Cupcakes and Yoga Pants is Coming Soon

Well, it's official -- the new blog will be called Cupcakes and Yoga Pants.

It's the perfect way to sum up my life. I hit the gym five days a week, but have no regrets (well, maybe a few) when I eat cookies and cupcakes.

This new lifestyle blog will go far beyond foodie topics.

I plan to write about fitness, nutrition, health, recipes, gardening, food information, DIY, crafts, volunteering, photography, the environment, fashion, beauty, Pinterest fails, pets and pretty much anything else that fits into my healthy (but, totally not perfect) lifestyle.

Want to be the first to know when Cupcakes and Yoga Pants goes live? I'll send you an email.

You can sign up for an email notification HERE.

Or, send me an email with a message to angela.tague@yahoo.com.

I'm excited to share tips, ideas, reviews and random musings on this new blog.

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

Tips for Mulching Your Garden: 3 Natural, Free Options

The first layer of grass mulch in the garden.

It's finally gardening season in the Midwest. I'm hoping last week was our final frost warning and it's safe to put a few veggies into the ground today.

For the last three years I've explored natural ways to keep weeds at bay and make tending to my garden less of a chore. I want to pick vegetables, not pluck weeds.

So far I've figured out three natural things that work great as mulch.

What is mulch? It's a protective barrier that keeps weeds to minimum, often times provides nutrients to the soil and helps keep moisture in the ground to nourish plants during dry weather.

3 Types of Free, Natural Mulch for Your Garden

 

Newspaper: The first year I decided to forgo weed barrier paper, I used old newspaper instead. I soaked each sheet in a bucket of water and carefully tiled the garden with the newsprint. Then I cut holes in the paper where I wanted to plant my seedlings.

Since the newspaper is biodegradable and printed with soy inks, it's eco-friendly and eventually disintegrated into the soil. There was one drawback though: wind. I ended up using a layer of grass cuttings and a few stepping stones over the newspaper to keep it in place.

Fall Leaves: Two years ago we ran out of leaf bags and decided to pile the dry fallen leaves in the garden. We planned to later bag them for curbside collection, but that never got done.

They surprisingly broke down over the winter from the weight of snow and created a nice 6-inch layer of mulch around my plants. Some weeds still popped through but over all, I'd say this natural mulch kept my garden 75 percent weed-free.

Grass Cuttings: Last year I decided to try using fresh cut grass clippings as a mulch. Much like the leaves, it works great, and that's what I'm using this summer.

However, after it rains, the grass gets clumpy and has a bit of an odor. And after awhile, the nice green color turns boring gray. But, it still works well to keep weeds to a minimum.

Do you know how to mulch your garden with other natural products? Or, do you use old newspaper, leaves or grass? Please share your tips an ideas in the comments below.


Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

Goodnight, Garden. Hello, Winter!

My Iowa garden during winter.

Last week I put the garden to bed for the winter.

I removed the withered foliage and piled the stepping stones in the corner. Now the soil will rest and enjoy natural mulch from decomposing fall leaves and a long winter drink from the upcoming snowfall.

Next spring the garden will get rewarded with a fresh till and new seedlings to nourish.

I'm going to miss my summer garden. So, I've been brainstorming ways to maintain my healthy whole foods living lifestyle when fresh, locally grown produce is at a minimum in Iowa.

3 Ways to Eat Healthy During Winter

1. Enjoy garden goodies from the freezer. I have several containers of homemade applesauce and bags of frozen tomatoes ready to go.
2. Buy more fresh frozen fruits and vegetables than canned varieties to avoid added sugar and salt.
3. Shop at the local meat market which offers some locally grown greenhouse produce and fresh cheese during winter.

How do you make healthy eating decisions during the frozen winter months? Tell me in the comments below!

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

Tomatoes, Tomatoes Everywhere!

Cooking down the tomatoes. Photo by Angela Tague

The days feel like summer, evenings like fall. Welcome to October in the central Midwest.

My garden is slowly dying down and I'm in the process of figuring out what to do with all of these tomatoes! I have red, yellow and orange goodies to put to good use.

Two weeks ago I made a batch of spicy red pepper pizza sauce. Last weekend it was homemade pasta sauce with mushrooms, bell peppers and onions thrown into the mix. I also froze some peeled tomatoes for a future batch of chili or tomato soup.

How do you like to use your end-of-season garden tomatoes?

If you have any tips for making good use of the green tomatoes still on the vine, please let me know. It's to dip down into the 30s this weekend, and I don't want the tomatoes to go to waste!

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

Feeling a Little Pickled?

Homemade pickles! Photo by Angela Tague

These hot, rainy summer days have made my garden spiral out of control. The acorn squashes are all ripening at once. My tomato row is speckled with red and yellow orbs of deliciousness and the cukes--oh the cukes!

Over the weekend I spent a few hours creating a new pickling recipe to use up my wealth of cucumbers. The first batch I made was too tart. I love pickles, but not when they make me pucker like a blow fish.

My next batch was much better. Instead of following a recipe, I decided to wing it. I started with 2 cups of white vinegar, 2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill, 2 teaspoons of diced garlic and 1 cup of raw sugar.

Warning: Raw sugar will turn your brine a pretty/dingy/uncommon caramel color.

After a good stirring to dissolve the sugar, I gave the pickling liquid a taste. It was a touch sweet so I added maybe another 1/2 cup of white vinegar. The pickles are in the fridge now. Hopefully they will be delicious in just a few days!

Have you been making pickles too? What are your tips and tricks? And while we're at it, what should I do with my impending bumper crop of tomatoes? I'm thinking of making homemade pizza sauce to freeze for winter pizza making.

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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O'Hare's Little Green Secret

Fresh produce for sale at O'Hare. Photo by Angela Tague

When you think of O'Hare International Airport in Chicago do you envision hallways packed with travelers, the sound of jet engines firing up every few seconds and the dreaded TSA security checks? I do.

On a recent business trip to Boston, with a layover in Chicago, I discovered something I never knew about the world's busiest airport. It has an aeroponic garden.

In 2011 the soil-less garden was installed on the mezzanine level of the O'Hare Rotunda Building. This is located in Terminal 3. The garden has a series of 26 vertical towers with over 1,100 planting spots. The greens are misted with a nutrient solution and no chemical fertilizers are needed.

Read more about this amazing garden HERE on the airport's website.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the garden itself, but I did pass by a "farmer's market" style food shop where you could buy some of the fresh produce. A few of the restaurants in the airport even use the greens in their dishes.

Now that's some locally grown whole foods! Way to go, O'Hare!

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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Growing Whole Foods: It's Garden Season!

Acorn squash plants in my garden. Photo by Angela Tague

What better way is there to eat healthy than to grow your own food?

I've fussed with a garden of some sort ever since I was a kid, and this spring is no exception.

Over the long Memorial Day weekend I added a few more goodies to my small garden and can't wait for the growing season to really get underway.

Do you plant a garden? What do you like to grow?

This year I opted for a few varieties of tomatoes, yellow-green bell peppers, cucumbers, acorn squash, cantaloupe and onions. I might still do a container garden of herbs and scope out a place for strawberries.

In addition to munching on fresh fruits and veggies throughout the summer, I simply love getting outside and playing in the dirt. There really is nothing better than soaking in the sun and fresh air after a long day behind a computer screen!

Until Next Time,
Choose Healthy!

Angela Tague
Whole Foods Living

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