Big Muddy Vegan Earth Day

Posted on by jeffreylatty

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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, Netflix, Chicago, Earth, day
 
Title: Big Muddy Vegan Earth Day
Daily Ride:  Yes
  
It is Earth Day 2015 today. And also my day off. Might as well spend some time on a blogfulness post. To others, Earth Day, means to recycle and post things on social media about how they are “saving” earth. To me Earth Day is every day. Many others have the same approach and lifestyle, but I want to talk about our planets livestock production. I’ve gathered a few notes from reading a PETA and Times article. 
  
Both articles state how livestock production may have a bigger impact on Earth than anything else. And by passively “May”, they truly arrogantly mean “IS”.
  
Here are some of the notes I took:
-5 lbs. of wild-caught fish fed to farmed fish to produce one lb. flesh
-30% of Earths ice-free surface is not for growing grains, fruits & veggies consumed by humans, but for chickens, pigs & cattle to consume before most humans eat the animals
-70% grain & cereals grown are fed to farmed animals
-13 lbs. grain to produce 1 lb. of meat
-Livestock production uses ⅓ Earths fresh water
-11 times the fossil fuels to make one calorie from animal protein to one calorie from plant protein
-It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef to which one pound of wheat only takes 25 gallons
I’m a geek and watch numerous documentaries every week and even the science documentaries stress the destruction of factory farming inefficiency. 
“You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for six months!” PETA 
I say Happy Earth Day and don’t eat meat or better yet don’t eat or use any animal based product. 
I made Vegan Saison-Serrano CornDawgs that were Organic and NONGMO but also, oil-free and skewer-free. Technically maybe not 100% organic and NONGMO, but damn close. 
  
Saison (French, “season,” French pronunciation: ​[sɛ.zɔ̃]) is a broadly defined pale ale that, in modern versions, is generally around 7% abv, highly carbonated, fruity, spicy (sometimes from the addition of spices), and is influenced by Saison Dupont Vieille Provision.[1]Saisons are currently brewed in a range of countries, particularly the United States, and are often bottle conditioned.[2] 

                            -WIKIPEDIA 

Saison beers are usually amazing! I used two different Saisons for the batter. I used an Anchor Saison Spring Ale out of San Francisco and a Hennepin Farmhouse Saison from New York’s Ommegang Brewery. Both were very good. The Anchor Saison was very light for its ass-kicking ABV. I was impressed.
  
Vegan Saison-Serrano CornDawg ingredients:

-Organic Mustard
-Ketchup, high quality
-Spicy Mustard?
-Lightlife Smart Dogs, jumbo
-Saison, your choice as is anything 
-Corn Meal, quality over quantity
-Baking Powder
-Sugar/SeaSalt/Pepper/Garlic P
-Roasted Corn
-Serrano, deseeded and finely chopped
-Flour
-Parchment Paper
  
The Voyage:
-Create your batter to the thick consistency and add your Smart Dogs. 
-I let it all sit for a bit. Not sure how long. It probably doesn’t matter either way.
-Turn on oven, preheat is a joke unless you’re baking. 
-I battered the dog generously and put onto the parchment paper and then rolled the parchment paper to keep the CornDawg intact and then I baked it. 
  
I will have to remaster it, but it turned out very good. 
  
The crazy thing is that the Meat Industry and large scale farming is destroying our Earth and I always thought vehicles were the biggest destroyer, never thought of the Pig (Beef) Destroyer until recent years. 
  
I’ve mentioned in past Blog Fog that I used to go to SIUC and live in Carbondale, IL for almost four years. There is a brewery 5-10 miles west of Carbondale in Murphysboro, IL called Big Muddy Brewing after the Big Muddy River that flows through there. I used to drink various beers of theirs before my Untappd days. And have recently enjoyed many Big Muddy Brews in northern Illinois 300 miles north of this smallish brewery. 
  
