Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition – Page 53

Bike messenger ring bearer

Gabriel visited Lafayette Park for the first time on Sunday morning. We brought his bike along, and he cruised around as we showed him the pond, which was one of our favorite areas when we were first dating.

We were lucky enough to see this mama with her eight(!) little ones in tow.

Sir rocked cycle chic with his blue dress shirt and sharp white shoes, and that, combined with a group setting up for an outdoor wedding in the park, sparked a great idea — a bike messenger ring bearer!

Obviously, it’s too late for our wedding, but if you have need of his services, let me know.

We enjoyed the park time (despite a few sprinkles) before continuing on our way to sample some pastries at a Czech church (verdict: good, but we make better) before checking out a couple of homes on the Sustainable Back Yard Tour (and by a couple, I do literally mean two yards, which is all we had time to squeeze in before returning for lunch and nap time). Sir was excited that both yards featured urban chickens.

Happy things: Blue tutus and chocolate peanut butter bites

A quick glance at the title may throw you, but this post is not completely random. Nope! In fact, it’s about bikes and food, with a few green notes for extra credit — completely on topic.

While I rode in the Tour de Fat bicycle parade sans costume (i.e., wearing regular clothing), many riders outfitted themselves in creative ways. One of my favorites was a woman wearing a blue tutu. I coveted that tutu and decided that somehow, a tutu would factor into my World Naked Bike Ride get-up.

Yep, that’s right, after talking about it for three years, we’re actually going to ride in the StL edition of the World Naked Bike Ride this year!

In 2010, it just didn’t happen for some reason.

In 2011, the event was either right before or after Gabriel was born, so I was either feeling very pregnant (and hot and lazy) or recovering from his delivery.

Last year (2012), I just didn’t have the energy to makes plans for the event itself, child care, etc.

So 2013 will be the year. And it will involve this fabulous bright blue tutu that I made yesterday (when I should have been prepping for a job interview that I have later this week — oh well, perhaps I can add “Tutu Maker” to my resumé).

Turns out making a tutu is rather simple. I made it even easier by re-purposing the elastic waistband from a pair of Matthew’s old, worn-out boxers. Now for the rest of my costume . . . .

On to the chocolate and peanut butter!

I’ve wanted to do some baking for over a week now, but the hot weather does not inspire one to crank up the oven. No-bake recipe to the rescue!

A couple of weeks ago, I flagged this recipe for Reeses peanut butter no-bake bars, and yesterday, I no-baked them in my kitchen. Actually, I went a step beyond no-bake and used solar heat to melt the butter and chocolate.

I put both in metal dishes (for optimal heat transfer) and set them on the blacktop pavement (hotter than lighter-colored sidewalk), both covered (and one weighted) to keep out any critters.

Butter halfway melted and a before picture of the chocolate. The butter melted very quickly. The chocolate melted almost completely (and would have melted fully if I gave it more time) — I stuck the pan in the toaster oven for just a minute or two to finish the job.

I made a half recipe (in an 8×8 pan), which was a good amount, as these are really more conducive to being eaten in tiny squares (like candy) rather than big pieces. I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate (of course!), and added a quarter cup of almond meal (for the half recipe) since the mixture seemed a bit runny (perhaps due to using natural peanut butter).

No final result pictures, but after setting up in the fridge, they popped right out of the pan, looking like those pictured in the recipe link. Delicious!

Two by bike, one by car

Last week set a bit of a record with three nights out — definitely the most in one week post-baby!

Sunday Night
Sir’s monthly overnight with Baba coincided with closing night of The Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park. We debated biking vs. driving as well as eating out vs. picnicking. The fact that we’d be in the car anyway to deliver Gabriel answered that question, and the heat and humidity drove us inside to eat.

We chose Blue Elephant, a Thai restaurant that’s been around for quite awhile, but one I hadn’t visited. Given write-up’s I’d seen, complete with photos of fancily presented food, and their location in Clayton, I rather expected it to be an upscale place, which it wasn’t.

