Breakfast: Sweet Potato/Jalapeno Hash

It is very accurate to say that Breakfast is, by far, my lease favorite meal of the day. Looking back, I didn't even eat breakfast until I met James, and there are several days that I still wouldn't eat it if it weren't for him. I've found it much easier to consume some gross breakfast than listen to him explain how terrible I am for skipping a meal. xoxo

Anyway, I am a creature of habit and routine. Monday through Friday I eat the same paleo banana bread breakfast and green apple smoothie afternoon snack. I make the bread every Sunday evening so that each morning I only have to slice it and pack it. This system has worked for over a year, but I decided  it was time for a change.

Because I usually work out in the mornings,  I decided it would be alright to try sweet potatoes smothered in hot sauce. Apparently, there are amazing benefits from consuming sweet potatoes post workout. So, last Sunday night instead of making my banana bread, I baked two large sweet potatoes. I didn't season them or do anything fancy. Instead, I poked a few holes in them and gave them a nice foil blanket. By Tuesday morning there was more hot sauce than baked sweet potato, so I decided to come up with something different. There was no way I was going to eat a boring baked sweet potato every single day. Good-bye banana bread, hello sweet potato jalapeno hash.

O EMMM GEEE. I forgot to mention the amazing addition to our family!  Teresa and Stokes blessed us with a beautiful garage gym. She came to us on Monday afternoon weighing in at a whopping 850 pounds. I apologize in advance for bombarding my Facebook and Instagram with pictures of us lifting. I seriously can't help it. #sorrynotsorry.

Sweet Potato/Jalapeno Hash

Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes
1/2 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
2 seeded jalapeno
Little bit of cinnamon
Little bit of salt/pepper
Little more of chili powder

Directions
1. Place garlic cloves in food processor and pulse until minced
2. Add onions/jalapeno to food processor and pulse until they reach the desired thickness
3. Put minced garlic, onion, and jalapeno into a pan with coconut oil. Heat until fragrant.
4. Change the blades on the food processor from chop to shred (the super cool attachment that hovers around the top).
5. Shred your sweet potatoes in the food processor (depending on the size you may have to quarter them first)
6. Add the shredded sweet potatoes to the skillet and cook. I like mine a little crispy, so I cooked them a little bit longer so that they would brown.
7. This amount was enough for three days of breakfast. I packed them in separate containers and added a splash of hot sauce.



*I will add a pic of the hash later.

Isn't she beautiful?

James' new buddy

I got to feed a giraffe! Thanks again, Josie and Ryan!

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

hi·a·tus
hīˈātəs/Submit
noun
1.
a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.
"there was a brief hiatus in the war with France"
synonyms: pause, break, gap, lacuna, interval, intermission, interlude, interruption, suspension, lull, respite, time out, time off, recess;


After a brief hiatus and several life changes, I'm back on the blogging grid. I don't think my updates will work in paragraph form due to the randomness of events, so I am going to list them in true Ali form. Get ready friends, I have a lot to share.

1. James and I live in South Austin and absolutely love it!
2. I now teach Algebra I and Geometry at KIPP Austin Collegiate. Over the past seven years my range of experience has grown from Kindergarten to 10th grade.
3. I started working out at Crossfit and Fearless on South Congress. My schedule doesn't align as nicely as it did with Strom, but I'm working on it. Sometimes you have to be creative and shower in the girl's locker room at school (don't worry, NO students are present that early in the morning. That would be awkward.)
4. I stopped using almond milk in my coffee and have switched to coconut milk. As you know, it takes me an entire day to drink my one cup of coffee and for some reason the almond milk starts to separate after hour one. It looks and tastes a little odd after that.
5. James is in a fantasy football league and his team name is Hot Ham Water. So gross.
6. Traffic in Austin is stupid. Really, stupid.
7. Traffic in Austin during ACL is even more stupid.
8. My favorite cheat meal so far has been at this amazing food truck called Potato A. I thought I had mastered the french fry during my time at Edinboro University, but this guy puts my fries to shame. They are freakishly delicious.
9. My bff Lisa got engaged to a very awesome, kind, hairy man. I can't wait for their wedding this July!
10. My bfff Michelle is going to have her baby within the next few weeks. It is so weird that she made it through an entire pregnancy without me seeing her baby bump. If only I had a private jet so that I could fly home to see my family and friends.
11. I want to plan a concert weekend very soon. Sh*$ Show and Shenanigan girls, let's work on that. Maybe over Christmas break??

