Paleo- Spaghetti Squash w/Chicken, Bacon & Pesto

Winter's coming and all I want to do is carbo load and nap, trying to stave off hibernation as much as I possibly can.
Time to hop back on the Paleo wagon before all hope is lost :)

Ingredients

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into bite size hunks)
• 5 strips of bacon
• 2 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil
• 1 big handful of fresh basil leaves (or about 1 cup packed)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese (optional)
• 4 peeled garlic cloves
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Steps

1. Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash in half length wise, remove the seeds (I use an ice cream scoop for this), and place face down in a large baking dish. Fill the dish with water about halfway.
2. Bake for about 40 minutes. Squash should be slightly under cooked.
3. While the squash is cooking, you can make the pesto and set it aside. Throw the following into your food processor and process until smooth.
•1 big handful of fresh basil leaves
•1/4 cup pine nuts
•3 garlic cloves
•1/3 cup olive oil
•Salt and pepper to taste
•3 Tbsp. parmesan cheese (if dairy is not part of your life– sorry skip it)
4. Now cook your bacon. Melt butter or coconut oil over medium heat and cook bacon until it starts to crisp.
5. Add chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and cook all the way through. Turn heat to low.
6. When the squash is done (and cool enough to handle), use a fork to scrape out the “spaghetti” strands and add to chicken and bacon mixture.
Note: Unless you are trying to remove your finger prints, I recommend wearing an oven mitt to hold the squash while you scrape it out.
Stir in the pesto until well combined and heated all the way through. Adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.

Italian Beef Paleo Casserole

Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole


2 pounds ground beef, preferably grass-fed
2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped or 2 teaspoons dried
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped or 2 teaspoons
dried
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 small squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Heat a large, heavy, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat; add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula, until it’s almost browned and much of the fat and liquid has been released. Season with the salt and pepper and add the onion. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened. Add the garlic to the pan, stir and cook for another minute or until the ground beef is completely cooked through.
Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, herbs and red pepper flakes, if using. Add the squash and green beans; cover and place in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender and the green beans are tender-crisp. Serve topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

Dirty Girl Race

I blame it all on pollen, I'm not intentionally lazy...it's the pollen's fault. Yeah that's it....that's the ticket ;)

I need to play catch up on some of the recent races I've been to and on life in general.  Fell off the Paleo train for a couple of weeks, but we seem to be getting back on track again. Ran another half marathon and a couple of other fun races, and have Warrior Dash coming up in a couple of weeks.  Suzy is home for the summer so maybe she will kick my training up a notch.

All is good, just been either really busy or insanely exhausted.  I think I'm getting my balance back again, and will try to reignite this fun habit.

Without further adieu, I give you the Dirty Girl Race....

 This was a women's only obstacle race on the grounds of Lakewood Amphitheater, here in Atlanta.  One of my Crossfit friends wanted to do it, so I decided to tag along with my friend Maylene.

 It was fun and enjoyed watching my two friends do their first obstacle course.  I've been spoiled by warrior dash though, and this was nothing like warrior. It was in the parking lot of a venue, and the water obstacle were nothing more than vinyl pools with mud in them. I prefer the mud of the north Georgia mountains.!

The best part was being with my friends, it was a nice day to get DIRTY!

Flying pirate half marathon

What an experience! 
My old college roommate and good friend Chris wanted to do a half marathon.  Since she drove all the way to Savannah for my first marathon I told her to pick a race and I'd do it with her.  She chose this race held in the outer banks of North Carolina.

Originally Suzy was going to run with us but she got slammed with end of the year schoolwork. So, I woke up early morning and drove the 9.5 hours it took to get to Kill Devil Hills/Kitty Hawk, NC. It was a long drive, thank goodness I had the sense to download an audiobook onto my iphone. I listened to The Girl who played with Fire all the way there and half of the drive back.

Two of my college buddies and I reliving old memories :)
The day I got there, the weather was perfect.  That night though, mother nature had other plans and it rained all evening and the entire day Sunday. This, of course, included race time.  I don't mind running but I do mind being wet and running, so I was just miserable the entire race.  It was a lovely course and the promoters put on a damn good race.  If they could have done something about the torrential downpours though.

 Here I am at the Wright Brother's Memorial.
I don't think I could have been any happier to cross the finish line. Seriously, I was completely aggravated and disheveled by Mile 13. The last .2 miles were the longest in my life.

It looked like a great after party. We even got egg biscuits, visors and a really nice medal.

After I got back to the hotel and cleaned up, I had a great weekend hanging out with some very good friends. I love the fact that we are just as goofy now as we were 20 years ago. It's good to know that some things never do change.

Head West Young Man

The Allhoffs pulled out of Beverly Hills this morning, on their journey to northern California.  I still don't think it's hit me that they have sold their house and moved away. It happened so much quicker than anyone could have ever imagined. Good for them that they made money on their house and they will be closer to Karen's family.  Sad for us though, they had truly become some of our best friends.

It's not often that you come across people that you can genuinely get along with and totally admire and we hated to see them go.  I think it's going to be a long time before I can drive by their house and not totally tear up. What an amazing couple, so down to earth and so much fun.

I think we sent them off well, 4 nights of drinking and good food as they packed up their house.  I wish them the safest and most fun trip they can have under the circumstances (those being they are driving a ginormous moving truck).  We love you Allhoffs!

Spring Malaise

I don’t like spring!  Sure it’s colorful, everything is rejuvenated and the weather is gorgeous but I just can’t stand it.  I can’t enjoy the outdoors like I want because of pollen.  My reaction to it isn’t the general stuffy congestion most get, I simply sneeze and sleep a lot.  My only motivation is trying to figure out a way for another nap.   I’ve been trying different allergy meds this year but I still haven’t found the perfect match for me.  I’m simply grumping through this time of year, trying to keep up but feeling like I’m falling deeper and deeper into a rut.  It will pass, it always does and then I will get back to my kick ass lifestyle.

My running has almost hit the wall.  I’m getting out and doing a couple of runs a week, it’s just way too easy to make excuses not to at the moment. I have a half marathon this weekend, it might just be what I need to jump start my running again.

 Paleo has been almost nonexistent this past couple of weeks.  I’m not gobbling down cokes and cupcakes yet but it sure has been easy to eat a piece of chocolate and not feel remorseful.  Our neighbors are moving to California tomorrow and I think part of my reasoning for bad eating was that I wanted to hang out with them.  Once they are gone I think we will become more regimented again, it’s so much easier to eat your own food than someone else’s.

I don’t want to lose what I’ve worked so hard to gain. 

The Color Run

It's hard to find races that interest a 6 year old.  Cooper isn't too fond of 3.1 miles but I want him to grow up to be athletic like his awesome big sis, so when I see a race that may appeal to him, of course we jump right on it.
This is the color run, a jog around Piedmont park that promises you a colorful time.

 This is what we looked like before the race, notice the sea of white shirts behind us.

This is the "color" they threw at you along the route.  It was some type of dyed cornstarch powder.  It looks innocent here but just you wait......

 Half way through the race, it seemed to congest at the color stations and gave Cooper time to rest.

 Post race, is that my son or a teenage mutant ninja turtle?

The family, post race.  We were a colorful mess.  It came off pretty easily except for the hair, We were all sporting pink streaks in our hair for weeks afterward.
Fun race but I think it's more of a one time deal, it's really hard to clean up afterwards.  It came out of our clothes relatively easy but the skin/hair was a entirely different story.  All in all, still happy to spend the morning with two of my most favorite people in the world.