Ok, so first to describe my paleo challenge, which started today and will end in 8 weeks (May 31). I've changed around my workout schedule, which I've already kind of alluded to: Crossfit Monday/Tuesday/Thursday and strength training on Fridays. I'm sticking to it, no cheating (not that I did a whole lot of cheating on workouts to begin with - I just love the endorphin rush!).
Now to diet, which is the hardest part for me. I keep that stupid jar of cookies on my desk at school so that people come and visit me and distract me from my work, but it is just too tempting! I'm really going to be better about avoiding processed foods, simple sugars, and grains. It shouldn't be too hard since I normally don't crave a lot of those things (beans, corn, HFCS), but cookies and chocolate seem to be my weak point. However, I've "paleo-fied" my kitchen and gotten rid of a lot of non-nutritious crap and was really good today about turning down a cookie from Tony the Tech Guy/Birthday Boy for today. I also had been keeping a secret stash of chocolate that I found in the breakroom once in my drawer and I pulled it out today and put it in the cookie jar. I won't be going near that thing for the next 2 months!
So that's the long-term challenge I've set for myself. Now on to shorter-term challenges, like today's WOD, "Nancy."
5 rounds for time:
400m run
15 Overhead squats (95# / 65#)
Overhead squats are killer for me, so I scaled this one down to 45#. Pretty impressed with myself for sticking with that weight because of the high rep and round scheme. Honestly the squats were not that bad, if it weren't for my wrists crapping out on my by about rep 12. I usually could do 11-12 unbroken, but then my wrists would start to ache and wobble. By the 3rd or 4th round, I could tell my legs were tired; they felt like lead on the runs! But I managed and finished in 18:57. Probably could have finished sooner if my wrists held up for the last two OHS or I picked up the bar faster after complaining...I gotta stop doing that!
And now, for my Meatza recipe! There's been a lot of buzz recently about this in the paleo community, it's basically a pizza with a meat crust (although I love my cauliflower bases as well too!).
1 lb ground beef
1 lb hot Italian sausage
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
~1 cup pizza sauce
~ 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings: I used prosciutto, chopped green olives, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions!
Step one was to preheat the oven to 450', since it takes a while to get up there in heat. Then I prepped the meat crust by mixing the Parmesan cheese, salt, oregano, caraway, black & red pepper, and garlic powder together in one bowl; the meat and eggs went into a separate bowl. I got my hands in there and mixed the meat, then added the dry ingredients.
Plopped the large mass into my 12x17 inch pan (I used a roasting pan without the rack) that was lined with parchment paper and then flattened it out to cover it in a pretty thin layer. Once the oven was ready, I popped the crust in for 10 minutes.
While the crust was cooking, I prepped my toppings. Chopped up the mushrooms, peppers, and onions and lightly sauteed them in some pastured butter. The crust was then ready, so I took it out and sopped up all the rendered fat with a paper towel (I supposed you could also pour it out and use it for something else...not really sure how mixed beef/pork fat would taste...).
Now the fun part that brought me back to my childhood "make your own pizza" parties. Slathered on my pizza sauce, layered some prosciutto, half of the mozzarella, then the veggies, more prosciutto and then the rest of the cheese. Popped it in the oven now on BROILER set to low setting for 5 minutes, until I saw the cheese bubble and turn brown.
Preliminary taste test says: YUM!
After!
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