"I think every woman should have a blowtorch" -Julia Child

Mama' got a new culinary toy... and it's blue! (not a blowtorch, but still exciting)



Since Friday's are my Monday's I decided to spend some time cooking some things today that I won't have time to cook in the next 5 days while I'm held prisoner in the hospital (for money). This includes about 1.5 pounds of chicken, a variety chopped veggies, and a few sauces from my new cookbook Well Fed. This lady is pretty rad if you're into the paleo lifestyle. I recommend her blog/website for a few recipes to light the proverbial paleo fire under your butt.

I just seasoned my chicken with salt (sea and iodized), paprika, and pepper and cooked at 400 for 30-ish minutes.

I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

I spent an obscene amount of money on paleo groceries this evening at Whole Foods (mostly coconut products and meat). Apparently coconut is the way to go if you're avoiding vegetable oil (heavily refined soy bean oil)/peanut oil (not paleo) and when the taste of olive oil isn't ideal.

My coconut grocery list:
Coconut oil- supposedly has a somewhat buttery flavor and can be used at high temperatures without oxidizing. It's solid at room temperature (kind of weird).

Coconut aminos- tastes like soy sauce, good replacement for asian style foods (regular soy sauce is loaded with gluten, other replacements are soy)

Coconut milk- good for making sweet/savory dishes, also a good replacement for heavy cream and yogurt in sauces



SLC Crossfit WOD:

5 rounds for time:
400M run
15 burpees
15 medicine ball slams
30 sec plank

Burpees make my heart beat fast. 20:07.

On a side note: SLC Crossfit is kind of a meat market. Not sure how I feel about that yet.

Happy Valentines Day

Paleo post-run breakfast: eggs, asparagus, onion, broccoli, and garlic (cooked with a few sprays of olive oil)




While I'm not a terribly huge fan of this holiday, I did run in my red shorts today. So festive.



Good grief.

125 Toes to Bar

After graduating from the beginner course at SLC Crossfit last week I got to play with the big boys for the first time today...

5 rounds for time:
5 dead lifts @185
25 toes to bar
250 M row

Toes to bar hurt. 21:24.

To reward myself: my own paleo concoction (ground turkey meat, italian turkey sausage, onion, brocoli, sugar-free tomato sauce, and garlic)

I'm Gonna' Carpe the Hell Out of This Diem

So it's been a while.

A lot of things have changed, some good some bad. Rolling with the punches along side an amazing group of friends and family. I've learned a lot about life and myself in the past 844 days (the amount of days that have passed since my last post); one of the most significant things being the importance of my personal health. After a year or so of my reproductive system trying to oust me and planting my ass in bed or on the couch to recover I learned relatively fast how easy it is to become weak and lethargic. Since then I've dedicated my life to caring for others and myself.

No gluten. No Dairy. Training hard. Positively impacting the lives of others (via work and relationships).

This blog will be dedicated to those things from now on... because that is what makes me happy.

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray" -Rumi



I'm gonna carpe the hell out of this diem.

Running the Red Rock

Crazy busy weekend. My best girl friend was sealed (aka married) at the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday. She looked stunning coming out of the temple and had a beautiful luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I had to book it to Moab shortly after to run the Moab Other Half Marathon the next day.

After not doing much training I was excited to run with good friends, not so much the super hilly 13.1 mile course. To make matters worse once the race started I realized my iPod had broken at some point since my last training run... so bad for someone who never runs without cranking the tunes. Lucky for me Shonda never runs with music, she totally talked me out of my freak out and helped me finish despite lack of music. The race was really well organized and some of the local breweries were sponsors so there was free beer for all of the runners at the finish. I hadn't been to Moab in a year but it blows my mind every time I'm down there. It's hard to believe all of the red rock and massive rock formations are only 3 hours away from Salt Lake City and the best pow on earth. And for the first time in a while I'm not registered for any upcoming events.

Bear on the Trail

Today Bear, the Major, and I set out to Park City to ride the Flying Dog trail.



'Crossing on a mountain bike trail is definitely on of the most fun things I've done in a while. Even with major lack of suspension it felt amazing to motor up hills with an ultra light bike underneath me, that and blasting through sand was a breeze. The only 'cross bike related issue I had was due to thin tires, when standing on steep inclines with loose rocks underneath the skinny tires didn't grip as well as mountain tires and I kind of fell into a tree.



The Utah Cyclocross Series starts in a month from today!

On a side note: my poor dog is limping a bit and one of the big pads on a paw is split open and is peeling away (equivalent of getting a large blister on the heal of your foot)... I'm a terrible mommy!