It’s been a long time since I’ve posted! Not that I’ve been uninspired or had nothing interesting to say (I always have lots of interesting opinions to share! feminism! bikes! veganism!) it’s just that ~life~ has been super busy and I’ve let my blogging go by the wayside.
So what have I been up to? Well I spent all winter getting super muddy and racing cyclocross all over the U.S. I had some good results and some not so good results but most importantly I had fun!
I managed to stand on a few UCI podiums thanks to the support of fantastic sponsors like Jamis Bikes, Psimet Wheels, Osmo Nutrition, and (probably most importantly as you can see) Donkey Label socks.
I went to nationals which as many know was a giant clusterf**k and even
though I wasn’t able to pull out a result in the elite race, I managed a solid 2nd place in the single speed race behind the always speedy Mo Bruno Roy (one place better than last year!!!)
It was right around when I was wrapping up my cyclocross season that I was finally able to announce that I would be riding for Colavita Pro Cycling for the 2015 road season. Since I’m basically THE WORST at keeping secrets and had been holding this news in for over 4 months, it was a huge relief when the press release finally came out and I was able to publicly share the news. Niels and the cats had gotten really sick of listening to me talk about it.
So that brings me around to the point of this post. I’ve realized over the years that being a vegan can be a bit of a bummer, especially when I’m around friends and teammates eating all sorts of delicious looking and smelling foods that I choose not to eat. The number one thing that I’m jealous of in recent history is Nutella (nope, not Bacon, this Jew is double restricted from that). Rather than complaining and grousing about not being able to eat it, I finally decided that hey, I’m part of a team that encourages rider creativity and cooking! I decided to make my own damn Nutella. Never mind the fact that I’ve never even eaten it and that I only knew three things about it (hazlenut, chocolate, not vegan), I was gonna make Nutella.
So here it is, my homemade vegan Nutella. I’ve been told by my office mate David that it’s good but isn’t as sweet as Nutella but that it’s still “very good.” I can’t disagree.
Ingredients:
2 cups hazelnuts
1/2 Perugina Bittersweet Classic Chocolate Bar
3/4 cup condensed coconut milk
2 whole vanilla beans
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
Toast 3/4 of the hazelnuts on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes
Add the coconut milk, hazelnuts, brown rice syrup, and salt to a food processor and process on high for 3-5 minutes.
Use a spatula to scrape any un-blended ingredients into the middle of the processor and turn the processor back on.
Break the Perugina chocolate bar into small pieces and add them either as the mix is processing or while it’s off. Add the vanilla beans in the same way along with a dash (I used about 2 tsp) of the Rachael Ray salt.
Allow to process until the mixture is fairly smooth (it may still be a tiny bit gritty), divide into mason jars, refrigerate, and enjoy!
So that’s what I’ve been doing, racing, training, and cooking. I’ll share more adventures as they come!
Jessica Cutler 
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