Whiskey Wine Edamame

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist 5.25.15
Began: 0824 Finished:  0907
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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, wellness, lifestyle, pictures, fun, Netflix 
Title: Whiskey Wine Edamame 
Daily Ride: Yes
  
Happy Memorial Day to all and to all of my blog readers that I think I have, I hope you had a great weekend!

  
I don’t care for much attention here on my WordPress space.. I used to have a MySpace, but unfortunately I deleted it years ago. I was good at MySpace unlike this WordPress where I can’t even understand how to layout my page. Maybe it’s laziness, maybe it’s my stupidity. Maybe I don’t even care. Does this blog really need much attention for my dumb and mostly pointless rants and raves. Maybe with the rants and raves I should have black lights and glow-in-the-dark whistles and bow ties as the layout. Really it’s just a blog with improper English and grammar that openly proves that I have a drinking problem and even more expensively, a cycling problem. 
I might not be the healthiest person out there, but I take pride in making healthy choices and occasionally upgrading my healthy lifestyle. I might have a healthy problem. I’ve been partaking and mostly successful being Vegan on every Friday since January 9th of this year. 
I’ve been 100% Vegetarian since January 29th, 2013. I’ve overcome various different obstacles and challenges basically every #VeganVriday. 

  
I’ve decided to participate in #VeganWeekend every weekend starting this week. The entire weekend, Friday at midnight through Sunday at 11:59, would be completely Vegan. Do I plan on being a full time Vegan, no. Will I, very possible. As long as beer is vegan, anything is possible. 

  
I’ve been without Netflix since April, 20th of this year. And Netflix actually cancelled my membership after a month. I like Netflix, I just don’t want to pay for it and I want to watch it less. I am human and have been streaming freely with Crackle and Tubi TV. There is a very nice and large selection between them both, you just have to deal with commercials… I hate commercials, but I’m doing just fine. 
I’ve finally decided to move to the next cycling level and ordered cycling shoes and eggbeater pedals. I’m excited to see the difference and it better be a huge difference as I’m attempting the Strava Mt. Everest Napal climbing challenge in June of climbing 8,848 m, which is the height of Everest, in the month of June. I hate climbing… It is for a good cause.

   

  

  

Whiskey Wine Edamame:

   
 
I made this OILFREE 🙂
Ingredients:

-Red Wine

-Whiskey

-Lemon juiced no seeds,no stem

-Balsamic Vinegar

-Dill Weed

-Fresh Garlic, sliced

-Lentils, cooked

-Edamame, shelled & cooked

-Potatoes, largely chopped

-Turnip, largely chopped

-Carrot, largely sliced

-Tomato paste

-Parsley, for garnish

-Onion, chopped

-Fresh Kale, chopped

-Celery, largely sliced

-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne/GarP

-Water or Broth

   
 
The Voyage:
I started by chopping the Potatoes, Turnip & Carrots and placing them on parchment paper on a larger baking sheet. I turned on the oven to 415*F and threw that pan in and continued to chop the veggies. I chopped the Onion, Celery & Garlic and set a side for a few minutes. I started the water for Lentils at some point. I also had a few beers. I decided to use these frozen shelled Edamame that happens to be #NonGMOProjectVerified. I threw the Edamame in with the lentils towards the very end for a few minutes. I then put the other veggies in with the already roasting oil-free veggies and stirred them up making them super crazy. They had a very sexy aroma. I put the Lentils and Edamame in a colander and drained the water while putting the pan back on the stovetop heat adding Red Wine (Cab), Whiskey, Seasonings, Balsamic Vinegar and Tomato Paste and brought almost to a boil. I timed the Booze to get hot as the Veggies were good to go and first added the Lentils and Edamame and then the Veggies to the Booze. If you add the Veggies before the Protein, the world will end. I then added the Lemon Juice and Kale and basically steamed the Kale while stirring. It is basically done whenever your desired doneness is achieved and the liquid has mostly vanished. 

  
Enjoy if you try. No well wishes if ya don’t try. KIDDING! Have fun and take pics in whatever drives you!

