We’ve added a few new pictures to the banner rotation. Enjoy!
Potluck on the Horizon
The CFSBK Paleo Potluck is this Saturday at 6:00pm! As of right now about 75 folks have RSVP’d and from the looks of it we’ll have some great dishes (and tequila) to sample all night. This is a great opportunity to meet your fellow SBK’ers in a casual setting and learn some tastey new dishes you can add to your own rotation. If you’d like to come and haven’t RSVP’d yet please do so on the Event Page today. Tomorrow is the unofficial deadline to rsvp since we’ll need to get an accurate headcount for tables, cutlery etc.
Got Meat? Got Veggies? Need Variety? Add Sauce…
By Christian Fox
You’ve dutifully prepare some meals at home. But now, you’re getting tired or bored. It happens all the time. Folks set out full steam ahead with every intention of cooking more healthy meals at home, but in a week or two it becomes either too much work, or too monotonous. I’ve said before that a big key to actually cooking at home is pre-prep, that way it’s as easy as possible to throw a meal together on a Wednesday night after a long day at work, and the gym, and the dozen other things that you have going on in your life. Having a pre-roasted piece of meat can be a lifesaver here, as can having a quick cooking protein like filleted fish, lean pork chops, lean steaks, and the like. Problem is that just good old salt and pepper can start to seem like punishment after a while to some. Having a few pre-made sauces in your fridge or freezer to call upon can add variety to the same meat and veg throughout the week. Try these…
Aji’ – Kind of a Columbian salsa. This stuff is like crack. It takes any meat or fish to another level, and also works as an amazing dip, best scooped with some tostones. Super easy to make.
In a food processor or a blender:
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 small Red Onion, rough chopped
- 1-2 Chiles, rough chopped, depending on how much heat you like (Serrano or Jalepeno work well)
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, rough chopped
- 1-2 medium Carrots, rough chopped (carrots bring both sweetness and texture)
- ½ Bunch Cilantro, rough stems removed
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 cup White Vinegar (or cider vinegar to keep it mas Paleo)
Add ½ of the vinegar first to help chop the veg, and then the other ½ to mix
This makes about a quart of deliciousness. The vinegar helps it keep well, but you can also freeze half for next month.
Basic Marinara – Everyone should know how to make this staple. It’s a template that can serve as the base for other sauces as well. The later addition of herbs, spices, or veg, can take this in any direction you want to go.
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2-6 cloves Garlic, chopped (really depends on your taste, I love a lot of it)
- 1 Spanish Onion, chopped
- *Optional – 1 Carrot, shredded (adds sweetness)
- 2 35 oz cans peeled Tomatoes (best is San Marzano D.O.P. certified. It really makes a difference especially if you’re using the sauce as-is)
- 2 tsp Dried Basil (or chopped fresh if you’ve got it, added at the end of cooking)
- 1 tsp Red Chile flakes
- 1 Tbsp Salt
- 2 tsp Black Pepper
– Saute the onion in EVOO over medium heat in a medium saucepan until translucent.
– Add the garlic (and carrot if using) and sauté till fragrant
– Add the dried basil and chile flakes and stir a few seconds to bring out their oils
– Add the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands into the saucepan (Alternately you can dump them in and use a spoon or potato masher to crush them, but where’s the fun in that?)
– Add the salt and pepper and bring to a hard simmer, then reduce to low. Simmer on low for 15 minutes, or longer depending on desired richness of sauce.
This sauce can be doubled or tripled and kept frozen for some time. Use it as-is on meats, stirred into greens, mixed into sautéed mushrooms or squash as a ragout, or just top your morning omelette with it. Add cumin, cilantro, and some chipotle en adobo and it’s a Mexican sauce. Add curry powder and mix it in with pan-roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds for an Indian side dish. Throw a pint of it in the blender with a cup of coconut milk and desired spices and herbs for a pink sauce rich in flavor and healthy fats. Heck, fry up a pound of ground beef with a Tbsp or 2 of chili powder; add a pint of this sauce and viola, chili.
