Cauliflower and CrossFit

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Okay, doing this whole 2014 CrossFit Games Open has been a real challenge for this runner who likes to cherry pick her WODs. I’m the one who won’t do the heavy squats because “I’m saving my legs for a race” or substitutes pull-ups for muscle-ups because “they are more fun and I can actually do them.” I’m made it through four of the open workouts with just one left this weekend, and let me tell you every weakness has been exposed –but my spirit hasn’t been broken. For every double-under I tripped over and weighted lift I buckled under, I made up for with pretty-darn good abilities on the bar and lots of endurance. Really the failures (although I really can’t call them that) only put a burr in my britches to become proficient in the skill. Check back next week for a full report on the whole experience.

Now onto the food! If you’ve been on Pinterest or crossed paths with a Paleo food fanatic, you’ll well aware that the once neglected cauliflower has been elevated to king of the cruciferous vegetables. This big white vegetable is no longer looked upon as your grandma’s cauliflower, boiled and bland. Today you’ll find smashed cauliflower, riced cauliflower, cauliflower in muffins, soups and curries – and even cauliflower pizza crust.

My kids think cauliflower looks like a human brain and I tell them that’s because it’s a really smart food to put on their plates. High in dietary fiber and low in calories, this versatile veggie is packed with beneficial vitamins (including vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese) that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

While you can get crazy with cauliflower, sometimes simple healthy recipes are the best. My recipe for “Oh Yes” Oven-Roasted Cauliflower will be gobbled up by everyone in the family, even the pickiest kids! Creamy and slightly sweet when roasted, my husband took a bite and exclaimed about it’s deceiving decadence — “it tastes like butter!”

“Oh Yes” Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Recipe

1 large head cauliflower
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic salt
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 425 F degrees.
Remove outer leaves from head and thoroughly wash cauliflower. Use a knife and/or hands to break up cauliflower into approximate 1-inch pieces.
Add florets into bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with chili powder and garlic salt; toss to distribute evenly.
Place cauliflower on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425 F degrees for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until beginning to turn light brown.
Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 2 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4.

Cooking Light always does a great job on making my favorite vegetables even more delicious. Check out this recipe gallery that is blooming with 21 of their inspiring cauliflower recipes – you won’t know where to start!

Cherry Crisp Smoothie Recipe & Achieved a Goal!

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

I cannot tell a lie, I just love cherries in every form and fashion, including straight-from-the-tree fresh to nestled collectively under a layer of pie lattice and vanilla ice cream. Cherries are a super fruit and studies are suggesting that tart cherries have anti-inflammatory properties, can reduce pain from chronic conditions and even help ease muscle and joint aches after exercise. Tart cherries rank 14 in the top 50 foods for highest antioxidant content per serving size – this is more than other popular powerhouses such as red wine and chocolate. Check out Choose Cherries for lots of great information about the health benefits of cherries

A busy-morning breakfast is anything but the pits when you’ve got the ingredients to make my Cherry Crisp Smoothie. I like to buy a big bag of frozen cherries at Costco so I’ll always have my beloved berries ready – throw in some ground oats and a vanilla protein drink (check out Core Power) and this protein smoothie will be ready in a minute or less.

Cherry Crisp Smoothie Recipe

2 tablespoons rolled oats
10 ounces vanilla protein shake (like Core Power)
2 ounces cherry juice
15 pitted, frozen cherries
1 drop vanilla liquid Stevia
Ice, as needed

Place oats in a blender and pulse until ground into a powder. Add protein shake, cherry juice, frozen cherries, Stevia and a few ice cubes. Blend until smooth, adding more ice until desired consistency is achieved. Serves 1.

This smoothie is very satisfying and packed with protein, but if you are looking for the real deal dessert, Cooking Light has a delicious recipe for Cherry Almond Crisp. What I love about making “crisps” is that you don’t have to worry about a fussy, fat-laden pie crust – just a sprinkling of grains and ground nuts on top of fruit works wonders! Plus, a little dollop of ice cream or Greek yogurt adds the perfect balance.

