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Change of Space

Posted by beautifullystrong in Jen's soap box and tagged with , , ,

Hello loves,

 

I have not written in so long…no excuses, I have just been swamped with work and have had less (unfortunately) time to be writing in this sweet little baby. Not to mention, I have been doing sick for the last two weeks (feels like years), which has pretty much kept me out of the gym, and it’s hard to conjure up some inspiration for a fitness blog when you’re not even walking into a gym!

That all being said, I will be most likely blogging LESS here, and a little more over HERE. This is my husband and I’s business blog where I will pretty much be sharing the same stuff…”me”…but you would also get the added bonus of posts from my husband, zee Doctare :)

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…well sort of

 

Now before you run away, hear me out! :) I’m not saying I won’t EVER blog over here again…I’m hoping to get some internets at our house so that I can make time for this more often. HOWEVER, IF you have been wondering lately, “hey, where is that chick Jen who speaks of nothing but Crossfit and her feelings?”, well then, you can keep up with me once a week at www.santabarbarafamilychiropractic.com. Capeesh? :) Also, while you’re at it, you could check out our facebook page and “like” that little baby…http://www.facebook.com/#!/santabarbarafamilychiropractic.

While you’re at THAT….have you “liked” my Beautifully Strong Page on Facebook? Whhatttt? Why not? I am updating that page MUCH MUCH more frequently with fun stuff everyday…so if you miss me…that would be the place to go :) http://www.facebook.com/crossfitwomen

 

Check out the site, sign up for emails of new posts if you would like. I love and adore you all :)

 

Have a super awesome day!

Jen

A picture is worth a thousand words?

Posted by beautifullystrong in Jen's soap box and tagged with , , , ,

I posted a picture on Facebook a few days back of a woman, who in my opinion, is absolutely beautiful and inspiring. I was surprised, however, by the response it received. It was quite the little conversation starter, I must say. What I realized, is that A LOT of people have a lot of opinions on how other people should look…

Let me begin by saying why I DIDN’T post that picture…I didn’t post that picture to have anyone rip Andrea apart. That was in no way shape or form the intention behind that posting. This did upset me a little, for the reason that if I were to put up a picture of a woman who I felt was beautiful and inspiring, and she was by cultural standards “overweight”, how many comments of “she is disgusting/she is fat/she is a fat pig” do you think there would have been up there? If there were any (I would be surprised if there were), there would have been FAR fewer. Why then do we feel it’s okay to judge someone who is ”too fit’ for your liking?

Well then, why DID I post it?  I posted the picture because so often I hear women say they don’t want to get bulky doing Crossfit. I hear ya, neither do I! When I think of bulky, I think of female body builders. I am not saying that is not beautiful, it is what it is…those are women who are literally building their bodies for the sake of a competition…and I will go out on a limb here and say that those women are probably using some unnatural “supplementation” to get that way. So, when I think of bulky, THAT is what I think women are worried about becoming, not a lean, cut woman who is probably a size 4/6.  Let me also reiterate something that has probably been said 1000 times over…you will NOT become anything by ACCIDENT. If you WANT to look like a female bodybuilder for instance, you can…with A LOT of work…and probably “supplementation”… You will not, however, go to the gym 4-5 times a week, do the WOD of the day, eat a Paleo diet, and start looking like a female body builder…it just WILL NOT HAPPEN.  You probably won’t even be able to go to the gym 4-5 times a week, do the WOD of the day, eat a Paleo diet and start looking like Andrea Ager (the beautiful lady in the picture)! She didn’t get that way by accident either!

Now, before going into this further, I also need to cover my arse and say that Crossfit competitors are not necessarily HEALTHY. They are pushing their bodies to an unhealthy standard for the sake of competition. Their results are based on a LOT of hard work, a particular diet (not always Paleo…some of the competitors eat some pretty unhealthy things, and still kick ASS…like WIN…the Games…), and dedication to winning and becoming “The Fittest on the EARTH”; 99% of Crossfitters are not ever going to be at that level.

