Garlic Chicken Butternut Squash Lasagna

http://paleomg.com/garlic-chicken-butternut-squash-lasagna/

Garlic Chicken Butternut Squash Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash
• 1 head garlic clove, roasted
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• ½ lb chicken, diced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup canned coconut milk
• ⅛ cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon basil (fresh or dried)
• 1 teaspoon parsley (fresh or dried)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the end off the bulb of garlic to reveal the cloves inside. Wrap in aluminum foil and throw in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
3. While the garlic is roasting, you’ll need to cut your butternut squash. Use a sharp knife ya dummy.You can do this a couple different ways but remember, you are trying to get the long squash into “lasagna type strips”.
4. What I did (Megan and Brandon at Health-Bent taught me this): Cut the end off the squash, then use a peeler to take off the skin. Then cut the squash into ¼s lengthwise. Remove seeds and strings. Then you can do 1 of 2 things: either use a knife to slice the butternut squash into strips or use a mandoline to slice the butternut squash into thinner strips (that’s what I did).
5. Set aside and begin to make your chicken and sauce.
6. Add olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add your diced onion to begin to cook. After about 3 minutes of coating your onions and bringing out their flavor, add your diced chicken along with a bit of salt. Let the chicken cook under low heat while you make your sauce.
7. Your head of garlic should be roasted by now, so pull it out of the oven and remove the roasted cloves and put directly into your food processor. You can you a fork to pull them out of just squeeze the b*tch. Up to you.
8. Add olive oil to your food processor along with the roasted garlic and turn your food processor on. Prepare yourself for your kitchen to smell like heaven. Sh*t, I love garlic. Once the garlic cloves have become a paste, add your coconut milk and tomato sauce along with basil and parsley. Pulse until saucy. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.
9. When the chicken is ALMOST done cooking (yes, it can still have a little pink to it), remove from heat.
10. Now for the lasagna stacking. Pull out a 8×8 or 9×9 glass baking dish, coat the bottom of the dish with a bit of sauce, then add a layer of butternut squash strips, a layer of chicken, and a layer of sauce. Repeat until you are all out of chicken and butternut squash. The last layer should be butternut squash and topped off with sauce.
11. Bake, uncovered, for around 40-45 minutes. The squash should be tender BUT do not cut into it until it has set for a while. I gave mine about an hour. I know, I know, it sucks ass. But it will be a difference and will actually be like lasagna instead of a throw together. Got it? Cool.

No Crust Pizza

Not my recipe, thanks to http://fjjcblog.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/no-dough-pizza/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/188508127968976/?directed_target_id=0 for the recipe

NO DOUGH PIZZA!!!!!!! This one is a WINNER!!!!

For when you absolutely want pizza but not all the carbs!!!!!!!

Crust

1 (8 oz) package of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Topping

1/2 cup pizza sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

toppings – pepperoni, ham, sausage, mushrooms, peppers

Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly spay a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, our until golden brown. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes.

Spread pizza sauce on crust. Top with cheese and toppings. Sprinkle pizza with garlic powder. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Chicken Salad

Paleo Chicken Salad

2 1/2 cups cooked & shredded chicken breast meat (leftover rotisserie chicken works great & saves time)

1 cup seedless grapes, sliced in half

1/2 -1 cup chopped raw pecans or slivered raw almonds, toasted

1/2 cup finely sliced celery

2 tbsp very finely diced sweet onion

1/2 cup Paleo mayo (more or less to your taste, I use just enough to wet my chicken salad without everything swimming in mayo)

1/2 tsp sea salt 

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp celery seed

*optional: 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon

dash cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and serve over fresh greens or wrapped in lettuce.

Sweet Potato Casserole (Grain Free, Paleo, Primal)

Bake the sweet potatoes at 400ºF for 45 minutes, until soft. Then remove the skins before using in this recipe.

Serves 8

For the Potatoes
3 cups baked sweet potatoes (about 5 large potatoes)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter or ghee, melted
1/2 cup coconut milk (or heavy cream)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

For the Topping:
1 cup almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
4 tablespoons butter or ghee, melted
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Place sweet potatoes, honey, eggs, butter, coconut milk, vanilla and salt in a mixing bowl. Mash potatoes and stir until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Pour into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish.

Place almond flour, coconut flour, honey, salt and butter in a medium mixing bowl. Stir until combined. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle pecan mixture in an even layer over the sweet potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/sweet-potato-casserole-grain-free-paleo-primal-gaps/

Food Journal

Meats:

Vegetables:
1 cup spinach

Fruits:
1 apple
1 banana
1 cup strawberries


Liquids:
splash of coconut water
1 cup coffee

Fats:
1/2 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp almond butter

2 cups sweet potato and turkey soup

Simple and Healthy Asparagus Spinach Soup

Simple and Healthy Asparagus Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 cups, chopped fresh asparagus
1 large onion, diced
2 very large garlic cloves, chopped
2 good handfuls baby spinach
4 cups Vegetable or Chicken Stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
Olive Oil for sauteing (about 1/4 cup) or butter for a richer soup
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large soup pot with lid, add olive oil and saute up the onion and the garlic over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes.

