Borrowing a Recipe but it couldn't be easier.

This is a recipe that I wish I could claim as my own. It couldn't be simpler, faster and easier. Taken from a blog from another CrossFitter in Texas, she had this awesome recipe that will help you get more veggies in your life.

Spinach Muffine

Ingredients:
* 3 16-oz. bags frozen spinach, defrosted
* 4 egg whites
* optional seasonings: salt, pepper, Penzeys Italian herb seasoning, Penzeys Greek seasoning, lemon juice (If you don't have Italian or Greek herb blends, you can replicate the flavors by using oregano, thyme, marjoram, basil... don't be afraid if you think you don't know how to cook. You really can't screw up with herbs -- just add them a little at a time until it tastes the way you want it. Start with about 1/2 teaspoon dried...sprinkle and mix 'til it tastes right. )

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350

* THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT: Squeeze excess water from the defrosted spinach. Here's a trick: Cut a corner off the bag, and squeeze the spinach inside the bag, letting the water drain out the hole. Much easier than dumping the green stuff out and squeezing.

* Put the spinach in a bowl and add seasonings, to taste. Apparently a good one is pepper and Penzeys Greek seasoning.

*Add egg whites and mix until everything is completely blended.

* Spray or wipe a muffin pan with Olive Oil and scoop the spinach mixture into the cups. You can fill them all the way to the top and packed it in pretty tight. They puff a little when they bake, then deflate when they cool.

* Cook for 15-25 Minutes


If you guys do not know what Penzys Spices is, it is a spice shop that has shops all over the country and I believe the closest one is on Mass Ave in Arlington. They have thousands of different spices. If you thought that there was only one kind of Curry...they are going to blow your mind. Cinnamon...your in for a treat. I would definitely take a ride and get some spices to try.

Be Humble and Always Remember Your ROOTS

In New England vegetables can get pricey in the winter. Your favorite summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and carrots are shipped to your local markets with a hefty price tag. To save some change buy what’s in season…root vegetables. .. Root vegetables include; turnips, parsnips and rutabagas. They’re nutrient rich and particularly high in vitamin C. Root vegetables are often over looked because of their odd shapes and colors. Plus most people don’t know where to start when it comes to preparing and cooking them. If you’re one of those people try the recipe below. Roasting vegetables that are bitter, like root vegetables, makes them taste sweet. Ingredients like cinnamon and ginger compliment the sweetness. Plus, it’s easy to prepare, uses one pan and the result is DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

1 Turnip
1 Rutabaga
6 Parsnips
3 Garlic cloves - chopped
Olive oil
Seasonings: cinnamon, ginger, pepper

Large roasting pan


Directions

~Preheat oven to 400F
~Peel turnip and rutabaga
~Chop turnip, rutabaga and parsnips into ½ inch cubes, place them into roasting pan
~Drizzle (thats a funny word) olive oil across top of cut vegetables
~Sprinkle garlic, cinnamon, ginger and pepper onto vegetables
~Toss vegetables with spoon/ hands until oil and seasonings coat vegetables
~Roast for 40-50 min or until a toothpick can slide easily in and out of a vegetable. ~Turn vegetables 20 min into roast

The M Word...Muffins

I bet a lot of people are having some trouble with breakfast. It is a common issue that people have because many people are understandably sick of having 3 scrambled eggs with an apple for their morning meal. Here is where you can take your creativity and make something different for "breakfast." Your morning meal doesn't have to be the foods that are associated with breakfast. Last nights dinner probably makes for a great reheated meal, we have even seen tuna and soup as early as 6:30 AM. But for those of you who are not quite comfortable with eating steak in the morning here is an easy and fast alternative that you can make and grab on the go.

