Rusty Fincke

Paleo Carrot Banana Muffins

by Rusty on February 20, 2012 in Nutrition with No comments

I just made these amazing muffins and I had share. It makes for an excellent breakfast item for a quick grab on your way out the door or even a sweater treat like a baked good that I find myself craving from time to time these days.

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbs cinnamon
1 cup dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 ½ cups carrots, shredded
¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped
muffin paper liners

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350℉.
In a small bowl, combine almond flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl and blend until completely combined.
Fold in carrots and walnuts.
Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

2012: Here We Come

by Rusty on January 2, 2012 in Personal with No comments

2012 is finally here. Like most people, I have a big list of things that made 2011 a rough year – it was one of the harder years to date. But rather than talk about all the things that made it tough, I’m looking forward rather than backwards. Although, many lessons were learned from things in 2011, I walk forward mindful of those things I’ve learned and what I’ve grown from and even grown up, now knowing.

I’m not sure what it is about a new year that makes people want to start over or start a list of all the things they want to do in the upcoming year. I guess I’m no different and it’s what drove me to write this post. When you really think about it, January 1st is just another day on the calendar. I woke up this morning feeling no different than the day before – my house was still the same, made coffee, looked around at the mess I need to clean up and made a to do list of things I needed to accomplish today.

But somehow, knowing that it’s a new year and that we get to start over – we make the list of what we want to accomplish in the next 12 months. And here is mine in no particular order:

Lose an additional 30-50 pounds
Finish work on the house
Love more deeply – Friendships, family, relationships, etc
Complete the Fuel 21 Challenge without cheating (Starts January 4th)
Make all 8 classes of Crossfit in a month
Travel more
Read at least 5 books
Spend more time in the word
Photograph 5+ Weddings
Run a 5K
Run a 10K
Ride in a 150+ mile bike ride
Improve photography skills
Write/blog more

I’m sure I will find more and add to this list as the year go goes, but that’s about all I have up to this point. Most of my items are fitness related but I’ve been talking about trying to get in shape for so long, I feel like this is the year to make it happen!

Here’s looking to 2012.

A Trip to Ol’ Baldy

by Rusty on November 7, 2011 in Downtime, Travel with 1 Comment

It’s been a long time since I have been camping. But after facing some really tough weeks recently, I welcomed the opportunity to get of town with some close friends and just hang out. Who would have known that my time away from cellphones and computers would bring so much needed downtime 3 hours away from Austin. The weather was perfect, the food was awesome, the games we made up and played were hilarious, and the opportunity to sit around a campfire and tell stories and lean about each other would have such a lasting impact for me.

There were a few people on the trip I had not met before, but by the time the weekend was over, I felt like we were all close friends. It’s funny how shared events in life can make you feel close with people that you have never met before. The group of friends that ventured out to Garner State park this weekend was the perfect number but also a great mesh of personalities and humor. I’m certainly looking forward to our next trip out there.

TV is Back

by Rusty on September 26, 2011 in Television with 3 Comments

TV is back. Which means a few things in the Fincke household.

For starters it means that I have now have to stay off facebook if I didn’t watch an episode of a TV show that I know people are going to talk about. Big time spoil alerts are usually found on Facebook.

Second, it means that I have to catch up on shows before UT football games. When the girls in our group tend to get together at the games, all kinds of TV show chatter comes out and I’ve gotten in trouble for asking them to not talk about a show because I haven’t caught up. Until recently, the girls have been kind about stopping but I think that time has come to and end.

And finally, the DVR can only handle so much. I’ve gotten busy each year when TV starts and I’ve filled up the DVR. We can’t have that happening again as I missed out a few shows last year or at least had to try and track them down on Hulu or the television station where they air. Not that big of a deal but something about watching television on the TV vs the computer is so much nicer.

I’ll spare you, and myself the embarrassment, of the number of shows and the shows themselves of what I watch. Close friends know the exhaustive list. I’ll spare the few readers that hop over here.

