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Here's a delicious and hearty one for the cooler temps.
INSTRUCTIONS Warm the olive oil in a stock pot over low heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot, parsnip and zucchini and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and curry powder. Cook until fragrant while stirring constantly, about 30 seconds. Pour in the tomato puree and cook for a few more minutes, stirring often. Mix in the rinsed lentils, broth and water. Add sea salt, red pepper flakes and fresh ground black pepper. Increase heat and bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape. Transfer 2 cups of the soup to a blender and blend. Pour the puréed soup back into the pot and add the chopped kale. Cook for 5 more minutes, or until the greens have softened. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the juice of half of a lemon. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice if you like. Serve immediately. Leftovers will keep well for about 4 or 5 days in the refrigerator, or can be frozen for several months. DOWNLOAD PDF RECIPE: Vegetable Lentil Soup
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I wasn’t sure how to entitle this however this feeling of things being stripped from me has been popping up in my head over the last 24 hours or so and probably since I left in November. I arrived back in Catalina State Park excited and nervous as I drove Gold Member and Foxy Cleopatra into the Ringtail Loop that is an overflow section of the park. There is no electricity and there are two spickets for water (aka their name for water taps). In I come and I’m super nervous to back Foxy Cleopatra into her spot. It probably took me 30 times before I got her in. I had to do some deep breathing and collect myself, as she doesn’t like anyone who is in a hurry to do anything. You’ve got to be calm, cool and collected and make little movements or she goes haywire in another direction on you. I have been running on battery since yesterday at noon and for whatever reason I was super nervous pulling out my new solar suitcase that arrived the night before. It was the afternoon at this point and I had my solar set up and not yet plugged in. I wanted to Google it first as there were no instructions in the box to find out I had zero cell service in this Ringtail loop. In that moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. The thoughts and profanities running through my head out of of shear frustration that I couldn’t watch or read on how to do what I needed to do in that moment were incredible. After freaking out in my mind I started to laugh inside. I mean what the hell did we use to do in the old days? I had these feelings that everything was slowly and surely being stripped away from me and at the same time knowing full well that ALL of this was happening for my own greater good. I’ve gone from a beautiful condo to my gorgeous tiny Foxy Cleopatra to no electricity, essentially no water and no plugs to recharge my devices or use any of my small appliances of which I have two, my coffee grinder and my blender.  Right. That was another thing I learned the night before last. My 120V outlets do not run off of a deep cycle battery. I mean come you guys and ladies, coffee grinders and blenders are essential and I use these every 4 or 5 days or so and I must recharge my devices daily. {Laughing at self … yes some sarcasm with first world problems.} These feelings were real though. It’s like I just got myself into a routine and then presto, the cards get thrown into the air again and my routine has to change. Fuuuuuuuuck! So here’s what I think is happening and the lesson in all of this. I have said for ages that I suck at time management. Sure that is not a positive way of looking at it or the right language to say I suck at something however I know it’s something I have to work on. That being said, I get distracted easily. Social media is a BIG one, new shows that I can stream is another and so the days slip away and I haven’t done all I could have. In fact so much time has been wasted on things that DON’T MATTER. So as I was freaking out and saying MANY profanities in my head, and at the same time I’m also thinking … hmmmm … why is this happening? What is the lesson in this? Universe, what are you trying to tell me? And the answer inevitably came pretty damn fast with no distractions let me tell you. Slow down sister. Stop wasting your time on shit that doesn’t matter. Here is your chance to better manage your time. No Internet = mass organization when you do = getting your work done faster. It means reading those books that you’ve always meant to read to make you a better person, coach, friend, daughter, sister to those you love. I mean to be quite honest; if I had Internet you very likely wouldn’t be reading this blog post because I wouldn’t have taken the time to write it. Now all I have is time. And as much as I was frustrated as all hell yesterday, I’m actually going to embrace this change. Sure I could go to a sketchy RV park up the road. What I know in my heart from being in the Ringtail Loop for a day is that:
And to me there is something cozy about all of this. We’re all in this together over here in the Ringtail loop.  I love anything EPIC and rugged and so here is the Universe handing it to me on a silver platter.
