I don’t often feel like I’m getting older, but this weekend…I feel old. My body feels old. After eating heavy Thanksgiving food, then doing over 270 wall balls in one day, then going out for a girls night out, having a couple cocktails and dancing in heels all night long, then starting Monday off with air dyne sprints…I feel really freaking old. I woke up this Tuesday morning and just laid on the couch for 40 minutes, staring out the windows because my body felt too exhausted to function yet. I mean, the clouds are pink outside so it’s pretty wonderful to look at, but still. This body needs a relaxing dip in a hot tub…OH WAIT WE GET OUR HOT TUB THIS WEEKEND!!!! Squeeeeeeelllll!
Feeling like I’m old AF was totally worth it though. My knees may be broken from dancing in heels all night long, but it was the best night out in Colorado that I’ve had in quite some time! I have no idea how I danced in heels all the time in college. I’m not much of a bar girl anymore, I just feel like I can drink cocktails and talk to friends in the comfort of my own home instead of at an annoying bar. But when my friend invited me to a 90’s dance party at a bar that has really tasty cocktails, I couldn’t say no. And it.was.awesome!! If you lived through the 90’s, you probably remember a lot of the music, but I bet you forgot about a lot of it, too. This dance party had every artist from Britney Spears to Alanis Morissette to TLC to boy bands, people who only sing in vowels, and music that you thought was totally punk like Crazy Town. It was so freaking awesome to sing every word from every song. And all I did was jump for 3 hours straight. I won’t be able to do that again for another few months while my knees heal. Cute.
Funny that I’m saying I feel too old because I just talked about feeling too young on my podcast this week. I said that I still feel too young to raise another human and that I’m still questioning even having children. It seemed to be quite the controversial topic because all sorts of people left comments both on the blog and on my social media. It was really interesting to see how many people felt the same way OR had children and still understood why I felt that way. It was just so cool to hear other people’s experiences and the thought process they’ve gone through with having children or not. So thank you to all you awesome people who left a comment on the topic!
But I need your help this coming week with my podcast! I’m doing another random reader questions episode and I’d love to hear from you and any random questions you have! So far I have questions that range from paleo household staples, breast augmentation, microblading, CrossFit, Jackson, and how to stay motivated! So a huge range and I’d love to add more questions to the list! So feel free to leave them below and I’ll add them to the list!
PS – this casserole is stupid easy. And totally delicious. Make it now!!!
BBQ Chicken Casserole
- Yield: 4-5 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash (about 21⁄2 pounds)
- 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (about 4–5 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 red onion (1/8 minced, 1/8 thinly sliced)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bottle Tessemae’s BBQ Sauce
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- 2 fresno peppers, sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced banana peppers OR pickled jalapeños
- chopped cilantro, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin gives when you press your finger to it. Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish. Use a fork to remove the spaghetti squash threads then place them in a bowl. Add the chicken, garlic cloves, 1/8 minced onion, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper and bbq sauce to a bowl and mix well. Then add eggs and mix until combine. Pour mixture into greased dish and smooth our with a spoon.
- Top casserole with 1/8 thinly sliced onion, sliced fresno peppers and banana peppers or pickled jalapeños.
- Place in oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the center is cooked through and edges have begun to brown.
- Let set for 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish with cilantro.
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Hi Juli! My question is about injury. You’ve mentioned before that you injured your shoulder previously. I’ve recently done the same and I’m curious how you dealt with injury as it related to fitness and your goals? Food, frustration, find new or different ways to work around it, in general staying positive and motivated while you heal. Thanks!
I totally made a pros and cons list after listening to your podcast! I had a few more pros on my list than yours BUT the point is, I asked my husband if we could work through all the cons of having a baby. If it was worth it, if we were ready for it. It was a really good talk! Especially since we are part of religion that assumes all that are able should procreate and I don’t necessarily feel that way.
Hey Juli! My questions are random about grocery shopping. I moved into a new apartment in August and there is a Whole Foods on the first floor (with a private entrance for residents) which can be pretty dangerous.
