Sweet Potato Stew

On a whim, with a smattering of ingredients, I made a sweet potato stew in the crock pot. I just got my last farm share and had too many to put in my fridge. The celeriac (celery root) I had no idea what to do with and didn't want to throw it out...so I chopped the rooty third off and just sat the cut side down into the stew so the top stuck out a little. I did this on a complete whim so I have no clue how much of the spices are in it. So, go by the ingredients then spice to taste!

Ingredients:
2 Sweet potatoes (at least medium), into 1cm cubes
24oz can Crushed Tomatoes or sauce (all I had was Hunt's Pasta Sauce Vegetable Medley)
2 small (1 Large) Red Onion
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Leek stalk, somewhat chopped
1 large bunch Kale, chopped
1 can of Beets (with juice!!)
1 Celeriac (Celery Root), with rooty part chopped off
~2tsp Cumin
1tsp dried basil
1/2tsp Ginger
1/2tsp Chili Powder
1tsp sea salt (more or less depending on how you like your flavor)
Water, to cover almost all

I'd suggest adding something for spice, whether it is ground chipotle chili pepper or Frank's Red Hot
I threw in 2 jalapenos, chopped thinly. I'd highly recommend starting with 1 or omitting all seeds.

Directions:
It's a dang crock pot. Put everything in, add water to almost everything is submerged. Then turn it on. Low 6-7 hours should do well...but High for 3 worked great (as I was going to be nearby and didn't want to wait 6 hours). Serve and I suppose you could garnish with Leek greens, but I wasn't that patient when it was done...

Enjoy!

Raw Power: The 'Final' Food Test

You all have clearly seen that my posts are pretty much about two things: food and bikes. The latter is ever-changing because, well, that is the nature of cycling.

The former (at least for me) is an amoebic, morphing organism that evolves to seemingly better and better levels. This is well explained, as I don't really jump into things without considering the implications and benefits or possible detractions of such a change. Thus, my slow move into vegetarian was pretty smooth (minus that little self-diagnosed anemia, thanks to not having good options on a college meal plan). After that, I was more cautious about changing my diet. Basically I took a more educated approach than a trial & error method! Trial and error is great when the risk is between small and zero, but not when it deals with your health.

My trip to Books-A-Million...the foodie book store in the old port apparently closed. But it is now an OYSTER BAHH. Oyster fans, check it out.

Which leads me to a really good spot: anything you do to change your diet, training, etc make sure you know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you plan to go about it. (This could mean using previous knowledge, a coach, nutritionist, or books. I would say consult your doctor...but there is some chance you could hear that something like a vegan diet is "extreme" and you need milk/red meat/'protein'. My doctor responded well when I said I was vegan - however, I have heard some pretty surprising stories...but if you should ask your doctor for a nutritionist reference, then I am sure you're on very good track)

This probably won't be the 'final' food test as the post title suggests, but in my recent diet of vegan and then adding gluten free...going raw is the concept that I have (for quite a while) believed to be the 'ultimate'. The detractors of (increased) inconvenience, not being able to cook, and more adaptation kept it at bay until now.

What pushed it over the edge, you ask? Nothing in particular. I suppose basic desire for improving myself, something that is pretty constant in this great sport of cycling: every day I am better because I do more (sometimes less!) and forge on to greater progress.

At some point I'll go into greater detail on the intricacies of eating raw. The basic idea is that everything is in its simplest form, ready to be disgested and completely unprocessed. There is no breakdown of enzymes. The food is pure.

My plan going forward (key: having a PLAN!! is key to changing things up): I'm not sure if I will go 100% raw because I truly enjoy cooking and baking, and there are some things that become quite difficult when being 100% raw. So the long term is a "we shall see". The short term will basically go as this:

• Buy more foods in raw form - and reduce non-raw purchases (see picture A)
• Cook/bake for specific purposes that I really enjoy versus cooking because it's what I am used to
• Work on un-cooking/un-baking (making things that are both raw and require preparation: see picture B)
• Make my current 'favorites' in raw form (granola bars, muffins, brownies, etc)

My trip to BJ's. When you eat as much as me, you buy in bulk.

Some things probably won't go, honestly my OTB (on the bike) food works so well I am hesitant to alter that. Bars + PROBARs have fueled me to many sucessful races and workouts over the past year that I don't intend to leave them behind. I will try to make my bars in a raw form - without boiling the  nut butter/sweetener mixture and also not baking them....time for a dehydrator or long-term uncovered fridge storage (poor man's dehydrator!).

Here's the TK take on RAW POWAHH. My theory in shortest form: Raw Power = More Watts = Win.

Cycling Bars: The Making of a Double Batch!

So, you like the cycling bars, right? Well I like them a LOT, and go through so many of them that I needed to make a double batch. I'm going to figure out the cost of a batch & per bar once I remember to save all my receipts!

