molly and Abby helped me put together last May!

Stuck at home again?

I woke up to an email from a good friend asking if I had any workouts that could easily be done at home.  Yes, of course I do!  I love being able to get a little workout in without having to trek to the gym, especially if the roads are nasty.

Here are a few fun numbers!

EMOTM 20 minutes (EMOTM = EveryMinuteOnTheMinute)
(Set time to go off every minute. Here is a handy desktop timer I found.  I have the Workout Hero app on my iPhone.) 

5- Pushups *find you difficulty level - see video below.
10- Sit Ups
15 –Air Squats

OR

10 rounds for time:

10 burpees *see video below.
10 sit-ups

Now you have no excuse! Put on some good music and get your workout in for the day. 

Have fun and let me know what you do below!

 Push-up demo.

 Burpee demo.

Warm Coleslaw

Cabbage,  it is an excellent source of vitamins (including C and K), minerals and fiber that are important to your health!  I have been obsessed with cabbage - especially green cabbage.  It is just so versatile: I use it as a tortilla for tacos and enchiladas, "toast" for my eggs, chopped for salads, in soups, as a chip to dip in nut butter or salsas and of course, I use cabbage for coleslaw!  Lately, I have been trying out all different types of coleslaw. Since it is  "snowmageddon" here in the Pacific Northwest, I really wanted a warm coleslaw. 

I adapted this recipe from Stacey's Paleo Kitchen, a fabulous blog I recently stumbled upon. I will definitely be visiting her site often!

Warm Coleslaw

Coleslaw
1     head of green cabbage
4-5 carrots, shredded or juilienned

Dressing
4 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
6 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp  ginger, chopped
2 tsp  garlic, minced
juice of one lime

chopped cilantro

Method

1. Thinly slice cabbage and shred or julienne carrots.  Place coleslaw mix in a bag or Tupperware container.

2. In food processor or blender process the dressing ingredients. Place in container with a lid.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and carrot mixture and saute for a 2-3 minutes.

4. Pour desired amount of dressing into skillet (I used about 2-3 tbsp for 2 handfuls of the cabbage/carrot mix).  Cook for a few more minutes, but not too long as you still want the carrots and cabbage to have a slight crunch.  Remove skillet from heat and add chopped cilantro.

Do Ahead: At step 2 you can throw the prepared coleslaw mix and jar of dressing in the refrigerator to cook later.  I purposely made a lot so that I would be able to do this. 

Tip: If you prefer not to use oil you can use broth to do a wet saute.

Other uses: Use dressing on salads and meat! I love versatile meals.

A True-Texan Chili

A little delayed, but better late than ever. As you know,  Sunday my plan too make the chili was thrown off by the snow.  Thankfully, I was able to make it on Monday. I would have been one sad lady had I had to wait another day!!

Like a little kid on Christmas morning, I woke up very excited to make the chili.  I looked outside to find more snow had fallen. This meant my car was staying put and I would be walking to the Co-Op for my chilies which had eluded me the day before.  After enjoying my morning cup cups of joe (I love coffee!) I bundled up, put some music on and headed out the door.

I went directly to the bulk section and found 2 different types of dried chilies. I was really hoping for more but two is better than none. In addition, I grabbed some grass-fed chuck roast which had been pre-cut into stew cubes. True chili typically does not use ground meat. (I had bought some ground beef the day before at QFC but used it up the night before).  After checking out, and spending $50, (I clearly bought some other items) I walked back home with my backpack full. I could totally feel my Crossfit workout from the day before - Overhead Squats!

Snow Day WOD!

Snow on the roads is no excuse for not working out!

Because of the snow and ice on the road my car was going to stay parked all day.  Thus, I would be making no crossfit appearance or getting on my bike (outside at least) or going to the Y.  So, an at home WOD it would be. (WOD= Workout Of the Day)

The workout making process begins (I love putting workouts together!).  I really need to get on my bike so I knew I needed to incorporate that in.  I also wanted a total body workout.  As I was sitting down to start putting a WOD together I began wasting time on Facebook. Oh the joys of FB!  I saw a comment on my best friend Sarah's Facebook page. The comment referenced Bodyrock which Sarah had introduced to me awhile back.  Bodyrock is an awesome website that has loads of at home workouts with videos and breakdowns of all the exercises - such a great resource.  (Thanks for the introduction, Sarah!)

you learn something new everyday.

You really do.

I have really been craving chili. It is that time of year when having nice bowl of soup or chili is a great way to stay warm - especially when it is snowing outside. There's just one problem, I cannot eat tomatoes right now. I am doing an elimination diet under the supervision of my doctor and tomatoes are off limits until the end of January, along with a whole plethora of other food - we can touch on that later.  In addition to a tomato-less chili, it will be a bean-less chili as eating paleo I do not eat beans.  I have had chili without beans before and it has been just as good!  

So, I sat down last night on my computer and began the search for a "tomato-less chili." I came upon some allergy blogs that had some good ideas but nothing spectacular. Then I landed on a conversation thread on chowhound.com titled "Tomato-less Chili?" My goodness was I glad I stumbled on this.  I began reading and learned very quickly that true Texan-Chili does NOT tomatoes or beans in it. WHO KNEW! This was so informative. One poster even wrote:

"Putting tomatoes in chili is punishable by life without parole where I'm from.
Putting beans in chili is a hanging offense.
Do both and you're up from something cruel and unusual."

So, yesterday I learned I must not put tomatoes or beans in my chili, especially if I want to avoid being hung. 

year 28: one goal down.

When I turned 28 in November I put together a small list of "goals."  I decided rather than having New Years resolution on January 1, it made more sense to do it on my new year, November 5. 

One of my goals was to finally put together a blog. For the last two years my friends have been telling me I should put together a blog.  I would always say "I know, I really should." Every time I cooked a meal, had a great workout and raved about it with my friends over coffee or via email they would again say "Leah, you really need to put this on a blog. It would be much easier for you to share!" (Thank you friends!)

So, here goes nothing... I finally have a blog. :)