Sesame and Sunflower Salad

Week two of the Cheeks gone sour has begun. Last week was successful, which could mean two things: putting up a $50 wager could help or it was the right time to stop the sugar, I feel both played into it. Yesterday we did indulge in a cupcake, chocolate bread pudding and a some ice cream last night before week two started. And to be honest, the sweet treats were "just ok" (imagine that?!)

Now I am back on track and feeling good about it. So here is a savory vegetable dish that is sure to please anyone not eating sugar!

What you will need:

1 bag organic broccoli slaw (from Trader Joes)

healthy pour of toasted sesame seed oil (Trader Joes)

healthy pour of rice wine vinegar

3-4 Tbsp roasted unsalted sunflower seeds

1-2 tsp black sesame seeds

1 tsp Garlic Gomasio (sesame seeds, sea salt and garlic seasoning)

What to do:

1. Set aside 1 Tbsp sunflower seeds and 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

2. Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl

3. Let sit for as long as you like, refrigerate for a couple hours to increase flavors.

4. Right before serving garnish with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds that were set aside.

Adjust oil and vinegar to your taste! For those of you needing or wanting more protein this salad could be topped with Grilled Chicken or Seared Tuna to make a complete meal.

Holy Smokes!

This week we've had a roller coaster of weather, Monday was wet and raining and today the forecast is 80. The smoke I'm about to talk about is not from the weather it's actually something you can taste and touch and most anyone can try, but only if you want to.

It all started with a trip to Trader Joes this past Sunday. The trip was no different than any of my other trips besides the fact that I found something NEW. It's a new seasoning called South African Smoke. Now bear with me if you already know about this great seasoning. I'm into day four of using it and have used it daily. It has a wonderful mix of smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and basil. It has a flavor that I've been looking for and now can easily have. Here are just a few things I've used it for:

1. Roast Chicken with South African Smoke

2. Baked Salmon with South African Smoke

3. Mashed Sweet potatoes with South African Smoke

4. Sauteed chard, chicken sausage and sweet potatoes with South African Smoke

I'm a bit of a creature of habit when it comes to the grocery store. I usually buy the things I like, but do keep an eye out for "new" things. My new things must be paleo (or pretty darn close, unless of course it's wine or beer). It's not often I buy much packaged foods besides my canned staples of tuna, coconut milk, sun dried tomatoes, hearts of palm, plantain chips and chicken sausage. So my new items are usually different vegetables or different cuts of meat. I'll share with you my fabulous chicken and hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Simple South African Smoked Chicken:

What you will need:

1 Whole chicken for roasting, washed, dried and gizzards, neck and hearts removed and discarded

1 onion-chopped

as much or as little South African smoke as you like

1 bay leaf

3-4 tsp crushed garlic or garlic cloves

2-3 TBS olive oil

What to do:

Preheat oven to 300

1. Heat your Dutch oven on the stove top on medium heat and coat pan with olive oil.

2. Place chicken in pot, breast side down and cook for 5 min.

3. Flip chicken over using tongs or inserting utensil in cavity, so breast side is up.

4. Add in onions, garlic and bay leaves and season with more smoke if desired.

5. Cover dutch oven with a sheet of foil, then put lid on.

6. Bake in oven for about hour. Check internal temperature of chicken, should read 160.

7. Once chicken is cooked, remove foil and lid and turn oven temp up to 400 and cook for 5-10 minutes to crisp up the skin.

8. Remove from oven, let sit about 10min, then serve!

That's all for this Thursday, Enjoy!

Cheeks Gone Sour!

Sometimes the Right Cheek and I get a liiiiittle out of hand for our love of food. Love of food could possibly also be known as ... lack of self control! HA! Every so often Righty is eating too much pizza and Lefty (that's me!) is eating way too many cookies. Man is it delicious, but man do we feel like crap. I sleep in, I skip workouts, I get blemishes. So it's time to cut the cookie cord! To get back on track Righty and I become accountable to each other. In other words, if either of us deviates from the newly laid down law (which for me is no sugar) then we owe the other Cheek $50. Boy is that some motivation! But ya know what, it works. Do that for a week or two and you've gotten out of your crapy eating habits and back to health.

