At some point this summer, get a bike. It can be a new bike, an old bike, a borrowed bike – you get the idea. Just get a hold of a bike.
Then, find a hill. The steepest, most treacherous hill you can find. The kind of hill you would never in your right mind attempt to run or bike up.
Next, I want you to peddle up that hill. Yes, the one we just talked about. I want you to peddle up that beast with all you’ve got. We’re talking head down, legs jamming, thighs burning and maybe some profanities flying.
![4084054293_36ff80fd68[1]](http://iowagirleats.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/4084054293_36ff80fd681.jpg "4084054293_36ff80fd68[1]")
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When you finally get to the top (and you will!) I want to you turn your bike around and soar down that hill!
Ahhhh!! There isn’t a problem that can’t be solved, a frown that can’t be turned upside down, a bad day that can’t be made better, by soaring down a massive hill on your bike, with the trees whizzing past you and the wind flying through your hair. It’s absolutely incredible!
In case you can’t tell – I had a wonderful bike ride last night that involved a demonic hill and the sweetest joy ride back down it. It was amazing. Plus, there’s something about riding your bike that makes you feel like a kid again – if only for a little while. Give my challenge a try, won’t you?
If not the bike ride, then maybe the oatmeal? Baked Rhubarb Apple Crisp Oatmeal?!
My Mom gave me a truckload of rhubarb earlier this week, and I’ve been dying to use it. While I have some bigger baking ideas to use some of it up this weekend, baked oatmeal seemed like an easy way to use it right now!
Baked Rhubarb Apple Crisp Oatmeal
Ingredients:
1/3 cup chopped rhubarb
1/2 chopped apple
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons agave nectar (could use honey)
2/3 cup water
vanilla extract
cinnamon
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook the rhubarb and apple in 2 Tablespoons of water in a pot on the stove until softened, ~2 minutes.
2. Stir in agave nectar, water, vanilla, cinnamon and oats. Pour mixture into a non-stick sprayed baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Mix together almonds, butter and sugar. After oatmeal has cooked for 10 minutes, top with the almond mixture and bake for 10 more minutes. Enjoy on it’s own, with whipped cream, or ice cream – if you dare!
Woooohooohooohoo – this was GOOD!
Tart from the rhubarb and apples, but sweet from the butter-sugar topping! The only thing that could have made this better would be whipped cream. I know. For breakfast. I wouldn’t even care. It would take this from good to GREAT!
Crisp without the “crap” – there was only 1 Tablespoon sugar total in this, compared to the multi that would be in any other crisps you’d make. Yum!
For lunch, I’ve got another dy-no-mite 3 piece!
Starring an Apricot Glazed Turkey Burger Stuffed with Goat Cheese on a bed of torn baby spinach.
I made some more of the glaze to go on top because we used it all last night. It is AMAZING! Can’t wait to dig in!
Plus my trusty standbys – Crunchy Almond Butter with Roasted Flaxseed and a Pink Lady Apple.
The perfect pairing, IMO. 
Lush.
How many people are starting their Memorial Day weekend early?! I’ll be working, so think of me while you’re frolicking in the sunshine! 
TGIAF!
~~~~~
TGITQT! Answer away, my friends!
1. Do you like to take naps?
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be?
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
My answers:
1. No way – they always leave me feeling groggy and yuck!
3. Stomach
I’m definetly up for the bike challenge
and :O :O at the rhubarb thing! That sounds AMAZING!! Will it be on your recipe page!?
1. Do you like to take naps?
No – cos then I can’t sleep later
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be?
Um….none….I’d rather have the ££
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
Side!
Yes, I agree – love my bike!!
1. No
2. Hockey!
3. Back
1) Nope. waste of the day
2) Boston Red Sox…though the Celtics would be a close second.
3) Side.
im dying for a bike. im looking for a hybrid so i can eventually do a sprint-tri, but ill take anything at this point. apparently the parents sold my old one, so i dont have anything to ride! im starting mem day wknd early! i leave tonight for our house on cape cod with my best friends. i cannot wait to relax, eat, drink, and do yoga on the beach
have a happy weekend girl!
