Salsa Chicken

1 package of free range chicken tenders

1 garlic clove

1 tomato

1/2 green paper

1/2 red pepper

diced jalapeño (as tough as your tastebuds can allow)

1/2 onion

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 lime

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Grease your 9x10 glass baking pan with coconut oil (healthy fat and easy removal of your chicken).

Season your chicken and spread evenly in your pan.

Chop and mix all ingredients and squeeze the hell out of your lime to "moisten" things up.  Spread mixture onto your chicken.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  

Super easy and your chicken comes out deliciously moist.

I used to make the recipe weekly when I did Weight Watcher back in the day.  I would pair it with brown rice and black beans mixed with corn.  Post-WLC Challenge I layered the mixture on a bed of lettuce.

Enjoy!

It's over...

As Jamie said, "we did it!"

I unfortunately did not win the challenge.  At first, I was super disappointed with myself.  My WOD Saturday morning was awful.  For some reason I couldn't find that power within myself to push through the fatigue and strain.  It just wasn't my day I guess.

On a positive note, I did end up losing 10.5 inches and 7 pounds.  That alone is pretty amazing.  Not to mention learning how to eat and how different foods affect my body.  So I guess if you put it into perspective, I did win.

There is another challenge starting in February.  Jamie and I both think we are going to participate.  Maybe we'll start up this blog again since there are so many demanding readers out there.

It's been fun!

We Did It!!

In my head, I'm silently singing Dora's jam: We did it... we did it... we did it, yay!  (Those of you with young children think this is funny)

I finished the challenge stronger than I thought I would... 31st out of Crossfit 714's entire box.  Not too shabby. 

My ending measurements:

Weight:    154.5    (3 lbs weight loss)
Biceps:     11 inches both sides (no change)
Thigh:      19.5 (L), 19.25 (R), this is nearly a two inch loss on both sides
Neck:       13 (this is a .75 downward change)
Hips:        39 (this is a .5 loss)
Waist:      28.5 (down 1.5 inches)

Total weight loss is at 2 lbs; Total inches lost is 6.5 pounds.  I look and feel great.  Pics to come soon!!

Last Day

It's over.  I logged my last set of points this morning and am officially tied for first place with 14 other people.

Tomorrow morning is the finale at CrossFit714.  I'm ridiculously excited to get in there, do the WOD, and have my measurements taken.  Preliminary, my at-home measurements are about 5-6 inches lost (waist/hips), and 4 pounds down. 

Jamie and I will be posting our "after" pictures and measurements up this weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed!!!

p.s.  I'm pretty sure that I'm going to challenge myself again in February. 

Take Note Ladies

Here's a little tidbit I'd like to share with those of you who find themselves having to pee in the middle of a workout.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE AN ASS GASKET!!  

This is one of those moments when you should completely forgo your neurotic sanitary tendencies.  Toilet seat covers and sweaty bums do not mix.  I guarantee that you will spend a good 10 minutes trying to pick the paper-machet off of your cheeks.  Even when you get home and peel off your sweaty workout pants, your husband will casually ask you if you missed something when you last went to the bathroom.

Trust me.  I've learned my lesson twice.

Pushing through the Pain

Do you push through the pain?  How much pain is too much pain?

I've been battling a right shoulder injury since I was pregnant 3 years ago.  It comes and goes, and doing Cross Fit (particularly overhead lifts) seem to aggravate it.

Not only does this issue cause me discomfort, but it causes serious frustration as well.  I know that I'm strong enough to lift more weight, but I constantly hold myself back for fear of injury.

I'm being diligent about rolling my shoulder out with tennis balls, stretching and ice therapy.

Hopefully my body can overcome this hurdle soon.  I want to lift more!!!  

How big is too big?

I love my muscular arms and back.  I was lifting my daughter out of the pool this weekend and noticed my reflection in the window..  my back looks good!!  I really enjoy the changes I can see in my body since starting Cross Fit.

Which brings me to this question:  How big is too big?  There seems to be a fine line between "fit" and "manly muscular."  Since everyone keeps telling me that I can't get "big" doing Cross Fit, how do these women get so large?  Supplements?  Extreme conditioning?

I've made my hubby promise to tell me if I'm getting too big.

Strong is definitely the new sexy...  but traps bigger than my husbands...not so much.

