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Late Summer Harvest

September 6, 2010 by

This weekend was full of laid-back fun – perfect for Labor Day weekend when you’re not supposed to be “working”. In just 3 short days, I was able to…

  • Take a road trip to the touristy town of Lake Geneva where I experienced my first olive oil and vinegar tasting
  • Enjoy dinner with Scott’s brother and sister-in-law and their family
  • Go hiking in a forest preserve
  • Try to teach my 5-year old how to ride his bike sans training wheels
  • Run an unofficial 10K

I still can’t believe it’s Labor Day. Where did the summer go? I feel like just yesterday I was planting my vegetable garden and opening my pool. Oh well, that’s one thing I love about living in Chicago – the change of the seasons.

Another thing I love about the change of the seasons is that most of the veggies in my garden are ready for picking – including a bunch-load of carrots! Unfortunately, most of my carrots turned out really small – no bigger than the length of my fingers. But don’t they look cool? Very harvesty. I think the problem with the carrots was either a) I planted too many seeds close together or b) I didn’t plant them in sandy enough soil.

Aside from carrots, the green peppers grew amazingly well, as did the cucumbers, roma tomatoes, and jalepeno peppers…

It’s such as awesome feeling to go out to the garden to pick veggies for salads, salsa, stir-fry, or other veggie-based dishes. I definitely think planting a garden is worth the effort, if you plant things the right way and continue to take care of it over the summer.

Tomorrow, it is back to reality and a TON of work. We are set to launch a huge initiative in 7 weeks in San Francisco, so I’ve got to get moving!

Have a great night all!

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Carrot Farming

August 20, 2010 by

Today was my second-to-last Friday off from work (next week is the final Friday). For nearly 3 years, I have had the majority of Fridays off, and working 35-40 hours a week in 4 days. All good things must come to an end. Even though I was technically off from work, I felt like I worked the ENTIRE day! I have been going non-stop from 5:30 AM until now, and that’s after going to bed at 11:30PM! Sometimes, I just don’t know how I do it.

If you’ve been following me for the last few months, you will know that at the end of May/beginning of June, Scott and I planted a vegetable garden. We’ve had an abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers – pretty standard garden items. But what I’ve really been waiting for are my carrots. Unlike the tomatoes, cucs, and green peppers which were planted from seedlings, I planted the carrots from seeds. On the packet, it said it would take about 90 days to grow. The carrots would be ready to pick when you could see about 1 inch of the orange carrot top. The carrot sprouts (the green parts) have been flourishing for over a month, but no sign of orange – until a few days ago. I finally saw about 1/2 inch of orange sticking out of the ground and was so excited I called Scott and the kids out to see it. This was no false alarm either – like the other time I thought I saw orange, only to discover it was an orange leaf.

I hesitated to pick it for a couple of days, knowing it could probably stand another week in the ground. But, after a particularly rough day and work, I felt like pulling the head off of something, so it may just as well be a carrot. So, I gave a good yank and out popped the 4-5 inch carrot. Even though the carrot was on the small side, I still felt a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that something that started from a seed grew into a full-fledged, edible vegetable. I don’t know anyone who has ever grown a carrot in their own backyard, let along from a seed. I was so proud of myself, for a quick second I thought about quitting my job and becoming a farmer. I mean when you think about it, many times I work longer hours than farmers. And beside, I love farmer’s markets. Hmm…maybe not. I don’t really have the patience  – hence the short carrot – and I’m not very good with farm machinery.

After taking about a zillion pictures of my pride and joy, I peeled it and sliced it up. It was much lighter in color than the carrots you buy from the store and not as sweet, but still very good. Right now, I have about 15 other green carrot “stalks” that have yet to poke their orange heads out of the ground. Ahh, I can just smell the cream of carrot soup in the air. Ok, I have to stop thinking about it.

I don’t know how farmers do it. Patience, please, patience.

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Can you run and drink coffee at the same time?

July 26, 2010 by

Today was – in one word – disappointing. For the last 6 months (more like 4 years) I’ve been working my tail off to gain more responsibility and more seniority at work. Well, today, I officially received a ton more responsibility, but zero seniority. I’d love to wallow right now in a huge bowl of self-pity, but I have so much work to do that I can’t.

