Founding Farmer's and Paleo

Tonight I went to Founding Farmer's for dinner with my dear friends, Laurie and Jeff (blogger @ amireallyborntorun.blogspot.com)

Founding Farmer's is new to the Rockville/Potomac, MD area. They also have a location off Pennsylvania Ave in DC that is wildly popular. We went to the Park Potomac location on a Monday night and it was packed like a weekend. It was a lively scene with great service, and special touches, like silverware with horseshoes (reminds me of my upbringing!) and soda made from scratch (will be mimicking this soon!). The menu is "heartland inspired" and full of fun dishes like "Straw and Hay"-- handmade pasta with asparagus and beets. The menu was full of comfort food like Lobster Mac & Cheese and Low Country Shrimp & Grits, but also has healthier options like the Farmers Salad-- made with baby lettuce, avocado, dates, tomato, red grapes, almonds, parmesan cheese and champagne vinegarette and daily caught fish like rockfish and flounder (today's specials).

Today also marks day 1 of Coca CrossFit's 25 day Paleo Challenge and my own personal challenge: 25 Days of CrossFit & Paleo.  The timing just happened to workout perfectly!  I decided to participate in the Paleo challenge with a couple of goals: 1) understand what the Paleo diet is and how it affects the body, specifically athletic performance and 2) reset myself to eat more protein, and plan my meals in advance.

It was kind of fun to order with my Paleo goals in mind. All of the pasta dishes, cheese and flatbreads were out. Otherwise, I would have without a doubt ordered the Prosciutto, Fig, Mascarpone flatbread (who wouldn't?!). For apps we ordered Fried Green Tomatoes (and boy were they deep fried) and classic Deviled Eggs (Paleo approved--pretty sure). I ate the tomato and left the breading-- a typical choice whether Paleo or not and enjoyed a deviled egg.  For an entree I chose Mussels with Sausage and Pesto. I absolutely love mussels (and muscles--just saying), so this was an easy choice and the most Paleo approved on the menu. It came is a blazing iron skillet and was WAY more than I could eat in one sitting. There was just a little bit of sausage, guessing this was really in there for the fat to cook in the sauce, and I'm not sure I would pin point pesto, but the flavors were a sure win. Would recommend it if you like brothy mussels.

Mussels as served (with 3 huge crostini!)

As I ate them ( I did sneak 1/2 pc of bread)

Earlier today, I did a 1-1 session at CrossFit Done Right in Rockville, MD. If you are in the MD area and looking to join a CrossFit, Done Right really does do it right! Highly recommend you check it out! Before you take classes, you go through a series of 1-1 training sessions where the coaches break down various basic strength moves like the deadlift, or more dynamic moves like the snatch or clean. They really know what's up; I learned a ton and now have better form after the sessions. You also go through a typical CrossFit "metcon" workout, to test your skills and gain a starting point. Today part of my workout included wallballs and burpee box jumps. To finish it off, you stretch and let me tell you, this may be one of the most valuable parts. For a couple months, I had been struggling with lower back pain after working out (didn't matter what the workout was). During my first session, Rob (CrossFit Done Right coach), noticed that I had tight hamstrings, and showed me some stretches to do, and he assured me that this would help my low back. Well, I listened and did the stretches 1-3 times a week and in just a couple of weeks, my back pain was gone, and it hasn't been back since. So...I highly recommend the coaches at Done Right!

Stay tuned for an update on 25 Days of CrossFit and Paleo!

In health, Monica

P.S. I specifically didn't link to a specific paleo website, because there are so many out there! Google and research if you're interested!