There were some pretty great, interesting comments on the Facebook thread, one of which was “I think there is a line between being body obsessed, chasing a cultural ideal of beauty or strength, and what is reasonable, balanced and healthy.” I couldnt’ agree with this more. The question here is…what IS ‘reasonable, balanced and healthy’? I think as women, we are a little confused on this… There is not a week (or even a day!) that goes by without some image of a woman being put on display in the public eye as “too fat’, “too skinny”…and now, “too fit”. There are poor women who have lost a bunch of weight after hearing over and over how “fat” they were by critics, only to be criticized for being “too skinny”. Luckily, most of us will never have to worry about being scrutinized publically this way, however, we are often victims of this in another way.

As far back as I can remember, I fantasized about being “skinny”. I literally would think, “oh man, if I were skinny my life would be so much better”. I had some pretty dark, negative thoughts about my body on a daily basis (some as horrible as “I wish I could cut off my legs!”, how terrible is THAT!?). I’m not saying any of this was right…I was younger, and “body obsessed” and had some pretty horrible self talk going on. I tried every diet under the sun, and literally never got “skinny” until I was basically starving myself (not on purpose…I was diagnosed with IBS and it was more out of necessity) and got down to a bony (for me) 140 lbs (which by the way, is still considered “heavy” to some people). It was literally not until I found Crossfit that my negative self talk stopped. I stopped thinking about calorie counting (completely!) and started actually eating MORE and ENJOYING food! I started exercising and not only starting changing my body, but changing my MIND! Exercise has done wonders for my moodiness…seriously, it’s amazing. The coolest part, however, has been the amount of RESPECT I have developed for my body. I no longer look at my body in the mirror and pick it apart (“my thighs are too fat, my boobs are too small” whatever it may be), I look at my body with complete respect and gratitude for everything it allows me to do. Thank you for my big, strong legs for helping me squat my BODY WEIGHT…Thank you for my bigger-than-it-used-to-be butt for allowing me to drop it like its hot 100 times over in a workout. I am GRATEFUL for my body now, and to me, there is NOTHING more “reasonable, balanced and healthy” than that. In my strongest opinion, this is all what Crossfit is REALLY about, isn’t it? In addition, I have been on this journey now for 3 years…and it is 100% SUSTAINABLE for me, I have much more balanced moods, and I feel the healthiest I have ever felt in my entire life…hell, physically AND mentally. As a bonus, I am SMALLER than I was at my “skinniest”…and not at all starved or deprived! Bonusssss!

Crossfit is MOST inspiring when a 70-year-old woman walks in and decides to start a fitness regime for the first time in her life; when a 15-year-old boy starts to build confidence; when a regular ole’ person like me, who has never been an athlete in his/her life starts Crossfit, it completely changes his/her life and he/she finds PASSION and ENTHUSIASM in something for the first time in his/her life.  Yes, Crossfitters can be a bit evangalistic…that is absolutely, 100% true…but why do you think that is?! People only rave and rant about something that has worked for them; that has changed their life in some way. I am no different there. Crossfit is for everyone, and can absolutely be life changing…if you WANT it to be; it does not HAVE to be, no one is pushing Crossfit on you here. This is my platform, to talk about how Crossfit has changed my life; just like there are platforms to talk about how triathlons, or marathons, or tattoos, or art, or heck, heroin, has changed people’s lives… I choose to be inspired by specifically Andrea Ager because it helps me set goals for myself. I am a person who is not self-motivated (which is why nothing else WORKED for me); I thrive off visual motivation, and community support. Boom, Crossfit! Looking at an image like I posted helps me create fitness goals for myself (I want to look like Andrea Ager to some degree, so, what does Andrea do? In order for me to look like Andrea, I need to do what Andrea does…).

I am grateful for all of the comments on the picture, it really helped me recognize all over again how passionate I am about health and fitness, and really what this whole blog is about; my project to become beautifully strong.Beautiful is different to every single person…to me, a woman with strong, healthy muscles, who works REALLY hard in the gym and isn’t afraid to get really sweaty, and grunt her way through a WOD…is beautiful. I do not, however, live to Crossfit…I Crossfit to live; to make my life easier, longer and happier. Thank you for your comments, and I will step off my soap box now :)

Have a most fantastic day!

