From alpha testing to the QUERCUS 200

I have done a bit of exerimenting that I thought warranted a post.

I have a soy milk maker that has a poridge function which actully makes a thickish liquid when you use the max water in it. I decided to concoct a beverage that would serve as a supplement or meal replacement. It's vegan and has complete protein, high fiber, omega fatty acids, complex carbs, simple carbs, and healthy fats.

The ingredients are all raw to start, but the porridge function cooks them. Most ingredients were organic. Equal parts of the following:
cashews
sunflower seeds
walnuts
almonds
pumpkin seeds
mung beans
black beans
lentils
amaranth
millet
whole wheat flour
nutritional yeast (nutch)
brown rice
flax seeds
chia seed (yep like from chia pets)
peanuts
5 seed blend (sesame, rye, oats, flax, barley)
quinoa
oats
soybeans

I added no seasoning and it has a complex if subtle flavor. It's drinkable warm and i wil try it chilled as well. It tastes fine, is filling, and has made me feel good since drinking it. It's thin nd mild enough to add as a hearty "creamer" to coffee.

The idea is to make a 2 liter batch and carry it with me when I travel for work. I tend to eat vegan frozen foods since i only have a microwave to cook with. This would make sure that my basic nutritional needs are met and can serve as breakfast or a meal replacement. Along with fresh fruit and veggies I would have everything a diet needs.

I'm not trying to say that it is delicious, but it is at worst inoffensive and I enjoyed the earthy complex subtle flavor.

FYI, these are the things we had in stock at the house. This is the kind of varied inredients that our vegan diet has on a regular basis. I didn't go out and spend money specific to making this concoction.

Also I tried a vegan frozen pizza saturday night. Disgusting!
 
ChefChiTown said:
Way to go Quercus, you DOG!!! You must be lookin' good; not everybody can manage to pick up 5 women in the same d...wait...you meant...oh...OOOOOOH, YOUR jeeeeeans.

Well, that's pretty awesome too, I guess.

:biggrinjester:
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Leave it to you Chef to see something dirty in that sentence. Also, how did I miss that? I'm slipping.
 
Also I tried a vegan frozen pizza saturday night. Disgusting!
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My friend gets into town this week. When I see him I'll ask him what he does. I know for a fact though that he basically makes his own, and has even hacked his oven so that he can get 600 degree cooking temps to cook them.

This is one he made a few years back: . The site name is not safe for work. I suppose it's just the DAIYA non-dairy Mozarella that's the only thing that makes it specifically vegan as you should be able to make pizza dough easily enough and I would guess most decent tomato sauces already would be.
 
I've yet to find a vegan cheese substitute that is good. My daughter has dairy allergies, and I would love to make her a pizza she can (and will) have. I'll have to see if I can find some of that DAIYA mozzarella. I'm not sure I've seen it at my local health/organic grocery store, but I haven't looked for any cheese substitutes in a while.
 
I'll let you know what i figure out. Please do the same.

Run
2.18 miles
30 mins
147 avg bpm

This was following a fairly heavy day of fieldwork in the cold. It was cold. I was hoping that I would do better following 2 days rest, but it went fine. My right hip still gives me pain, but not as bad as before. My GPS watch arrived and my shoes have shipped. I hope the shoes will help with the hip pain. I didn't get to use the new watch as it has to charge for 4 hours first.
 
Sorry your hip has been bothering you. I really hope the new shoes help. How are they different from your current shoes? Just newer or is there something special about them?
 
They are Brooks Beasts like the old ones I'm wearing now. My current ones are 4 years old and worn super thin around the balls of my feet. They are motion stbilaization shoes. Even though I don't overpronate they are recommended for very heavy runners.
 
Quercus said:
My right hip still gives me pain, but not as bad as before. My GPS watch arrived and my shoes have shipped. I hope the shoes will help with the hip pain.
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Ask Jen what she did to help with her hip pain. She did some stretches and stuff that helped her out. I don't remember the names of the exercises she did, otherwise I'd tell you...but, I'm off no help. So, ask her. It might help a bit.
 
ChefChiTown said:
Ask Jen what she did to help with her hip pain. She did some stretches and stuff that helped her out. I don't remember the names of the exercises she did, otherwise I'd tell you...but, I'm off no help. So, ask her. It might help a bit.
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I was just doing the hip flexor stretches that Cory suggested. So unless it was your hip flexors, it probably wouldn't be much help. lol.

I hope your hip feels better soon!
 
Thanks Jen and Chef! I don't know what's wrong so I did a bunch of different stuff from my phyical therapy sessions and from the Bia exercises that I found on line.

It feels better, but not well enough to run.
 
So my hip feels better this morning. Not good but better. I think I will repeat the exercises I did last night when I get home this evening and then see about a run. I think it will happen. I did notice that I have my range of motion back in my left leg that I had lost because of my back injury and sciatic problem. I couldn't straighten my knee out if it was lifted up from a lying position and even bent I couldn't make my leg lift straight up.

