Homemade mayo and paleo-friendly ketchup

May 16, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Even with the best intentions, sticking with a more strict approach to paleo this month has been difficult. Everything from temptations to participating in a donut-eating contest (worth it—this took place at a field day to raise money for my friend Anne’s father) seems to throw me off just a tiny bit.

The good news is that maybe 90% of what I eat could be considered clean. Clean eating just feels good right now, too. I feel better during WODs and runs and recovery is easier. I’m not too focused on physical progress; instead, I’m focused on strength and ability, especially since the partner competition I’m doing is now 37 days away.

For the first time, I’m also emphasizing the little things like avoiding sugary salad dressings and artificial sweeteners as much as I can. That takes paleo from more of an 80/20 thing to more of a 90/10 or higher. My boyfriend suggested a couple weeks ago that we take some time on a weekend to make homemade mayonnaise and ketchup using paleo-friendly recipes, and I’m glad we did.

Paleo-friendly mayonnaise is somewhat of an oxymoron, since true mayonnaise doesn’t include sugar. Let this serve as a reminder to think outside the paleo box while cooking and thinking about food in general.

The first batch I attempted followed the recipe for baconnaise in Practical Paleo. I tried to use this brilliant, quick method from The Food Lab, but I moved the immersion blender too quickly and the mayo broke. I later saved it with this technique, using a fresh egg yolk, but opted to whisk the mayo by hand. The process took more athleticism than some CrossFit WODs. Later, I tried the method using beaters and am happy to report that works well, for those without an immersion blender.

Eventually a third try and more carefully following The Food Lab’s method produced a superior result. Not to mention that watching a container of oil, egg yolk, lemon juice, and mustard expand into a white cloud of mayonnaise can also be satisfying in a way. Make a paste from a few cloves of garlic and kosher salt, add some olive oil to the finished mayo, and you’ve got a mean aioli.

For the homemade and paleo ketchup, I started with a high-quality tomato paste and generally followed two recipes, one of which had the right balance of spices, and the other, the right balance of onion and garlic flavors. I seasoned the ketchup to taste and ended up adding additional vinegar for a tangier result.

Several months ago, I’d proclaimed my love for Blue Plate, a local mayonnaise that’s an institution in our restaurants. Adding some white vinegar to the finished mayonnaise imparted the characteristic tartness, and the result was a mayo that wasn’t as sweet as Blue Plate, but tangy and with that familiar bite. Since we purchased some small canning jars for homemade condiments, I plan to continue making my own and experimenting with new recipes.

Oh, and as for the aforementioned donut-eating competition? Anne emerged victorious.

field-day-donuts

Photo courtesy Anne Talhelm

 

Posted in: Recipes

Mid-week odds and ends, self-improvement edition

May 1, 2013 5:00 pm , 1 Comment ,

My work days as of late have been consumed by event planning. It’s both fun and challenging to fit the puzzle pieces together to make a great event happen. After each event, however, I’m puzzled by one simple thing: the people on the other end, often event managers, rarely ask for feedback. Is it because they’re afraid of what they might hear? Do they simply not care?

Maybe this is the Type A part of my personality shining brightly, but I’m always focused on what I could have done better. I thrive on feedback and metrics. Not knowing how I can improve drives me crazy.

I think this way in CrossFit, too, almost to a fault. Did I spend too much time just standing there over the bar, trying to catch my breath? Could I have gotten more reps?

I thought about it this morning, too, trying to decide whether I should weigh myself—something I haven’t done since January—to see how 31 days of strict paleo might shift a number on the scale. Instead, I wrapped a soft tape measure around my soft body, understanding how these measurements are really what I’m looking for.

Thanks, Nia Shanks, for broadcasting time and time again the most important message I think women need to hear. I am training to be awesome. I am training to revert to a former version of myself who was pretty awesome in her own right, able to bust out 10 pull-ups; squat, bench, and clean more than she weighed; and run sub-9:00 miles on a normal day. On the radio this morning I heard a DJ mention that it’s Zombie Awareness Month. So yeah, I guess it’s good to be prepared for that, too.

