If you want to come and cheer on our CrossFit Carbon Team & Pete this weekend, here is all of the information. Also, I will be doing my best to post updates on our FaceBook page too.  Go CrossFit Carbon!!!

To view the Leader Board for score updates CLICK HERE

Friday
WOD#1 Team – 10:00-11:00
WOD#1 Men’s – 12:00-12:48
WOD#2 Team – 1:24-2:24
WOD#2 Men’s – 3:44-4:44

Saturday
WOD#3 Team – 9:00-9:45
WOD #3 Men’s – 10:00-10:48
WOD#4 Team – 11:54-1:24
WOD#4 Men’s – 1:39-3:39

Sunday
WOD#5 Team (women) – 8:00-8:45
WOD#5 Team (men) – 10:15-11:00
WOD#5 Men’s – 11:05-12:20
WOD#6 Team – 1:00-1:30
WOD#6 Men’s – 3:30-5:00

Venue Information:
McCook Athletic & Exposition
4750 South Vernon Avenue
McCook, IL 60525

Here’s a one-pot meal I put together with what I had in the fridge. It was a busy night so I needed something quick and easy. This filled the bill. The sweet potato mixture tastes great. If you find that you can’t form the mixture into balls, just make mounds or patties with it. I was just trying to shake it up a little bit! This meal got two thumbs up and I’ve got to say that Dave and I ate it all by ourselves it was SO good. So if you are serving more than two or want some leftovers, double it up.

Ingredients
1 pound fresh Italian sausage, cut into pieces
3 baked sweet potatoes, skins removed
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bunch broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
sea salt, to taste

Preparation
1.  Combine sweet potato, garlic powder, chili powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Mash together with a fork.
2.  Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage, onion, and garlic and cook until sausage is browned and just cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. Add broccoli for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
3.  Scoop sweet potato mixture into one-inch balls using a cookie scoop or large melon baller. Push sausage mixture to the edges of the pan and add sweet potato balls. Cover pan and continue cooking until broccoli is tender and sweet potatoes are warmed, about 5 more minutes.

When I’m out and need a quick lunch, Chipotle is one of my top choices. It is really easy to eat paleo there–just order the salad or burrito bowl and skip everything but the lettuce, meat, peppers and onions, salsa, and guacamole. When I decided to make fajitas at home, I played with the idea of rolling them in cabbage, but thought the flavor would be too strong. In the end, I harvested some lettuce from our garden and made our own fajita bowls. They were tasty and we have lots of leftover steak for lunches this week.  Adapted from foodnetwork.com.

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 orange, juiced
2 limes, juiced + 1/2 lime, juiced
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin, divided
1 1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
2 1/4 pounds skirt steak
3 bell peppers, thinly sliced (I used yellow, red, and orange)
1 red onion, thinly sliced
guacamole
simple salsa
lettuce for lining serving bowls

Preparation
1.  In a small bowl, whisk together marinade ingredients (including juice of 2 limes, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt). Place steak in a shallow container, and pour marinade over it. Refrigerate, covered, 8 hours or overnight to tenderize the meat.
2.  Drain the marinade from the meat. Grill steak over medium-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let rest.
3.  While the steak is cooking, heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add peppers, onions, and 2 cloves minced garlic and saute over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes or until soft. Sprinkle cumin, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and juice of 1/2 lime over mixture and toss gently to coat.
NOTE: If you grill your steak in a grill pan, omit the extra seasonings for the pepper mixture and, instead, saute veggies in the reserved steak juices in the same grill pan.
4.  Thinly slice steak against the grain on a diagonal.
5.  To serve, line bowls with larger lettuce leaves and add some chopped lettuce in the bottom. Top with a few steak slices, peppers and onions, guacamole, and simple salsa.

CLICK HERE to register and view event details.

I recently reconnected with a former writing colleague of mine, who is an awesome cook. He would frequently let us enjoy samples of his tasty dishes at the office. This is modified from one of his recipes that I discovered in an email printout from 1993! It is easy and delicious. I recommend baking the chicken as instructed; however, if you are in a hurry, feel free to substitue a rotisserie chicken. I bought a cut-up bone-in chicken from Wallace Farms and baked it early in the morning so it was ready to use when I started preparing dinner. This recipe also calls for smoked sausage. Be sure to get a clean (i.e., no junk in it) one. I purchased Open Nature brand smoked andouille chicken sausage from Dominick’s and it was delicious. This one’s for you, Matty!