View attachment 21832

I couldn't do ^this even with my knee bent. Last night with my leg straight I could lift well past vertical to where my foot was above my face. I also have much better strength in the abduction and adduction movements in my legs. It's nice to see that even when I'm in pain that I have recovered a lot from before. I need to make these PT exercises and active stretching a daily routine.
 
run
2.04 miles
30 min
avg hr 138
I took it very easy. I ran the whole time, but didn't push it. I'm surprised to have broken 2 miles with that low of an avg HR 132-149 is my aerobic range so it was on the low side for sure.

The hip feels okay. I did exercises before to loosen up my hips nd back. It felt pretty good. I was afraid that I was going to have a hard time running so I'm happy just to have made the half hour without trouble.
 
Thanks Cate! I'm pleased.

My hip and back feel fine this morning. I'm blaming riding through the woods on the metal rack of an ATV for my pains. Firstly, I haven't had any back pain from running until this one run. I also have not had hip pain from a single run like that. It was worse than the cumulative hip pain from 22 days in a row. I will try again this evening and still take it easy, but I am hopeful that I will be fine.

I pigged out a bit yesterday evening. I was quite hungry, but I could have made better choices and eaten a bit less.

My wife has broached the subject of trying a gluten free diet in addition to our veganism. We had tried it in the past and she had seen improvement in some of her symptoms, but we got away from it. I don't remember much difference personally, but it would help improve my diet even more. Gone would be the processed convenience foods that, even the vegan versions, are not the healthiest choices. Our bread consumption has fallen considerably already, but it would likely almost disappear entirely if we had to make our own gluten free bread. We tried the store bought gluten free before and did not like it. We already don't eat out anymore so that wouldn't change.

I bought a hand crank grain mill in order to crack soybeans for making tempeh (fermented soy cake) so I could use the same mill to make non-wheat flour for baking.

I might have real trouble with gluten free while out of town for work, but I could have it while I'm gone without it effecting my overall diet much. Really the point of the gluten free is for my wife anyway. We do everything together and I'm fine with pushing myself into a more whole foods/less processed foods diet which would be the effect.

I'm also giving up soda. I've been drinking a lot of diet ginger ale and still have diet energy drinks out in the field. If nothing else it keeps me acclimated to the taste of sugar. There is nothing in it that is good for me and it takes up liquid drank that should be water. This is not going to be an easy change nor is the switch to gluten free, but I'm going for it.
 
Glad to hear the hip and back are feeling better. My left hip has been a little balky lately but nothing too bad. Might be a residual from favoring the left side while my right ankle was hurt.
 
Thanks Vee. That sounds resonable, I think the right hip hurting is from favoring the left side sciatica/back mess. I think this acute spike in pain is the ATV's fault and possibly the muddy, slippery, and hilly fieldwork it brought us to shares some blame too.
 
Quercus said:
My wife has broached the subject of trying a gluten free diet in addition to our veganism. We had tried it in the past and she had seen improvement in some of her symptoms, but we got away from it. I don't remember much difference personally, but it would help improve my diet even more. Gone would be the processed convenience foods that, even the vegan versions, are not the healthiest choices. Our bread consumption has fallen considerably already, but it would likely almost disappear entirely if we had to make our own gluten free bread. We tried the store bought gluten free before and did not like it. We already don't eat out anymore so that wouldn't change.

I bought a hand crank grain mill in order to crack soybeans for making tempeh (fermented soy cake) so I could use the same mill to make non-wheat flour for baking.

I might have real trouble with gluten free while out of town for work, but I could have it while I'm gone without it effecting my overall diet much. Really the point of the gluten free is for my wife anyway. We do everything together and I'm fine with pushing myself into a more whole foods/less processed foods diet which would be the effect.
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Jen and I went/are going through a similar situation. I'm not saying going gluten-free solved ALL of her problems, but it definitely made a noticeable difference. Did I need to go gluten-free for myself? No, not really. But, I wanted to support her and do it "with" her. So, that's what I did. And, even though I didn't HAVE to go gluten-free, I did notice a bit of a difference. I've always suffered from migraines and, when I was gluten-free, I noticed A LOT of the tension and pressure in the back of my head (near the base of my skull) went away. So, even though it wasn't life changing for me, and even though I didn't need it, I did notice a benefit. Maybe you can find a benefit too?

But, anyway...it's awesome you're doing it with your wife. Wait...that came out wrong. HAHAHA, you know what I mean.
 
That's great that you are doing the same. I've been a gluten free, booze free, soda free, vegan since breakfast. The soda and the gluten are the new parts. I've had diet ginger ale mixed with coconut water every run this year. I'm having watered down juice and coconut water which seems rather flat. I'll adapt. My wife is not giving up soda with me so there is an open 2 liter of diet ginger ale in the kitchen. Maybe she will give it up at some point.

My first real trial will be field work without the ATV muffler. That's the nickname that has been bestowed upon the 24 ounce lo carb Monster that I drink for it's resemblence in shape to said muffler as well as the smelly exhaust they both create.:ack2:

Run
2.22 miles
30 min
151 avg HR

New shoes came today! I did my active warmup/therapy exercises before and between that and the new shoes I had no hip pain! 151 is 2 bpm above the aerobic zone, but I didn't notice the extra effort without having the nagging sharp pain.
 
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