Practice Helps Right?

The workouts I have been doing as of late have involved either crossfit, soccer or walking the streets of downtown for SXSW. Crossfit has been going along very well. I am glad I started out with the classes I did, because the ones of late have been quite a bit tougher. I am super pumped that I have even been doing the crossfit games workouts. Oh how I love them.

Yesterday's Crossfit Class
I would love to talk about yesterday's workout, especially since it is fresh in my memory. It started out with me barely getting 5 hours of sleep. Well maybe I got 5 hours of sleep, it could quite possibly be less. Then Michael decided he wasn't going because he hurt his toe in soccer. That hurt morale a bit, but it worked out fine. When I got to the box they told us to do 3 laps around the building, high knees around the corners. Usually it is only one, or maybe 2. 3 felt a bit harsh. Then we did the usual routine, with a few extra's thrown in, including push up jacks. Don't even ask. They are ridiculous. Some of the workouts they have us do I simply cannot do, such as the push up jacks. I am never given crap about it, either because they realize I am working on it but can't just immediately "be there" or they have given up. Either way, I am mostly okay with it.

Next was the strength section
Strength: 2 Power Cleans + 2 Squat cleans + 1 Jerk Right + 1 Jerk Left.

Power Clean

Squat Clean

Jerk

We were set up to be in groups of three. Recently one of my friends joined the class, so now I finally have an automatic partner. Yay. I am pretty sure the regulars there don't exactly LOVE working out with me because I just can't keep up. That might just all be in my head. Regardless, it makes me feel awkward. But as I said, we needed to be in groups of 3. The other person in my group, aside from my friend, is new to the gym but a bad ass in crossfit. So she ended up with us. She is super nice, but I still get the inferior feeling. Regardless, I just could not get this workout in. I kept forgetting what a power clean was, then how to do a squat clean, and a jerk. Actually the jerks were the easiest. But I kept doing my form allllll wrong. Oh well. I didn't get frustrated really. I am okay with not being the best in things I know I shouldn't be the best at (especially if I have only tried these moves like 2-3 times at most). I ended up getting in 3 rounds of this.

Oh side note. Our couch told us that if we didnt do a fort hold the whole class would have to do five burpees. I was one of the three or four people that made the whole class stop and do burpees, while I stood and watched (I think it was part of the "punishment", I wasn't just being lazy, I was told to watch). 

Next up, the WOD
30 Curtis P's
50 Ball Slams
50 Wall Balls 
30 Curtis P's

So, the Curtis P's.... let's talk about those. Not only is it a powerful SET of moves, but it is confusing as hell. It includes a clean, lunge on each leg and a push press, which equals one rep. Best to watch it in the video posted below to really "get it". 

Then next were Ball Slams and Wall Balls. I am familiar with Wall Balls but not Ball Slams. I figured they would be tough but that they were doable.

Ball Slams

Wall Balls

So now let's talk about what really happened. I spent the entire 17 or so minutes (it could have been 12, I am not 100% sure) was spent on me TRYING to do a Curtis P. I am not sure I 100% did one. I am sure I got parts of it right, but probably not in order. The coach had to keep coming over to me to help her. And of course when she came over to, or even looked at me, I ended up screwing it up somehow. I kept wanting to do a split jerk instead of a clean. Then she told me to stop jumping because my bar was only 15lbs (she had a point) and to just try to control. I was able to do that a few times, but I kept automatically going into the jump. Ugh. I feel like every time I got one part right I would miss the other parts. It was a tad bit frustrating but I didn't let it get me now. I just decided I need more practice, and I need to try to do it on my own. So tonight, I did just that. But I decided to start with one move at a time. Today was squat cleans. yay.

Tomorrow is 13.3. Ahh.

Turkey Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms Topped with Parmigiano Reggiano

I was contacted by one of my really great friends who works at Whole Foods about a contest just for food bloggers to celebrate Parmigiano Reggiano in their stores. I was told I was going to get a $25 gift card to participate in order to buy some Parmigiano Reggiano and a few other ingredients to create a tasty recipe. Of course I said yes. Who doesn't want to get really good cheese for free? This girl does.

Growing up, I think the first thing I learned to make were quesadillas. Throw some cheese into a tortilla and top with some pickled jalapenos and you have a delicious meal, especially for a 7 year old. Oh and don't get me started on the crispy cheese that would show up on the pan from the cheese oozing from the quesadilla. Holy moly. So good. 

In high school, before I knew I was allergic to chicken, but definitely was showing symptoms, I ate a lot of vegetarian meals. Somehow I knew that when I ate meat I would feel sick. Little did I know it was only when I ate chicken. But, you live you learn. As a vegetarian, I was a really "bad" vegetarian. Meaning I just stuck to carbs. I ate a ton of velveta mc n cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches and pasta. Please note I was also swimming about 3 hours a day, so at least I was using up those carbs. ;-)

As I grew older, and stopped swimming 3 hours a day, I knew I had to cut back on my fat intake. One of the ways that I did was trying to cut out any of the crappy cheese, such as american singles. I feel like when you eat fancier cheeses you need less of it because the flavor is so much more flavorful. When I discovered as an adult that parmesan didn't have to come in those green cans, I never went back. Real parmesan, or parmigiano reggiano is where it is at. canned cheese no more.

The recipe that I came up with is very simple. And please flavor to taste because I am terrible at measuring and following rules, so if you think something is off, add some spices, or salt, etc.