On the day I first walked into the box, I asked my coach, Laura, for the name of the movement in which you do a pull-up and then push yourself up beyond the bar. It’s called a muscle-up, she told me.

“I want to do that,” I said. And I don’t want to lose focus of these types of goals.

WORDS ELSEWHERE
“Remember that the only representation of you, no matter what your station, is you—your presentation, your demeanor.” How to be gracious. [kottke]
“It’s far easier to put your future into someone else’s hands than it is to slog your way forward, owning the results as you go.” [Seth Godin's Blog]
“See, if you have a soul that is not content with mediocrity, not content with good enough, not satisfied with bullshit, then you hear the siren song in almost everything you do.” [CrossFit Lisbeth]

Posted in: CrossFit, Letters from the Editor

From festivals to focus

April 29, 2013 10:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Festival season is in high gear, and I’ve been enjoying every bit of it. From French Quarter Fest a couple weekends ago to Jazz Fest last weekend, there have been plenty of great sights, sounds, and eats.

Sometimes festivals bring unexpected, under-the-radar bands and dishes that end up blowing me out of the water. Last year at Jazz Fest I discovered for myself the Lafayette-based Givers, now among my favorites. This year I really enjoyed the music of Alexis & the Samurai. As far as food goes, I skip a few Jazz Fest favorites like Crawfish Monica; not to worry, though, I eat my crawfish bread and cochon de lait poboy and savor them both. French Quarter Fest also has its share of classics that I enjoy, but this year I was pleasantly surprised by a street operation known as the Communist Swine Taco Social, pictured above. I’m a sucker for hand-rolled tortillas and carnitas with pineapple, and this was a fun find on Esplanade Avenue at the intersection of the Marigny and the French Quarter.

With all this food, however, comes a desire not to eat and drink like a king. It’s not scientific, but I can confirm that eating refined grains doesn’t make me feel good. In fact, when I don’t eat grains regularly, I find that bread and baked goods actually give me heartburn. In general, I haven’t felt much like training and have enjoyed an extended break following the Crescent City Classic, and it’s time for me to get serious again. I have a team CrossFit competition in June that I’d like to feel prepared for.

Given what I’m feeling, you can imagine how ready I am to get back to business.

In the rage-then-repent style that New Orleanians have mastered, I will be taking May to intensify my focus on paleo eating and hard work in the gym. Of course, whittling down my 20% to more like 5% will be a challenge, but it’s a worthwhile one.

Posted in: New Orleans, Spring

Faces in the crowd

April 16, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

There isn’t much about this year’s Boston Marathon that hasn’t already been said, but I wanted to write down some thoughts.

This piece, “The People Who Watch Marathons,” is a powerful account of the relationship between runners and spectators, the power of encouragement from strangers, the significance of hearing your name when you can no longer feel your legs.

While I’ve never run a full marathon (and at this moment don’t intend to), I can relate to the emotion in that article, because I know what the opposite is like, too. I know how it feels to finish your first half marathon, expecting someone at the finish line, and instead to realize you’re completely alone. If not for the strangers in the crowd who yelled my number and told me to keep moving, my tears of joy at that finish would have been tears of the opposite kind.

I also know what it means as a spectator to see a familiar face on the course. This year I was able to cheer on my friend Fred around mile 15 of the Rock ‘n Roll New Orleans marathon. We walked together for less than 100 yards after I threw my bike on the grass shoulder of the road and bolted to catch up with him. I handed him a pineapple Roctane. We talked about how he felt and how his race was going. When I finally let him resume his race, I felt glad that I had been, in a very small way, a part of his incredible accomplishment—this was his 30th full marathon. I was so happy I could be there to see it and that I was able to spot him in a crowd of more than 20,000 runners. 

