Summer Nutrients

TWO MONTHS. You guys, it's been TWO MONTHS since I last posted. Since starting this blog I don't think I've gone longer than three weeks between posts, so please believe me when I say I'm sorry for this time lapse. I've received emails about my absence, but the truth of the matter is life just took over.

So instead of making excuses, I'll catch you up a little on what's been going on in our world. Since I "talked" with you all last I've been in four cities around the country, completed our company's annual Executive Committee meeting, attended six live music events (all outdoors, yay!), started going to yoga in the park, averaged 30K-40K steps a day according to my fitbit, bought fresh produce from three farmer's markets and, most importantly, my baby turned TWO.

The last two months, among partaking in all the fun things listed above, also brought a couple of not-so-happy events, two of which happening far too close to home. I've drafted a couple posts about emotions that never made it up, and perhaps at a later date they'll make their debut. But at the time they were written, for me, for my family, I just needed to take a couple of months away from this blog. Emotions are a tricky thing, especially for a person who prefers to just ignore them. To all of you who sent me emails over this time, thank you. They did not fall on deaf ears (er...blind eyes?), and I'm back with vengeance to capture all of your attentions again!

What's my first topic back? Summer nutrients, of course! If you've been following this blog for some time now it's common knowledge that I aim to eat healthy without sacrificing the amazing taste of food. I love food, Husby loves food and our daughter has followed right in our footsteps with her love of good food.

I tend to believe there are a lot of people with me when I write that eating healthier in the summer is easier than the winter...for the most part. Sure, the giant cookouts can get the best of you sometimes, but in the summer it's so.easy to get quality produce.

Enter...farmer's markets.

It seems like every city has a local farmer's market, and this is my favorite place to stock up on essentials for the week because not only am I supporting my local community, but I'm shopping outside. An added advantage is that it becomes a family affair and something my daughter actually begs to go back to in the days between it.

As you can see, this week she decided to ditch the stroller and hoof it through the entire market. While Husby and I were a little leery of that sort of freedom, she really enjoyed the whole experience that much more. She even insisted on carrying her own potatoes (and forced me to purchase a couple of her selections).

Aside from the farmer's market we have just a couple potted plants in our backyard. Once we move into the new house and have the yard put in we'll plant a full garden, but I like fresh veggies way too much to wait until that happens. I grew up with an enormous vegetable garden in our backyard, and one of my favorite memories is running outside to meet my dad when he got home from work and taking a lap around the garden to check on the plants. He always let us pick a couple of ripe veggies and eat them straight from the plant.

Since Adelyn is an extremist when it comes to her love of veggies, she's been taking care of the tomato plant in the backyard. That chore only seemed fair since Husby and I both knew she'd be the person devouring every cherry tomato on the plant anyway!

For weekend lunches there are now enough ripe tomatoes for her to pick and eat as her veggie for the meal, which is what we did this last Saturday.

I was recently talking with one of my mom friends who said her daughter wants nothing to do with water lately. For those who don't live in the Midwest, up until the start of this week it's been HOT and HUMID here.

This weekend it's supposed be around 90 and really humid again, so the no water thing is a valid concern, especially with toddler defiance in tow. One of the easiest ways I make sure to keep Adelyn hydrated aside from water is in her diet. For example, watermelon is so.cheap and (as given away in the name) it's mostly water.

As soon as we head outside after naptime I bring a bowl of cut up watermelon chunks. Husby and Adelyn pretty much hover over it at Adelyn's Little Tikes picnic table and devour every piece (during this time I hear a lot of loud, squeaky "NO DADDY"s...I think she's a food hoarder like her mama...poor Husby can't catch a break!). But like I said, watermelon is cheap and it keeps amazingly well, so to me it's the perfect summertime snack that also promotes hydration.

(please excuse the naptime hair)

As a testament to this girl's love of veggies, we were taking care of my sister's (aka "Aunty Choles") kitties while she was out of town. We also watered her plants and when Adelyn spotted the ripe tomatoes she happily helped herself.

Luckily my sister told me in advance that she could eat any that ripened when she was away. Whew.

What are your favorite ways to take in nutrients in the summer? I've looked into farm shares and want to get more information on them for next year. Are the portions too big for a family of three?

I've got some easy, short summer workouts coming up here on the blog, so stay tuned; I promise I'm back to stay! :)