Athlete of the Month

When I first joined my Box I had no idea how out of shape I was.  As I became more and more obsessed (in case you've missed that up to this point), I had one goal in mind:  I wanted to be the Athlete of the Month.  The thought of the coaches noticing my effort and improvement really appealed to me.  Receiving the email from them telling me that I had been selected put a smile on my face for a week.  Maybe they just randomly drew a person's name out of a hat, but I'm going to go with my first thought:)

Here's the little blip that was posted up in the Newsletter.  Super flattering photos I know.

ATHLETE OF THE MONTH

CHRIS CHAPMAN

I blame my sister.  She wouldn’t stop talking about her CrossFit box up north.  “CrossFit this, WOD that, kettle bells, blah, blah, blah.”  After two years of boxing three days a week and running pretty regularly, I was bored and needed a change.  I read about CrossFit714 in my city magazine, The Villa Park Jewel.  This family (the Darmstadts) raved about the place and the mom looked incredible.  I told my husband that I wanted to look like her.  I started in mid-July and am officially obsessed.  Cross Fit (and Paleo) is all that I talk about now. 

I  signed up for six months the first day I came in.  I figured that if I paid for my membership up front, I couldn’t quit.  After about two weeks, I started to regret that decision.  I was completely overwhelmed with the terminology and moves.  The women (and men) were ridiculously strong and quick.  I thought I was in shape before I stared.  Man was I wrong.  Luckily, towards the end of the first month, it all started to click.  I started to push myself to try harder.  I realized that Cross Fit is a combination of being not only physically strong, but mentally strong as well.  I’m still struggling with double-unders, mastering the clean, and that elusive pull-up… but knowing my weaknesses makes me want to keep pushing.

Thank you CrossFit 714 for selecting me to be the Athlete of the Month.  It is humbling to have the word “Athlete” associated with my name.  I look forward to checking the blog every night to see what’s in store for me the next day.  I enjoy the challenges, sweat, and dirt that the amazing trainers put me through weekly.  The camaraderie and family atmosphere gives me that extra boost to succeed and keep pushing.  It’s nice to belong to a gym where everyone knows your name (cue the Cheers theme song) and truly enjoys what they do.  

I can’t wait to see what my body (and mind) can accomplish these next few years (I’ve already planned to continue my membership).  The definition and transformation of my body I can already see in these short months is the best motivation money can buy!

p.s.  I know I will wish I never uttered these words, but I really want to do some wall balls.  I hope Kelly comes up in rotation soon.

Slackers

Jamie and I have both been slacking on this blog (not that anyone is really reading it anyways).  In my own defense, I have been ridiculously busy.  Work has been insane and so have our evenings and weekends.  I dread looking at the calendar in our pantry.  There doesn't seem to be a clear day in sight.  Not to mention the fact that the hubby is going up north on Wednesday and will be gone through the weekend.  Weeks like this make me hate my children (Mother of the Year, I know).  I have nothing but respect for the single parents out there.

To the point:  Here we are at the home stretch of the challenge.  I'm getting slightly bored with the obligation, but I'm also slightly scared to lose the accountability.  And of course, I forgot to log my points on Saturday.  Up until this weekend, I had made it a point to never forget to log.  Even though I was going to lose all of my nutrition points (and probably a few more if they had been an option), I still worked out, took my fish oil, and did mobility.  Luckily I'm still tied for 1st place with 12 other people at my box.  I never realized I was so competitive...but I really want to win.

I did the WLC WoD today at my house and had the hubby time me.  Nothing like trying to do burpees on a slippery sheet on the garage floor.  After my inner chubby kid caught her breath, the hubby informed me that my work out score jumped from 95 to 121.  I was pretty damn proud of myself.  Hopefully the adrenaline and crowd of people will push me to get an even better score.

I made two goals for myself this week:

1.  Get up early every morning and take the dog on a 3 mile jog/walk.

2.  Blog at least 3 times this week.

Wish me luck!

Are we done yet?

Are we done yet?

 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m totally enjoying this challenge.  I love being accountable for the things that I eat and drink.  Having to really think about whether a piece of candy is worth losing a point over has been amazing.  But I’m just over it.  I miss my wine a few nights a week.  I miss my Sunday cheat day.  

One more weekend before it is over.  For some reason, the weekends seem to be the hardest for me.  It used to be a tradition of mine to come home from work/gym on Fridays, pop a beer, and celebrate getting through another week.  Now I get home on Fridays and enjoy a tall glass of water.  It’s just not the same.

