I hate it when you go to say, a Mexican restaurant. You tell them they don't need to bring you chips. And then you order a steak fajita salad, hold the cheese, hold the disgusting taco shell, add a side of guacamole, please.
And you're eating it, and it's OK. Because it's paleo in theory, what it lacks in sizzle, it makes up for in virtue. And you're patting yourself on the back, "I avoided all potential landmines! Hell yes!"
It's not you're back in your office and it's three hours later that you realize: whatever it was that you ate, it was not paleo-friendly; you're f**king starving, then totally sleepy, in a way that you just never feel when you've had a good paleo meal.
And then, you have a second realization: G-ddammit, I paid $8 to feel this way.
4/21/10
4/13/10
The Double Down
I couldn't help it. Everyone's been talking about it. The critics are finally eating it. I couldn't get it off the brain. I had to know -- what would a paleo/primal friendly Double Down taste like? Unable to wait a moment longer, I decided it had to be made tonight. And because Meagan is the best roommate ever, we made it happen. Here's how we went from this:
to this
Ingredients
Fry up the bacon and set aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pan to use later.
Cut the chicken into tender-sized strips. Find 3 bowls or containers big enough to dunk your the tenders into (I used tupperware.) Beat the eggs and place in one bowl. Place the almond flour in the second, and the pecan meal in the last. Add any seasoning you want for your tenders to the pecan meal. We used salt, pepper, chili pepper and garlic.
Take one tender and coat it in the almond flour until completely covered. Dunk it in the egg, and place in the bowl holding the pecan meal. Turn the tender until coated and place onto a clean plate. Do the same for each tender until all are battered.
Heat up the bacon grease over medium high heat until it is just starting to smoke. Fry tenders in the grease, about 3 minutes each side, depending on the size of your tender. Make sure you have enough grease in the pan that the tenders are swimming -- if not, they will stick to your pan and lose their crust.
Remove tenders and plate with toppings. For the original Double Down, place 1 slice of monterrey jack cheese and 2 strips of bacon. While we plated one this way, this wasn't our favorite. Both Meagan and I favored avocado instead of cheese (to make it truly paleo) and added some tomato. I found the Double Down even more delicious and easier to eat wrapped in Romaine (and with some hot sauce for kick.)
The Double Down is good. It feels sinful -- anything deep fried does. But while it was tasty and filling and insanely fun to make, it's not really that different from what us paleo-ites eat anyway. Chicken, nuts, bacon? All sound pretty normal to me. So if you're looking for a new flavor combination, or something that's going to blow your mind, don't try this. But if you're looking for something fun to get your non-paleo friends attention, give this a go. I can't imagine anyone could argue that the paleo version is NOT tastier than the original.
Meagan's Take: It was too much. Clearly, KFC wanted to be talked about, and it succeeded. But whilst I love avocado, tomato, bacon, and paleo-style fried chicken, there was just no need to put them all together. In fact, I'd say that the problem is too much fried stuff going on at once for the Double Down to be enjoyable in its entirety. And really, if you're eating bacon, it would be a shame to not enjoy it!
The KFC Double Down
The Paleo Double Down
The Recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 1.5 cups pecan meal/pieces
- 4-6 strips nitrate-free bacon
- Monterrey Jack Cheese
- pepper
- salt
- chili pepper
- Avocado (optional)
- Tomato, sliced (optional)
- Romaine lettuce (optional)
Fry up the bacon and set aside. Leave the bacon grease in the pan to use later.
Cut the chicken into tender-sized strips. Find 3 bowls or containers big enough to dunk your the tenders into (I used tupperware.) Beat the eggs and place in one bowl. Place the almond flour in the second, and the pecan meal in the last. Add any seasoning you want for your tenders to the pecan meal. We used salt, pepper, chili pepper and garlic.
Take one tender and coat it in the almond flour until completely covered. Dunk it in the egg, and place in the bowl holding the pecan meal. Turn the tender until coated and place onto a clean plate. Do the same for each tender until all are battered.
Heat up the bacon grease over medium high heat until it is just starting to smoke. Fry tenders in the grease, about 3 minutes each side, depending on the size of your tender. Make sure you have enough grease in the pan that the tenders are swimming -- if not, they will stick to your pan and lose their crust.
Remove tenders and plate with toppings. For the original Double Down, place 1 slice of monterrey jack cheese and 2 strips of bacon. While we plated one this way, this wasn't our favorite. Both Meagan and I favored avocado instead of cheese (to make it truly paleo) and added some tomato. I found the Double Down even more delicious and easier to eat wrapped in Romaine (and with some hot sauce for kick.)