Fortunately, the food, rather than the decor and atmosphere (which was low key and pleasant, just not fancy), was my main reason for choosing the spot. We shared the Pad Thai and Pad See Ew entrees (both with tofu). The Pad Thai was quite good, on par with some of my favorites from other restaurants (must remember to always order with extra veggies).

We continued on to the performance in Forest Park, intentionally parking far away to avoid getting caught in traffic later. We enjoyed the evening, though afterward (and having attended various other years) we admitted/agreed that Shakespeare is not so much our thing, and in future years, we might just come for the pre-party of picnicking and people-watching.

Wednesday Night
Earlier in the week, my father-in-law offered to come over and watch Sir on Wednesday night so we could see Spamalot at The Muny. We accepted his offer, and I made plans for biking and a picnic dinner.

Matthew biked over straight from work and spent ninety minutes in line — his efforts garnered us a great spot in the free seats. I joined him after a warm, but not unpleasant ride.

On the way over, another cyclist passed me on the right. As he passed, I asked if he could please pass on the left, as is the convention. As I was riding in the traffic lane, he responded that there “wasn’t much room to my left.”

I glanced over, and informed him that there was, in fact, six or seven feet between me and the center line (just as much room as there was between me and the curb to the right). He responded with a rather confounded, “But you’re practically riding in the middle of the lane.”

I held my tongue as I thought, “Yes, that’s rather the point, how very observant.” I couldn’t help but smile as he continued down the hill ahead of me, carefully, and perhaps begrudgingly, stopping at every stop sign along the way.

We enjoyed the show, but just as much I enjoyed our ride home afterwards, cutting through the park on the multi-use paths to avoid the traffic jams, riding under an almost full moon.

Friday Night
The third and last night out of the week (no twelve nights for me, thank you), I stuck my bike on the bus, and used the bus and MetroLink, plus a short bike ride, to meet a good friend for dinner in The Loop.

As I slowly coasted along with the crazy traffic on Delmar, I was very glad that I didn’t have to worry about finding a [car] parking spot. I arrived at Seoul Taco with time to spare, and we spent a lovely evening dining al fresco, catching up, and walking The Loop.

We ended the evening by walking to the new Italian pastry shop, Piccione, where I bought a treat for then and a couple of things to share with Matthew later.

The winner among my three pastries, which included pistachio cannoli, sfogliatella, and a thumbprint cookie? Somewhat to my surprise, the simple and unassuming thumbprint cookie took the cake, so to speak.

I biked home under a full moon. Though not much longer than Wednesday night’s ride, it was hotter and/or more humid, and, after a slight train-delay, I was more than ready to get home and shower.

So, two out of three by bike ain’t half bad. Choosing to go by bike in the summer heat is always a bit of a mental struggle, but I rarely regret it. The evening and night biking is definitely better than full sun outings.

My main beef with night biking is how exercising that close to bedtime affects my ability to fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time, especially when the events are already pushing my early bedtime, so my transportation choice often comes down to balancing desire to bike with sleep needs.

Blueberries by the bucket

It’s that time of year again — blueberry season. Hard to believe, but it’s been three years since we picked blueberries at Huckleberry Hollow!

Two years ago, I looked like this, and I was feeling grumpy, tired, and not at all like being out in the heat for hours picking blueberries. My MIL and a good family friend generously volunteered to pick for us that summer.

Last year, we didn’t have the option of figuring out the logistics of picking blueberries with an infant because H-Hollow lost their entire crop due to weather conditions. Yep, zero blueberries.

This year, the blueberries were back, and with Sir in childcare, I made a blueberry picking date with my MIL.

As I mentioned three years ago, this place has some huuuge blueberry bushes, which provide some partial shade for picking. The bits of shade helped, but by mid-morning it was still scorching! Why can’t blueberries ripen at a cooler time of year???

We arrived at nine in the morning and left at one, which meant just over three-and-a-half hours of picking, plus a much-needed twenty minute refuel and rehydrate break.

