Crossfit… A little side note

- Posted in Other Stuff

I just have to tell you how much I love Crossfit! I started a few weeks ago and I am totally hooked! I hardly exercised my entire second pregnancy due to morning sickness, exhaustion from chasing an active toddler and just plain laziness! Now, about a year later, my baby is 3 months old and I no longer have an excuse not to exercise so I decided to get serious about getting back in shape. I’m NOT going to buy new jeans!

I’ve been to Crossfit now about 15 times and I already feel stronger, I’ve noticed my muscle tone is coming back and I feel more energized. I really look forward to class, it’s a nice break from being Mommy!

Crossfit is different from any workout I’ve ever done – it’s 100 times harder but much shorter and more effective. The actual workout is only about 15-20 minutes but it’s the hardest 15-20 minutes ever!

I’ve recently joined Crossfit Pride in Santee and I love it! It’s exactly 10 minutes from my house, the coaches are awesome and very motivating, the people are all in super good shape (a motivating factor when you’re the new kid!) and the workouts are always new. The music is nice and loud and gets you pumped up to sweat!

If you are interested in trying a free introductory class – Crossfit Pride in Santee offers one Saturdays at 10am.

Here’s a good explanation of Crossfit from their website:

“CrossFit is a fitness program focused on maximizing a persons potential in strength, cardiovascular endurance, respiratory endurance, power, speed, stamina, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.  In other words, general all-around athleticism.  By using constantly varied, functional movements executed at high intensity, we can improve the physical fitness, or what we call general physical preparedness, in everyone from elite athletes to sedentary office workers, kids to seniors.

CrossFit is a broad and inclusive program encompassing the standards you would expect; weightlifting, body weight exercises, and traditional cardio.  However the magic of CrossFit also calls for Olympic lifting, climbing, throwing, basic tumbling, and gymnastics.  It taxes both the aerobic and the anaerobic energy systems.  Isolation movements have no place here, we focus on whole body, functional movement patterns that occur in activities of daily living (Ever sit down in a chair and stand back up?  Well that’s a squat…daily living).  Core strength may be a contemporary buzzword but it is a foundation of our program.  CrossFit makes us better general athletes and allows us to specialize outside of the gym, be it on the track, the court, or the streets.

Everyone can do CrossFit but CrossFit is not for everyone. Lets be honest, CrossFit is hard work.  There will be no magazine reading while pedaling here.  The people who thrive from CrossFit are committed to hard work, dedicated to consistency, willing to try without fear of failure, and eager for challenge.  Rarely will you do the same workout twice.  Routine is our enemy and will lead to mediocrity, complacency, and injury.  For those of you whose lives depend on your fitness; law enforcement, military, and first responders, CrossFit is what you need to be doing.  Talk to us and we will explain why we so strongly believe in this.  Of course our belief is that CrossFit is the ultimate training program as it can be tailored to suit anyone and any fitness level.”

I was so proud of myself yesterday, I have to tell you about it! I’ve been doing the beginner workout in class but yesterday I did the regular workout of the day AND I DIDN’T PUKE! I wanted to during my last run but I held it in and I made it!! I have a friend who does CrossFit on a regular basis and he says “if you don’t puke or feel like you’re going to puke, then you aren’t trying hard enough”.

This is the workout we did yesterday (a typical regular workout). I didn’t do the 200 sit ups at the end and I used a bar for the overheads vs. weights but hey… I made it through!

WORKOUT OF THE DAY:

For time:

800M Run

10 Ground to overhead(135/95) 

3 Rounds of “Cindy”(5 Pull-ups/10 Push-ups/15 Squats)

Run 400M

3 Rounds of Cindy

10 Ground to overhead

800M Run

Cash out – 200 sit ups

So if you are interested in trying CrossFit, come in Saturday at 10am and prepare to get hooked!!!

CrossFit Pride

8630 Argent St., Suite A

Santee, CA 92071

Phone: (619) 517-4927

Email: info@crossfitpride.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Lentil, Chickpea & Chili Soup

- Posted in Makes Great Leftovers, Quick Meals

Now that the weather is finally getting colder, I can make all my favorite soups! My toddler has almost perfected the use of a spoon so the timing is perfect!

This soup is one of our favorites and it’s super easy and healthy. This is similar to my Italian’ish Lentil Tomato Soup but with different spices – more of an Indian curry-type soup.

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

  • 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1 large pinch chili flakes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 5 ounces red lentils
  • 3 1/2 cups vegetable stock – I use Imagine Brand No-Chicken Broth
  • 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed (can used canned or homemade) – I pressure cook a pound or so a week and use those rather than canned.
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • Plain soy yogurt  – It’s really good with this, try it!!

Directions:

  1. Heat a large saucepan and dry fry the cumin seeds and chili flakes for 1 min or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Add the oil and onion, and cook for 5 minutes Stir in the lentils, stock and tomatoes, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have softened.
  2. Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until it is a rough puree, pour back into the pan and add the chickpeas. Heat gently, season well with salt & pepper and stir in the cilantro. Finish with a spoonful of yogurt.


Chickpea Flatbread (Gluten-Free)

- Posted in Burgers, Wraps & Sandwiches, Makes Great Leftovers, Our Toddlers LOVE This!, Quick Meals

These are really healthy, easy to make, delicious and can be used in many ways. The batter can be made into flatbread for pizza, wraps or a thick soft tostada type base (minus the fried crunch)… almost anything, really! I’ve also toasted them under the broiler with garlic and cilantro and served them with soup. They are made with chickpea flour which makes them low-fat, high in protein, many vitamins and minerals as well as dietary fiber. Chickpea flour is also called besan, garbanzo bean flour or gram flour.

I made a thicker batch of these last night and used them as tostadas topped with leftover TVP Taco filling, smothered in the most delicious Chipotle Dressing/Sauce ever! I know, you’ve seen a lot of this mixture but it makes excellent leftovers!

I use this Organic Chickpea Flour  – You can buy it on Amazon.com for a great price! (2 – 35oz packages for $14.62/Free Shipping)

This recipe is from Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day, one of my favorite sites!!

Chickpea Flatbread

1 c Chickpea Flour
1 C Water – (I’ve found that I get a thicker “dough” if I use 1 cup so I use that amount to make the soft tostada style. I add more water for the flatbread/wrap size)
1/2 t Garlic Powder
2 T Nutritional Yeast
1/2 t Tony’s Cajun Seasoning – (I’ve used this and other spice combinations and they always turn out great!)

This is my favorite seasoning to use – Susie Q’s Santa Maria Style Seasoning – I add a bit more than 1/2 tsp to make it a little stronger.

Method:
Heat a 12 inch non stick skillet over medium heat and brush with oil
Whisk the ingredients in a mixing bowl until most of the lumps are gone. Ladle into skillet. Leave it alone for 3-4 minutes or until the sides start to pull away from the pan. Flip and cook for another minute
Yield: 3 Flatbread

My Soft Tostada Style

Ready for toppings!

Larger size

Finger Lickin’ Good BBQ Sauce

- Posted in Uncategorized

I’ve been using this recipe for a few years now and everyone loves it!

I found this recipe on Food.com.

  • 1/2 white onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 2/3 cups ketchup
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (I use a vegan one)
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder   **Variation (see note below) – 2tsp smoked paprika AND 1 tsp ancho chili powder instead of 2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
** NOTE: The first time I made this sauce I accidentally used 2 tsp smoked paprika instead of chili powder, then I added 1 tsp ancho chili powder to try to “fix” it. It came out REALLY GOOD and I make it with that variation sometimes.
I recently served this sauce on Homemade Seitan – both my hubby and toddler loved it!