I have enjoyed using my kitchen again.  I forgot what nice pots and pans I have.  I don’t think my tradition of Sunday prep day is going to end.  Following my golden rule at work of “if I didn’t bring it, I don’t eat it” has really helped me stay on track.

p.s  I hate you Halloween candy.

Absolute Pride

So, it is about 9:15 at night, and I am gushing with pride.  The Giants won the World Series (again) last night, the Patriots kicked the Rams' ass last night, and my (almost) 5 year old just read me a book.

Every week, my daughter's kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Stein, writes a little report for Jenoma. This report comes to us each week in Jenoma's "homework folder".  The student's get assessed for their ability to follow directions, their life skills, and their learning.  Jenoma has continually received "O" for Outstanding in all categories.  This week, Mrs. Stein wrote that "Jenoma continues to excel in her reading - she knocks my socks off".  Note, Jenoma is the youngest kindergartner in her class.  She isn't even five yet, and she can sound out words and read small books. 

Pride is a crazy thing.  My definition, it means "pleasure or satisfaction taken in something done by or belonging to oneself".  Do the Giants or Pats belong to me?  Obviously, the answer is no... however, my gorgeous blond child does belong to me... and I take great satisfaction in her growth and achievements.

Transition to me and this challenge.  My sense of pride that is spilling out of me also has a sliver of happiness for what I've done.  I am currently in week 8 of this challenge, and I've truly survived.  Yes, I've had zero point days - in fact, I haven't scored more than one point in DIET since Tuesday; however, I have thought about each of my actions, and I've pushed myself to do well.  All of last week, I was at a conference being tempted by rich foods.  For breakfast, I went with eggs, bacon, and fruit - and avoided the amazing scones and cinnamon rolls altogether.  This was huge for me.  In the past, I would have had one of each! 

I am pleased with (aka: proud) what the challenge has forced me to think about, just as I am pleased that my daughter has grown into such an amazing little person.

Perhaps this is simply what I was supposed to gain from the challenge: pride in accomplishments.

(P.S.: A google image search for "pride" brought up some fascinating options... dirty!  Therefore I went with an image for reading...)

Good Twin v. Bad Twin

I'll admit it.  Jamie kicked my ass at CrossFit this past weekend.  Or as she would say, I had sand in my swimsuit.  In my defense, it was my 4th day in a row of working out and I was fighting a cold (that has now blown itself into full force sickness).

Friday's class was partner work.  Go Twin Power!  This WOD was actually kind of fun.  Jamie and I mirrored each other the entire time as we watched our men push through the work out as well.  It was a ridiculous amount of exercises:

100 air squats
30m barrel walk
100 burpees
30m barrel walk
100 over-head weighted sit ups (25 lbs)
30m barrel walk
100 jumping pull-ups
30m barrel walk
100 medicine ball sit up throw (10 lbs)
1200m medicine ball run (10 lbs)

Really?!!  

As our men nursed hangovers Saturday morning, we decided to tackle another WOD at 8:00 a.m.  I took one look at the white board and was instantly defeated.  My body was angry with me and I couldn't seem to get my brain to overcome my mental fear of the WOD. 

30 squat cleans (35 lb barbell)
30 overhead squats (35 lb barbell)
5 wall walks (pure evil)
50m tire flip
250m sled push
10 box jumps
10 modified rope climbs
200 run

The WOD called for 3 rounds and my sandy-ass only got through 1.  I just couldn't get into it.  I watched my amazing sister finish her 2nd round while I rowed a slow 400 meters and did some mobilization. 

I can't wait for her and Wes to come down to visit us in December to experience another workout at CrossFit714!!

Poise and Grace

I discovered something alarming and mildly amusing this week.   

I can’t jump rope more than 40 times without peeing a little.  At first it was kind of funny.  Now, it just sucks. 

Anyone else?  Just me? 

 
I blame child bearing and the large quantities of water I consume every day.

Choices

This has been a rough week.  I've lost at least one point everyday since Friday.  WTF WLC!  And I've lost points on stupid things: an eclair (yes, we know: Well I Eclair!), chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels (for the record, this was my best point loss), and candy.  Really Jamie, really!

So, I've decided to start anew today and chalk up my poor choices to the start of my (ear muffs boys) period.  I also attribute the weight read out this a.m. (155 vs. my steady 153) to again, the start of my period. 

