Looks Like Coffee. It isn't.

I'm going to share a little morning ritual with all of you. Since December of last year, I've started my mornings off with this easy to make, not so easy to drink (at first) beverage I tribute my iron immune system to. However, it's more than immune function, it's also a kick-starter or revival appropriate for anytime of day - Molasses Tea.

It's hardly a tea, but you sip it like one and I want to call it that. Bare with me, as I walk you through the recipe.

You will need:
8-10oz hot water
2 Tablespoons raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tablespoon unsulphured Molasses

Boil some water. Pour it in your favorite mug. Stir in your ACV and molasses. Sip. Until it's gone.

The thing about this tea is that it is much like coffee. It looks like coffee. It isn't. The smell alone will wake your ass up. This drink is an acquired taste. If you enjoy it the first time, you're probably kinda weird. My wife watched me drink this stuff for about a month before, she too, was intrigued and started drinking it. I appreciate that most of you probably don't like molasses or apple cider vinegar. However, if you're vegan, anemic or an endurance athlete (or you just stumbled upon this) consider the value of the nutrition this beverage packs:

Molasses (via http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/brands/wholesome_sweeteners/fair_trade_certified_organic_blackstrap_molasses.html)
Serving Size: measure: 1 Tablespoon  (22g)
Servings per package: 32
Calories per serving: 60
Calories from fat: 0
Total fat (g): 0
Saturated fat (g): 0
Cholesterol (mg): 0
Sodium (mg): 0
Potassium: 730mg
Calcium: 115mg
Total carbohydrate (g):14g
Dietary fiber (g): 0
Sugars (g): 10g
Proteins (g): 0
Iron: 15% RDV
Vitamin B6: 10% RDV
Magnesium: 8% RDV
 
Apple Cider Vinegar (Read more here: http://www.apple-cider-vinegar-benefits.com/vinegar-history.html)

Arguably the oldest cure-all remedy on Earth. Socrates and Hippocrates prescribed this remedy because of it's natural healing properties in the human body. Unpasteurized, unfiltered ACV has that cloudy floating thing in it - The Mother. This is the bacteria that you want. The good stuff.


I challenge you to try this drink for a week and tell me you don't feel better, especially after a night out with some friends, or alone, I'm not judging. I promise your liver and your general recovery from training or life will thank you.

Walnut Herb Vinaigrette

This is a dressing that an old chef and I played with quite a bit. This is a light, nutty salad dressing perfect for this time of year. While we stayed in Tri Cites, Wa for Tour of Walla Walla, we accidentally discovered that it also works great for brushing on veggies that you want to grill! Double trouble.

As of right now, this is my favorite version. All you need is a blender. Then, all you need after that are these things to put in it:

-1 cups walnuts, toasted
-1 cups apple cider vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-2 teaspoons mustard powder
-1 Tablespoon sea salt
-1 shallot
-1/4 cup fresh dill
-1/4 cup fresh mint
-2 Tablespoon chopped chives
-2 Tablespoon fresh parsley, Italian (flat leaf)
-2 Tablespoon  fresh oregano
-1 clove of garlic
-pinch of chili flake

Blend on high and slowly stream in 5 cups of olive oil. It will likely have a green tone to it, good.

This makes enough for a normal person. For a person that fires up the grill often and eats a bunch of salad, this might barely make it through the week. Either way, the shelf life on vinaigrette are months, so don't sweat it. Separation is normal, just shake it up before using.

I'm confident that if you enjoy this recipe you'll find many more uses.

Quinoa

I recently came to understand that most people don't know where to start when it comes to cooking quinoa. "Keen-wah." Perhaps you're an experienced quinoa guru. Perhaps your not? What is quinoa?

My personal favorite recipe...
1 cup water, stock or broth
1/2 cup dried quinoa
dash of olive oil
pinch of sea salt

*According to CalorieCount, 1/3 cup of cooked quinoa has 160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. 
 
Put all of those things in a pot and bring up to a rolling boil. Drop the heat to very low and put a lid on it. 10-15 minutes later fluff it up and look for any water. Didn't see any? It's ready.

If you want play with eating it not-plain try adding large pinch of a dried herb of your choice. Also consider adding a couple dashes of one of those spices on the back of your shelf that have no idea what to use with.

Pro tip: Just substitute quinoa any time you were going to cook rice for a dish.

Don't stop there either. I really like to rip up some kale, collard greens or chard (after rinsing, of course) stems and all and throw it into the pot when the water starts to boil.

It's really that easy.

