hello again!
/I can’t stop drinking the butternut squash smoothie. This one was made with pumpkin though. They taste really similar but I think I actually prefer the butternut squash.
fresh baked roll + homemade PB + jelly
thick.creamy.pumpkiny.yum.
My grip tape has needed to be replaced for over a month now, but I just haven’t made it to a bike store until a few days ago.
hehehe
It was pretty easy to put the new tape on myself. This is mostly due to Julie’s awesome tutorial. There were just a few minor things I did differently.
You start by peeling up the “hood.”
Ohhhh Dakota. Sooo sleeepy. If you have been super observant, you will have noticed Dakota sporting a “Merry Chrismas” collar the past few months. Despite some of our friends saying that we put it on her to cheer her up and put her in the holiday spirit [she acts quite depressed], that is not the case. ;) Her old collar broke and we just haven’t gotten a new one. This is an OLD collar my dad gave me, from our family dog Ginger [that has since passed].
You can “fa la la la la” all you want, but Dakota will always give you this face.
Bake to the bike! Discard old tape.
Ta daaaa!! Okay, so I missed a few steps. Just check Julie’s post for the details.
The only difference, with mine was that they only gave 2, 4” pieces of yellow tape, and I think Julie had 4.
- The directions on the box said to put the small strips covering the metal that is under each hood.
- Also, only overlap your tape by 1/3. At first I was overlapping by 2/3 and there was not enough tape to finish.
The box directions left out some good tips that Julie included. For instance, which way to wrap your tape – counterclockwise on one side, clockwise on the other.
I had to wrap the left handlebar 3 times before I got it right. I was overlapping to much the first 2 times. The right handlebar, I got on the first try. It seems more complicated than it is. Definitely not worth paying to have someone do it at a bike shop.
Anywho…here it is!!! SO BRIGHT. I’m loving it. I really wanted pink but they were out. I just wanted something fun and bright. The yellow will definitely do!
I also finally bought a battery and attached my bike computer. It’s nothing fancy, and came with the bike. [I bought the bike used, for a great deal, and they gave us a bunch of extras for free!]
After getting all of that ready, I headed out for my new favorite route. It’s still realllly hot here. It was 87* today and not a cloud in the sky. Definitely slathered on the sun screen!
Today’s Ride:
- Avg. Speed – 15.5mph
- Time – 1hr 25min
- Distance – 22miles
When I return from Cleveland, my plan is to attach my clipless pedals. Hold me to it! :)
Lunch was quick + delicious.
- Garden Herb Sunshine burger
- egg
- tomato paste
- fresh bread
- nutritional yeast
- s+p
And a salad on the side, with…
- hemp oil
- apple cider vinegar
- balsamic vinegar
Don’t let this small-ish sandwich fool you. It packs a nutritional punch! It totals in at around 500+ calories, with healthy fats [burger + egg], protein [bread, egg, nut. yeast, burger], vitamin b-12 [nut. yeast], and lycopene [tomato paste].
If you don’t like drippy eggs, I’m sure this looks disgusting. However, it was deeeelicious.
Believe it or not, I have never cooked tofu. I try to steer away from eating soy products, and you can read why here, but I do eat fermented soy products on occasion, like tempeh + tofu. I found an organic, non-GMO, sprouted living-soy tofu and decided to try it out. Tofu is SO cheap!
I pressed the liquid out [after slicing into 8 pieces], between towels, with books stacked on top for about 15min. Then cut into 64 cubes.
I had no idea how to cook this little cubes, so I referred to the tofu guru Emily. Her crispy tofu tutorial was extremely easy to follow.
It left me with perfectly cooked, crispy, delicious tofu.
Chris actually loves tofu, and I enjoy it as well! I think I like it better than tempeh too. I think I’ll start including tofu in our dinners, about once a week. We each ate a 1/2 block of the tofu, a large side of steamed + buttered broccoli, and creamy, fluffy millet.
I’m glad you guys enjoyed the video post! I originally video’d it during the day, but the natural light was awful. Also, it was 15min long. I wanted to cut it down, and got it around 11min. I think I was trying to hurry, which led to my spastic camera hand! ;)
Also, I wanted to mention that Mama Pea has an UH-mazing looking recipe for something similar to my sweet corn cake, like I made for my Mexican feast! I really had no clue how to veganize it, except switching out butter for Earth Balance. I’m sure that would work, but she got a little more creative and healthed it up a bit too! I can’t wait to try it out! [p.s. Have you voted for my Mexican feast?? If not, follow this link! Thanks!!!]
All for now!
Ash