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients
2 lbs of ground turkey/lean beef
3 garlic cloves
6 bell peppers
4ish roma tomatoes
1/2 white onion
2 jalapenos (1 seeded, 1 whole)
1/2 C fresh cilantro
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Sprinkle garlic powder
Sprinkle onion powder
2 sprinkles of chili powder
Salt
Pepper

Directions
1. Sautee crushed garlic cloves in oil/fat of your choice. I usually use coconut oil (we don't have any bacon fat, but if we did I would definitely use it)
2. Add turkey meat to the pan and season with garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Cook thoroughly.
3. Make the salsa by combining the tomatoes, onion, jalepenos, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper in a food processor. I have roasted the veggies before, but lately I have been making fresh salsa instead.
4. Cut the tops off of your bell peppers and remove the seeds.
5. Turn off the heat on the meat and mix in the salsa with the meat.
6. Scoop the meat/salsa mixture into the peppers
7. Bake at 400 degrees until the peppers are at the desired squishiness. I like my peppers very squishy, so I cook them for 30-40 minutes.

Optional add-ins/toppings: 
1. Cheese
2. Cauliflower rice
3. Greek Yogurt: I swear to you it's just like topping your food with sour cream!

Only in Austin. 

I (Sometimes) Hate Meat

Paleolithic Diet

'Centered on commonly available modern foods, the contemporary "Paleolithic diet" consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, refined salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.'


This post is not really intended to share a recipe or valuable information. On the contrary, I'm looking for support for any fellow cavepeople who sometimes hate meat. Eating paleo can be very challenging for me because I (sometimes) have a hard time eating fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, eggs, and fungi. If you remove these items from the definition of paleolithic diet you are left with vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts. To make matters worse I've been working on minimizing the amount of fruit I eat because of the glycemic levels. What does that leave me with? Select vegetables and nuts, which frankly isn't enough to live. Thankfully, the times that I hate meat are becoming fewer and farther between, but they still exist. Thankfully, I'm not as bad as I was between 2000-2006ish when I didn't eat any meat. I honestly would go through McDonald's and Taco Bell and order meatless hamburgers and tacos. #truestory.

So. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, especially for the times that even the largest amounts of hot sauce doesn't do it.

We're cute. 

Paleo Chocolate Almond Milk

scrump·tious  

/ˈskrəm(p)SHəs/

Adjective (of food) Extremely appetizing or delicious. (of a person) Very attractive.

Synonyms delicious - delightful - superb - luscious - delectable

I set one food goal for the summer and it was to make chocolate almond milk. The reason for this is because I found some at Randall's that was freakin' delish, but definitely not paleo. Does it really  matter? No, but when you have hours of nothing to do...it's worth trying. So, in between my morning and evening WOD I gave it a go, and the result was completely scrumptious.

Pros
1. Easy to make
2. Tastes very fresh
3. There aren't any added ingredients that I can't pronounce

Cons
1. It only stays in the fridge for about 4 days (Not really a con because of how delicious it is. I have no problem consuming it quickly).

Ingredients
1 cup of almonds
4 cups of water
Several squeezes of honey
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
Splash of vanilla extract

Directions
1. Soak 1 cup of almonds in water overnight. Add enough water to cover the almonds
2. Discard the water that the almonds were soaking in and place almonds into the Vitamix, or other powerful blender
3. Add 4 cups of water
4. Blend for 1-2 minutes
5. Use a cheese cloth to remove the almond residue from the milk (Ok, let's be real. I didn't see the point of buying a cheese cloth for this, so I used an old, but clean, t-shirt. It worked fine, but James convinced me to buy a cheese cloth for the next time.)
6. Quickly rinse out the Vitamix
7. Return the almond milk to the Vitamix
8. Add honey, cocoa powder, and vanilla
9. Blend for 30 seconds
10. Pour into a glass jar and put in fridge
11. I put the almond residue from cheese cloth (t-shirt) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and baked it at 200 degrees for 30ish minutes. I then used the almond flour as the crust for my pumpkin pie bites.

Turkey Meat/Veg Loaf

feat
/fēt/
Noun
An achievement that requires great courage, skill, or strength.
Synonyms
exploit - deed - achievement - performance

When I got my first pull up in February/March, I was ecstatic. I thought of a pull up as a unicorn that I would never see. When I walked into Crossfit Strom for the first time I never thought I would be able to accomplish these skills so quickly.  On Monday, June 24th at approximately 5:45 pm, I got a bar muscle up. I'm not going to talk about how excited I am, because I feel very humbled by such a large accomplishment in only a few short months. It was ugly, and I almost knocked my tooth out, but I was able to do two. It never counts unless you do two.

