Vegan Italian “beef”

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       05.02

Began:    2211  Finished:   0943

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

Big Muddy Vegan Earth Day

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.22

Began:   0802   Finished: 1120

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

                            -WIKIPEDIA 

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

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

     

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

  

#VeganVriday

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist     4.11

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

Veggie Easter

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist       4.03

Began:  1736    Finished:  1828

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

Eggplant Rice Boat

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    4.01

                                        4.02
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Tags: April, fools, beer, craft, cycling, bank, food, recipe, technology, Netflix, crackle, GMO, Vegan, Vegetarian
Title: Eggplant Rice Bowl
Daily Ride: Yes
Yesterday, I needed to deposit some cash into my checking account and had to work at 0900. There are two locations for my bank and, in the past, one of them has always confused me and not been open for cyclists walking in. I decided to go (bicycle) to the location that is farther away from work and the lobby would most likely be open. I leaned my Trek against the brick wall by the front door at 0821, took my helmet and gloves off only to see their hours on the glass door. The drive-thru opens at 0730, but the lobby does not open until 0830.
  
I had my earbuds in with some lovely music blaring and screamed obscenities. I, for one minute, planned on waiting for the doors to open. Ultimately, I decided to ride to the other location that is closer to work. I hate being late and I hate climbing hills. I climbed up the damn hill and rode to the other bank pissed off. To me, it’s just good business tactics that if your drive-thru is open at 0730 because of demand, maybe the lobby is in demand also. And with bank tellers there at 0730, shouldn’t it be a no-brainer that your lobby should be open. Am I crazy for being frustrated and for having these thoughts. 
I think next time the lobby is closed, I’m just gonna ride through the drive-thru on my bicycle and probably cause a scene. Maybe not a scene, but maybe act a smart ass. 
I’ve been kind of bored with Netflix lately and I cheated on Netflix with Crackle last night. Crackle is basically the same concept as Netflix, just free and consumed with commercials. I hate commercials, but put up with them to watch Safety Not Guaranteed, first seen on Netflix, but unfortunately removed. Very good movie. The level of annoyingness of the commercials is nuclear. Not only are commercials fake, horrible and nowhere funny while obviously trying to be funny, these damn commercials sometimes play four times in a row. It’s equivalent to having your eyes wired open, fed illicit drugs and forced watching persuasion material. Only the strong minds survive. And Crackle did advertise for the movie Drive on Crackle, which later I could not find.
It’s a good marketing tool, labeling food or beer, as made with Sriracha. Monday, I had a Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer. I was hesitant the last couple of weeks after first seeing it. I like Rogue beers and LOVE Sriracha, but didn’t think it was worth $13.00 being under 6% ABV. Overall, it’s very overpriced, very weak on the ABV, but it was very decent with a good amount of spice and I was already multiple beers deep while enjoying the Rogue.
I had the urge to stop and make breakfast, eat the breakfast and read a National Geographic. I actually hate reading. I read the big typing and glanced at the pictures, but I definitely looked at a magazine while my phone was charging in another room. It was a rather splendid technology free breakfast. 
  
After my “Saturday CookFest” last weekend, I had some leftovers. I had a good amount of rice, a few Stuffed Poblanos and an extra whole eggplant. I thought about it for a couple of days and did see a picture of an eggplant bowl online. I think the picture that I did see involved shrimp or something. I just needed the concept. 
Eggplant Rice Boat ingredients:
-Whole Eggplant, halved stem intact
-Stuffed Poblano
-Rice mixture
-Good Oil
-Salt/Pepper/Cayenne
-Cheese or dairy-free “Cheese”
-Cilantro 
  
Stuffed Poblano ingredients:
-Wild Rice
-Brown Rice
-Cilantro
-Celery, super diced
-Carrot, supper diced
-Zucchini, diced
-Garlic, diced
-Onion, diced
-Serrano Peppers, sliced
-Sesame Seed Oil & other Oil
-Fresh Ginger, diced
-Water, super sliced!
-SeaSalt/Pepper/Cayenne
-Poblanos, cut top off and save, deseed also
-Cheese or “Cheese”
-Balsamic Vinegar
-I garnished with alfalfa sprouts
Heat oil, sauté Ginger & Garlic. Add Onion, Celery and Carrots with a splash of Balsamic Vinegar and Sesame Seed Oil after a few minutes. Add Zucchini and sliced water. Put desired Wild Rice in and bring to boil. Then cover and simmer after 20-30 minutes add Brown Rice and make sure there is correct density of sliced water. Add Serrano slices at anytime with generous Cilantro and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes. You might have to strain before filling Poblanos. I invented a aluminum lasso in the past for making Stuffed Habaneros in order to keep them standing. 
I attempted this again with the Poblanos. It was more difficult as the Poblanos are not as uniform as the Habaneros. I put four into a taller bowl and then used the aluminum lasso at the top. I filled the Poblanos with the dry Rice and added Cheese and baked until cheese was melted. I now feel that cutting the bottoms of Poblanos would be easier and just dicing them and adding to Rice along side Serrano, I also baked the tops of the Poblanos. Bake to desired doneness and garnish with Sprouts or anything you’d like. You can use immediately or refrigerate for another day with the Eggplant Rice Boat. 
I just cut the flesh of the halved Eggplant at a cross pattern leaving skin unscathed and then backed for 25 minutes. Then remove the flesh and fill with Rice Mixture and then the roasted Stuffed Poblano. Bake again with cheese on top of the Poblano and garnish with Cilantro. 
  
