fun ride, great dinner

As you know, last time I went on a group cycling ride with my mountain bike I about died and was far behind the group, so I’ve been searching and wanting to get road bike for awhile now.  Well, I got one this weekend!!  Just the baseline model, something to get me started (and I’ll be paying off forever!).  It’s crazy there are some bikes out there upwards of $8,000!!!

 

We decided to go on a ride on Sunday with the owner of JT’s bicycle shop, the place where I actually bought my bike from.  They have a great shop and are such nice people.  It was supposed to be a 20 mile ‘C’ ride, but there were only the 3 of us (Jim, chris and I), so we decided to go further on the River Mountain Trail towards Lake Mead.  It turned out to be 33 miles total!  For my first time on a road bike, it actually wasn’t too bad.  My legs and butt weren’t sore, but by the second hour my shoulders and neck were screaming!  I did have to buy a pair of cushy butt shorts for next time.  I think I just have to get used to being in that position for so long and have Chris give me a good back rub haha.  Road bikes are an entirely different animal!  It feels like you can actually get speed and going up hills isn’t a complete battle.  It was really amazing!  If you hate bike riding because it seems like you can’t go anywhere without killing yourself, really consider a road bike because it really makes a big difference in speed and efficiency.  Here’s me trying to be a serious rider . . . lol

Now speaking of speed, there were a few hills, well three actually, that they call the 3 sisters on the River Mountain Trail.  Whoa, I was freaking out!  I still have to get used to going so fast and turning fast because I get really scared I’m going to totally biff it.  One of the hills felt like a rollercoaster where you slowly reach the top and shoot down really fast, yikes!  I was riding my brakes down the whole way.  I’ll probably have to get my brakes serviced sooner than most because I’m a little brake happy at the moment haha!  But it was a lot of fun and I ate a lot too.  Here are my eats for the day . . .

Breakfast

• piece of WW toast, two egg whites (in the micro)
• 1/2 banana with peanut butter slather
• 2 cups H20

During the Ride

• 1 packet Luna Moons – blueberry flavor (I actually really liked these because liquid carbohydrate drinks usually upset my stomach)  I will be experimenting with others.
• 1 liter of H20 + about 12 ounces of water mixed with this sample I got at the bike shop (I think I liked this too because I am a very salty sweater)

After the Ride (at a nearby coffee shop)

• 1/2 liter water
• 1/4 bagel with grape jam (shared with Chris who was ravenous so I could barely grab a bite!)

Rest of the Day

• Big smoothie with milk, frozen fruit, peanut butter, amazing grass (bought this myself), chocolate whey protein, chia seeds in a fun glass from Nawlins
• about 3 oz of leftover roasted chicken, 1 rib, 1/2 corn muffin from Famous Dave’s
• flatbread sammie with mozzarella and leftover roasted veggies, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, handful of pretzels
• more water!

Dinner

• Cedar-planked maple salmon with cous cous, avocado and grilled veggies
• glass of chardonnay (not the best to have with exercise)
• bowl of cookies and cream yogurt blends I found at Walmart.  These are really yummy, creamy and 120 kcals per 1/2 cup serving; I had one cup.  I want to try more flavors!  Do you ever go down the frozen dessert isle thinking you shouldn’t but just want to look, and you’re secretly hoping you’ll find something to try?  haha
• more water!

Whew!  That was a lot.  I’m sure I forgot a few munchie stuff in there too haha  But, my HR monitor said I burned about 1,000 kcals.  I’m not sure how accurate this is since some of the time we were coasting, but my heart was sure racing from the adrenaline! 

On to the the yummy dinner . . .

I’ve never tried using cedar planks on the grill, but oh man, it sure gave it a great smoky flavor!  Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and a spritzer bottle of water nearby just in case.  We had a few flare-ups, oops!

Cedar-Planked Maple Salmon

Yield: 4 for dinner

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium)
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• juice from 1/2 an orange (you will need 2 oranges total)
• splash of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp each sesame oil and canola oil
• 1 pound wild Alaskan salmon (if possible, I found this on sale otherwise it’s a bit too pricey for me)
• 1 cedar plank soaked in H20 for at least 1 hour (I put it in a baking dish, covered with water and topped with another baking dish to weigh it down)

For the cous cous:

• 1 cup whole wheat cous cous
• 1 cup water with juice of other orange 1/2 
• 1 orange, zest and segments
• various grilled veggies – bell peppers, green onions
• handful of walnuts
• splash of the maple sauce above 
• salt and pepper

Soak cedar plank for at least 1 hour in H20.  Prepare grill to about medium.  Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium sauce pan.  Boil gently until reduced down and syrupy.  Reserve a little for the cous cous.  Once cedar plank gets slightly smoky on the grill, place salmon on plank.  Baste with maple mixture every 3 minutes for about 15-20 minutes until slightly pink in the center. 

Boil water and juice for the cous cous, add cous cous, stir, turn off heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Place in a large bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients to combine.

Plate and enjoy!  This is really really good!  Sorry for the terrible lighting.  It was getting late and that good sunlight was dwindling!

I also grilled some bok choy and served it with 1/4 of an avocado.  Bok choy has a wonderful popcorn-like flavor when it’s grilled and green onions taste like sweet candy.  I can just eat them whole!

I paired it with this chardonnay that was recommended to me at Lee’s when I couldn’t find my favorite buttery chard from Ravenswood.  While this chardonnay wasn’t really that buttery at all, it was very bright with grapefruit and citrus flavors.  Honestly, it didn’t go to well with the buttery-ness of the salmon and avocado and kind of cut into the flavor characteristics of this dish for me.  Oh well, it was still pretty refreshing and mellowed out a little as it warmed up.  It’s still fun to try a new wine, but sometimes you just wish you could have got your tried and true favorite, no?   

Tonight for dinner I made a salmon cous cous salad, just love leftovers!  And what’s a good salad without some dried fruit, crumbled goat cheese and a dollop of greek yogurt?!

Close-up!  Glorious salmon . . . I wish I could eat this every day.

 

Any new activities, products, recipes you’ve stumbled upon that turned out pretty darn good?