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Raiding the Fridge

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Meal prep means raiding the fridge; and raiding the pantry, too. For once I took the time to fix a proper supper: a stir-fry. From the fridge, half a medium zucchini, thinly sliced; ditto one-quarter of a small red onion; and I minced a clove of garlic. Yesterday I cooked a pot of brown rice, and I got out some of that. There were peas in the freezer, and I used some of them, too. And I had ground ginger and soy sauce on hand. Now for the pantry. I opened a 5-oz can of chicken breast and used half of it.  Last time I made stir-fry I forgot the can of sliced water chestnuts, but today I remembered it. Again, I used half of it. The prep, as always, took longer than the cooking. I heated a teaspoon or two or coconut oil in my large skillet. First the onion went in; then the zucchini. Then, just before adding the rice/chicken/water chestnuts/peas, I put in the garlic. Be careful when you use garlic in anything sauteed or fried. It burns easily; and then the whole dish has a weird, bitter taste. After I had put in the rice mixture, I kept stirring it to heat it all well, and added the soy sauce. It sure was nice to have a REAL supper, even though it meant raiding the fridge!

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View From the Inside

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Sometimes I want to get a view from the inside, but that isn\’t always easy to do. I watch video clips of the Tour de France; I see the pictures; and I wonder, what is it really like to be a pro cyclist? I\’ll never know for sure; and for a fact, most of us won\’t. But to get some idea, let\’s ask some pros! I wonder, if I were a pro cyclist, what I would like best about it. My early love for feeling my legs in motion? I could see new places; or might I become an adrenaline junkie, hooked on the excitement of racing? How about getting paid to do something I love; namely, ride my bicycle? What is the worst thing about being a pro cyclist? If I were a pro, training and racing in foul weather would be high on my list, as would crashing. All that traveling might easily become tedious; how do pro cyclists combat jet lag? We hear the stories of fans at Grand Tour races causing havoc. I\’m sure it\’s maddening for the riders to have to get past spectators who are in the road! A pro cyclist must keep close tabs on the diet; and that would also become quite burdensome. I hope I\’d be on a team that has its own chef; preferably one who\’s well-versed in The Feed Zone! It would be great if I could sample more of those dishes without having to make them. Or to have an old favorite, Simple Biryani, waiting for me after a training ride. I\’ll never get the view from the inside, though. I\’ll have to go on looking in from the outside.

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Doctor on the Path?

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Is there a doctor on the path? There could be, if I had SteadyMD. SteadyMD is a new one for me. I think it would be nice to have a doctor who is into cycling. Such an MD might be better able to help me take care of my cycling-related health issues, than a doctor who doesn\’t ride bicycles. I also thought that SteadyMD might cost less than the health insurance premiums I pay now. I asked around a bit about SteadyMD. Someone told me that it\’s intended for serious athletes who want to really focus on their training, \”trying for that extra 2%\”. It isn\’t meant to be a substitute for regular health insurance. I\’m not into that kind of training, so I\’ll let SteadyMD go. On my current budget, I can\’t afford it on top of my regular health-care premiums. In addition, my present health-care plan includes dental and vision; and  I really need those! There are still plenty of ways to find out about training, nutrition advice, and so on. We can still go out and ride without costly telemedicine — and hope that, if we crash and get injured, there\’s a doctor on the path with us.

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Feline?

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Are we cyclists feline? No, not \”feline\” as in the three little kittens of the old song. But look at this. Tour de France riders live longer, they say. Those cyclist put in years of strenuous training before they even line up for the Grand Depart; and that gives them strong hearts. Exercise helps keep blood pressure and weight under control, whether you\’re a pro athlete or not; and pro tour riders probably have a much more healthful diet than many of us. Pro tour riders need to be lean, with a high power-to-weight ratio. After all, they must face some stiff climbs over the course of Le Tour; and they need to be lithe and agile, like cats. Cats have a reputation for always landing on their feet. Pro riders typically get up and ride on after a crash, although how they manage it is a puzzle to me. If I go down, even at a very modest 10 mph, it knocks the wind out of me; and leaves me feeling lightheaded, weak, and shaky. It can take days to wear off. Imagine climbing right back onto the bike after you\’ve gone down at 25 mph (or much more!); and your Lycra® is in shreds; and your skin looks like raw meat. Pro cyclists are a hardy lot for sure; or maybe they have the nine lives of a cat?

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Today\’s Special

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And today\’s special is… You’ve probably heard the joke about the kindergarten teacher announcing to her pupils, “Today is Groundhog Day”. One kid turned to a classmate and said, “Am I glad I brought my lunch today!” All joking aside, if you don’t object to eating meat,  how about making a dish using ground pork to celebrate February 2? After all, where does pork come from? A pig, aka hog. Thus, ground hog. I\’v never liked handling raw meat, poultry, or fish; but I’m quite sure you could use ground pork for any dish that usually uses ground beef. Meatballs, for instance. Or meatloaf. Maybe a sauce for pasta? Some kind soup? Now, who’s in the kitchen? Not Punxsutawney Phil, I’ll wager. He’s too busy making his annual forecast; and I\’m too lazy to bother with today\’s special. I just cook whatever I\’m in the mood for.

