What Are These Veggies You Speak Of?

Now that March is practically upon us, I've been thinking that maybe it's about time to consider instituting my New Year's resolutions. One of the things I promised myself to do this year was to start eating healthier and to drop a few of the extra pounds I've been carrying around. My thinking being that I may be able to increase my cycling speed by lightening things up a bit, and the more economical way to accomplish this would be not by buying a $5,000 titanium frame, but by streamlining the bike's engine (me). Taking this route could also be beneficial health-wise and financially. Some of you may be thinking, "Hey, Michael, maybe if you cut down on the beer you would be able to lose a few pounds." And to those I say, "What are ya, nuts?" I feel it is my civic duty to try and review every beer I can get my hands on, so that others don't have to wade through the bad beers to get to the best of the brews. I know, it's a lousy job, but somebody's got to do it.

As a step towards this end, I began my hopefully weekly trips to a local farmer's market today. It's certainly not like there's a dearth of farmer's markets on the weekend. On Saturday, there are two in Santa Monica alone. On Sunday there is one in Brentwood, one in West Los Angeles and yet another in Santa Monica, though this last one I avoid like the plague. For some reason it is the most widely attended of the SM markets, but is nothing more than a glorified street fair. It is not the best place to go for locally grown fruits and vegetables, but is an excellent place to go for pony rides, funnel cakes and kettle corn. If you are looking to connect with other people pushing double-wide strollers or walking dogs, this is the place for you.

The Saturday market on Arizona Ave. is the one I attended today. The main focus of this market is organically certified produce. There is a small area of non-organic items, then a sign marking where the organic area begins. Apparently they are pretty strict about this. I was there one time when one of the sellers was frantically calling a friend or family member on a cell phone, saying "I forgot to bring the certificate, you've got to bring it to me or I'm going to have to pack up!"

So I got the brown Cross Check ready to go and headed off to the market. It's only about two miles away, so that makes about a ten-minute ride, moving at a leisurely weekend pace.

I sometimes have trouble walking past the homemade jams, jellies, cheeses and dried fruits on my way to things that are actually green, and today was no different. I ended up purchasing a ball of fresh mozzarella, some dried cherries and a bag of dates, but also managed to snag some rainbow chard, some kale, fresh hydroponically-grown tomatoes and fresh asparagus. Our local markets are usually fairly light on fruits (except tomatoes and avocados) and lean more towards the veggies.

Of course, just buying them is not going to do me a lot of good. Letting them languish in the fridge becoming the proverbial science project while I am out at Fatburger does not go a long way towards achieving my goals. There are times, as I am throwing an unrecognizable bag of something into the trash that I think, maybe if I keep it just a little longer, not only will it come to life, but develop super-powers.

So now I have a fridge full of veggies, I got a short weekend bike ride in, and I am on the road to health.

I guess that's it for now, it's time for my Saturday trip to the pub!