May 18-20, 2012

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

Simple Paleo ideas from Pam at Paleo Table . . .

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.

A quick and easy meal from Paleo Table!!

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.

A Southern tradition done paleo style!  For more recipes and ideas check out Paleo Table.

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.

April 16, 2012

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.