Bandi's Mountain Run / My Trike Day

 

Song:  Havin' A Ball

Group:  The Partridge Family

This was my first ride since moving to Colorado.

For the first couple of months...

as it had rained almost the whole way here...

and my trike was on a trike carrier on the back of my car...

the electronics had gotten wet and the trike computer refused to work.

After it fully dried out...

and everything worked...

the cold weather had moved in.

As it has been warm and sunny lately...

I decided to take Bandi out on a trike ride...

as she ran beside me as I cycled.

I had merely attached her normal leash to the back of my seat.

She quickly caught on where she was supposed to run

(to my right nearest the side of the road)...

and she also kept perfect pace beside me.

I kept a close eye on her to ensure she never tired too much...

and over the approximately two mile stretch...

there and back in total...

we also took many breaks.

Bandi was enthusiastic the whole way.

She loved our little run.

As you can see...

my driveway is still filled with ice...

however, my trike had no problem climbing up the incline to the road.

My trike was made for this type of road...

hard packed clay topped off with crushed granite.

It allowed my tires to bite into the surface...

and it provided a soft road for Bandi's paws.

This was on our first break.

Bandi wasn't out of breath...

but I didn't want to push her too much.

After our short break...we continued.

And we would continue to the top of our mountain.

Just around this corner was the top...

along with beautiful panoramic views.

We took a break at the top to enjoy the views.

It was such a beautiful day...

Bandi and I were having a blast.

After a little while at the top of the mountain...

we headed back down toward home.

We passed home and continued to Sunset Point just down the street a short ways.

I parked at sunset point for a short while.

After a few minutes...

a brisk breeze started picking up...

and as my hands were starting to go numb...

we headed back home.

My house is just to the left of center behind the trees in this photo.

Home.

Bandi absolutely loved our little outing.

We shall be doing more of these little mountain runs together.

I will also be looking for nearby bike trails to explore.

As I knew this would be a fairly short run for Bandi...

I didn't take the doggie carrier in case she tired out.

But...

on some of the long bike trails...

I will be towing it so Bandi may ride once she tires.

I went up to the third floor deck to see the sun setting.

Bandi stayed out on the deck for a good 20 minutes just cooling off.

I will now sit in the sauna for half an hour as I listen to some smooth jazz...

stretch...

and then take a hot shower

(my normal after exercise routine).

What a beautiful day Bandi and I had.

We are sure to have many more.

Making And Eating Healthful Food At Home

 

The Song:  Never Forgotten

Artists:  Michael Hoppe / Tim Wheater

In the early afternoon...

I decided to slice up the Japanese Sweet Potatoes from yesterday's cooking session...

in preparation for their dehydration.

I took them out of the fridge...

put on some nice music...

and I then sat at the counter and began slicing each one.

I sliced them as thinly as I could...

without making them too floppy to easily handle.

But...

no matter...

I will dehydrate them for at least a week.

After slicing them...

and after chopping up some of the thicker pieces for a healthful topping to Bandi's food...

I then sat down to a midday snack of a whole sweet potato and a portion of my homemade yogurt.

For most of my late adult life...

I had mostly eaten but once a day...

and at most...

twice a day.

However...

in order to fuel my slowly increasing exercise regimen...

and to feed my gut more anti-inflammatory foods...

I will incorporate a very light meal of my homemade yogurt topped with fruit

in the early afternoon or late morning.

I really love my yogurt.

I will be eating it every day.

While I usually hadn't eaten but once in the evening...

and instead of a breakfast...

I would only have cold black coffee...

I will now add in one yogurt to eat with my coffee.

It is so refreshing...

a treat really.

And to know that it is a very pleasant and naturally healthful

way of taking care of my gut health... 

and so...

the overly reactive inflammatory response in my body...

it all adds up to a major plus for me.

This isn't enough to curb my appetite for my one big meal later in the day.

 I consider it as medicine...

a very delicious way to help heal my body.

I keep the fruit handy as I eat...

as I keep adding more fruit as I consume what I had already put in the yogurt.

I like a lot of fruit in each bite.

And of course...

I shared the blueberries with Bandi.

She loves fruit.

Bandi just sat like a lady and patiently awaited another piece of fruit

as I hand fed her.

