Saturday CookFest

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Title: Saturday CookFest
Daily Ride: Taking the weekend off
  
With the cold and windy spring weather lately, I’ve been commuting everyday to work. I took last Friday off and yesterday (Saturday) and most likely today off of the bicycle. It’s been too long (8 days) since a 20+ km ride. I try and make my commutes longer, but staying in town usually persuades my internal mind-thought on shorter rides because of lack of space and my lack of tolerance for riding in multiple circles. 
I did KOM one all-time segment and multiple 2015 KOMs, which doesn’t mean much, but it’s a nice way to look at it. I’d like to claim that I still ride super hard in town pretty damn well. People probably think I’m crazy in this small twin city community because sometimes you have to be in the middle of the road (still on the right side) in order to turn left, because asshole drivers like to pass you three feet away from a stop sign or stop light creating a dangerously awkward situation. And at stop lights, I stop directly behind cars, rarely off to the side. 
You have to fight back when riding in traffic and not cower and give vehicles their way. You basically have to put yourself at risk. Sometimes you’re gonna get hurt, because most people suck at driving and get confused especially around cyclists. 
I was actually forced into an accident by a vehicle in 2013 where I then was life-flown 60 miles away because of brain swelling and trauma. The bicycle helmet, from Bontrager, saved my life. It wasn’t damaged much more than a huge divot, but the emergency personnel had to cut my clothes off of me, including the helmet. With the receipt ,my story of the incident and my damaged helmet mailed to the Trek/Bontrager headquarters in Wisconsin, I was awarded a fresh helmet at no cost. I’m not going to get into this ordeal much, but just a little Strava #ProveIt for any possible readers. 
Earlier this week, I added The Angriest Man in Brooklyn to my Netflix ‘My List’ after seeing it is a 2014 Robin Williams film before his passing. Like 98% of the entire world, Robin’s sudden passing last year was truly more upsetting than any other celebrities’ death and was, to me, taken as a family loss. 

  
I grew up with Robin Williams in various films and he has always put a smile to my face. RIP, Robin Williams. #RideOn
  
The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, is a dark humor drama/comedy with a great cast. It brings you on a roller coaster journey of emotions. And because of his passing months after the release of this film, has me contemplating his death and life literally the entire film. I’m not going to spoil the flick. 
  
At the end, with himself talking about his exact tombstone years, has me speechless. And then later on jokes that Henry “hates bicycles”. Unfortunately, brilliant. 
I came across an amazing hardcore band Code Orange Kids or, I guess, now Code Orange. And with my technology difficulties and funds difficulties it’s easy to hear their music just not keep their music. Very hardcore. Most people would find it ugly and disturbing music. 
  
Last week, I bought a T-shirt. It enticed me brain with little sharks and vast blueness, not to mention the little pocket with…. Just blue. Anyways, I figured a large would size me up right. I’m not super fat, but because of my mostly German and Russian heritage, I’m husky. I then, after purchase, realized it was a British company and didn’t think much of it until I tried this work-of-art onto my work-of-art body. And it was uncomfortably small and tight. 
My brain instantly bubbled and popped and I had this thought that the British had created this hilarious and elaborate joke, by creating millions of T-shirts one size too small while claiming a size up, proving and mockingly stating that the USA is fat. I then swapped it for an XL and all is cool in that spool turning and burning in my skull. Possibly, the L shirt displays the correct sizing for the rest of the world and because I’m used to the USA and we are fat, maybe our sizes are bigger to keep our confidence up and our sizes fitting? I’m ready for a beer. 
  
No beer before breakfast…
  
Yesterday, I did a little shopping and a lot of cooking. I have food for days. I bought this wild rice because of the inappropriate situation in my pants when this Rice was discovered on the shelf. And then when I saw the NonGMO Project Verified label, I let out an uncontrollably loud and awkward moan while making a decent mess in my pants. I will forever owe my heart to this brand of wild rice! 
  
I made Stuffed Poblanos, Roasted Almonds, Cheesy Zucchini and Stuffed Eggplant Linguine. Everything was very good and I’m blessed with vast leftovers which I can play around with today. It all took me a little over four hours, taking my time and sampling a few beers that I purchased. About an hour into cooking, I was confused and thought it was Friday and became disappointed that I’d need to turn my Vegetarian planned food into Vegan food (which is not difficult) to keep my streak of #VeganVriday going strong. Silly me, it was Saturday. And I’ve already successfully completed a #VeganVriday without consciously thinking about it. 
Your brain knows things that you don’t really think you know.
  
Roasted Almonds ingredients:
-Good Oil
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Paprika
-Rosemary
-Whole Almonds
-Garlic, sliced 
-Shallot, diced & julienne sliced
-I added Crushed Rep Pepper
Super easy, just mix and bring Garlic slices and julienne Shallots to top and roast 20 minutes or so
  
Cheesy Zucchini ingredients:
-I used dairy Cheese, but non-dairy “Cheese” is much cooler. 
-Zucchini, halved longways
 (Quartered,if using oval dish like I did, to fit in awkward goalie areas) 
-Roma Tomatoes, deseeded & diced 
-Shallot, julienne sliced
-Oregano
-Good Oil
-SeaSalt/Pepper
-Garlic, diced
-Fresh Basil, sliced
Organic Basil is amazing
-Cheese or “Cheese”
I used Cabot Sharp Cheddar and Shaved Parmesan
Oil dish lightly and add zucchini, not stacking. Lightly brush zucchini with oil and season. Add Garlic, Shallot and then Cheese or “Cheese” with Tomatoes on top -bake for 25 ish minutes and garnish with Basil
  