Cook! Enjoy!
List all the meals from yesterday. Include whether you made them or purchased them and a short reflection on each one.
___________________
Reducing Muscle Pain and Injury with Nutrition and Supplementation Dr. John Berardi
All About Fish Oil Precision Nutrition
More Vegetables Evolving Chocolate-Sauce-Filled Centers As Evolutionary Imperative
David Osorio says
Breakfast
4 Egg omelet with bacon, onions and peppers purchased from Root Hill Cafe. Had some ginger tea with it also. Tasty, usually they just cook the eggs and put some random veggies on top but they finally nailed it. Afterwards I tried a cup of coffee with Almond Milk.. it was interesting. The Almond milk cut the bitter taste of black coffee but I don't see this becoming a regular thing for me.
Lunch
I had a "salad" with arugula, Peppers, onions, Avocado, portabella mushroom and turkey from bierkraft. Lots of water too. This was something I saw Margie order the day before and it looked pretty good so I asked for something similar. Filling
Dinner
Leftover "turkey thing" I made from two days prior. It's just ground turkey with pico de gallo, a little marinara sauce and steamed broccoli that I mix in afterwards. I basically took a bunch of random things I had in my fridge and mixed them all together. I also cut up a sweet potato, covered each slice in egg, pepper and a little salt and baked it at 400 degrees until soft. Another experiment that ended up being pretty good. Also had some Fish Oil and Vitamin D + lots of water.
Monday's are my longest day at the gym, I get in around 545a and then don't go home until after 9p so this is the day I generally eat most of my meals out. I've been VERY happy with how much cooking I've been doing. I'd say I'm cooking 65-75% of my meals which is DRASTICALLY higher than it was towards the end of 2011. I'm not a good cook and I rarely season or think things out at all but I think everything I make tastes really good. (to me)
mig says
i put up the short ribs braised in ancho chile sauce recipe from my rest day dinner… enjoy!
———————————–
yesterday:
coffee (made) – the beverage dreams are made of
kabocha squash coconut curry puree (made) and chicken thighs baked with lemon and thyme (made) – these were recipe tests for a blog photo shoot.
canned tuna with chopped egg, pickle relish and mustard (made) – comfort food
JR says
Light eating day for me yesterday:
Coffee, black. drinking less each week.
breakfast was eggs and sausage from herondale, small amount of blueberries.
lunch was two bareburgers on lettuce wraps.
Had pretty bad family news, not much of an appetite I guess. I'll eat again at lunch today, and I'll eat big.
Stella says
Yesterday was a travel day but I still managed to eat pretty well (thank you Ferry Building!). So all of this food was prepared by someone else.
Breakfast: two slices of bacon plus some sun-dried cherries (which are not nearly as sweet as any other dried cherries I've had — delicious!). I really didn't want breakfast most of the time I was in SF.
Lunch: herbed roasted chicken (half a breast, a wing, and a drumstick) plus a salad of lettuce, shaved beets, walnuts, and dill-yogurt dressing.
Dinner: pulled pork over a salad of chicory, dates, and bacon. YUMMY. If I hadn't been sitting right next to the galley I'm sure other people on the plane would have been eyeing me with deep envy. I followed this up with a cherry Larabar.
As good as the food we had in SF was (OMG the breakfast I had at the farmers' market on Saturday…I can't even!), I am glad I'll be home and cooking for the next couple of days!
Luca says
protein shake after morning workout
double espresso before heading to work
large coffee & two eggs from coffee guy
grilled chicken and mozz baguette from pret a manger
post lunch espresso
mid afternoon large coffee
a couple of cadbury eclairs throughout the day
late afternoon large coffee
two brooklyn lagers
1 1/2 meatballs, 1/2 a brussel sprouts & pancetta pie, 1/2 a hot soppressata pie from Motorino
1/2 bottle red wine
a bud light
Malcolm says
Coffee first thing.