The only Big Muddy Brewing beer that I do not approve of is their Sour Du Shawnee. It was horrible unless it was meant to obtain an age, they failed horribly. It was vinegary and not sour. It did have a good nose to it. The Big Muddy Brewing brews I’ve had post Untappd days:
  
-Saluki DunkelDog
-Sour Du Shawnee
-Vanilla Stout
-Blueberry Blonde
-Galaxy IPA
-Backwoods Monster
-Pumpkin Smasher
-Big Muddy Monster
   

     

It is Earth Day and y’all should go ride a bicycle at least. I’m not always a fan of road rides, but often partake. You can ride defensively to a point, but you cannot control everything vehicles do. I often ride on Canals near me. They are not in great shape and continue to fall apart without correct fixes. It sucks. IDNR does not give a fucking shit. Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 
  
HOW ABOUT THOSE CHICAGO CUBBIES!?!?
  
THE DYNASTY HAS BEGUN 🙂

  

#VeganVriday

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist     4.11

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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, tornado, lifestyle, healthy
Title: #VeganVriday
Daily Ride: Goal failed, but yes
  
Every Friday I attempt to be  Vegan. I have failed mostly because of forgetfulness, but I’ve been consecutively successful for quite some time. It’s not hard to be Vegan for one day a week. I am Vegan on other days by accident and sometimes for fun.
  
My intake of dairy has dropped significantly since last year. I have made a pact to myself to only eat pizza on the first of every month. Do I wish to be Vegan eventually? Not really. Will I? Probably. 
  
I love preparing Vegan food for the challenge and for the fun. I do enjoy food muchly. 
  
I often overthink my dishes. The one that I made yesterday seemed unbelievable in my head, but didn’t turn out that great. It was still very delicious, just not 110% perfect. 
  
I took two drug tests this week for two different companies. Pending results on the second, I passed both! Party on, dude! 
  
I also took a break from my Garmin Edge 1000 all week. Perhaps as an experiment. Perhaps to relax. The conclusion is that I ride the same way mostly without the Garmin, but I do not ride as far. I ride the bare minimum along my commutes. Where with the Garmin with me, I ride extra kms. 
  
I did, however, have to ride with my Strava phone app with 45 km/h tailwind on Friday. Not far from where I party, we had, I think, a few tornados touch and destroy materials and two lives. The one was an EF4. 
  
I saw a tornado at the age of 3-4 in a suburb of Denver, CO, but haven’t seen one since. I’ve tried. Oh, how I’ve tried. 
  
I’ve coined myself as the anti-tornado. And I stand by it. I did witness an “Inland Hurricane” in Carbondale, IL in 2009. 
  
I occasionally try and sell things on Craigslist. It’s all spam nowadays. 
  
Today, I planned to try and reach a goal of 200 km. Also, there is the world premiere streaming of Inspired To Ride tonight and it would’ve been great to fit both into the same day. Inspired To Ride is another Mike Dion / Hunter Weeks film about adventure, pushing limits & self-sustained cycling. 
  
I hate riding with traffic. I still do, just not all the time. I chose to ride the I & M (Illinois & Michigan) Canal, which I’ve done hundreds of times. I was going to ride until just short/south of Joliet and turn around and eventually get picked up when I reached the goal. It sounded great in my head. We had numerous severe storms on Thursday and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Aim high when purposing a goal to yourself. Floods and downed trees consumed the path. Not to mention the detour I took. My parents were in a town visiting family where I actually was picked up. Basically perfect timing. I rode hard and captured decent pictures. 
  
I planned this ride while enjoying vast beers. Two of which were Big Muddy Brewing beers from Murphysboro, IL. Just a few clicks west of Carbondale, IL aka SIUC aka Southern Illinois. Before my untappd days, I enjoyed many of Big Muddy brews and am always ecstatic when finding them 300 miles north. 
  
The Blueberry Blonde was good. I expected too much blueberry, but instead was surprised with a subtle hint of blueberry flavor and more of an explosive smell of blueberry which works out very well.
  