Ingredients (serves 6)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1 cut-up fryer chicken (split breasts, bone-in, or boneless–just the equivalent to one cut-up fryer)
1 pound nitrate-free, natural smoked sausage, slice diagonally into 1/4- to 1/2-inch slices (I used chicken andouille.)
2 – 28-oz cans diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen Fire Roasted.)
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil, olive oil, or bacon fat (I used bacon fat, yum!)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
ground cayenne pepper
hot sauce (I used Frank’s Original Red Hot.)
1 head cauliflower, pulsed in a food processor until a rice-like consistency

Preparation
1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and place on a large, rimmed baking sheet.
3.  Bake white meat for 30 minutes and dark meat for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Chicken does not have to be cooked through.
4.  Cut chicken off the bones and dice into medium pieces. (Discard the bones.) Set aside.
5.  In a 5- to 6-quart sauce pan, warm oil or fat. Add vegetables and saute over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes or until onion starts to become translucent.
6.  Add tomatoes and smoked sausage. Cover and simmer over low to medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add spices to taste.
NOTE: I added 1 tsp cayenne and a generous sprinkling of hot sauce and it was perfect for my taste–spicy but no 911.
Add chicken to the pot, cover, and simmer an additional 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
7.  While chicken cooks, place cauliflower rice in a microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until cooked. (Time will vary depending on your microwave.) Keep warm.
8.  To serve, place a generous scoop of cauliflower in each shallow bowl or dinner plate. Top with jambalaya. Add additional hot sauce, if desired.

Over the weekend CrossFit Carbon had the pleasure of hosting the CF Olympic Lifting Seminar with Coach B and his team of amazing coaches.  We spent over a day on the snatch alone!  That is how intense and detailed this seminar is.  We learned soooo much information, that it is hard to find a starting place.  So, we will start with the most basic and important rule – The hook grip.

Hook grip from Iron Mind:

“The hook grip is where you push the palm of your hand tight against the bar, grab the bar by wrapping your thumb around it, and then grasp your thumb and the bar tightly with your fingers.  Most people can grab the thumb with the first two fingers while their other two fingers directly grab the bar.  This technique really helps you lift more weight off the platform, especially when you accelerate for the second pull.  The hook grip is the best grip you can have without using straps.  It takes about two weeks for one to grow accustomed to and comfortable with the hook grip.  Everyone I teach tells me it feels unnatural and weird and I have to remind them to hook on all lifts—snatch, clean, and pulls.  There is usually resistance when I tell them to use the hook all the time.”

Coach B is also famous for making people do burpees when they don’t use the hook grip.  So I would watch out  . . . burpess may be coming your way!  Rule #2: the Burgener warm-up will be next.  CLICK HERE for a free down load.

The original Fight Gone Bad event has been upgraded this year.  It has a new name, new date and a new WOD all for an unbelievable cause.  CrossFit is teaming up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to combat child cancer.

CLICK HERE to register for a time slot (you will have to scroll down to Saturday).  All proceeds are donated to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

Tri Cities CrossFit
761 North 17th Street, Unit 29
St. Charles, IL  60174

About ROB

US Army Staff Sergeant Rob Miller grew up in the Wheaton area and attended Wheaton North High School. He was a competitive gymnast and a highly skilled athlete. He enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 and was accepted into the Special Forces selection and training process. He graduated and received his Special Forces tab on September 30, 2005. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group and deployed to Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom from August 2006 to March 2007.

Rob returned to Afghanistan for his second tour in October 2007, where he served as a Weapons Sergeant for his team.

Rob was killed in action on January 25, 2008. He was killed by enemy fire during an ambush near the Pakistan border. He died while providing cover fire for the evacuation of his team captain, who was seriously injured at the beginning of the attack. Rob’s actions saved the captain’s life and enabled his team to gain cover and return fire.

Rob posthumously received the Medal of Honor in 2010, the nation’s highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force. Read more about his courageous story.

About MURPH

MURPH is a CrossFit workout named in honor of Navy SEAL LT Michael Murphy, who was killed in action and then received the Medal of Honor. His honorary workout is as follows:

• Run 1 mile.
• Do 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats (partition as needed).
• Run 1 mile.