Quadruple Beefsteak 

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    5.19.15

Began:   2110    Finished: 2218

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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, wellness, lifestyle, pictures, fun
Title: Quadruple Beefsteak 
Daily Ride: Yes
  
A man walks into a bank with two things in his hands. Actually it’s one thing in his two hands and one thing in his one mouth. He walks into this bank with a paper sack full of change and he has this paper sack in both hands to keep it from tearing and making a mess. Not so much to prevent a mess, but to prevent tedious pickup work. In his mouth is a check to be deposited. 
  
He heads straight to the change machine with an idea to keep the change as cash and deposit the check into his checking account and all would be sane. The bank teller asked the man if he was going to use the change machine and He responded “yes” and she helped him with the numerous steps involved in using the way to complicated change machine. 
  
The machine started counting the change and all of a sudden ($2.94, to be exact) the machine jammed or crashed. It completely stopped with an error alert on the screen. The bank teller was there to try and fix it, but had no luck. The machine spits out the receipt of the $2.94 value of change taken. The bank teller tries to call the janitor, the bank machine manager, who was on lunch and suggests to the customer that he collect his change still awaiting change machine consumption.
  
The man asked the bank teller if she would do a manual exchange giving me cash for the change. She explained how they don’t do that anymore and how it could be possible to use another bank. The man continued to collect his change and became annoyed. He mentioned an idea of getting cash from the check he was hopefully eventually going to deposit and then deposit the change as the cash that it is. The bank teller heavily relied on the machine for any type of counting. She said they would need to fix the machine and then could cash in the change once the change machine technician (aka janitor) came back from lunch. Which would mean for the man to leave his change in the hands of a bank teller who cannot count. 
  
Also, in the hands of a janitor who probably collects vast dollars of change left in urinals. The man agreed and later checked his checking account online where the deposit for the change has not fully processed because it was deposited after the cutoff time because the janitor was on lunch and the bank tellers couldn’t count. 
  
Anyways, that’s my small vent blown out of proportion for the day. I guess change is technically not legal tender in some banks. I have a strong urge to somehow have this happen again and make a huge stink of the situation and have the teller deposit my damn change. I guess in the back of my mind I know that money is tight with the purchases I need to make in the near future. The biggest being a new fat bike.
  
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on a tomato sandwich. I have not tried a Vegan version yet. I do feel I’ve finally mastered the Vegetarian Beefsteak. The taste has always been great just the look and consistency is what needed improvement. The sandwich needs to stay intact as much as possible while consumption is taking place. 
  
I took a few engineering/architecture courses in college and that is basically the approach taken in mastering this super basic sandwich. The tomatoes like to move faster than an avalanche, faster than a rock slide and faster than and more powerful than water. My thought process was to create an almost concrete base and structure using delicious cheese. Here are the pictures along the way
-Double Beefsteak Wheat
  
-Beefsteak w/ Kale Seitan Greek Omelet
  
-Beefsteak Sliders (literally) 
  
-Quadruple Beefsteak 
   

 

Quadruple Beefsteak ingredients:
-Hearty Bun, sliced in half
-Beefsteak tomato, sliced thick and both ends saved for something else
-Cheese or “Cheese” I used dairy cheese. I used a combination of Horseradish Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Swiss and American. 
-SeaSalt
-Alfalfa Sprouts
I made a veggie stir-fry and topped with Gouda and Sharp Cheddar Cheese and through those babies on the side. 
  
Hope this recipe inspires innovation to either cook or to quit eating meat. Take a pic, enjoy a good beer and have fun! 
  
Go for a bike RIDE! 

Kale-Seitan Greekwich 

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    5.19.15

Began:  1426    Finished: 1516

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Title: Kale-Seitan Greekwich 
Daily Ride: Commute
  
I have found another Big Muddy Brewery beer in the Pale Ale. And it is a bomber and was under $5. It’s a very good PA with a nicely well balanced 6% ABV. 
  
Last week I tweeted Heidi Watney on how much I enjoy her baseball highlights on MLBN Quick Pitch. One, she’s good at her job and two, she is gorgeous! Anyways, she favorited my tweet! It was basically a kiss on the cheek and I can now die happily. Go CUBBIES! 
  