I don’t yet have the solar situation figured out yet. I had 3 couples come over to help me yesterday and one of them has graciously offered me their generator until I get things in order and figured out. They are from Oliver, BC and are here for 3 more weeks in the electrical site and don’t need it. It will be well sorted before then. Thank you Ros and Ed! Until then, I’ll provide the update on how I get things fixed and what inverter I will get to recharge devices and run my small appliances. Here’s to the NEXT LEVEL of EPIC adventure. Stripping me down even more than before. I can and I will, WATCH ME! Thanks for reading. I have been absolutely blown away on how kind people have been to me on my adventure so far and before I left. If you watched my video of me jumping off a pole 35-feet up in the air then you’ll know that I often have trouble asking for what it is that I want and need AND asking for help. Well, the other day I had to ask for what I needed from a safety perspective. Safety for me, like in everything in my life and on the bike, comes first and foremost. I had to leave Catalina State Park for a night and may have had to sleep in the Walmart parking lot (which isn’t really allowed at this particular one). There is something about locking myself in Foxy Cleopatra in a parking lot of a place that is open 24 hours a day that I’m not comfortable with. For whatever reason, I’m too scared to do it by myself. I met a wonderful lady a few weeks ago named Tonia. She is a yoga and meditation teacher and teaches yoga teachers how to teach so obviously I want to learn from her! I go to her Yin/Yoga Nidra classes and she opens her home for those of us that would like to meditate. It was not easy to write the Facebook message to her asking if I could park on her street as she lives in a safe neighbourhood but I did. The response blew my doors off. Her in-laws were going to be away so they said I could park in their driveway. Look at the view!  Not only that, they gave me the garage door code to their house and let me know that I could sleep in the spare bedroom and use the bathroom and kitchen at my disposal.
Can you believe that? I almost cried. Thank you Tonia!!! I didn’t end up needing to use any of that as I’m pretty self-contained in my Foxy Cleopatra however the fact that someone would open their home to me like that and only have known me such a short period of time truly spoke to my character and made me proud. I was raised well! It is just so nice to know how many incredibly kind people there is in the world that are ready and willing to help and when you connect with someone on that level, the inherent trust that comes with that connection. So grateful! There are so many people that have helped me on this adventure in so many ways. I know I’m going to forget people and things done here so please forgive me if I do. Andrew and Maria Watson – there are no words to describe how much you helped me. You opened your home to me to come and go, as I needed as I was selling and buying all the things. Plus moving things into your garage and using it to get everything in order and then move into Foxy Cleopatra and Gold Member and send me off. Andrew for all of your moral support and for being my right hand man for talking things out, advice for making the big purchases and for being there every step of the way. AND for helping me move out of my condo and into storage and your garage and so MUCH MORE. My brother Corey for opening his cottage as a place for me to put my things and stay while I figured everything out PLUS for sending me off with his BOSE stereo and Dyson vacuum to use on my trip. I use them ALL THE TIME and cannot imagine my experience without them. It’s amazing how fast Foxy Cleopatra and Gold Member get dirty! My mom for raising me to be the wonderful, kind, trustworthy, genuine, beautiful and loyal woman that I am. Ashlee for being such an amazing, loving and kind sister arranging to send me flowers and edible arrangements for Christmas and for being on the other end of the phone every time I call and need a dose of unconditional love. AND to let me know new, latest and hip music, movies and shows to watch! Anne, Barb and Lindsay for always being there on the other end of the phone when I was freaking right the hell out and wondering whether this whole thing was such a good idea and so MUCH MORE. The love and support and kindness you have shown me I’m forever grateful for. Barb and Jeff for letting me use your address in Arizona as my shipping address so I’m able to get all that I require doing what I need to do with Foxy Cleopatra. I’m so lucky and thank you! Plus laundry and Xmas and chai lattes and walks and bike rides and shopping and the list goes on … Jenny girl, Mike and girls for your love and for opening your home to me too for staying and doing Rock Your Ride in your basement. Love you! Jeremy from the Trek Store in Barrie for sending me off with a gazillion parts and accessories in case I run into issues with my bikes. To Trek Bikes in Oro Valley for