Basil Coconut Curry Chicken

One of my favorite recipe websites is the fantastic Simply Recipes run by the amazing Elise Bauer (no relation to Jack). I love her site because it's essentially an online index of her family's homemade recipes. And they value "real food". An exerpt from her website describes her take on food as such:

" The recipes shown here use mostly whole food ingredients and only occasionally a few things from cans or prepared foods. We believe in a varied, healthy diet, using real butter, real cream, eggs, lots of green vegetables, and protein from meat, fish, beans, and cheese."

This is, of course, very similar to the primal eating lifestyle concept, minus the beans and cheese. So, she gets mad respect from me. More people need to eat real food. Anyway, on to tonight's adaptation....


Tonight I modified one of her yummy creations, Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce, to fit my Paleo-friendly preferences. I chose this recipe because I love anything with coconut, and anything that only invovles using one pan to make an entire meal. Can I get an amen for less dishes to wash? The results = yummy. And super E approved. He was turning his bowl upside down after he was done searching for any remaining remnants of our delicious meal. Below is the recipe as I prepared it:

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs

• 1 large red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced (I did not include these so E could eat it, although normally I would love anything with a kick)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 14-oz can coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons coconut flour
• 2 Tbsp basil leaves
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger

• shredded cabbage (pre-made bag for making cole slaw)

Method

1 In a small bowl, mix together the salt, ground coriander, cumin, ground cloves, black pepper, chili powder, and turmeric. Set aside.

2 Rinse chicken, pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Put into a bowl and sprinkle the spice mix over all the pieces. Coat well and let sit in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.

3 In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp oil on medium high heat. Add the onions and jalapeños and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Remove the onions, peppers and garlic from the pan and put into a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Use the same pan for the next step.

4 Add 1 Tbsp oil to the skillet and heat on medium high heat. Add one half of the chicken pieces, spreading them out on the pan so they are not crowded. Brown for a few minutes on each side. When the chicken pieces are cooked through, and no pink remains, remove from pan, add to the bowl with the onions. Cook the second batch of chicken pieces the same way. Remove from pan, add to bowl with onions.

5 Add the coconut milk to the skillet. Add the coconut flour. Cook on medium heat and stir till thick and bubbly. Add chicken mixture, basil, and ginger. Cook 2 minutes more to cook through.

Serve over cabbage or pre-made cole slaw.

I wish I had gotten a picture of it after I was done cooking, but bay-bay was hungry. At least I got a cell phone pic of E digging in.

Instead I will share a super cute pic of my little man from today, sporting his new BMX shirt and wanna-be ChuckT's. I can't believe how big he looks in this pic! He is such a funny kid, he makes me laugh every day!

 If you try this recipe or any of Elise's fabulous family creations, let me know!

A Little Experimentation of My Own

So, I had a follow up appointment with a doctor here in Franklin at Vanderbilt Bone & Joint in regards to my little stress fracture in my foot. And the verdict wasn't what I was hoping for. He said all my bone regrowth looks great, but the fact that I am still having some discomfort when performing certain activities concerned him. I could choose to follow his advice based on this one visit, or go get an MRI and be certain. I chose not to mess with the MRI. I really hate having to go to the doc. Seems like such a waste of time. ANYWAY....doc said no running until May. LAME. But I can do a lot of walking. If I can do that and my regular CrossFit workouts without discomfort, then I can start running before May. Considering my CF training involves lots of heavy weight, box jumping and jump roping, I'm not sure it's the best thing for my foot. But I. CAN'T. GIVE. UP. CROSSFIT.  It's like, one thing that I'm decent at. Not Games decent, but decent as in putting up respectable times using prescribed weight (sometimes more than Rx'd).