So, all this talk about cherries has me thinking about “the cherry on top” of my workout week. And, that would be making some documented progress on my Muscle Up skill in CrossFit. For at least a year and a half (off and on), I’ve been working on this most-elusive move and finally, finally made it up to the top of the bar (3x). What I lack in grace, I make up for in grit; I was NOT going home until I hustled my way up there. Still lots of practice needed though!

Do you have a fitness-related goal that has been a long time in the making – like a goal 5k time or getting a pull up? You can do it, just keep after it – and let me know what that goal is in the comments below so I can be your cheerleader!

Thai Something New – Recipe & CrossFit Games Open

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Jennifer FIsher

Even though I’ve shared my recipe for Thai Chicken Noodles in the past, it may be new to you! Spicy and super-speedy to make, this globally-inspired recipe is one of my husband’s favorite meals! He always eats his heaping plateful with chopsticks for the “full immersion” experience. I’m not quite as dexterous so I just scarf it down with a fork – that way I’ll be the first back to the stovetop for seconds. I’m competitive like that! What a fun surprise when a friend Facebooked me to say this healthy recipe was featured in the current issue of Taste of Home magazine.

Look who’s in the February issue of “Taste of Home” magazine!

Really, it’s quite a nutritious meal, made with ground white meat chicken breast and whole grain noodles. The veggies include sliced red bell peppers and julienned carrots (hmm, the original also includes red onion) – I like to buy the carrots already “matchstick” cut to save time. Oh, and there’s Sriracha sauce, natch — I’ve been using this now oh-so trendy red chile sauce (aka, what my kids call Thai ketchup) for years.

Thai Chicken Noodles Recipe

¼ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
4 tsp. Sriracha Asian hot chili sauce
¼ cup dried red pepper flakes
12 ounces uncooked multigrain spaghetti noodles
1 lb lean ground chicken breast
1 ½ cups julienned carrots
1 medium sweet red pepper, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup chopped unsalted peanuts
4 green onions, chopped

In a small bowl, whisk the first six ingredients until blended. Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, cook chicken, carrots, pepper and garlic over medium heat 6 – 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, breaking up chicken into crumbles; drain.

Stir in peanut butter mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3 -5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with spaghetti. Top with peanuts and green onions. Serves 6.

Now, here’s where the crazy “try something new” comes in – I signed up for the 2014 CrossFit Games Open . For the last three years, I’ve been doing a little CrossFit here and there (BVM CrossFit), to make me stronger as a runner, not exactly to be a more competitive in the sport of CrossFit. CrossFit is “functional fitness,” after all, and my function in life is to run – run races, run errands, run myself ragged!

I have dramatically improved my strength, especially my core and upper body. My back no longer hurts when I run a marathon. I’ve challenged myself in ways I never thought I would, and probably no one would believe it to be true of little ole me unless they saw it with their own eyes (hello rope climbing, pull up marathons and sled pulling) But, as for the legs, they are sort of scrawny and built for distance more than deadlifts. Workouts (err, make that WODS) with lots of Squats, Thrusters and other heavy lifting that demand hefty lower body strength have been a literal pain in the rear for me. What I have in endurance and bodyweight skills, I lack in strength. That doesn’t keep me from trying, but it does keep me from moving for a few days sometimes!

Now, don’t get excited — you’re NOT going to see me on TV in the CF Games, not even in the Master’s Division. The Open is just for anyone ~~crazy~~ motivated enough to take on the workouts; the top scorers move on to regional’s and then those winners advance to the much hoopla-d finals. I am just hoping to push my limits and see how the dust settles out around after the 5 Open workouts that start later in February. To be able to finish the workouts as Rx’d would be a win for me! According to the infographic above, just being average will be quite an achievement, forget about those top three beasts . . . . . I’m in a lot of trouble here people! At least there is a week to recover between workouts! Keep you posted.

So, is anyone else out there crazy enough to have signed up for the CrossFit Games Open? How’d it go?

