Illinois – Page 6 – VeggHead BeerCyclist

Chipotle Chocolate Lentili

Posted on November 29, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I bought a pack of Hell’s Kitchen (five) hot sauces the Day After Thanksgiving. I did shop for the first time ever on “black Friday”. I was at work and I believe that I made my purchase around 1:00pm. It was not anything extreme and I did not push anyone out of my way. The Chocolate Chipotle Hot Sauce is the only one that I’ve tried thus far and it is AMAZING. Daydreaming occasionally combines with reality and here I am with another Food idea that is DELICIOUS. Trial and Error, or how about just Trial. Take a chance. Have faith. Have confidence. Know your ingredients.

Baking is not me. Baking is alien. I have partaken. I can do it, but we do not get along. This concept was fun, exciting and educational. The only things different, were the ingredients. MY “Chili” concept will not change.

Seasonings, bad. Vegetables, good.

Cocoa Powder, Semi-sweet Chocolate, Veggie Broth, Peppers, Chipotle in Adobo, Daiya, Lentils, Onion, Tomatoes and crushed Tomatoes (canned), Cilantro, Sugar, SeaSalt/Pepper, Garlic, Sweet Potatoes were combined and simmered all damn day, literally. The batch produced is hefty.

SoloCUBSParade

Ⓥestern Skillet

Posted on November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I made a badass Ⓥegan western-style skillet last night. This concoction was served in a sorry-tin container that made it even more Westernish. I’ve seen my fair share of Western flicks and how they consume their beans next to the fire before shut-eye, y’all. I went for one of the best rides that I’ve ever ridden today, November 17, 2016, at 60-73℉ in the state of Illinois. The sun was shining and also, the wind was blowing.

I have to try to explain my ride today. Venturing on new roads in this unforgettable mixed surface cycling Gran Fondo, was the goal. I wanted to cross a river that I’ve never crossed before outside of the I&M Canal. That river is the Fox River which starts in Wisconsin and drains into the Illinois River. From the git-go, some drivers were not paying as much attention to the road and me as well as they should. Steering clear of busy roads was another goal. A watery detour was taken to help that goal.

Never will I ever plan my entire ride. There is no fun in that and something always comes up to influence a right instead of a left turn. Choosing to ride into the wind a couple of times instead of taking the easy way out and turning with the wind was extremely beneficial. The results were as if the planets aligned and all luck was on my (drivetrain) side. Being in a new area, yeah-everything was new, but the significance of the new sights were ungodly. I took a few pictures and ultimately am motivated about the next year trek, my #SoloCUBSParade. It is not always about how fast you go, it is about the experience and the journey of doing something great.

#SoloCUBSParade

Go Fund Me

My Ride

Ⓥestern Skillet included boiled and drained Pinto & Northern (Western) Beans, Sweet & Russet Potatoes and Onion. I used Vegetable Oil and sautéed the ingredients in a cast iron skillet. Carrot shreds, Green Peppers, Mushroom, Garlic and PBR were sautéed together first. PBR (Beer) was added with an assortment of seasonings.

The seasonings were SeaSalt/Pepper/ Turmeric/Paprika/ChipotleP/Cayenne/Sugar. Grape Tomatoes, freshly chopped DILL WEED, SmartDog slices, LiquidSmoke & Mustard BBQ sauce were added before baking/broiling a little bit. It pairs well with a cowboy hat and a fire.

I passed a Silica blasting site and took this picture:

To get into a better spot, I jumped over a two-foot fabric fence. While I was standing there, a siren came from a few workers working behind this drop-off. Perhaps, they saw me or they were just jacking around like sometimes we do at my real job. I stepped back and had a snack and then just gave it another look before continuing on my ride when, BOOOOOOOM. A huge explosion erupted and threw dirt/sand/silica high into the air. My heart jumped with a horrifying sense of fright and oddly an engaging adrenaline rush as if I were about to enter battle as the earth rumbled through my feet and through constricting arteries. Basically, I’d feel this same exact way if I were three houses away from an F5 tornado and how I’d feel if I were a deer in the headlights of a 70 mph semi-truck about to be taken off of this Earth. My bicycle helmet would disintegrate.

Have fun, responsibly.

Solo #Cubs Parade

Posted on November 17, 2016 by jeffreylatty

Hey, Hey! Holy Cow! Let’s Go!

The Chicago CUBS did it in my lifetime. They have won it all and beat everyone else. There are many of people I am saddened by that could not witness this championship. I need to do one up on just celebrating. This team/club, the Chicago Cubs, have inspired myself to finally do something I’ve always wanted to do…Upgrade my adventurism.