Choices.  I need to think about choices and indulgences - and then choose wisely.  What did the knight say in Indiana Jones: He chose unwisely.

I will not be that guy.  (Okay, motivational speech over). 

Weekly Challenge: Brown Bag It

We had a UFC Paleo Pot Luck at my box Saturday night.  I was rather impressed with myself for the appetizers I made: Avocado Deviled Eggs (recipe to follow) and the always scrumptious paleo cocoNUT cookies:

Needless to say, I lost my three nutrition points Saturday night for having 3 mouth-watering Coronas.  How do you watch a WT UFC fight without a beer??!!

This week's challenge is to "brown bag" it all week.  This might even be easier than the water challenge.  Sunday is my usual prep day, so I decided to take a picture of what my counter looks like before I pack it up to stock my mini-fridge at work.

5 bags of 2 egg fritattas
1 left over omelette from breakfast this morning
5 portions of boysenberries and raspberries
3 avocados (I generally eat half with every breakfast)
5 tupperware containers full of a protein (beef, chicken and pork) and roasted veggies
5 pre-made kale/spinach salads with cucumbers, tomatoes, diced chicken and shrimp
5 bags of veggies
5 all-natural applesauces (helps to fight off my sweet tooth)

The hubby and I are traveling up to north on Friday to hang out with the other half of this blog.  I'm super excited to see my skinny sister and brother in law, not to mention doing two workouts with her box, plus a hippy-laden brew fest (bye-bye points).

Body Fat Percentage

The body fat percentage calculators online are ridiculous!  Before this challenge started I went online searching for a way to find my body fat percentage.  Honestly, I thought I was in pretty good shape.  I was convinced that my numbers would be somewhere in the 18-20% range.  My mean boss (who will remain nameless) told me that I would be in the high twenties.  In order to discourage him I had to share a photo of myself in a bikini (I know it’s not very PC or HR appropriate, but after 13 years of being “married,” we have a special relationship). 

*Sexy photo, I know.  Bathroom photo shoots provide exceptional lighting and awesome "I'm trying to find the button" facial expressions.

After the initial WLC check in, and based upon my measurements, I was so discouraged to see that my body fat was at 31%.  

According to the American Council on Exercise, I'm 1% away from being obese!!!!

 Being the “Googler” that I am, I did a search for what body fat percentages actually look like (Thank you Nerd Fitness):

There is no [insert expletive] way I’m at 31%.  Who comes up with these calculators?  Do they not take into account muscle, height, bone structure, etc.??

And you wonder why women have such issues with scales and sizes??!!!

Well, I eclair!

As mentioned time and time again, my goal for this challenge is to think about what goes in my mouth.  For the most part, I'm doing great.  I often "break" for booze (only on the weekends), and sometimes for a little sweet something with my daughters... but, all in all, I'm eating like a champ!

In the four weeks I've been in the challenge, I have not given in to my "sweet tooth".  Today, I failed.

At a meeting today, a pile of eclairs, albeit, SMALL eclairs (about 3 inches by 1 inch), sat winking at me for over an hour.  I resisted those little bastards the entire time!  And then, right before I walked out of the room, I picked one up and ate it.  Damn it!

The real shitter here is that it wasn't even that good of a f*cking eclair!  The humanity!!!!

I then followed up my eclair with some hershey kisses - one taste of chocolate, and I wanted more.  Ugh.

Well, I blew a point today (let me break this down:  Had I eaten the whole eclair - the three inch piece was half of a whole eclair - I would have simply docked one point.  Seeing as I only ate half, I allowed myself 4 hershey kisses - this felt like a solid commitment to the one point deduction!), but that's okay... there is always tomorrow!

Well, I eclair!

Starving!!!

After the hubby and I got home from the gym last night I proceeded with my "groundhog's day" nightly routine. This routine usually involves two parts: Getting ready for the following day, and putting a sassy two-year old down for bed.

I packed up my food (it looks like I'm a Tupperware hoarder), packed my kid's bag, made coffee, did my mobilization in the living room (hurt so bad but felt so good), and packed my gym bag.

Next up, meeting the demands of her royal highness. "Brush my hair mommy, I need ice in my aqua, ABC book, Butterfly kisses." To quote an amazing book, "Go the F*&k to sleep!!!"

Have I mentioned that I really don't like kids? By the time this is done, it's usually around 8:30-9:00 p.m. This gives me about 30 minutes to an hour of "me" time to spend with the hubby, check my obsessions aka blogs, read my book, or zone out on some pointless television.

