Thanksgiving recap and some food prep

Hi there!

How was your Thanksgiving?

Ours was pretty good! I took a little bit of time off of everything – blogging, working out, showering…..

Hey, if I wasn’t sweaty, why would I need to shower?

Okay, seriously, I’m kidding. Sheesh! I showered. I promise.

We headed up to my folks’ house for Thanksgiving.

Halfway there, I realized I left the butternut squash at home. #sidedishfail

But, it worked out okay because 1. less butternut squash I have to share, 2. I remembered the brownies, and 3. we had PUH-Lenty of food!

And wine, of course. 🙂

Most of it was catered but there was reheating, etc to do. Took a MAJOR load of stress of my mom’s shoulders.

And I was pretty thankful about that, too, because my sailor and I usually end up in charge of the turkey (we grill it) and it was raining and miserable. I love me some grilling but grilling outside in the cold rain is about as much fun as waxing the bikini line. Right? Right.

Everything was really, really good!

My sister was in charge of the pumpkin pies and she totally made me a gluten-free (minus the crust) pumpkin pie!

swoon!

I was totally not expecting it and was weighing my pumpkin pie options (do I just eat the pumpkin and leave the crust, take my chances with the gluten-y crust, or skip it altogether and just eat a brownie?) when she pulled it out of her bag of tricks. 🙂

We headed back home on Friday (Black Friday shopping? no thank you.) and proceeded to sit on our butts all weekend.

Okay, not really.

We ran errands on Saturday and we hit up some antique/consignment stores and found the most amazing chairs for our dining room table!

We bought the table from Ikea back in 2001 and still had the original chairs we bought with the table.

13 years and 7 moves later, those chairs were DONE. One actually broke a couple of weeks ago. While someone was sitting in it. Thankfully, the chair took the brunt of the damage.

We also bought a new Christmas tree!

The tree we’ve replaced was almost 20 years old and had been through WAY more than 7 moves. It was falling apart and starting to look a little like Charlie Brown’s tree.

source

It was definitely time to upgrade. This one is pre-lit! No more ring around the rosie trying to string lights! #winning

I also did a little bit of food prep.

I made some of Lindsay’s Quinoa Breakfast Bars for grab ‘n go breakfasts/snacks (edited the recipe to make it gluten free). They’re all individually bagged and ready for snacking.

 If you have not made these yet, you are totally missing out. Super easy and super delicious!

 I threw together a pot of Smoky Beef and Black Bean Chili for lunches this week.

 Stay tuned for the recipe tomorrow!

steamy!

 

 And, finally, I tried a Pinterest recipe for Ginger Chicken Stir-fry and it turned out fabulously!

We have leftovers so that adds at least 2 more lunches or quick dinners this week. Whoop!

I also roasted up my accidentally left-behind butternut squash. 🙂

source

Talk to me: Did you shop on Black Friday? How long were you out and what time did you wake up to go?

– jennifer

Jennifer – 2, WOD – 1 … and some chicken stir-fry

Hello, hello!

It’s totally my Friday today but, for the rest of you who have to work the remainder of the week, Happy Hump Day!

Why is it my Friday, you ask?

Well, Thing 1 officially became a Sailor yesterday and we’re off to the graduation ceremony!

It’s been a pretty awesome week for me so far and capping it with the pomp and circumstance of her boot camp graduation ceremony will only make it awesomer!

Yes, that’s a word.

I can’t wait to see her in her uniform!  I will probably explode with pride.  And tears.  I’m a crier.

Hell, even the Cheerios commercial makes me tear up!  You know the one where the little girl puts the Cheerios on her daddy’s chest?

So sweet! 🙂  I know, I know.  I’m a sap. I can’t help it.

Okay, so, let’s talk workouts.

Yesterday’s was a killer.

I was really concerned about those box jumps.  I know I got the clearance to run but the last time I did a box jump, it hurt and I was very, very nervous.  Pre-workout, I grabbed the 12-inch box just to see.  It honestly took me a few minutes to work up the nerve to jump.  I was afraid of the possibility of pain!  I finally did it and – IT DIDN’T HURT!  So, I tried the 18-inch box. That also took a few minutes for me to work up my nerve but I did that one, too!  And I was okay!  So, progression dictates that I try the 20-inch box since that’s what I was doing before my injury.  That took a little more working up to.  I finally did it but boy, do I have some nerves to get over!  I ended up doing box step ups for the WOD because, really, I don’t have all day to do box jumps and, honestly, I’m supposed to be coming back slow and 72 box jumps didn’t seem “slow” to me.

But, I did RX the weight at 95# on the back squats! Great. Googly. Moogly. Those were so hard!

And yes, I did the 400m runs. Although, my legs were a little wobbly so I’m not sure how I managed them but I did.  I may have kicked Monday’s workout in the ass but yesterday’s kicked back.  So, heading into this morning, it was

Jennifer – 1; WOD – 1

And then, this morning, this happened.

I DID A PULL UP!!!!