I can’t imagine how fun it must be to spectate Boston, to watch the world’s best distance runners tackle an unforgiving course of hills that ends at a higher elevation than it started, or to cheer on a loved one in this race, the ultimate marathon by several definitions. But Boston is so much more than the competitors; the race is famous for the course support and the hundreds of thousands of spectators who give their all that morning, just as the runners do on the streets.

Today I can’t help but think about what the future holds for the Boston Marathon. My heart aches for the runners who were unable to complete the distance. Many runners who hadn’t finished were likely running for charity and had earned a spot in a once-in-a-lifetime event. But most of all, I can’t forget the images I’ve seen of devoted friends, family members, and volunteers on the sidelines. They have made sacrifices year-round, supporting their runners-in-training through many early-morning wake-ups, quiet weekend nights void of happy hours, and hours on the couch either anticipating or recovering from long runs. But they’ve also cheered relentlessly, cried tears of joy along with us as we’ve reached our goals, and have patiently listened to us ramble on about foam rollers.

Like Erin Gloria Ryan said, “Without those people, a marathon would just be an exercise in self-abuse from a large group of crazies.” People who spectate and cheer at road races are so much more than faces in the crowd. 

Posted in: Letters from the Editor, Running

We need to stop kidding ourselves about strength training

April 9, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

At home on a dusty bookshelf lies a summer strength program training book from 2005. The pages are water-stained and are barely held together by plastic binding. I like to look through this sometimes to see what I had accomplished and how much I was lifting when I was at my strongest and when my body was near its peak in college swimming. I’m reminded of a lot of hard work and a sense of pride in being the strongest girl in the weight room.

But on the other hand, I’ve also looked back and scoffed at what I’d done, thinking I’d never do heavy back squats, power cleans, or bench press ever again. These lifts weren’t necessary, right? I moved forward with a pretty half-assed “strength training” routine that I enjoyed, that would make my muscles burn but not truly push me to muscular failure. I barely stuck with that for years. As I began to increase my mileage and run longer distances, I began to suffer from nearly every overuse injury under the sun: a stress fracture, shin splints, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, IT band syndrome. You name it, I’d experienced it.

What I was missing here as a runner is a simple fact that most runners and endurance athletes ignore: You cannot keep up this type of training and remain injury-free without true strength training. You have to do more than just run.

The next few paragraphs might sound a little harsh, but I think many of us, especially women, can use an honest reality check. If you want to gain strength, remain injury-free, and get lean, what you’re doing in the gym is probably an absolute waste of time. Body Pump and bootcamp exercises alone are not going to get you the body you want. You won’t experience any dramatic changes in body composition and will probably only experience minor gains in actual strength through this type of training. It’s also not true strength training.

When most of us think of strength training efforts, we think we can pick up a set of light dumbbells and move that weight in isolated exercises until we reach exhaustion. In reality, that type of training is muscular endurance. It’s often the focus of bootcamp-type classes and training, as well as Body Pump.

So why do we waste our time?

Most of us are probably afraid of heavy lifts or we’re not sure where to start. I was fortunate enough to have solid Olympic lifting coaching through college, and am now receiving a lot of one-on-one coaching at CrossFit. Weight rooms are dominated by men (who, in many cases, don’t know what they’re doing). Lifting heavy weights is hard. Failure can be embarrassing. Sometimes it honestly just sucks.

But true strength training—lifting heavy weights that make us struggle, that make us work, that push our bodies to the edge of our capabilities—is critically important for athletic success and to achieve ideal body composition. The other benefits are too numerous to list, but include bone strength and a sense of confidence that one can’t gain from spending hours on the elliptical machine.

If you’re not sure where to start, I’d encourage you to work with a personal trainer or a friend who has experience lifting and spotting. There are many programs that can help you figure out which lifts to do, and countless YouTube videos to teach you proper form. If you’ve been thinking about trying CrossFit, jump in with both feet and don’t think too much about it. You’re more capable than you think you are. You are stronger than you think you are. Get serious with your routine and see how much of a difference it makes in your other athletic endeavors, in how your body looks and feels, and in your confidence levels. And a true strength workout doesn’t have to take more than 15 to 20 minutes; you truly get a lot of bang for your buck.

