The Seven last week, 100s over the weekend, and the Filthy Fifty this week. Whose body needs a rest day? Who is going to TAKE ONE? Post to comments.

Raw Kale Salad

A new favorite!  It’s simple, tasty, and makes for part of a great summer dinner.

Seven rounds for time of:
1.5 pood Kettlebell swing, 15 reps
95 pound Power clean, 15 reps
15 Box jumps, 24″ box

Roasted squash with pork and brocoli.

Cast Iron Cooking with Stef – Roasted Squash and Pork with Broccoli

Purchase:
1 pork tenderloin
1 acorn squash
1 butternut squash
2 bunches broccoli

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Cube and peel the squashes
3. Toss the squash with fat, garlic, salt, pepper
4. Put on a baking sheet and cover with foil
5. Bake squash for 15 or so minutes while you sear the pork
6. Sear the pork on all sides in a very hot skillet (a cast iron skillet works great!)
7. Pour squash into cast iron skillet 
8. Reduce oven to 375 and bake until the pork reaches 140-170 degrees, roughly 20 minutes
9. Cut brocoli into long stalks
10. Dump in steamer and steam for 5 minutes
11. Toss brocoli with coconut oil and garlic powder
12. Broil squash and pork for 1-2 minutes to finish

“Rankel”
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
225 pound Deadlift, 6 reps
7 Burpee pull-ups
10 Kettlebell swings, 2 pood
Run 200 meters

Roots kicks off and closes out the week with 20 minute AMRAPs. Lots going on here!

A Week of Meals in Pictures, Day 4

Breakfast: two eggs over medium with a grapefruit (which I accidentally ate before I took the picture, that’s a piece of peel in the picture!)

Lunch: broccoli, carrots, onions, and beef leftover from dinner the other night

Snack: carrots, salsa, one loan piece of broccoli, and the last two slices of some deli meat.  Deli meat is not really my first choice but it was going to go bad.

Dinner: JUNK BURGER!  One burger cut in half length wise to create two different themed junk burgers.  1st half: egg, bacon.  2nd half: sauteed spinach, onions, mushrooms, topped with salsa and guacamole.  Tablespoon of mashed cauliflower which I was trying for the first time.

A Week of Meals in Pictures Day 4.

then AMRAP double unders in 2 minutes

Tracie gave this clip to me yesterday. SHOCKING. "Attorney Dee Miles said attorneys had Taco Bell's "meat mixture" tested and found it contained less than 35 percent beef." Quite the contrast to our week's focus on real food.

A Week of Meals in Pictures – Day 2

Day 2 of a Week of Meals in Pictures.

Breakfast: 2 egg scramble with leftover hamburger meat, spinach, onions, and avocado, topped with salsa, prep time – 6:22
Lunch: Illegal Pete’s beef bowl.  Burrito bowl with lettuce instead of rice topped with shredded beef, lots of salsa, guac, onions, and cilantro, prep time: 4:35 waiting in line
Snack: grapefruit,  leftover 1/2 hamburger, 1/2 avocado, prep time – 2:19
Dinner: chuck roast, carrots, onions, brocollini, prep time – 12 minutes to cook broccoli, 11 minutes to prep and stick the chuck roast in the oven but browned while I made lunch so only counting 5 minutes

TOTAL PREP TIME – 30:16 and the chuck roast will fuel our leftovers for at least 3 days

Eric’s Chuck Roast Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
2. Peel 8 or so carrots and place them in the bottom of a roasting pan side by side (like a grate)
3. Sear chuck roast on all sides and place on top of the carrots.  
4. Rub the top of the chuck roast with cajun spices (Frontier brand Blackened Creole salt-free rub)
5. Quarter 2 onions and 5 cloves of garlic and toss in the pan
6. Add 1 cup water to the bottom of the pot 
7. Put the top on and roast 1 hour per pound of meat.  Baste and flip roast occasionally.