Stuffed Poblano ingredients:
-Wild Rice
-Brown Rice
-Cilantro
-Celery, super diced
-Carrot, supper diced
-Zucchini, diced
-Garlic, diced
-Onion, diced
-Serrano Peppers, sliced
-Sesame Seed Oil & other Oil
-Fresh Ginger, diced
-Water, super sliced!
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne
-Poblanos, cut top off and save, deseed also
-Cheese or “Cheese”
-Balsamic Vinegar
-I garnished with alfalfa sprouts
Heat oil, sauté Ginger & Garlic. Add Onion, Celery and Carrots with a splash of Balsamic Vinegar and Sesame Seed Oil after a few minutes. Add Zucchini and sliced water. Put desired Wild Rice in and bring to boil. Then cover and simmer after 20-30 minutes add Brown Rice and make sure there is correct density of sliced water. Add Serrano slices at anytime with generous Cilantro and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes. You might have to strain before filling Poblanos. I invented a aluminum lasso in the past for making Stuffed Habaneros in order to keep them standing. 
I attempted this again with the Poblanos. It was more difficult as the Poblanos are not as uniform as the Habaneros. I put four into a taller bowl and then used the aluminum lasso at the top. I filled the Poblanos with the dry Rice and added Cheese and baked until cheese was melted. I now feel that cutting the bottoms of Poblanos would be easier and just dicing them and adding to Rice along side Serrano, I also baked the tops of the Poblanos. Bake to desired doneness and garnish with Sprouts or anything you’d like. 
FIRST SPRING STORM!?!? BRB
  
I am an amateur storm chaser. I thought it was coming a little faster. The wind definitely picked up. Probably a good amount of rain, maybe some snow? I’m hoping for some thunder and lightening that I wouldn’t be able to see because it’s 0941. Here comes the rain. 
  
I did get to witness an inland hurricane down at SIUC with my roommate on the porch. I’ll have to dig up a few pictures.
  
Just a little rain for this weak-sauce “storm”… 
  
Stuffed Eggplant
  
BackBurner Ragu Mari ingredients:
-Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
-Garlic, diced
-Carrots, duper sicedly
-Celery, super diced
-Onion, whole & then diced
-Tomato Paste
-Chopped Tomatoes, canned or do it yourself
-SeaSalt/GarlicP/Sugar/Pepper
-Oregano
Cool down for at least two hours…
-Linguine, cooked Starch not rinsed
-Eggplant, thinly sliced longways
-Good Oil
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Oregano
-Cheese or “Cheese”
-Fresh Organic Basil, whole leaves or sliced
-Parsley, fresh tree trunks removed 
Have your Mari ready for ya. Lightly oil both sides of Eggplant & season. Lightly roast for 12-15 flipping once. Add Cheese or “Cheese” or nothing…Whatever airs your tubes. Bake just a little longer and melt whatever is on there. If nothing added skip that ordeal. Roll up eggplant and securely stab through the Rolled up Eggplants heart because why do you think we have Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyles…We hate PLANTS and also Eggplants have like 10 hearts that you should’ve allowed in each slice that you prepared. I used a lasagna pan and added a little Marinara as a base and then I carefully placed the Murdered Eggplant rolls onto the (Bloody) Marinara, while you painted an outline around the bodies and you’d #BetterCallSaul for contributing in this movement & destruction of a crime scene. You can only call Saul (Jimmy, as of now still) on Monday nights 10/9 c. 
  
I splashed a little more blood on top of the Delicious Eggplant massacre and threw some cheese on them. Baked until cheese was melted. They were Cheesy and stingy Eggplant slices, anyways. I laid Linguine on a bed added some delicious Mari and then not one, but two Stuffed Eggplant rolls. I garnished with ridiculousness. Sorry, Basil and Parsley and enjoyed with an AWESOME Stone Enjoy By 4.20.15 DIPA. #Prost to your outstanding weekend! 
  

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Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.24

Began: 0359      Finished: 0429

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Daily Ride:  Yes
I have not posted in ten days, I think. I’m sure it doesn’t bother anyone. I had a slaughterhouse thumb injury making vegan gyros over confidently chopping romain lettuce. And due to my somewhat recent MacBook Pro unable to charge, I’ve been relying on my iPhone 6, its Notes and the wonderful Copy/Paste tool. And without, for me, a fully functional left thumb, texting/iPhone blogging isn’t very easy. I guess I could of voice-texted, but I’m a geek not a nerd and I’m crazy, but not that crazy.
  
While I’m talking about my MacBook Pro misfortunes, I’d like to mention one of the greatest things ever in iTunes Match. Also, I love the autocorrecting texting my phone does when texting apple products. 
  
iTunes Match is an iCloud based music storage that holds like 25G and improves any low quality music with iTunes quality music. It bends you over for only $25.00 a YEAR. And since my MacBook hasn’t turned on, I’d have little access to my music. But, because my music in iCloud I have access to it in numerous ways! It rocks. 
I updated my Strava app this morning. I turned off my auto update setting on my phone. And now Strava allows you to upload photos directly through Strava instead of Instagram. That is exciting and I’ve been waiting for that since creating an Instagram account just for Strava  purposes. 
  
I haven’t been cooking as much lately as Spring is upon us here in Northern Illinois. EXCEPT for yesterday. It snowed a bike helmets worth. I’ve been spending more time outside riding and hiking. 
   

 

All the way from Georgia was this lovely waxed topped beer, Happy Ending Imperial Stout, that I enjoyed yesterday. It escaped the zombie apocalypse and it better call Saul. It was very enjoyable and should go to trial and will probably be guilty of deliciousness. I hope to catch up on my AMC shows today after work. 
  
I had a dream the other day/morning/night. I do not remember the exact rotational position earth was to the star, our sun. It was a nightmare really of myself eating BAY LEAVES…. 
  
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll go over a few Vegan dishes I’ve made. Gotta get ready for work soon. 
  