Ok, let’s move on….to coffee!

I did read some good news today – that coffee can enhance your workout. Woo hoo – whoever said running and java do not mix was just plain crazy! Drinking a moderate amount of caffeine can help fend off muscle fatigue and keep you focused an energized without making you jittery. Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand recommend drinking 0.5 to 1.4 milligrams per pound of body weight to receive a clear benefit without all the jitters. For a 130 lb woman, this would be about an 8 oz cup of coffee – just enough! BTW – I think that’s a “short” in Starbuck’s terms!

Garden update: So far, I’ve harvested 3 cucumbers, 3 tomatoes, a handful of snap peas, basil, and a boat load of jalapenos. Seriously, jalapenos must be the easiest things to grow – they’re like weeds!! Please send recipes that include jalapenos or I will be forced to take them to work and tell everyone they are abnormally small green peppers. Just kidding of course – kind of 🙂

Like many of you, I’m attending the Healthy Living Summit in a few weeks. To say I’m excited is an understatement! I’d love to arrange a Saturday night dinner – so if you’re attending HLS and are interested, let me know!

I’m outta here – night all!

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Cool and Classy

July 18, 2010 by

Morning everyone! I went to another Farmer’s Market yesterday. This time, it was a market located at a Chicago train station. Overall, I was fairly underwhelmed by the market – or “French Farmer’s Market” as they were calling it. There were probably 20 stands at the most, plus no cheese stand. Still, it was fun to take the kids there for the first time. I had explained to Mr. C that we were going to a Farmer’s Market. When we arrived he said, “Mommy, this is a strange looking farm.” Yeah, and not a very good one at that!

I ended up buying 4 tomatoes for the salsa we made for our BBQ. It was $3 for 4 medium tomatoes – not bad. There just happened to be a Starbucks at the train station too…notice how big my smile is 😉

Although I was disappointed by the market, I was once again impressed by the freshness of the flowers. And, that they were giving away free ones! Ok, only to kids – but that means I snagged two flowers!

How funny is that sign!?

After the market, we got the house ready for our afternoon/evening guests, then hopped into the pool for the rest of the day. Dinner included pasta salad (healthy), homemade salsa with tortilla chips (healthy), corn on the cob (healthy), and Polish sausage (not so healthy). Well, 3 out of 4 isn’t bad! Oh yeah, and before dinner even started – we enjoyed some awesome appetizers – cheese and homemade sangria…

Classy and cool – and that’s all she wrote!

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Vegetable Garden Conundrum

July 11, 2010 by

Today is the last day of my vacation – ugh! I have been away from work for 10 days (including weekends) and it felt sooo nice to be away from work! To celebrate my last day of vacation, I went for an awesome 6-mile run and then hopped in the pool with the kids!

After lunch, I enjoyed a little Conundrum wine with Scott and his parents on our deck. The white wine is a mix between Pinto Grigio and Chardonnay (I think!) – very nice on a summer afternoon. And how appropro, considering it says right on the bottle that the wine is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon by the pool…

I really needed the wine to help me with what was in store later in the day. Before dinner, I headed back into our vegetable garden to set up a new fencing system. We’ve already had two of our baby green peppers “stolen” by bandit critters. No one takes my vegetables with out a fight! I set up a wrap-around flower bed fence and then added screening wire to keep out the pests. Hope this works – otherwise the guy at Home Depot said to try deer and rabbit repellant – that just doesn’t sound good.

One thing is for sure – whatever is eating our green bell peppers is staying away from our jalapeno peppers – if it’s too hot for you, stay out of my garden! At least they did not eat my first cucumber…

Yeah for fresh veggies picked straight from the garden! See you all tomorrow 🙂

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A Berry Good Day

July 6, 2010 by

Back in May, when Scott and I planted our first vegetable garden, we had also talked about planting raspberry bushes. Unlike Scott, who grew up picking wild raspberries in his backyard, I was deprived of this simple joy. As an adult, I had always wanted some sort of berry or fruit plant/tree for the simple pleasure of being able to pick ripe fruit without having to spend any money. After planting our garden, we decided to hold off planting the berry bushes – we had heard that once you plant them they are hard to control, plus they have pickers!