This weekend the McMillans are going to Fredricksburg for a wine tasting weekend extravaganza. I'm super pumped to get away and spend time with the family. I'm sure I will be sporting a red stained smile the entire time, but I couldn't be happier. I've arranged for James and I to drop-in at a box on Saturday because there's no way I'll make it through the weekend without sweating out some of the booze. I really, seriously think that's the only way we made it through the weekend in Cleveland. It's going to be ugly, but will be worth it in the end.

Ingredients
2 lbs of lean ground turkey
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1/2 sweet onion
1 jalapeno
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Oregano
Ground Pepper
Parsley

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Dice vegetables to desired thickness. Ours were kinda small, but not super small. Maybe about 1/4 inch.
3. Season meat
4. Mix together
5. Place in a bread pan
5. Bake for about 45 minutes (or until completely cooked)

Note: I did not add egg or coconut flour to this recipe. I decided to try it without those binding ingredients and it turned out just fine. I also forgot to take a picture, but I'll see if I can get a good one of my leftovers. Exciting stuff, huh?

Muscle up #2. Notice how my tongue is out? I'm checking to see if my tooth is still intact. I also look like I just did a few wings (shout out to all my tappers out there). 

This is me being 'Merican. Lisa: just because I don't fish in Houston doesn't mean that I don't sport my fishin' hat. 

Sweet Summer Vacation

va·ca·tion

/vāˈkāSHən/

Noun An extended period of recreation, esp. one spent away from home or in traveling.

Verb Take a vacation: "I was vacationing in Europe with my family".

Synonyms noun. holiday - recess - leave - holidays verb. holiday

Hello, sweet summer vacation, I missed you.Of course it's not a traditional teacher vacation because I'm teaching summer school, but anyone who knows me knows that this is a good thing. I'm not a good relaxer for long periods of time. After a week or two I become extremely bored and an alcoholic (of course I use that term loosely... well, sorta). Let's be real, it only takes about two full days before I start to spiral out of control.

Anyway, I've decided to share with you my favorite summer time foods. Get excited.

Homemade Almost Pickles

Ingredients
1-2 cucumbers
3-5 onion slices
1 cubed or sliced tomato
1/2 cup of vinegar (last time I used apple cider, but I have used white and red wine)
3/4 cup of water
Salt
Pepper
Fresh dill (I only add this if I have some leftover from another recipe)

Directions
1. Slice vegetables to your desired thickness. I usually like mine about half an inch thick..
2. Place vegetables in a glass container or bowl (with lid)
3. Pour vinegar into the dish and add water. At this point you can decide how sour you like your not pickles. I personally like a lot of vinegar.
4. Place in fridge for a few hours
5. Enjoy as a snack

Iced Coffee

Ingredients
Dunkin' Donuts or Trader Joe's coffee
Unsweetened almond milk
Honey/agave
Vanilla extract
Ice cubes

Directions
1. Brew coffee (I usually make an entire pot and then keep it in a thermos in the fridge)
2. Place in refrigerator over night
3. Pour desired about of coffee into a cup
4. Add honey/agave, vanilla, almond milk
5. Pour over ice cubes (I add the ice cubes last because the sweetener doesn't dissolve as much when the coffee is ice could. Something about the solubility of the coffee at a colder temperature, right?

Sun Tea (I haven't made this since I was a kid, but it is one of my all-time fav summer drinks)

Ingredients
Gallon of water
Glass water container
Several Tea Bags
Honey/agave

Directions
1. Fill container with water and add several tea bags
2. Place outside in the sun for the day
3. Refrigerate overnight
4. Add sweetener and enjoy


I swear I had more amazing recipes to share with you, but they've since slipped my mind. Once I remember I'll totally share.

Oh, after several weeks I'm finally back to completing normal WOD's without any back/butt pain. I'm such a happier person when I work out, so this is a very good thing.

Here's James dominating Burpee Madness. I'm off to his very far right trying not to die at this point because this Yankee is not used to working out during Houston's summer months. It was bad. 

Here is the break down in case you ever want to experience this Thai Delight (this is how they posted it on the site so that people would still come. Sneaky, sneaky.)