So, with that in mind, I am making a few adjustments to my training and lifestyle for a while. Yesterday was kind of a bum day for me. One of those days where you kind of pout and throw a pity party and bemoan how lame you are. Yeah, that was my day yesterday. Then I read this totally motivating post from fellow CrossFitter and Paleo eating machine, Melissa Joulwan. She linked up a great article from Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple entitled 17 Reason's You're Not Losing Weight. And not that I'm all crazy thinking I'm so overweight, but I'm still not where I'd like to be. So I decided to implement a few changes and see how it affects my body composition. After reading Mel's list I was inspired to start my own. Starting today, I'm adding the following "experiments":

1) Walking- crazy, right? But getting 3-5 hours per week of low-level activity (only 55-75% of max heart rate) is a super awesome fat burning activity. And since I can't run right now, this is a great time to see how walking can benefit me. My goal is at least 3 hrs per week, and with the weather warming up, should be totally do-able...now, if I could only overcome my fear of those evil red wasps that lurk all over this neighborhood! If you see a girl walking around Westhaven in a beekeeper hat, it's me.

2) Core Work daily- Obviously things aren't quite the same in the core area as they were about 2 yrs ago before I was with child. This is one of my biggest complaints. That even though I have lost most of my baby weight, I have this mushy grody belly skin. And I know the only thing that can fix it is diet and core work. Or a surgical procedure, but that is like cheating, right? So, I have to commit to daily core work, even if it's only 10-15 minutes.

3) Intermittent Fasting- I had heard some chatter about the topic but never really investigated it. Until now. I am intrigued with the idea and curious as to how it will affect my metabolism. You can read more about it here if you wish. But essentially it is the practicie of periodic elimination of meals for several hours. Different people will practice it in different ways, some skip one or two meals, some do a 12-hour fast, some a 24-hour fast. There's no wrong way to practice IF. It is very flexible. If you are new to the practice, it is recommended that you start off slow. I plan on taking this approach by picking a day to eliminate one meal and see how I feel. If it goes well, I will elimante two meals the next time. I hope to work up to a weekly 24-hour fast period, with flexibility. Keep the body guessing!

4) Whole30 Round Two- Yes, I said it. I embarked upon my second attempt at TheWhole30 starting today. Wish me luck!!!! The one exception is I AM allowing myself red wine. Yesssss :) It's great at reducing stress, which can also be a barrier in weight loss (increased levels of cortisol).

So, this is my list. Please ask me how I'm doing! It will help keep me accountable. Also, I'd love to hear any "experiments" or changes you'd like to do or have done for yourself that you were really stoked with.

Testing, Testing

There have been a couple of things recently which have really tested my faith. Although they haven't happened to me directly, they have happened to dear, close friends whom I really love. There are not words in the English language to express the feelings of pain and anguish I have for these people who I love. It's the kind of feeling that only tears can express.

I have always been of the school of thought that life just happens. And that includes bad, tough stuff sometimes. And what's important is our reaction to those bad things that happen. Do we become stronger, or do we let it beat us? I've always had the attitude that your life is not what happens to you, it's how you respond to it. But in the past few months, it's been harder for me to say it and mean it.

Reading the book of Job has made it harder for me in some ways. In the first two chapters God asks Satan to consider His servant Job and how blameless he is. Satan counters by saying it's only because God has protected Job his entire life. Then God gives Satan permission to bring calamity upon him. He loses everything he has, including all his children. Then he is plagued with sores from head to toe. He literally curses the day he was born, but never curses or blames God.

So, there are two ways to look at this. When I first studied this, I focused on the fact that God chose Job to demonstrate how faithful man could be. What an honor to know that God would consider me worthy to demonstrate my love and faithfulness for Him. Can you imagine God saying, "Have you considered my servant, ________?" (fill in your name) Pretty humbling and amazing.

But then bad things happen to my friends, to the people I love. And I am sad and angry. I hurt for them. And although I have not cursed God, I have questioned Him. God, why did you choose my friends to demonstrate how faithful man can be? Why did you give Satan permission to harm them? I know that God's plans are higher and better than ours. I know that in so many ways he can use our trials to help others. But it's just hard for me to think about Him being able to watch some of these terrible things happen, knowing He could have prevented them. But I imagine he felt the same way watching His Son crucified, knowing he was blameless as well.

