Posts from — August 2010

Today I read such an inspiring post on another blog that I couldn’t just comment on it—I had to share my thoughts with my own readers as well. Katie at Health for the Whole Self wrote a fantastic post about body metaphors. Check it out!

After reading her post, I thought long and hard about the fact that I have used both the measuring stick and machine metaphors in the past.

Using my body as a measuring stick for self-worth or accomplishment has rarely been a satisfactory experience. In this mindset, no matter what my weight/dress size is, it never seems quite good enough. There’s always another pound to lose or style to squeeze into, and it becomes way too easy to forget all of my other traits and accomplishments when scrutinizing my physical appearance. I don’t want other people to “measure” or judge me based solely on my physical appearance, yet I tend to assume that’s what they are thinking, and although I coach others not to judge themselves this way, I still have to remind myself frequently not to do it to myself.

When I focus on my body as a machine, that’s a step in a healthier direction, for sure. I tend to think this way when I am training for a race. However, using this metaphor sometimes leads me to expect more of my body than I should, and I feel intense discouragement and disappointment if I experience an injury or illness or find that my body simply isn’t accomplishing any given goal as quickly or as easily as I expected it to. My husband often reminds me that hitting the same key on a slow computer is not going to make it work any better or faster—if anything it will just slow it down—so if my expectations for this real machine are a little “off,” you can imagine what they are for my own body when I view it as a machine instead of a living, breathing, flexible and fallible part of ME.

Katie suggests the metaphor of your body as a home, which I find just perfect. A home is where you feel safe and secure. It should be appreciated and maintained, but its aesthetics don’t define who you are. Sometimes your home will let you down (the roof may leak, an appliance may break) but when that happens, repairs and TLC are all you need. You can strive to keep your house neat and clean so that you feel comfortable and houseguests will be impressed, but it’s important to recognize that a house should be lived in, not just observed, so sometimes a little messiness is OK.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this body metaphor, and I know Katie would too!

Related posts:

I adore avocados. I love them in guacamole, in sushi, added to salad or a sandwich, or even sliced up and eaten on apple slices. I love avocados for the creamy texture and delicious flavor, but if that were not enough, their health benefits would definitely make me give avocados a try.

Just check out these avocado facts:

• The average avocado contains more potassium than an average banana! It provides 25% of your recommended daily allowance, while a banana provides just under 15%.
• Avocados are high in fiber (16 grams in 1 cup!), vitamin K, lecithin, folic acid, and oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help lower cholesterol.
• In addition to containing multiple health-promoting carotenoids itself, adding avocado to your tossed salad or mixing some chopped avocado into your favorite salsa will not only add a rich, creamy flavor, but it will greatly increase your body’s ability to absorb the carotenoids that vegetables provide.
• Avocados contain a high amount of copper, which helps in red blood cell formation.

Selection and Storage

For a ripe avocado that is ready to eat right away, look for one that is quite dark on the outside—not bright green—and is slightly soft, with no dark sunken spots or cracks. If an avocado has a slight neck instead of being rounded on top, it was probably tree ripened and will have better flavor. If you choose a firmer, less ripe fruit, it can be ripened at home and will be less likely to have bruises. To let an avocado ripen at home, keep it at room temperature in a paper bag with a banana, which will emit ethylene, speeding the ripening process.

Once ripe, avocados can be kept refrigerated for up to a week. It is best to keep the avocado whole and not slice it in order to avoid browning that occurs when the flesh is exposed to air. If you are saving part of a ripe avocado, leave the pit inside the remaining portion, wrap the entire thing tightly, and store in the refrigerator. Adding an acidic ingredient, like lime or lemon juice, will also help prevent browning.

Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy avocados:

• Guacamole
• Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
• Scallop and Avocado Appetizer

Here are some recipes I haven’t tried yet!