For all of your holiday entertaining needs! Check out Bethany's Pecan Pie. For those of you not on the Paleo part of the challenge, I think you could work some butter into this recipe! What do you think?

Bethany’s Pecan Pie

The rowing clinic series is coming to Roots. Stay tuned for next details posted on the site this week!

WTF Challenge Info Session

TODAY at 10:30am the first of the two WTF Challenge info sessions.  Come learn about the challenge, why we encourage you to eat the way we do, and how to go about making the most of your next five weeks!

Split Jerk 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps
then:
As many rounds and reps as possible in ten minutes of:
6 Squat cleans (55/30kg)
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Eric sends pics of the US fast food influence around the world. Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Tracy, June, and Nicole head down to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs next Friday for the inaugural USAW/CrossFit competition.  The workout consists of a 1 rep max clean and jerk and snatch and a 10 minute AMRAP.  The one we’re doing today!  Sweet!

Crock Pot Season is Upon Us

Here’s a great (and SUPER easy) recipe to get your rolling.

Easy Beef Ribs

Ingredients:
- 1-2 racks of beef ribs
- 2 teaspoons fennel seed
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup water

Place all ingredients in a crock pot.  Turn on high and cook for 4 hours.  Reduce to low and cook for an additional 2 hours.  Awesome!

How many rounds will you do with unbroken squats?

Curry Chicken Salad.

I like dark meat.  When I buy a rotisserie chicken I am hard pressed to find a use for the white meat.  Usually it ends up in scrambled eggs or on a salad but I came across this concoction the other day in the Whole Foods prepared section.

Here’s a first attempt at remaking the recipe:

Curry Chicken Salad

(at least) 2 chicken breasts cut up into small cubes
1/4 cup Spectrum Canola Mayonaise 
1 tablespoon currants (or 1/4 cup sliced apples or grapes)
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons of cumin
3 green onions thinly sliced and chopped
1 celery stick thinly chopped
2 tablespoons sliced almonds 
2 cloves minced garlic
Pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and enjoy!  Pack and go!

Paleo Chicken Cacciatore Recipe

Food not only nourishes and fuels us, it provides comfort.  Here’s a comfort food favorite.

Combine the following to coat chicken:
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika

1 chicken, cut in serving pieces, dredge chicken in coating mixture.

Red sauce ingredients:
1/4 c. olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, sliced or chopped
1 green pepper, sliced or chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced or crushed
2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2-3 celery ribs, sliced
1 16 oz. jar tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. salt

Place all red sauce ingredients in a crock pot and turn to high or cook.
After chicken is coated with the flour mixture, brown in pan.
Add chicken to crock pot and cook for 4 hours.
Remove chicken from crock pot and store in a bowl.
Pulse the red sauce in a Cuisinart or a blender until it resembles a creole consistency.
Replace red sauce and chicken into crock pot.
Serve in bowl.

The first of the monthly Ladies Workouts was a blast. Jennifer drew "Karen" out of the Benchmark Girls bin - 150 wallballs for time. Recovery drinks in the red wine variety. Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun!

Dudes, remember to sign-up for the Dudes Workout on MBO!  It’s this Friday at 5:30pm.

One week into the Paleo Showdown
Check out Tara’s blog for a little ditty about her pre-showdown prep!  It’s a great and fun read!

“Grainless Granola” Recipe

Thanks Barabara and Mark for the recipe.

1/2 cup golden flax seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, raw, shelled
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup dehydrated coconut flakes, unsweetened
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

- Process all ingredients except cinnamon in a food processor on high, until nuts and seeds are reduced to a grain like texture, about 1-2 minutes.  Add cinnamon and pulse to mix through.
- Serving size is 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  Serve cold or warm with fruit and almond or coconut milk.  (If using coconut milk, thin a bit with water so that the granola doesn’t clump into a big ball)
- Makes 4 to 8 servings.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.