When I finally sat down last night, I realized that I was STARVING! The last thing I ate was at 4:30 p.m. and my body was empty. My go-to meal lately has been protein and half of an avocado. Something about the flavor mix of steak, chicken, pork and avocado makes my mouth really happy. I even made a plate for the hubby. At first, he didn't want the avocado.  But after I explained the health benefits of having good fat in your diet, he finally gave in. Eating at night is a huge leap for me.  For the past 3 years I have rarely eaten after 4:30 p.m. Transitioning my body to the demands of CrossFit and Paleo have taken me out of my comfort zone.

And so far, it's a good thing.

Frustrated..

I was really looking forward to my Box's WOD today.  I have this little routine on Monday and Wednesday nights to prepare for CrossFit the following day.  I check the blog at CrossFit714, watch the recommended videos, and do a little research of my own.  I like to walk into class pretending not to be the mental pygmy that I truly am.

Today's WOD was power snatches, overhead squats and push presses.  Olympic lifting generally scares the shit out of me.  I can't seem to grasp the power "shrug" concept.  I think too much about each move.  Slight squat, toes turned slightly out (keep that right knee out), curved back, thumbs tucked in... About every third attempt I nail it.  And then my teenie-tiny little ego starts to think I'm a bad ass, and I lose it  It's a vicious cycle.  Maybe showing up hung for my one-on-one olympic weight lifting class 3 months ago (damn you Cinderella concert at the Fair) wasn't the best idea?!

On a positive note:  I did get my one rep max for push presses today.  Wait for it... 95 lbs!  I was really proud of myself.  I honestly think I could have done more, but luckily, my teenie-tiny ego checked herself.

So tonight my plan is to listen to the Voice as I watch as many Youtube videos that I can find.  Knowledge is power.

Cookies with a Twist

After seeing Christie's modified cookie recipe, I got super excited to try it myself.  Note: eating two in one day can make you feel kind of bloated... however, that being said, they are great protein and totally satisfy my crunchy munchy cravings!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Chopped Fugi Apples, skin on
1 Banana
1 Cup Raw Almonds
1 Cup Hazel Nuts 

1 Cup Shredded Zucchini

1/2 Cup chopped dates

1 Tbsp Almond Butter
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Tsp Coconut Oil (melted)
3 Eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in your food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Or if you are feeling especially strong (note, seeing as I don't own a food processor, by default, I was feeling especially strong!) - use a knife and cutting board.  Place chopped nuts into a mixing bowl.  Follow the same with your apple, banana, dates, and zucchini.   Add almost butter, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut oil, and eggs and mix well using a hand mixer or your muscles.

Form golf-ball sized scoops with your hands (super gross, but way easier) on a  parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Flatten into a "cookie" shape and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Bottoms should be lightly browned. 17 minutes was the ticket!  They were firm yet still nice and chewy. 

Here we are in Week 4 of the challenge, and I'm doing better than I thought.  Or really, I'm happy with my current progress and my ability to think about what is actually going in my mouth.  In all actuality, I am surprised at how much I've allowed myself to "cheat" on the weekends.  I'm not really cheating with food (okay, okay... I had some amazing ribs last night with BBQ sauce - and a frozen yogurt with my little ones on Thursday) so much as I'm cheating with drink.  By the end of my long week(s), I'm absolutely ready for a cocktail.  Its not simply the booze I'm craving... but more, the desire for something other than water. 

The challenge last week was to drink huge quantities of water.  This was a no brainer for me, as I drink a shit ton of water everyday.  By the time I get home from work, I've consumed at least my body weight (oz) in water.  Perhaps this is why I have the huge craving for the sweet flavor of gin or a light beer.  So, on that note, although I have cheated with booze, I've made good booze choices: Gin and diet tonic or Michelob Ultra (this is truly the pussiest beer they make - however, surprisingly good). 

So, this week, I'm going strong.  My goal is to not drink at all this weekend and prep myself for the Quincy Mountain Harvest Festival.  What's the Harvest Festival you ask?  Well, its a sweet beer fest in the mountains where you drink unlimited quantities of heavy beer for about four hours.  By the end of the festival, I am usually a bit squinty eyed and quite bloated.  Ah yes, I can't wait.  The happiness surrounding this years' festivities is the arrival of Christie (the other cool blogger at Twin Challenge) and my amazing brother-in-law, Mark.  We plan on rocking out some crossfit at IMF on both Friday and Saturday before the event.  My hope is that a week of great workouts, and a dry prior weekend, will help zero out the negative effects of heavy beer drinking.

