Quiche of the Week Club

Well I survived the ride!  Just goes to show things are never live up to the hype you create in your head.  There was a lot of climbing (3,000 ft overall) and some really great parts where I really got in my groove and then some parts where I barely had the strength to keep the pedals turning.  This is why I love cycling - it's not nearly as miserable as running.  If I have nothing in me, unless I'm no a big hill..I can coast...magical coasting..
This is the terrain I conquered:

The first half was challenging but went by pretty quickly in my head - really glad some of those biggest climbs were in the beginning while I was fresh.  There were some hills towards the end (mile 45) that were pretty brutal.  Not to mention that the finish was up a short STEEP hill..I did not like that very much..
I attribute my success immensely to the home made fuel (eaten at regular intervals before I was hungry) + Honey Stinger energy gels.  They also had oranges and bananas at the rest stops which were excellent fuel sources as well.  Also, my night before routine I did a lot of stretching, took and epsom salt bath and coated my neck and back with Tiger Balm (yum).

So lately, I've been a little into crust-less quiches.  My friend, Cassy, knows (and is the one who taught me the skills).  Ever since I joined a local CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) I get a lot of veggies and eggs.  The most efficient way to use a lot of these ingredients so that they don't go to waste (besides making salads and hard boiled eggs) is quiches.  You can put anything in a quiche and it will taste great (well okay maybe not anything).  And they are great to eat throughout the week for breakfast and/or lunches.
I call this week's creation "Too many Veggies, not enough Egg".  I was on the last 4 of my eggs..but it still worked!  This time I also decided to put the veggies in uncooked instead of sauteeing them first and I really like it because they are still crunchy.  (asparagus, tomatoes and spring mix lettuce).  I think if I'm making a Kale/Chard quiche I will continue to cook those down a bit so I can fit more in the quiche.

Bon Ape tit!

If it would stop raining in CT, that would be great Mother Nature, thank you..

How do we start this thing up again?

Some habits die hard....some habits die for sure.  Someone told me I should keep writing in this..  So I'll give it another whirl.  Truth is I get easily distracted when I sit at the computer.  Someday someone will invent some form of scripting through osmosis..that way whatever I think of in my head magically gets transferred to my computer.  Human Bluetooth.  Totally.

Lot has been happening up here over the past few months!  It's only the beginning...  I am moving! At the end of this month I'm heading a few towns over to Stamford - the "big city"..yah.  Their town motto.. "The City that Works".   GREAT transition from "The Natural State" with a city that likes to say "Keep Fayetteville Funky".   Well I'll be living with someone who comes up from Fayetteville so hopefully we'll be keeping it funky in Stamford in our penthouse townhouse apartment.  Yeehaw! Yeah, pictures to come.  Who wants to help me pack? ha..

I'm getting teased by Summer - Spring and Fall keep trying to make a come back.  And this Summer has been off to a rocky start.  Some health issues have forced me to make some changes to my habits and diet.  For a period of 60-90 days I can't eat any grains, flour, dairy or beer essentially.  I'm essentially on the Paleo diet because that's all the food left to eat!  But, it has actually been a blessing in disguise (minus a Summer without Beer..)  I've been forced to come up with more creative meals which are actually a lot healthier.  Not that I don't still dabble in some fried food, wine and way too many nuts..
My nut obsession has gone so far that I ordered this on Amazon

...seriously the greatest invention ever.  How can I eat more nuts?  Nut Powder!! Amazing... I recommend regular over Chocolate personally, but they came in a two pack so I went for it.

I've really been digging on some Raw food recipes lately - and trying to mimic some of the things I love with the limited ingredients I can eat.   So tomorrow I have a HUGE 53 mile bike ride up in Bethel.  I say HUGE because it is really hilly and I haven't been riding near enough and I've got a massive pain in my back.  So it should be fun right!? ha..  I'll feel better afterwards?  I'll let you know..

So I made my own fuel for tomorrow - lots of combinations of nuts and fruits and honey basically.
I made these muffins for breakfast tomorrow! They are chock full of nutty pumpkin goodness! (At least they made my house smell good. They use almond flour instead of regular - so they aren't exactly low fat but it will give my body something to work off of!

Pumpkin Honey Almond Walnut Muffins

Dates, dried cherries, nuts, nut butter and honey

And I made my own energy bites to eat along the way.  They
took a little molding, hopefully they stay in their ball shapes in my back pocket.  I kinda used a modified version of this recipe.   I added cocoa powder to half of them..

Okay now I realize why I never write blogs.  It takes forever!

Finally this evening I experimented with making cauliflower "mashed potatoes".  Cauliflower is pretty amazing.  I steamed half a head of it with tumeric and rosemary and it came out really good!

Processor Power!

Well time to go get some shut eye so I can wake up at 5:30am to go torture myself.

Night all!