Yikes does my behind hurt!

So I ended up taking a very long bike ride today. I had to finalize things with my mechanic, and my Dad was less than....lets say enthusiastic about driving me over, I decided to bike it. My original plans for today had just been to bike over to the fruit and produce stand in Glenside, and the Acme...but hey....going that far, might as well go a little further right? Well, maybe it seems further when your younger sister lowers your bike seat and handle bars cause she's short and you, (me) being a good 4 inches taller can't get the handle bar to come back up : P

Its about 5 miles from my house to my mechanics. I realized this about 10 minuets into the trip, that didn't bother me so much, but as I rode through Ardsley, and then into Glenside I began realizing....most of this trip was uphill....some really BIG ones at that! The things you miss while driving! Eh no worries, I made a pit stop at a 7-11 and grabbed a Gatorade : )

It took me just under an hour to go uphill 5 miles, not a personal best or anything, but since I haven't been on a bike for any serious amount of time in ohhhh say 4 months (and that's without big hills) I didn't mind so much.

Stopped at my grandfather's on the way back and chit chatted a bit. And then continued on to the fruit and produce. Wow is that Asian lady really nice! She asked me if I could make leek soup with that many leek...heads?......and I smiled and said "I have no idea!" She looked at me kinda like I was crazy but I didn't really wanna explain it. Shallots, garlic clove, potatoes, tofu, savory, coriander, parsley, portabello and shitake mushrooms, green peppers....holy crap what for???!!!

Well I found 2 really neat recipes online. One for Mushroom stuffed potatoes. And the other for leek and corn filled peppers!

Potatoes-243 cal. 0 fat
4 med. baked potatoes-bake 40-60 min @ 425

Chop 1 1/3 cup onion and1 1/3 cup chopped mushrooms-saute with onion in pan on med heat until mushrooms are squishy! (yes they say tender in the recipe...I say Squishy!!)
(I guesstimated) about 2 teaspoons of sage on mushroom and onions,
season with ground black pepper (I got this cool pepper grinder just for this!)


Perform potato surgery and remove the insides leaving about a 1/4 in. for the shell.
Combine potato guts and 8oz of tofu with 3 tablespoons of parsley, 1 tablespoon of spicy mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of honey (optional...im gonna leave it out next time) Mash (yes it says mash) and make it as smooth as possible. Then stir in mushrooms, onions and sage.

Refill the potato shells with the filling and then bake them @375 for 20 minuets top with paprika.

The only problem I ran into was keeping the potatoes moist...maybe next time I'll add more water to the filling so the potatoes aren't so dry. : /


Green Peppers-254 cal. 0 fat
Perform surgery again on 4 med green, red or yellow peppers
and dispose of their seedy insides.

Heat 4 table spoons of water, 4 large, chopped, leeks (green parts only)
2 minced garlic cloves, and 2 table spoons of minced shallots over med heat until the leeks are....you guessed it....SQUISHY!!!!

Then add in 4 cups of cooked corn kernel's, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon of savory, 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1/4 cup of chopped parsley. You also have the option of adding Veggie stock to make it more flavorful I didn't. Cook this for another 5/10 minuets over med heat.

Stuff your now disemboweled peppers, and cook them for another 40/50 minuets....or until the outside of the pepper is wrinkly. They didn't give me a temp for the peppers so I left the oven at 375.


Things I learned!
- Jumping when you almost drop a potato in the oven so that you burn your hand on the top rack....is worse than dropping a potato in the oven.
- When dealing with tofu, use a bowl rather than a flat surface...it's liquidy!
- Most important...if at first you don't succeed try again! I've never been Betty Crocker, but at least what I'm making now is edible! : )