“Fall” in love with food

Posted by beautifullystrong in Eat Well, recipes and tagged with , ,

Taken by Wayne Nadeau

Autumn is almost upon us, and it is my ABSOLUTE favorite season, hands DOWN! I grew up in a little town in northern Maine, and our claim to fame was that in the 60′s we were the number one exporter of potatoes in the country (world? I’m not sure on that one…)…yes, even ahead of Idaho. In high school, we would start school in august, but then have, pretty much, the entire month of October off for “harvest.” Back in the day it was absolutely imperative to close down the high school to get as many students as possible to help pick potatoes and work the harvester. Now a days, the harvesters do all the work, but we still reap the benefits of the three weeks off in October (look at me acting like that actually still benefits me, pff!). I remember this time of year in Maine still as clear as day. It was the first time of year, after the hot sun of summer (yes, it gets hot in northern Maine in the summer), that you get to slip on your favorite sweater, turn on the heat (anyone else love the sound of the furnace turning on in the wee hours of the morning?? AHHH, I miss that!), light a fire, and drink a hot cup of cozy. I remember getting out of my car after school, in the early evening, and smelling the INTOXICATING (to me, yes, intoxicating) smell of EARTH. Fall. Harvest. Autumn…whatever you want to call it…it rocks my damn socks off. It is the one and only reason I am sad to live in Santa Barbara; there really is no such things as seasons here (according to people who know what seasons look like…people who live here long enough disagree with me). This fall, however, I am going to live like I am in New England…I am going to ROCK this fall :)

This morning I got up and wanted a hot, autumny cereal-like meal, and perfectly enough, I bought a new cookbook the other day that had the just ticket!

I got the recipe out of Practical Paleo…hot damn I love this book! My friend Jess left it in our office the other day, and immediately I purchased my own!

Now, before I write out this recipe, I am going to say that I changed it a bit due to the availability of items in my house. I am ALSO going to preface this recipe with the fact that my rendition may NOT be 100% paleo, as a matter of fact, I’m sure of it. I will in closing say this…if the worst thing you eat all day is chia seeds and peanut butter…you go girl.

The original recipe:

“Grain-free Porridge”

Coco-nutty

2 tablespoons almond butter

1/2 cup shredded coconut

6 tablespoons warm water or coconut milk (full fat, people!)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon raw honey or maple syrup (this is optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Transfer to a sauce pan, and heat over a low flame until it reaches your desired temperature.

*Yields one large portion

 

Sounds delicious right? Okay…here’s what I did…

 

Jen’s “in a grocery crisis pinch” Version :)

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 cup chia seeds

6 tablespoons of full fat coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon raw honey

Mix it up, heat it up…DIZ-ONE! I then sliced some banana’s on top, and seriously rolled my eyes into the back of my head with every bite. Yes…it was that good.

*Yields one large portion, FOR WHO!?    I doubled mine to accommodate both Nick and I. The portions were very, very small, but it IS pretty calorically dense…so…I think you’re good!

 

That’s it folks :) Try that one out, and eat it with your pumpkin coffee that someone who loves you from the east coast sends you in the mail :) PS: I am on tea now…however, with the bag of pumpkin coffee in transit to the west coast right now, I could NOT POSSIBLY be so RUDE as to NOT drink it…obviously :-p :)

 

Love you guys :)

Jen

Amanda Cannon on “Paleo”

Posted by beautifullystrong in Eat Well, guest posts and tagged with , , , ,

Oh boy, do I ever have a treat for YOU today!!! Today, there will be a guest post by my soul-sistah, Amanda Cannon. Amanda and I met back in Massachusetts through Nick…and to say that it was love at first sight is a MAJOR understatement :) Both Amanda and I consider ourselves “wellness warriors”, and through her journey she has had some MAJORLY AMAZING changes due to Chiropractic, Crossfit and Paleo which she shares on her AWESOME blog Sozo Life, which you should definitely check out!

