Cycling | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Archive for the ‘Cycling’ Category

August 30th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Running, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 4: Fruit, Yogurt & More

Fruit, yogurt and more? Sure, always more! With full-on flavor – that’s half the fun of it. What you see above is what I put together to rocket-fuel up or an excellent hop on the bike with good buds this morning (below) – and with no need to refuel on the way.

You can get the base recipe I used, Summer Multi-Fruit Salad, by clicking either this link or any picture on this page.

To mix it up a bit, here’s what I used for ingredients and…

…how I put it all together – fruit first; then nut butter, cookie butter spread, jam; Greek yogurt & ground flaxseed with nutritional yeast…

…raisins & dried cranberries; and peach kefir. Killer and went great with the slice of cherry peach pancake and iced chocolate, coconut water coffee shown at the top of this page.

Enjoy!

August 20th, 2023

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit Pancakes, Hiking Food, Running, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 3: Improvised Fruit Pancake

The key word to an energy sustaining rocket fuel breakfast: opposition. Opposition here means counterbalancing complex instant “get up and go” energy carbohydrates with longer burning proteins and fats that provide “keep the drive alive” sustained energy.

One of my favorites that wraps that combination all in one – with full-on flavor – is fresh fruit pancake like the cherry peach pancake shown here.

The best part about this pancake is that it’s nothing like traditional spongy, syrup-sucking flapjacks. No sir/ma’am! These pancakes are rich in protein, have just enough flour to keep them together as they cook in the pan and are packed with fresh fruit. Now, you won’t picture book directions for this specific cherry peach pancake because the only difference between it and the cherry pancake picture book recipe you can get here is the added fresh peach slices on top of the pancake as shown below – and, of course, you can substitute those peaches – or cherries – with any fresh fruit you like.

Click this link or any picture on this page to get the full cherry pancake step-by-step picture book recipe, and either have that pancake exactly as shown in the recipe (though cherries might be tough to find right now) or improvise with any fresh fruit you like.

August 1st, 2023

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, Running, Running Food

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Ice Chocolate Coconut Coffee Picture Book Directions

Last post, Rocket Fuel to Power Your Body in Motion, showed very much the same breakfast I had this morning before popping out for a bike ride with good Hickory buds shown below.

This post focuses on the liquid part of that breakfast, iced chocolate coconut coffee.

A couple quick comments:

Most importantly, this cold drink tastes great! At the same time, it’s moderately caffeinated and provides a good shot of potassium, through coconut water, which boosts metabolism and pays off big time for any endurance physical activity: cycling, running, hiking, walking, full-on yard work – and more. (I usually drink 2 tumblers (about 20 ounces X 2) full of that drink before a ride and then supplement with water on the fly – and never come home dehydrated.)
For optimal results, I highly recommend brewing the coffee and making the chocolate mix in the evening so that it can cool in the fridge overnight for an ice cold drink in the morning.

Here’s what you need to make iced chocolate coconut coffee.

Click any link or picture on this page for iced chocolate coconut coffee picture book directions.

July 11th, 2023

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Drinks (no alcohol), Fitness Food, Food & Health, Fruit, Fruit Pancakes, Hiking Food, Nutrition, Pancakes, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast to Power Your Body in Motion

Rockets, power, motion! Please tell me you find that “let’s go!” motivating! When it comes to fuel to power endurance exercise/any physical activity to keep your body in motion, the key is making sure to take in fats, protein, some carbohydrates and fluids – and having them all with full-on flavor.

Here’s what I had recently for the hop on the bike shown above with terrific good friends.

The fats, from whole milk Greek yogurt, whole milk kefir, almond-peanut butter and freshly made whipped cream, combined with protein from egg and whole grain flour in the fruit pancake, Greek yogurt and kefir gave me slow-burning sustained energy. The carbohydrates: a little sugar in my iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water drink, cookie spread on my pancake slice and fruit, dried fruit and jam in my fruit and yogurt mix, gave me instant energy to start my ride. And front-loading fluids with 30-40 ounces of iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water got me going well hydrated so that I just needed to top off with water while I rode, and the potassium in coconut water helped both prevent cramps and improve energy metabolism.

Of course, everybody’s body and fuel requirements are different, and only YOU know YOU. That means it’s most important to pay attention to what YOU eat and drink and how that affects YOUR physical performance, no matter what kind of physical activity YOU do. Still, though the fine details differ person to person, the base components are the same: carbohydrates for quick burning energy, a good shot of fat and protein for long-burning, sustained energy and plenty of fluids to start off well hydrated.

