Vegan Italian “beef”

VeggHead BeerCyclist       05.02

Began:    2211  Finished:   0943

Upload              
ScrewUp:     Y    Edited:    Y
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! 

Big Muddy Vegan Earth Day

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.22

Began:   0802   Finished: 1120

Upload              
ScrewUp:   Y    Edited:  Y
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

VeggHead BeerCyclist     4.11

Began:   0147   Finished:  0325

Upload              
ScrewUp:    Y    Edited:   Y
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

Veggie Easter

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.03

Began:  1736    Finished:  1828

Upload              
ScrewUp:    Y   Edited:   Y
Tags:
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

VeggHead BeerCyclist    4.01

                                        4.02
Began:  0718    Finished:

Upload              
ScrewUp:   Y     Edited:  Y
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. 

Saturday CookFest

VeggHead BeerCyclist    3.29

Began:   0800   Finished:  1013

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

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

Untitled

VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.24

Began: 0359      Finished: 0429

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

 

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

Vegan Paddy’s Day

VeggHead BeerCyclist      3.08

Began: Sat2025

Finished: Sun1020

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

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

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

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

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

Easy Chinesey

VeggHead BeerCyclist   03.05

Began: 0030   Finished: 0730

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

Worcestershire Sauce usually contains Anchovy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bologna Rigatoni

VeggHead BeerCyclist 3.03

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

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

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

Perhaps a beer r(un)ide 

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

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

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

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