I made this meal with leftover Mediterranean-Style Seaitan because when I make Seitan, I fucking make Seitan for a week. 
Kale-Seitan Greekwich w/ Belgian Endive:
  
(Use ORGANICS, whenever possible)
  
Kale-Seitan Greekwich ingredients:
-Seitan, chopped (Scroll down)
-Fresh Kale, chopped dicely 
-Hearty Bun, sliced in half
-Fresh Ginger, diced
-Fresh Garlic, diced
-Veggie Broth
-Spicy Mustard
-Kalamata Olives, diced
-Capers, halved
-Onion, diced
-Feta cheese
-Mozzarella cheese
-Sunflower Seeds
Obviously you’ll wanna already have your Seitan ready to go before continuing. I Chose to dry roast the diced Ginger, Garlic, Onion and Sunflower Seeds before combining all with the Feta Cheese to obtain a good, not bad, warmth. I used the Mozzarella with the bun only. I toasted the insides of Buns before adding a decent amount of Mozzarella cheese and then slightly toasted to melt that cheese. Combine. And. Take. A pic. Before enjoying. 
  
ALSO, CHEESE IS NOT NECESSARY. 
  
VEGAN AND NON ANIMAL IS ONLY FOR THE STRONG. 
  
Chipotle Balsamic Belgian Endive ingredients:
-Belgian Endive
-Sriracha Cock Sauce
-Balsamic Vinegar 
-Better Oil
-Chipotle seasoning
-SeaSalt/Pepper
-Belgian-Style Beer, consumed with a little set off to the side 😆
I combined everything and I used Ommegang Gnomegang with the Endive. I coated both sides of those Belgian bastards. And roasted face down ass up. Season again afterwards with at least Sea Salt. 
Seitan ingredients: 
-Corn Meal
-Tomato Sauce
-Vital Wheat Gluten
-Herbs/SeaSalt/Pepper
-BROTH
-Non Dairy Cheese Cloth 
-Fennel Seeds
Mix ingredients and wrap in cheese cloth and place in pan w/ Broth and seasonings and bake for two hours turning Seitan over after 60 minutes. And cool.
I need a new FATBIKE and these are two candidates:
   

 

I rode today on the road. And know I am wriding about it because I was the wrider. It was super cold this morning and still feels like fall. I threw on some armwarmers and full finger cycling cloves. And wrote on. #RideOn  

  

  

Vegan Fat Bike Packing

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist   05.11.15

Began:   2151   Finished:

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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, wellness, lifestyle, Strava, fat, bike, packing, pictures, fun
Title: Vegan Fat Bike Packing
Daily Ride: Yes
  
I’ve been riding my commutes without my Garmin (Edge 100) for various reasons. The number one reason to commute without Garmin or Strava is just to have the pleasure of riding without stress of obtaining great numbers for a measly 10 km commute to work or the damn grocery store for some good beer. Along with stress free purposes, you can somewhat tie in that I ride much safer without saved data from my commutes. I stop and slow down much more. I’m still an asshole at times, but I’m not in the ride for results. I’m in the rides for transportation, fun and peace of mind. 
  
I have finally come to the conclusion that I do need cycling shoes with the correct pedals. I have never felt the urge to have them, but I do now for efficiency purposes. I want walking/hiking efficiency with cadence efficiency. Perhaps, I’m graduating to another level of the ‘School of Cycling’ 
I ride decently with tennis shoes… I am excited to see my results. I still plan on commuting tennis-style for the time being. 
I know now exactly what it’s like to perform brain surgery on some asshole while nicking arteries and or other life detrimental organs and or brain damaging issues while trying to put everything back together again like the thrice wolves did. I rekeyed a lock while losing the pins and springs inside of the chamber. The procedure was intense and nerve wrecking. I survived and so did the lock!
  
A couple of weeks ago, I made the smart choice of handling my vast mass of bills after being a bit more than tipsy. I had the drunkish confidence going like crazy. As I am usually nuts when I drink. I also felt like being social with the crooks that rip me off and make millions off of poor poor Americans like myself. I basically thought I was rich and scheduled and made payments with money that while sober, I do not have. I am a damn millionaire while I’m buzzed. All is good in bank land. 
(5.13.15)
  
Canal Grinder, a bikepacking event, is this weekend. Also, this Friday, Day one of the Canal Grinder, is my #VeganVriday! I’m all stocked up with Vegan cuisine. It’s basically an intro event to BikePacking because we are not traveling very far and civilization is never far away. 
I’m gonna concentrate mostly on my food in packing for this bicycle camping trip. I’m only packing a day pack backpack and a hip slash ass fanny pack. I think that I’ll also pack my saddle bag on my fat bike. 
(5.14.15)
  
