Day 9: The Warm Up, The Chipper, and Oven Baked Fish Nuggets

Days to Colorado CrossFit Open: 11

THE WORKOUT: Day 9
At our CrossFit gym, in the past, we have warmed up on our own given a few exercises written on a whiteboard. Our trainer has decided to change things up a bit and it seems like people are excited about it. First of all, we warmed up together as a class which was really nice. Even more importantly, the warm up exercises were different than what we have been doing. The most fun thing about CrossFit is the amazing variety of exercises and the creative ways they are put together to form exceedingly difficult workouts. Why not make the warm up just as interesting? There are just as many options if not more out there. It is another opportunity for a trainer to be creative as well as to remind us why we do CrossFIt instead of just going to the gym.

After the warm up we did a very scheduled chipper which made for a solid hour of hard work. Great workout today.

2:00 of double unders for # of reps followed immediately by
8:00 to max on clean and jerk
Rest 3:00 and then do the following in order for time:
30 deadlifts 225 boys/155 girls
20 box jumps at 24”
30 pull-ups
20 squat cleans 135 boys/85 girls
30 push-ups
20 toes to bar
My double unders: 150
My clean and jerk: 145
My time: 9:22 (or so. need to look again.)

THE DIET: Day 9 – Oven Baked Fish Nuggets and Sweet Potato Fries
I found a recipe for Oven Baked Fish Nuggets in one of my cook books that has you coat chunks of fish in bread crumbs and cornflakes. As an experiment I substituted finely shredded coconut and almond meal from the bins at Whole Foods. Delicious. Here is what I did for this first attempt:

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets:
Thawed out 2 frozen cod fillets, rinsed them, and cut them in chunks
Rolled them one by one in a mixture of:
1/3 C almond meal
1/3 C very finely shredded coconut
Pinches of kosher salt and white pepper
1 T parmesan (optional)*
Baked them on a lightly oiled pan at 375 for 15-20 minutes
Broiled for another minute or two to brown the tops

The two things I would do differently:
1. I would toast the coconut on the stove in a dry pan on medium heat until it just starts to change color so the chunks would come out a more golden brown without worrying about overcooking the fish.

2. The cod chunks were so moist that I attempted to coat them without an agent to keep the stuff on. It worked okay and is do-able. But I have a MISTO that sprays different types of oils in a fine mist that I might try next time with either coconut or olive oil.

Tip: Coat each chunk separately and try to keep your fingers dry so the mixture doesn’t get wet and start clumping up.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Cut a couple potatoes or a butternut squash into fry-sized strips.
(You can also buy them pre-cut which makes these really easy).
Sprinkle on evenly:
1 T cumin (approx)
1 tsp nutmeg or pumpkin spice
Pinch of Kosher salt to taste
Dash of cinnamon**

I put these on a VERY lightly oiled pan in the oven about 10 minutes before the fish nuggets. So they baked at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. Tip: Don’t brush these with oil. They will soak it up and get soggy. I rub on a very slight amount of oil or butter in the last minute or two just to make them bright and shiny.

* Okay, I might get berated by Paleo enthusiasts for the parmesan but I coated two big fillets of fish with only half of that mixture and the only ate a third of that so really the amount was negligible but the added taste was tremendous. But feel free to omit.

** Again, there is no substitute for the Vietnamese cinnamon at Savory Spice. There are a few other types there which are great as well).