The next few posts, starting with iced coffee/chocolate/coconut water (killer good!), will show how to make each of the 3 pieces shown above that I have regularly – and always with a little improvised variety for flavor fun, before hopping out on the bike.

More soon!

October 18th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Crepes, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Hiking Food, Leftovers, Running Food, Sports Nutrition

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JIC Follow-Up: Crepe with Nut Butter, Cookie Spread & More

Last post was about a crepe I made with nut butter, cookie spread and raisins, as my dear ol’ mom used to say, “JIC”. And that “JIC” was “just in case” I needed it to refuel on a 60 mile North Carolina ride. And though I didn’t need to refuel on the ride, that full-on flavorful crepe sure didn’t go to waste. No way!

Crepe with nut butter, cookie spread; fruit with yogurt, jam & dried fruit; and coffee

Last weekend I used half of that leftover crepe for breakfast, as shown above, along with fruit, yogurt, jam and dried fruit and a vat of coffee – and, you bet, both the crepe and coffee got a good shot of whipped cream. Again, that breakfast – and a good meal the night before (equally as important) –

…sustained me just fine for another 60 mile less hilly ride, as shown above, with no need to chomp on the nuts, raisins and dried coconut I bagged and shoved in my pocket, again, “JIC”. Ha, Mom!

February 28th, 2022

Blog, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Grains, Nutrition, Running, Running Food, Snacks

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Quinoa Power Bar Picture Book Directions

Killer North Carolina cycling & quinoa power bars the 3 to the right of “dude” left (me) haven’t yet tried (next ride, men!)

A few terrific cycling buds asked me on a ride this weekend if I have any recipes for power bars. I do: Quinoa Power Bars and Banana Nut Butter Power Bars.

The keys to a good power bar: a mix of simple and complex carbohydrates that your body breaks down quickly for immediate burn, healthy fats and protein that take longer to break down for sustained energy burn – and killer good flavor! Both the quinoa and banana nut butter bars provide exactly that.

First, quinoa power bars because I just updated that recipe yesterday with relatively new nutritional information and directions showing how to grind whole chia seeds to get the most out of them. I’ll update the banana nut butter bars next.

Click this link or any picture on this page for step-by-step quinoa power bar picture book directions.

October 31st, 2019

Blog, Cycling, Education, Mind Food

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The Magic of the Unexpected Abounds

Way too long since I said I’d laid down part 3 to the Cycling Unexpected Magic series I started in September. And here it is, Halloween, an evening that abounds with magic.

But magic abounds everywhere. You bet, I felt it when I hopped on a rocket cool packed dirt trail from Concord to Bedford that my road bike and I managed more than just fine – and with a big smile. No doubt my biggest smile was seeing families, kids with moms and dads, riding the trail.

And then there’s magic of a totally different kind but just as – or even more – powerful, and that has to do with the second picture in the title banner above.

I don’t belong to or promote any traditional faith or religion. I believe in a collective consciousness and making the most of living in the present. But not too long ago, I think because of my membership as an elected representative to our town’s Westborough Diversity and Inclusion Committee, I was asked to check out an interfaith organization that was just getting off the ground. That group became the Central Massachusetts Connections in Faith (CMACIF) committee, a terrifically energetic collection of diverse people of diverse faiths and opinions focused, entirely positively, on building bridges & friendships across cultures.

To do that, we facilitate events featuring individual faith groups and what and how they practice their faith followed by round table discussions with all those who attend. Our next event is an afternoon/evening with a movie, “Free Trip to Egypt”, that airs at 4 PM this Saturday, Nov. 2, to be followed by a discussion and dinner all at the Worcester Islamic Center in Worcester, MA, as shown below.

If you’re local to Worcester, CMACIF and I most heartedly invite you to attend. If you’re not local to Worcester and Central Massachusetts, think of the magic an event like the one we’ll have this Saturday could have where you live – and I’m glad to lend a hand (bruce@gotta-eat.com/508-446-7790).

