The Feed Zone Review

The Feed Zone

I purchased The Feed Zone Cookbook a little less than a month ago and have been making a few meals and portables from it.  So far, I am highly impressed with everything that I have prepared.  Today, I made the Brown Rice Muffins and my main reason for this is the nutritional value it has for long endurance rides on the mountain bike.  It has 248 calories, 3 grams of fat, 49 grams of carbs and 25 grams of protein that will not leave you short of energy.  They are extremely easy to make as you can see from picture below.  Only things I used was a rice cooker (highly recommended), blender and muffin tin.  They are easy for me to eat at 5am during the week as I head out the door to hit the trails for a good 15-20 miles before work a couple times during the week.  I also will have an extra with me to eat right after the morning ride to help with recovery.  Also on weekend rides lasting more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours they can be put in a sandwich bag and stuffed in the jersey pocket or I can swing back by the car and grab it.

Brown Rice Muffins

   





To date I have made the following recipes:
Egg and Chorizo Sandwich
Sweet Potato Pancakes
Allen's Rice Cakes x 2
Chocolate Peanut Coconut Rice Cakes
Rice and Banana Muffins
Brown Rice Muffins
Angel Hair with Bacon and Sweet Corn
Pizza with Tomato and Basil
Chicken Tikka Masala
Spiced Black Beans
Spicy Cabbage Slaw

One of my favorite recipes to make is the Spicy Cabbage Slaw.  This has some great flavors and so far I have had it on Fish Tacos, Shrimp Tacos and just by itself.  There are other foods that it would be great on also from BBQ, Turkey or Veggie Burgers also.

Shrimp Tacos w/ Spicy Slaw and Homemade Guacamole

I have also been using PROBAR on my endurance rides for energy for sometime now because they are another great source of natural energy, and they are made of natural whole foods.  I have used gels and other products like them and after awhile they make my stomach hurt if I use a lot of them.  I have cut back on the number of gels that I use on a ride or if I use any at all.

I highly recommend picking up The Feed Zone Cookbook and PROBAR.  Both have changed the types of foods that I use for endurance rides.  I believe they make a good combination for getting energy from natural food sources that your body can easily digest.

Vaca at Wrightsville Beach

We headed out after lunch to Wrightsville Beach on Wednesday to return on Friday for our last vacation before school starting.  It was a short, but much needed vacation.  We were staying at Blockade Runner.  Great place to stay and lots to do right there on their property.  We get there shortly after 2pm and get unpacked.  Then we slathered on the sunscreen and hit the beach for the next 3 hours.  It is a lot of fun to see how happy the kids are when they are running toward the ocean just to be chased back by a wave.  Then the time we spend in the ocean jumping up with the waves and watching my six year old get knocked around by some of them when they break right on him.  Then how both of them roll around in the surf and collect more seashell fragments in their bathing suits that goes unnoticed until it is time to take a shower.  It looks like we brought half of the beach back to the bathroom with us when you strip them down for their showers. We went to Oceanic for dinner that night for some seafood. 

Next day, I head out as the sun is rising for a twenty mile road ride around Wrightsville Beach on my newly converted Vassago Fisticuff from monstercross to road bike.  It is a nice place to get riding in, but to get some mileage you have to do the route numerous times.  We grabbed breakfast at the resort and head for the beach again.  There was a storm off the coast, so we couldn't get in the ocean but so far.  We did get to witness the water spouts that formed and went across Carolina Beach.  It was neat to watch them come out the sky and form.  Glad they didn't head our direction.  Then shortly before lunch we had to head inside because it started raining pretty heavy.  With a full belly from lunch, both kids took a much needed nap while I sat and watched it rain while surfing the internet while

tipping back some Miller High Life in my new 29nsngl coozie.  We headed for the pool after the rain let up and it was good and chilly outside and especially in the water.  Spent a good hour or so playing in the pool and headed back up to the room to get showers and head over to Tower 7 for some of the best Tex Mex and definitely the best in that area.  Kids had a taco and some nachos off the kids menu.  The commander-in-chief a/k/a Wife had the Tower 7 burrito, and I finished it off.  I had the San Felipe Tacos.  I have posted up before about Tower 7, so no reason to keep talking about how great the food is there.  The only thing you need to know is if you are in the area and hungry.  Stop in and fill your belly for a good price.  We hit up the putt-putt course at Jungle Rapids after dinner and went back and had a nice walk on the beach.  Let the kids jump around in the surf one last time before we pull out of there the next morning and head back to the casa.

 

Tower 7

Back down here in Wilmington or work this week, and we went over to Tower 7 on Wrightsville Beach to grab some dinner.  They have a couple other places also, K38 (2 locations) and Cafe Del Mar.  They are a baja mex restaurant with some great specials that run for a limited time and then their daily specials.  Last nights daily special was $2 hard shell tacos and $1 PBR.  We started off with a couple baskets of chips and salsa.  Their salsa is handmade daily and it has some great flavor with a little heat.  If you are visiting during the summer you can some by the to-go window and grab a bag of chips and salsa and take it to the beach with you. 
I ordered up 2 chicken tacos.  I like how simple they keep the tacos, shredded chicken, chopped roma tomato, lettuce and shredded cheese.  With your meal they bring out a bottle of their picante sauce that has this great sweet and spicy flavor to add to your food.
If you want great baja mex for a reasonable price then swing by Tower 7 when at Wrightsville Beach and you will not be disappointed.  I got out of there last with two tacos and two PBRs plus tip for $9 and that is a steal.

Windy Road Ride and Bang Bang Shrimp Tacos

Did a road ride of 34 miles today and it was a windy
 one.  Lucky that I was riding in a group, so we could all take turns up front pulling each other through the head wind.  Our route started at the Methodist Church on Judd Parkway in Fuquay and took us on a loop that reached to Angier.  From there we looped around some back country roads past Harnett Central High School on over to 401.  Then took 401 down to Piney Grove Wilbon that ran us into 42 Hwy that got us back to the church.  We started in one group of about 18 riders.  One rider got a flat about 6.5 miles into the ride and then the tube blew again while trying to blow it up, so we split into 2 groups.  1 rider went back to get a car while 2 waited and the 2 groups took off about 3-4 minutes apart.  Other than that the ride was fine except for that head wind that no matter which direction we were riding it was in our faces.

 

Now on to the dinner I fixed tonight.  Nothing better after throwing down 34 miles then some homemade mexican food.  This is probably one of my favorite meals to make for the family.  First time I saw the Bang Bang Shrimp recipe from Bonefish Grill was in the Food Network Magazine we receive at home.  Before this I had had this numerous times at the restaurant.  When we make this at the house we do not put all the shrimp in the sauce since the kids think it is to spicy.  Now for the wife and I, we normally have the tacos with chopped tomato, chopped avocado and some shredded mexican cheese.  The kids like the shrimp with sour cream and cheese in the soft taco shells.