• Kale, Carrot, and Avocado Salad—Whole Foods
• Summer Corn Soup with Shrimp—Sprouted Kitchen
• Raw Chocolate Avocado Pudding—Rice of Life

Related posts:

Every so often my extremely healthy-eating husband will request something decidedly unhealthy, like one of the sugary cereals he loves: Fruity Pebbles or Cookie Crisp. I repeatedly say no to those (and since I do the grocery shopping, they just never make it into the house) but when he requests baked goods, I have trouble saying no. Monkey Bread I tend to put off at least for a while, but when he asks for something easier like chocolate chip cookies or, like tonight, lemon bars, I often acquiesce pretty quickly.

Tonight after dinner he mentioned lemon bars for, oh, the third time in as many days, so we got out the family cookbook that his mom put together and lo and behold, I had all of the ingredients on hand. So I set out to make him some lemon bars, which was fun because he stayed in the kitchen to help me! He actually did quite a few of the steps himself, all the while declaring that these were going to be the very best lemon bars EVER made, because he was helping. He even documented the process with his camera.

First you mix butter (the original said shortening but we used butter), flour, and powdered sugar and press them into a 9 x 13 pan.

That goes into the oven at 350 until golden brown…this took about 25 minutes in our oven.

The next step is to combine eggs, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, lemon juice, and more flour—this is the top layer. My husband did this part, and commented that it was really hard to mix…and more cloudy than he expected…he remembered the top layer being kind of transparent, and maybe even brighter yellow…but oh, well.

The mixture gets poured over the baked crust, and then the whole pan goes back in the oven for another 25 minutes.

When it comes out, it gets a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Let cool, then cut and enjoy!

When the bars were done and ready to sample, we were both surprised that the layers had similar consistencies and the entire bar was a little more “cake-y” than we expected. We figured we were both just remembering a different lemon bar recipe.

Then, as I sat down to write this post and transcribe the recipe, I noticed that flour is listed in the ingredient list twice…because you use it in the first step (2 cups) and in the 2nd step (4 Tbsp.) Unfortunately, when my husband read “Combine eggs, sugar…and flour,” he then looked up at the ingredient list, and added 2 cups of flour. Oops. That explains the blister he got whisking all of those ingredients together and trying to get them smooth!

OK, so it wasn’t a perfectly executed recipe but we had fun, the bars are still tasty, and we got a good laugh once we discovered what went wrong. But according to him, the baking is going to be left to me from now on…or at least the recipe-reading! I hope I can convince him to try again, though, because the group effort made it more fun.

What funny mistakes have you made by misreading a recipe?

Lemon Bars
(A family favorite)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups flour for bottom layer + 4 Tbsp flour for top layer
• 1 cup powdered sugar, divided (1/2 cup for bottom, 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 6 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine butter, 2 cups flour, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Press into prepared 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
2. Combine beaten eggs, sugar, baking powder, lemon juice, lemon zest, and 2 Tbsp flour.
3. Pour onto hot crust and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
4. Remove from oven, sprinkle 1/2 cup powdered sugar on top.
5. Let cool, cut, and enjoy!

Related posts:

This morning was cool and rather dreary, it was a disappointment pleasant surprise to wake and find it was not raining and we could go for our run! I was truly happy about the temperature: only 68 and low humidity? Yes, please!

After our run at the track (I did intervals for 4 miles), I made steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast. It seemed perfect because of the weather, and I was happy to see last night that summer is a good time for oats! At the very end of the simmering time, I added a chopped-up frozen banana and some frozen blueberries. YUM. We topped it off with some unsweetened coconut, added some cantaloupe on the side, and had a delicious seasonal breakfast!

Although I felt satisfied and no longer hungry when I finished eating, I was surprised to feel some hunger only about 30 minutes later. I was surprised, especially because I was just talking to my mom recently and she was saying that since she started eating oatmeal for breakfast like I suggested, she feels totally satisfied for hours! I’m thinking for me, the quick return of hunger was because today’s breakfast had so much less protein (8 grams) compared to yesterday’s (21 grams). Especially after a workout, I think I just need more protein. I staved off the hunger with some peppermint tea and then some water and avoided the temptation to snack, but about 3 hours later, it was definitely time for lunch.