Take a picture, grab a beer and enjoy. 


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

Saturday CookFest

Posted on by jeffreylatty

VeggHead BeerCyclist    3.29

Began:   0800   Finished:  1013

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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

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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. 
  

Birthday Bloggy Business

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Title: Birthday Bloggy Business
Daily Ride: Hopefully
3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510
∭π {Ἦλρρϒ ρἷ  ∂λΨ} π≠∞

Happy Pi Day. Also, happy birthday to me. I am 30 years of age today. I feel fine. Secretly, I wanted to be in the 27 club, but I never became a musician. They would’ve kicked me out. I can party like a rockstar. That has to account for something. 

I had a knifing accident yesterday. No worries, no animals were harmed. Really the only thing affected is my texting abilities as my left thumb is out-of-order. I was making Vegan Gyros completely from scratch and it was the romain being chopped that made me over confident and BOOM. I wish it could’ve been something cooler like somehow a pita making massacre. I will not be going over the Vegan Gyro Blood-ssacre because it will take me two days to text it out on my notes with only one thumb. I’m not sure who’s quote this is, but it is hilarious. I looked it up… “I am not vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants.” A. Whitney Brown. A writer and comedian, of course. 

The gyros were delicious. 

I do not know if I go for a ride, my thumb will start bleeding uncontrollably again. I might have to exercise a small bicycle hiatus again, unfortunately. Which isn’t much exercise. 

Rule of thumb is, don’t drink and knife. Or at least, don’t tell your mom. I did try a new (to me) Californian brewery yesterday. Out of Coronado, California comes the overly creative brewery name Coronado Brewing Company. For the lack of creativity of the brewery name, their beers so far are creatively named and very good. 




I have to pay a bill today that I cannot make payment to because of Strava. I like Strava and what they’re about, but I chose to take a break from the premium membership before my membership renewal date and I’ve been charged three times. The first time, they refunded me. As of right now, I have two monthly premium membership fees pending on my banking app. So I am literally a few dollars short of paying my bill. They have been emailed and I received two emails (one as a free member and one as a premium member) confirming that I emailed them. Has Strava been drinking? I hope they are not chopping romain lettuce. Do they have injured thumbs? Explaining the dumbness going on with my debit card kind of like my current texting skills. Just wanted to vent. Thanks for reading and Happy Pi Day and Happy Weekend! 

Winter Conclusion

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Title: Winter Conclusion 
Daily Ride: Yes

I’m confident that yesterday was the last super cold day of winter. Yesterday was frigidly in the single digits almost the entire day in Fahrenheit units of temperature measurements. Which I don’t even have to try. It is an amazingly hilarious joke on its own. I knew spring was approaching soon a few weeks ago when I had slight allergies attack. The attack was defended strongly with smiles. I don’t know if the groundhog still exists, but my allergies prediction was correct. Leave the groundhog be. 

I was on the fence doing backflips yesterday contemplating a ride. It was super cold, but it hopefully should be the last super cold day of winter. Should I tackle it and ride into the sunset. Death Rides A Horse. I do not have any horses, just bicycles. I decided to continue my not planned cycling hiatus and wait for the weather to turn for the better. I think today has a high of -1 * C. That’s almost ZERO. I love the Celsius Zero and it should be a superhero! 

I do have a ride planned with a friend. Really just a paid acquaintance to help me seem more normal to the crazy people who read these bloggings. I do not actually have any friends. Animals like me. Anyways, this paid “friend” and I were gonna do a decent distance. He wants to ride miles and I threw a slight fit and made it clear that I wanted to ride kilometers. Not sure how we will come to a conclusion on that. Sounds like a job for the Celcius ZERO! 

I had this beer last night. It was a literal beast. I’ve enjoyed many beers of theirs. The actual brewery is Mercury Brewing Company out of Ipswich, MA. The beer line is Clown Shoes. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it’s a good beer line. The beer I had was a Russian Imperial Stout bottled on 02.06.15. I love when they put this date on beers. I’m skeptical when I cannot find and ultimately know how old a beer is. If it’s a beer above 8% ABV, you don’t have anything to worry about. The beers below that ABV are the ones that will spoil. The name of this beer is Blaecorn Unidragon. It is a literal beast at a not so nice Clown Shoes 12.5% ABV. Two middle fingers up!

I’ve loved this band muchly for a good 5-6 years. And I’ve also enjoyed other bands that are tied to the band Russian Circles. They are an instrumental post-rock/ post-metal Chicago based trio. They are very talented. I’ve only seen them live once, but it was amazing. All of their sound greatness is awesome. They play heavy yet light and blend it well. 
Yesterday I bought ten pounds of potatoes. This was my adrenaline rushed tweet:

I ate some potatoes yesterday. And today is my #VeganVriday, so I will be enjoying more potatoes for sure today. I’m working on my St. Paddy’s Day meal and my bullshit of an excuse of a recipe. Really it’s just a grocery list that says beer a few times. 

I plan on making and somewhat mapping a “recipe” of VEGAN Corned Beef & Cabbage and Colcannon in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and my somewhat recent discovery that I am 1/16 Irish. That is coming by the death penalty deadline 3.12.15. I did already make a batch of Vegan Colcannon. It was to live for! 
As for the Northern Illinois Winter, I’m not scared of you, but you are a bitch.
And for the Northern Illinois Spring, welcome. I love you! 
Happy Friday! Happy VeganVriday! Have a great weekend!

Easy Chinesey

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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!