Well a few days ago, I saw an older couple stop to pick berries off of a tree just beyond our property line. I had always known that there were berry trees in the area but assumed they were poisonous – too many castaway movies where people would get sick from eating bad tropical fruit! After talking to the couple, I learned that the berries were actually mulberries (ie, here we go round the mulberry bush…) and they had been eating them for YEARS! Come to find out, that our whole street, which borders a golf course, is loaded with mulberry trees just ripe for the picking! OK, and it gets even better than that. A few days later, my brother-in-law, who is quite the outdoorsman, was walking along the same street bordering the golf course and noticed we had several wild raspberry bushes. He picked a few and we ate them just to see if they were good. OMG, they tasted just like the black raspberries from the store!

I can’t believe that I’ve lived here for almost 9 years and have never once attempted to eat our local berries. And the best part is that with so many berry bushes just steps from our front door, we won’t need to plant any ourselves!

BTW – those are the first snap peas picked from my garden – woo hoo!

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Runners: Shoes That Pamper Your Feet

June 22, 2010 by

I woke up with a killer headache this morning. It was so bad that I did not go for a run. Between work stress (taking on much more responsibility) and my house falling apart, I knew it was bound to catch up with me. My house is not literally falling apart, it’s just that with a near 40-year old house, there’s a ton of work to be done  – and the work just never ends!

Despite all of my complaining, I’ve actually had a great couple of weeks in regard to receiving surprises in the mail. I’d love to cover all of these goodies in one post, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Last week, I received a pair of OKA b sandals (the Shoes That Love You) in the mail to try out. They were the thong sandals, the kind that go between your toe – not my first choice, but I gave them a try. OKA b sandals are made with Microplast™ material and are waterproof, antibacterial, and have a seamless design. They also have the company’s signature reflexology massage beads and ergonomic footbeds built right in.

So what did I think? Marvelous! As a runner, I’m always looking for a way to pamper my feet a little bit more and I think I’ve found the trick. Seriously, I put on these sandals after a LONG day at work and I felt like my feet were being massaged as I walked.  I’ve worn them every day since (not all day long, but at least part of the day) because I like the beads so much, he he!

The only thing I did not like about these shoes is that they were thong sandals. Some people love thong sandals but I’m not a huge fan. I’ve yet to find a pair that look good on my feet and feel good between my toes. I took several photos of myself actually wearing the sandals but opted not to post them – believe me, you don’t want to see my feet in thongs!!! I’d love to try the OKA b slides – I think they’d much more suit my style.

And speaking of style, they have so many styles and colors online – one for every outfit I’m sure – day or night! And, what would a cute sandal be without a cute name? They all have such trendy and chic names like Claire, Lucy, Madison, and Malia. I don’t suppose they have one named Jennifer??? I would definitely buy that one!

Overall, I can see these becoming very popular in day spas, high end resort spas, and yoga studios. I can also see these being the new croc shoe, but they are waaaay more stylish than crocs. If you are a runner or know a runner who needs a little pampering, give these shoes a try, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

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Red, White, and Blue Breakfast

June 13, 2010 by

I continued my quest to be the ultimate weekend warrior. Well, it’s not really a quest, but I seem to be doing a lot of weekend projects lately. I knew the day was going to be a busy but good day. My 7-mile run was kick-ass, ended up running it with 8:10 minute miles, woo hoo! That is faster than I ran on Friday when I ran a 5-miler. I felt so energized after my run too, probably because of the cool mist that followed me on the road.

Next was breakfast – a bowl of 16 g of fiber! In other words, I had a cup of Kashi Go Lean crunch with a full cup of raspberries and blueberries. It was a very patriotic breakfast, don’t you think? Plus, I finally got to open my brand new box of Mighty Leaf tea! After trying the citrus flavor last weekend, I’ve been on a mission to find Mighty Leaf’s version of English Breakfast. I went to both of my local grocery stores, Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and Target – no luck. But yesterday, after I met Anne B for lunch, I made my way to Nordstrom for shopping. I just happened to pop into the cafe where, there it was – Mightly Leaf Organic Breakfast in a box!! Who would have thought I would find my treasure at Nordstrom?