Egg Muffins

Ingredients
Eggs
Veggies of choice (peppers (raw or cooked), onions (raw or cooked), broccoli (raw or cooked), zucchini (cooked), spinach, tomato, carrot, kale (cooked))
Meat of choice (chicken (cooked), ground beef (cooked), ground turkey (cooked))
Seasoning of choice (pepper, garlic, paprika, chipotle peppers, red pepper flakes, curry, cumin)
1 muffin tray
Olive Oil

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350
- Take a paper towel and dip it in olive oil, wipe the inside of the muffin cups with the towel
- In the bottom of the muffin tins, put whatever veggies or meat you want (not too much, you have to add eggs into it too)
- In a bowl beat 1 less eggs then you have muffin tins
- Pour enough egg into each tin to cover the goodness in the bottom and to bring up 3/4 full

- Put the tin in the preheated oven
- Cook for 20-30 minutes
- To check if its done, use a toothpick. If it comes out clean its DONE. (The top of the muffin should not be very dark, but look set and cooked)


These are easy and totally Paleo and you can make a batch and keep them in the refrigerator. To reheat, put however many into a paper towel and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

How do you like them apples?

Purple Polka Dot Tuna Salad

I bet a lot of people said the same thing when they started eating Paleo..."There goes mayo...(we covered that base), and that means no more easy tuna salad." Well we are here to tell you that Paleo tuna salad is possible...and it is SO FREAKIN GOOD! Lets get into it right now...

Hooking the right tuna:
Not all cans of tuna are created equal. At a major supermarket chain that we went to, we saw that there were at least 4 different kinds of canned tuna. Chunk tuna, light tuna, tuna in water, tuna in oil, No salt added tuna....and there were ones that had flavors already added. Hickory tuna, lemon pepper tuna, southwest tuna. How many of those could a cave man get? Well he couldn't get any tuna in a can but he could get tuna, from water. So the tuna in a can with water and no added salt is the can to choose for your tuna salad.

What else to get at the supermarket:
Grapes
Peeled sunflower seeds
Celery
Onion

On to the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Cans of Tuna
1 handful of grapes
1 handful of chopped celery
1 handful of diced onion
2-3 tablespoons of Paleo Mayo (look at the recipe on this blog)

Directions:
- Drain cans of tuna and add tuna to a large mixing bowl
- Wash then cut grapes in half and add to tuna
- 1 stalk of celery: wash celery, cut down the middle lengthwise into 3 strips. Chopping the strips into small squares...add to tuna (I think your getting the picture)
- 1 medium onion - dice 1/4 of the onion...everybody say it with me loud and proud: ADD TO TUNA!!
- Fold in the mayonnaise

Voila! You have Paleo Tuna Salad. To make a larger batch (which is great because you can just eat this when your hungry. It has protein, carbs and fat...balanced meal) just double the recipe. If the tuna is a little too dry add a bit more mayonnaise to smooth it out.

You can eat this as is (I recommend this because its so good), you could put it on a bed of lettuce for salad on a salad or to really get spicy make tuna salad wraps using iceberg or bib lettuce (otherwise known as Boston Lettuce).

Performance...Performance...Performance

Yesterdays post helped show you why the Paleo diet and lifestyle is the one to adopt. However, today we are going to focus a little more on why we are at CFNE, for results. We all are here to make something happen. Maybe you’re here because you want to lose some body fat or to gain some strength. Maybe its because you want to just get healthy and know that you are doing well by your body. Whatever that reason may be, your performance during the WOD’s will show you if you are getting anywhere. Along with living a Paleo lifestyle there is something else that you can do to help improve your performance and see great results. For some, it requires a step back from the traditional Paleo foods, for others it doesn’t but the choice is yours. We are talking about your Post WOD (post workout) nutrition. During a workout you are not getting any closer toward your goal or result. You are actually taking a step back! You are breaking down your muscles and taxing your body (WHICH IS GOOD!) and then you going to rebuild it…better, faster, stronger. If you do a good job of refueling the machine (your body) then you will see better results, improved recovery, increased strength and a whole host of other great benefits. There are two ways in which we think to refuel. The first and one that we recommend, is taking a step away from Paleo. The recommendation for your Post WOD meal is a Whey Protein shake and depending on your goal (fat loss, increasing strength/muscle) and duration of the workout, Sweet Potatoes. The other way to refuel after a WOD is by staying Paleo and consuming a protein source (chicken, beef, tuna, eggs) and a fast and denser source of carbohydrate. Lets take a look at both options.