My lunch was much like yesterday’s: leftover cucumber soup, a berry lemonade green smoothie (less green today since I left out the kale), broccoli w/ Parmesan cheese on top, and a hard-boiled egg. I am still not sure what’s not right about this soup, but I hate to waste good healthy food and keep thinking some sort of inspiration will come to me about how to modify it next time. I’m leaning toward the cilantro to mint switch, since mint is a good summer herb and dill is not. In a soup based on cucumbers and avocado, you kind of have to run with the “summer” theme!

Oh, and here’s a bonus couple of photos of our cat, Jack. He joined us for lunch today on the deck and enjoyed rolling around in the little bit of sunshine we got.

Dinner tonight was way better than last night, and boy was I ready for it! I was super hungry again only a couple of hours after lunch! I lasted all the way to dinner, though. I made Chickpea, Lemon, and Mint Soup (a.k.a. hummus soup) and Kale Celery Sauté. My husband and I enjoyed both, along with refreshing Watermelon Agua Fresca that I found when writing my Fabulous Fruits post about cantaloupe and watermelon.

Today I felt great, other than getting really hungry between meals. No more stomach cramps, I feel energetic, and I definitely feel “detoxed” from all the sugar and wheat that I indulged in recently, especially over the weekend. I’m definitely planning to keep up the 3-Season Diet/Ayurvedic-inspired eating, at least a majority of the time!

Here is the entire day’s rundown in case you are curious:

Breakfast

• steel-cut oatmeal—good (oats)
• banana—good
• blueberries—best
• cantaloupe—good

Lunch

• broccoli—best
• egg—good
• spinach (in smoothie)—good, in moderation
• blueberries (in smoothie)—best
• strawberries (in smoothie)—best
• cucumber & avocado soup—cucumbers and avocado, best; rest of ingredients mostly good

Dinner

• kale—best
• celery—best
• chickpeas—best
• onion—reduce unless cooked (it was)
• carrots—reduce
• celery—best
• coriander—best
• cumin—good
• mint—good
• watermelon—best

Related posts:

This soup—which I have also dubbed “hummus soup”—hit the spot! It has summery ingredients, but was a great soup for us tonight on a rare cool day in August because it’s served warm. Next time I’ll skip the parsley because I didn’t care for the taste and the soup doesn’t need it!

Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

Chickpea, Lemon and Mint Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds
• 8 cups water
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp mint., chopped
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Soak chickpeas in water in your refrigerator overnight. The next day/evening, drain chickpeas and put in a pot with 5 cups of fresh water, cooking over high heat.
2. While chickpeas begin to cook, heat oil in another large pot and gently saute onion, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin seeds and coriander seeds until softened.
3. When the chickpeas have just begun to boil, skim the foam off of the top and pour the chickpeas and the water into the large pot with the vegetables and spices. Add remaining 3 cups water.
4. Bring entire mixture to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1 – 1½ hours until the chickpeas are soft.
5. Strain the chickpeas, veggies, and spices out of the water and blend in a blender, reserving the water separately. Add water into blender as needed, but you probably won’t want it all.
6. Once well-blended and creamy, pour back into pot or into a big serving bowl.
7. Add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, then season with sea salt, ground pepper, and more lemon juice as desired.
8. Ladle into bowls and top each generously with mint and parsley.

Related posts:

This is another recipe I have adapted from Greens Glorious Greens. I am loving this book!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chopped kale
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal (1 cup)
• 1 tsp. minced fresh garlic
• Sea salt to taste

Directions:

1. Wash kale and strip the leaves off of the stalks, discarding the stalks. Tear or chop the kale into bite-sized pieces.
2. In a 10- to 12-inch skillet that has a lid, bring the water to a boil, then add the kale, cover, and cook over high heat until tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir occasionally while cooking.
3. Remove the kale and drain, saving the liquid for drinking.
4. Rinse and dry the skillet, then heat the olive oil in it over medium heat, lifting and tilting pan to coat.
5. Add celery and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Add garlic, cover, and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
7. Add kale and stir until heated through, then remove from heat.
8. Season with a pinch of sea salt and serve immediately.

