NO! You worms leave my cabbage alone!

Anyone who successfully grows anything organically has my full respect. If my organic goods were to appear at market they'd be chockful of pest holes. My five seasonal attempts at vegetable gardening have made me appreciate that every extra  dollar paid for an organic fruit or vegetable was well deserved. BRAVO to those who can do it and do it well!


As you might be able to tell - I'm having some pest issues; specifically with my cabbage.




We first spotted holes in the cabbage on Monday. Oliver Googled them and thinks they're most likely Cabbage Worms. The underside of our biggest leaves are pocked with the craters of opened eggs.  The organic solution is to (and I quote) "hand-pick and destroy any worms you find". Hi, for my more girly friends and readers, as well as those who consider them self squeamish, the organic solution to save my beautiful and cherished cabbages is to pick off increasingly large worms with my hands and squish them between my fingers. Oh great.

Monday, Oliver and I both took a turn thoroughly looking over every single cabbage leaf and smooshing every worm we found. Tuesday and Wednesday it was looking like our work had paid off. But today there was sudden resurgence in worm destruction. As soon as I got home from the office I threw on long pants and a long sleeve t-shirt (over my work clothes) and planted myself on all fours in front of our garden. The next six weeks it may be me versus the worms; welcome to battle at the GARDENDOME! It's worm smooshing season.
*Note: the three worms shown in my photos are not the smallest ones I squished.

Wednesday leftovers

The left overs from last night's dinner were reassembled for tonight's stir-fry dinner. This time the green's came from the last the bok choy growing in our backyard (it was flowering - hence the pretty garnish).  Dessert was Greek yogurt with cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and berries. Lunch was a salad of bibb lettuce (picked this morning from our garden) with a delicious homemade sesame ginger dressing. For breakfast we enjoyed steel cut oatmeal with yellow raisins and walnuts. On my way from work to kickboxing I ate a banana. And in the spirit of truthfulness: I ate about 20 Jolly Rancher flavor jelly beans at work... I'm only human! - Cullen

What's for dinner? Meat and four

Dinner for two, grilled over charcoal in the backyard. Hanger steak, sweet potato and leeks from YDFM. Kale and arugula from our garden. Red wine from Trader Joes. 


Why this red meat and booze meal still counts as heart healthy:
1. Hanger steak is a comparatively leaner cut of beef. 
2. Sweet potatoes are a super food! They're high in: dietary fiber, vitamins, protein, iron and calcium. Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables around. And arugula is pretty good for you too.
3. And enjoyed in moderation, Red wine is still considered beneficial for hearth health (I say "still" because the reasons are debated).
 

Perfect sunny Sunday

For breakfast Oliver made three flavors of crepes: blueberry, blackberry and banana. Each one perfectly light and naturally sweet. After breakfast we walked up to historic Oakland Cemetery. Founded in the decade before the Civil War, the cemetery has picturesque rural garden design and is a lovely place to wander around for a few hours. Notable residents include Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind author), Bobby Jones (golf legend) and the "Lion of Atlanta" - resting place for 3,000 unknown Confederate dead.

Springtime in historic Grant Park

We just returned home from a walking tour of our historic neighborhood park, Grant Park, lead by the Grant Park Conservancy. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Thanks to our tour guide Alisa!


"The Phoenix Flies" is currently celebrating Atlanta's many living landmarks with eight more days of free events and tours at more then 60 sites around town. Tomorrow's tour of Inman Park and next Sunday's Unseen Underground tour have piqued my curiosity. If the weather stay this beautiful I think I might check out both tours!










Slow and steady wins the race

In late January, after being told by a doctor that all my heretofore efforts at lowering my blood pressure weren't good enough, I challenged myself to lose eleven pounds by my 34th birthday. That would put me at 134lbs and 34 years old (I liked the symmetry of it). As a person who prides herself on healthy eating there wasn't a lot I could do to alter my diet - so my options seemed limited to restricting alcohol consumption and increasing exercise (I was already working out three days a week) - so that is what I have done. 

There are just two weeks left in my personal weight loss challenge and tonight I weighed in  at 138lbs! I know that losing four more pounds in two weeks is unrealistic for me - especially because there seems to be a direct correltation between motivation and how hard it has become to keep a bra on. I do want to say - even though I am already really happy with how I feel at this weight - I will continue to try and reach my goal just because I am that kind of person. 