Without further ado…Miss Amanda Cannon :) …

Yep…this is us…on the reg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paleo. Ah the word brings up so many emotions inside me. Passionate about Paleo….my friends would probably sum me up by that. Well maybe  just passionate in general but being Paleo happens to be one of my favorite things.

So let’s rewind to 2008. I was in rough shape. I had chronic back pain, allergies, sinus infections, fatigue, hormonal imbalance and overall no direction for my life. Along came Franson Family Chiropractic…..(I am sure you may have heard Jen mention this place once or twice.)

My dear friend Alexis introduced me to this place and I can honestly say it changed the direction of my life. I had no idea about well living, Paleo, or Crossfit. From starting to go to Franson my interest was sparked. I started doing screening’s for them and met Mr. Nick Araza. (whom through  I met Miss Jen who became one of my soul sisters very quickly.)

Nick and I had a conversation one day about food. He asked me what was holding me back from taking control of my health. I didn’t understand what he meant. He asked me what my favorite things to eat were. I told him bread and cheese (ha! oh me…..). He then asked me now what if I knew that those morsels of bread and cheese were laced with arsenic. Just a little bit. Would I still eat them? That stopped me right in my tracks. Well no! He then proceeded to explain to me the effect that certain foods can have on the body and how when you change your thinking about food to fuel and what it does inside your body it can override the craving for toxic food in general. This was a big deal for me. I struggled with food for most of my teen years. I had constant battles with it and would go on frequent emotional eating binges. I disliked my body and my secret battle with food.

I began to do all sorts of research on this so called Paleo diet. What in the world was this all about? I read multiple books to learn all about it. I had always loved to cook and was excited for the challenge to come up with tasty and creative Paleo dishes. I began to see all sorts of results in my life. My chronic back pain went away. This was a big deal for me from being in multiple car accidents. My joints were pain-free! My allergies and sinus infections went away, my skin began to get clear, and most of all I finally banished my emotional roller coaster with food. I found myself in control of it instead of letting it control me. I felt FREEEEEEEEE! I began to cherish my little bod and see the results big time! I joined Crossfit in October 2010 and began to put it all together. I used to hate working out and now I found something that I absolutely loved!

This sent me on an epic search for more knowledge about Health and Wellness. I came across another book that impacted me big time. It was Crazy Sex Diet by Chris Karr. It was basically all about her journey through cancer and how changing her diet saved her life. I got really excited if someone could beat cancer through their diet this means that diet alone could certainly help others with other health problems. I started to pass this information on to my mother who had been battling MS.

I began to realize how passionate I was about this subject. I decided I loved helping people too much to just sit back and not do something about it. I began to pursue a career in Health and Wellness. I finally found my calling. I feel alive when teaching people how to be healthy.  I think my favorite thing is to work with young girls and women to help them understand the importance of a healthy body image. I spent so many years being insecure and battling with food and my body. I want to teach young girls what true beauty in general is from the inside out. Not just making healthy choices but in their character as well. It’s taken me years to convince my mom to switch to Paleo. She finally did a few months ago and has seen major results and is out of her wheel chair and walking around again! That truly was amazing to me. I cried tears of joy!

Paleo is not just a diet, it is a way of life. It is a lifestyle and a life changer. I have become part of an amazing community of people who eat together, do life together and live an amazing life. I want a partner who thinks this way. I want to raise my kids this way. It is more than just food it is a mindset of living simply, the way we were meant to live.