Baked eggs over pulled pork with tomatillo salsa (Home made).
Around noon had more coffee.
Lunch was a chopped vegetable salad and a few satsumas with a pile of fried pulled pork again with a hearty dollop of tomatillo salsa on top (Home made).
Ate a few satsumas (okay, maybe 6) through the day and a couple handfulls of blueberries.
Had a cup of decaf coffee.
Dinner was pretty late. It was a meaty Italian tomato sauce over roast eggplant (Home made).
Fox says
Jimmy – I hope all works out well on the family front.
————-
5am – espresso with cream at home, some fish oil and vitamin D
11:30 – Pumpkin chili and a Scotch egg, both homemade a la Jess! Yummy. Filling.
4 – espresso with cream at home before sprints
6 – liter of mineral water (purchased) consumed in between sauna, steam, and cold showers at the banya.
8 – Mash up of 2 jerk chicken thighs and a Brussels sprouts in a carbonara-esque sauce thing (homemade), more fish oil. Had to use up the sprouts, had some leftover tomato sauce, and bacon is usually a good idea. The flavors didn't go well with together but it did the trick.
——-
As I sit I am eating some more of that chili with 2 fried eggs on top. chilichilichilichili….
corbett says
An apple and a banana with some cashew butter pre-workout.
Roasted chicken thigh and huge pile of arugula and a bowl of piping hot butternut squash soup (homemade)
Long day of running errands in the garment district. YUCK. Should have stopped at Ben's deli but feared a crack out on matzoh ball soup.
Early dinner – half a sweet potato with a big portion of that yummp pumpkin chili with half an avocado on top.
WAS. NOT. HUNGRY. for the rest of the day. Late night bowl of kale with sauerkraut just cause I felt like I needed something green.
Small piece of some dark chocolate that wasn't really all that good.
Woke up hungry-ish but not starving.
Ben W says
10: herba mate tea.
12:30: steak, eggs and potatoes at the Diner. I was feeling lazy with Giants euphoria and slight vodka head and didn't want to cook. This was a fail as the steak was crap, the eggs tasteless and who knows what oil they use.
6: Duck confit leg – post co-op shift, pre strength cycle snack.
8:45: Mig's pork roast (Herrondale) recipe, spinach, and sweet potato in ghee. The roast was f'n fantastic, I ate a good chunk of that sucker and had to force myself to stop.
Light on the veg, I will fix that today.
melon says
7am: black tea, 2 pieces of bacon, 4 eggs over easy (in bacon grease), pile o' steamed zucchini (same as every day) [home made]
12:30: leftover meatloaf (modified from Everyday Paleo: meatloaf mix instead of all beef, coconut flour instead of almond meal to honor ongoing nut prohibition), roasted curried cauliflower, peppermint tea [home made]
3pm (at a combined birthday party/staff meeting with 9 types (seriously) of delicious-looking cakes from the bakery downstairs): ~8oz blackberries, tbs or so homemade coconut butter, decaf "vanilla nut" tea
5:30: 2 cold chicken wings [home made]
7:30: 3 slices Applegate Farms turkey breast
8:30: beef shanks with carrots and onions, braised in red wine, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes; brussels sprouts cooked in bacon [home made]
9:30: 3/4 of an orange (lots of fruit today. my cold came back or was followed by a new one, and all I wanted was vitamin c packed fruits)
plus fish oil, probiotics, and about 4x 32oz water. pretty standard day, although high in fruit. need to quit it on the coconut butter, but it seems like the only fatty/creamy thing left available to me, with dairy and nut butters cut out (and a deep, abiding hatred for all things avocado).