One thing I noticed these past few days during my time of no sugar is that it all goes back to what we preach about time and time again. In order to eat right you have to be prepared. I found myself hungry and without food throughout the day, which made me want to grab the quickest easiest thing...sugar. Yes generally in the form of cookies, that's my kryptonite (Boy do I love cookies!! Did I mention I love cookies?) Of course I didn't because then I'd be in debted to Righty for a few G's, heh heh! But the moral of the story is...always be FOOD prepared. So today I went food shopping and cooked up a storm in the kitchen! My food is prepped and ready for the week and I just love it. One of my creations today was the following recipe of awesomeness....

Cauliflower Steaks with Tomato Black Olive Relish

1 large head of cauliflower

1/2 cup pitted oil-packed black olives, finely chopped

3 sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 lemon for squeezing juice

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon garlic crushed

2 plum tomatoes, cored, diced

Remove leaves and trim stem end of cauliflower, leaving core intact. Place cauliflower core side down on a work surface. Using a large knife, slice cauliflower into four 1/2" "steaks" from center of cauliflower (some florets will break loose; reserve).

Finely chop enough loose florets to measure 1/2 cup. Transfer chopped florets to a small bowl and mix with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, 1 tablespoon oil, parsley, and lemon juice. Season relish with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400°. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, cook cauliflower steaks until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side, adding tablespoon oil to pan between batches. Transfer steaks to a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast cauliflower until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, return skillet to medium-high heat and add garlic and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are soft and browned, about 12 minutes.

Mix the garlic tomatoes into the olive relish.

Place 1 cauliflower steak on each plate; spoon relish over.

Enjoy!

Inspired by an awesome recipe found on Epicurious!

Bacon Dreams

I forgot how much I loved the crock pot. Choppity chop, stick it in the pot and go to bed! The delicious smell fills up the house as you sleep, causing visions of bacon to dance in your head! Then you wake up to breakfast hot and ready! Oh crock pot how I love thee!

Crock Pot Breakfast

6 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped

1 red onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 sweet potatoes, washed and grated finely

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic

12 eggs

1 cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon dried dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Spray crock pot with non stick cooking spray.

Saute onion, garlic and pepper in olive oil until soft.

Spread 1/3 of the grated sweet potato in the bottom of the pot. Cover with 1/3 of the onion mixture and 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Repeat layers 2 more times.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and coconut milk. Stir in dill and salt and pepper.

Pour eggs over the layers in the crock pot.

Turn to low and let cook for 8-10 hours until a thermometer inserted in the center reaches 160 degrees.

Enjoy!

Kale again?

As we've seen before sometimes the Left Cheek and I are on the same track. Meaning, we prepare a similar recipe. Well, it happened again. I whipped up a batch of spicy, nutty kale salad, which is very similar to her Peanut Shrimp Curry Kale recipe. I adapted mine from another blog: Domestic Divas which posts some delicious recipes.

I don't fee the picture does it justice, but the flavor is unique and a little spicy.

What you will need:

1 small bag organic kale salad (pre cut w/carrots and cabbage form Whole Foods)

Dressing:

2 tablespoons smooth almond butter

2 tablespoons coconut aminos

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon red pepper chili flakes

1 teaspoon crushed garlic (trader joes)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled

1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

1 squirt siracha sauce (adjust to taste)

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl, toss with kale then serve! The longer the dressing sits on the salad the more flavorful and tender the kale gets.

Moving pieces

There are many moving pieces in my life and I made it that way. Looking back it's been a bit of an evolution. I have always had an interest in the body and helping people too, so my current job fits me. When I first moved to LA I worked at Gold's Gym in Venice, wow, what a scene! Being fresh to California there was a lot to take in. I met a bunch of great people, had fun and then it was time to move on.

