Verb: It's what you do!

Three in the afternoon, lunch at the desk.  Organic peanut butter on whole grain bread with half a banana on top.  Sounds OK, right?  Maybe to some, but it seems a carb extravaganza to me.  Sticky.  Salad free.  An indulgence. 

Setting the coffeemaker up to gurgle is the necessity. 

It's quiet; the cats are out of sight, and also the crazy bird that's been diving at their heads all week.

I don't even have a car to tempt me to errands.  Besides, they're done; the bike handling the light weight chores of bank deposits and quick stop at Publix. 

Swam a little too.  It's good to soak the head when it weighs too much for your shoulders.

So then. 

What do you think of the title, "Verb: It's what you do!"?  I thought it was quite clever. 

That's why I stole it. 

Stole it from Tim Lane, the Fit Net guy. 

Every day a paragraph, often a history lesson with some clever segue to fitness, arrives in my email.  Words.  Fitness.  Two of my favorite themes. 

(To subscribe, send a blank email to join-fitnet@lists.ia.gov)


Anyway, a quick recap of  Mother's Day, with perfect Florida spring weather being the highlight. 

(Apologies to Big Sister #1, up in NYS, for bringing up the weather.  They had SNOW yesterday.)

Easy as falling off a log.

Here we are back at Cross Roads to start off Mother's Day with a morning ride.  That's Krafty looking for his glasses in the grass, after going off the right side of the log.  JediJosh is at the top, ready to start his approach.  

Both these guys are totally fear-free!

TriLady was there - maybe for her last ride on the Fuel?  Her very own Superfly should arrive Monday.  Popeye rode three loops and ran a fourth as fast as I rode it!  And of course, the dynamic duo of Krafty and JediJosh, Crossroads virgins, took to the roller coaster immediately.


(Inspector Gadget didn't make the early up.  A young man parked nearby overheard me on the phone with him and said, "Inspector Gadget?  You know him?  Engineer?  Does crazy stuff to the wheels on his Fuel?"  That's the Inspector, all right.  The bike world is a small world, yes?) 


Anyway, no more picture taking, but should have, because Popeye's grill back at home yielded some fantastic chicken, and yes!  Indulgence!  Hot dogs! 

OK, nitrate-free hot dogs, but still!  Hot Dogs! 

Winging it, the Chickenless Chick concocted a Mother's Day Daiquiri martini/thingy with rum/guava/pineapple/andwhoknowswhat.  Yum! 

And, as if that weren't enough, she also brought me a Mother's Day present.

She knows I've been wanting this one for quite a while!

No, Mother's Day Dinner wasn't from the book.  I didn't get to page through that until today. 

But the grilled chicken was simple food.  The simplest.  No planned meal, this!  Just off the cuff and onto the grill.

Simple Grilled Chicken.

2 chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise to make 4 thin pieces.

(It's what you do when you have 3 people and only two chicken breasts, right?  Besides, it cooks faster.)

Organic garlic salt

Coarse ground pepper

Grey Poupon mustard

Dried rosemary

OK, so it's fun to get out mortar and pestle and smash the rosemary up!  Or just buy it already crushed.  Mix it with garlic salt, pepper, and mustard, spread it on the chicken, and grill away.

And serve it with hot dogs (!) and a Pasta-Banzo Salad.  (So named by the Chick.  Is she like, clever, or what?)

About 2 cups each:

Pasta, chilled in ice water, and drained

Lightly cooked broccoli, chilled in ice water, drained and chopped

Tomatoes, chopped  (We got lucky!  One tomato plant survived the crappy winter and is now producing like crazy!)

1 can, or 2 cups, cooked garbanzo's, well rinsed

a couple tsp. capers

a handful julienned sun dried tomatoes

Sun dried tomato and caper pasta salad dressing (or any good OO&V dressing.)

Toss it.  Serve it.  Eat it with grilled chicken.  Hot dogs (ok, nitrate free and wrapped in multi-grain flatbread, but still!  Hot dogs!) on the side. 

Bike.  Gift.  Grill.  Indulge.

No nouns allowed in this clubhouse!