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WHAT A CYCLE QUEEN'S PANTRY LOOKS LIKE
Ria Clemente / RECIPE /

WHAT A CYCLE QUEEN'S PANTRY LOOKS LIKE

Welcome to The Bubble’s Pantry Party 🎉where we get an exclusive look into New York’s most stocked up kitchens. For...

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    Welcome to The Bubble’s Pantry Party 🎉where we get an exclusive look into New York’s most stocked up kitchens. For our first official takeover, we take a look inside Liz Van Voorhis’-- Master Monster Cycle Instructor -- insanely unique, garage door inspired, kitchen cabinets.

    As a bada$$ cycling instructor 💪, and founder of the FIT COLLECTIVE, we caught Liz right after a NSFW [not safe for work] cycle ride and prior to the makings of a homemade Thai dinner. Purple rice is on the menu tonight #BubbleApproved!


    You just came back from your NSFW ride, what are some of your favorite music to listen to during your classes?
    My spotify playlist, The Monster Cycle, has tons of songs that I’ve used to curate my playlists for classes. I play mostly hip hop, but that includes everything from my fav dirty south 90s throwbacks to current artists like 2 Chainz, Cardi B and Kendrick Lamar. The idea is to get everyone pumped up for a great work out!
    What’s the most unique thing about your kitchen?
    Like almost all NYC apartments mine is space-challenged.  Because I use my kitchen frequently, I wanted to be sure I was designing the space to be as efficient as possible while best utilizing every square inch! With my contractor, I designed tambour doors to conceal the pantry. They’re probably the most unexpected thing I have in my kitchen. It’s minimal and sleek, and fits just about all the things I need in my pantry.

     


    Is there a specific way that you organize your pantry?

    I keep fruits, some cookbooks, and all of the avocados obviously on the bottom shelf for easy access and because they’re pretty to look at 😏. Right on top of those is a shelf devoted almost exclusively to nuts and nut butters.  I don’t go a day without eating peanut butter. Next up are things like rice, quinoa, soups and other ingredients for cooking.  The top shelf (which requires my 5’ 1” self to pull out the step stool) has the more rarely used things like flour, sugar, baking ingredients etc. which become high usage around Christmas!

    Do you have any kitchen hacks you can share?
    As mentioned, I’m obsessed with peanut butter.  But I only buy the natural kind which has oil separation and therefore I always store my peanut butter upside down. This lets the oil settle at the bottom so you get a super creamy, non-oily consistency.

     What’s your favorite thing to snack on?
    Definitely popcorn + truffle salt, it’s easy, decadent AND delicious. 

     As a cycling instructor, you must have a lot of tricks up your sleeves 
    in terms of eating and being on a healthy lifestyle, any tips?
    First, I LOVE FOOD!  I am definitely someone who lives to eat!  Luckily cycling helps me offset this. Several years ago after my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor, I started learning more about the ingredients in many processed foods that contribute to creating terrain in the body that allows cancer to form and grow, and that pushed me to eliminate harmful ingredients from my diet.  I focus on living an 80/20 lifestyle and portion control. 80% of the time eat things that I know where the ingredients came from (likely the ground or the sea) and 20% of the time I eat whatever I want. That’s what makes it a lifestyle. I believe that strictly following any protocol and depriving yourself regularly leads to obsession which due to the mind body connection can be even more damaging.  Especially given how much I’m working out (and honestly how frequently I’m only in a sports bra), I like to feel light when I’m on the bike.  I don’t like the feeling of being full so for me portion control is also a big part of how I fuel myself. I actually visualize the size of my stomach and try to make sure my meals would fit inside.  LOL. That trick helps for me! Part of the reason I founded FIT COLLECTIVE was to provide more accessibility to brands that serve the mission of only including whole, natural, healthy ingredients in their products.  Working with brands like Revere who commit to healthier sports nutrition and natural ingredients is why I do what I do!

    So what do you make the most often in your kitchen?
    One of my favorite things to do is host dinner parties. Cooking for these is equal parts relaxing and a way to show my friends how much I care about them.  I often will recreate recipes from my travels like the Thai food I cooked for my holiday party this year that followed a recent trip to Thailand.  Between teaching classes and running FIT COLLECTIVE (which also requires me to take fitness classes regularly), I don’t have a lot of extra time and need to have easy food on the go.  Additionally I travel to LA once a month for work, so when I’m home I really like to prepare my own food as much as possible! Meal prep for me consists of prepping ingredients that have multi purpose.  I dice a sweet potato and add olive oil, salt and pepper and bake it. I can then throw it into salads or an egg scramble throughout the week. One snack that I prepare is my Recovery Trail Mix, it’s super easy to make. Here is the recipe.
     
    Cycle Queen Recovery Mix:
    ½ cup lightly salted roasted Cashews
    ½ cup Raw Almonds
    ½ cup Banana chips
    ½ cup Apple rings, broken into pieces
    #PANTRYPARTY! 🎉  

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