JJ says
BREAKFAST: Leftover ropa vieja + a little piece of 1 maduro from Bogota (the maduro is technically not on my plan, but I just squatted so I figured those few carbs were probably a good thing)
SECOND BREAKFAST: Chicken andouille sausage (Hernondale farms) and egg scramble plus some leftover kale sauteed with onions and butternut squash and garam masala (homemade)
LUNCH: Coconut curry salmon chowder and collard greens (homemade)
SNACK: Rotisserie chicken from fairway. It came with the neck attached, wtf?
DINNER: 1/2 pound shrimp, sauteed, with tomato, avocado, lime salsa and haricots verts sauteed in garlic and oil. (homemade)
Plus RT baths… This was a fantastic day.
Charlotte says
I tried posting yesterday but the comment moderator decided my enthusiasm about the quiche I ate yesterday was too offensive, I guess. (Seriously, though, I'm having major issues with the Captcha thingie; I can't see the text I type in the box. Using Firefox on a Mac.)
Yesterday's meals:
Breakfast: coffee w/ grassfed cream, 3 eggs fried over easy in bacon fat, breakfast sausage.
Brunch: this quiche:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/magazine/recipe-bacon-and-apple-quiche.html?scp=1&sq=bacon%20apple%20quiche&st=cse baked w/o crust
plus a salad of chopped brussels sprouts & chard (raw) with oil and vinegar dressing.
The quiche was INCREDIBLE. Highly recommended.
Dinner: Pork chops with chard cooked in bacon fat.
lotsa pork. Hmm.
@Malcolm: what else do you eat your pasta sauce over?
Lana says
Yesterday I had a pretty shitty food day, I did NOT reach the vegetable goals I set for myself in the beginning of the challenge. I have been under a lot of stress with the art installation I've been working on… we won a competition, so it's good stress, but I've been super busy. On top of that, I feel like I might be getting sick which hasn't been helping my motivation. My diet has been consisting of just shoving leftover meat in my mouth. Additionally, I missed the WOD yesterday, which kinda annoyed me. I'm excited for things to calm down a bit.
Breakfast: Running late for work — 2 eggs fried in olive oil, no veggies or anything 🙁
Morning Tea: I totally cut out coffee a week ago and it has been going great!
Lunch: Leftover BBQ from the weekend — Pulled Pork, Short Ribs, Shredded Chicken, Broccoli & String Beans.
Dinner: More of the same leftovers – a bunch of shredded bbq chicken.
Late night: Jeff and I cooked venison jerky from my dad's last hunt. I'll be making a post about this on my blog later in the week.
Fish oil and water…
JR – I hope everything is OK with the fam.
Jules says
Meal 1 – homemade. This is a favourite first meal of mine and I'll have several days a week. Will change out and have 1/2 tuber 1/2 sweet on occasion, and will also change out the greens so it stays somewhat interesting. Same with the fruit.
-Coffee from Kontidori to keep me warm on the walk home from CFSB
-Seared steak with braised mustard greens and roasted Japanese sweet potato
-Pineapple
Meal 2 – homemade leftovers
-Roasted chicken breast
-Brussels roasted at the same time with apple and bacon, finished with a little vinegar
-Satsuma
Green tea with the last of my poncey Askinosie bar
Beef jerky – not homemade.
Dinner was out at Kinshop as I had a ticket to Sleep No More – it was a double treat night for sure:
-Bibb salad
-Squash soup
-Stir fried aquatic veg
-Braised goat
Lana says
Also, JJ whoah — Those are some gourmet paleo meals you got going on there!
Mel says
Breakfast – 2 eggs over easy and latte from home – sounds boring but for me this is a big big breakfast and water
Lunch – cracked out on the roast veggies I made Sunday so pretty proud of myself. A chicken sausage from union market and lots of roasted mixed squash and carrots and water
Snack – homade babaganoush with celery water
Dinner – pumpkin chili with guacamole – tried the coconut tortillas, ehhh I think I love regular tortillas too much for them to be that sweet tasting with the coconut flour
Green tea and a grapefruit around 8
Jeremy says
Safety Squat Bar Squats
215×3
265×3
285×3
Just wanted to play with the new toy.