This is the thing, once you understand what is going on in your body, and the effect certain foods have and you begin to feel the difference you just can’t go back. You can’t go back to your previous way of living. You know too much, and have seen the results. It is hard to explain to someone without them experiencing it for themselves. Really the motivation for health has to be the issue. If it’s just you and your will against the cheese cake, the cheese cake will win. But if you really begin to understand what the cheesecake does inside your body it stops you and makes you think. So many of the clients who come to see me at the Y aren’t really ready to make the change unless they have been in some big health crisis. I say don’t wait! Do it now! Invest in your health.  It’s just like a car…if you continue to put bad fuel in the car, eventually it will break down. You put the right fuel in your car, why wouldn’t you put the right fuel in your precious bod?
Health is a journey, I myself have faced some battles of late and had to fight HARD to make it through.  It is worth it though and in the end you don’t know what you have till it is gone. Don’t let your health slip away from you.  You are either moving towards health or away from it in every choice you make. So grab some people who want to be on this journey with you and move towards health together.

Much love,

Jen & Amanda

**GIVEAWAY**PRIMAL LIFE ORGANICS BODY KIT!

Posted by beautifullystrong in giveaways and tagged with , , ,

Happy Monday loves!! I have a special treat for you today, as promised on Friday…

…we’re doing a giveaway for a whole BODY KIT from Primal Life Organics! The kit includes:

  • Dirty Mouth Primal Toothpowder
  • Primal Pitstick (one of PLO’s best selling products!!)
  • Primal Hand Repair
  • Torn-Up Primal Skin Repair (for those nasty boo-boo’s from all those pull-ups!)
  • Grunt Primal Lip Balm

How awesome is that?! The giveaway will be going on until Wednesday at 3pm PST. Here are the rules to enter:

  • You must “like” Primal Life Organics on Facebook (here).
  • You must “like” The Beautifully Strong on Facebook (here).
  • You must share the link about the giveaway in order to enter.
  • Finally, leave a comment on this post letting me know you’ve completed those steps! PS: if you’ve already “liked” either my page or Primal Life Organics, just do whatever you haven’t done already, and let me know you’ve done it!

That’s it! I’ll choose one of the comments on Wednesday at 3pm, and the package will be mailed out to you FRESHLY MADE!! Lucky you! :)

Have an awesome day guys…and good luck!

Much love,

Jen

Friday Fave’s

Posted by beautifullystrong in Friday Fave's and tagged with , , , ,

Happy Friday loves!! I’m going to make this short and sweet so that I can hop on my bike and head back home for the WEEKEND!!! Here are a few of my favorite things THIS week:

 

the beautifully strong project friday fave's

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I just finished this book for the second time last night, and I honestly feel like EVERYONE would benefit from reading this book. It focuses on marriages/love relationships, but knowing the “love language” of friends could make your friendships a whole lot better as well. Look for a post on this book in more detail next week…

2. Dayglow. We loved it in the 80′s, and we’re loving it now!! I dont’ know if I watched too many 80′s movies about California as a child, but for some reason, this is how I always FIGURED Californian’s dressed…dayglow, all day long :)

3. Finally, my last favorite thing for today is the Primal Life Organic’s Infiniti face line. First of all, I can’t say enough awesome things about the owner of this company. I emailed her looking to affiliate with her, and she sent me some awesome products to try. Not only did she send me awesome products, but she made it fresh!! I am in LOVE with the face line…absolutely in love. There is a face wash, toner, serum and a moisturizer. Every single ingredient in the line is “Paleo” and definitely au naturel :) Nick tells me almost every single day that my face smells like brown sugar…sweet side benefit. The best benefit of all is that my face feels a baby’s ass, and I have pretty much gone from running into Sephora in a panic for someone to teach me how to wear makeup because I felt like I was scaring little children, to now reverting back to my original stance of sans makeup most days (except for maaaaybe a little mascara). Whether OTHER people think I should be wearing makeup or not is irrelevent…I feel so much more comfortable and confident in my own skin again…I love this stuff!!

So, good news for all of you! Monday I will be doing a giveaway from the Primal Life Organics BODY LINE!! I will give you all the details on Monday…but you DEFINITELY want to try for these goodies… *hint, there may even be a Primal Pit Stick in there…;)*

 

I hope you all have an amazing weekend. I’m looking forward to doing sweet NOTHINGS!!!