Here's to beer!  (For the record, even scanning the beer images at Google made my mouth water - should this be telling me something?)

¿Cuántos k??

What a day!!!!

The hubby and I woke up this morning at 5:45, made a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, sweet potato, and ground pork, and headed off to the Chapman 5k.  This was my 5th race (and yes, I'm calling a 5k a race) and I was pumped.  Not only did I feel like my body was in incredible shape, I'm also at day 20 not smoking.  Needless to say, my lungs were ready for the challenge.  Our good friend Chris joined us for the run, and his amazing wife watched our spawn.  We started off strong and had a great run.  Unfortunately, my right quad felt like it literally was jumping into my stomach around the end of the 2nd mile, so I had to stop and stretch it out for a few seconds.

Regardless we all finished really well:

Chris: 26:34 (211 of 630/29th in the 25-29 age group)
Mark (the hubby): 26:55 (222 of 630/24th in the 45-49 age group)
Me: 27:42 (122 of 920/19th in 30-34 age group)

Because that wasn't enough torture for my already tortured quads, I attended the Rowing Seminar at my Box.  First off, it was a great seminar.  Steve did an amazing job and I really learned a lot.  Not only did we practice our techniques for about 2000 meters, we then proceeded to do the actual 2k workout.  Oh my god!  It took everything I had to finish under 9 minutes.  I was trying so hard to keep my split in the 2:10-2:15 range.  I succeeded and posted a time of 8:49.  Not too shabby for my first 2k rowing attempt.

Tomorrow:  REST!

Cookies (just pretend)

(I know, I know... I need to work on my "food styling" photos.  As my sister said - 
everything I make likes like throw up.  Appetizing?)

First, let's give credit where credit is due.  Kudos to Civilizedcavemancooking.com for a fabulous recipe.  These "cookies" are delicious.  They remind me of a Cliff Bar (without all of the bad crap in them).  The hubby even approved:)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Chopped Red Apples, skin on
1 Banana
1 Cup Raw Almonds
1 Cup Macadamia Nuts (I threw in some hazelnuts too)
1 Cup Shredded Coconut Unsweetened
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Tsp Coconut Oil (melted)
3 Eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in your food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Or if you are feeling especially strong - use a knife and cutting board.  Place chopped nuts into a mixing bowl.  Follow the same with your apple and banana.  (I only used 1/2 of a small banana.  At first I didn't even want to put one in, but the creamy texture definitely helps as an adhesive.)  Add coconut, cinnamon, vanilla, coconut oil, and eggs and mix well using a hand mixer or your muscles.

Form golf-ball sized scoops with your hands (super gross, but way easier) on a  parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Flatten into a "cookie" shape and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Bottoms should be lightly browned.  In my awesome (now overworked) oven, 16 minutes was perfect.  They were firm yet still nice and chewy. 

Let's see if they pass the CF714 Trainer taste test....

Twice Baked Pork Sweet Potatoes

First off - thank you PaleOMG for the amazing recipe that I slightly tweaked as my own.  If you guys haven't checked her out - I highly suggest it.  She's actually funny (unlike our sad attempts).

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground pork (or turkey, chicken..whatever animal makes you happy)

2 large sweet potatoes

1 tbs coconut oil

1 yellow onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tsp of chipotle chili powder

1 tsp ground red pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

½ tsp of paprika

Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut your sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and place face down on a cookie sheet (I used a little bit of coconut oil on the cookie sheet so they wouldn’t stick).  Bake for 25-35 minutes. 

While your potatoes are baking, sautee your onions and garlic in some coconut oil until the onions become translucent.  Add your ground meat.  When it is cooked half way, dump in your spices.  Remove from the heat when fully cooked.

When the potatoes are done cooking (the outside skins should be easy to push on), scoop out the insides and add to your meat mixture.  Be careful not to remove too much, or you won’t have any “boats” left to fill. 

Thoroughly mix together the sweet potatoes and meat mixture, then scoop back into your empty potato skins. 

Place the loaded potatoes back into the oven for 5-10 minutes to harden the mixture.

Seriously amazing.  I brought two halves for lunch today, but I think they would be delicious with some scrambled eggs too.