I need to get a new bike!
1. Do you like to take naps? Sometimes.
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be? NY Yankees!!
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper? Side and stomach
Jenn
1. Do you like to take naps?
Yes, but with two little girls I can’t recall the last time I got one.
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be? Iowa Hawkeyes
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
Stomach all the way. It was rough when I was pregnant and could not sleep on my beloved tummy!
I have this inability to balance on a bike for very long, so I stick to the stationary bikes…which is definitely not as much fun as your joyride!
1. Nope, because then I can’t sleep at night.
2. Tar Heel football! Or the Green Bay Packers
3. Stomach
1. Nope. I’ve even only taken one nap in the 7 months of pregnancy so far!
2. Either Hawkeye football or UNI Panther Volleyball (if they even have season tickets)
3. All of the above pre-pregnancy, but currently side only.
1. Do you like to take naps?
YES! I would take one every day if I could…not so much luck now that I have a toddler.
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be?
We have Iowa Hawkeye football season tickets (inlaws have had a group of them for 30 + years), but it would be awesome to have Chicago Cubs season tickets!
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
I’m a side sleeper
I ride my bike to work in the summer and it makes the journey SO much more pleasurable! I feel like a kid for sure! Also, the way home is slightly downhill the whole way so it whizzes by! Love it!
1) NO. They also make me feel groggy and gross. Plus I can never fall asleep like that – my mind is always whirring too much!
2) Arsenal football club (soccer!)
3) I have to fall asleep on my tummy but I always wake up on my back. Weird.
I have tomorrow off and we’re road tripping to Madison – can’t wait!
I don’t eat meat now, but damn, those turkey burgers look amazing!
1. I napped my life away in college, but I rarely do it now. I tend to oversleep and then feel worse afterward.
2. Iowa Hawkeyes!
3. Side sleeper all the way with one arm tucked under my pillow.
I have a bike and I love it!!
1. Used to hate naps, but now that I have kids (4) I loooove naps!
2. Univ. of Kansas basketball
3. Side, always.
I would totally do that, but I fall off bikes SO much! I’m kind of scared to do any hills – I ride on flat roads and tiny rolling hills, but that’s it
1. Yeah! Love naps
I don’t get them very often, but Saturday and Sunday afternoon naps are the best. On the couch, with the hubby and puppy = perfection.
2. VT Hokies football!!! Can’t wait for the season to start.
3. Side sleeper, all the way.
This post made me giddy
We kept our bikes and my grandparents house, they lived in New Jersey and IMO that’s where all the best hills were.
1. No way, waste of a day.
2. Philadelphia Flyers Hockey
3. Stomach, always.
1. Sometimes
2. Red Sox or Patriots..I’d love to see Tom Brady in action every week
3. I’m totally all over the place when it comes to sleeping. Side/back/Stomach…I can fall asleep anywhere
1) I love to nap! I wish I could everyday
2) Twins Baseball
3) Stomach most of the time, sometimes back
I LOVE NAPS! (Although I haven’t taken one in awhile).
Red Sox all the way.
Stomach.
I’m not a biker- but I love the idea of this challenge. Mayhaps I’ll have to find a bike!
!. Love naps! even take naps in carpool lane. I get there 15 minutes early so i can have my afternoon nap (when it is nice enough i even roll down my windows to smell and feel the breeze)
2. Minnesota Vikings!
3. side
running is my all in all work-out, maybe i will try the bike today!
I love my bike, and I love to go downhill with it
) Specially when there’s wood around the road, so I get that cold wind on my face, amazing
1. Only when I’m super tired.
2. Around here, the I-Cubs would be just fine. Love these summer days! Back home, White Sox please!
3. Side. Used to be my stomach, but it hurts my neck.
I haven’t had a bike since I had an accident that busted my femur into several pieces when I was a teen, but live across the street from a great bike shop and have been thinking about it a lot lately. Fun as it would be, speeding down a hill would scare me! (I like my femur in one piece.)
