Steak Night

Friday night in my house is frequently steak night.

And not just steak - it's the best night ever, because I get to sit on my couch in sweatpants, eat steak AND watch Ghost Adventures on the travel network.

(Side note: does anyone else watch that show? What is the DEAL with Zack Bagans? He looks like the skinny nerd from high school who read a book on how to be awesome, but can't quite get the execution right. He's kind of jacked, but he carries it awkwardly, and OMG OMG THOSE SHIRTS I CANNOT LIVE.)

I had a couple of sweet potatoes to use up, so I made some "fries." I sliced them up lazy-style, into rounds:

And gave them a bath in olive oil, chili powder, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne pepper and kosher salt.

I baked/roasted them for about 20 minutes at 425, along with some broccoli, while PhillyGuy manned the grill.

I LOVE STEAK NIGHT.

As a second bonus, PhillyGuy spent some time in Gettysburg yesterday, so he was able to replenish our (pathetic little) fruit supply. This week's treats included a buttload of cherries...

...some super-fat blackberries...

and a bunch of peaches.

All of which I dumped into a bowl for breakfast this morning along with a giant dollop of almond butter.

CrossFit Update:

So, I finished my six On-Ramp classes, and last night was my first "big girl" CrossFit session. Here's a recap of the skills I picked up in On-Ramp:

- Overhead squats (no weight yet) - metcon involved one-armed overhead squats and burpees

- Russian kettlebell swings - metcon involved KB swings and goblet squats

- One-armed KB press, double-unders (disclaimer: I have not actually 'picked up" this skill yet, and have yet to really do a double-under) - metcon involved presses and single-unders

- Pullups (WOMP WOMP WOMP) - metcon involved tabata pullups, pushups and air squats

- DEADLIFTS - metcon involved short runs and deadlifts

- more deadlifts (no weight) and broad jumps - metcon involved broad jumps and medball slams

Last night's session focused on the back squat. Since it was my first time squatting with anything besides, well, nothing or a broomstick, the focus was mainly on form. I did probably five or six sets of 5 squats, building up to 85 pounds. I could have gone heavier if I wasn't so sloppy...yet another reason to work on my abs.

Metcon was three sets of AMRAP in 60 seconds of back squats, pushups and knees to elbows. Squats were definitely my strength in this - I got to use only the bar, and was able to do close to 30 squats in the first round and still managed to do more than 20 squats each of in the second and third. Pushups were OK, but it should come as no surprise that my weak point was knees to elbows. MY GRIP STRENGTH BLOWS.

I'm probably going to hit up this morning's on ramp class - I'm not limited to onramps anymore, but they're working on handstand and handstand pushups, both of which I'm eager to learn. In the meantime, I've been googling "how to build grip strength" and let me tell you, I've found some fascinating contraptions out there.

Happy Saturday!