She is so cute...

she is just irresistible. 

Having a dog is also very healthful for humans.

The great pureness of their nature...

their sweetness and open affection keep certain hormones and neuro-chemicals 

flowing and in balance in humans.

They add so much to happiness in life...

both, in the giving...

and in the receiving...

of one of the purest forms of love.

We, as humans, simply have so much to learn from dogs.

After I finished the yogurt...

I took the bowl filled with the sliced Japanese sweet potatoes...

and I arranged them on just 9 of the 20 dehydrator trays.

I then turned it on for the first of at least 7 days of dehydration.

In reality...

just three or four days is usually enough...

but I want the resulting sweet potato chips to be extra dry for long term storage.

-----------------

I cannot recommend enough...

the great value of a large capacity dehydrator...

especially for people who live high in the mountains...

as going to the grocery store on a daily...

or even more than on a once weekly basis

would not be a habit that would be sustained for long.

Not only because a half hour drive each way would eat up unnecessary gas...

but being high up in the mountains is being subjected to the whims 

of the weather.

With this device...

you may dehydrate many fungi, fruits, and vegetables that you simply cannot 

preserve in any other easy manner.

You may buy in bulk...

 dehydrate in bulk...

all the while being efficient in both.

Simplifying life is one of the keys to enjoying it so much more.

It also greatly adds to ease of food preparation...

as you will not have to bother with vegetable preparation ahead of each meal.

-------------

Another great buy I had made was my yogurt maker.

There are a variety of yogurt makers available on Amazon.

I had chosen this particular one because I liked the separate

individual portion sized containers.

After the yogurt is ready for transfer...

you just place the containers inside the fridge...

 and then simply take out one per meal.

It is so easy

(especially if you use powdered whole milk).

And...

yogurt...

especially ones you tailor fit with the particular strain of bacteria 

that would be most beneficial for your gut...

is a delicious way to eat your way to better health.

The fruit you add...

or even honey or vanilla bean...

is so easily tailored to your particular taste.

As I will have a continual supply of my favorite yogurt...

it is an essential component of my kitchen...

and from now on...

an essential part of my daily life.

I had never thought that making my own yogurt could be so easy...

so healthful...

and so delicious.

I now have three basic ways of eating healthfully at home...

without the need to rely upon frequent trips to a supermarket.

My seed sprouter...

my dehydrator...

and my yogurt maker.

These are the big three which I think are absolutely essential

for any person living in the mountains...

and really...

for anyone interested in good health...

while being extremely efficient and economical at the same time...

and most importantly...

being prepared for any zombie apocalypse that may come our way  :)

Although I am partially joking...

with these three...

and with all the necessary dried ingredients in stock...

you may live in good health for as long as your supplies last...

which should be measured in years.

(Powdered milk for the yogurt / Seeds for the sprouter / other ingredients

already dehydrated you will already have at hand...

the means for survival...

a complete protein...

and all the necessary vitamins and minerals...

will be yours to enjoy...

and all with very long shelf lives).

L Reuteri Yogurt Test / Packing Enoki / Dehydrating Japanese Sweet Potatoes

 

Album:  Autumn

Artist:  George Winston

I spent today...

testing my homemade yogurt...

packing up the Enoki I had dehydrated...

and cooking and slicing Japanese Sweet Potatoes for dehydration.

I had placed my homemade yogurt mix into the yogurt maker some 44 hours ago.

I normally set it for 36 or so hours...

but that would have necessitated me staying up until 3 AM...

so...

for the sake of experimentation...

I let it run an extra 8 hours.

In the morning...

I took the finished yogurt and placed the individual containers into the fridge to chill.

I would later try my first successful batch.

I say successful batch because my first batch had come out completely separated

into curds and whey.

I looked it up online and found that it was a typical experience for a first batch.

However, it said to merely take two tablespoons of the failed batch and use them 

as a starter for the following batch.

I did...

and it had turned out perfectly.

Now...

I had originally got interested in this particular strain of bacteria (L Reuteri)

with which to make my own yogurt because of its particular

ability to lower inflammation in the body through its effects in the gut.