For me, the last few weeks have been a great reminder that fad diets are crazy. To lose weight and keep it off a person must change their habits. As an individual who tried Jenny Craig in high school, a lazy version of Atkins in college, Slim Fast and one frightening week of diet pills as a young adult I feel I have the experience to say "there are no short cuts to genuine health". Take your time, do it right and enjoy the feeling of knowing that your health is more then just skin deep. 


Oh and by the way - my blood pressure is looking GREAT. 

As sweet as moonlight through the pines

We spent Saturday night visiting with the world's best next door neighbors. (Yes, we happen to be the lucky couple who live next door to those elusive neighbors). Cool night, big moon, warm fire, TRAMPOLINE, a couple glasses of scotch and lots of talk about adovating healthy eating habits for Atlanta's school children. Thanks Margaret and Eric!


Tonight was another gorgeous night; so warm that we ate outside. (Dinner had to be photographed by smart phone because I accidentally left my digital camera on my desk at work.) In addition to our favorite jerk chicken we cooked mustard greens for the first time. They were - interesting; very bitter. (I preferred the brussel sprouts and mashed sweet potato.) Oliver also threw an eggplant on the grill for us to snack on later in the week. Looking forward to some baba ganoush!

Mushroom Risotto

For dinner Oliver made a mushroom risotto using dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, parsley, chicken stock and Parmesan cheese. A 100% real food meal that may not be the best example of heart health (also not the worst). Deliciously rich; quite romantic for a Monday too!


Check out our new springtime centerpieces. Made from moss growing on the side of our house! I'll take a better photo of them soon.

Bye bye bicycle

The beauty you see before you is my trusty bike. A 1997 original. A gift from parents when I went off to college. It was too awkward to carry up the narrow flight of stairs to my college apartment so it spent those years chained outside in the rain and snow. Have I mentioned it's very heavy and exceptionally slow? I get passed on the street by senior citizens riding featherweight bikes. For years Oliver has been suggesting I buy a new one. I've refused. My unexplainable loyalty to this bike has been going strong for fifteen years - but sadly I think our time together has finally come to an end.


Yesterday, while riding around Piedmont Park, my front tire blew. Neither of us even considered fixing it. We just looked at each other and knew. Oliver cycled home and came back with our pick up truck to ferry the old girl to the house. That means it's bicycle shopping time; I have no idea what I'm looking for. I'm could use some suggestions. The majority of my rides are in the city and Atlanta has a decent number of steep hills so keep that in mind. (Guess I'll need some new stickers too.) What kind of bikes do you all ride? Do you like them?

What's for dinner? Slow cooked chuck roast and vegetables

The chuck roast went into the crock pot first thing Wednesday morning (Oliver was simultaneously grinding coffee beans and chopping onions ). By the time I got home from work (12 hours later) the house smelled UNREAL. On the stove were mushrooms a jus and fennel braising in a bit of butter and chicken stock. I could hardly wait for him to finish up so we could eat. Truly a delicious meal. Thursday we (happily) ate the same dinner. This time on the front porch (it was 70 degrees at 7pm) and with some roasted kale.


 

What's for lunch? Arugula with lemon and parmesan

It's that time of year again: arugula is in season! Tuesday I picked up a pretty big bag of organic arugula from YDFM for only $2.50. There's enough to make three lunches the size shown here. As usual, I dressed mine with the juice of one lemon, a slosh of olive oil and topped it with shredded Parmesan. It's a great lunch to bring to the office because it can be packed the night before.


This is how I do it: before bed fill a resealable container full of arugula, shred the desired amount of Parmesan over it, close and put in the fridge. In the morning take one lemon, a slice of bread, the aforementioned container and put them all in a lunch bag. (NOTE! I keep a small bottle of olive oil in my drawer at the office. If you don't, then be sure to bring that with you too.) At lunch time slice the lemon and squeeze the juice into the resealable container over the arugula. Add a dash of olive oil. Reseal the container and SHAKE! SHAKE! SHAKE! Then dump all contents into your bowl and eat. Easy! Filling too!