I could go on, but I want to encourage you to take a moment to think about the way you’re training and honestly evaluate whether or not it’s challenging you or helps you reach your goals. I also want to encourage you to check out the resources below.

Ed. Note: I don’t want to discourage anyone from getting started with strength training or lifting weights of any kind. I do believe, however, that many people approach the gym in a way that’s not quite aligned with their goals. Of course, do what works for you. Your experience may mean that one of the endurance exercise approaches I mentioned is a huge step. Getting started is the most important step you can take.

STRENGTH TRAINING RESOURCES
I absolutely love the message and encouragement from Nia Shanks. Check out her Beautiful Badass program for a strength routine that makes sense, is challenging, and is unbelievably simple. You can get a mini-course with an outline of different lifts by entering your email address at the top of the page. [Lift Like a Girl]
More on why cardio isn’t the answer for body composition, and some notes about why diet and strength training are. [Mark's Daily Apple]
I really want to check this out; I’ve read great things about the book. [New Rules of Lifting for Women]
Starting Strength is heralded as one of the best books to get started with strength training. [Amazon]
The Big Lifts app will take you through the Starting Strength or 5/3/1 programs. Pretty cool. [iTunes]

Posted in: CrossFit, Health

Setting specific goals for a clearly defined future

April 4, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Photo courtesy lululemon

Several weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a goal-setting session at Crescent City CrossFit. Some incredible staff from our local lululemon served as our hosts and took us through the stages of the goal-setting session. It was fantastic.

The part I loved the most was thinking about what my ideal life would be like, if I could live anywhere, do anything for a living, spend my time any way I wanted, and so forth. I’d never thought about the fact that my life isn’t predetermined and that I truly do have the ability to choose my own path. I’d never thought of possibility and dreams without a gap between the two.

During the session, there were shared stories, some tears, and in the midst of a quiet moment a big idea came to me. This was the most powerful two hours I’d experienced in quite some time. While I don’t like to plan out my life too far in advance (a likely side effect of years of regimented schedules and workouts), I have a good idea of some things I’d like to accomplish in the coming months, within the next few years, and even in the long term. More importantly, it’s helped me continue to sharpen my focus and worry less about things that don’t matter and aren’t conducive to my goals.

Our hosts shared their own goal sheets, which included edits and notations of dates on which goals were accomplished, as well as several failures. They reminded us to set difficult goals, and that failure is certainly okay. Goals shouldn’t be easily within reach.

There’s a blog post here chronicling the goal-setting process, including the same worksheet we used in the workshop.

MORE ON GOALS
Back in 2010, I wrote about this TED Talk imploring us not to share goals. I still agree with the premise. [Katherine Swims]
Many suggest that in goal setting, sticking with new habits becomes more important than the destination. I love a little app called Lift for this. Here’s a good walk-through. [Business Insider]

Posted in: Letters from the Editor

Crescent City Classic 10K and Shamrockin’ Run 8K recap

April 2, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Even though this will be a post filled with all kinds of rainbows, sunshine, and unicorns, I’m a bit sad to report that my running mileage for the year, as of March 31, is 47 miles. That’s an average of just over a 5K per week.

Here’s the good news: I was able to put in a good amount of work in strength training by lifting at home, and at CrossFit. My running hasn’t felt this strong in at least a year.

A couple weeks ago, I ran the inaugural Shamrockin’ Run 8K, which I’d planned on running as a training run for the 35th annual Crescent City Classic. The plan was to take out the first two miles as an easy jog, then to bring the pace down to at least 10:17, my 10K goal pace that would at the very least have me breaking an outdated official PR for the sake of having an official PR. We ran down Prytania Street from the CBD to Audubon Park, and I enjoyed the scenery of the Garden District and Uptown, which felt like new despite that my long runs are always down Prytania in the other direction. I tried to keep my pace smooth and consistent, and was surprised to see that I was under 10:00 for the first mile. The same happened at 2, and then 3 miles, so I decided to stick with my pace. I finished in 48:06 (according to my Garmin), an average pace of 9:40. I was surprised with the result, given how few miles I’d put in the bank.