The Verdict:
The Double Down is good. It feels sinful -- anything deep fried does. But while it was tasty and filling and insanely fun to make, it's not really that different from what us paleo-ites eat anyway. Chicken, nuts, bacon? All sound pretty normal to me. So if you're looking for a new flavor combination, or something that's going to blow your mind, don't try this. But if you're looking for something fun to get your non-paleo friends attention, give this a go. I can't imagine anyone could argue that the paleo version is NOT tastier than the original.
4/9/10
Meet Lucy's cousin, Ardi
I've always loved the idea of archaeology. Reconstructing someone's life from thousands of years ago based on clues left behind is just so cool. In a similar vein, paleontology has also always fascinated me. (Perhaps this paleo thing was fated?)
I was excited to hear about a new find on the radio the other day, that helps add to our understanding of early humans. (For those of you who don't know who Lucy is, that's what Wikipedia is for.)
Here's an NPR story.
Here's a Daily Tech story.
4/8/10
50 + 60 + 61 + 62 + 63
296 burpees last night. Ugh, I'm tired just thinking about it.
I'm going to go hide in shame in the corner now--I did no working out this past weekend and clearly, did not stick with the 100 day burpee challenge. In comparison, the 64 burpees I have to do tonight seem so insignificant...
I'm going to go hide in shame in the corner now--I did no working out this past weekend and clearly, did not stick with the 100 day burpee challenge. In comparison, the 64 burpees I have to do tonight seem so insignificant...
4/7/10
Things I learned this week (or my last semi-whining post)
So my last post was less than exciting to read, but it had to be done. And luckily, both writing it and reading your comments helped me figure a lot of things out. Here are some things I learned this week.
As much as everyone likes to hear nice things, I genuinely appreciate it when people put me in my place. Y'all are right. It's not the end of the world, and I'll get through it/over it. I was just feeling particularly stressed on that day and had to get it out before it ate me up. I'm taking y'alls advice and sticking to my food journal and trying to move, even if it's just walking a few miles each day with the puppy. I'm also going to try and get back to CFG every day, even if just to do warm-ups or get some jump rope/rowing in. I associate CFG with a) happiness and b) moving, so only good can come from that.
*Yes, I realize this is a random revelation.
1) I like constructive criticism more than placating comments.
As much as everyone likes to hear nice things, I genuinely appreciate it when people put me in my place. Y'all are right. It's not the end of the world, and I'll get through it/over it. I was just feeling particularly stressed on that day and had to get it out before it ate me up. I'm taking y'alls advice and sticking to my food journal and trying to move, even if it's just walking a few miles each day with the puppy. I'm also going to try and get back to CFG every day, even if just to do warm-ups or get some jump rope/rowing in. I associate CFG with a) happiness and b) moving, so only good can come from that.
2) Working out is necessary to maintaining my mental health
Honestly, I really think a lot of the frustration I feel right now is because I'm not working out. Even if my body is isn't how I want it to be right now, if I were working out, it wouldn't matter as much. Knowing I could still rock a PR, push myself to do something I thought I couldn't, or just keep up on a WOD gave me a feeling of accomplishment each day. My job doesn't have much in terms of instant or even short term gratification. Crossfit is what gave me that, so without it, I'm going a little nuts.
3) I am no longer going to eat nuts.*
In trying to pay attention to my body, I've noticed in the past few days that I'm really craving veggies and berries, and while eating those, I feel great! Enter just one serving of nuts, however, and I feel lethargic, heavy, dull. On Monday, I was on the road all day, and basically subsisted on jicama and almonds. (More on jicama to come later!) The nuts seriously feel like they are just rotting in my stomach, and I was dead to the world the next day. Sadly, I just made a super delicious batch of Melicious' spicy nut mix that I'm going to have to donate to stronger stomach than mine. If anything though, cutting out nuts will help with the weight gain, and generally make me feel better, so that's good.
4) I enjoy blogging about science, workouts, and news more than blogging about me.
Lest you worry, I will be returning to my normal random fact style of blogging soon. I felt pretty weird blogging about my internal thought process on this one, but in the end, I think it was the right thing to do. Bodies are weird. Science is weird. And seeing someone struggle with trying to do things right has it's own merit, so I'm going to chalk it up to that. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
*Yes, I realize this is a random revelation.
4/4/10
I'm officially overweight
That's right. After weighing myself this morning and seeing a number I haven't seen in -- oh, I don't know, maybe 10 years -- I went online and checked my BMI. I plugged in my weight (136.5lbs), and my petite 5'2" height, and there it was. In print.
I am overweight.