Add the asparagus and spinach and stir well. Continue cooking about 4 minutes.

Add stock and bring to a boil.

Turn down heat to a simmer, cover pot and cook 25 minutes.

Remove from heat, allow soup to cool slightly and blend soup in batches in a blender.

Stir in cream, salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with garlic toasts brushed with goat cheese...

Thanks to:
http://www.careskitchen.com/2011/03/simple-and-healthy-asparagus-spinach.html

Paleo Update

So my wife and I went through the whole 30 for the month of January. I ended up feeling pretty much awesome. My workouts improved, I slept all night, I felt good and overall was a pleasant experience. My wife didn't feel much of anything different other than she was hungry the entire time.

This last weekend I endulged in a bunch of crap and I feel like I had the flu this morning. My guts were irritated and I felt lethargic. I haven't been able to sleep well the last couple nights either.

My experience is that I must react to gluten pretty heavily. I will be continuing the real food style of eating.

WOD
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50 KBS (55lbs) then

bear crawl 25 m
20 sit-ups
broad jumps 25 m
20 squats
5 rounds

11:57

Food
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2 eggs
1/2 Tbsp butter
3 cups coffee
Progenex Recover

WOD

Today was Roy -

Roy

15 deadlifts (225/155)
20 box jumps (24/20)
25 pullups

5 rounds

33:59

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I was really worried about the 225# DL but it turned out to be really good. I felt good through all of it until the last round. I could tell I was getting fatigued so I started doing sets of 1 or 2. They still felt strong I just needed more break in-between.

Pullups were good until the last set. Box jumps were no problem like normal.

------------------------------------

Paleo is going great. I messed up and drank 3 beers on Friday. Other than that I've been strict paleo since January 2. No dairy, no processed foods, no anything other than REAL food. It's been great. I'm over the feeling bad part. I know I'm not supposed to weigh myself but I did. On Jan. 2 I weighed 199 and this weekend I was at 201. It's weird but I think I'm getting stronger and leaner. I feel incredibly good.

Turkey & Sweet Potato Soup

I heard this is good.
http://www.icookfree.com/cook/recipes/turkey-sweet-potato-soup


Recipe: Turkey & Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients
 •2 Tbsp coconut oil
 •2 onions, sliced
 •1 lb ground turkey
 •1 Tbsp curry powder
 •1 tsp salt
 •1/2 tsp pepper
 •1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
 •2 cloves garlic, pressed
 •2lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
 •2 cups chicken stock
 •2 cans diced tomatoes
 •1/2 cup nut butter (sunbutter, almond, or peanut)
 •1/2 cup coconut milk

Instructions
 1.In a large soup pot, melt coconut oil over medium-high heat.
 2.Add onions and turkey. Cook until no longer pink.
 3.Add swwet potatos, stock and tomatoes.
 4.Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
 5.Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.
 6.Return to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Thanks to I Cook Free for the recipe.

WOD 12/29/2011

Press OR Bench Press 1-1-1

Then…

Back Squat OR Deadlift 1-1-1

What we’re looking for here is to establish a one rep max in two lifts, one upper body and one lower body. Choose your lifts, take sufficient time to warm up each lift up, then go for your max. Make pretty sure you are able to get the first rep; add weight in the 2nd rep; don’t be afraid to fail in the 3rd rep. Record your highest one rep max on the board, and post to comments if you want. We’ll do this again in a half-year or so to see how much stonger we’ve all gotten.

As always, be safe. No ego. Choose loads that are reasonable. Use proper form. It doesn’t have to be pretty, but don’t let it get ugly.

Then…

10 pushups
20 overhead walking lunges (45/25) (total)
30 sec plank

AMRAP in 12 minutes

I did the shoulder press today. My max is 140# which i'm really happy about considering my old one was 135. The weight doesn't have to move up a lot just as long as it's going in the right direction.

Deadlift was another exercise I'm extremely happy with today. I lifted 335 which is up 20 30# from my previous. (I thought my max DL was 315 when in reality after some fact finding it was actually 305. I'm very happy with improving my max deadlift by 30#). I did hit 345 once but that was nearly 2 years ago. 

The AMRAP was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I got 5 rounds with 20 reps into my 6th round. The oh walking lunges with a 45# plate over the head is killer on the quads. Awesome but very tiring. 

--------------------------------------------------------

I'm on a fasted day so far today. This is not a planned fast. I would call it more of an unplanned fast as I want to eat but didn't bring anything to work and I don't want to eat junk. So, I'm fasting.

20 deadlifts (245/165)
40 pullups
60 wallballs (20/14)
80 situps
100 double unders
500m row

1 round

19:22

I used 185# for my deadlift. I'm still nervous about my back although I think it's just fine. As long as I move around and stretch some during the day, it feels great. I got the first 10 pullups no problem then split them up. The wallballs pretty much sucked. I did 20, 10, 10, 5, 5, 10. It wasn't a bad way to break them up. Next was the DU which sucked really bad. I couldn't find my rhythm today. Usually I can knock out 30-40 in a row and today I was able to tie 10-15 together. Then there is the row. I struggled. I was gassed. I am weak. I haven't been to CF in a week and I know I could do better. It'll get there. 