Birthday Bloggy Business

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VeggHead BeerCyclist        π

Began:  0852    Finished:  0922

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Tags: pi, day, birthday, strava, membership, beer, craft, blood, pics, brewery, VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.14
Began:  0852    Finished:  0922

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Title: Birthday Bloggy Business
Daily Ride: Hopefully
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510
∭π {Ἦλρρϒ ρἷ  ∂λΨ} π≠∞

Happy Pi Day. Also, happy birthday to me. I am 30 years of age today. I feel fine. Secretly, I wanted to be in the 27 club, but I never became a musician. They would’ve kicked me out. I can party like a rockstar. That has to account for something. 

I had a knifing accident yesterday. No worries, no animals were harmed. Really the only thing affected is my texting abilities as my left thumb is out-of-order. I was making Vegan Gyros completely from scratch and it was the romain being chopped that made me over confident and BOOM. I wish it could’ve been something cooler like somehow a pita making massacre. I will not be going over the Vegan Gyro Blood-ssacre because it will take me two days to text it out on my notes with only one thumb. I’m not sure who’s quote this is, but it is hilarious. I looked it up… “I am not vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.” A. Whitney Brown. A writer and comedian, of course. 

The gyros were delicious. 

I do not know if I go for a ride, my thumb will start bleeding uncontrollably again. I might have to exercise a small bicycle hiatus again, unfortunately. Which isn’t much exercise. 

Rule of thumb is, don’t drink and knife. Or at least, don’t tell your mom. I did try a new (to me) Californian brewery yesterday. Out of Coronado, California comes the overly creative brewery name Coronado Brewing Company. For the lack of creativity of the brewery name, their beers so far are creatively named and very good. 




I have to pay a bill today that I cannot make payment to because of Strava. I like Strava and what they’re about, but I chose to take a break from the premium membership before my membership renewal date and I’ve been charged three times. The first time, they refunded me. As of right now, I have two monthly premium membership fees pending on my banking app. So I am literally a few dollars short of paying my bill. They have been emailed and I received two emails (one as a free member and one as a premium member) confirming that I emailed them. Has Strava been drinking? I hope they are not chopping romain lettuce. Do they have injured thumbs? Explaining the dumbness going on with my debit card kind of like my current texting skills. Just wanted to vent. Thanks for reading and Happy Pi Day and Happy Weekend! 

Adventure Log 201501

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VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.10

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Title: Adventure Log 201501
Daily Ride: Definitely
•
This will be a live updated/edited blog. 
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I somewhat spontaneously planned this adventure. This will be the first of many outside adventures this year. And I am super excited. 

My objectives:
•Ride my Trek HulkRip over a wooden bridge that was originally built in 1863
•I want to create and also enjoy a few Arcadia Ales Sky High Rye cans in some key placed check-ins. 
•I want to enjoy the weather as the high is claiming to be 14* C.
•I want to have a great ride, do a bit of elevation gain throughout, take some awesome pics and update this blog as much as possible. Which I always write on my Notes iPhone app and then copy and paste with magic.
•I also somewhat planned a Vegan lunch that I’ll pack and enjoy at The Red Covered Bridge Park.




-Due to heavy, dense and extremely wet airy fog, I’m going to depart via bicycle at 1100. 
•To Be Continued/Updated/Edited
RIDE CANCELLATION DUE TO FOG AND FEAR OF NOT BEING SEEN.






Those Vegan sandwiches I packed for lunch are amazing! 

I used:

-Leftover “Corned Beef” Seitan, charred, and diced

-Veganaise combined with celery seed, paprika, cayenne, mustard and garlic p. 

-Sliced onion, tomatoes and cucumber

-Kale

-On toasted Rye bread

•

I decided to try my luck doing a bit of hiking. I knew it was gonna be messy at Starved Rock State Park, so I brought a few beers. My goal was to hike to this cave/crevous that is roughly (muddy & icy) eight kilometers from the lodge. Nothing crazy, but a decent hike. I did not succeed in hiking to the crevously cave, due to an error in timing with my pickup ride. It was fun and challenging in a few spots that I chose to venture Lewis and Clarke style. I took a bunch of pics and here are a few.









Vegan Paddy’s Day

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VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.08

Began: Sat2025

Finished: Sun1020

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Title: VEGAN PADDY’S DAY
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Daily Ride: Probably not today.
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Man, it feels like I just blogged out a log.
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Happy Daylight Savings Day!
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I finally trekked on my first March ride yesterday. We (paid riding companions and myself) trekked 66 kilometers and had 380 meters of elevation gain. And yes I’m a metric-loving American. I will admit to being a geek, I am nowhere near a nerd. The accidental six day cycling hiatus did not do anything good for me. I vow to never take more than three days, 72 hours, off.
It was 6-8* Celcius and I barely overdressed, but felt it immensely in my head as I was sporting a damn balaclava. I failed an accent, but not too bad of a climb. For the first time in years, I had to walk. I only climbed like 4-6 meters before saving my head and brain from over steaming like mushy cauliflower mush from the sweat boiling balaclava and continued to ride. It pissed me off, but it will not happen again. It was the first decent ride of 2015 and I needed it. Because of a big thumb and iPhones lack of big thumb accessible phones issue, I barely caught two deer crossing the frozen Hennepin Canal.
The other day I was thinking to myself, and no animals were harmed, what my favorite beers of 2015 have been. I usually enjoy a crazy variety of different craft brews and I might as well pick some of my favorite types and then my favorite type of beer of that type. Get it? Me either.
Barleywine – Stone Old Guardian: Extra Hoppy
Imperial IPA (DIPA) – I’m a biased Colorado-born native, but from Boulder, Colorado Avery Brewing Company presents an Imperial India Pale Ale in The Maharaja. This is probably the best DIPA that I’ve ever snorted. Post 10% ABV and 100 dolla bill y’all IBU, this masterpiece is no joke. I’m already craving another.
IPA – All the damned way from Kalamazoo, Michigan, this beast of a DIPA brewed with honey is nowhere near light on the hops and will smack that smirk meters away from your face. It’s well known and people love it for a good reason.