5/3/1 Bench Press (superset with 3×10 chins)
215×5
240×3
270×7
Kroc Rows
130×7
Low reps, wanted to try something heavier then I've done before.
Brandon says
I feel like I spent most of yesterday either eating or cooking (yeah, it was a good day).
Breakfast 1: Full-fat yogurt, berries, "granola" (homemade paleo clusters) and espresso w/cream.
Breakfast 2: Scotch egg (made a batch for the week)
Lunch: Leftover pork ribs that had been crock potted the day before, avacado, big bowl of raw kale
Post-workout: Smoothie: protein powder, almond milk, a few berries, parsley, spinach
Snack 1: Leftover Herondale T-bone (3 oz) & 2 eggs
Snack 2: Leftover poached salmon (about 4 oz)
Dinner: Chicken breast with pesto, heaping bowl of roasted vegetables, steamed chard
Bedtime: Protein shake
I don't think it's a coincidence my most disciplined eating day was also a holiday. Fitting in healthy snacks in a refrigeratorless and mandated nut-free environment isn't easy.
Charlotte Kaiser says
FYI Management: The Captcha system for moderating comments is glitchy. I submitted 2 comments (one yesterday, one this morning) that never showed up. So I finally caved and created an account–if that's your goal, it worked!
Fun 6am class with Coach Lady Fox. Great to see Steph P and Charmel after eons. Worked a heavy triple of BSQ since this was my first time squatting this cycle:
(45×5, 105×5, 135×3, 165×2) 185, 190, 195.
Really liked the accessory work–need to spend more time on my kip (along with just about everything else…) did 95# for the front squats, sets of 8.
Holiday meals:
Breakfast (8am) – 3 eggs fried over easy in bacon fat w/ 2 links breakfast sausage from the coop
Brunch (1pm) – This quiche, which I made w/o a crust and an extra 2 eggs (so 6 total) and was amazeballs. highly highly recommended.
plus a salad of chopped brussels sprouts and chard, raw, dressed w/ vinaigrette.
Dinner (7:30pm) – pork chops and chard sauteed in bacon fat.
Hm, lots of pork. Making up for it by eating that pumpkin chili all the cool kids have for lunch. Doing the bite-on-the-minute thing from the last paleo email. It's not as crazy as it seemed.
JR says
Pumped to make that Aji. I never got around to that last time and wanted to! Just took down size chicken and salad. I'd cover myself in the dead skin like a buffalo hunter, if I hadn't eaten it all.
Gabrus, I am coming after you, big time!
Keith W says
Food consumed:
1 cup of coffee with a splash of 1/2 & 1/2
3 organic cage free eggs with salt and pepper
1 table spoon of almond butter
a pear
lunch
salad: baby spinach, diced tomatoes, cucumbers, radish and carrots with some baked chicken leftover from the night before with vinegar.
1 ltr of water
pre-workout
a banana and a ltr of water.
Dinner
Grass fed beef hamburger
cooked with garlic, baby bella mushrooms, kale and onion covered all in a homemade heirloom tomato sauce.
a banana
20 almonds
1 ltr of water
michele says
workplace donuts:
DENIED.
i love this challenge.
David Osorio says
Hi all,
A few of you have emailed to ask about screening comments. Squaresoft (our webhost) automatically screens comments that include several links. I assume it's to avoid bots posting on their sites. Every week there are about 2-5 comments that get screened and I have to go in and approve them. Sorry if your comment gets screened, I would only recommend not posting too many links. You might also have less chance of auto screening if you create a profile.
thanks
DH3 says
Jim hope all is well family front.
Meals yesterday:
Breakfast: coffee, 3 hardboiled eggs.