Much love,

Jen

I think I may have found my dog’s flaw after all…

Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , ,

This morning, McMillian and I were taking our daily walk up the hill, while listing our (by our, I mean my…) gratitudes. It was GORGEOUS out this morning…so peaceful…the sun was bright and hot. We get to the hill, and I let McMill fly free…I was loving every second of watching him run like the wind up and down the hill, while I sipped my hot tea. It was awesome…every bit of it was. He was tearing through the tall grass stirring up all the birds, and his jowls were flopping in the wind. I whisper, “I’m grateful for McMillian and I’s little game…”. We have this game where he runs ahead, and then I yell, “Come!” and he runs to me, sits down, and waits until I tell him “GO!” which is when he’ll tear up the hill at full speed. I love it, and he get’s a good workout in a time pinch. Just as I was whispering this under my breath, I see him tearing toward me (no different than any other time…) and before I know it, I find myself staring up at the sky, head pounding, covered in tea.

…yup…that happened.

Let me put it this way…I was NOT happy.

Believe it or not, however, once I got up and realized what had happened…told him “NO!” while he smiled and wagged his tag at me (I think he thinks he won the game or something…), and clipped him back into his leash and walked down to the road…I literally TRIED to continue my gratitudes anyway. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the kindness in me to succeed at that…but A for effort? :)

When I got home and was covered in tea, my glasses included, and I didn’t look one bit grateful for shit…Nick wasn’t too happy to find out what happened either…and mumbled something about that being his fault for a little game him and McMill play…we’re learning everyday people!

Oh well, besides that, my morning was pretty awesome…and it started with the most delicious, nutritious, quick and easy breakfast EVER!!! Check it out:

Paleo Granola (from: PaleOMG)

Ingredients
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil (or other oil)
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup dried cranberries OR blueberries OR raisins
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Add all ingredients to a large microwavable bowl, except the fruit.
  3. Mix well. If the honey is thick, heat up in the microwave for about 30 seconds and mix well.
  4. Place on a baking sheet (use parchment paper for easy clean up).
  5. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to help it not burn
  6. When you pull it out of the oven, mix in dried fruit. Let cool.

Isn’t it dreamy?

…I poured delicious hemp milk over the granola and sliced half of a banana on top; paired with a hardboiled egg and a (almost drank) cup of tea…I was ready for whatever the world threw at me…including my 70 pound dog.

 

Much love,

Jen

 

 

 

 

 

Hey, I may have peed my pants, but at least I didn’t hurt my back!

Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

I am so happy to report that last week I completed an ENTIRE week without hurting myself at the gym! How did I do it?!

 

-I rested. Typically I complete 5 days of exercise a week, this past week, I rested twice as much! I completed three pain-free workouts. Now, this was challenging for me to get behind…I am used to working out much more, and I couldn’t help but feel that feeling of “you lazy bum” creeping up the back of my neck. I listened to my body, and what my body was needing was rest.

 

-I stretched. If you are a patient of Santa Barbara Family Chiropractic or a client at Innate, you know how important stretching and foam rolling are for our health! Come to find out, I have some seriously tight hamstrings. If you have tight hamstrings or a tight butt, those shortened muscles are constantly tugging on your low back, and that lack of flexibility is not allowing you to keep that straight back when you’re hopping up from your burpee… STRETCH and ROLL!!!

 

-I protected. I temporarily ex-nayed the movements that typically cause me problems. I gave my body a chance to heal itself up a bit before I threw it back into a workout of burpees and pullups. My workouts this week were:

*yoga and meditation

*beach sprints- on a side note, sprinting when you are injured is MONEY! You immediately correct your form if you break even a little bit. I found that I sprinted better AND FASTER than before!