The Making of a Double Batch! :)

Big bowl, lots of yummy.

Mix it up good! Once that binder is in, not much is going to change.

Put the binders in, and heat it up!

Continually stir, once it bubbles like this (or has big bubbles in the middle) you're ready to pour! If you're keen, you may have notice I switched where I was heating it...I went to gas - if you do this it is really easy to burn the mixture, and agave nectar + almond butter is not cheap!

A good trick is to pour some then mix, then pour more, etc until you have empty the pot. It makes mixing much easier and a lot smoother and, most of all, more even. The bigger the batch, the more critical it is to do this - such as tonight's double batch!

That would be a 17.5"x11" pan and is about 1" deep. Lots of bars.

I had some extra from the big bowl, so I made some Power Balls. Some sports require one ball, cycling requires a lot of them.
One critical note: the balls do not hold together well, you need more heavy binder (almond butter, etc) for them to actually hold shape well. These were pretty fragile!

Just wanted to give y'all a little foodie goodness!

PROduct Giveaway!! PROBAR: Review of The Best Bar Out There

First off. PROBARs rock. Comment on the post with your name if you would like to be in the drawing for a giveaway of a full sleeve (12) of PROBARS! At the end of the post I'll list the types of bars that I chose for my special mixed sleeve. I promise, they're all awesome (and I haven't even tried them all yet).

From PROBAR's homepage:  "PROBAR creates delicious, convenient, healthy plant based food products.  We strive to become the leading provider of REAL FOOD choices while maintaining our commitment to quality, sustainability, and fantastic taste." Trust me, they mean what they say.

PROBARs galore. Will they be all yours?

Just a few weeks ago I became an Ambassador for PROBAR, a whole food bar. The cool thing is that I didn't seek out PROBAR because I wanted free food. My first exposure to the brand was when I was riding with a friend and he bought a PROBAR. The first thought I had was "woah these things are calorie dense" (at 350-400kcal per bar). I checked it out, doing the classic ingredient review I do with most new foods I come across. It was just a bunch of stuff you could get at your local natural foods store. None of the extra junk that is unnecessary for a bar. So I bought one the next time I saw one, then I bought some more. Soon enough I would have 2-3 on long rides and avoid eaten them out of the cabinet as a snack so I could save them for cycling! I liked the bars so much I shared pictures on facebook, and that's when PROBAR asked if I would like to be a social ambassador. Where do I can I please sign?!

I'd like to say that the only reason I'm set up with PROBAR now is because I honestly love their stuff so much that they saw my excitement for the product. What I discovered was very well put by a friend who hates eating while riding (she was also just in Vegas for 70.3 Worlds). She said that they fill you up pretty well and sit very comfortably, not like how a CLIF bar sits like a complete brick in your stomach. (Also note that a PROBAR is 1.5 times the calories of a Clif bar.) Another friend pointed out that it's just like eating good natural food, and you don't get the awkward texture or weird acidic taste when you eat something that is more processed.

PROBAR calls itself the "whole food meal bar". This name is very fitting, as it is far separated from the 'energy' bars, protein bars, and meal replacement bars that are so strongly pushed in both the worlds of athletics and everyday use. The problem with almost every option (and many of the high volume/advertised brands) are that they really aren't made of stuff that is all around great for you. Many of them use processed carbohydrates, sugar substitutes, and other less than natural or unnecessary components.

"simply real"

On the other hand there are a few that truly stand out. Vega, Larabar, and PROBAR are the only three that I can recall and give full "approval". Vega comes from a line of mostly raw, extremely health-focused foods and supplements. Larabar is very simply made of dates, nuts, and a couple other basic add-ins. PROBAR has a lot more ingredients than Larabar and thus has a brilliant variety of flavors. The ingredients are of the same nature - almost entirely organic or raw - and are things you can pronounce and know from day to day food encounters. However, the flavors are amazing and widespread and never get old (I can tell you it takes 1 or 2 Powerbars and I'll call it a year, plus they don't even feel like food when you eat them).

Take your pick. I know mine!

Now you might not get why I feel these bars are not created equal...if you look at the ingredients on a PowerBar you'll see the ol' "Contains 2% or less" that can include more than 50% of the ingredients. What's the deal with that? Why do you need less than 2% of Nonfat Milk Powder and "Partially Defatted Peanut Butter"? Clif bars, which are definitely more natural than PowerBars, have mostly organic ingredients but uses soy protein isolate, which is highly refined and often treated with extreme levels of heat (275F to kill bacterias), to increase protein without adding fat. Most fat is not bad, it is actually very good for both athletes and non-athletes alike. Especially when it comes from high quality nuts! However, PROBAR uses the natural protein in nuts to provide nutrition. Most things you come across in this world of nutrition and sports energy are things that have been refined and refined (not to be confused with optimized or perfected), making them increasingly processed and more difficult for the body to use as energy. All the while they are being advertised as better than any of the competition because they have "proprietary" components, when those are the parts that put them below the more natural and complete options.