My Solo Cubs Parade is survival. It is athleticism. It is thinking ahead of the traffic. It is a celebration.

Lack of vacation days and common sense took my original idea and threw it out the window. Starting at home instead of the Wisconsin/Illinois border riding through the Illinois/Kentucky border will not work for me. I have to be smart about planning and also realistic. I guess originally planned, it would be around 1,000 km which would decipher into around 625 miles. That would consist of consecutive century (100+ miles) rides. I can ride a century, but not too sure five in a row is even possible for me.

I currently have roughly 750 km (470ish miles) to go in five days with a six-hour train ride. Also, a safety plan incase I get into a bind. I plan on staying in hotels and experiencing three breweries. I plan on experiencing the land of Illinois and towing the pride of the Chicago Cubs VICTORY with me. I want to push my limits and do something cool. I truly want to celebrate in a unique way that I can forever cherish.

Hopefully this will be happening in April. It depends on when vacation is blacked out with my real job. I have time to think and perfect. I have time to try to save money. I need extra motivation and possibly some funds. Eating Vegan along the way will not be cheap. Gear is gonna have to be purchased, as well.

I’m excited and will blog my way through it with glorious pictures and improper english. If you like my concept, please help my cause and support me with a dollar or two. It would mean a lot!

GoFundMe

Dill ‘Em All

Posted on November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 by jeffreylatty

An idea or concept, for me, usually means multiple attempts at trying something and with food, hopefully the attempts are edible. Which they were in this case. The key ingredients that I was toying with were Potatoes, Pineapple Juice and different types of BBQ sauces. Dill Weed is an amazing herb. Freshly chopped Dill Weed is the greatest thing ever. It basically defies physics and was probably responsible for the construction of the egyptian pyramids.

Sweet Baby Ray’s has a mustard BBQ sauce. The concept of flavors without even tasting has me excited, however, my taste buds are a bit disappointed. What can you do…Make your own.

In our vastly available variety of Craft Beer these days, I’ve been growing bored and almost impatient. It’s been a progressive trend for many months now. I could make my own….:)

I put a few ingredients together and decided to turn them into a salad. And later on, a burrito.

Dill ‘Em All : Potatoes, Carrot, Pineapple, Shallot, Tomato, Tofu, roasted Garlic, Liquid Smoke, Mustard BBQ, DILL WEED, Pineapple Juice, Pepper, SeaSalt, OnionP, ChipotleLime, PoppySeed, Turmeric were infused on a stove top via pan-fry while they were later met with much cooooler Iceburg Lettuce and Daiya. And that is how the Salad was one. I mean…..And that is how the salad was won.

CaⓋun Bean Soup

Posted on November 6, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I have been slacking on a bicycle as of late and mostly just commuting everyday. I took the day off of the bicycle last Sunday, but went for a kickass 80km (50mile) ride last Saturday. Even though my longer rides have dropped, my (usually hard ridden) commutes keep me strong and ready-to-go. I messed with some wind on Saturday, but muscled through it.

#RideOn

My mother bought me a Cajun Bean Soup bean mix and I utilized them wonderfully. This Soup simmered for over five hours.

Truly a tasty (trick or) treat with a little seasoning, no oil and lots of Veggies and Beans. Nothing was purchased by myself just to be included in this Soup. Utilization of on-hand ingredients were my ingredients. I did use remaining Daiya ‘cream cheese’ and Earth Balance ‘butter’. Technically, they probably consist of some oil, but no oil added other than that already in those ingredients.

I used the Cajun seasoning mix that was included with the Beans. It wasn’t much and did not consist of any animal products. I boiled the beans for a bit and rinsed before starting the actual base of the Soup. I heated Veggie Broth with some leftover Salsa and chopped up Onion, Celery, Green Pepper, Mushroom, Jalepenos, Serrano and Potatoes. I utilized a little Pumpernickel Bread, finely chopped. The seasonings were the Cajun seasoning, Sea Salt, Pepper, Chipotle, Garlic & Onion Powder and some Chipotle Lime Powder. Lentils, Beans, (frozen) Corn, Jasmine Rice, Daiya ‘cream cheese’ & Earth Balance ‘butter’ were all thrown in and brought to a boil before simmering for hours. Water was added as needed.