I had numerous tests done last year...

only to find that while everything was in the good range...

from liver enzymes to all my other blood work...

there was one that was way too high.

That was the marker for ongoing inflammation in the body.

Inflammation can cause a whole host of problems in the body...

not just limited to arthritis...

but to other serious conditions...

if not remedied.

That is when I began researching various ways to limit inflammation in my body.

It all starts in the gut...

and without healthy gut flora...

a whole range of cascading effects manifest in various parts of the body...

none of which are good.

I have already had great effects from eating live culture Sauerkraut...

and many of my arthritic symptoms greatly decreased...

and even one had disappeared.

And so...

I bought a yogurt maker so I may always have a fresh batch 

with which to supplement my daily meal...

for the extra anti-inflammatory effects.

I was pleasantly surprised by my first successful batch...

as I will go into later in this article.

I make 8 to 9 individual containers at a time...

one for each day.

As the yogurt was chilling in the fridge...

I began preparing the Japanese Sweet Potatoes for dehydration.

My first step was to wash and scrub each one thoroughly.

I used a new pot scrubber to do so...

and it will be my vegetable scrubber from now on.

Most dedicated vegetable scrub brushes simply cannot scrub veggies well enough.

I keep the skin on all fruits and veggies as that is where much of the vitamins are...

but as most veggies and tubers had been sprayed with insecticides and herbicides 

during their growth...

and some with fungicides to keep them from spoiling during shipment and storage...

and/or sprouting inhibitors...

it is necessary to scrub each one carefully.

After washing each tuber...

I then wrapped them in foil in preparation for baking them.

After I had completed this...

I put the first batch into the oven at 380 F for approximately two hours.

I had these set aside for the second batch of baking.

In the meantime...

it was time to test my first successful batch of L Reuteri yogurt.

I first tested it plain.

It was light and fluffy...

and not too sour.

It was just like some of the store bought unsweetened yogurt I had tried.

I then tried it with frozen blueberries.

Wow...

what a winning combination.

I kept adding blueberries as they ran low in the container...

assuring I always had one or two blueberries in every bite.

It had the fresh taste of the fruit without being overly sweet.

I had already bought different frozen fruit varieties...

and I will try each in turn over the coming months.

I may try to make my own yogurt drinks as well...

but that will be later.

After a while...

I tested the doneness of the sweet potatoes by inserting a hashi (chopstick)

into the middle of a sweet potato.

There should be no resistance...

which indicates it being done.

I set out the baked sweet potatoes to cool...

and I then went down to my dehydrator in the garage

and got out the first half of the dehydrated Enoki mushrooms.

I then began packing them into individual quart size bags...

for later use in ramen and udon.

The dehydrated Enoki had the consistency of dried straw...

but oh...

the flavor.

I love the taste of mushrooms...

especially Shiitake and Enoki.

I could just eat the Enoki dry...

as the flavor is concentrated...

and very flavorful.

What a delectable treat!

However...

I will use them in my noodle dishes after rehydration only.

I should have over a year's worth of dehydrated mushrooms

in this one dehydrated batch...

perhaps even two.

After bagging up the first half...

I went down to retrieve the last of the dehydrated Enoki...

and bagged them up as well.

I ended up with 7 quart bags of thoroughly dehydrated Enoki.

I have a special cabinet for dehydrated foods.

This way I can retrieve them for particular dishes.

After the first batch of Japanese Sweet Potatoes had sufficiently cooled...

I then put them into the freezer to partially harden them in preparation 

for the next step...

slicing them so they may be dehydrated.

This way I may have delicious and nutritious dehydrated treats over the following months.

------------------------

As it is taking longer for the sweet potatoes to cool enough to slice...

far longer than I had anticipated...

I will just put them into the fridge to gently cool enough to slice tomorrow.

Today's little projects had turned out to be quite a success.

I think I will make myself a simple meal tonight.

I will just make some rice...

and then have some Unagi and Natto...

with some Sauerkraut on the side.

For tomorrow...

I have a little project in mind...

besides slicing and dehydrating the sweet potatoes.

However...

it will depend on how I feel at that moment.

After my supper tonight...

I think I will just relax in bed as I watch a movie...

or a rerun of a favorite show.

I have earned a night of relaxation.