September 17th, 2019

Blog, Cycling, Cycling Food

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Cycling and Magic of the Unexpected, Part 2: Concord Cheese Shop

Stopping at The Cheese Shop in Concord is really part 1 of this story for a couple of good reasons. First, they’re the ones who recommended Hutchin’s Farm when I asked for a local farm stand that sells fresh basil. Second, I stopped at the cheese shop on the way to Hutchin’s last Saturday to provide feedback on Mimolette cheese I’d recently bought that wasn’t nearly as flavorful as the same name of cheese I’d bought a while back.

Mimolette cheese

There’s a story to the cheese. Years ago, around 2013, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) determined that Mimolette cheese had too many microscopic mites in the cheese rind when brought to market. The FDA’s concern: those mites could cause allergic reactions among consumers. Now, the reason for cheesemakers introducing artisan mites to Mimolette cheese is that the mites eat molds on that cheese rind to impart a distinct flavor to the cheese as it ages. And though those mites are vacuumed or air and hand blasted off the rind when the cheese is prepared for sale, some of microscopic mites inherently remain on the rind.

When the cheese industry asked the FDA for a ruling on a tolerable number of mites, they were told at first that the FDA didn’t really know. The FDA then came up a number; the cheese had to have fewer than 6 mites per square inch on the rind. Again these are microscopic mites. I’d love not to be the person counting those bad boys.

Fortunately, after quite a bit of back and forth, the cheese is back on the US market. The only problem for me after looking so much forward to tasting the cheese after years of it not being available was flavor. And when I expressed that to one of the Cheese Shop managers, Steve, he told me that the real flavor difference in the cheese comes from aging. The cheese I’d bought recently had probably only aged 12 months, whereas the cheese I’d had years ago was probably aged 24 months. Those added 12 months make a big difference

I appreciated that information. Steve said he’d contact me when he had the longer aged cheese in stock. I gave him my business card and told him about this website geared entirely to enable people to empower themselves in the kitchen no matter how little cooking experience they have. Steve liked the idea and said maybe we could collaborate sometime. I’d love to! Again, a totally unexpected experience – all while on the bike.

Next post: The Unexpected Thrill of Trail Riding from Concord to Lexington

August 24th, 2019

Blog, Cycling, Cycling Food, Running Food

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Cycling and Magic of the Unexpected, Part One: Hutchin’s Farm

Open road; spinning legs; sights, sounds, smells, air temps that change on the fly: they’re all a big part of the thrill of cycling for me. And then there’s the magic of the unexpected.

Aside from the pure joy of spending most of the day on the road bike, my purpose last Saturday was to ride to Concord to make whole for an accidental $6 underpayment of fresh basil at Hutchin’s Farm just up the road from the historic Old North Bridge. (I only paid for 2 bunches and then realized when I got home that I was kindly, but unknown to me and the person who handed me the basil, given 2 clusters of 2 fresh bunches each when I visited the farm stand weeks ago.)

As soon as I hopped off the bike, after a gorgeous ride from Westborough to Concord, I explained to Brain Daubenspeck, one of the farm managers pictured below, what had happened and why I was there. The story gave him a smile. He insisted we were all square, and asked only that I tell people about the farm. Telling about the all organic farm, which I then visited the next day by car to buy – and pay correctly – for their incredibly fresh and flavorful produce, including another fresh bunch of basil, it is exactly what I’m doing here. Thanks very much, Brian. and thanks, Hutchin’s Farm! You bet, I’ll be back again soon.

Next post – Part 2: Concord Wine & Cheese Shop and Mimolette Cheese

July 8th, 2019

Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Breakfast, Cycling, Cycling Food, Fitness/Health, One Bowl Meals

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Rip Fast Tour de France 2019, Stage 2, and Crepes with Nut Butter, Fruit and More

The stage 2 of the 2019 Tour de France was a rip fast 27.6 kilometer (17,15 miles) time trial in Brussels, Belgium, won by Mike Teunissen, Saturday’s stage 1 winner, and his Jumbo Visma team with a 28:57 time (average 57, 20 kilometers/hour or 35.5 mph), That time was an incredible 20 seconds faster than Team Ineos, (formerly, last year’s Tour winner, Geraint Thomas, and 4-time Tour winner, Chris Froome, Team Sky) and 21 seconds faster than Team Deceuninck-QuickStep. Jumbo-Visma’s time, to say the least, was scary fast!

Now, for us mortal’s, having something good to eat to fuel us before a good hop in the saddle, run, or anything active, is most important. Here’s a favorite breakfast of mine, especially when the Tour’s on: fresh crepes topped with nut butter, cooked fruit topping, mixed grains,… Read more »