The Crescent City Classic was no different, although the race was more crowded, the weather was much warmer, and my pace never felt effortless. The entire race was a chore. I hate to say that, but it just was. Given the race day conditions and my training, I’m proud to report a new official PR of 1:00:19, a whopping 4 minutes faster than the first time I ran the race—my first race longer than a 5K—in 2010. My Garmin time is slightly faster at 1:00:13, an average pace of 9:39. I’m not sure what causes slower chip times than watch times, so I’m inclined to believe the watch that I started and stopped myself (well before the start and well after the finish line, mind you). While I have yet to run a standalone 10K faster than two half marathon splits of 59:00 and 57:00, respectively, from the same race, I’m quite happy with this new official PR.

I’m also quite pleased with the direction my running is heading in general. I know I owe this to the strength training I’ve put in, but most of all, CrossFit. A few months of CrossFit have improved my endurance, have improved my lactate threshold, and have reshaped my body. I’m getting closer to where I’ve been in the past and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

For the next several months, I don’t have any planned races, save for a 5K with my friend Rachel, who will be making her comeback to running following a mind-blowing recovery from ACL reconstruction surgery. Running with her that day will be a racing highlight of my year, no doubt. Beyond that, however, there’s nothing on my calendar for the first time in a long time, and I’m loving it. I’m planning to devote even more time to CrossFit and lifting during this time, as well as leisurely bike rides and some shorter runs as the weather turns from spring to swamp.

MORE ON THE CCC
A couple running friends and I were quoted in this Times-Picayune article about the recent changes to the Crescent City Classic. I’m happy to report that the corral system made for a much smoother start. [nola.com]
One unfortunate consequence of a crowded race was the crowded finish. Someone perfectly captured this scene, which is what I saw and experienced when I finished at just over 1 hour.  [nola.com]

Posted in: CrossFit, Running

28

March 26, 2013 5:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on the basics: training, sleep, and clean eating. When I’m focused as I have been on these things, there’s often little time for much else. While I’ve been quieter on the blog front than usual, know that it’s because I’m focusing bigtime on things I love.

Last Thursday marked the start of an unplanned five days of rest. It was also my birthday, so the pause came at a good time. It was nice to slow down and enjoy a couple days that were complete with a lovely birthday dinner at The Pelican Club, a day of music and pork at Hogs for the Cause, and a stroll around the French Quarter on Sunday, one of the most beautiful days in New Orleans in recent memory. Thank you to all my friends and family who made that day (and weekend) special. Your love and support year-round is meaningful beyond words.

In the past, I’ve written lists corresponding to the year of my birthday. Looking back on 25 and 26—I didn’t write one of these entries last year when I turned 27—it’s easy for me to see how much my perspective has changed. How much my life has changed.

At 28, I am happier, stronger, healthier, more grounded, and smarter because:

  1. People have taught me about nutrition, strength, resolve, friendship, relationships (and countless other things that we encounter in life) through various means. Some of this has been tough. Some of this has been incredibly fun and personally rewarding. It’s all been eye-opening.
  2. I finally feel as though my heart is open to the love and kindness of others. My trust isn’t as easy to come by as it once was, though believing that people are inherently good is getting easier.
  3. I’ve put the things I’ve learned into practice. I know what my priorities should be, and I’ve made those things priorities.
  4. I now know better than to say “never.” Sorry, self of a few years ago, I’m back to the bench press.

Here’s to another year.

Posted in: Letters from the Editor

Adventures in salmon

March 20, 2013 11:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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Freshly transplanted to New Orleans from Tucson, Arizona, 18-year-old me would have shuddered at the thought of ordering fish in a restaurant. Fish was not only rarely present in the meals of my adolescence, but it simply wasn’t a source of regional pride or ingrained in culture and daily life the way it is in southeast Louisiana.