letting me use your fit room for Rock Your Ride Virtual Cycling. To the recreation centre in Brevard and Brevard University for letting me use your rooms for Rock Your Ride. To everyone who has been following me and cheering me on, thank you! To everyone whom I’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with so far here in the USA, thank you! I’ve been invited for wine, dinners, Xmas dinners, had things mysteriously left on my door, windshield and under my Christmas tree. To all the naysayers, thank you! You have no idea how much that propelled me forward and let me know that what I was doing was the right thing FOR ME. It truly made me look at things from all angles and do a deep dive into my heart and my soul and know that without a doubt there was no other answer than going on this adventure. Last but not least, I thank myself for having the guts to DO IT. I am one hell of a beautiful, adventurous and gutsy woman and have brought a ton of passion and enthusiasm to this adventure … scared or not! I’m so proud of myself AND I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help whether it was physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually! THANK YOU everyone even if your name wasn’t mentioned here. I know I will think of other things that people have helped and done for me. I bet I could write 10 pages! This will be it for now though. Never in a million years did I think I would EVER have to understand SOLAR let alone be purchasing it. Now, I’m not tech savvy so if I can figure this out, so can you and hopefully this blog post will help you out a bit if ever interested in doing what I’ve done. Firstly, at times when I post in forums the information people provide can go straight over my head … at first. I now make sure to communicate my non-techiness with everyone in my post right off the bat. I’m not an electrician or a plumber nor do I want to be so DIY projects with batteries etc. are high risk for this gal. By last night I thought I had it all ordered and dialled. Wrongo bucko. When I woke up this morning with answers to questions I had posted in a forum, I realized I require not 1, not 2 but possibly 3 more items than what I had originally ordered. Here’s the low down on my research, what I got and a couple of resources that really helped. (1) What is the difference is between monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels? I didn’t get into this too much since what I was looking to buy and bought only comes with monocrystalline panels so that was that. From what I understand, monocrystalline is better quality. That works for me. (2) What do I get? Flexible Solar Panels or a Folding Solar Suitcase? My set up is a 2015 T@B 320 S. I’m small and mobile. My trailers name (as most of you know) is Foxy Cleopatra. Here she is!  Okay, now back to business. Flexible Solar Panels - What I found out was that the flexible solar panels you can essentially lay on the ground and that it was not ideal. Alternatively, you can have them mounted to the top of the T@B. You should have them professionally installed as they need to be raised so air can get underneath them for ventilation with the hot desert sun or you can run into problems. They were $299 per 100 watt panel and super light weighing in at around 5lbs. Folding Solar Suitcase – These are meant to be on the ground or wherever you need them to be. You can move them around so you can get them right in the sun. This was attractive to me since I won’t be in the hot desert sun for forever. I will be heading north where there are lots of trees so being able to move the panels where I need them to be is key versus having them fixed to the roof of Foxy Cleopatra and then trying to get her in the sun. Since they are a portable unit there is no professional install required so that was one less thing to have to do. For these reasons, I decided to get the Folding Solar Suitcase AND there was still a TON to learn and some more decisions to me made. (3) Do I get a 100-Watt Folding Solar Suitcase or a 200 Watt? This was my next question and the answers I received in the forum were that it depends on how much power you will use. Gah! I had no idea the answer to that. (More on power usage in another section.) What was important comparing the two was that charging your battery with 200 watts of solar vs 100 watts of solar would take half the time. The time it would take depended on the size of your battery. The company I used calculated it and based on their calculation if I got 200 watts it would take around 2.5 hours depending on light and around 5 hours with 100 watts. This information was of value to me since I’m riding bikes a lot and away from Foxy Cleopatra. My comfort level of leaving my solar sitting out while I’m gone is honestly not there. The least amount of time I could have them sitting out the better so that made my decision pretty easy. A 200 Watt Folding Solar Suitcase it is. I was super lucky and got them for a steal. I have ordered a Renogy 200 Watt Eclipse Monocrystalline Solar Suitcase