Breaking the habit: sweets

Sugar, sweets and artificial sweeteners have recently been the topic of conversation among both my friends and the media. One friend asked how I handled my craving for sweets while another friend expressed concern about her daily Diet Coke. A blog I follow just did a post about Stevia (a sugar substitute). Food Matters is promoting their new documentary by highlighting the fact that Americans eat 22 teaspoons of sugar every day and both the Huffington Post and MSNBC ran articles in February about the possibility that diet sodas increase the chance of stroke.

My response to all of the above is bound to unpopular: it's time to retrain your taste buds to only enjoy naturally occurring levels of sugar (think: strawberry at season's peak). Once your palate has changed artificial sweeteners and sugar/corn syrup based foods will not taste good, instead they will almost burn. Have that happen in your mouth a handful of times and you will no longer crave those foods. 

Don't believe me? What if I told you that in college, when my roommate and I ran out of tea bags, I would happily drink hot water and Sweet'N Low? In the ten years following college I drank at least one Diet Coke can everyday and couldn't recognize the taste of corn syrup. And until two years ago I was a major fan of sugary breakfast cereal. Today, I neither crave nor like any those foods.

It started in 2009 when I began the slow and steady work of phasing all artificial sweeteners out of my diet. I started with breakfast cereal (it was hard giving up my Honey Bunches of Oats) and worked my way through Quaker Oats granola bars, Vitamin Water, M&Ms and flavored yogurts (think Yoplait). Only one habit remained: my daily Splenda** packet served with my morning cup of coffee. In January I decided it was time to give it up too. 

The first six weeks of coffee without sweetener were bad. One of the best parts of my sleepy eyed, slow moving, morning ritual had suddenly become one of the worst parts. I tweeted about it to my close friends and I grumped about it to Oliver*** whenever he would listen. I declared I'd quit drinking coffee altogether. "Who needs it?!" But still, I brought my travel mug into the office with me everyday and day by day I drank a little more and a little more. Until now, now I think I ALMOST like coffee without sweetener (just don't ask me to give up the half and half). 

My heart healthy perspective on sweets is simple: abide by the same "real food" rules used for other foods. Eat foods made from ingredients you can picture growing in nature. If it came from a plant eat it - if it was made in a plant don't. Treat treats as treats. Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. Abide by those rules for long enough and I think most sweet tooths will naturally sort themselves out. And you might even be surprised by what unexpected* real foods start to taste like real treats!

* Now that I dislike foods like flavored yogurts and chocolate chip granola bars I've been surprised to discover to how much I love juicy in-season watermelon, carrot juice with ginger, and strawberries with cream. 
**There is currently a television commercial that shows a woman sprinkling a packet of Splenda over a bowl of strawberries. I find this commercial ABSURD. If strawberries are not sweet enough then they are either terribly out of season or it's time to reevaluate your palate. 
*** Oliver, we met three years ago today. You inspire me. I love you more then ever. Thanks for everything you do. 

Daffodils in the onion patch and other random things

In the backyard we have two kale plants (troopers planted last fall) and a few rows of onions. There was a moment last month when we got very excited because it looked like one of the onion plants had had  a major growth spurt. Then we realized - it was a daffodil planted in the "onion patch" a year or two earlier. Looks like we forgot where we planted our perennials. Opps...



The plants in the front yard are making progress - some for better, some for worse. The cabbage and bibb lettuce look great but two of the arugulas have already bloomed. That is not so good. According to everything I've found on the web, flowering arugula signals "that the season is ending and it's time to replace it with a warm weather crop"...


 

Last week's meals didn't get a lot of attention. That was due to a stressful work week not a lack of homemade goodness. Dinners were cabbage soup (shown here with potato pancakes and greek yogurt). Lunches were pinto beans. Breakfasts were oatmeal with coconut and banana. The work stress did crumble my no-weekday-booze goal (Tuesday I went straight from the office to our local watering hole) but it did not effect my ability to make it to the gym three times. (Yay! I have officially crossed into the 130s.)






Photo from Sunday's brewday. A month from now we'll be enjoying Oliver's double IPA on tap from our dinning room! Not shown here: the sudden cold temperatures and strong winds.


Topher on Sunday morning. 




Geaux LSU Tigers!