Yes, yes, BMI is bad. Scales are bad. Go with how you feel, how your clothes fit, keep eating clean, and everything will be ok. But the fact of the matter is, things are not ok. I don't feel good. My clothes are way too tight. Couple that with the scale this morning, and something has to be done.
Now, I know you are all very supportive folks. And that's part of what keeps me on the paleo/crossfit bandwagon. But the thing is, I don't really want to hear how you can't tell, or how I've been sick and my body is fighting off illness. While those things may be true (and very sweet), telling me everything will be ok actually just makes me feel bad for feeling bad, and that's silly.
The facts are facts: I'm getting bigger. And I need to do something about it. I'm going to try being more strict with my food journal (ugh, I hate food journals), and try to get some crossfit in, with maybe some lowered weights and reps. (Going hard has been leaving me out of commission for a few days afterward. Sigh.) Otherwise, I'm plenty open to suggestions of things to do other than waiting. For the record -- I am not good at waiting.
Trust me, I know paleo and crossfit are good, and weight gain in and of itself is not bad. Just a few short months ago (around mid-February), I remember feeling awesome. I was getting strong. I was not freaking out that I had gained 5 lbs because I was sure of how it got there. It's the 10 lbs on top of that are annoying me -- the ones that have come while laying around and doing nothing. And that's why I'm not going to do nothing about them.
I am overweight.
Yes, yes, BMI is bad. Scales are bad. Go with how you feel, how your clothes fit, keep eating clean, and everything will be ok. But the fact of the matter is, things are not ok. I don't feel good. My clothes are way too tight. Couple that with the scale this morning, and something has to be done.
Now, I know you are all very supportive folks. And that's part of what keeps me on the paleo/crossfit bandwagon. But the thing is, I don't really want to hear how you can't tell, or how I've been sick and my body is fighting off illness. While those things may be true (and very sweet), telling me everything will be ok actually just makes me feel bad for feeling bad, and that's silly.
The facts are facts: I'm getting bigger. And I need to do something about it. I'm going to try being more strict with my food journal (ugh, I hate food journals), and try to get some crossfit in, with maybe some lowered weights and reps. (Going hard has been leaving me out of commission for a few days afterward. Sigh.) Otherwise, I'm plenty open to suggestions of things to do other than waiting. For the record -- I am not good at waiting.
Trust me, I know paleo and crossfit are good, and weight gain in and of itself is not bad. Just a few short months ago (around mid-February), I remember feeling awesome. I was getting strong. I was not freaking out that I had gained 5 lbs because I was sure of how it got there. It's the 10 lbs on top of that are annoying me -- the ones that have come while laying around and doing nothing. And that's why I'm not going to do nothing about them.
4/1/10
Keeping it up while traveling
Wow, that sounds mildly dirty. Anhoo.
I have trouble keeping my momentum going when I travel. Food-wise a bit, but even more exercise-wise. Lucky me--this weekend my sister is going to be traveling with me, and she is interested in crossfit. Yes, there has been a lot of cackling and hand-rubbing as I devise what we're going to do. I'm hoping that by posting it here, we'll actually get the workouts done.
Friday: Add in 9 burpees to the warm up. WOD 7 rounds for time: 7 squats, 7 burpies.
Saturday: Warm up: 59 burpees. WOD 5 rounds, 15 lunge steps, 10 push ups. We'll see if I switch out the push-ups, as I'm still doing them assisted, and I don't want to bruise my knees right before wearing a dress. (Oh, and there's that whole thing about how girl-push ups are not a great modification...)
Sunday: WOD 100 burpees. I'll probably do 10 on the minute, since my sister is a newby. It's a delicate balance between scaring her and having her love it.
Monday: Warm up with 61 burpees. 4x25 jumping squats. I'll be on my own for this one.
I have trouble keeping my momentum going when I travel. Food-wise a bit, but even more exercise-wise. Lucky me--this weekend my sister is going to be traveling with me, and she is interested in crossfit. Yes, there has been a lot of cackling and hand-rubbing as I devise what we're going to do. I'm hoping that by posting it here, we'll actually get the workouts done.
Friday: Add in 9 burpees to the warm up. WOD 7 rounds for time: 7 squats, 7 burpies.
Saturday: Warm up: 59 burpees. WOD 5 rounds, 15 lunge steps, 10 push ups. We'll see if I switch out the push-ups, as I'm still doing them assisted, and I don't want to bruise my knees right before wearing a dress. (Oh, and there's that whole thing about how girl-push ups are not a great modification...)
Sunday: WOD 100 burpees. I'll probably do 10 on the minute, since my sister is a newby. It's a delicate balance between scaring her and having her love it.
Monday: Warm up with 61 burpees. 4x25 jumping squats. I'll be on my own for this one.
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