Stuffed Turkey Portobello Mushrooms

I started out by putting some diced bell peppers and onions into my cast iron and let them sit there for awhile. Luckily, Whole Foods was selling a pack of pre-cut onions and bell peppers for fairly cheap so I went the lazy route and took those. Technically it was a better deal than buying bell peppers because in Texas for some reason they are big money.  After they had softened I added in some ground turkey. Below is about 1lb of ground turkey.  I sprinkled in some italian seasoned organic breadcrumbs, some oregano and some basil. I let it all cook for a bit. Later I added in some pesto and marinara sauce. I mixed it all together at the end, thought about adding an egg to keep it together and decided against it. It was sticking together fairly nicely already, and why add calories when you don't need to? If yours aren't sticking add some egg whites or just an egg.

Next up I cut out the stem from the portobell mushroom, and stuffed the mushrooms with the turkey goodness. Then I went onto grading the Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Once the portobello mushrooms were stuffed with the turkey, I topped them with some italian breadcrumbs and the Parmigiano Reggiano. I put them each in a pie pans (a total of three mushrooms) because I often use pie pans for cooking individual items like this. I had set the oven to 400 degrees because I read some other recipes that quoted that temperature. I set the timer for 15 minutes and waited for the glory of a mouth full of delicious. The 15 minutes was the perfect amount of time for the mushrooms to be amazing and the cheese to be melty. 

Recipe (please don't follow this exactly, but use as a guideline)
1lb ground turkey
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcumbs
1/4 cup white onion
1/4 cup bell peppers
3 tsp oregano
3 tsp basil
5 tsp basil pesto
1/4 cup pizza sauce
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
3 portobello mushrooms
Sat for tasting

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grill onions and bell peppers until they are softened
3. Throw on your ground turkey and mix it together with the onions and bell peppers.
4. Add the basil, oregano and salt
5. Wait until the turkey is thoroughly cooked through then add some pizza sauce and pesto. Let it soak in.
6. Cut the stems off the portobello's. Place them in a pan so you can stuff them.
7. Stuff mushrooms with the turkey mixture (there probably will be some extra when you are done, depending on the size of the mushrooms).
8. Top mixture with Parmigiano Reggiano and breadcrumbs
9. Throw into oven for 15 minutes, remove, and eat.

Recent Eats

Eating has been going pretty well for me overall the last few weeks. I am really trying to cut back on the "bad" food and make more of an effort to be healthier. I do love that I know eat my lunch at my desk practically everyday at work. It makes me feel healthier and more in control of what goes in me. Let's just say the chicken poisoning incidents are down since I have been eating more home cooked foods.

Breakfast Eats

Life Cereal with Peanuts

Omelette with Kale

Ramken Egg with Turkey Sausage

Raisin Bran

Eggs from a Friend's Chickens

Avocado Egg Bowl (heaven)

Poached Eggs (Heaven)

Lunch Eats

Pumpkin Empanada with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Evol Goat Cheese Pizza with a Side of Roasted Veggies

BBQ Pulled Turkey Sandwich

Whole Foods Express Market Veggies Quesadilla and Roasted Veggies

Sushi

Tofu Lemongress Bahn Mi

Egg Salad Sandwich (Greek Yogurt Subbed for Mayo (mistake))

Sweet Potato Tamale with Bean and Rice Chips

Barille Pasta (Emergency Lunch)

Turkey and Gouda Sandwich

Naan Pizza with Roasted Veggies

Jason's Deli

Snacks

My Chex Mix

Tea Party Snacks

Roasted Veggies

Dinner Eats

Pasta

Verts Gyro

Valentine's Day Lobster Tail

Pork Dumplings with Veggies

Tofu Spring Rolls

Pesto Pasta with Shrimp & Veggies

CPK BBQ Salad (Sub Avocado for Chicken)

Cafe Evangaline with Dean

Philly Cheese Steak

Sweet Potatoes!

Trader Joe's Fried Rice with Egg & Tofu Egg Roll & Asparagus

Jalapeno Cheeseburger with Salad Topped with Yogurt Ranch

Day 2 of Crossfit

The 2nd Day of Crossfit
Waking up at 540 am with Mike, really isn't that bad. I think it is because I know I have to be the motivator for both of us, so I am the motivator, if that makes sense. We got to class with 5 minutes to spare. Perfect. Just enough time to see how torturous the workout was for the 5 am class. They seemed much sweatier than they were the week before.  Luckily I knew what the workout was and felt fairly okay with it. 

Warm Up:
We started off with a quick run around the building, some high knees, butt kicks, jumping jacks, and push ups. I was super excited that I busted out 10 in one round. I can't say they were perfect push ups, but I went down a bit and up, so it's better than last time.

Strength:
Front Squat 3X5 Superset with Max Effort Strict Pull ups

Front Squat

Modified Pull Up with Elastic Band

I partnered up with someone who was really awesome. She was fairly new to crossfit and was super sweet. I started out with the front squat, and was doing it wrong. Luckily I was corrected immediately and told to only use the bar. The pull ups went pretty well with an elastic band. I think I busted out 6 in a row on my first round. I never ended up finishing the strength session because time ran out. Oops.

WOD: 20 bent over rows 10 hang split clean 5 thrusters 200 m run20 Thrusters10 Bent over rows5 Hang Split Clean 200m Run20 Hang Split Clean 10 Thrusters5 Bent over rowsFor time!

Bent Over Rows

Hang Split Clean

Thrusters

For this workout I was told to just use the 35lb bar. I think overall I could have done it with more, but my form may have been lacking. I have no qualms with not having to use more weight just yet. I really want to make sure I don't injure myself once I use heavier weights. I ended up being one of the first to finish, and I attribute that to just using the 35lb bar. A lot of people had to take breaks in between sets and I didn't really have to.

"Cool Down"

For our cool down we did sprints. We do a short sprint, rest for 5 seconds and sprint again. At first I started out great. Then as the sprints went on, I was losing momentum. It was definitely a tough workout, and the sprints were brutal, but that is why I love it. Yay.