Related posts:

OK, so this is turning out to be even more difficult than I expected!

This morning I woke up ravenous–not surprising, since I was actually feeling hungry by the time I went to sleep. We had planned not to eat our breakfast until after our run, since it’s recommended that you “break the fast” after your morning workout, so I decided to drink my morning glass of water as usual and wait it out. But as I waited for my husband to get up and get moving I realized I simply wasn’t going to make it through a 5-mile run without some sustenance, so I had a slice of cantaloupe and a spoonful of almond butter. Cantaloupe is “best” for summer, and almonds are “good” (and my almond butter literally contains just almonds) so although I knew this would technically count as snacking between real meals, at least I made good seasonal choices!

By the time we ate breakfast after our run (and post-run stretching and showering) it was already 10:15! I was very, very glad I had my “pre-breakfast.” Breakfast was pretty much the same as yesterday: we split a 3-egg omelet with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and spinach. My husband also had a slice of whole-wheat toast (good) and coffee (reduce) and I had a cup of peach yogurt from South Mountain Creamery. I have never been a yogurt lover, but this stuff is delicious. They come to the Vienna Farmers’ Market on Saturdays and I always stop there after my long runs to get some as a treat. Lately I have been buying one or two extras for post-run eating during the week. Unfortunately, though, yogurt is a “reduce” food in summer! I thought it was a “good,” but when I double-checked the book (after eating it, of course) I found I was wrong. However, in the description it does explain that although best in winter, a small amount of cultured dairy products (like yogurt, kefir, or sour cream) is always acceptable around meals because their heating effect will stimulate digestive strength. And of course the fresh peaches in the yogurt are perfect for summer!

Lunch was late today since breakfast was so late. Mine was very monochromatic…a green berry smoothie, leftover zucchini soup, and steamed broccoli. That’s a lot of green!

My husband had a little more variety for his lunch. He had 1/2 of a roast beef sandwich on homemade whole wheat bread, celery sticks, a bowl of watermelon and raspberries, and leftover soup. His meal looked good, but I’m not a big meat eater and am sensitive to gluten, so sandwiches just aren’t my thing these days.

I tried to make our lunches our biggest meal of the day. Volume-wise, it worked—I was not able to finish my soup—but I actually calculated the nutritional value of my meals for today and yesterday and there is not a huge distinction between lunch and dinner in terms of calories, and my protein has been mainly in my breakfasts. Overall my calories have been fairly low, because of all of the greens. They are voluminous, but naturally low in calories (yay!) I did notice, though, that my fat consumption was a little higher than I would have guessed, with the eggs, cheese, and olive oil used in the recipes. They’ve all been healthy fats, though, so I’m not concerned.

Making dinner was fun. Usually it’s something I do around 6:00, so we can eat around 7, but since I wanted to make a chilled cucumber soup, I needed to make it early. So right after lunch, I got to work. I had intended to make Cucumber Mint Soup using a recipe I found online, but after discovering that yogurt and sour cream were both “reduce” foods, I didn’t want to follow a recipe that called for so much of both. I also realized our spearmint plant needs a day or two to recover from its last harvest, and I think it’s usually what is intended in recipes (as opposed to peppermint, which we also have). Anyone have clarification on that for me?

Anyway, the end result was that I scoured the Internet for cucumber soup recipes, combined a few, and went for it. I felt adventurous sort of making it up, and it was nice since it was midday not to have to turn on the stove to make the soup. It was all chopping and Vita-Mixing! The end result looked suspiciously like a green smoothie…

At dinnertime, I was very hungry, but I didn’t feel it too much until then, so no trouble going without snacking this afternoon. The lateness of our lunch probably helped. Anyway, dinner was Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese and the Cucumber (and Avocado) Soup. They both looked pretty good, especially on my pretty green placemat.

