Making the most of what you've got

We all have things that we’re not so good at. I’m sure we’ve all experienced those moments of dismay when we get a WoD that seems to intentionally target our ‘worst’ exercises, or when we have to do something at work that doesn’t come naturally to us (public speaking, anyone?!). We all know what it’s like to feel as if we’re not doing something as well as we’d like to.

There is no denying it - we all have our weaknesses.

But we also all have our strengths.

The beauty of CrossFit is that the nature of the sport allows everyone to utilise their strengths. It lets everyone make the most of what they’ve got. I’ve got a long way to go with most of the exercises we do in CrossFit, but I have a pretty good run. I now love it when we get WoDs with runs in them, because I know I can use them to make up time I might lose on exercises that I find harder. I’ve switched my mindset from seeing runs as a bit of a ‘rest’, because they’re not as hard, to viewing them as something I can utilise to improve my performance. It’s no different when we face challenges in life. It’s important to focus on our strengths and how we can best use them to overcome each hurdle.

The CrossFit Games are about to start. Have you entered yet? Sure, you might not think you can complete every workout as rx’d, and you might not be aiming for a place at regionals or worlds, but you just might find that one of the sectionals workouts happens to involve those very exercises you know you’re good at. Every single member of a team can contribute to the team’s overall scores. Every single member of the team can make the most of what they’ve got to help the team get to the next stage. So what are you waiting for? Sign up and make the most of what you’ve got!

http://games.crossfit.com/athletes/teams/crossfit-new-zealand

Speaking of making the most of what you’ve got, here are a few recipes I threw together at short notice, using bits and pieces that were in the fridge, or things that needed using up…


Olive, pickled onion, and feta mix

I was feeling kind of peckish prior to heading out on Saturday night, and I really wanted something salty. So I had a rummage around the pantry and the fridge, and came up with this.

Black olives
Chopped pickled onions
Goats feta
(Could also add sundried tomatoes)

If I was making this in advance, I would also have added some fresh rosemary, but that would need time for the flavour to permeate through the mix.

Put all ingredients in a bowl & demolish!

Broccoli, avocado & mint salad 

When we got home, we had to throw a quick (but ideally tasty) dinner together. Bear was in charge of the steak, I was in charge of the vegetables. Having not yet done the grocery shopping, I was a bit short of options…but we did have some broccoli, some avocado, and some pecans leftover from the crumble…perfect for a warm broccoli salad!

Broccoli
Avocado
Chopped fresh mint
Chopped pecans
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt & pepper, to taste

In a bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, fresh mint, pecans, and salt & pepper.

Steam broccoli & add to the bowl. Chop avocado, add, and stir.

Eggplant & kumara dip

This one came about because I had a couple of eggplant that needed using, and then we had a bit of leftover baked kumara that Bear had cooked for a brunch with friends who never showed! (Don’t feel bad though guys, it made a great starter for dinner with my family that evening!)…

2 eggplants, sliced and roasted
6 cloves garlic, roasted
Roasted kumara
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
3 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
Touch of ground cayenne pepper

Roast eggplant, garlic, and kumara.

Combine all ingredients using a stick blender or food processor.

Serve with fresh vegetable sticks.

It’s not freak food

Since going primal, I’ve become fairly used to hearing phrases like…

“I have no idea what to cook for you now”

or…

“I don’t think [insert name here] would like it if I started serving him/her primal meals”

and most commonly…

“But what do you eat?!”

Well guess what people, you’ll never believe it…it’s kinda crazy, I know…but we eat food! Real food!! It’s nothing special, nothing particularly weird, just real food that doesn’t happen to include grains or sugars. It may be labelled ‘primal’, ‘paleo’, or even ‘caveman’…but it’s not freak food!

I was having a conversation with a friend last week who was concerned about how her partner might respond if she served up a primal meal. So I told her not to tell him it was primal. After all, it’s just normal food. If you don’t make a big deal of the fact that there are no grains or sugars, most people probably won’t even notice! In fact, a lot of you probably eat grain-free meals quite regularly…you just don’t call them primal.

Even eating out is pretty easy once you get your head around it. Sure, you may need to ask them to hold the bread or the potatoes, but countless people have dietary requirements that mean modifications of some dishes. Isn’t that kind of service what we’re paying for when we eat out?!

I do have to admit though, one thing that I find requires a little more ‘thinking outside the square’ is nibbles (or appetisers). First thing we usually think of is cheese and crackers…or bread and dips…or if you’re really fancy, blini (little pikelet things) with elaborate toppings…primal fail! But don’t despair, there are actually plenty of other options if you just get a little creative. We went to a friend’s place for dinner last night, and of course, I was asked to take snacks! So I did guacamole with vegetable sticks, and a sweet/spicy Cajun nut mix…

Cajun Nut Mix

Cajun spice (from Annabel Langbein)

5 tbsp paprika

5 tbsp ground cumin

3 tbsp garlic powder

1 ½ tbsp each of chilli powder, brown sugar, salt (obviously I left out the sugar)

2 ½ tsp chopped dry rosemary

Place all ingredients into a bowl/pot/jar and combine.

Nuts

6 cups raw nuts/seeds (I used cashews, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)

7 tbsp cajun spice mix (this makes it quite spicy – use less if you prefer it mild)

½ C olive oil

¼ C pure maple syrup

Combine nuts/seeds, cajun spice, oil and maple syrup.

Spread mix out on baking trays. I lined them with baking paper first to reduce the clean-up!

Roast at 200 degrees celcius until dry (approx 20 mins), stirring occasionally. If you are using fan bake, they probably won’t need as long.

Be careful – because of the maple syrup and the oil, these go from being underdone to overdone in a very short space of time! I learnt the hard way…any chance blackened cajun nut mix might catch on?!

Guacamole

2 avocados

1/2 red chilli (chilli flakes or powder also work)

juice of 2 limes

1 small red onion

1 tomato

lots of fresh coriander

salt & pepper

Mash or blend avocados, chilli and lime juice. Because it was there, I used the Magic Bullet (seriously, could they not have put a bit more thought into the name? I thought the thing was a vibrator the first time I heard someone talking about it!), but mashing works just as well.

Blend or finely chop onion, tomato and coriander. Again, I used the Bullet, but if you like your guacamole chunky, stick with a knife.

Combine avocado mix and the tomato mix, and season to taste.

And a huge thank you to D for an amazing dinner last night, and for accommodating our dietary choices so well. Homemade gluten-free hoisin sauce - that's really going the extra mile!