So anyway, back to the tea. The tea, when brewed as directed, is a moderate to strong black tea, much like English Breakfast. I added a little milk and I was well on my way to tea bliss. What I really love about this tea, aside from the bold but not bitter taste, is the cute little sachet bag that holds the full tea leaves. Harney and Sons tea sachets are still favorite, but this new sachet is a close second.

I spent the rest of the day outside. Seriously, I was outside from about 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM. I weeded our never-ending mess of a garden (actually a combination of 5 gardens) while Scott mulched all over the place. I was not practicing the “bend at the knees” way of gardening, so I know that my back will be killing me tomorrow. But a little back pain is worth it when I know I’m going to have an awesome garden in the end! Really, just wait until you see the before and after photos!

See you all tomorrow!

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I wanna be your watermelon….

June 11, 2010 by

Yes, I totally meant that to be a random Poi Dog Pondering reference. I used to be really good at obscure 80’s movies references – a la Breakfast Club, etc, but my husband has absolutely no clue when it comes to 80’s movies so my retro humor is lost on him.

But seriously, I have been eating watermelon ALL DAY! I know that too much of anything is usually not a good thing, but can you really have too much watermelon? It must be the hot, hot, hot weather that’s making me crave cool things. Aside from watermelon, I had an awesome spinach, feta, and chicken salad today, plus loads of ice water.

Most of my “day off” was spent outside. I did everything from cutting down evergreen branches, to weeding my huge garden, to going to the park with Mr. C and Ms. M. Oh, and by the way, this was all after a 5-mile run this morning. Between the run and  working outside in the hot weather, I must have burned like a thousand calories!

Ok, signing off for the night. I’ve got yoga at 8AM followed by a much-needed lunch with my friend Anne B. Can’t wait!

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Planting a Vegetable Garden

May 23, 2010 by

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

We finally did it – we planted our vegetable garden! A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I had been wanting a vegetable garden for years. After removing a ton of stones and small boulders from our “rock garden” and turning over the land, we were finally ready to plant. However, one thing led to another, including my trip out of town, and we weren’t able to plant the garden until today.

Our first step was clearing the garden once more – this time of those spinner things that fall from the trees. They are such a nuisance because if they actually take to the soil they can sprout little trees anywhere and everywhere. Well, I couldn’t let that happen to my garden, so rake in hand, I removed as many as I could.

After that, we headed to Home Depot to pick out our plants. Unfortunately, there must have been a mad rush for vegetable seedlings on this 85-degree day, because many of the vegetables we wanted were not even there. Blah! So, it was off to another garden center for us. I had better luck at the garden center, but still had to buy seeds for some of the vegetables we wanted. I was told it might be “too late” to start from seeds, but what the heck. If it doesn’t work, I’m only wasting about $5 on 3 packets.

After over an hour of shopping, here is what we finally arrived home with:

Seedlings

  1. Cilantro – one plant
  2. Thai basil – one plant
  3. Roma tomatoes – two plants, plus two more for a Topsy Turvy hanging plant holder
  4. Red, green, yellow peppers – 4 plants total
  5. Cucumbers – 2 plants
  6. Jalapeno – about 8 plants total
  7. Watermelon – 1 plant (hey, it’s worth a shot!)
  8. Snap peas – 2 plants (heard they were easy to grow)
  9. Strawberries – 6 plants for a Topsy Turvy holder

Seed Packets

  1. Carrots
  2. Broccoli
  3. Spinach

Quite honestly, aside from finding all of the plants we wanted, the hardest part of planting our garden was deciding where to put everything. Each vegetable has special needs – snap peas grow up and they like to be close together; carrots can’t be planted too deep or shallow; watermelon vines spread out so they need lots of space, etc. We did our best to make sure every vegetable was given the attention it needed. We even got the kids involved – helping us drop the seedlings into the holds, pouring in the dirt, etc. They called it “making salad”, which was just too funny! Little do they know that in a few months, that’s exactly what they will have – all the makings for a salad!

Now, only time, and consistent watering/weeding, will tell how well we’ve done at our first attempt at gardening. I admit, we have probably gotten in over our heads. I’m not worried about recouping the $100 we spent on the garden, I just want to actually have vegetables grow and not have our efforts be completely fruitless (no pun intended). Stay tuned!!

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