Tumblr

I opened a Tumblr.com account so you can follow the blog if you are on there. All posts will just be fwd'd to http://ericgantbastard.tumblr.com/

Cheers,
Eric

2013 Season is a GO!

I can't believe it's already May! My legs feel like they've been racing bikes for 3 months straight. I suppose they have, though. It's been an eventfull start to the season - I did the first race of both the Mason Lake and Tour de Dung Road Race Series, then Independence Valley RR followed by two events I've never done before, the Vance Creek RR and the Tour of Walla Walla (Wa).

Most of the races have ended in field sprints, and unfortunately, I haven't really spent time and research in developing my sprint. Most of my winter training was spent developing muscular endurance and raising my aerobic threshold - both great for breakaways, not as well for sprinting to line after a long day in the saddle. This yielded pack finishes for me all the way until Vance Creek. Finally, I get to do a race that has an uphill finish. A long uphill finish consisting of rollers and headwind into a 1k climb! Woohoo! My partner in crime, Ted Schwartz, agreed to lead me out for a victory in this race. Francis Atkinson (SCCA/Starbucks Cycling) ended up with a solo victory so it was a race for second. Anyways, Ted led me out, but being that his is the superior climber, he ended up passing me and snagging 3rd. I walked away with 5th. It was close. Fun race, and that result (after being in the breakaway all day then getting caught on the last lap) got me amped up for my first trip to the Tour of Walla Walla. I just finished building my time trial bike, with the help of Bryan Smith (Emerald City Bicycles), and felt like I was in good form to be a GC contender.

Stage 1's road race, ironically, featured a beautiful 3k uphill finish with 30+mph cross/headwinds. "2013, the year of the wind" my teammate "tweeted" recently. Painfully true. The cluster-fuck that formed during an agonizingly slow finish to this stage left me playing bumper bikes 4 wheels back and I never really got to sprint. My friend, Nate Pitts (Recycled Cycles), was next to me during the last 3k and managed to find a hole to escape at the last second so he could snag 4th place on the day. Being stuck behind a bunch of people that suck at riding bikes uphill, when you can do it just fine, is probably the same feeling people get while driving in rush hour traffic.

Hilltop finish in Waitsburg, Wa

Stage 2 was the 9 mile time trial that started at the Walla Walla Community College. Like most TT's, it pretty much dictated the results for the rest of the stage race. Although entirely possible to gain time on any given person in a road race, it is quite difficult to gain time on people that are faster time trialists than you. Fortunately, I fared pretty well during this stage, despite yet another appearance by the feared 30+mph cross/headwinds on the open course. 6th place. 21:35:07, I believe was my time. We got there a little late, surprise right? So I had enough time to kit up, poop, spin around the parking lot for 10 minutes, roll up the the startgate, forget my frame number, sprint to the car, stick it on, and sprint back to the startgate with 16 seconds to spare! I'm an idiot. I really need to get to a TT on time someday, maybe I'd perform even better? Did I mention that I have only ridden my BMC 3 times before this?

Moments out of the startgate.

Stage 3 offered a 9 corner crit course in downtown Walla Walla. Rad course, nice and technical, just how daddy likes it. They did top 10 call-ups before the start so I was guaranteed a nice starting spot for this fast course. Ted and I had plans of our own for the crit, you see. We are both poor people, so we went out to this stage race with less than $100 bucks in each of our wallets. That was our entire budget. I brought an ice chest with vegetables, pb&js and some protein mix - oh and a juicer. This meant we probably couldn't afford gas to get home to Seattle unless we won some cash. Exciting, right? Go for cash primes and a stage win.  I went for a time bonus, got it. I went for a $100 prime, didn't get it. Ted went for a $75 prime, got it. I went for the win, didn't get it. Luckily all I had to do was survive the next day's road race and finish in the lead group to hold on my 6th place in the GC. That would get me like $50 or something.

Sprinting for $100, and not getting it.

Stage 4 was rad. Hills, hills, hills. And wind too, of course. Year of the wind, remember? 64.5 miles and 4,400' of climbing - http://app.strava.com/activities/50051738 not too shabby. Our first time up the first climb we dropped over 60 riders. The race immediately consisted of 20 people, 10 of which were definitely in the top 10 GC. To my surprise, we left behind my favorite race buddy, Jeff Reed (SCCA/Starbucks Cycling) whom was in 3rd overall. Bad for him, good for me. Everyone stayed pretty comfortable with the race ending with 20 of us instead of a select few. They chased everything or would just let one person dangle off the front after an attack at a time. Pretty frustrating. I sucked at the sprinting part of the end of this race, picking slow people to ride behind an all. I learned that if I want to win a sprint, I need to get out there an put my nose in the wind sometimes. BUT HEY! I GOT 5TH ON THE GC! 12 upgrade points towards my Cat 2, and $70 cash.


Yes, that meant we were able to afford gas to go home. It was a good weekend.
Photos via reedkj.smugmug.com