Baked Eggs with Bacon Rings

by Rusty on August 22, 2011 in Nutrition with 1 Comment

As part of the Paleo plan I’ve been on the past few weeks, I made these guys the other day and I couldn’t believe how good they were. It was pretty simple to make and I found myself wanting more the next day. Here’s how I made these little gems.

Ingredients

6 strips of bacon of turkey bacon
6 eggs
1 small medium tomato, cut into 6 slices
1/3 cup onions, chopped
3-4 white button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat over to 325.
Cook bacon as directed.
In skillet, take a 1/2 tsp flax seed oil and cook chopped onions and mushrooms until softened.
Place tomato slices in the bottom of muffin tin. Circle the inside of each cup with 1 strip of bacon.
Break an egg into muffin cup and season with pepper.
Add sauteed mushrooms and onions over the egg.
Fill any unused tins with water to protect from burning.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Bahamas Bound

by Rusty on August 4, 2011 in Travel with 1 Comment

Saturday morning we head to the Bahamas for the second year in a row. Just like last year, we’re chartering a 50ft sail boat and sailing around the Bahama Islands. I’ve been looking forward to this for about 10 months now since we booked the trip again. This week long adventure is something I think anyone that can stomach a few waves should try at least once. It’s no luxury trip, it more like camping on the water. But give me blue water, white sand, and a few drinks and you can pretty much take me anywhere. I’ll post pictures when I’m back in the states!

Paleo Begins

by Rusty on July 26, 2011 in Nutrition with 3 Comments

On Saturday I started eating Paleo! For those of you that aren’t familiar with it, it’s also known as the cave man diet. The basic concept is is that if you can’t hunt it, pick it, or gather it, you don’t eat it. When I was involved in CrossFit before I started eating this way and I felt amazing. I’m not really sure why I stopped eating this way to begin with but I did. My friend Jason has been eating Paleo for awhile I’ve been encouraged by how he handles it during the week and while on the road for work.

Because I’ve been on such a tight food budget I’ve been pretty worried about being able to afford all the food items and more organic items that Paleo asks and calls for. So far though, I’ve been able to buy everything I need for the week on my $40 a week food budget. Although I had to buy some staple items that threw me over my budget, I won’t need to buy some of these items again for a while. I was able to justify the cost of the items that thew me over. I’ve had some help though in planning food and menu items to not get stuck in a rut like I ran into last time. I subscribed to Paleo Plan. They offer a 14 day free trial which I took advantage of and so far I love it. Plus, it helps with my grocery list and planning so I don’t buy a bunch of stuff I don’t need or that is gonna go bad because I don’t end up using it. And to top it all off, there are a ton of great recipes in there, all Paleo friendly items.

Headed Back to CrossFit

by Rusty on July 21, 2011 in Fitness with No comments

I’m taking the plunge and heading back to CrossFit Central again starting this coming Monday, July 25, 2011. I used to be involved in the Kettlebell program but have decided to take on the full fledge CrossFit program. My friend Ruby and I have signed up for the Elements class which is required to even being the program. I’m a bit nervous to head back but excited at the same time. I know what the gym is like and I know a lot of the people there already from doing the kettlebell program. I’ve also had a few friends go through the CrossFit program and have seen amazing results with them. I’m hoping to post progress reports, updates, etc here in an effort to be held accountable to sticking with it.

Kayle, Sarah, Cassie, & Coach Chris, I’m coming back.

Starting Over

by Rusty on July 20, 2011 in Personal with 3 Comments

I’ve decided to start over on the blog. Since I’m the only one posting on my blog, I decided to change my old blog over to my name since so many people didn’t understand what or who it was that Twisted Sideways was. Twisted Sideways was something I came up with that had a weird meaning that I just won’t go into now. So here is the new home of my blog. I’ve decided to start over with my posts, rantings, reviews and personal information that I post on the internets. I lost a ton of my previous followers due to my massive lack of postings so I figured this would be a great reason to start fresh.

So here’s to the new look, new name and my desire to start over and keep at it.