No need to enlarge to show the amazing natural texture on these bad boys.

The lucky winner's sampler pack will include the following:

• 2 Superfruit Slam
• 2 Superfood Slam
• 2 Whole Berry Blast
• 1 Koka Moka
• 1 Double Chocolate
• 1 Apple Cinnamon
• 1 Nutty Banana Boom
• 1 Cran-Lemon Twister
• 1 Cocoa Pistachio (Sweet/Savory)

Comment on this post with your name for your chance to win some Mighty PROBARs! And get out there and try it, whether it is during activity or a delectable snack/mini-meal, your body will thank you graciously. A big thanks to PROBAR for supplying me with the extra case so I could do a giveaway.

Ultimate Cycling Food/Daily Snack - take your pick!

It's been a long hiatus. And how better to get back to it than by talking about food & cycling? You probably can think of a lot of ways, but you'll definitely enjoy this one.

One natural food bar that I absolutely love is PROBAR - if you haven't tried one, do it! They're an extremely tasty, well balanced, and energy-filled bar. I first saw this when Doug (a damn good coach of all endurance sports) and I were on a ride and he got one. A new recipe I found from Neil Bedzek's Homemade Cycling Bars is awesome and reminds me a lot of PROBARs but you get to eat the "batter" while you make them. They're an amazing bar for cycling, up to a moderate intensity. On a long, easy ride you could pretty much intake more Calories than you burn if you have enough of these with you...they're that good. I've been twisting it around a few different ways to test out different fat-carb-protein ratios. The base recipe binds so well that even in your sweaty back pocket (inside a plastic bag) it stays in a block!

So here it is - super easy to make GF/Vegan.

Binder - heat up in a pan until it starts to bubble, make sure you stir it consistently or it can burn/caramelize.
1 Cup sweetener (Agave Nectar, Honey, Maple Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, or the 'financially efficient way' with Corn Syrup)
1/2 Cup Nut Butter (Almond, Peanut, Cashew, etc)

Dry Ingredients:
2 C Rolled Oats - not quick oats
2 C Cereal - I love Mesa Sunrise Cereal (GF) by Nature's Pride Organics
1/2 to 1 C of whatever mix-ins you desire (Raisins, Craisins, other dried fruit, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Chocolate Chips)
Salt for taste, if desired (or extra sodium if you sweat as heavy as I do)

Mix Dry Ingredients in a large bowl until evenly distributed...once that binder goes in the mixing isn't nearly as easy. Pour the hot binder over the dry ingredients and mix until everything is soaked up. Always, always (!!!) taste the 'batter': A) It's yummy and B) you can fine tune the mix-ins or add more binder before finishing. Once it's glorious, press into a 13x9 or large pan so it is 1 inch thick. It doesn't matter if you don't fill the whole pan, it's gooey enough that it won't spread once you form it. Toss it in the fridge for 30mins to solidify the binder and you have a glorious set of homemade bars for cycling or snack. I hope once I get my food processor back up and running I'll be able to get some dates finely ground up (a big part of PROBARs) and toss those in to top it off.

EDIT For Advanced Progress of bars, inspired but oncoming summer and warmer temperatures (3/10/2013): Recently I've been trialing these bars in a better "heat-friendly" form. I bake these on 350F for 10-15mins, just until the edges very slightly brown. You want the heat to bind them more strongly, but not make them brittle. There is a fine line here...especially when I start posting amended recipes where I reduce fat content in the bars. I botched a batch last week, and the were brittle enough that eating them with one hand while riding was doable but difficult - bumps knocked pieces loose :(...which is not fun when a piece could be 50-100kcal!!

Not enlarged to show texture - false advertising not necessary here.
(Test batch in the pan, ready to be cut into squares or simply eaten with a fork.)

My test recipe from last night (to be unveiled next week) was a huge hit at the SMR group ride this morning. Jeff, who in particular is tough to please with homemade stuff, was a big fan...that's how I know I really did it right.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to post the variations you make that work best. I'll post a few variations of this recipe next week once I do more experimenting.

EDIT #2: Here's the "Nutrition Label" for 1/12 batch. A medium sized (I'd say 2.5"x3" bar). A BIG bar is 1/9 batch and is 3.25"x3.25". I have to go ride my bike now. 4.5 hours, 86 miles, and I will be bringing a BIG bar with me (and a PBJ sandwich and a sweet potato muffin). 200kcal/hour, kids.
Cost: Price per bar. Yes. they are ~$0.45 EACH. Beats a store bought item by, say 400%?