These days, I delight in scallops and pecan-crusted drum. Salmon is quickly becoming one of my favorite weeknight go-to dinners, since the simple herb-crusted salmon I’ve made a couple times cooks in mere minutes under the broiler. What happened to the girl whose eyes would scan a menu in a panic, hoping for the familiar comfort of chicken, pork, or beef? Last weekend, I enjoyed a ceviche dish at RioMar, a Spanish-style seafood restaurant in the Warehouse District. I mean, really. Ceviche, raw fish cooked by the acid from limes. Ceviche, made not only with fish, but also squid. Ceviche, the opposite of a chicken nugget.

Back to salmon. Even though I’ve learned a couple delicious ways to prepare it and I’m liking it, I still feel like a beginner cook at the fish counter, faced with a rainbow of pink fish raised in different ways and from different seas. On the Saturday we cooked and photographed two standout salmon recipes, Addie and I compared and contrasted the taste and texture of two different kinds of salmon: king salmon and sockeye salmon. She taught me how to prepare and clean the fish, and I watched her marinate and then coat the fish with spices before searing. I’ve come to learn that I prefer the more delicate king salmon, with its slightly more flaky texture upon cooking.

Head over to Culicurious for Addie’s recipe for this outstanding blackened salmon with avocado mango salsa. This was my favorite of the two dishes we made, and if you’re looking for a different and interesting way to cook salmon, give this a try.

Posted in: Health, Recipes

A food-lover’s approach to paleo cooking and recipes

March 8, 2013 6:00 pm , Leave a Comment ,

cooking-outside-the-paleo-box-with-addie-culicurious

Since I changed the direction of my blog and have become more and more interested in the science of nutrition and what makes people get fat, I’ve had dozens of intriguing conversations with friends about everything from what makes wheat essentially poisonous to the fact that eating fat doesn’t make you fat, as well as small lifestyle changes my friends have made in efforts to improve their health and well-being. My friend Addie, the writer and chef behind the prolific recipe and food blog Culicurious, thought it would be fun for us to try out some salmon recipes together. I thought it would be a perfect pairing, especially given the part of my New Year’s resolution to eat more salmon.

With her culinary training and background in restaurants, I knew Addie would come up with recipes that were both visually stunning and delicious. Her approach to cooking is similar to mine—we’re both interested in quality, healthful ingredients and recipes that yield such delicious results it’s hard to believe they’re so simple. With the sautéed salmon and fennel citrus slaw recipe she created, she accomplished this and then some. The salmon was delicately flavored with citrus and dill and ended up perfectly cooked. A shaved fennel citrus salad, incorporating some local blood oranges Addie found at the Hollygrove Market, was a beautiful and light combination of anise and bittersweet citrus flavors.

What strikes me most about this project with Addie, as well as how she developed these recipes, is a point I’d like to hit home with anyone who’s stuck in a rut with following a paleo way of eating. By sourcing local, seasonal, fresh ingredients, Addie created something that you’d expect to find on a restaurant table, not necessarily on Pinterest with the hashtag “paleo.” I encourage everyone to think outside the box when it comes to creating delicious food. There are so many cookbooks and classic recipes out there—hollandaise, anyone?—that are either paleo, primal, or easily adapted to fit into these categories with a few minor tweaks. In addition, you don’t need obscure ingredients to achieve culinary perfection. Keeping it simple yields the best results, in my experience. Thanks, Addie, for this refreshing (and oh-so-delicious) reminder!

SALMON HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE
Addie sent me this link while we were planning out our salmon afternoon. Did you know the New York Times has an entire section online about salmon-related topics? [The New York Times]
I’m a fan of rethinking traditional breakfast foods. Who wouldn’t want a grilled and smoked salmon steak with sweet potato for breakfast? [Dear Paleo]

Posted in: Health, Recipes