Happy Thursday! I am almost done with work for the week. I have a decently long day today and then it is party time! I scouted out the I&M Canal towpath on Mother’s Day. I rode there and back with two detours (technically four) on road due to water. I rode 122 kms. I’d say 100 km were on towpath and 22 ish km were road. The washout is usually crossable, but over the winter our make-shift bridges were torn down by IDNR, those lovely people that will not fix the historic I&M Canal. The other detour was in an area where flooding is normal if it’s been rainy. I took a smaller stretch of a road into a town, Marseilles and was almost struck by a truck.
An asshole with a big truck (small fucking dick), we’ll just say no-dick, was coming up behind me just coming into Marseilles and the road had a few horrible potholes that I saw while I was approaching. 
  
The pothole that I had to swerve to stay out of was the size of a damn sink. I saw no-dick behind me using peripherals and pointed to the left, stating that I would be moving left. And with the assurance of safety because of my hand gestures, I moved towards the center of the lane to dodge the massive blackhole. I soon realized that I used the incorrect hand gesture as no-dick either chose to ignore me or just plainly wasn’t paying any attention to the damn road. He did not show any signs of trying to move over. And there wasn’t ANY oncoming traffic. He almost ruined my day and then either saw me or just chose to be an asshole and he pointed or held up his hand like he was yelling or something and went on with his life as if nothing happened. It is not a good feeling at all to have an object go by you so close. I stopped and had lunch and I #RideOn. I should’ve used the hand gesture of a middle finger to that prick. 
(5.17.15)
  
The Canal Grinder was a GRIND and is now complete. It overall went very well. We had a few issues that were resolved and everything was outstanding. I successfully accomplished another #VeganVriday, but this time on a much harder playing field. And on a day full of drinking just about to the max. 
  
We had two broken Fat Bikes and a lost phone. The two Fat Bikes did survive and the phone was found after the Canal Grinder concluded. I broke my rear axel before to Canal Grinder was fully underway hopping off of a curb with mean airtime. The intense jump and mean airtime was due to being severely annoyed leaving the bank. I had an older gentleman that wouldn’t stop talking to me who was being super nice, I’m just a god damn asshole and was jacked up on energy and then when I was getting ready to get on the Fat Bike, someone bumped the bike with the door which was clearly see-through glass! We just kept tightening it as best as possible throughout the trip. It was literally snapped. I also acquired a slow leak in my rear tire. And we just changed the tube. Luckily, for me, my buddy brought a spare four inch tube and gave it to me. The same buddy lost his crank arm a couple of hours after that. He put it back on as best as possible and his Fat Bike held up fine. 
  
I packed my back pack and fanny pack with my gear and rode. Everything fit well and stayed dry. It was super wet and soggy gravel/mud along the I & M Canal from lock 14 in LaSalle to Gebhard Woods in Morris and back. There was a stretch of 4-8 inch water flooding depending on the spot and day that we rode through. I swallowed a bug in the middle of that mess. Technically you could say that I wasn’t Vegan on Friday, because I ate that bastard. 
  
Towards the end, my left leg started to have a sharp needle-like pain in the knee joint. It was definitely due to the broken rear axel and the tire rubbing against the left seat stay the entire way. I did completely finish the ride. 
  
We all had an exhaustingly fun and overall outstandingly great time! My first Fat Bike Bike Packing experience was phenomenal. Even though my lower end Fat Bike is done for, I’m gonna buy a nicer Fat Bike eventually and take the vast greatness and virtue that came with the trip and continue on with this adventure that we call life. 
The Vegan support that kept me fed and energized were Vegan bars, Roasted Almonds, In-Shell Peanuts, Tofurky sandwiches and Vegan Smart Dogs. 
  
Tofurky sandwich ingredients:
-Tofurky
-Whole Wheat Bread, toasted
-“Cheese”, dairy free
-Wholly Guacamole 
-Onion, sliced
  
I held my own by not eating out anywhere we went. I drank good beer and stayed on plan with my own food. I probably could’ve used more food, but everything was fine. 
  