1. How often do you go to the grocery store?
2. What are your favorite items from the WF hot bar?
3. If you need to pick up something quick from the grocery store for a quick and easy dinner, what do you get?
Where is this?!? And when can I move in?! Whole foods on first floor of my apartment what a dream…not sure I’d have the funds to afford the rent if that was the case – they would all be spent on kickin kombucha and the BBQ bar lol
Do you have tips on how to stay organized, like a phone app or planner of some sort to stay on top of all of your to-dos?
Also, do you have any meal prep tips or easy meal prep recipe recommendations? I prep all my food for the week on Sunday and it’s a lot of work and can be a bit of a stressor. I love simple recipes with few ingredients.
Hi! I have a couple questions/topic suggestions, which are only slightly related:
1. With the holidays coming up, do you have any ideas for Paleo/Crossfit/health-related gifts?
2. I’m an endurance athlete, and typically run about 1-2 marathons/year. I’ve tried Crossfit in the past and have loved it, but because of marathon training, I tend to steer clear of it. Have you ever coached/worked with anyone who has tried (and successfully managed) to balance the two, and if so, how?
I am an endurance athlete. I do Crossfit and train for marathons at the same time. I typically do my 3-4 runs a week and crossfit 1-2 days and then yoga 1x week usually a gentle yoga or restorative and minimum 1 day off a week to recover. I personally, take a lot of mitochondrial support supplements during my marathon training to help with burn out prevention. It is possible to do Crossfit and Marathon train without getting injured.
Hi Juli –
Firstly, love the podcast, keep up the awesome work! It’s something I look forward to every week and I’m thrilled you started one!
My question is around recovery and mobility. Do you have a set of standard mobility exercises that you do when you’ve had a really difficult workout or if you’re quite sore the next day from a WOD. I love crossfit, been doing it for almost 2 years, but I find that I still struggle with mobility and recovery. Any tips or guidance you can provide is appreciated!
I was doing great all through the summer, then Thanksgiving hit and I had pie. Delicious grandma-made pie which was totally worth it. The problem is that now I am hungrier and craving sugar. I actually woke up the next day with my stomach growling. How can I get back on track? I tried to make a Black Friday green smoothie to soothe the sugar demons, but I was starving again in 2 hours. And honestly it wasn’t that great. Any green smoothie tips for filling, tasty smoothies? I feel like I’m undoing all of my progress. Help!
The same exact thing happened to me! Try Juli’s pumpkin chia pudding. It’s so good and just sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, plus it’s super filling. I find that if I occasionally slip up, starting to make some Paleo recipes that seem indulgent (like one of Juli’s casseroles) and are really satisfying makes it easier to get back on track without feeling like you’re forcing it. Once I’ve gotten back into the routine for a few days, it’s self-sustaining.
{Podcast question} This is so random, but I’m curious! When you first started making paleo desserts/dishes, etc – how did you figure out how much tapioca flour, almond flour, arrowroot flour/starch, coconut sugar, “non-traditional” ingredients, blahblahblah to use for your recipes?
I would love to hear how you develop your recipes! Inspiration, testing, kitchen fails etc. How do you continue to create new recipes for the blog each week?
Also, maybe how to approach goals in CrossFit….I feel like my list of things to get better at/learn continues to grow and I find myself starting and then abandoning focus on certain movements (DUs, MUs, heavier snatches). Do you suggest a focus on one goal at a time? Work many goals each week?
Loving the podcast! Thanks for all you do to keep us well dressed, entertained and fed!
90’s music, hell to the yes! You and I are a year apart so we can appreciate the fact that they just don’t make em like they used to. My husband and I were in Portland last week visiting my fam and we put on the #throwbackthursday mix on Spotify. You need it in your life Juli. It made me so happy, we were belting out every tune and looked at each other and said, “dude, we really grew up with the BEST music.” I’m just sad we missed whatever 90’s party you went to!!! I digress….
Love your podcast. I’m curious if you’ve always been someone who doesn’t care what other people think or if that’s come over the years of being in the public eye? I admire how much you seem to stay in your own lane and do you.