refurbished for $250 less than the original price. Swing batter! The only con that I can see is that they way 36lbs. (4) What do I do when the solar panels have to be far away from Foxy Cleopatra to be in the sun? The answer - MC4 Cable Extensions What I ordered from Renogy comes with a 10-foot extension however it is not compatible somehow. I have to see about this when I get them. In any event, in the forum people recommended 30 foot MC4 cable extensions. What you need to know about MC4 Cable Extensions? The longer the cable the easier it is to be able to move them around to find sun and as the sun moves higher and lower in the sky. NOW when you extend the distance from the panels to the battery with a longer cable, there is a drop in voltage, so less amps are delivered to the battery and it will take longer to charge fully, or may never charge fully depending on temperatures, cloud coverage and panel position. So, the longer the cable the more volts you lose so it’s important that you get the correct gauge of cable to go with how many watts of solar you have. If you have a 100-watt panel with 30 feet of extension and using 10 gauge extensions, you limit your loss to 3% (3-5% voltage loss is acceptable if you want to maximize charging). A 200-watt system and 30 feet of extensions requires an 8-gauge extension to limit loss to 3%. You can use 10-gauge as well and you would have a higher voltage drop and not maximize your charging ability. (5) How much power will I use per day? Like I mentioned above, you have to figure out how much you and your unit uses. Luckily for me there is this great woman in the T@B Forum community that has figured out which each item in the T@B uses and has a spreadsheet all ready to use. Her name is Jenn Grover and she’s a Landscape and Nature Photographer. Here is the blogpost she did in case you have or are planning to get a T@B and need it. https://jenngrover.com/2016/01/guilty-as-charged-rv-battery-use-management-part-ii/#prettyPhoto It felt over my head at first and then I settled into it. I did a calculation of what I think I currently use based off of her spreadsheet. There are two items that run 24 hours per day that I have no control over. The rest I can play around with as needed.  Based on this, the total amp hours I will use in 24 hours are 23.37.
Now, my battery has 76 amp hours and I realize now why people always talk about AMP hours. The more you have the better off you are and the longer you can go without recharging. Another important note is that you never want to let your battery get below 50% of it’s power so that means I have 38 amp hours to play with per day. If my calculation of what I think I will use is correct then I can go a day and a half before my battery depletes to 50%. This also bring me to getting yourself a 12 volt battery and charging monitor so you can monitor where your battery is at. My advice for people starting out is to get as many amp hours on your battery as possible. This is why people talk about getting 2 x 6 volt batteries so they can increase the amps and keep it at 12 volts using 2 x 6 volt batteries. In any event, I decided to go with 200 watts of solar. I run an online business and will be going off-grid and I don’t want to worry about power per se and I want to be able to recharge fairly quickly. I will have to mindful as to how much I use however stressing over it is not worth it to me. At the time I bought my battery, I didn’t understand any of this. I was lucky that I spent a lot on it and ended up with 76 amp hours. I may upgrade my battery to 2 x 6 volts in the future. It was too overwhelming for me to grasp in the beginning so if that’s where you’re at, I feel for you and YOU can do this! (6) How do I adapt my Zamp Solar ready T@B for Renogy Solar? The answer - MC4 to SAE Adaptor and OptiMATE Adaptor Firstly, Zamp Solar is the company that the T@Bs are partnered with for solar. I’d love to use them however they are very expensive. Zamp Solar has there own way of doing things differently to Renogy just like how Apple computers do to PCs. They’re not compatible however you can make them compatible with adaptors. Two things have to happen here. OptiMATE Adaptor – this is the first thing that has to be plugged into the Zamp plugin on the box that has your propane and battery inside it. Zamp Solar’s polarity is reversed in comparison to Renogy. I’m not an electrician nor do I want to be so I decided to make it simple and buy the OptiMATE Adaptor that will reverse the polarity for me. The OptiMATE Adaptor is SAE so it can work with the current Zamp Solar plugin. People were talking about reversing the polarity themselves by switching the wires so then you don’t need the OptiMATE Adaptor and that was not something I was interested in at all. I ordered the adaptor. MC4 to SAE Adaptor – This adaptor then plugs into the OptiMATE Adaptor. I’ll be plugging the SAE end into it so I have MC4 on the other end to make it compatible with my Renogy solar panels. Woohoo! (7) How to hook it all up and in what order?