Actually, I did 4!! But, who’s counting? 🙂

The first 3 weren’t videoed because I certainly didn’t think I was going to do them! I mean, I was really close yesterday but I didn’t think I was going to get one today, much less 3!

So, after the WOD – 1 km row, 2 mins rest, 5 mins max kettlebell swings (35#), 2 mins rest, 1 km row (sorry, forgot to snap the photo of the board in my excitement!) – I decided to try one more. Didn’t think I would get it – and I almost didn’t!

But, could I be having a better week?! No, I don’t think so.

Jennifer – 2, WOD – 1

🙂

So, if you’ll excuse me, I think I need to go and float through my day.

Happy Wednesday!

QUESTIONS:

How’s your week going? Can you do a pull up?

Oh! And, I made stir-fry last night. Om nom nom!

Chicken & Sugar Snap Pea Stir-fry! Click the photo to get the recipe on my Facebook page. Om nom nom!

– jennifer

Too many emotions. Thank goodness for Chili-Mango Chicken!

Hi there! Happy Thursday!

Well, hopefully for you it’s a happy Thursday. For me, it’s more of a frustrated Thursday. Between CrossFit on Tuesday night and then again on Wednesday morning and PT on Wednesday afternoon, I am pretty wiped out so I didn’t get up and ride the spin bike this morning. Additionally, I am dealing with the knowledge (and stress) that I have likely wasted 11 of 15 physical therapy visits because I’ve been misdiagnosed. I’m the type of person who wants to do the best for myself and my running so I’ve been doing more research on what could be causing my pain. You see, while I feel a whole lot better than I did, I still have pain and cannot run and cannot box jump, etc. And, some days, it just aches. You would think after 3 1/2 weeks of physical therapy, I’d be much closer to 100% if it was just a muscle strain.

I finally got the PT to really listen to me yesterday (honestly, I’m not sure what took so long – maybe I just repeated myself enough?) and he did some different flexibility tests. Turns out my hip flexors are WICKED tight. Like, so tight they could audition for the Wicked Witch of the West and easily snag the part. I have really worked over the past few years to make sure that I stretch after a run and I’ve never had any problems with my hips before but, clearly, I’m not stretching enough. And, prior to my discussion with the PT, I was researching hip flexor strains/injuries and I came across information regarding femoral neck stress fractures vs. hip flexor strains. It is entirely possible that I have a stress fracture based on my symptoms and, while I’ve been healing because I’ve not been running, I have been using that leg and some of the exercises I’ve been doing may be slowing down the healing process. Femoral neck stress fractures are very not good. If only my doctor had sent me in for the MRI 4 1/2 weeks ago like I asked. But no, he just sent me straight to PT where I wasn’t fully evaluated. Great. Pardon me while I go cry in my Cheerios.

So, the PT is going to reevaluate my program and I need to get back in with my doctor to ask AGAIN for an MRI. I don’t even know what I’m going to do if it IS a stress fracture. Obviously, a BQ is out of the question in Tupelo. Hell, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to even RUN Tupelo.

Okay, that’s enough “woe is me” stuff. Thanks for listening. 🙂 Please keep your fingers crossed for me. I need good vibes!

Now on to the happy part – FOOD!

I made the BEST stir-fry dish last night. Like, AMAZE-BALLS! If you like Asian food – especially the spicy sweet kind like General Tso’s chicken – you will LOVE this. And the best part is it’s not going to cost you 3 days worth of calories to enjoy it!! WIN! Plus, it takes less than 30 minutes! Double win! The hardest part about making this dish, besides waiting to eat it, is cutting the mango. Here’s a great video on how to cut a mango in different ways:

See? Super easy! Now go to the store and buy a mango so you can make this for dinner. Go on. Go. What are you waiting for? Seriously. GO! 🙂

Chili-Mango Chicken
makes 4 servings

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon peanut or canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon grated or minced fresh ginger
2 cups sugar snap peas
1 mango, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (preferably sambal olek)
Black pepper to taste

1. Combine the chicken, cornstarch, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a mixing bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

2. Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the sugar snaps and stir-fry for 1 minute, using a metal spatula to keep the vegetables in near-constant motion. (Hence the term: stir-fry!) Add the chicken along with its marinade, and stir-fry for about 2 minutes or until the meat begins to brown on the outside. Add the mango, chili sauce, and black pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute longer, until the chicken is cooked through and the mango has softened into a near sauce-like consistency. (If your family hasn’t already come to the kitchen to check out what’s making all that noise on the stove, they will come RUNNING when the chili sauce hits the pan. O.M.G. Now THAT’S an amazing smell!) Serve over brown rice. Or, eat straight from the pan. Whichever. Just don’t burn yourself.

Per serving:
Calories 240; Fat 8g (saturated 1g); Sodium 410mg

Has anyone ever had a femoral neck stress fracture before? How long was your recovery time? Advice? Have you ever tried acupuncture for a hip flexor injury?

– jennifer