As a recent graduate with a degree in Health promotion fitness management I was unsure of what I "suppose to do" and still searching for what I wanted to do. Next stop was UCLA. I worked as an administrative assistant in their dermatology department. I was interested in the science of dermatology, and again, met a great group of people, but found sitting at a desk was not for me. I got tired of doing it and finally realized that I needed to stop, so I did.

Next move was to fitness. I got a job at Equinox as a personal trainer, but needed some additional income to make it all work, so lululemon was my part time gig for a while. They were the perfect combination at the time. During this period I met Karen, who was opening a gym for teens. I started to give more and more time to this and eventually left both jobs and we opened up O2 MAX. I continued to train people renting space from various gyms.

Then a friend introduced me to CrossFit. I tried it and found it both challenging and fun. Lifting especially made me feel at home. I got no strange looks for picking up heavy weights just word of encouragement to do more. And everyone was SO friendly. I've continued to come back since my first time in 2008. After a couple years of CrossFitting for fitness and competition I decided it would be great to teach it. So, into the CrossFit LA instructor training program I went. Now, I still train private clients both in and out of the gym, I run the CrossFit LA kids program and coach the adults at CrossFit LA along with cooking for this wonderful blog!

I'm happy with this process and love what I do. My favorite thing is helping people do things they thought they couldn't in addition to getting them stronger!

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Roasted Butternut squash soup with kale

1 butternut squash

2 boxes organic low sodium vegetable broth

1/3 bag trader Joes kale (pre cut)

1 onion-chopped

2 Tbps crushed garlic

salt

pepper

olive oil

about 1 tsp each curry powder, cumin and cloves

Start of by roasting your squash. This can be done ahead of time. Or use already roasted squash. Chop in half, de-seed and drizzle with olive oil. Place on baking sheet skin side down and bake in oven at 400 degrees under tender appx 30-40min. When done and cool, scoop out squash with spoon, discarding peel.

1. In stock pot saute add in a small amount of olive oil and chopped onions, cook until soft and brown. Then add in garlic and cook for 1-2min.

2. Next add in cooked squash and vegetable broth

3. Cook for 10-15 min until squash is slightly softer then blend with an immersion blender.

4. Add in spices and cook for about 30 more minutes

5. Add in kale and cook until desired tenderness.

6. Serve and enjoy!

The Power of Positivity

Recently I attended a service at Agape International Spiritual Center, and it was fabulous! There was singing, dancing, meditating, breathing and the most amazing service spoken by Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith. I LOVED it. Dr. Michael was one of the speakers in the ever so famous movie "The Secret." I've actually never seen that movie but I'm pretty sure almost everyone has heard of it. It's all about the law of attraction and how positive thinking can create life-changing results. I love this concept, absolutely live this way and encourage my patients and those around me to also. Dr. Michael's service was all about this. He spouted so much optimism and positive thinking in an hours time that I was bubbling over with love, hope and happiness when I left Agape that night! My 3 favorite affirmations of that night follow:

"All my needs are met."

"I have so many blessings I don't know what to do with them."

"I have so much love I don't know what to do with it!"

Love this stuff : )

Peanut Curry Shrimp and Kale

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 Tablespoons red curry paste

1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juice

Juice of 1 lime

1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 bag or large bunch of kale

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

20-25 precooked deveined medium shrimp

1 teaspoon garlic, crushed

1 carrot, sliced into thin rounds

1/4 cup water

Combine peanut butter, curry paste, diced tomatoes with juice, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender and purée until smooth.

If using a bunch of kale, discard kale stems. Slice leaves crosswise into ½-inch ribbons.

Place a heavy, large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add shrimp, garlic and carrot and sauté 2 minutes more.

Fold in kale until coated in onion mixture and beginning to wilt (add kale in batches if necessary). Add water and fold to coat vegetables in liquid. Cover and cook about 4 minutes, until kale is tender but still green.

Turn off burner. Pour sauce over kale and shrimp and mix thoroughly.

Enjoy!

Inspired by New Hope 360.