WOD

Push Press 3 - 3 - 3 - 3
175 lb

20 KB swings (45 lb)
20 Pushups
20 Squats
5 rounds
13:58

1,000 m row after the WOD
3:58

Felt good today. The push press felt really good. I was able to only move one rep of 175. The metcon was good. My pushups struggled a little towards the 3rd set. KB swings also struggled.

My back is getting much better. I feel like I'm almost back to full form. As long as I keep stretching and moving  some here and there during the day I'm good.

Crossfit - 5:30 am
5-5-5 overhead squats

21 OHS
30 DU
15 OHS
40 DU
9 OHS
50 DU

rest 2 minutes and complete as many dead hang pullups as possible.
---------------------------------
OHS - 75 lbs 1 or 2 times.

During the workout I used 65 lbs and completed the first 21 and then a few of the next set then I dropped down to 45 lbs. My shoulders and middle section of my back are a little sore now. Not painful I can just tell I used different muscles and forced my shoulders to stretch.

DUs should have been easy but I struggled to get going on the first 30. Once I got to the last set of 50 I powered through all 50 unbroken.

Completed 7 Dead hang pullups
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Food log:
2 eggs
few oz of taco meat mixed in to eggs
1/2 Tbsp butter
1 pear
splash of salsa

WOD 2 from the games

9 Deadlift (155 lbs)
12 pushups hands off floor
15 box jumps

Today I didn't do as well as when I did it during the games. I only scored a 251 and before I scored 262. I felt like I was faster this time around but apparently I wasn't. It could have been the pushups and I think I was slower on the box jumps this time. Oh well, it was fun.

WOD

5-5-5-5-5 back squat
I started at 135 and made it to 265. I think I could have done more but wanted to quit since I haven't back squatted for a while.

10 wall ball
10 burpees
AMRAP 10 min
6 rounds 5 wallball

Everything sucked after using so much energy completing the back squat. The endurance was there, I just had a hard time getting the full squat and throwing a 20 pound ball 10 feet in the air.

I took yesterday off so was relatively fresh today.

Games WOD

30 double unders
15 power snatch 75 lbs
AMRAP 10 minutes

I got 5 rounds 25 double-unders. When I did this for the games I scored 241 and today's score is 250. I feel good that I increased by 9 double-unders considering the amount of time I've been in the gym in the last 6 months.

Eating has been pretty good. Last night I faltered with too much beer.

Clean & Pushups

5:30 AM
10 Cleans - 115# - Rx was 135#
20 pushups hands off the floor.
time: 22 something.

The cleans felt a little heavy. Mostly in my back and wrists after I got going some. I did the first 5 no problem then started to fatigue a little. It was fun completing the explosive movements again. They make a person feel powerful.

I've been eating fairly clean. I missed on Saturday and Monday. I didn't have many options so I took what I had available. My last weigh in was 190# which is already down about 5# from my previous weight.

Back at CrossFit

I'm back at CrossFit now. I will start going 3x per week and hopefully move up to 4-5x per week in by November assuming I feel good. Paleo is also going to be a huge focus. I'm tired of feeling like crap and need to get back into shape. I've never felt so good as when I go paleo. In addition to that I will be posting my food intake and crossfit workouts here.

I'd like to document my weight and measurements for a while too. I have let myself go a little and am sure I'm around 195#. My goal is to either be ripped at 195# or ripped at 185# by February 27, 2012. It will happen. I'm heading to Mexico and need to be in top performance mode by then.

Todays WOD:
10-19-2011 – Noon workout
1 pullup
2 deadlifts (bodyweight 185#)
3 situps
2 pullup
3 deadlift
4 situps

Increase reps each round.

AMRAP in 18 minutes
10 rounds +12 reps

Food intake
1.5 cups stew/soup... potato, stew meat, carrots, onion. (need to drop the potato)

Crossfit Total

We did crossfit total today. I felt good but the strength just wasn't there. I need to do some more heavy lifting. I've been going about 3 days a week but either not doing or missing the lifting days. My press stayed the same, squat went up by about 40 pounds and deadlift has gone down. I felt some stress in my lower back when performing the dead.

I'll get my lifts back up there. I need to do more lifting. That's simple enough.

My body weight has gone up as well. I'm hovering right around 197. I don't feel like that is too much but mentally I wish I was much lighter. At minimum 10 pounds.

Day 3

I traveled most of the day yesterday. I did pretty well.

Food
----------------
3 - 1/4lb hamburger patties
2 - brats
some sunflower seeds

no workout.

I didn't eat any supper. So I could say I'm on a 15 hour fast.

Saturday I did have some ice cream and beer to celebrate the NCAA final four.