There's just hard stuff sometimes and there aren't answers. I know my last few posts have been somber, but that's life.

Funeral Reflections

My Grandma passed away last week. My sister and I drove to the town where my Grandma lived on Friday morning for the visitation, funeral and burial. My Grandma has lived in the same house, in the same town since my dad was in 11th grade, so I guess since about 1971. All of my dad's brothers and sisters live right there near my Grandma, at most 10-15 minutes away. So do all my other cousins (all 12 of them) along with their spouses, and their children. My dad was the "rebel" who moved out of the county in which they all live when he and my mom got married in 1978. 

I have never felt close to my Grandma, but I have always loved her because she is my grandma. But the funeral was a little difficult. I was surrounded by tons of family, who I love, only to realize that my sister and I are the outsiders. We've always pretty much known this. It's no one's fault. We just grew up 20 minutes away from everyone else in the family, so we were never really a part of everything, except major holidays. Sitting in the second pew of the little country church, I was surrounded on all sides by people weeping. Weeping for the loss of their mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. And I couldn't muster a tear. And it made me sad that I couldn't mourn for my own grandmother.

I have no complaints about my life. I know that in order to be close to her and all my dad's family I would have had to live in that county, 10-15 minutes away from everyone. I am thankful that I didn't, because if I had, my life path would be completely different. I wouldn't be married to the love of my life and have my amazing son. But as I sat in the middle of that pew, I was just sad. Sad that my sister and I are the only outsiders in the whole family. Sad that I know my life won't change because of her death. Sad that I won't miss my Grandma. Sad that I barely knew her.

But even in this sadness, I found peace and joy. Peace in the fact that the Lord knows the plans he has for me. He knew back in 1978 when my parents moved out of that county that I wouldn't be close to my dad's family. But he had other plans for me. And because of those plans, I met a wonderful Christian husband, I have friends that I consider family, and I have a loving church family that encourages me so much in my spiritual life. Sitting through the funeral proceedings of a loved one will often make you reflect on your own life. As I consider the path of my life, I feel so blessed and so thankful for the roads God has led me down. 

The Thing About Facebook

Some of you who used to be my "friends" on Facebook may have seen the note I posted about why I get annoyed with Facebook, right before I deactivated my account. Well, I won't go into that list here, because it's stuff that most of you already know. What I will tell you about is my failed attempt to re-enter the world of Facebook.

The CrossFit gym I joined here in Franklin communicates most of their updates about gym hours, meet-up locations for certain workouts, etc on Facebook. I thought it might be worth it to get back on so I could be in the know with my new gym peeps. So, I logged back on to my account. "Welcome back! We've missed you!" Yeah right. So the first thing I did was went through and slashed my "friends" list from 200-something down to 70-something. If I was going to get back on there, I really only wanted those who I truly wanted to stay in touch with be able to see what was going on with me and vice versa. Because let's be honest, what percentage of your Facebook friends do you regularly communicate with?

Ok, so on to the meat of the matter. After my "friend" slashing, I clicked on the home to see the recent updates. My sister, who has one of the biggest hearts I know, had posted something similar to the following statement. "I wish I could adopt every dog without a home and every baby without a family. It breaks my heart to see those that are so helpless." (sorry, Lauren, I know that's not verbatim, but it's the gist.) One of her "friends" commented on her status, and insinuated that she could support the baby thing, but not the dog thing. And it didn't help matters that I knew this particular "friend" had already made her negative comments and opinions known to my sister on a separate occasion in regards to her considering rescuing another dog. Like it's not enough that she would give her unsolicited opinion and advice about what SHE thinks is best for my sister and her husband. She also made the passive aggressive Facebook post. If you know me very well, you know that I can get mad at my sister or say mean things to her, but if someone else does, I get pretty heated.