Saison – I love a good Saison. I understand people not enjoying saisons, but it PISSES ME OFF. The style was founded on the Belgian farms. Where heaven and cute puppies were also founded. And so the best ever Saison that I’ve had comes from there in Brasserie DuPont’s Avec Les Bons Voeux from 2014. Lucky for me, I do not have to try and pronounce that.
Stout – Russian Imperial Stouts are the way I want to die. Use your imagination and if possible, I’d like that way of death to be barrel-aged. Thanks. This was actually my 1000 distinct check-in on Untappd and I saved it for a couple of weeks to savor it on that exact check-in. From the Fabulous Cali, inside North Coast Brewing Company, gave birth to a legend in the wonderful Old Rasputin. The beer I’m talking about is above that! It is the Barrel-Aged Old Rasputin XVII. It will take away your double chin, give ya a nice new hair cut and even throw some gel and style that dew of yo’s. It will give you an unbelievable confidence that you are the most important person on the moon Earth. This one is out of production, but next year or whenever, if you find one, buy two. #NeverSayDie
Porter – This porter just hit the spot like eight times. It’s not my fault it’s another Colorado beer. I wasn’t even born in Boulder, but from Boulder Beer Company brings this Shake Chocolate Porter. And it was outstanding when I found a 6-pack in the clearance cart after discovering it a few days earlier. Chin-up sad beer drinkers, this is a bottle full of happiness.
Sour – BOOM DESTIHL Brewery has always been outstanding and their Saint Dekkera Reserve Sour: Excommunie Trois was fabulous. Best sour ever!
Mead – Dansk Mjod Viking blod. Mead done right is the opposite of my cold heart. Warm this mead and it is awesome.

Dessertyish- From St. Louis, Missouri. Home of the hated Cardinals and Blues. 4 Hands Brewing Company’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout is the “Grade A” beverage it markets itself to be. Highly recommend a try and I am hopeful to see the Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout they have also created.
ALRIGHT, Vegan St. Paddy’s Day, let’s enjoy some 12 year old Jameson with a sip of regular Jameson as a chaser?
We’ll need the Saison or Seitan started first. If someone is actually trying this, you’ll want to have the Colcannon done ahead of time and kept warm if possible as a completely separate side dish or appetizer. Shit, we Irish, have it for dessert!
CBS      “Corned Beef Seitan” ingredients:
-Vital Wheat Gluten (hopefully you’re not gluten-free :/)
-Garlic and Shallot, diced and roasted
-Sea Salt/Pepper/Paprika
-Veggie Broth
-Thyme powder
-Sage powder
-Caraway seeds
-Rosemary
-Sugar
-Tomato Paste
-Veggie Broth

Handstands:
-I started with the Tomato Paste and a little Broth just to turn that Paste into a saucy goodness.
-I broke out the mortal and pestle and no, that isn’t a medieval weapon that I want it to be.
-Threw in Caraway and Rosemary and ground a bit
-Threw in the rest of seasonings and infused
-Infused is sometimes a fancy word for simply mixing
-Roast your Garlic and Shallot dicemembers and throw into Sauciness
-Vital Wheat Gluten is vital and so is kneading.
RAP A TUNE
-Seriously, form your amazingly weird protein chunk into a loaf and hope you have a cheese cloth.
-Wet the cheese cloth, Vegan of course
-Lay out cheese cloth accordingly
-Put Seitan in and wrap, not rapping to much and when spelling “rapping” ALWAYS remember that second “P”
-You’ll need to gather a broth. And swing it to a boil, not using the broiler.
•
•
Broth ingredients:
-Broth
-Chewed garlic, spit out
-Bay leaves, with a very long pull string
-Season to enjoyment
•
•
-Bring broth to a quick broil and after placing you not harmed dead animal wrapped in vegan cheese cloth into a lasagna pan, pour broth over it. And do not exceed over halfway of the lasagna pan or (Luigi and I are tight) I’ll send a true Italian afta ya
BAKE 2 HOURS FLIP ONCE
Corned Tapenade ingredients:
-Oily Vinegar
-Onion
-Carrot
-Celery
-Garlic
-Shallot
-PLUM
-RHUBARB
-SeaSalt,Pepper,Coriander, Fennel, Thyme, Caraway, Rosemary, cayenne
-Brown Sugar
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Super chop without bodily harm and mix and let marinade for a good hour at room temp. PLEASE take the rooms temp first because there are always many possibilities and I am curious only if you talk about the log I blogged earlier.
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So satanish cheese clothes vegan? Protein is ready?
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As you might conclude, I was a bit tipsy. I diagnosed myself with legally insanity and went to bed.
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Vegan Gravy ingredients:
-Vegg Broth
-Bay Leaves
-Oil
-Vinegar
-Sea Salt/Pepper/Savory/ Cayenne
-Garlic, super diced
-Onion, super diced
-Celery, super diced
-Carrot, super diced
-Mushroom, super diced
-Corn Starch
-Do not parch, save some broth or water
Steps!
-Heat oil
-Caramelize Garlic and then onion, Celery and super diced Carrot
-Add Vinegar
-Add Broth, add Mushroom and simmer for 60 minutes or longer
-Add Starch close to the time when you’ll need it and get to a good groovy gravy consistency
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VEGGIES ingredients:
-Potatoes, cut into ¼s
-Turnip, cut into ¼s
-Carrot, cut in half
-Onion, I only used ½ left alone
-Cabbage, cut in wedges with core intact for holdage purposes
-Oil/Vinegar
-Sea Salt/Pepper
-Fesh Dill, chopped
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I was going to leave the turnip skin on, but this Turnip was waxed… I’ve never seen that before. I tried removing the way, but eventually had to peel it off.
Backstrokes:
-Get all of these amazing veggies readily cut
-Place Cabbage and Onion on parchment paper on a pan
-Toss Potatoes, Turnips and Carrots in mixture of seasonings and lay on parchment paper on a pan
-Use remaining liquid/oil to drip on Cabbage
-Roast with the next satan steps. I meant satanly great Seitan
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-Set out a large piece of aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray
-After Seitan has cooked and cooled a bit, remove from cheese cloth and place on aluminum foil
-Now put Tapenade on entire surface of Seitan and wrap
-I placed on a pan and baked for 60 minutes with Veggies at 350*F
-Then remove Seitan and slice and broil lightly to attain that meaty texture and look
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For the record, I sometimes do not wash my balls… Of spuds!
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Vegan ColCannon
Ingredients:
-Potatoes, cut in half and heavily heavily oven roasted
-Almond Milk
-Go Veggie! “Cheese”, shredded or block
-Sunflower Seeds, lightly oven roasted
Kale, frozen and fresh
-Turnip, diced
-Shallot, diced
-Garlic, diced
-Celery, super diced
-Carrot, super diced
-Apple Cider Vinegar
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne
-Dill, chopped

