urban garden trials and tribulations

Our little babies are all grown up! We started these suckers from little baby seeds back in March/April. It's been fun to watch everything grow! But with life, comes death and unfortunately... not all of our little guys have made it. 

This is so sad but so true... I feel like these plants are my kids. No lie. Mike and I 'visit' with them every morning and at least once after work. We get so excited when something new has bloomed or is growing. And we (I especially) get so angry when anything starts messing with my kids. By anything, I mean the gigantous army of ants that just love, love, love our okra and try to completely devour the okra plants every morning. Jerks.

So, funny story. One morning, I walked out like any other morning to water the plants and  pull off dead leaves, check out the goods, etc. Lo and behold, our biggest and best producing okra plant was covered with ants. I mean COVERED. You couldn't even see the plant!

{A little back story - these ants have been all over our okra from day one. Every bud that comes, they try to devour it. Every okra, they try to eat it. They farmed aphids all over our plants. They have just been quite the unwelcomed pest.}

Anyway.. my not-so-patient-kind-calm self sucker punched the plant to stir them up (not sure this was necessary) and stormed inside to grab pesticide. Then I went backwoods crazy on the ants. I started spraying the ants, the okra, plant, the soil, the air, the next door neighbor's car. I mean I went berserk. I think my upper lip even started to sweat and my hands were shaky. The whole nine yards.

Luckily I regained consciousnesses and realized what I was doing. I felt SO bad. The ants were dying like right in front of me and then I started worrying about the rolly pollies, the bees, everything. I like slumped over and had to confess to Mike what I had just done. OK and all of this was before 8am. I mean seriously?! Talk about a rough day.

So, all of this to offer you some tidbits on getting rid of unwanted ants in a healthy {sane} way:

  -Sprinkle cornmeal around the base of the plant. The ants will take the cornmeal back to their crib and {sadly} starve.
  - If you see that you have an ant problem, check the bottom of leaves. Ants actually 'farm' aphids, which means that they spread them out to other leaves, let them reproduce and feed off of them. If you find aphids, take a paper towel and just wipe the aphids off. You can also use water to spray off the aphids. Once you get rid of their feeding grounds, they will have to search elsewhere. Check/rub down the leaves every day for awhile.
- Spray the suckers with water. As odd as it seems, just blasting them seems to stun them for awhile. They will come back later but at least you've bought yourself some time.
- Use an organic pesticide. We use Neem oil. It seems to work {especially when you go nuts on them}

Remember, bugs can be good little worker bugs in your garden.. including ants. You will want to watch their activity before getting rid of them. If you have okra though, more than likely they are sucking the nutrients out and will eat up your entire plant if you aren't careful. So, exterminate, baby, exterminate.

handy dandy kitchen tools

Mike and I spend the majority of our time in the kitchen. What can I say? We love food. When it comes to cooking, cleaning or anything domestic, I prefer to easiest way possible. When it comes to my favorite gadgets, these are the guys that get the job done quickly and effortlessly. Cooking is something we love to do separately and together. And, because we spend a lot of time cooking, we like to take a short cut here and there.  Here are some of our favorite kitchen gadgets:

1. Ikea garlic press - works like a charm and only $5. We went through four garlic presses at William Sonoma and this Ikea one kicks all their butts.
2. Waring Pro electric wine opener - if you drink wine, you need this. Never again will you have to worry about cork floating in your glass. And, in 2 seconds you have a bottle of wine open and ready to drink. Who can complain at that one?
3. Hanging pot rack - hanging your pots is the way to go. not only does it free up storage, it also helps you avoid the pan-pile-up. You can easily see and grab which pot you are looking for without having to dig, pull out or lift ten pounds of pots.
4. Gizmo can opener - I have had this thing for years and it still works like a charm. You plug it in for a few minutes and it lasts months. With one snug fit, you release the little guy and he opens your cans. You can be stirring, opening and a can and sipping wine all at the same time.

When it comes to cooking, some things are better done the easy way! These are my fav tools that simplify things in the kitchen!

What are your favorite tools in the kitchen? What helps you get the job done?

healthy-nut tips

We've gotten one week {out of three} out of the way. We've discovered a lot of new ingredients to cook with and different techniques for cooking/chopping. I'm having a harder time with cheating than Mike but luckily he's become my inspiration and motivator. He's got some SERIOUS willpower. We only cheated once when we went over for dinner at a friend's house {and BOY was it worth it... cuban pork, trese leches cake, black beans and rice, mmm!}

how about a few tips for a successful detox...

 choose snacks wisely

you will get hungry for something in between meals. make sure you have a variety of snacks that hit different cravings - salty, spicy, sweet, etc. find healthy recipes and make some snacks beforehand so that when the craving comes, you can just quickly grab something like you would a bag of potato chips or a jar of Nutella ;) here are 12 delicious, healthy snacks 

 think colorful 

yummy+ nutritious=color 

{think purple, orange, green, red, yellow}

if you're used to your plate looking the same meal after meal, mix it up. make it colorful!

think outside the box

..here's a fruit smoothie with mint in it.. foreign to me but very delicious..

 don't know what watercress is? neither did I. don't skip it - ask someone at your local grocery store where to find it. just because you don't know what it is - doesn't mean it is expensive or gross.

 focus on your food {we've all heard this a million times over}

eat the dinner table - no computer, tv or cell phone allowed

be sure to give your stomach time to process that it's getting food. 

i'm notorious for scarfing. aka i'm done before my stomach
even realizes it had started eating. bad habit. 

breathe, take sips of water, share your day with your loved one while you eat.

plan, plan, plan

not a planner? too bad. 

when it comes to eating better, you need to have some sort of plan... that doesn't mean it can't change but have an idea of what you are eating the next day so you know how to prepare/schedule. each night while we cook dinner, we are making our lunch and prepping for tomorrow, if needed. this could also mean, just chopping up some veggies and fruits at the beginning of the week. this way if you are in a crunch for time, you can make a healthy, FILLING salad in 5 minutes flat.

drink lots of water. 

if you are feeling hungry - drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes.
still hungry? grab a snack

EAT!

if you are hungry, eat. have a snack or eat your lunch already!
 try to eat every 3-5 hours. 

bon appetit!