AFM FitTest | Reaching Goal in Under Armour’s #WhatsBeautiful 3.0 Challenge

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Jennifer FIsher

Call me a glutton for punishment, but for the second year in a row I competed in AFM FitTest. Held out at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas this community-wide show down consists of a series of 12 professionally designed fitness tests that measure strength, endurance, balance, speed, precision, agility, and power. The event was also the conclusion of my main goal in a sponsored campaign for Under Armour’s What’s Beautiful 3.0 challenge.

A little calm before the storm! #underarmourwomen #IWill #whatsbeautiful

During the #WhatsBeautiful Challenge, I had the honor of connecting with a wide range of women, both online and in person, to work together to redefine stereotypes of the female athlete. My mission, in addition to training for AFM FitTest, was to help others reach their own personal fitness goals, smash them and then set sparkling new goals dripping with newfound badassery. Two of my favorite teams have been “Fit, Fearless & Forty-something” made up of my own home girls and one of my online teams, Team Kelly Oh Yea!

So, back to the morning of battle – Saturday, June 15^th. I headed out at the crack of dawn with my husband competing in the 50-59 age group; apparently the “old guys” get to go first so they can get home early for a nap (just kidding, these guys were very well maintained if you catch my drift, especially my “beefy’ hubby). Of course, he complained the whole way down there about how I “get him into these things,” but in the end, the hubby totally kicked butt, winning first in his heat in the pull-ups, the interval run and one of the mystery tests (which turned out being a balance beam with hurdles).

My heat came up a little later in the morning and ended around 11am; it was plenty hot, but the cloud cover kept it bearable. First off, let me say the group of ladies competing in the 40-49 division was an inspirational bunch. Our band of buff ole babes included the likes of CrossFitters, roller derby gals, past collegiate athletes, obstacle course enthusiasts, trail runners, soccer players and more. I loved how the group was so encouraging and supportive of one another, high-fiving, cheering and setting the example that “we can do it,” from the first finisher to the last even though we were all rivals in a way. It was definitely an Under Armour #WhatsBeautiful kind of morning!

So, here’s a run down of the tests. Let me say that I “sort of” made my goal. While I didn’t win the entire decade division, it looks like I may have tied for the win in the 45-49 age group. Make sure you read (or at least skip down to the 12th and final test). Whoot!

Test 1 – Standing Medicine Ball Toss: Well, despite the fact that I did work on this skill a few times, I didn’t do so well. Okay, move on.

Test 2 – Standing Broad Jump: The exciting news is that I jumped 84” which was a half foot improvement from last year and put me in 3^rd. I have to say, I had to work through some anxiety to do this jump because last year (during training), I hurt my back during landing. So needless to say, I didn’t practice – but I performed when need be. Check.

Test 3 – 40 Yard Dash: Okay, sprinting is definitely not my forte as a runner. I can never get a fast start and I’m slow to get speedy. I guess I don’t have many of those fast-twitch fibers. And, to top it off, this year I had a photographer squatting right smack on my finish line causing me to slow and swerve at the finish. That’s actually what I’m screaming about in the photo below! So, I was actually a bit surprised to see that I got 4^th place.

Test 4 – Agility Cone Run: This one is even harder than the 40 yard dash because you need get-up-and-go AND the nimbleness to cut around cones — all while remembering which way to turn. But, I surprised myself, didn’t get “lost” and managed a 3^rd place finish.

Test 5 – Vertical Jump: This was one of two “mystery tests” that were unveiled on the event day. I’ve seen the tall, slatted contraption that you have to jump up and hit at the football fields, but I never knew what function it served. Now I do. Finished pretty middle of the pack.

Test 6 – Precision Throw: This event has all the giddy anticipation and then subsequent let-down of a midway carnival game to me; throwing 10 balls at a target and praying that one clears the strike zone. I got zero, zilch, nada. My exclamation that I have “no balls” may have had friends laughing, but – dang – I could have used some. The lesson learned here is to have more confidence and DON’T begin with an “I CAN’T do this” attitude. To achieve you have to believe, right?! I have so much respect and awe for the ladies that have the eye-hand coordination to get the job done.