Summersaults:
-For comedic purposes, roast your Potatoes on parchment paper on a pan, at 420*F for 90 minutes-Giving them a nice burnt char
-In large saucepan, heat oil and Caramelize Garlic and then Veggies that are super diced
-Add Turnip and diced Potato (why not?)
-Rinse in saucepan with refreshing Vinegar
-Add Almond Milk & seasonings
-Simmer and add potatoes while stirring and chopping/crushing heavy roasted Potatoes
-I like my potatoes the same way I like my peanut butter, Chunky. Feel free to mix with a mixer or jackhammer
-When at the optimal consistency, add “Cheese” sunflower seeds and kale and let sit on the lowest of heat, stirring occasionally, until ya need it. I Garnished with fresh Kale.
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Plate and serve with gravy! Live a bit and enjoy with some 12 year old Jameson. Have a great St Paddy’s Day! Cheers!

Winter Conclusion

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    3.06

Began: 0650     Finished: 0737

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Title: Winter Conclusion 
Daily Ride: Yes

I’m confident that yesterday was the last super cold day of winter. Yesterday was frigidly in the single digits almost the entire day in Fahrenheit units of temperature measurements. Which I don’t even have to try. It is an amazingly hilarious joke on its own. I knew spring was approaching soon a few weeks ago when I had slight allergies attack. The attack was defended strongly with smiles. I don’t know if the groundhog still exists, but my allergies prediction was correct. Leave the groundhog be. 

I was on the fence doing backflips yesterday contemplating a ride. It was super cold, but it hopefully should be the last super cold day of winter. Should I tackle it and ride into the sunset. Death Rides A Horse. I do not have any horses, just bicycles. I decided to continue my not planned cycling hiatus and wait for the weather to turn for the better. I think today has a high of -1 * C. That’s almost ZERO. I love the Celsius Zero and it should be a superhero! 

I do have a ride planned with a friend. Really just a paid acquaintance to help me seem more normal to the crazy people who read these bloggings. I do not actually have any friends. Animals like me. Anyways, this paid “friend” and I were gonna do a decent distance. He wants to ride miles and I threw a slight fit and made it clear that I wanted to ride kilometers. Not sure how we will come to a conclusion on that. Sounds like a job for the Celcius ZERO! 

I had this beer last night. It was a literal beast. I’ve enjoyed many beers of theirs. The actual brewery is Mercury Brewing Company out of Ipswich, MA. The beer line is Clown Shoes. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it’s a good beer line. The beer I had was a Russian Imperial Stout bottled on 02.06.15. I love when they put this date on beers. I’m skeptical when I cannot find and ultimately know how old a beer is. If it’s a beer above 8% ABV, you don’t have anything to worry about. The beers below that ABV are the ones that will spoil. The name of this beer is Blaecorn Unidragon. It is a literal beast at a not so nice Clown Shoes 12.5% ABV. Two middle fingers up!

I’ve loved this band muchly for a good 5-6 years. And I’ve also enjoyed other bands that are tied to the band Russian Circles. They are an instrumental post-rock/ post-metal Chicago based trio. They are very talented. I’ve only seen them live once, but it was amazing. All of their sound greatness is awesome. They play heavy yet light and blend it well. 
Yesterday I bought ten pounds of potatoes. This was my adrenaline rushed tweet:

I ate some potatoes yesterday. And today is my #VeganVriday, so I will be enjoying more potatoes for sure today. I’m working on my St. Paddy’s Day meal and my bullshit of an excuse of a recipe. Really it’s just a grocery list that says beer a few times. 

I plan on making and somewhat mapping a “recipe” of VEGAN Corned Beef & Cabbage and Colcannon in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and my somewhat recent discovery that I am 1/16 Irish. That is coming by the death penalty deadline 3.12.15. I did already make a batch of Vegan Colcannon. It was to live for! 
As for the Northern Illinois Winter, I’m not scared of you, but you are a bitch.
And for the Northern Illinois Spring, welcome. I love you! 
Happy Friday! Happy VeganVriday! Have a great weekend!

