sweet recess moves

oh hey, sup?  I was at the beach all week and hence, no blogging because I hail from the duo de lazy.  Triple chin dog crème coming right up…

Stella’s allergies suck right now.  She’s been on various grain-free foods for the last 2 years and we seem to have a few good months then she reverts back to the itchies, paw licking, ear infections, the works.  So frustrating.  I’m convinced it’s mostly environmental at this point and might fold and get allergy testing/shots done for her.  We had a visit to the beach vet for some ear meds since her one ear was super angry from scratching.  She was banned from swimming after that so we only ended up with one day of bay fun with the furry lady.  Lots of walks though!

I watched fireworks 2 nights in a row (cape may beach won over the bay this year), ate a lot of bbq and seafood…and slept in too much.  It’s okay to hate me just a little. 

Even though I fully embraced lazy, I did get in a few workouts, none of which were conventional.  Lately, I have been alternating between a few days on the weight room floor and a few days of rest/running/playing around.  I’ve done some HIITs here and there but I am all over the place and not doing much cardio compared to this time last year (and wayyyy more in 2010 my god wtf).  2 days a week are spent on legs and this is my only weekly consistency…squats, deadlifts, lunges, some new awesome unilateral movements for my hamstrings…lots of variations within all of these.  Strong hamstrings do wonders for the knees, I tell ya.  My surgery knee is, knock on wood, feeling better and better every day still.  If 18 months is considered full-term recovery, I think I am going to feel just about 99% when it’s all said and done.  I am currently almost 10 months post-surgery.

This was my gym from a couple afternoons ago…I biked to a nearby elementary school and banged out 3 rounds of the following circuit.  It’s amazing what you can do with just a few seemingly craptastic playground structures. 

• Run 200m, give or take a few
• 10 burpees
• 10 pushups
• 30 squats
• 30 squat jumps

• 10 pull ups with legs on ground (wide, overhand grip) – 3-4 feet off the ground

• 10 triceps dips
• 10 decline pushups
• 20 box (bench) jumps – these are another milestone for me and ye olde gimpknee!!
• 20 situps
• 20 leg raises

• 30 seconds pretend you’re a badass gymnast (I am so not) and move on with your life.

• 10 knees to chest

The possibilities are endless.  Next time I think I’ll bring a resistance band to mix it up. 

Got any sweet moves to show off at recess?

3-ingredient pistachio pesto

Pistachio Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1/4 heaping cup shelled pistachios
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor/quality blender and blend until smooth. 

Add-ins: squeeze of lemon, spinach, arugula, salt, pepper

This basic pesto is delicious for dipping, stirred into quinoa, atop pasta, roasted tomatoes or eggplant, on pizza with shaved parmesan, mozzarella or goat cheese.  The world is your pesto oyster.

This is my creation of the evening: roasted eggplant, pistachio pesto quinoa and a crispy fried egg.  Weird but it worked ohhhh so well.

sour cherry crisp (gluten-free)

This was the second week in a row that sour cherries were included in my CSA share.  Before last week, I had never even tasted one.  Now I’d say I’m an expert in sweet sour cherry recipes.  This one is actually low-sugar, gluten-free and can be prepped in less than 10 minutes.  It can easily be made paleo by omitting the cornstarch (and sugar if you’re strict).  This crumble would work well with many different fruits and I will definitely be recreating it throughout summer.  Something tells me this is not the last batch of odd fruit I will receive.

Sour Cherry Crisp (serves 4)

Ingredients:

Filling

• 2 cups sour cherries, pitted
• 2 tablespoons raw cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch sea salt

Crumble Topping

• 3/4 cup almond meal
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon raw cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350deg F. 
2. In two separate bowls, mix cherry filling and crumble topping separately.  Pour cherry mixture into a greased baking dish and top with crumble. 
3. Bake for about 40 minutes or until crispy crumble is lightly browned.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

A big one, to be specific.

Last Thursday marked the end of my cubicle life, forever.  It was an emotional day of goodbyes.  I thought I would be skipping around saying my well wishes but instead, I had one too many teary episodes.  I will dearly miss the unique group of people who helped me grow through my rough patches and laughed with me during the best ones, all the while supporting me in my plan for the future.  I cut work ties a bit earlier than expected to give myself ample time to relax, reset and prepare for what will most likely be the hardest four years of my life.  Hopefully it will be worth the many sacrifices when it’s all said and done.  I think it will.

You can’t put a price on the opportunity to enjoy summer to the fullest and so far, summer is treating me damn well.

I saw my favorite band with one of my favorite people…with a painting for a backdrop no less.  Philly might be a little philthy but it sure can be picturesque on a summer night.

Eats include lots of delicious, real food…and sipping a few too many celebratory drinks with friends.  Did I say too many, CHEERS. 

[homemade sour cherry pie, loco pez $1 taco night, blueberry buckwheat pancakes, greensgrow CSA share love, the black duck cape may, zavino veggie board/stache pizza, lobster house beers/crab soup]

With all that said, you might see a little more of me, before you see a lot less of me.  Happy summer!!!

Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps (paleo, gluten-free)

These are amazing and easy peasy so I wanted to share the recipe with all of you!  I used this recipe from nomnom paleo, which is a recipe from The Healthy Gluten-Free Life cookbook.  I walked over to Reading Terminal Market yesterday afternoon and grabbed a 3ish lb grass-fed, center cut pork loin roast (boneless), which came twined together.  As you can see in the photos, I cooked the two pieces separately.  The only adjustment was that I used about 4 tablespoons of fresh rosemary instead of 1 tsp dried since I had some from this past week’s CSA share.  I am getting lots of use out of my dutch oven!  This is NOT a la creuset and I got it for around $60 but it works just as well!

Putting the meat in butter lettuce is nice because they don’t leak.  If I had cabbage, I would have thrown together a basic slaw to go on top.  The flavor of this particular recipe seems to be very versatile with regards to topping options!  3lbs made quite a bit even cooked down and would feed 4 people no problem.

Enjoy!

Greensgrow CSA week 3

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3:

Oregano: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Shell Peas: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA and Cassaday Farm, Monroeville, NJ
Low-Spray Strawberries: Fifer Orchards, Camden-Wyoming, DE
Blueberries: Pastore Orchards, Hammonton, NJ
Bright Lights Swiss Chard: Landisdale Farm, Jonestown, PA
Radishes: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Scallions: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Carrots: Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Organic Garlic Scapes: Landisdale Farm, Jonestown, PA
Savoy Cabbage: Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ —> they ran out so I got snap peas instead, I’ll take ‘em!
Allegheny Cheese (smooth, mild, Italian-style raw cow’s milk cheese): Hidden Hills Dairy, Everett, PA
Dozen Cage-Free Eggs: Sandy Ridge Farm, Elizabethtown, PA

I found a funny little surprise in one of my strawberries…

Never know what you’ll find… :)

I’ve been eating only CSA goods plus venison, fish, and pastured beef/chicken this past week (and beer, I mean it’s beer week in Philly!).  Well, my coworkers convinced me to go to pei wei for lunch yesterday and I felt SO SICK after eating their spicy chicken salad.  The chicken was breaded and covered in some sort of sauce and whatever it was made me feel nauseous then dizzy…didn’t feel normal until dinnertime…gross.  MSG???  Lord knows what else is in that junk.  Never again!

Happy weekend!!!

Greensgrow CSA week 2 + gluten-free baked parmesan zucchini fries

Week 1

Week 2:

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Red Leaf Lettuce: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Kale, Dandelion Greens, OR Collard Greens: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Strawberries: Fifer Orchards, Camden-Wyoming, DE or Linvilla Orchards, Media, PA
Zucchini: Viereck Farm, Swedesboro, NJ
Broccoli: Sunny Harvest Co-op, Kirkwood, PA
Asparagus: Viereck Farm, Swedesboro, NJ
Carrots: Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Garlic Scapes: David Siller’s Wild and Wonderful, Westville, NJ
Quark Cheese Varieties — Georgic, Garden, or Olé: Calkins Creamery, Honesdale, PA (pasteurized cow’s milk)
Dozen Cage-Free Eggs: Sandy Ridge Farm, Elizabethtown, PA

Another gorgeous assortment this week!  As my cousin mentioned, everything is coming in super early this year.  I may complain about the heat and humidity in philly, but I won’t if we continue to get such a great selection of goodies because of it.  Madame Fromage would be disappointed that I had no idea what quark (cheese) was until yesterday.  Well, now that I know, I will be wishing for it in my CSA every week!  It’s a spreadable, cream cheese-like consistency and the herbed variety is so good I could eat the entire thing with a spoon alone.  Ame and Eric opted for the Greensgrow half share this summer, so they got quark this week as well and apparently it is a verrrrry tasty omelet-stuffer.  Done and done.

The key to managing the amount of produce and dairy I get at once is to prep everything as soon as I get it into my apartment.  Even though it seems like a huge PITA, it’s worth the effort.  People who say they have no time to cook [ever] are ridiculous and I want to smack them all.  I never, EVER feel like washing, chopping and prepping food when I get home from work>stella walking duties>gym>life stuff and collapse on my couch but I make the effort.  Nothing in life comes easily, including health and preparing healthful meals.  End rant.  Hopefully I don’t bite my words when I’m waist-deep in med school with zero free time.

Two zucchini were put to immediate use and transformed into fries!  I have made them before with conventional breadcrumbs, but last night I made a gluten-free version for no particular reason other than I’m obsessed with almond meal at the moment.  I used my toaster oven to avoid a crazy hot apartment aftermath.

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Gluten-free Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 small-medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch x 2 inch thick fries (makes about 12 large ‘fries’ per zucchini)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup almond meal + 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese + sprinkle of sea salt (you may need a bigger batch, depending on how much breading you want)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 450°F
2. Line a toaster or baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with olive oil.
3. Dip fries in egg, drain and then roll in almond meal mixture.  Line them on baking sheet and sprinkle a bit more sea salt over all, then spray another light coat of olive oil.
4. Bake 15 minutes, flip and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until they reach desired crispness and are golden brown.

Best dipped in marinara or all-natural ketchup!