Minute one: 10 Burpees Minute two: 20 Burpees Minute three: 5 Burpees Minute four: 11 Burpees Minute five: 2 Burpees Minute six: 18 Burpees Minute seven: 6 Burpees Minute eight: 15 Burpees Minute nine: 4 Burpees Minute ten: 8 Burpees Minute eleven: 17 Burpees Minute twelve: 3 Burpees Minute thirteen: 13 Burpees Minute fourteen: 9 Burpees Minute fifteen: 12 Burpees Minute sixteen: 14 Burpees Minute seventeen: 16 Burpees Minute eighteen: 7 Burpees Minute nineteen: 19 Burpees Minute twenty: 1 Burpee

If for any reason that you don't hit the specified # of burpees in the minute you must finish the remaining burpees on the next minute but you can not move on to the next set of burpees, you must wait until the next minute.

Corner Table/Pity Party

bliss  

/blis/

Noun Perfect happiness; great joy. Something providing such happiness.

Synonyms felicity - beatitude - blessedness - happiness

The past few weeks have been absolutely amazing and absolutely insane. James and I have traveled to Galveston, Cleveland, Findlay, Waterford, Austin, and Mandeville .My wardrobe has made its way from the washer to the dryer to the suitcase over and over again. When I complain about my social life lacking adventure, I will remind myself of the month of April. I am thankful for the time that we got to spend with our family and friends, but I would be lying if I didn't say I was excited to spend a weekend at home on my beautiful couch. I cannot wait to wake up early tomorrow morning and start napping in the living room. Guilt is a funny thing, and guilt is what I feel when I spend all morning in bed. For some reason I feel zero guilt while napping the day away on the couch. The living room is my napping oasis.

Teresa, Stokes, Will, Brit, James and I went out for dinner for my birthday and I was overwhelmed with the awesomeness of our experience. Because of the Internet and Yelp, I have become a restaurant seeking freak. James calls it obsessive, I call it thorough. While browsing Alison Cook's Top 100 Houston Restaurants I stumbled upon the gem, Corner Table. Now, the Corner Table was not on her list, but somehow I stumbled upon a blog that talked about paleo menus in Houston. I'm not going to lie, I was very skeptical of a paleo menu and was nervous about trying a restaurant that I heard wasn't too great from people at Strom. I decided to throw caution to the wind, and thank God I did. The experience was amazing and the food was divine.

Disclaimer: the food was not completely paleo, but it was pretty close. There was soy cheese and green beans, but who really cares. Also, the chef is a magician and managed to make coconut flour tortillas. After several personal failed attempts I was pissed to find someone who can actually make them, but whatevs. Maybe he cheated and added wheat. Maybe he added butter. It can't be that he is a better cook than me. Pssht. He definitely is a liar and a cheater and a creator of amazing paleo food. I highly recommend the Corner Table, but only if you have time for a glass of wine at the trendy wine bar next door.

Paleo Fried pickles and a very non-paleo-yet-delish cheese dip.

Chicken enchiladas with cheater tortillas and soy cheese. Note: I don't know that he cheated on the tortillas, but I am still going to make false accusations. 

Truly amazing turkey bolognese with spaghetti squash. 

Super stellar paleo fried chicken.

Ali's Self Pity Party 

If you don't want to hear about my self-thrown pity party, I would stop reading now. 

I started crossfit at the end January and have become completely addicted. I'm obsessed and totally love it. Each day I look forward to 5:30 because it means I'm at the box doing my favorite thing. I didn't think I would ever find anything that I love as much as dance, but it happened. That's a very, very bold statement, but I totally mean it. I think about it all day and dream about it at night (in my dreams I can do a muscle up...I'm obviously way cooler in my dreams than I am in real life). If it were up to me I would workout twice a day everyday. 

Here comes the party. 

Unfortunately, my brain is currently stronger than my lower back. Last week I did that weird twisty-cracky thing right before a WOD with heavy cleans, handstand push ups, and chin ups. Right away my fingers went numb and tingly and never really went away. Then, on Friday I did a WOD with clean and jerk, front squat, deadlifts and burpees. I didn't do as much weight as I normally would because something didn't feel quite "right". On Monday I ignored the discomfort I felt in my lower back while jogging and completed a WOD with deadlifts (140 lbs) sit-ups and burpees. As soon as I called time I knew I was screwed. My back was killing me and it was impossible to stand on my left leg without shooting pain. I was nervous so I stretched and rolled out for a while. 

Since Monday I have been skipping workouts and staying away from the box. I feel sorry for my husband because I have not been the happiest person this week. In fact, I've spiraled into a deep, dark depression. I want nothing more than to kick my own ass at the gym, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen any time soon. If anyone has any suggestions, please share them. I'm open for anything that could help and I'm sure James will be very appreciative of anyone that can help me out of this deep, dark depression. Last night I made him take a tub of funfetti frosting away from me. Yes, its that bad.