This Cajun Vegan Bean Soup is plentiful and absolutely deliciously edible. I did not figure out the cost of this batch, but I’m sure for the numerous flavorful servings this involves it should be in my LBV (Low Budget Vegan) ‘series’ as it seems fairly inexpensive.

This daylight savings changing ridiculous angers me. It needs to be lighter later, not earlier in the day. I hope a Mars civilization wouldn’t partake in a time change.

Lentili Mac N Daiya Meatlessburger

Posted on October 21, 2016October 21, 2016 by jeffreylatty

This is the end

Beautiful friend

This is the end

My only friend, the end

-Jim Morrison (The Doors)

The End

Prepare Lentili:

Tofu Tempeh Lentili

Prepare Lentili Mac N Daiya:

Lentili Mac N Daiya

Find Vegan English Muffins or Buns. Use a Beyond Meat Beastburger or Vegan Boca. Roast, toast and boast, meltedly:)

It’s nice to go for a muddy bike ride with others to a local brewery to enjoy a freshly brewed Craft Beer and for the first time, I could eat a sausage with them who were also enjoying sausages. They carried Field Roast sausages:) you betcha, I want that Chicago-style.

GO CHICAGO CUBS

The End (Lentili)

…To Be Continued (CUBS)

Tomplant

Posted on October 2, 2016 by jeffreylatty

You’ll never truly know what works and what doesn’t work without experimental trial and error cheffing. Spontaneity usually works best for me while hunger motivates me to ponder in the back of my mind like a pinball machine bouncing ideas of mixing ingredients with other ingredients. Do I want to cook my ingredients? Which technique do I use to cook my ingredients? Or do I not cook some or all ingredients? What haven’t I done yet? Do I need to remaster an existing idea and attempt?

Having a beer or two helps creativeness continuously flowing and going away from that game ending drain. If it turns out great, I’ll take a few pictures and blog about it. First, I’ll have a little fun with a photo.

I sliced Eggplant and roasted the slices. I smeared Daiya ‘cream cheese’ and torn Daiya ‘cheese’ slice on the roasted Eggplant and warmed in the oven. Out of the oven, I sprinkled a bit of Chipotle Powder on top and put a Caper underneath a sliced Tomato. Then I broiled slightly before adding some Oregano and SeaSalt. Deliciously easily edible.

CHEERS

veggheadbeercyclist.com

Posted on October 1, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I enjoy thinking that I do influence individuals to either think of food differently, dusting off their bicycle to actually ride it or go for an adventure and take quality pictures.

I gratefully appreciate any input that people are enjoying run-on sentences with decent pictures. I work hard to pay the bills in allowing me to blog in your eyes.

It has been a goal of mine for a good amount of time and it has been progressively evolving into something.

I took another step into my blogging goal with a purchase of my own domain. I do not know everything, however, a different insight provides more options to choose for themselves which path they’d want to take in hopefully bettering their lives.

Thanks to the billions of imaginary people who acknowledge my blogging.

StirⓋrizza

Posted on September 22, 2016September 22, 2016 by jeffreylatty

I unfortunately do not make time to dabble in the art of making fresh dough these days, so for this recipe I used Mama Mary’s (Ⓥegan) pizza dough. It is excellent and gives you (me) endless pizza construction possibilities.

I mixed Thai Peanut Sauce with Tamari and Sriracha for my pizza sauce.

I stir-fried Garlic, Sunflower Seeds, Carrot, Celery, Onion, Cabbage, Mushroom and chopped Daiya (Havarti Jalepeno) with Wok Me Up Garlic Stir Fry (chopped Tofu and the (Ⓥegan) Sauce).

Smothering the already prepared pizza dough with the Peanut Sauce, I then put a few slices of Swiss Daiya ‘cheese’ before adding the StirⓋry to be slow roasted in the oven at 250 F for 20 ish minutes. I broiled slightly.

I made some Brown Rice to consume with the remaining StirⓋry.

iSalad

Posted on September 2, 2016September 2, 2016 by jeffreylatty

My excuses for cooking my life away is to obtain my most correct lifestyle and distrust of the area involving my lifestyle. My lifestyle is easy. iRide iEat iDrink

I do shuffle and repeat that playlist. I will say a positive mindset and attitude about every freaking thing is key to inner happiness. And always having good days, makes life irresistibly better, for me. Maybe I have my head up my own ass, but maybe I’m doing it right.

You can spin everything to be a good thing. TRY IT.

I made a simple Taco Salad. It was so simple that a picture reveals its ingredients.

I’m just a lazy blogga wannabe. 🙂 Happy Thursday!