As far as taste, well…first of all, they didn’t go together. The Swiss chard was hot and the soup was cold and that was just weird. I liked the soup more than my husband did, and he liked the chard more than I did. I’m posting both recipes as separate posts anyway, because maybe a nice reader will try one or both recipes and give me some feedback or ideas for improvement!

We each finished off our dinner with an apple and nut butter. I had almond butter, and he had peanut butter. He was already happily globbing it onto his apple when I noticed and told him that peanuts, unlike almonds, are NOT recommended for summer. Oh, well…

Overall, my focus on greens and avoiding sugar and wheat is already making me feel better in general. I’m less sluggish and bloated, for sure. I did, however, have slight stomach pain/cramps after both lunch and dinner today, making me wonder if I might be overdoing it with the greens! I’m still enjoying the challenge of following the 3-Season Diet, too, and was relieved to read in the book that even if you can only follow these guidelines 51 percent of the time (i.e., the majority) you will feel the benefits. I believe it!

So here is a run-down of all the major items I ate today (I left out the smallest ingredients in some of the items, like 2 tsp lemon juice in the soup) and their 3-Season Diet rating for summer.

Pre-Breakfast

• canteloupe—best
• almond butter—good

Breakfast

• eggs—good
• mozzarella cheese—good
• tomatoes—good in moderation
• spinach—good in moderation
• yogurt—reduce (but ok in moderation, good for digestion!)
• peaches—good

Lunch

• zucchini soup—ingredients were mostly good or best
• broccoli—best
• blueberries (in smoothie)—best
• strawberries (in smoothie)—best
• kale—best
• spinach—good, in moderation

Dinner

• Swiss chard—good
• Parmesan cheese—good
• cucumbers—good
• avocado—good
• parsley—good
• cilantro—good
• yogurt—reduce (but ok in moderation, good for digestion!)
• apple—best
• almond butter—good

Related posts:

This recipe is an amalgam of a bunch that I found online. It was definitely missing something, or was just a little “off.” I think next time I’ll try less yogurt, and swapping out cilantro for dill or mint. Any other suggestions? Alternate cucumber soup recipes? Please leave me a comment and share!

Ingredients:

• 3 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled and diced
• 3 green onions (green and white parts included) roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup cilantro, plus a few extra sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• Sea salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor or blender combine the cucumber, avocado, green onions, cilantro, and parsley. Pulse until the mixture is thoroughly chopped.
2. Add broth, sour cream and lemon juice and continue to process until smooth.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and chill for 4 to 6 hours.
4. Taste for seasoning and serve in chilled bowls with garnish.

Related posts:

This recipe, adapted from AllRecipes.com, is admittedly not one of my favorites. Some of the chard had a slightly bitter taste. We thought maybe it was because I inadvertently got some Swiss and some red chard mixed together from the farmers’ market, but after looking it up, it seems they should taste pretty much the same! It could be that I didn’t cook it quite long enough, or maybe the dry white wine (which neither my husband nor I enjoy drinking on its own) tainted the taste for us. It has potential, to be sure, so I’d love to hear others’ experiences or thoughts on this recipe!

Serves: 2

• 1/2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 small red onion, diced
• 1/2 bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately (about 6 cups loosely packed)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 1 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Sea salt to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Stir in the garlic and red onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Add the chard stems and the white wine. Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted.
5. Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with sea salt if needed.

This morning I woke up about 4 hours later than I usually do, with a killer food hangover. It was not pretty.

To be fair, what made it hard to get out of bed was probably a combination of soreness from my 10-mile run yesterday, the big heavy restaurant dinner (and chocolate cake dessert) I enjoyed as we celebrated my best friend’s birthday last night, and the Tylenol PM that I took in the middle of the night when I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep and had aching muscles.

But I definitely attribute most of my sluggishness today to my diet yesterday. It was sort of a culmination of what has become more frequent with me lately…too much sugar and wheat creeping back into my meals, instead of having them as occasional special treats. I know they don’t make me feel my best, but lately I’ve just been indulging a bit too much anyway, so my little “hangover” this morning just solidified my resolve to do a little “detox” this week.