It is simple… but not easy! This can be an individual OR TEAM event. Your “score” is total time. In addition to the full MURPH, participants can do modified versions such as: Half, Assisted (jumping pullups or assist bands), and Body Armor.

I might be going out on a limb when I say CrossFit is the most important thing in my life, but it’s definitely up there…number three if I’d have to say, family and friends first obviously, but being behind those isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I often wonder if I’m the only person who feels this way; if I have some sort of addiction to this sport and it’s not normal to have this kind of obsession with CrossFit and I’m just being weird…like weirder than I usually am.

Let me explain at least where I’m coming from, I’ve never been an athlete…by any means.  Sure I’ve done my share of sports.  My father had me on ice skates when I was four years old, I played youth soccer, youth baseball, was in Tae Kwon Do from the age of 8-14 and even have a black belt, and I also participated in high school football and track & field.  The thing is…I was never really any good at any of these sports.  I had no desire to do any of this, maybe because of the fact that I wasn’t any good or I don’t ever recall having a good time let alone a proud moment competing in these sports.  I often found myself looking for reasons to get out of participating in these sports, faking an injury, being sick, complaining to my parents, etc.  Fast forward to June 2011, the first time I step into CrossFit Carbon, and everything changes.

I was seeking a better workout to help improve my healthy lifestyle, but what I found was so much more.  I found a sport that, I don’t want to say excel at but, I’m better than average at, and it came so easily too.  It was so humbling starting off (and still is at times these days) feeling that I was in better shape than the average person and then just having my butt whooped but something called “Fran,” and I didn’t even go Rx.  It didn’t take terribly long for me to go from coming in and out once a day to simply loitering around the gym for 2 hours or so at a time.  What is it with this CrossFit thing?  Is it really an addiction?  Is it a cult and I’m being brainwashed and we’re all going to have a mass suicide party while watching the 2012 Games (Haha just kidding)?  This sport is like nothing I’ve ever found in my entire life.  The atmosphere, the sense of community, the workouts, the people, everything CrossFit (Carbon) has had to offer me in these nine short months has been almost overwhelming at points.  I honestly go through my day smiling because I know I will CrossFit at the end of it.  The friends I have made in nine months mean the absolute world to me.  The sense of support I receive from everyone both inside and outside of the gym is like nothing I’ve received from anyone before.  When you tally all this stuff together, why wouldn’t someone CrossFit?  I’m so happy I walked into CrossFit Carbon, in all honesty it changed my life.  I have so much to look forward to now, as a competitor, as an athlete, as a person, as a CrossFitter.  Going back and proofreading this I know I’m not the only one who can feel this way.  Because CrossFit is more than just a gym membership, for so many people, it’s life.

My friend, Kelley, offered me this recipe after hearing about my overabundance of jalapenos.  This is one of her favorites, and I can see why! This meal is really outstanding. A perfect blend of sweet and spicy. Plus, I always love using rotisserie chicken to cut my prep time. The original recipe calls for soba noodles, but zucchini noodles taste so good mixed with the chicken, I can’t image it getting any better! Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 2)
1 jalapeno, cored and seeds removed
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, tough stems removed
1/4-1/3 cup raw honey, liquified
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 large rotisserie chicken, torn into small pieces
1 tsp coconut oil
2 large zucchini squash
3 Tbsp coconut aminos
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Preparation
1.  Prepare zucchini noodles by shaving one side with a peeler (I use one like this OXO Y-peeler) or mandoline (like this OXO slicer). Discard (or compost) the outer layer and continue shaving long, thin strips until you reach the seedy core. 2.  Flip the zucchini and repeat the process on the opposite side. When you reach the center, repeat the same process on either side until all you have left is the core. Chop up the core and reserve to saute with your eggs in the morning.
3.  Stack the thin ribbons and cut lengthwise into 2 or 3 strips or “noodles.” Set aside in a medium bowl.
4.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine jalapeno, cilantro, honey, water, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth.
5.  Place chicken in a medium bowl. Add jalapeno mixture and stir gently to combine.
6.  Warm coconut oil in a large skillet. Add zucchini noodles and saute 5 minutes. Add aminos, sesame oil, and ginger, tossing to combine. Saute for 2 minutes.
7.  Add chicken mixture, tossing gently to combine. Cook for an additional minute or until heated through.
8.  To serve, divide mixture evenly among two shallow bowls. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.