No one was hurt. Nothing was lost. All of us had great fun and I did bring home a Revolution beer that I’ve never heard of. 
  
Notable CanalGrinder Beers consumed:
-Wicked Fist, Revolution 
-Stache In The Wood, Finch’s
-Grapefruit Sculpin, Ballast Point
-Orange Avenue Wit, Coronado
-Blakkr, Surly/Real/3Floyds collaboration (Surly release) 
-TV Party Rye IPA, Revolution 
  
Other Beers that are recent notables:
-Three Philosophers (2013), Ommegang. 
-Three Philosophers (2012), Ommegang 
-Three Philosophers (2011), Ommegang 
-16 Bit DPA, Tallgrass
-Brewhouse Coffee Stout, Central Waters
-Kentucky Old Fashioned Barrel Ale, Lexington 
-Fist City, Revolution 
  
I’ve never seen a packaged “Cellared” box until this week from Ommegang. I personally blow at cellaring beers. I always drink them. I need a time lock safe. The 2011 was the better year with the most age and wow, was it balanced and flavorful! 
  
CHEERS IF YA CAN FIND IT

Vegan Italian “beef”

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       05.02

Began:    2211  Finished:   0943

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Tags: vegan, vegetarian, food, beer, craft, recipe, story, cycling, pics, organic, Netflix, wellness, lifestyle, music, photos, pics
Title: Vegan Italian “Beef”
Daily Ride:  Yes
  
I recently had a Charles Bukowski binge and needed a mandatory detox. The detox excluded everything but water, food and vitamins. I didn’t have booze for 5 days, energy/caffeine for 3 days and Netflix is still going strong at like 12 days. 
  
The Netflix breakup, as I do date Netflix and f*%hdhdhdjdjjdjd Netflix up the a*+=]hdhdjjdd, was due to (sorry) an inactive debit card that the bank told me to cancel because of a threat. I just didn’t update my Netflix account. And have since been watching free streaming on Crackle. Crackle bl^#*hdhdjd me good, but then there are those damn commercials…. Apologies for being a dirty person tonight, but this is the only way to describe my relationships with streaming. I am drinking barleywine! I need another beer. Barleywine makes me feel FINE. 
  
I went for a ride to end up at my sisters for my seven year old nephews birthday party tonight. I had a water malfunction. I went to a bar with $3 and change and drank them out of water. I climbed 338 m in 58 km. I feel extremely happy about that. I had my Garmin on maps the entire time. And I just RODE. It is the greatest feeling. 
  
Live free, ride a bicycle. 
I need another beer. 
I need more THRICE. 
I made this vegan dish awesomely it just needs to be perfected. 
   

 

Seitan ingredients: 
-Corn Meal
-Tomato Sauce
-Vital Wheat Gluten
-Herbs/SeaSalt/Pepper
-BROTH
-Non Dairy Cheese Cloth 
-Fennel Seeds
(Continued the next morning)
Mix ingredients and wrap in cheese cloth and place in pan w/ Broth and seasonings and bake for two hours turning Seitan over after 60 minutes. And cool.
I haven’t perfected slicing the Seitan for Italian “beef” yet, but slice it how ya want.
   

 

Au Jus ingredients:
-Broth
-Brown Mustard
-Crushed Red Peppers
-Garlic cloves
-Peppercorn
-Sugar
-SeaSalt/Pepper
I sliced Red and Green Bell Peppers and an Onion and put into Au Jus with sliced Seitan and marinated for a bit.
  
I used French Bread and toasted in oven before topping with Seitan, Peppers and “Cheese”.
   

 

I also used Hot Goardiniera for one sandwich. I also pan fried Beefsteak Tomatoes. 
  
The Barleywine that I enjoyed last night was a 2013 Kosmyk Charlie’s Catastrophe Ale from Central Waters Brewing Company out of Amherst, Wisconsin. It aged very well. And I drank it quickly. 
The band Thrice is a post-rock, alternative and slightly emo/screamo (earlier years) band. I first and only, actually, saw them in Chicago for my 21st birthday. They were very good live and have put together great music from 1999-2012 according to Wikipedia. And are supposedly playing some shows this year? 
  
Anyways, I hope I’ve inspired someone to cook, jam out to Thrice or go ride a bike. Take pics and have fun!