So, I know I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than any of you would, but FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. This is why I cannot stand Facebook. Really it's not the over-posters, the TMI posters, or the religious/political posters that really get me. Mostly because you can hide these people if you don't want to see what they have to say. And if I don't agree with what they post, so what? I just don't comment. Folks are entitled to their own opinions, and I don't expect everyone's to mirror mine. It's when people comment on things offering their unsolicited advice, their unwelcome opinions, and do it in a passive aggressive manner. And it's so hard to convey tone via Facebook, so people get all riled up (like yours truly when I read that post to my sister). And I just don't understand why people can't be courteous. If someone wants to rescue 6 dogs, maybe that's their calling! Why do you care? Is it not okay with you simply because they choose not to have 6 kids? Not everyone does things the same way, and that's okay. It would be really boring if we were all the same. Stop trying to force people to fit into the pigeon hole that is YOUR LIFE. Or at least stop making negative comments just because you don't necessarily agree or would not do the same thing. Love one another. That is the second greatest command. So just do it. "Be kind and compassionate to one another..." Eph 4:32

And if you don't agree with me, keep your opinion to yourself! LOL!!! Just kidding for those that couldn't interpret my tone. But seriously, I didn't post this to start an argument, just to vent. So please take it as such.

What's New

Well, for those of you who don't already know, Eli and I made the trip up to Franklin, TN on Monday to my mom's house. We will be hanging out here for a while, probably til my marathon (gulp) on Apr 30th. That is as long as Mom & Rob don't get sick of us and kick us out! hahaha! But seriously, being here is great. I am so thankful Eli has a great GiGi & Grandpa who love him and love playing with him and spending time with him. It is so nice for me to be able to go to the gym and workout, go for a run, get a shower, or maybe have a little "me" time now and then. Mom is also glad to have me here because Rob has just started his new job with Microsoft (yay!) and is in the weeds, so to speak. He just finished his first week, and he is so stoked about his new position, but as with any transition to a new company and new role, there is much to learn. Rob is somewhat of a perfectionist, which of course makes him outstanding at any job he seeks to accomplish, but also makes him feel a little overwhelmed having to learn all new stuff. He says his colleagues at MS have been amazing, and I know it will be no time before he is up and running. He and Mom have been really blessed by this amazing job he landed with MS.

In other news, I am SUPER STOKED to be officially a member of CrossFit Middle Tennessee. At least for 2 1/2 months. It is so awesome to have people who dig the same style of working out as I do. To have people that know way more than me, to coach me on my form, and to push me to do more than I thought I could do. To meet other chicks who like to throw heavy weight around! To talk about Paleo recipes, mobility exercises and pose running. I Love It. They even have a CF Endurance certified coach there, so I am looking forward to taking advantage of his expertise while I train for my upcoming marathon (gulp).

In Eli news, he is just getting cuter and funnier by the day. He is really starting to communicate more, especially with his tone and inflection of his voice. He is obviously understanding a lot more now, and imitating a lot more. He will grab his toes when I start to say "This little Piggy..." He will hold the phone up to his ear and talk (baby jibberish). He is starting to play with things more interactively (I think that's the word I'm looking for). Like with these little toy dinosaurs my mom has. He'll make two of them fight, make them walk up and down surfaces, etc. He is really starting to show more of his personality, and my mom says it reminds her so much of me at that age. I absolutely love the little guy to pieces. He is more and more fun every day. I am so blessed to have such a good boy. Napping and sleeping like a dream. Makes me nervous for #2. Like a second one could NOT be this good!

And in nutrition news...well, I am officially at the end of my initial Whole30 challenge. Yes, I fell off the wagon for a 4 day stint, but I identified the issue, got back on the wagon and finished strong. I am NOT beating myself up about it anymore, and I am moving on. I said that I was going to start all over with the Whole30, but I feel that right now that may not be the right choice. I am planning on remaining Paleo 90% of the time, but I think it will be wise to make it a little less stressful on myself for now. My plan is to go back 100% 30 days out from my marathon. I want to be in the utmost awesome health possible for it. Because I did my first distance run today since getting my cast off, and it. was. terrible. But, I am hoping for a quick bounce back, esp with eating clean a majority of the time. For the time being, I am kind of letting Saturdays be my lax day. Not that I'm going to shove my face with all non-Paleo food on Saturdays, but if I feel like something non-Paleo that day, I'll have it. Then back to business Sun-Fri. I feel like that's a pretty good balance, and one that's very attainable. And thanks to you guys who commented on my derailment confessions. I really gleaned something from each comment, and it was helpful! You guys rock!