Easy Chinesey

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist   03.05

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Tags: sobriety,mlb,chicago,cubs,writing,smoking,addiction,amc,movie,food,dessert,recipe,cycling,music,beer,craft,story,winter,vegan,vegetarian,netflix,apple,apps,social,media,tv,pics
Title: Easy Chinesy 
Daily Ride: Probable, cold but sunny

I’m not going to go over a specific Chinese recipe. I just want to share a few essentials which create my make-shift Chinese food. Military time is always an easy way to depict the time. Good thing it’s not Japanese food I’ll be going over otherwise I’d have to get nuclear with a joke or two. I also have a Root Beer Floater concoction that was very good on Super Bowl Sunday.
My last beer was at 2100 on Tuesday March 3rd and today, March 5th, my first beer was at I’m gonna guess noon on Thursday. Nothing like a little mid week sobriety to boost your next binge. IVCA (Illinois Valley Cycling Association) usually does a night canal ride every Wednesday on the I&M Canal with drinks afterwards. It’s usually around 40 km. I did not participate for a few reasons. The last time I was down there on the towpath there were sections of pure ice that even on four inch FatBike tires is like a tightrope balancing act without a safety net on a 35 pound bike. I’m ready for spring and have ridden my lower end FatBike 450 miles this winter according to Strava. My last ride was five days ago and I’m going through withdrawals. A bit of a cycling hiatus due to weather, cold and lack of motivation, unfortunately. Addictions can be healthy and not so healthy. Cycling is healthy. No comment on the booze. If ya can’t make it to work because of booze abuse, you have a problem. As of this year, I’ve been cigarette free for five straight years. I am super proud of this and try to influence others to quit as much as possible. 

It took me a good eight years to actually complete the process, but it worked. I unintentionally started to quit in high school. First of all, I started smoking at age 12 with friends and continued until the college years. I used to smoke a few cigarettes before school. My sophomore year of high school I had algebra II first thing. I was always good with mathematics and my teacher was in his mid twenties and decided to call me out in front of the class and asked me if I smoked an entire pack of cigs before school. I got nervous and replied, “No, it was two”. But it got me thinking. I probably smell horrible in the morning after a cigarette clam-baking session before school. Chicks don’t usually like smelly dudes, so I quit smoking before school. I still smoked at lunch and basically established a personal code of no smokes before noon. And no cigarettes in the morning helps weaken the addiction and urge for the “fix”. When I was 20, I tried quitting and couldn’t quit while partying and drinking. I then quit smoking unless I was drinking. I soon after started day drinking to have a couple of cigarettes during the day. It makes me laugh, but it’s true. I didn’t know it at the time. I still love some good day drinking. Is there ever some bad day drinking. Just without the nastiness filthy impolite cigarette habit. In 2010, my girlfriend at the time and I quit. She failed and I haven’t smoked since. The difference being that I actually had the will and she did not. 
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING:
1.) Obtain a strong will. Whether it be for health or for others, you’ll need it.
2.) Quit smoking in the morning. If you can quit cold turkey, do it.
3.) Cut down and give yourself days completely without.
4.) Pick a day like January 2nd and QUIT. 

It took my two days to finish the movie K-PAX on Netflix, but I discovered Aaron Paul was in the very last scene. 

I saw an AROD AB yesterday. It was a good AB and he drew a walk. Not sure how I feel about AROD, but he needs to retire. I did want him to hit a homer or strike out. I cannot wait for baseball to start. The Chicago Cubs dynasty has begun. WATCH OUT! 

I do not know if a Chicago Cubs addiction is good or bad for people. There is still hope and has been forgettable hope for many upon many of decades. There is always next year, but there isn’t always next century. Planets are aligning and things are looking good on both sides of Chicago’s baseball plate. 
Easy Chinesy 
Essential Chineses Ingredients:
-Fresh Ginger
-Rice Wine Vinegar
-Sesame Seed Oil
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Ramen Noodles
-Soy Sauce
(For years I’ve only bought Ramen just for the noodles. Most of them have meat traces in the seasoning packs.)

Additional ingredients:
-Garlic, diced
-Onion, diced 
-Mushroom, quartered or halved
-Cayenne 
-Various other Veggies
-Use your imagination and do it right, not over cooking all of the veggies

This was the batch I made for Christmas. Everyone loved it. Fra ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra ra. 

Root beer Floater, named after On-One Floater FatBike Tires:




Ingredients:
-Badass beer mug or chalice
-Dad’s Root Beer is cheap and good 
-Quality Vanilla Fro Yo or Ice Cream
-Almond pieces
-Whipped cream
-Maraschino Cherries, seeds and stems
-Good Vanilla extract, the stuff I used was 10% alcohol
Stairs:
-You do not want to use the vanilla to obtain a buzz. If that’s the case, add whisky or rum and run.
-Add a splash of Vanilla Extract to awesome mug or chalice 
-Put desired amount of Vanilla Fro Yo or Ice Cream. Leave room for the root beer!
-Add Root Beer almost to the top 
-Throw a little cream on top
-Stab the cream with a few Almond pieces and pop that Cherry with a maraschino cherry
-Take a pic and you might need a spoon or fork if you’re that talented
I’ve been monitoring my storage memory for my iPhone closely since my MacBook is still out-of-order, but by deleting and re installing my Facebook and Twitter app, I cleared almost a whole gigabyte. Taking up that much memory boggled my mind. And I feel like that might have to be a every-so-often procedure. 
Incorrect vegetarian labeling:

Worcestershire Sauce usually contains Anchovy.

Also, took me a few days, but I watched LEGIT season one on Netflix for the second time.
“billy rolled away”
It’s a darker comedy with heartfelt situations. Check it out!

Season two is on YouTube for free. I haven’t finished it yet. I had a playlist that I copied and was awaiting pastement, but I discovered it required payment. Bummer. 

YouTube is and always has been a great free way to do various things. It’s there for educational purposes, entertainment visually and audio and broadcasting. I’ve watched movies, even. And with the correct technology, it’s available for your big screen. It allows R rated language, but unfortunately not porn. Yet. Apple TV, roku and good wifi are my tools for watching YouTube and other things more comfortably. 