Between the two of us, we picked almost six-and-a-half gallons of blueberries in that time. We’ll be enjoying them fresh for the next few days, and the remainder (i.e., the bulk) are in the freezer.

While I didn’t brave blueberry picking with a toddler in tow (heck, I have yet to take him on a Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s run — I’m definitely not ready for blueberry picking!), I look forward to having him along in future years. The trick to that will be making sure he puts more blueberries in the bucket than in his mouth, lest he meet an end like that of Violet in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Cousin love, childcare, and food-snob-mama-worries

Last week was a little quiet around here because Gabriel and I were visiting my family in Iowa. All-in-all, it was a good trip, with the unavoidable stresses that result from two toddlers (on completely different nap schedules), two needy dogs, and four adults trying to coexist in one space.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated, so we were able to give the boys lots of outdoor time. Sir rode his cousin’s Balance Bike, while “Cousin NaNa” rocked the tricycle (unlike Sir, he’s mastered pedaling).

My nephew, who’s four months older than Gabriel, did a rather good job saying “Gabriel,” but his pronunciation of “Cousin Gabe” sounded like nothing quite so much as “Cousin Babe.” Thus, Sir has an awesome new nickname.

Cousin NaNa and Cousin Babe matching shirt photo shoot

We returned mid-week and settled back into our normal routine just in time for today — Sir started three-day-a-week childcare with an in-home provider who lives just down the street from us.

I started dreaming about adding more childcare (in addition to the standing one day a week Sir spends with my MIL) back in February, when I found myself stuck inside with a fussy, clingy little thing.

Now that it has come to pass, I’m not so sure. There are plenty of things on the pro side, including more time for me to dedicate to the job hunt and some social interaction and a new and more stimulating environment for Sir (his new care provider incorporates preschool-type activities).

And then there are the cons: the expense of paying for childcare when I’m not working, the question of whether I’ll use this new-found time productively, and my worries about how our usual routine here will translate to a new place.

Will he be able to adjust to the later nap time and napping with other kids? Will he be able to communicate when he needs to use the potty? And, last but not least, what will she feed him?

Yeah, the food. Since Mrs. L sometimes serves meat, my plan was to provide an alternative for that part of lunch, probably some variety of beans most days, to go along with whatever else she served for lunch.

I somewhat calmed my fears about what that other food would be (food from BPA-lined cans? processed cheese? other salt- and sweet- and who-knows-what-else-laden processed foods?) by reminding myself that, while I grew up eating a relatively healthy diet, with fresh fruit and veggies (including some from our garden) and a decent bit of whole grains, my diet was far from processed-food-free, and if I survived some less-than-wholesome foods, Sir can too.

Still, I decided that, for the first week, I would pack Sir’s entire lunch, so he would have a guaranteed healthy (and familiar) meal, in addition to whatever Mrs. L provided for the morning and afternoon snack.

This morning, I carefully packed him a container of polenta, seasoned beans, and broccoli and snow pea stir-fry, plus a few nibbles of leftover Thai food.

We walked down the street to Mrs. L’s (yes, childcare within walking distance, a HUGE perk in my book!), and I went through some notes I’d made, showed her the bag with his sun-protective gear, and went to leave, only to realize that I’d forgotten his lunch.

I told her that I’d packed his lunch today and would run home to get it, and she said, “Oh, he can just eat what we’re having, I was planning SpaghettiOs for today.”

I froze, unsure how to proceed. It was sweet that she’d planned a vegetarian menu for all of the kids on Sir’s first day, but, um, SpaghettiOs? That’s like a collision of processed food nightmare ingredients combined in a BPA-lined can! AHHHH!

(Also, my youngest sister went through a phase where all she ate was SpaghettiOs — what if they’re addicting? What is that the ONLY food he will eat from now on???)

For the sake of simplicity, and not seeming like a crazy, over-protective food snob mom, and to avoid possible upset if I left, returned, and left again, I acquiesced to him eating her planned lunch.

It’s just today, right?

Deep breaths . . . .

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