There was talk in the forum about getting a Renogy MC4 Waterproof In-Line Holder with a 30 Amp Fuse to protect the unit from power surges and shorts. Renogy said it’s not necessary and it was confirmed in the forum that since my controller is at the panel, I already have a fused + line, which is why Renogy is saying that I do not need any further fuses. If I had to get one, I would have gotten the 30 Amp Fuse as I have a 30 Amp Controller so whatever your controller is that is what you get. I also would have put it between the Panel/Controller and the MC4 Cable Extension. (8) Controller is NOT waterproof? The controller that is attached to the panel is NOT waterproof and mustn’t get wet. I’m not worried about this now as I’m in the desert and the weather is fairly predictable. It will get tricky in Canada especially Ontario and up the Pacific Coast as there are so many pop up storms. When I spoke with Renogy, I can replace my current controller with the waterproof one. They cost between $70-$80. He suggested I not replace it now, as it will affect my one-year warranty on what I bought. They are coming out with 200W Folding Solar Suitcases in a couple months with the waterproof controller installed. If you can wait, I would. I will decide what to do once I get closer to moving into places with unpredictable weather. (9) What I bought and the cost? Renogy 200 Watt Eclipse Monocrystalline Solar Suitcase (refurbished) - $399 Renogy MC4 to SAE Adaptor - $24.99 OptiMATE CABLE O-27, Adapter, polarity, SAE - $9.97 WindyNation One Pair 30 Feet Black + 30 Feet Red, 10 Gauge Solar Panel Extension Cable Wire MC4 Connector - $34.49 Total Cost – US$468.45 (10) Resources that helped? T@B Forum - http://tab-rv.vanillaforums.com/ (Special thanks in the forum to @SAM, @pthomas745, @ericnliz and @Verna for always helping this lady out!) Amazon Renogy Technical Support Jenn Grover’s website I hope this helps you if you’re thinking about doing what I’ve done by living on the road full time. I’ve tried to put this is as plain language as possible so everyone can understand. I know how overwhelming it all can be. I’m learning as I go too! Do you think of food as fuel? This right here is the stuff you climb Mt Lemmon on folks. Goodness in ('real' food) = amazing energy/power out. If you think you can eat whatever the hell you want because you train AND you want to have energy and feel good and maybe lose weight, think again. Garbage in = you guessed it. Garbage out. What are you fuelling your fine tuned machine with? It works HARD for you, wouldn't you agree? Treat your body with respect and it will treat you AMAZINGLY. I happen to know A LOT on the topic from personal experience having weighed over 200lbs. I took myself from being overweight and unhappy to an accomplished cyclist who has been on the top of quite a few podiums with mostly 1st place finishes and overall win in the women's category. I wish nutrition were as complicated as I used to make it out to be. It's not. It's pretty simple actually. Yesterday I took a recipe and made it my own not knowing what it would taste like and I COMPLETELY surprised myself. What’s even better is that I can’t bake at the moment (being on the road and all) so it’s NO BAKE (ie. fast), delicious and knocked my wee socks off. It’s always a good sign when I intuitively start writing down what I’m putting in it. There might be some ingredients in here that you don't have on hand and they are power houses. You want power houses in your diet daily especially as some who rides a lot. These are all easily found at your local health food store, Whole Foods, Goodness Me, Sprouts or Trader Joe's). In other words, NO EXCUSES. P.S. Only 2 days left before Rock Your Ride Virtual Cycling starts to make it your best year yet on the bike. Are you in yet? Mavericks power bar
12 Medjool dates