Test 7 – Pull-Ups: Bring it on; I’ve been practicing pull-ups all year! I jumped up and grabbed the bar knowing I could do 10 and knocked out 13! This gave me the 1^st place win in my division and 6^th place across ALL women. Wow!

Found out I can make some really ugly faces doing pull-ups!

Test 8 – Burpees: After great news, follows bad. I didn’t rack up very many burpees, which is weird because I kind of like the exercise. I thought I was totally getting after it during my 1 minute blitz, but apparently not. Wondering if I was getting “no-repped” because I underperformed by about 10 burpees. Oh well, move on.

Test 9 – Hand Grip: This test measures forearm strength and is fondlly called the Death Grip, now that’s a title a gal could feel proud to win. Last year, I stunk it up. Realizing my previous mistake, I came in strong this year with a 100lb squeeze and redeemed with a 3^rd place finish.

Test 10 – Interval Run: My husband calls the interval run “gassers.” I now know why; I felt like I had run out of gas near the end. Oh so close to making the 6^th interval, I should have just hurdled my entire body across the line for a dramatic win. Next time.

Test 11 – Balance Beam Hurdles: This was the second mystery test and it proved that the years of gymnastic team tuition my parents paid didn’t really pay off. But, still it was fun trying to carry a wobbly PVC pipe half-filled with water across a balance beam while stepping over hurdles. Okay, the term fun is relative.

Test 12 – Mile Run: I’m glad you stuck with me until the end because this is where I was able to show off my best athletic talent – running further than a 400m. On your mark, get set, go! I took off in the mile and didn’t look back, winning not only my age group, but “best of test” of women across all age divisions with an official 5:45 (although, hey, my GPS said 5:38).

Thanks to all the competitors, sponsors and folks from Austin Fit Magazine for the memorable day! And, also to @UAWomen and @txbeef for their continued support of the female athlete.

And, to answer the Facebook rumor: Yes, fish tacos, beer and too-cold ice tea after 6 hours in the sun didn’t agree with me.

Wednesday WOD – Turn Hump Day into Jump Day!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jennifer FIsher

I have a fun workout for you today! Get those legs jumping and your arms pumping with this four element extravaganza. You’ll need a jump rope, medicine ball (any weight), gymnastic rings and a sturdy platform for jumping. A combination of cardio mixed with plyometrics and body weight training, you’ll find this WOD to be fun yet harder than it sounds. Thanks to Valerie Hunt at CrossFit and Fearless for helping show off some of the moves. Try to complete three to five rounds! Let me know how it goes in the comments.

Two Minutes of Jump Rope: I jump with two feet together, getting only as high off the ground as I need to in order to clear the rope. It’s about efficiency. If you’d rather skip rope or go for some harder-core “double unders,” by all means, please do!

Don’t let a little lap dog show you up!

Five Kipping Ring Dips: Support yourself on the rings and dip downward with your chest, bending your arms at the elbows. To gain momentum upward, tuck your knees up and then quickly extend them as you push with your triceps back to the upward start position. I’m sure you’ll do better than I did, I got the giggles.

Ten Medicine-Ball to Box-Jump: Stand about 18-inches behind a box with a height you are comfortable using. To the back of you place a Dynamax medicine ball in the spot where your rear would naturally land if you were to sit down. To complete one rep, jump forward onto the box extending with hips fully. Next, jump backward to your starting line and sit down onto the ball (be careful to make sure you’ve landed in the right place and it’s actually there)! Watch Valerie demonstrate in the video. If this is too challenging, stick with regular box jumps and focus on landing back on the start line when jumping off. Once you’ve mastered this, you can add in the medicine ball.

Fifteeen Chest-to-Floor Push Ups: Go all the way down on these pushups and touch your chest and belly to the floor before extending back upward. Keep your core tight, it helps!

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Tag Archives: crossfit

Cauliflower and CrossFit

Cherry Crisp Smoothie Recipe & Achieved a Goal!

Thai Something New – Recipe & CrossFit Games Open

AFM FitTest | Reaching Goal in Under Armour’s #WhatsBeautiful 3.0 Challenge

Wednesday WOD – Turn Hump Day into Jump Day!