Masters of the Universe on tubitv app on my roku was an interesting film. Paste some whiteout over that on the bucket list.
I remember watching the cartoon in the 80’s, but I’ve never seen this movie that I know of. Within the first five minutes, it seemed like a rip off and heavily influenced by various popular 80’s movies. The opening credits and theme reminded me of the Superman sagas. And then Skeletor’s men look awfully like stormtroopers except they are completely black. And Skeletor’s confines reminded me of an early Indiana Jones’ temple. To make things worse the voice track isn’t synced 100%, not even 85%, with their lips. Gwildor gives me a combination of Yoda from Star Wars meets the luck dragon, Falkor, somehow from The NeverEnding Story. A nice sense of memories of movies I grew up with. And then there’s super young Courtney Cox. The sitcom Friends was entertaining and funny when I was ten years old. A couple of months ago, I attempted to watch the Friends pilot episode on Netflix, but only made it five minutes through. And then there’s a school stage with instruments on it where Courtney Cox is attacked and there’s a Back To The Future reference, to me anyways. Dolph Lundgren is He-Man. And when he swords Skeletor into a shaft, reminds me of something just can’t think of it. Is it Die Hard? 

Snowy cycling visibility is still something I cannot defeat. I have not tried actual skiing/snowboarding goggles yet. I will next year. I did try chemistry goggles and they only lasted for 15 minutes. 

A band, Pianos Become The Teeth, has a newer album that is very listenable to all listeners in KEEP YOU. Check it out!

Bologna Rigatoni

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 3.03

Bologna Rigatoni
It Saul Goodman
Yesterday was a partial total failure. My plan was to ride a bike outside and make my pasta. I did not do either. I was a little tired and hungry after work. And a majority of my winter cycling clothes were left in the wash for over 24 hours. I washed the load again and later hung them out to die. Do Not Dry your cycling clothes unless you’re drunk. 

I did drown myself in Lagunitas’ Sucks whole quart UnaBomber. I did not die. It is always a euphorically delightful DIPA. My liver died a little. Also, one quart is 32 ounces. All of those ounces equate to only ¼ of my recommended daily percentage of alcohol, but what can ya do. Lagunitas opened a brewery in Chicago that I cannot wait to visit and terrorize calmly. Try it if ya can.
One thing that has always pissed me off and strangely boggles my mind and my heart. What is with these Japanese Beatles or lady bugs. I love how my phone corrects both “japanese” and “beatles” as it should be because of the threat level significance. They just keep appearing. And flying drunk? I do occasionally leave empty beers in my sleeping quarters and sometimes trap these thugs in Kleenex and put them into an empty bottle. I think they’re that sneaky and annoying that they escape and continue their mission of pissing me off. Last night I caught three and put into an empty water bottle basically as an experiment. Do they need oxygen? What do they eat? Will one eat the other two? Will they die? Will they escape? 
And they all seemed very much alive inside the water bottle this morning. I threw them away and didn’t give them the chance of a respectable recyclables burial. Like the annoying buggers they are, they will be smashed at least once with the garbage and invaders that they are. 
I watched Big Top Pee-Wee on Netflix. I have this obsession with going into my IMDb app to check out a bit of info on there while I miss part of whatever I’m watching because I’m not a multitasker. It ranks that movie less than 5/10. It was corny, funny and overall a 6 in my opinion. Yeah, ok. Tim Burton directed Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in his debut directing gig and it was definitely better than Big Top Pee-Wee, but Big Top is definitely watchable. It has Benicio Del Toro and Screech in it to name two actors. I am sleeping with Netflix. 
A few interesting Vegan or Vegetarian people I came across inline online:
Gandhi 
Hitler
Forest Whitaker 
Paul McCartney
Herschel Walker
Tom morello
Christina applegate
Elizabeth Berkley
Kevin Nealon
Sarah Silverman
Eddie Vedder
Rob Zombie

It is supposed to be icy today. Ice and bicycles don’t usually mix. Even FatBike tires show a weakness to ice. If I go for a ride it will be solo and it’ll be earlier than later. I guess I never ever ride alone because if zero humans ride with me I jam those earbuds close to my brain. It’s not the safest thing to do, but it always sounds better than wind. I do toggle the volume and sometimes pause the wind. Traffic is danger. And danger is bad only when you’re on a bicycle. 

Perhaps a beer r(un)ide 

Cold wetness is not good. Snow is much tolerable. No go on a ride. I put my Garmin Edge 1000 and NightRider Lumina 700 on their USB and left them charging on my little charging hub. After changing a few settings on the Garmin, its battery life is outstanding. I do not use the three sensors that it came with and turned off the Bluetooth. With all of these things going if was if my Garmin had a battery life of ten hours. It did never die on me, but I did shut her down after I completed my century ride. I didn’t record some km, but nothing was missing from my data. 
I made some killer food today. And ate it to my lonesome while watching the latest episode of Better Call Saul, an outstanding prequel to Breaking Bad. And it’s shaping up to be better than breaking bad. CHECK IT OUT
I did get a few ingredients from my grandmother before her trip and I was told the plastic film had cauliflower, but it was actually cabbage. Which I’ll try and save for St. Paddy’s day at Paddy’s Pub. Did you know that it is always sunny in Philadelphia? No cauliflower, but the Brussels sprouts were the main ingredient anyways. 
I made an experimental Baked Potato and a pasta that I named Bologna Rigatoni. They were a bit time consuming, but I impressed myself. 

