Posts Tagged ‘cycling food’

Frigid Weather Remedy: Instant Cereal from Simple to Exciting!

The weather guess for Valentine’s weekend and into next week is hardly heart warming.

Though we can’t change the cold outside, we sure can make the most of what we eat to keep us warm inside and do it quickly, easily – and flavorfully.

Last post showed how to make instant hot cereal from your favorite cold cereal.

For added flavor, just click this link or the picture below for picture book directions that show how to ramp up the flavor and take that instant hot cereal from simple to exciting.

Of course, the ingredients you see in the above recipe are only suggestions. As always, make any substitutions to suit your taste.

Happy Valentine’s Day weekend!

Turning Your Favorite Cold Cereal into Instant Hot Cereal

Yep! Winter’s still full-on.

After the snow. Hickory, NC, Feb. 7, 7:30 AM

Want some “get it done now” inspiration to pry yourself out of a warm bed? Here’s a very quick & easy way to turn your favorite cold cereal into what might become your new favorite hot cereal.

All you need is your favorite cold cereal, milk (or milk alternative) and a microwave oven (the banana, Greek yogurt and jam are some of my favorite add-ons – flavor rules!).

Just click this link or any picture on this page for step-by-step picture book directions.

Next post: How to Take Instant Hot Cereal From Simple to Exciting!

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).

 

 

 

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

 

How to Cook Quinoa on the Stove Picture Book Directions

Stove Cooked QuinoaQuinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) is one of my favorite…seeds. Yah, right away, that’s one of the things that makes it stand out. Quinoa is not a member of the true grain family, like wheat, barley, rye and other “grass grains”. Instead, quinoa, which comes in white, red, and black color variations, is really a seed, and, specifically, it’s the seed of the goosefoot plant shown below.

Goosefoot PlantGoosefoot gets its name from the shape of its leaves and is related to spinach and Swiss chard. Quinoa grows in the South American Andes Mountains, mostly in Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, where it’s been cultivated for over 5000 years. Historical legend has it that Incan armies sustained themselves during long marches on “war balls” made of quinoa mixed with fat. Yes indeed, EMMMMM… Actually, after what I’ve recently learned about fat and how good a lot of it is for us, the idea behind those “war balls” makes good sense.

As you’d probably expect from a relative of spinach and Swiss chard, both exceptionally nutritious leafy greens, quinoa also packs a potent nutritional punch. It has about twice the protein content of barley, corn, and rice. Quinoa is gluten free and easily absorbed by the body. It’s a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, copper & phosphorous making it particularly noteworthy for people affected by migraine headaches, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. It’s also exceptionally high in dietary fiber and is rich in “good” unsaturated fats like Omega-3. Here are the numbers I got regarding quinoa’s nutrition from a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) table.

My favorite way to prepare quinoa is to make a batch with what you see below that yields about 2 ½ – 3 cups cooked quinoa. I then put the lion’s share of what’s left over in a sealed container either in the fridge for at least a week, or in the freezer where it lasts like any other frozen food.
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Needed to Make Stove Cooked QuinoaClick any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book “How to Cook Quinoa” recipe.

Supercharged Oatmeal – Great Training Fuel!

Microwave Cooked Oatmeal From Simple to ExcitingHere’s how to vary the flavor and supercharge oatmeal by adding protein and some fat to keep you fueled and satisfied for any kind of endurance athletic or physically demanding activity. First, though, a couple quick notes:

1. Flavor and taste – most important – are exceptionally personal. The ingredients you see below work great together – for me – but my taste is not your taste. For example, you’ll see in the picture below that I use plain nonfat Greek yogurt, which I love for its flavor, thick texture, and high protein content. You, however, might not like Greek yogurt – or any yogurt at all for that matter – and that’s ok. Skip it, replace it with something else – and do the same for any other ingredient you see below to make your simple to exciting oatmeal all yours. Read more »

Microwave Cooked Oatmeal: Great Move Your Body Food!

Want fuel move your body: prep for a good ride on the bike, run, workout, or to feel fully alive to start your day? Oatmeal’s a great favorite of mine – packed with complex flavorful carbs and fiber, and both those attributes can be well enhanced if you oppose them (i.e. supplement them) with protein or healthy fat.

More about opposing real soon. But first, click the picture above to learn how to cook oatmeal as quickly and easily as possible and that means cooking it in the microwave oven.

 

 

Instant Hot Cereal From Cold Cereal Picture Book Recipe + Bicycles Battling Cancer

I’m an avid lifelong cyclist dedicated to improving cycling/running safety (breitzwear.com) and enabling people to eat better (gotta-eat.com). All connected, engaging & fun!

I rode the Central Massachusetts Bicycles Battling Cancer ride last June in memory of my dear ‘ol pioneering radiation Read more »

EuroBike 2017 & Whole Grain Cereal with Fresh Fruit & Kefir Picture Recipe

Like I mentioned in the last post, I learned a lot about European cycling culture at Eurobike 2017 in Friedrichshafen, Germany last week and also had some terrifically flavorful foods. Regarding cycling culture, the Europeans are way ahead of where we are and continue to improve. Always actively improving: I love it!

Here’s a German example of how downtown driving, cycling, and pedestrian access is put into practice. The car travel lane (not visible in the picture below) is far left. Cars park up to the sidewalk. The left side of the sidewalk is Read more »

Improvised Post Ride Lunch: Oats with Vegetables, Cheese and More


Came home darn hungry from a good hop on the bike and improvised a very quick “what’s good to go in the fridge” lunch that included the last of a bag of oats mixed with some leftover vegetable broth, tomato sauce, cooked vegetables, and grated cheese.

Read more »

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