I also want to write about my extreme annoyance when I thought I would get back on Facebook. That lasted for about 5 seconds. I will share that in another post. I've already rambled on enough tonight! (while enjoying an outstanding glass of Cab...def one of those splurges that is WORTH IT!)

These Are My Confessions

So, I almost didn't write this, but then that would be like pretending I'm better than I am. In reality I am weak sauce. So, all was going well in my Whole30 Challenge. I had made lots of great testimony and it was all true. I was feeling great, having positive thoughts, not having cravings, and easily passing on sweets when they were presented.

Then someone who will remain unnamed sent me a lovely Valentine's Day package. Very thoughtful sweet card along with a small box of Russell Stover chocolates. So I think, "How sweet! But, since I won't be eating them, I'll give them to the ladies at the drop-in childcare at the gym since I'm on my way there anyways." So I make the 40 minute drive on post, go to drop E so I can workout, only to realize that the childcare is closed from 2-4. It's 2:02. I can't very well hang out for 2 hrs, so we get back in the car and I decide I'll run a couple of errands. Instead I sat in my car and ate the chocolates. Which is not THAT big of a deal. It's only a small box, like 6 pieces of candy. Except this is what happens in my head afterwards:

"Ok, that was my one cheat. No big deal."
"Well, it was kind of a big deal. The Whole30 says that now I have to start my 30 days all over again from here."
"The day is ruined!" "I'll start over tomorrow."
Instead I ate more chocolate the next day. Again I thought to myself, "I'll start over tomorrow."

But the next day I had company and one of the girls left the chocolate chip cookies she brought. I ate the rest of the bag. And I thought to myself, "Well, it's Friday. I'll just start over next week."

So today instead of eating sensibly I stuff my face with Rice Krispies and sugar cookies at our church function "Wild On Wheels" for the toddlers. Why were the only snacks provided for toddlers sugar cookies, Rice Krispy treats and brownies? Oh, and Goldfish and Capri Suns? Isn't that the sort of thing that got Americans into this sugar addiction and obesity epidemic to begin with? But I digress.

This is not their fault, it's mine. Nor is it the fault of the mystery relative who sent me chocolate. Its my fault. I am terrible! So, how can I fix this problem? It's like once I derail, fall off the wagon, whatever you want to call it, I go in elbows deep. Is this how it is with alcoholism and other addictions? Am I a sugar addict? How can I break this freaking cycle? I want to choose better. I want to be stronger. I want to be healthier. I don't want food to be this huge drama. I don't want it taking up so much of my head. I look back to the quotes from the Whole30. Things like, "This is not hard. Beating cancer is hard." "Don't consider the possibility of a slip." And I feel like a massive failure. I made it 22 days. Which to be fair to myself is probably the longest I've ever been in my life without sweets. And I was feeling so great, and I blew it.

But this is nothing new. This is always the story with me. The same thing happens every time I make an effort to be better at something. Spending time in prayer. Studying my Bible more often. Being a better friend. Thinking of others more. I really want to. I do. But I don't. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. Selfishness and self-gratification are tough nuts to crack. I bet if I spent more time in prayer like I know I should and want to, that would help immensely! Otherwise I'm open for suggestions. Anyone?

And if any of you are going to say things like, "Don't beat yourself up, you did good. Blah, blah, blah." Just don't waste your time or mine. Tell me something that will HELP me be better, not to feel better. Tomorrow: Day 1 of Whole30, Take Two.