The Saluki Dunkeldog, which I’ve had many of times, is always enjoyable.
  
I have an awesome pic of myself with four Saluki’s. 
  
What the hell do you call a century ride when you ride kms?
I’ve always used “century” with miles. I’ve heard “metric century”… 
  
Today out of my 200 km goal, I only actually rode 36 km. I averaged 24.3 km/h after putting up with a lot of crap. 
  
The washout has been there for years with a crossable man made bridge, but right now it’s basically uncrossable without stepping in water. 
I decided to fight weeds and pedal bites to find the railroad 20 ish M north of the towpath. Instead of a little water, I chose thorns, probable poison ivy, water still and strange noises. Good one, dude. I took my earbuds out of my waxy ears and  used nature to transition my loneliness from my buds. I heard some interesting noises. The railroad tracks that aren’t used very often were making strange noises. The only way I can compare is to the movie Cast Away when Tom Hanks keeps hearing noises and finally concludes it’s falling coconuts. The tracks were popping, almost zapping and creaking as if they were moving. Very weird. Also, I was daydreaming about the whisky that I packed. Jameson. That I wanted to wait to start enjoying when a loud swoosh happened. It almost sounded like a car and train speeding by. It was rather close and hurried and grabbed my phone and snapped a pic. 
  
It was a Bald Eagle either attacking or playing with a Hawk. I couldn’t grab a great picture, but I could clearly see the difference between the Eagles (there were two) and Hawks. It was very cool to witness that sound. It was either from their wings or like hissing or something. Awesomeness! No animals were harmed 🙂 I do respect the food chain. 
I finally found a path that looked dry to get back to the towpath. It wasn’t dry. I stepped in water. I continued on and climbed fallen tree after ridden through flood. Good times. 
I’ve come to think of myself as more of an adventurist grinder type cyclist. I do not have the cycling gear problem some people have of being a damn shoppoholic. I have the necessities and always try to get nice necessities, but soon I’m gonna make a list of different types of cyclists and even an equation of how much money you should spend based on your hours of ride time. 
FOOOOOOOOOOOOD
  
Along with being Vegan, most ingredients are Organic and all is oil-free. The Veggies didn’t turn out exactly like I wanted them too because of my laziness/hunger, but it was good. 
Oil-Free MexVegg:
  
Ingredients:
-Chipotle Rice 
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/ Chipotle P/Garlic P
-Veggies, I used steaks from a massive Parsnip, Turnip filet, half an Onion, ⅓ beefsteak Tomato, diced Sweet Potato, Zucchini, Yellow Squash
  
I wanted to obtain nice color to the veggies, but approached it wrongly. Doesn’t this Strava km/h look like a middle finger!
VEGGIES DIPPED IN WAX ARE NOT COOL
  
Chipotle Rice ingredients:
-Dried Chipotle peppers, rehydrated while saving water
-Veggie Broth
-Japonica Rice
-Brown Rice
-Pearled Barley
-Lentils
SeaSalt/Pepper/ Garlic&Chipotle P
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Fresh Parsley, chopped
-Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Hydrate the Dried Chipotles and remove seeds however motivated and dice while keeping the warm/hot water. Add Barley and Japonica Rice, bring to a boil and cover bringing heat to a generous simmer for 20 minutes. Add balsamic and seasonings and then add Lentils and Brown Rice and simmer for 20 more minutes adding Broth whenever needed. NOT TOO MUCH. Add herbs when finished and set to side. Add Vegan “Cheese” if ya wish! 
Roast Veggies and steam Broccolette and season and create a pretty plate. I garnished with sliced garlic, Avocado and more freshly chopped herbs. 
Have a beer pat yourself on the back, but only if you finished reading this entire blog. I’ve been typing for a while. And have lots of pics to upload. Yay