Experimental Baked Potatoes
Baked Sprouty Spuds ingredients:
-Potatoes, stabbed with fork
-Brussels Sprouts, roasted
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/Onion p/Garlic p
-Avocado Cream
-Corn, roasted
-Cheese, grated
-Garlic, sliced and lightly roasted
-Fresh Dill for garnish 
Avocado Cream:
-Sour Cream
-Avocado
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic p/Onion p
>Mix
Steps:
-Make Avocado Cream and refrigerate
-Bake Potatoes at 375 for 75 minutes
-You do not want to over cook the potatoes
-If everything is prepared, it is a waiting game and good beer drinking time
-When potatoes are baked enough, give them some Visine before taking them out where everyone can see them
-Cut them In half longways leaving the skin to keep both halves attached. 
– I them placed on parchment paper, potatoes open and broiled cooking while adding color at the same time, remove when done
-Add cheese generously and broil again, melting the cheese nicely, yet meanly
-Now just top
-I put Avocado Cream, Roasted Corn, Garlic, Brussels Sprouts, more cheese and garnish with dill. ENJOY with AMC’s finest programming.
This Will Destroy You
God Is An Astronaut 
Explosions In The Sky

Bologna Rigatoni ingredients:
-Non rinsed cooled Rigatoni
-Brussels Sprouts, prepped for surgery and then halved longways
-Garlic, diced and roasted sliced
-Onion, big chunks
-Corn, roasted and lightly season
-Butter, REAL
-Dill, fresh chopped and a garnishment
-Potato, sliced 
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Garlic p/Onion p/Cayenne
-Cheese, grated
-Carrot and Celery, diced superbly 
-Oil and Rice Wine Vinegar
-Thickening Agent

Organization and preparations:
-I first prepared the Rigatoni noodles. I boiled them stirring constantly like eight minutes maybe nine. I decided to not rinse the noodles which changes the noodles compared to rinsed noodles. I do not know the correct term, but it leaves the starch. I under cooked them a little under al dente because they need to cool and until the cooling process is finished they still cook. I put them in the freezer away from anything else for 3-4 minutes before putting them into the refrigerator until I needed them again. They turned out very well. As I confidently expected.
-Cut everything and discard the shit
-Toss potatoes, Onion and Brussels Spouts with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper
-Put on parchment paper and bake 35 ish minutes at 350*
-I removed onions when I flipped potatoes and then turned oven to 425*
-Combine Butter with Dill, SeaSalt, Pepper, Garlic p and Cayenne and simmer barely 
-Add butter to lightly caramelized diced Garlic, Celery and Carrots
-Throw in some Dill and Dill ‘Em All
-When butter is melted and your veggies are close to be or are done add enough flour or corn starch to thicken 
-Add Rigatoni and get warm while seasoning
-You can do whatever ya want. I topped the pasta with cheese or throw it in with all of your roasted goodness 
-Live a little, enjoy! 
I read on Twitter that the drinking age will change back to 18 this summer. Is this true or one of those hoaxes?
I just realized it should be BEETLES. Good day. 

DIPA 

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 3.02

DIPA
I have had the best (DIPA) Imperial India Pale Ale ever. 102 IBU 
AVERY BREWING CO
The Maharaja 

If I were rich, I would pre bathe and post bathe in this DIPA with nothing but smiles in a long, long swimming session in a Olympic sized pool of The Maharaja until, of course, I would drink it all.

My grandma left town with two of my aunts and I volunteered last night to check on her new cat, Mel. Before I cracked (The Skye) open a Big Sky Brewing Co. Camp Robber, a seasonal coffee porter, I could not find my awesome bottle opener. Enjoying good beers helps me to write ridiculous sentences. So, the bottle opener is essential. It’s a decently good beer. It has a nice balance of coffee and porterness. Meeting Mel for the first time, he was shy at first and seemed like an active cat, but the first thing I noticed was his fur. I’ve seen plenty of calico cats as I do attend cat watching with my two friends every Sunday after church with big hats, sunscreen noses and binoculars. Occasionally we see cats attacking and eating birds. We call those episodes, “Jeff’s made-up story out of his ass”. I don’t have any friends.
This cat is mostly white with enormous patches of like grey and black striped cat and red/orange with tan spots cat. Next time, I’ll snap a pic. I was too busy enjoying an Arcadia Ales Hop Rocket and getting the cat water and food. Very hopolicious beer by the way. 

WordPress likes to erase pics I’ve uploaded. Or am I that idiot who screws up his pic uploads and uploads his post and then because his MacBook is dead and his iPhone space is limited he deletes “finished” pics. 
Crack The Skye is a 2009 Mastodon album. I already consider it a classic.

I very much dislike Walmart. I rarely step foot into that voyage of annoyance. My reasoning for abusing myself through a visit was that I needed parchment paper and these cheap energy shots, B12 made by Stacker 2, that I’ve seen there once and always an empty fucking shelf since. They are less than a dollar and better than 5-Hour Energy.
Customers at Walmart seem to be out to get me. Or maybe it’s Walmart. Probably the combination that perseveres toward driving me towards suicide. Why are aisles congregated talk zones, mostly end-aisles taking up two paths? Why do you have to defensively block an entire aisle while slowly determining if you need to further down the aisle? Why isn’t there painted center lines for the lawlessness of cart traffic? 
Usually when I go to Walmart, I always try and disguise myself with shades on and antisocial myself with my earbuds and tunes. I walk fast and I do not excuse myself. 
I should have worn my heart rate monitor to document my Walmart suffer score. 

I took the day off from cycling. My legs are sore from the 35 km ride and the FatBike ride I took over the weekend. I hope to ride after work today. 
Also at Walmart, I picked up some cheese, rigatoni, jumbo russet potatoes and garlic powder. I plan on making a unique pasta today after work. It involves Brussels sprouts. 
A newly discovered liked food in my palate arsenal. I only like them when I make them. This was the dish I made on thanksgiving that was ontrial with my jury of tastebuds.




Cauliflower is also in that category. And I plan to include cauliflower in the pasta. Let’s hope I have time and motivation for both a ride and a little cheffing. 

Try either one of the DIPAs that I mentioned and go for a bike ride.