Looking for ideas...

[Catrin]

I've changed my work schedule so I can ride in the evenings after rush hour - I don't even get off work for most of the week until 6pm. That is awesome, but of course right now sunset is just before 8:30 and my path home HAS to go though a park that shuts the gates at sunset. This means I have to get on the bike pretty quickly once I am home from work.

I am not complaining about that, but I am looking for food ideas. Obviously I have to fuel before getting on the bike, but I also don't want to have to eat more than a snack after my ride since that isn't too long before bed. My current weekday evening short ride is 20-24 miles. This past week I wound up just eating a Cliff bar or PB sandwich before my ride, and had an apple with some milk when I got home. I wasn't hungry, but this really drops my calorie intake for the day - even if I was not riding.

Most of the things I can think of making in advance would be likely to cause...digestive issues on the bike - I have to be careful with beans, rice, tempeh, cabbage/brussel sprouts & rice. Another option is my old faithful of roasted chicken breast and a salad with fresh veggies - this would probably work until the temps start rising this summer.

I do not have much imagination when it comes to cooking for myself - so I am looking for ideas. What would be YOUR fuel of choice with this kind of schedule?

[marni]

how about steel cut oats with dried fruit and nuts for after the ride and something with lean protein and some carbo before, like a wrap with some chicken, alfalfa sprouts and a bit of cheese or cottage cheese.

I like cereal and milk ( steel cut oatmeal) almost any time of day or night.

[OakLeaf]

Any beans? Does it matter whether or not they've been pre-soaked? That makes a big difference to me - also different types of beans are more or less digestible -

[Catrin]

how about steel cut oats with dried fruit and nuts for after the ride and something with lean protein and some carbo before, like a wrap with some chicken, alfalfa sprouts and a bit of cheese or cottage cheese.

I like cereal and milk ( steel cut oatmeal) almost any time of day or night.

Yum, steel cut oatmeal does hit the spot! It is the only hot cereal I know of that you can cook in advance and put it in the fridge for later. I actually hadn't thought about doing this after the ride - which is why I came asking for ideas. Hadn't thought about wraps either, but since I bake 4-6 chicken breasts at a time anyway, this would be easy and fast.

I don't know how I get into such ruts where food is concerned, probably from being single for so long I thought about canned tuna, but before a ride? I don't think I want to risk that...

Beans, of any kind, do seem to cause problems if I eat them too often. I like them, but the consequences can be not-fun-at-all. Canned or dried - though I do rinse the canned variety very, very well. Can't say if soaked would be better, it's been so long since I've cooked dried beans. Time for an experiment!

[OakLeaf]

Canned beans never, that I'm aware of, have the soaking water discarded.

One of the main points of soaking beans (besides making them cook more evenly and quickly) is to dilute the indigestible oligosaccharides. That's why you toss out the soaking water.

Pre-soaked beans cook up in the pressure cooker in 5 to 15 minutes. Not much is easier (and if you're used to cooking with pre-cooked beans, you can make a big batch and portion it out in the freezer).

[Susan]

Maybe you could prepare yourself different kinds of vegetable soup, like pumpkin-soup or broccoli-soup or mixed vegetables or whatever you like?

[Catrin]

Maybe you could prepare yourself different kinds of vegetable soup, like pumpkin-soup or broccoli-soup or mixed vegetables or whatever you like?

This would work if'en I liked veggie soup outside of deep winter Thanks for the suggestion, I appreciate it. I DO, however, like beans & chicken sausage. Marni's wrap suggestion is likely the easiest, but if I try Crankin's suggestion and it turns out that my stomach can tolerate beans on the bike, then this would be a good additional tool.

Thanks for the suggestions, it helps to kick-start my brain!