*A WOD of:

10 double unders, 1 pushup

20 double unders, 2 pushups

30 double unders, 3 pushups…etc up to 100 double unders and 10 pushups

*10 minute time cap*

I got through 7 full rounds, which equalled 280 double unders and 28 pushups…

…and if you’re still questioning my title, you have never been a woman and done double unders :-p

 

-I ate cleaner. Focusing on what I eat is a HUGE piece in making sure that I don’t hurt myself. The less inflamed my guts are, the more control I have over what I do with my body, and the more power I give my abs to protect my spine. If you’re in the Santa Barbara area, Dr. Nick is giving a (sure to be kick ass) workshop on the Paleo Diet this Wednesday at our office (360 s. hope ave, c-100) at 6:30pm. Come check it out, and learn how to eat like a caveman!

 

-I got adjusted. I am forever grateful for my amazing chiropractor, who happens to be my hubs :) He constantly cleans up after me and my messes, but never the less, always encourages me toward OPTIMAL wellness, and being as strong and healthy as I can be (which includes not HURTING MYSELF!). He’s an amazing chiropractor, an amazing coach, and an amazing man all the way around. Thank you baby :)

 

I will be attending my first WOD tonight with a class since over a week ago…the workout is 50 power cleans for time, and a couple 6-8 min AMRAPs. Wish me luck amigos…I’ll let you know how it goes!

 

Much love,

Jen

Potato Leek Soup and biscuits….all Paleo baby…

Posted by beautifullystrong in Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

I just wrote the most eloquent, inspiring blog post of all time…and then somehow it just POOF, disappeared. So much like Tenacious D once sang, “this is not the best blog post in the world, this is just a tribute…”

A few months back, Nick and I started doing a CSA program with the local farmers in the Santa Barbara area. One day we opened up our box, and inside was this long, skinny, green, confused-onion looking thing. After a few weeks of letting those “weird things” wither and die in the back of our fridge, I started asking around. What I have found is that these WEIRD green confused-onion looking things, are indeed leeks. Now you are probably thinking one of two things “Oh, I’ve never seen a leek..hmm” or “really? You didn’t know what a leek was?” For those of you who thought the latter…I am from Northern Maine…’nuff said (random tangent coming: something I’ve realized is that I ALWAYS capitalize Northern as if that is part of the name…it’s not…but really, Northern Maine is a whole other cookie from Southern Maine…so they might as well be two different states).
Once I knew what a leek was, the only thing that immediately came to mind that I had ever heard the word “leek” used in was a leek soup. After looking up a leek soup recipe, I found that it is already pretty paleo! Yay! Plus, this soup is deeeelicious…like “mmmmm” and “ahhhhh” good. Check it out:

 

 

Potato Leek Soup (by Simply Recipes)

Prep time: 5 min                Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop.
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)*
  • 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
  • Marjoram – dash
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce
  • Salt & Pepper

*If cooking gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free broth.

Method

1 Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium-sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste.

2 Add water, broth, and potatoes. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add marjoram, parsley, and thyme. Add a few dashes of chili sauce to taste. Add some freshly ground pepper, 1-2 teaspoons salt or more to taste.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

 

Some of you may be thinking this is not paleo because of the potatoes. To each their own…Lorein Cordain is OUT on potatoes, but there are some resources that say it’s a grey area, and that they are okay every once in a while. Hey, if you’re going to eat them every once in a while, might as well eat them in this soup…it’s sooooooooo good!

Now, what goes better with soup than a biscuit? Nothing, I KNOW! Although I must admit that I didn’t have the pleasure of making these two things together (which I regret, but will learn from in the future!)…I think I should give you the chance to be smarter than me…make the right choice…make these together :)

 

 

 

Almond Rosemary Biscuits (from Multiply Delicious)

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

2 eggs

1 tablespoon honey (optional…but recommended)

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and rosemary in a bowl.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, and oil.  Mix wet ingredients into dry until a nice dough forms.

Lay one sheet of parchment paper down on a flat surface and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of almond flour.  Place dough in center of parchment paper and sprinkle with additional almond flour.  Place another sheet of parchment paper over dough and roll dough into 1-inch thickness.  Using a biscuit cutter cut rounds out of dough.  Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet.

Bake biscuits for about 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

*Makes about 12 to 15 biscuits.*

 

 

You are so welcome :) Bon appetite!

 

 

Much love,

Jen