Oh I love Lombard St.!!! I’ve rollerbladed down it before! Lots of fun.. kind of dangerous! =)
1. not like I don’t like to take naps!
2. Mn Wild.. errr Mn Twins (new stadium is incredible – not a bad seat in the house!) its a toss up.
3. Back
Sounds like great bike ride!
1. I love naps! Sometimes during my lunch break at work, I got to a nearby park to read…and occasionally fall asleep for a 10 minute powder nap. I always wake up refreshed!
2. I’d love seasons tickets to the Phoenix Suns!
3. I’m a right side sleeper.
Will do!!!
The turkey burgers look AMAZING!!!!!
1. No, unless I’m sick. I always wake up cranky :/
2. Texas U.. for the boy. I’m not a fan of sports but he’s INSANE about that team.
3. Side, curled into a ball!
I just bought a road bike last week! Now I can’t wait for the sitter to get back from vacation so I can ride. You are right about it making you feel like a kid again – that’s just how I felt test-driving bikes around the parking lot at the bike shop.
1. Not really, though they are necessary at times!
2. Not sure – I enjoy sports but I’m not that into one particular team!
3. Sorta side, sorta stomach – I sleep on my stomach with my side propped onto a pillow. It’s a habit from pregnancy.
My favorite thing about going back down the hill, is when done after a rain, the water and mud that flies up your back. I know, so strange, but it makes me feel like a kid all over again!
1) I try, but I’m just not a good napper. I take a nap and I am done for the rest of the day.
2) MN Vikings
3) Back
Love naps! Just wait till you get older, your feelings will change about naps!
LA Lakers
Back sleeper!
Have a wonderful day!
Since your last post with those delish turkey burgers in it I’ve been dreaming about making them!!! I can’t wait to get back from memorial weekend and whip those up! yum.
1. I take naps only if I’m running around all day and I know I am going to go out. Other than that I never really plan them.
2. I would have to say the Celtics. I went to the Celtics/Cavaliers game a week or so ago and it was amazing. If not them I would pick a hockey team!!!
3. stomach and side.
I’m not a napper unless I’m sick. Season tickets…I’m not much of a sporty girl, but I guess I would go with the PBR!…. Pro Bull Riders!!! (Or the good ole I-Cubs!! ). And I’m a side sleeper for the most part.
i once went down a really steep hill on this bike outing with girl scouts and i faceplanted over the handlebars. hilarious/vaguely tragic(this is why i leave that kind of thing to professionals). what a fun memory, LOL
1. yeah, i really like to sleep whenever i can. it doesn’t affect what i have to do as long as i sleep for less than an hour.
2. the mets! (it’s fine to laugh at that, heh)
3. back
I never used to like naps, but now I get up at 6:45 and I welcome any chance to go back to sleep during the day!
1. No naps, only if I’m sick
2. Iowa Hawkeyes!!!!
3. Back and side
Just found your blog and love it! I found it looking for stove top oatmeal instructions. (It turned out great by the way; I used a fresh peach.) The baked rhubarb apple crisp looks great. How big is the pan you cook it in?
Can’t wait to try your turkey burgers and glaze. Will make the grilled zuchinni for lunch with the vegetarian fed bison burgers (Dakota Farms from Whole Foods) on a homemade bun with spinach and organic cheese.
P.S. LOVE that almond butter! Here’s a smoothie recipe to try using it: 1 cup organic milk, 1 organic banana (peeled and frozen), 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon almond butter (or peanut butter but once you’ve tried TJ almond butter who can go back?) Process in a blender until smooth. This is especially good after a hard workout.
Hills are so treacherous but soaring down is worth all of the effort!
I dont think Ive ever had Rhubarb. Looks so yummy though.
1. YES!!! but only when i absolutely need one. or if i am at the beach and nap outside to get a tan
2. Boston RED SOX!!
3. Side
love those pink lady apples- by far my favorite type!
Hills are beasts, but riding down that hill is pretty awesome. I think my fav part though is just arriving at the very tip top and knowing there is no more UP on that hill anyway.
1/ Nope. I am like you, it just makes me feel worse.