Sunday Brunch

Sometimes I wonder if Oliver is trying to sabotage my weight loss goals - but when sabotage is this fresh and homemade what kind of person would dare complain? This morning he baked English muffins to serve with the fresh, local eggs  we picked up yesterday. He then whipped up some creamed spinach to eat on the side. Heart healthy? Not so much. Real food? Completely. 


Now he is in the backyard brewing a double IPA. I plan to spend the day working on some new items for Etsy and getting ahead on a blog post or two. Dinner will be stuffed poblano peppers!
 

Farm fresh eggs in the center of the city


Three years ago this week a conversation about urban backyard chickens changed my life forever. I was at a friend's birthday party and a cute guy I didn't know was talking about wanting to keep chickens. I burst into the conversation enthusiastically - ME TOO! Of course, that "cute guy" is Oliver. And the shared interest in backyard livestock is one of the reasons we had chickens present during our backyard wedding last May. Those chickens (seen in our profile photo) were brought by our wonderful EAV (East Atlanta Village) friends Guillermo and Robert.

Now, to our luck, it's egg laying season and Guillermo and Robert have more eggs then they know what to do with! As soon as they posted to Facebook that they had fresh eggs for sale Oliver and I responded - we want some! There is even a rumor that they'll be selling their eggs at a few of the local farmers markets this spring and summer. I think I speak for all of Grant Park when I say "PLEASE come to our market"! But for now, I'm very excited about the dozen we picked up today. Thanks you guys!

The chicken shown here is a Cinnamon Queen. She is new to their very diverse flock. The darkest speckled eggs are from a Copper Maran; supposedly they are the tastiest. I'm looking forward to finding out. 

What's for lunch? Split pea soup!

Today we polished off the last of our week's supply of homemade split pea soup. It was a nice change from beans but now I'm looking forward to a week of chopped mixed greens.


We're also pretty much out of food so it looks like dinner tonight will be omelets with goat cheese, shallots and pickled tomatoes and peppers. Tomorrow night is a trip to YDFM.
_______________________

Those of you who have been reading And Topher Too for several months already know we are not a weight loss blog (rather, we are a healthy living lifestyle blog) but weight loss has recently become a topic as I make a bigger effort to lower my blood pressure. The resolution started back in November when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure during a physical exam. My doctor's first response was to prescribe a blood pressure pill. When I returned a month later the medicine had not made a noticeable enough difference so my doctor changed my birth control pill to a low estrogen option. Even that did not bring my diastolic reading (bottom number) to the needed "below 80" number; I was stuck around 85. That is when I decided to lose weight. 11lbs in two months would put me at 134lbs by my 34th birthday.  Well, I'm 34 days in and I've got great news and news I'd hoped would be better.

The great news is: holy cow it worked!!! I've lost 5lbs pounds in five weeks and my diastolic reading has dropped 20 points. It's now averaging 66! I hadn't even dreamed 5lbs could change my blood pressure so dramatically. Hooray!

The news I'd hoped would be better: I'm holding steady at 140lbs. I just can't crack into the 130s. I've even added a 4th day of exercise by signing up for 8 weeks of kickboxing. I'd been warned the last 5lbs would be the hardest... so I'm not giving up just yet. My fingers are crossed that more exercise, less booze and another 4 weeks of determination gets me where I want to be. If it doesn't - then fine - I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. 

Weight Loss Check-In
Day 34, start of week six: 140.2lbs (4.8lbs lost)

Dinner at Antico Pizza

Last night I realized how completely spoiled Oliver and I are when it comes to great, locally owned and operated restaurants. Atlanta is full of delicious and affordable places to eat that are not part of national chains. It's only when I see a television commercial for Olive Garden or Chili's that I even remember those types of places still exist. A few weeks ago I mentioned our first visit to Farm Burger; today I thought I'd highlight one the most fun places to eat Atlanta - Antico.


 


Antico is on the westside of the city, near Georgia Tech, but the feel of the place 100% Naples. The music, the crowds, the authentic Italian ingredients, the dough throwing*, the soccer on TV, the cannolis, the BYOB bottles of wine. We've probably eaten there ten times and every experience has been a good one. Even when we don't snag a table and end up eating while standing at a prep counter it is still a fun and delicious experience. Thumbs up to Antico - we're very glad to have you in our city.

 

*I tried to catch a video of the dough throwing. The posted video is the best I could do. You're just going to have to visit for yourself if you want to see it. It's great!