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Get Cooking!

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With Christmas approaching only too fast, it\’s time to get cooking; and I\’m thinking about goodies. What kind of goodies? Chocolates? Or cookies; or muffins? If you\’re looking for something new to serve for breakfast, check out The Complete Tightwad Gazette, on page 466: \”Create a Breakfast Muffin\”. I enjoyed experimenting with the recipe. I made quadruple batches, using a large pot as a mixing bowl; and I\’d bake the batter in two lasagna pans. Because I wasn\’t baking the muffin batter in muffin pans, I called these \”unmuffins\”. I would cut the baked \”cakes\” and let them finish cooling before freezing them. I could really get cooking! As I went along, I wrote down my inventions. Here\’s the Buckwheat-Buttermilk version (a double batch): Preheat oven to 400 degrees (Fahrenheit) 2 cups whole wheat flour                   2 cups buckwheat flour              2-2/3 tsp cream of tartar + 1-1/3 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt (optional)  1 cup sugar 2 \”soy eggs\” (or regular eggs)* 1/2 cup instant non-fat milk powder  + water to make 2 cups (or regular milk, if you desire) 2 Tbsp white vinegar 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 canola oil (use another oil, if desired) Add vinegar to milk; and let sit about 10 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. In a large bowl, combine flours, cream of tartar, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil. Stir quickly to moisten all dry ingredients. If batter seems too thick, quickly add about 1/4 cup of water. Pour into greased and lightly floured pans, and bake 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!*A soy egg is 1 heaping Tbsp of soy flour and 1 Tbsp of water, well mixed.        

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Upper Crust 2

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Upper crust 2! To continue yesterday\’s blog: I seem to always be looking for cycling tips. Some articles are very long, too! That\’s why I\’ve split this one up. Item #18: Keeping to a straight line while looking for bicycles/traffic coming from behind is a skill that, for me, still needs a lot of honing. Somehow it\’s easier on the hybrid. Huh? What\’s that, Item #19? There aren\’t hills where I live. If I want hill practice, I have to ride to where there are overpasses. As to standing to pedal, I have a long way to go with that, too. Oh, Item #20! Layering. That can be a nuisance, especially on a ride of several hours. I might get warmer than I like; but after I\’ve put in the other stuff I need to carry, there\’s not room in my Camel-Bak\’s pockets to stash a jacket. The best I can do is to un-zip the jacket. I hope I don\’t need Item #21 on Tour de Cure day. I know pretty well what to do to fix a flat, but have very little practice doing it. Consequently I\’m all thumbs at it. That\’s why I use tire liners, and tough Gatorskin tires. Item #22: I can\’t comment on racing. I\’ve never become interested it, and with osteoporosis I\’d likely be considered at too great a risk for injury should I be in a crash. But I see no reason to let osteoporosis keep me off the bicycle! Item #23: Do I trust my bicycles? This article seems to be speaking of technical downhill riding, and I don\’t yet feel up to trying it. I\’ll take their word for it. And to continue… As Item #24 says, some days any cyclist feels \”off\”; even those of the upper crust. We\’re humans, not machines. But hey! If you got out and rode, even for only 5 miles, that\’s something! Ah, Item #25: FOOD!! Prep \”pocket\” fuel? I sure do. I cut my energy bars in pieces and put them in the top-tube pouch, where I can get them. The Camel-Bak covers up my jersey pockets, so there\’s no sense in putting my ride food there. As to Item #26, I\’ve become rather a lone wolf. It would be great if I could ride in a small group more often. I could get used to riding near other riders, and maybe even start learning how to draft. Unfortunately not many people would want to ride as early in the day as I do! Back to that old saying about not giving up. Item #27: try, try again, doesn\’t apply to me if you\’re talking about highly technical MTB trails. It does apply to keeping up the efforts towards a big ride. Don\’t look at me, Item #28! I haven\’t had a car for nearly 16 years, and have become thoroughly used to doing without one. It\’s hard sometimes, because I can\’t drive myself and the bicycle to other riding trails. But 99.99% of the time I\’m very glad I don\’t have a car. I hear you, Item #29! Especially if it\’s cold and I get caught in the rain. We cyclists may need to be hardy to bundle up and ride despite the chill, but there\’s no sense in going out bare-legged and in short sleeves when it\’s cold enough to frost. And to finish… I believe any cyclist who has undertaken a long ride knows Item #30 very well. Yep, sometimes you just have to concentrate on keeping the tired legs going, so as to finish the ride. \”You\’ve come this far; don\’t give up now!\” It\’s how I got through my first century. And finally, Item #31: Act invisible? Let\’s all be ghosts! All joking aside, remember that \”cagers\” (what some cyclists call people who drive motor vehicles) might not see you. We hear more and more about distracted driving and the disastrous consequences. Load your bicycle up with lights! Wear a reflective vest! Stay alert, try to make eye contact with drivers. Let\’s all stay safe out there! Most of all, remember that you don\’t have to be upper crust to enjoy bicycling!

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