I’d been contemplating it for a while, but yesterday I finally sat down and planned it out: for (at least) the next three days, my husband and I are going to eat following the Ayurvedic-inspired 3-Season Diet that I mentioned in my post about Thursday night’s dinner. The 3-Season Diet basically just means eating what’s appropriate for the season (following the handy charts in the book) and eating 3 meals per day, with lunch as the biggest, and no snacks in between. The “no snacks” will be the hardest part!

I think it will be great, though, to see how we feel trying to follow this plan for a few days. It will certainly be a good detox for my system to have no sugar for at least a few days, and hopefully it will kickstart me back into my normal eating habits. I’ve decided I’m going to make lots of seasonal soups, smoothies, and dishes centered around greens. There are a lot of great greens that are in season right now, and I realized recently when putting together some information for a client that there are still a lot that I haven’t even tried myself yet!

Even though it seems nearly impossible to find recipes that have ALL ingredients that are “best” for summer, I found plenty that have an appropriate main ingredient (or 2) and even if a few minor ingredients, like 1 minced garlic clove or a small amount of basil, aren’t “best” I think that will work. I’m steering clear of anything that is labeled “avoid” for summer, though!

Today since we got up really late, we only ended up eating 2 meals (and although my husband snacked in between, I didn’t). For “brunch” I made a 3-egg omelet for us to split, and berry green smoothies. Neither was picturesque enough to photograph (and we were ravenous since it was quite late by the time we ate) so no photos, but they were tasty and satisfying. Here is the list of ingredients and how they stack up against the  3-Season Diet’s summer chart:

Omelet:

• eggs—good
• mozzarella cheese—good
• tomato—good in moderation
• spinach—good in moderation

Smoothie:

• spinach—good in moderation
• organic frozen strawberries—best
• frozen banana—good
• ice & water—always fabulous for you, of course!

So brunch was an Ayurvedic success, and was tasty. We then spent the day cleaning the house. Not the most exciting Sunday, but hey—sometimes it’s gotta be done.

For dinner I made Lemon-Basil Kale and Spicy Zucchini Soup. I’ve posted both of those as separate recipe posts. Both were tasty, and I felt pretty good about the small size of our dinner, but I think my husband was glad he had snacked on a piece of leftover (homemade) pizza about an hour before dinner was ready!

Here are the ingredients and their 3-Season Diet rating for summer:

Lemon-Basil Kale:

• kale—best
• basil—reduce
• garlic—reduce
• lemon juice—reduce

Even with all the “reduce” labels, this wasn’t as bad as it seems: the kale was by far the weightiest ingredient!

Spicy Zucchini Soup:

• zucchini—best
• jalapeno pepper—reduce
• whole wheat bread—good
• onions—reduce unless cooked (they were)
• garlic—reduce
• mint—good
• cilantro—best (“one of the most cooling foods on earth”—who knew??)
• lemon juice—reduce

So Day 1 of our 3-Season Diet experiment was a success! I tried new recipes (and they were not for baked goods!) and stuck to the guidelines for summer eating. Food hangover is long gone and I am excited to see how I feel after three whole days of conscientiously eating this way. I predict good things!

Oh, and here are a few photos from the deck “garden” that my husband took today (we got the fun camera back!)

Here is my first tomato (yes, it’s late, but better than never!) on one of my potted tomato plants. There is a second one right behind it that you can’t see, and this morning for the first time I spotted a third one. Hooray!

Here is my first (and only, for now) jalapeno pepper. It’s teensy tiny and very cute.

And THIS is a “Very Hungry Caterpillar” who has been helping himself to our mint. Apparently he’s going to become a moth someday. He’s pretty crazy-looking and fun to observe, but it is NOT fun that he’s been eating our plant. We’ll have to keep an eye out for him.

Thanks for reading! Have a great start to the week!

Related posts: