Cycling Foodie

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The Napa Valley Tour de Cure is looking for a rest stop manager at Fieldstone rest stop on Sunday, May 4, 2014. If you are interested, please contact Gurwant Bal at guwant_bal@yahoo.com.

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Well, what started out as a recovery ride turned into 50 miles in the wind. I’m in serious need of a refreshing recovery snack.

Strawberry Banana Buttermilk Smoothie

Strawberry Banana Buttermilk Smoothie

1 large banana
1 cup sliced strawberries, frozen
1 cup buttermilk
1 scoop whey protein
6 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Makes enough to share with your cycling partner.

Vegan? Use almond milk and a vegan protein powder.

Enjoy!

My goal this week is to ride most mornings before work and evenings after work. Tomorrow morning will be my recovery ride.

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The Napa Valley Tour de Cure is just 3 weeks from today!

I’ve got brand new Continental Grand Prix Four Season tires and a nice tune-up on my Colnago, so my bike is all set to go. I got a good training ride in yesterday with 85 miles from Davis, Winters, Vacaville, Dixon, and back to Davis. Just a couple of rolling hills in there, so I’ve still got some hill work to feel ready. Next weekend! Today’s ride will be a nice couple of hours spinning recovery ride.

After the ride I made a big batch of brown rice penne pasta with marinara, ground turkey breast, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, spinach, argula, toasted fennel seeds, and herbs. It tasted good, but it was not a very pretty sauce, so no photos. It was just about the perfect post-ride dinner, though.

It’s a bit breezy here this weekend, so that will add to the training benefit, right?!

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Sunrise Roll on the Klein

12+ miles before work.

20+ miles after work.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like summer!

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The Napa Valley Tour de Cure still needs several more volunteers to help set-up on May 3 and on Sunday, May 4. If you (and friends or family members) are not riding – please consider volunteering for this amazing event. For information and to register to volunteer: www.diabetes.org/napatourvolunteer.

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Oooh, that is a chilly little rain out there right now. I’m pretty glad I wore that extra layer this morning!

Yes, please, I’ll take some coffee!

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Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I’m heading out right now for a quick ride. The Napa Valley Tour de Cure is just a month away – I’ve still got lots of training to do to feel ready for that century ride! It’s a bit chilly out this morning, so I’m already looking forward to that post-ride cup of coffee (Davis’ own locally roasted and delivered by bike Pepper Peddler, of course!).

Here’s hoping you get a nice ride in today before the rains start. I’ll take rain today over rain tomorrow – I’ll be outside for UC Davis Freshman Decision Day all day tomorrow, so please let it be nice tomorrow!

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It is gloriously beautiful in Davis this morning. The recent rains have left the air fresh, moist, and cool. It’s also left the roads a bit slippery, so do be careful if you’re out there riding this morning. Tomorrow looks like it’s also going to be a nice day for cycling – cool, partly cloudy, little or no chance of rain, light winds. We’re looking at rain again on Friday, but we’re really hoping for nice weather on Saturday for UC Davis’ Decision Day!

Last night I reached my goal to become a Champion in the fight against diabetes! Thank you to everyone who has donated!! It’s not too late to make a donation, so if you’d like to, please click here. The ride is less than 5 weeks away – I’ve got lots and lots of miles to ride to feel ready.

Here’s hoping you get some nice cycling in today!

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True Food Kitchen, Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego

The culinary highlight of my recent trip to San Diego was an exciting restaurant discovery: True Food Kitchen. It was without a doubt the best lunch out I have had in a very, very long time.

I was feeling a little disappointed because some plans had fallen through, so I needed a little retail and culinary therapy. My retail therapy resulted in a very cool pair of shiny black skinny jeans (found on clearance at Macy’s!), so I needed to keep these in mind when choosing my culinary therapy. I wanted a treat, but a reasonably light and healthy one.

Beverages

Cool and refreshing Green Arnie

As I enjoyed my Green Arnie, I relaxed and enjoyed a nice cool breeze on the patio. The setting was lovely and I was quite pleased with the cleanliness and overall atmosphere.

Table centerpiece

Patio seating

Cozy fire pit seating

Fresh herb gardens

There were so many choices on the menu that sounded like exactly what I wanted, but since it was cool outside, a little soup sounded perfect.

Starters ...

Miso Soup

The soup was rich with flavor, but also seemed fairly light. It was so good that I am right now trying to duplicate it at home. Close, but not quite. This will require further experimentation!

When I’m in a new restaurant that serves pizza, one of my tests is to try the most basic pie on the menu. This is the foundation of pizza – if their plain cheese or Pizza Margherita is not good, then it doesn’t matter what toppings you try. Their pizza will not be good. You absolutely have to have the right foundation – the basics: crust, sauce, cheese, fresh herbs.

I am a self-proclaimed pizza snob, but I think for good reason. I started working in pizza restaurants when I was just out of high school. My first was a family-owned restaurant and it was rare for a girl to be allowed to “man” the pizza oven. We girls could do all the prep work, make the subs, and for those of us who so aspired, one day we could run the grill and make the cheese steaks. The pizza men might even let us make the dough. I had mastered the subs. Mastered the grill. I had even mastered the dough. Come on! Let me spin the pies!

One day the “pizza man” called in sick and it was an all-girl crew. I enthusiastically jumped in to take over the oven and proved that a girl can make pizza. The “pizza man” took me under his wing and on occasion invited me to work side-by-side with him so he could teach me his tips and tricks. That’s when my love affair with making pizza really started.

Pizza ...

Pizza Margherita

My Pizza Margherita arrived. The crust was crisp and light. The sauce was rich with fresh tomato flavor. There was just enough cheese and the fresh basil was divine. I had about half of the pizza and saved the rest for later.

My server inquired about dessert. I was not going to have anything, but I love to look at dessert menus. I perused the menu, and politely declined, telling her about my new jeans and how I really should be good. She suggested the Chia Seed Pudding, saying it really wasn’t that bad. Hmm … chia seeds are loaded with all kinds of healthy things like fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. Hmm … this is a foodie adventure, so I suppose in the spirit of adventure I really should try it.

Chia Seed Pudding with Banana & Coconut

Oh. My. Goodness!

The Chia Seed Pudding was rich and creamy, not too sweet, and the toasted coconut gave it a nice crunch. The creaminess came from coconut milk, so I’m pretty sure it wasn’t as “light” fat and calorie-wise as I wanted to believe, but it was worth it.

I looked up a few chia seed pudding recipes today and have an experimental batch in my refrigerator right now. It will be ready tomorrow. I made it with unsweetened almond milk, low fat lemon yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla, and chia seeds. It thickens overnight in the refrigerator, so we’ll see tomorrow how well it sets up, but an initial taste was quite good!

My server told me that True Food Kitchen will be opening a restaurant in Walnut Creek, California later this year. It will be worth the hour-plus drive to dine there. I am looking forward to dining here again!

The service was awesome – friendly and attentive. The food was fantastic. I look forward to returning.

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We left San Diego for Holtville early Wednesday afternoon. It’s about a 2-hour drive, so we wanted to make sure we got there in plenty of time for our evening event.

The drive was an adventure – rain, wind, sandstorm, beautiful views of the rugged desert landscape.

Leaving San Diego ...

Heading out Highway 8 ...

... first Border Patrol sighting!

Just like home - whirlygigs!

Artsy shot ...

Skies clearing ...

The scenery was quite striking; it possessed a very rugged beauty.

Winds kicking up ...

... into a full blown sandstorm!

The sandstorm looked worse than these photos show … we were in a little rental car that was getting kind of blown about the highway. You could hear the sand grains hitting the car and almost feel them scratching across the paint. Visibility was more limited than it appears here. Fortunately, the sand storm was brief.

Turning into a beautiful day!

Wondering if we're lost ...

Found our destination.

The hotel was … an experience. It was easy to see that it has lots of history. I thought it might be a great candidate for one of those “Save My Resort” type of reality shows. That’s really all I want to say about it.

By the time we got there the wind gusts were dreadful. After checking in, my colleague and I ventured into town for a bite. We ended up at the Food Court in the local shopping mall.

Imperial Valley Mall

Light lunch

My colleague tried the Chinese restaurant – his lunch looked and smelled good. I was looking for something very light and easy on my stomach. I found a beautiful fresh fruit salad at the Italian restaurant, and some fat free frozen vanilla yogurt with toasted almonds. That hit the spot.

In the evening we met an awesome group of students and their families in Holtville. I hope we see many of them here on campus in Fall 2014!

I woke up early and went for a little walk around the property. It was a lovely morning; the wind had mellowed to a gentle breeze.

Just a touch of sunrise left.

Red cabbage?

More fountains.

I packed up early in the morning to head back to the San Diego airport with another colleague. Starbucks for breakfast again. I tried their Hearty Blueberry Whole Grain Oatmeal – it was really good. This would make a wonderful pre-ride breakfast.

Here’s a summary of my flight home …

Leaving San Diego ...

... up ...

... up ...

... cruising altitude ...

Somewhere over California ...

Bu-bu-bumpiest landing ever!

Home Sweet Home! Looking forward to getting back on my bike!