Job Dignity 

Posted on by jeffreylatty

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Tags: work, job, beer, craft, health
Title: Job Dignity 
Daily Ride: Not today. Kayak to work?
Happy Saison Wednesday to all and/or anyone who knows what a Saison is. I also realize that very few read these bloggings of mine, and that is fine. I’m very used to not having friends unless they are funded to socialize with me. 
Today was supposed to be a busy day for me. I altered it and it worked out well. I have a job that I like. I suck at it, but I like it. I want to keep it as long as possible. I started job two yesterday. It entails convenience clerk work. I sold high school girls multiple coffee/cappuccino and 90 YO women too many cigarettes. I’d like to consider myself a decent health conscience advocate. 
I’ve been exchanging voicemails with a business which I would prefer job-wise. I was supposed to work tonight at the job I do not like and wound up switching everything around so I could make a suggested late interview tonight. They hired me pending a drug screening. 
I’m enjoying a very good Saison from Boulevard Brewing tonight. 
  
For my #VeganVriday I bought some interesting things. I’m excited! Just wanted to vent and wish all a firm belief system hopefully to be followed. If possible, do things the right way. Party On Dude

Veggie Easter

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.03

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Title:   Veggie Easter
Daily Ride: Hard Commute
I am currently trying to enjoy a Canadian Parallel 49 Filthy Dirty IPA and I’m barely enjoying it. It is just not the right type/amount that I enjoy in my hops. To me, USA is unbeatable with our hops education. 
I felt the urge to grill out the other day on my Dads old school Weber grill. The first mistake, I think, was trying to save money on charcoal. Which is a fucking joke in the first place. If it’s on the market, it should burn. I’m not going to say it completely sucked. The wind was also a factor. I bought generic charcoal that would not stay afire long enough to obtain an ember of heat. During this process I was enjoying two high ABV beers and my optimism was high as a kite. I figured I had enough heat to add my veggies. 
I soon found myself in a downward downer high spiral as everything was going wrong. And I Promise this is true. I then decided to quit the grilling attempt and put the food into the same container I brought it out in. I used tongs to transfer the innocent cabbage, sweet potatoes, Vegan Dawgs, Mushroom Caps into the container and everything was fine until I went to move the halved Eggplant and it slipped and I freaked out and tried to use my non existent superman skills and catch the eggplant, but instead missed the eggplant but I did knock the other veggies onto the dirty ground. I was super pissed and eventually ordered a pizza. The pizza was very good.
I decided today, that I need to defy and beat my pizza addiction. I’ve been out-of-the-closet pizza addict for quite some time now. I ordered on the first of April. Yes, I am a joke. Pizza saved the day.
I seriously just erased a portion of my notes somehow. FUCK. 
  
Baked Tomato ingredients:
-Beefsteak Tomato
-SeaSalt/ Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic P
-Bleu Cheese, crumbled
-Cheddar Cheese, sliced
-Sunflower Seeds
-Fresh Basil, sliced
I cut the tomatoes towards the north side of the tomato. I then took a bit off of the top to fit some cheese. Obviously leaving the tomato sidewall intact. I backed and then broiled just the tomato. Seasoned added cheese and Sunflower Seeds and baked/broiled and then plated with fresh Basil slices to garnish. Very good. 
Now onto the GMO corn. It is, in my opinion, extremely hard to find NonGmoProjectVerified Corn on the Cob in Illinois. Wish I wouldn’t have deleted my text. 
  
Roasted Corn ingredients: 
-Corn on the cob, shucks-shucked 
-Salted Butter
-Garlic P
-Chipotle P
-Dill
-SeaSalt/Pepper, if ya want 
I baked the corn before using the broiler to add color. I continuously had to rotate the corn. Meanwhile, I melted and seasoned that God damn butter. Autocorrect capitalized “god”. Added seasonings to butter and after corn concluded the heat I tossed together and actually garnished with Cilantro. Very good also!
–
Happy Easter, whatever that means…. Happy LAGUNITAS EQUINOX 