Lunch:burger no bun, side of bacon avocado, salad. (purchased prime meats)
dinner: rotisserie chicken, avacado, sauteed spinach
snack a few almonds
Charlotte says
Heh. My comments went through! Sorry for the kvetching. And hey, that quiche recipe was worth posting 2x.
michele says
several people, including non-Paleo friends, emailed me that quiche recipe saying "i bet this would be great with no crust!" something about it just screams "crossfitters will love this." could it be…
BACON?
Dan N says
Re: All About Fish Oil
FWIW, I just cannot stomach fish oil in any of its forms (i don't like fish at all in general). The fishy burps (even from capsules) make me absolutely miserable and I want to yack all day.
Krill oil capsules, no problems at all.
katie says
Yesterday food…
Breakfast: 3 eggs fried with leftover pulled pork + homemade salsa, green tea, water
Lunch: post-CF run to Bierkraft–roast beef sandwich made into a salad with extra pastrami
Dinner: homemade beef stew + green salad, herbal tea, water
Post-dinner: sample of the amazing slow cooked short ribs ala Michele that I'll eat tomorrow.
And yesterday, I made up the Wendlers from last week:
Squat: 170×3, 195×3, 220×5. Annoyed I couldn't get more at 220–I've worked 5s there easy lots of times before, but the week of travel and terrible sleep caught up with me.
Press: 70×3, 80×3, 90×4. Again, not the best showing ever, but 4 is more than 3.
Then the metcon with the class, DU scaled down to 10 and OHS scaled up to 75. 3rds + 1 DU.
melon says
17 days without chocolate.
starting to crack.
JJ says
Ok I know it's kind of crazy to be bucking the pumpkin chili trend right now, but as long as today's posts are all about food, thought I'd share that I just made chili with mushrooms (good sub for beans if you quarter them and sauté them with the onions first) and okra, which made it really thick and hearty… Turned out great!
Stella says
Soup lovers, I haven't tried this myself, but it looks intriguing: http://nymag.com/listings/recipe/dairyless-fennel-soup/
Jessica Bailey says
Squat: 175x5x5
Bench: 87.5x5x3
Chins: 1, 1, 2
DJ Fox rules.
mig says
rickke:
here's the dan john video i was referring to. "break the finger" is the cue, he starts talking about it at 1:58. it's a simple thing, but it worked for me.
dan john
Traci T. says
Late post, I know, but I just got in from the city a little while ago…
Breakfast: 2 slices uncured bacon + 2 scrambled eggs + large handful of spring mix salad w/a couple slices of avocado and a few Kalamata olives. Large coffee with some milk.
Lunch: Chicken breasts that I sauteed with garlic, onions, a little white wine and chicken broth and random spices. Brussels sprouts!
2 snacks throughout the day: an apple, about 3/4 C. of pecans, almonds, and raisins
Dinner: Spaghetti squash and marinara sauce with mushrooms and grass-fed beef. And drank a ton of water all day long…
I made all of it all by myself! I was a cooking fiend on my day off yesterday and it was fun. So many recipes on this blog and also recipes being sent to me; I'm a little overwhelmed (but in a good way)! Good night!
Fox says
Squat
245×5
285×3
315×6
Wanted 7 or more. 5 felt great, 6 not so much. I'd done 335×5 when on TM so we'll see where this goes. I guess 315 was a 6RM?
SS Bar Squat
75×5
165×5
215×5
255×5
285×3
Fat Bar Chins
3-3-3-4-5-7
Safety Squat Bar was, fun.
Noah Barth says
I did yesterday's workout and it was a fucker, first time doign overhead squats as a WOD- a lot more back work than I realized. I felt like I could have gone heavier but I have a labral tear in my left shoulder and it started feeling comprimised so I had to scale down mid workout. Good stuff though.
Also, my double unders are improving big time- hit about 24 consecutive. Amazing how much more taxing they are than single unders.
OHS: 3x 45, 65, 85, 95, 105
WOD: 2 rounds @ 75, 2 rounds @ 65 + 20 doubel unders