Happy Paleo New Year

Happy New Year!

One thing I’ve learned about blogging: It’s easier when you set a schedule and do it on a regular basis. Fortunately for me, though unfortunately for my blog, my business really picked up in September and I got out of the habit of posting–and then travel and the holidays got in the way.

In October, I traveled to Boston with the Pocock Rowing Center men’s team for which I cox. We’ve competed in the Men’s 40+ event for the past few years, and although the boat has done well, we hadn’t won—until this year. Our 4+ (Chris Hoffman, Jason Planke, Ty Bennion, Max Chickering) beat the other 20-plus crews by nearly 30 seconds.

About a year ago, I posted about qualifying for the New York Marathon. I went to New York for the marathon in November, but as you may have heard, it was cancelled. (The photo at right is of me and my friend Lisa running in Central Park on the day the marathon was scheduled to run.) That was disappointing, but luckily in September, I ran the Skagit Flats Marathon, where I qualified for Boston. So I have that to look forward to in April. (After much deliberation, I also decided to go back to New York for the 2013 marathon.)

I have been taking a crossfit class through Medal Fitness for almost a year, and my husband recently joined the class. When the instructor suggested that her students join her on the Whole9 30-day challenge for the start of the new year, Jason decided he wanted to do it.

Being a supportive wife, I agreed, and I’ve learned it’s also a great new challenge for me as a chef to invent recipes that don’t cheat but taste great. Surprisingly, I’ve found that a number of recipes I’ve made in the past are actually paleo or can be easily adapted to be paleo.

For example, my Sweet Potato-Salmon Cakes, which I originally posted in April 2012, make a perfect base for a healthy eggs benedict-type breakfast when topped with sauteed spinach and poached eggs (see photo above).