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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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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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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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! 

Big Muddy Vegan Earth Day

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.22

Began:   0802   Finished: 1120

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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 â…“ 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: â€‹[sÉ›.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

Began:   0147   Finished:  0325

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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, â…“ 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 

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VeggHead BeerCyclist 

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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

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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

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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.