Pedal, pedal, pedal.
Let's go back to the fall. My best friend and I went to a giant consignment sale, and I was on the hunt for a bike.
We found the perfect H size bike I think it was Rapunzel. Well I was new to this consignment world. I was unaware of the purchasing rules. So I start walking this bike to the check out line; mind you, you can be standing in this snake of a line longer than superman at six flags. So here we are, my best friend, H and myself. From no where this lady is yelling at me accusing me of stealing her daughters bike. My bad lady, if you came up to me and said "I'm sorry you must have misunderstood, if there is a tag missing someone claimed this bike" or something to that nature. Instead she went of for five minutes how we deliberately tried to steal her girls' bike. Yelling about it only made my child upset. My friend finally stepped in and told the lady to take the bike already. I didn't mean to make anyone upset but jeez.
Panic mom mode. It was the only girl bike in her size. So I went back to the bike station while my loves held our spot in the middle of the maze. The boys bikes were obviously a little more beat up but for $15 I bought a gem. H looked at it sideways, I looked at it with potential. Nothing a can of spray paint, glitter and stickers can't fix. We went to Benny's and I let her pick out whatever can of color she wanted to spray this bad boy.
I wish I had a before picture but it came out pretty awesome In a completly gaudy way, but she loved it.
So now we have a bike, and it was around October. She tried a few times, but it always ended with me pushing her around the neighborhood, her feet were just a little too short. Enough of that. We put it away for the winter, and by away - I mean in the back of the station wagon.
About two months ago we tried on the bike again; over the winter she grew, a lot and her feet could easily reach the pedals. It was hard for her to get the forward motion. She kept wanting to go backwards, which makes the bike stop. We have periodically gotten the bike out and tried over and over to "pedal, pedal, pedal"
Today she did just that. We ventured out with our best girls to Rocky Point and had hopes of doing the whole path. We did until the beach and found treasures for a while. I sent them all on a hunt for mermaid glass. Three girls on bikes and two moms, makes for two very tired mammas.
" can we ride bikes again" in a minute..... 20 mins later. "Can we ride bikes again". To me listening to the lapping of the waves, there is nothing more peaceful than that. I love the ocean. I was always a water baby, the last few years I didn't get to enjoy it as much. Kids they take all the time out of you and next thing you know summers over. I promise this year to not let that happen.
So after we picked all our beach treasures we gathered our shoes and trucked back to the bikes. Round two, uphill. Laugh now.
You need to know something about my lady, she cannot do two things at once. She walks left and looks right. She definitely got her grace from me. Once she got the pedaling down, she would just drive herself strait into the curb. It was pretty funny, but going uphill. Not funny, but we made it and I'm excited to get her back on the bike. Not on a hill.
After our morning outing I thought without a doubt a nap. I was wrong again. We are also into our second week of big girl bed sleeping. Or I should say not sleeping. Naps seem non existent these days. The last time she was checked on today; she was unscrewing all of the knobs on her dresser, like who does that? She went on from there being a super grouchy, bossy three year old.
So I cooked.
Chicken Parm Salad
Preheat oven to 375
Split the chicken breast in half so it's thinner, bang out with mallet or a rolling pin. (you can do this in a large zip lock bag, for less of a mess)
Get two bowls ready
In one bowl add
Egg, splash of milk, tablespoon of sauce, 21 salute, garlic, tablespoon of flour, Whisk together
The second bowl add,
A cup of panko, grated cheese, tablespoon of chai seeds, basil, flour, 21 salute, red pepper flakes
Dredge the chicken first in the wet then the dry mix. Top with sliced tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes. When it's almost done top with Mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Throw back in for 5-10 minutes.
This came out so good,
For the salad, to a bowl add spinach, steamed lentils (I use trader joes brand they are so good and easy to use), a quarter cup of cooked wheat angel hair pasta and half of the chicken breast. Sprinkle with Parmesan . This was amazing. The chicken was crunchy and juicy. H just had pasta and chicken, she said it was good but only ate a few pieces.
After H finally fell asleep I decided I needed a little dessert. I deserved it tonight.
In a small pan add a teaspoon of coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Let the spices get fragrant. Slice a banana, add to the pan and let caramelize. Sprinkle with a little coconut sugar. Cook down for a few minutes. Add to a bowl and mash with a half cup of cottage cheese. Sprinkle with cinnamon, coconut chips, graham crumble and top with a broken rice cake.
Delicious.
I had this with an ice tea spritzer. Fresh steamed Raspberry tea, strawberry lemon ice cubes, and raspberry seltzer water.
Enjoy this spring weather!
Cheers!
