The heat and humidity yesterday was absolutely horrendous! Some days I can't believe I choose to work out at 3:30 in the afternoon. By the end of the hour, I've basically taken a sweaty shower, because my clothes are drenched. It's gross. But I wouldn't change it for anything! I love my CrossFit family and how hard we all work together. Lately I've been rowing a lot more before class, because one of our trainers rocked my world with some rowing techniques that are actually improving my stamina. I also committed myself to 100 lunges a day, with at least 75 of them being weighted, throughout this most recent sugar detox. So that was my own personal warm-up. Then we had a fun little mini-WOD as our group warm-up that went like this:
2 20 sec. hold wall climbs
5-10-15-10-5
Kettlebell swings
Sit-ups
Walking lunges with a PVC pipe
Followed by 400m run
After our mobility session, we completed a 20 minute AMRAP of:
5 hspu on the parallettes (which I scaled down to using plates for my deficits)
10 toes-through-rings (I did SO much better this time because I actually got the hang of the back swing)
15 med. ball cleans
Needless to say, it was a fast paced day and lots of sweaty monsters running around. By the time I finished training and got home, I was famished! Thankfully, dinner was quick and easy, but super tasty. I really enjoyed the combination of the sweet onions with the spicy chicken, and the cabbage was a last minute idea to add crunch and some beautiful color!
Spicy Ginger Garlic Chicken
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3
Special Tools:
Large saute pan
Splatter screen, optional but recommended
Small bowl
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of organic free-range boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp of bacon fat (or other fat of your choice, but bacon gives it GREAT flavor)
1 medium-large sweet onion, sliced
1/4 of a head of red cabbage, sliced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp of coconut aminos
1 tsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of sriracha sauce
a pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
green onion, chopped to garnish
Instructions:
1. Heat your fat in a pan over medium-high heat.
2. Season your chicken with salt and pepper.
3. When the fat is hot, add the garlic and ginger and let it sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Lay the chicken top side down in the pan for 5-7 minutes until it gets golden brown and slightly crispy. *Try not to move it around in these first few minutes and use the splat screen if the bacon fat starts to pop.
4. While the chicken is cooking, cut your onion and cabbage. Also, in a small bowl combine the coconut aminos, fish sauce, sriracha, and red pepper flakes. Set aside.
5. Flip the chicken and add the onion to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
6. Add the sauce from the small bowl and allow it to cook into the onion and chicken for another 5 minutes or so.
7. In the last few minutes, add the cabbage and cook until it begins to wilt.
8. Top with chopped green onions as a garnish. I served mine with some sautéed butternut squash and zucchini.
NOTE: I cooked boneLESS chicken. If you still have the bone in when you cook your thighs, it will take much longer, like at least 30 minutes, so you won't want to add your onions and cabbage until much later.
Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo. I heard people all weekend gearing up for the celebration. One of our CrossFit gym's sister locations shares a parking lot with a well known Mexican restaurant, so a fun partner WOD was created, both to entertain the patrons and to encourage us all to celebrate afterwards. This is how it went:
400m partner run with med ball
25 handshake push-ups
25 wall ball tosses
25 sit-up med ball passes
200m partner carry
5 Rounds. 30 minute time limit.
It was a nasty little workout. Definitely challenging! But in truth, the worst part was the heat. Yesterday was in the mid 90s, which hasn't happened all year! There were only two other girls in my 3:30 class, so we just did a triple team and made it 30 reps. I ended up running with the med ball for most of the rounds because I got carried every time during the partner carry. Out of the three of us, I was the smallest...but not by much, lol. I had two great teammates! In any event, it was a lot of fun, just super hot! Then I trained 4:30 and 5:30 and got to watch some really awesome people workout. I just love my CrossFit family!
Last night's dinner was a quasi mash-up of a dish I love to make (pork chow mien) with a marinade/dressing from another dish I've made. It's funny how you can just alter a few ingredients and the dish is totally different. I love making these kinds of meals because you end up eating a ton of veggies, which I love, and there isn't a lot of effort involved. I really enjoyed it and hope you do too! My Chinese food craving was 100% satisfied.
Moo Shu Pork
Marinate Time: 2+ hours
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 2+ hours, 50 minutes
Serves: 3
Special Tools:
Storage container with lid (for marinating pork)
Large non-stick sauté pan
Large bowl
Ingredients:
1 tbsp of ghee
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of shallots, minced
1 tbsp of ginger, grated
3 tbsp of coconut aminos
1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil (make sure it's toasted!)
1 tbsp of rice vinegar
1/2 tsp of fish sauce
1 lb of thin cut boneless pork chops
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp of coconut oil + more if needed
1 large carrot, shredded
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
4 oz of shiitaki mushrooms, sliced
3 cups of green cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup of red cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of scallions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley, to garnish
1 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
*Note: Prep your veggies before you start cooking. The cooking part goes by pretty quickly and you won't have time to cut and cook at the same time.
Instructions:
1. Cut your pork into quarter inch thick strips. Mine were still partially frozen, making it super easy to slice.
2. Place the strips in a container and mix in the first eight ingredients. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for two hours or up to overnight.
3. Place the large non-stick sauté pan over medium high heat. Once it's hot, add 2 tsp of coconut oil and let it melt completely.
4. Add in the beaten eggs and let them spread out like a pancake. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes until it's firm enough to flip. Then cook the other side for a minute or two.
5. Add the egg to a large bowl and slice the egg into strips.
6. Add another tsp of coconut oil if needed and allow to melt. Put half of the pork strips into the hot pan with some of the marinade and begin to sauté for 3-5 minutes. Scoop out the pork and add to the bowl with the eggs. Then put the rest of the pork strips into the pan and cook again for another 3-5 minutes. (You don't want to add them all at once, because this causes overcrowding, leading to steaming the pork rather than sautéing)
7. Pour any remaining juice from the marinade into the pan and turn the heat up a little for about 20-30 seconds.
8. Add the carrots and celery and move around the pan until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Remove them from the pan and add to the bowl.
9. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 1 minute and then move the mushrooms to the bowl.
10. Place the remaining cabbages and scallions to the pan. Saute until they begin to wilt slightly, turning constantly. You might want to put a splash or two of coconut aminos in the pan with these guys, but it's totally optional. But I did. And it was delicious.
11. Remove from heat and add everything back into the sauté pan, mixing well to combine all the ingredients.
12. Top with sesame seeds and fresh parsley.