1 tsp water Instructions: 1. Blitz halved walnuts in food processor for smaller pieces (I used my Nutri Bullet) 2. Coarsely grind coffee beans (I used my coffee grinder) 3. Mix walnuts, coffee beans, rolled oats, coconut, Matcha tea powder, cacao nibs, sunflower seeds, ground flaxseeds and sea salt in a bowl. 4. Put Medjool dates and dried blueberries with water in food processor (again, I used my Nutri Bullet) to make a paste. 5. Add paste to dried mixture and combine. I used my hand to mix it all together. 6. Put in a square dish and press down firmly. I used a flipper. 7. Put the dish of goodness into your fridge (or in my case, my van, Gold Member) until cold . Then cut and individually wrap to put into your jersey pocket for rides. Makes 16 squares. I'm on the road and don't have my vitamix or any fancy mixing devices. I would process the dates and blueberries and scrape out the paste, then blitz the bigger pieces again and scrape the remainder out. That was how I did it. When mixing the wet with the dry, I put on a plastic glove and mixed it all together using my hand. I did that as it would have all stuck to my bare hand and I don't like to put a lot of food in the grey water tank of Foxy Cleopatra. Most importantly, ENJOY! Yep I just threw all that in a sentence together and here's why. Over the past 4 or 5 years I would see a gazillion dragonflies. Sometimes they would even be so bold as to land on me and hang out for awhile. I'm not talking land and take off. I'm talking land and hang out for minutes! At that time I was overcoming a lot. There was a lot of turmoil that one-day I will talk about and probably even write a book about. When something keeps happening repetitively I generally hop on the Google and start looking for the meaning. Dragonflies, from what I could find, mean: CHANGE Strength Courage Happiness AND symbolizes our ability to overcome hardships. Let me tell you there was a lot of CHANGE going on in EVERY area of my life at the time I was seeing all these lovely badboys. And with change it can feel like hardship and requires you to connect with your own inner strength and courage to overcome it. Now that my sails have adjusted, I see A LOT of hummingbirds. Here I have a hummingbird visit once a day. Yesterday it came around the corner of Foxy Cleopatra so fast that I yelled. It scared the shit out of me! Today I decided to look up the meaning of hummingbirds for the first time and they are said to symbolize: Joy and playfulness Adaptability Courage Protecting boundaries Fearlessness This was pretty timely and kinda blew my mind as I was only just saying a couple of nights ago that I find it challenging to bring more play into my life and to make it a priority as I'm so laser focused on my business and clients. Ever feel like that? We have all these areas of our lives like our health, relationships, career, etc. and it can sometimes be challenging to juggle and keep it all in balance. Like most things we have to be intentional about it. We all know that there has to be balance, right? And we all know that when there is no play then the other areas of our lives suffer, right? It's a fine balance that is different for everyone. Here is my video on it that goes into more detail if you're interested. Where can YOU create more play in your life?  P.S. Are you in on my Rock Your Ride Virtual Cycling program yet? Rock Your Ride Virtual Cycling is my signature online program where you get to stay fit with weekly Virtual Cycling Classes all done from the comfort of your home. All cycling classes are LIVE, VIRTUAL and RECORDED. If you can't make it live, I've got you covered with a replay. This program is not like any other program out there. I had one client who literally found me on Google and signed up with zero expectations to find out that she was learning a lot of skills that she will now be able to apply to her outdoor cycling and has signed up again. Another client loves how I structure the program so that we're always working on different skills that build upon each other. It's personal. It's intentional. It's structured It's FUN. Do you want to stay fit and healthy? Do you want to get faster and more efficient? Do you have goals to meet and possibly crush this cycling season? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then my Rock Your Ride Virtual Cycling program is for YOU. I'm an International Women's Cycling Coach as well as being a Nutritionist and Mindset Coach and I have coached well over 100 women now. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced rider, this program is for all level riders. I have been blessed with this innate ability to be able to speak to all levels of riders in a clear and concise way while having a lot of fun. Maybe not in the moment. Haha. Certainly after class is over and we're giving each other virtual high fives. You can check out all the details here. ---> http://www.puravidaperformance.com/rock-your-ride-virtual-cycling.html  |
Paige RoyalQuestions or Comments? 
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