2/ i am not one for sports but I guess if I have to , Toronto Raptors.
3/stomach sleeper
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1. Love naps!
2. Iowa Hawkeye Football, no questions asked
3. Side sleeper, I think at least. Is it bad if I don’t know!?
I made banana bread baked oatmeal for breakfast, mmmm
We have the best hill right next to my building only it runs into a major road. That’s a no go. Perhaps I’ll pack my bike up and take it to the trails at Mt. Greylock.
1. Do you like to take naps? No because then I can’t sleep later. I only take them if I’m sick.
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be? Patriots football…Only problem is it goes right through my busiest season at work.
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
I fall asleep on my stomach but always sleep on my back.
1. Yes! I take at least 1 nap on the weekends, I set an alarm and even if I don’t sleep, it’s nice just to lay in a cozy bed and relax! I don’t sleep in on the weekends, specifically so I can take naps and still get to bed at a normal hour.
2. Baseball!
3. Side, specifically left side
1. No! I dont require that much sleep, luckily!
2. Florida Gator football!
3. Side:)
1. I take naps on occasion, but I hate the post-groggy feeling too.
2. Hmmm… how about season tickets to a dance show ; ) SYTYCD?
3. Stomach
1. I don’t do naps for the same reason! I wake up feeling sick and groggy for the rest of the day. Then I can’t sleep at night, even after just a 15 min. catnap.
2. Chicago Cubs baseball! Go Cubs!!
3. Stomach too!
Love the bike riding thing too. I always feel so charged after a good bike ride. Thanks for the good reading.
I just wrote a blog post about bike riding the other day. You see, I’m HORRIBLE on a bike! Don’t know how to use gears at all so I end up massively overworking. I can barely go up tiny little inclines.
So any advice for me as to how to use the gears? ‘Cause if I could figure that out I’d totally take you up on your challenge!
Done and done! It’s the Taco Ride tonight. Up hill the entire time! But there is a street dance and tacos and beer to make it all worth the pain!
Your crisp looks amazing!! It gave me a massive craving for an apple crisp over vanilla ice cream.. just might have to give that a try tonight for dessert! I also would love to own a bike, but it’s just so hot here in Texas, that I can’t motivate myself to go outside at all unless a pool is involved or it’s winter!
1) Naps are amazing. I totally have better days when I can fit a couple 10-20 min naps in.
2) My boyfriend and I actually have Dallas Stars season tickets (hockey). I LIVE for Hockey. I even tattooed the dallas star on my foot! He also has a season ticket for himself to the Texas Rangers (baseball). I am not a baseball fan, but it makes for many good “guy nights” for him.
3) I am a side sleeper all the way. I have to have a lot of pillows when I sleep too. I need at least two under my head, one to cuddle with, and then one in between my knees. I have read that sleeping with a pillow between your knees actually helps ease any back pain. Who knew?!
That rhubard bake looks awesome!
I’m not a big napper…it makes me sluggish for the rest of the day.
I would get season tickets to the Cubs.
I sleep on my side.
1.) After a really exhausting day, I love a quick 20 minute nap before making dinner.
2.) That would be a toss-up between Gator football and Rays baseball
3.) I am a back sleeper, but I am currently pregnant and UNFORTUNATELY that’s not allowed, so I am officially a side sleeper for the next 4.5 months
1. Do you like to take naps?
I love to take naps but dont get a chance…
2. If you could have season tickets for one sports team, which one would it be?
Watch cricket world cup rooting for India team
3. Are you a side, back or stomach sleeper?
Side
Yummy-looking oatmeal! I’ve been dying to try and make one of your famous baked oatmeals for breakfast!
1. Only if I’m feeling really drowsy late in the afternoon, which lately hasn’t been very often.
2. I’d probably get Washington Capitals (hockey) tickets, the games are so exciting!
3. Stomach! I definitely fall asleep fastest this way. Although after a few weeks on stomach it starts to hurt my neck, so I try to sleep on my back or side, but I definitely do not like sleeping that way! Maybe I need to get a better pillow for my neck, so I can always sleep on my stomach?!