Matt, Riese, and I had a fun outing yesterday: a family bike ride!
We have a little bike trailer for Riese that we’ve used a few times, but she wasn’t super into it – we’d literally bike a mile and she’d be asking to get out. So when a neighbor with older kids asked if we wanted their bike seat that attaches right onto the bike, we thought we’d give it a try.
It seems like a more fun spot for kids because they can actually see what’s going on, versus with the trailer where they are super low to the ground and can’t see out very well.
We gave it a shot for the first time yesterday and were thrilled to find it was a big hit!
This is huge because Matt and I love biking together but haven’t been able to in forever.
Especially as the weather is getting hotter and hotter it’s so nice to have an outdoor fitness activity that we can do as a family that isn’t running or hiking. Biking in hot weather is so much more pleasant than running thanks to the breeze!
We explored the Four Mile Run Trail area yesterday and liked it – we’ve done a little biking and running on it in the past, but not a ton, and there’s a new section of it open now which makes accessing it easier from our location, too. Win all around!
When we got home, we all had some white chicken chili soup (<- similar to that recipe) topped with cheese from the freezer. Tasty! I got a photo but it’s not super appealing looking so you will have to imagine it. 🙂
We also ate some leftover pizza that we originally ordered in on Friday night, and some unpictured bell peppers – I love slicing them and having them with meals, so refreshing. Here’s a picture of Friday’s pizza plus some salad!
We had extra salad leftover from Friday night that we ended up enjoying the next day for lunch (along with some crackers and hummus and fruit)… I always love having leftovers on hand!
Saturday’s dinner was an all-freezer + pantry meal situation.
We defrosted some chicken thighs that were in the freezer, seared them in a skillet, and served them with canned baked beans and frozen roasted broccoli (here’s how to roast frozen vegetables + specifically how to roast frozen broccoli <- I added a cool step by step video guide to that post, check it out! It’s right in the post content).
It was delicious! Matt seasoned the chicken with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.
I always forget how much more flavorful and juicy chicken thighs are vs. chicken breasts. Have you tried my Sheet Pan Mediterranean Chicken Thighs yet, by the way?
Chicken thighs are awesome in my Make Ahead Breakfast Burritos, too, just sayin’… I like using them in place of eggs sometimes to mix it up.
Anyway! Last night’s dinner was grilled steak, salad, and sweet potatoes (here’s how to microwave a sweet potato if you want to save a boatload of time). The sweet potatoes had a little butter and cinnamon on top which was delish.
Wasn’t the salad pretty? So colorful!
My parents actually came over to join us for this dinner – it was the first time we had seen them since early March and everyone was very excited! They brought our dog, Freyja, over for a visit too – she has been staying with them while my dad is working from home because he loves her and wants to take her on 500 walks a day. She’s living her best life, trust me.
Although she was very pumped to have her tiny food dropping friend back in the mix. 😉
Other yumminess this weekend included some movie night popcorn – butter not optional. Plus nutritional yeast (affiliate link) – it adds a nice cheesy flavor!
We watched the movie “Short Term 12” while enjoying our popcorn. It was really good… we’ve been on a movie kick lately on weekends after Riese goes to bed and it has been nice. Last weekend we watched “The Hate U Give” which I also highly recommend… intense and well done.
I will leave you with a photo of our new happy hour routine. We recently bought this colorful little kid table + chairs off Amazon (affiliate link) to keep outside in our backyard, but it’s super lightweight and easy to move around so we’ve had it indoors on a couple rainy nights, too, for happy hour.
It’s fun – Riese has kombucha, milk, or water, and Matt and I have an adult beverage, and we all share some snacks. 🙂
Have a nice day my friends – I’ll see you back here on Wednesday with a round up post featuring some of my favorite refreshing summery snacks + treats that should give you some inspiration heading into the holiday weekend!