Eggplant Rice Boat

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    4.01

                                        4.02
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Tags: April, fools, beer, craft, cycling, bank, food, recipe, technology, Netflix, crackle, GMO, Vegan, Vegetarian
Title: Eggplant Rice Bowl
Daily Ride: Yes
Yesterday, I needed to deposit some cash into my checking account and had to work at 0900. There are two locations for my bank and, in the past, one of them has always confused me and not been open for cyclists walking in. I decided to go (bicycle) to the location that is farther away from work and the lobby would most likely be open. I leaned my Trek against the brick wall by the front door at 0821, took my helmet and gloves off only to see their hours on the glass door. The drive-thru opens at 0730, but the lobby does not open until 0830.
  
I had my earbuds in with some lovely music blaring and screamed obscenities. I, for one minute, planned on waiting for the doors to open. Ultimately, I decided to ride to the other location that is closer to work. I hate being late and I hate climbing hills. I climbed up the damn hill and rode to the other bank pissed off. To me, it’s just good business tactics that if your drive-thru is open at 0730 because of demand, maybe the lobby is in demand also. And with bank tellers there at 0730, shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that your lobby should be open. Am I crazy for being frustrated and for having these thoughts. 
I think next time the lobby is closed, I’m just gonna ride through the drive-thru on my bicycle and probably cause a scene. Maybe not a scene, but maybe act a smart ass. 
I’ve been kind of bored with Netflix lately and I cheated on Netflix with Crackle last night. Crackle is basically the same concept as Netflix, just free and consumed with commercials. I hate commercials, but put up with them to watch Safety Not Guaranteed, first seen on Netflix, but unfortunately removed. Very good movie. The level of annoyingness of the commercials is nuclear. Not only are commercials fake, horrible and nowhere funny while obviously trying to be funny, these damn commercials sometimes play four times in a row. It’s equivalent to having your eyes wired open, fed illicit drugs and forced watching persuasion material. Only the strong minds survive. And Crackle did advertise for the movie Drive on Crackle, which later I could not find.
It’s a good marketing tool, labeling food or beer, as made with Sriracha. Monday, I had a Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer. I was hesitant the last couple of weeks after first seeing it. I like Rogue beers and LOVE Sriracha, but didn’t think it was worth $13.00 being under 6% ABV. Overall, it’s very overpriced, very weak on the ABV, but it was very decent with a good amount of spice and I was already multiple beers deep while enjoying the Rogue.
I had the urge to stop and make breakfast, eat the breakfast and read a National Geographic. I actually hate reading. I read the big typing and glanced at the pictures, but I definitely looked at a magazine while my phone was charging in another room. It was a rather splendid technology free breakfast. 
  
After my “Saturday CookFest” last weekend, I had some leftovers. I had a good amount of rice, a few Stuffed Poblanos and an extra whole eggplant. I thought about it for a couple of days and did see a picture of an eggplant bowl online. I think the picture that I did see involved shrimp or something. I just needed the concept. 
Eggplant Rice Boat ingredients:
-Whole Eggplant, halved stem intact
-Stuffed Poblano
-Rice mixture
-Good Oil
-Salt/Pepper/Cayenne
-Cheese or dairy-free “Cheese”
-Cilantro 
  
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. You can use immediately or refrigerate for another day with the Eggplant Rice Boat. 
I just cut the flesh of the halved Eggplant at a cross pattern leaving skin unscathed and then backed for 25 minutes. Then remove the flesh and fill with Rice Mixture and then the roasted Stuffed Poblano. Bake again with cheese on top of the Poblano and garnish with Cilantro. 
  
Take a picture, grab a beer and enjoy. 


It took minimal exhausting effort. Really just involving suicidal thoughts while inside or around Walmart, but I found some fresh corn, corn on the cob. I definitely looked for organic, but had no luck as Walmart doesn’t even believe in organics much as their customers probably think it’s a fucking French cuisine. I bought three ears. And I bought three GMO ears, guaranteed. 
I was extremely craving some corn and unfortunately GMO corn won this battle.