Option 1: Whey Protein and Sweet Potatoes
Whey protein is taken from dairy, making it not Paleo. However, having a shake with whey in it is the fastest way to get nutrients into your body and muscles and start the rebuilding and recovery process. Many of you have seen members and coaches after a workout run over to the water machine and to the front desk and start shaking those cups and chugging whatever is in them. Those are protein shakes. There are different flavors and brands but if you have questions about what to get ask one of the coaches and we can help you. The second part to our post workout meal is the sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are different from regular potatoes in that they are much more nutrient dense and not actually potatoes, they are Convolvulacae better known as the morning glory family. Sweet potatoes help replenish glycogen (energy) stores. Generally speaking, shorter duration workouts do not deplete glycogen stores and sweet potatoes are not necessary for individuals with higher body fat. After a longer workout however, they are the best source of quick glycogen replenishing nutrient dense food that you can get. Depending on how much body fat the athlete has, sweet potatoes may not be needed for every workout, but protein is a must.

Option 2: Protein source (chicken, eggs, beef, tuna) and fruit
There is one major issue with whole food sources being consumed post WOD. We are trying to get nutrients into our bodies as fast as possible and when consuming whole food, the body must work harder to break down the food. Many people have allergies to dairy (Whey) and choose whole food, which is still very good. As with Option 1, protein is a must after a workout so when choosing a protein source, make it a lean protein so that the body can break the protein down and not have to take more time with the fat. As for a carbohydrate source, fruit would be the other option. The issue with fruit is that when fruit is consumed in order for the body to use and store the energy from it (calories and sugars) it must break down the fructose (the type of sugar that is in fruit) into glucose to be digested. The glucose is then stored as glycogen if the previous stores have been depleted. So that extra time of converting the fructose into the glucose and glycogen is time being wasted to get nutrients packed away. An athlete could choose to use whole food protein sources and then sweet potatoes.

Whether it is a whole food source or a liquid source, the post workout meal is essential to improved performance and health. The topic of post workout nutrition has been widely discussed and each time the final conclusion is that a post workout meal is essential for the CrossFit athlete.

Kickin' it OLD SKOOL!!!

Alright guys, the "Summah Shape Up Challenge" is about to get underway and a few of you may be still wondering about this Paleo thing. Aside from knowing that it is a diet (lifestyle) where you consume only naturally occurring and digestible foods: meats, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, there are some great links on the internet that you can find out more information about it.
Here are two videos from PayNowLiveLater Which do a great job of explaining and answering a lot of questions you may have.

There are two parts"
Part 1

Part 2

And here is a link back to the source of it all from Dr. Cordain The Paleo Diet

"Miracle" Whip...?

Why did they call it "Miracle Whip"? Does it do great things for your body? From the name it sounds like it should make you stronger, leaner, fitter, more healthy and cure incurable sickness. No luck there. Like the majority of processed mayonnaise which is a mixture of eggs, oil (soybean, vegetable and canola most likely) and oh how nice, sugar...no miracles are going to happen when it is in your body.

Is mayonnaise bad? NO! That's what is great. You can still make tuna and chicken salad (lots of recipes for those two will be coming) and you can be completely Paleo and healthy when eating it. But before we get into the recipe, lets talk about why mayonnaise has that bad reputation.
Mayonnaise contains fat, it's made from oil. As we already know, fat is not bad for you. But storing fat is. How does the body store fat?...through the release of insulin. How does that happen? From consumption of carbohydrates. Lets take two different meals. Meal A) Tuna Salad (canned tuna, mayonnaise) on wheat bread. And Meal B) Tuna Salad (canned tuna, mayonnaise) on a garden salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, peppers). Both meals have carbohydrates in them (yes veggies are carbs) and both meals when broken by the body will release insulin. Which insulin release will be bigger? The one from the bread. Along with being a processed food the bread will be turned into sugar faster in your body then the salad and stored faster as well. Real mayonnaise isn't bad. It's the processed (soybean, vegetable and corn oil, sugar...check the ingredient label) ones and the insulin producing foods being consumed with it that have brought mayo down from its rightful place in food condiment history. Now onto the recipe...

Ingredients
1 raw egg
1 cup of light olive oil
1 tbl dijon mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:
- In a Blender combine: Egg, mustard, vinegar
- Blend for a 5 seconds
- SLOWLY drizzle in 3 second count of olive oil...let blend for few seconds
- SLOWLY drizzle in the remaining olive oil until mayonnaise is stiff and combined.

* Yields ~1 cup