Ode to Veggies

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

For the last several years I have had a love for veggies. Fresh veggies of all kinds. I love them all- zucchini, broccoli, onions, mushrooms, potatoes, squash, green beans, green peas, Lima beans, black beans, any beans, carrots, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, spinach (fresh, not cooked), salad, asparagus, cucumber, corn.

I love it all. Steamed, sauteed, baked, or broiled. I would be happy with a meat free diet. I had to consciously refrain from eating the entire zucchini last night during dinner so that Ben could have his share. I never have veggies for lunch leftovers because I always finish them that night. Seconds, always. Thirds, usually. Post-dinner clean-up I can usually be found bent over the veggie pot eating any left morsels while Ben comments, "I guess we won't have any veggies for lunch tomorrow".

I don't know why I love veggies so much. You would think that because of my sugar addiction I would prefer fruit. Fruit is pretty, smells good, and is sugary. But for some reason, I've never really craved fruit like I crave veggies. I will certainly eat berries, oranges, apples, and bananas when offered, but I don't typically crave them the way I crave veggies. Not sure why that is.

My biggest challenge is that, because the produce here is not all that great, when I buy veggies for the week some of them go bad before I finish the week's meals. It's quite a disappointment when I go to grab the green beans from the fridge to cook for Saturday's dinner and I have to throw them out. Yes, I could use frozen veggies (which I end up doing in situations like this)... but it's not quite the same.

All I can say is that I'm glad my addiction is for veggies instead of fried food or hamburgers. I guess one can never eat too many veggies.

In honor of veggies, here is my favorite way to cook each one, though there are so many lovely options. I usually prefer cooked, not raw, veggies but NOT the southern-style mushy versions. Usually I like them pliable but still with a little crunch. Thank you to all my veggie teachers along the way, including trial-and-error :)

Green beans- baked or sauteed with a lot of fresh garlic, some olive oil, juice from two lemons, and some salt and pepper.
Spinach- in salad with sliced red onions, cucumber, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese.
Broccoli- microwaved in a covered pot with homemade vinaigrette dressing (gives that steamed effect without the hassle).
Zucchini- quartered and sliced lengthwise, brushed with olive oil, topped with a little Parmesan cheese, and paprika. Broiled in the oven until brown- yum! Also good sauteed in half moons with onions. So many ways to cook this one!
Asparagus- broiled with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, a little lemon juice.
Potatoes- how many ways! I love boiled and smashed red potatoes with onions, butter, and salt, quartered red potatoes baked with rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and Italian seasoning, and baked potatoes with chives and sour cream ... oh there are too many ways to describe how much I love this vegetable.
Bell Peppers- sliced and sauteed with onions with a little soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce makes a delicious stir fry. Also good chopped up in salad.
Tomatoes- thickly sliced and topped with Italian style bread crumbs mixed with Parmesan cheese and drizzled with olive oil., then broiled in the oven until brown (Au gratin). Tomatoes are the only veggie I'm not crazy about, unless they're sun-dried.
Squash- sliced and sauteed with chopped sweet onion, garlic, a little brown sugar, pepper, and nutmeg (yum!)
Onions- a joy of my life. I LOVE onions. In anything! And on their own! I think red onions are the best for salad, sweet onions for sauteing. Grilled onions are good on just about anything, especially meals that can typically be boring like grilled cheese sandwiches.
Beans/Legumes/peas- not really anything special to do with these. Black bean cakes are a-mazing though!
Corn- on the cob with butter
Cucumber- on top of toasted french bread pieces with feta cheese. Or in salad.
Mushrooms- sauteed with onions or used as sandwich toppers.

And that's all that's really on my mind right now...

Crib-hopping

We got a crib today. A little early, yes. But it relates to my strategy. Living off of one very humble salary while your husband is in school and living in a small apartment means you have to have a strategy for these baby items. It means no brand-new nursury decorated to the nines with all brand new items. Heck, we won't even have a nursery, just a crib in our bedroom with itty bitty walking space. I call them the "big 3"- a crib, stroller, and car seat. The must-haves. The most expensive items (other than the astronomical health bills :) I needed a strategy on how I could save some money. Time was on my side. The longer you have to look around for something, the better chance that you'll find a great deal and won't have to settle or buy something out of a sense of fear-urgency (never a good idea). I kept shopping around online and didn't want to spend over 200 for everything, but when you look at crib, mattress, and if you want a changing table, you're looking at 300-400 range. I found a nice, small crib on sale for half price that had great reviews. I ordered it for $150, even though it was a little early (great deal, I told myself).

When we got it, lo and behold it was missing all the hardware. So we had to arrange for it to be picked back up (because they wouldn't just send us the missing pieces)and a replacement sent. When we got the replacement on Friday, it was missing the same pieces! Ah! A sign? :) I looked on Craigslist today and found a sweet grandma selling a 2-year old crib WITH mattress and changing table for $50. No way! I hadn't seen anything that great for a while on Craigslist. Ben went and checked it out and the crib was great, no recalls, good condition, matched our furniture, though had some baby teeth marks and that gently-used feel. I can deal with that. So we returned the missing-pieces-crib and within 24 hours we had a nice used crib, mattress, and changing table. Yay! Now I just have to get used to the itty bitty strip of carpet in our room that you have to squeeze by to get around the bed :)

Not fully assembled, but you get the idea. Notice the bed corner in the lower left?

Now, if any of my new-mom readers have any great advice for baby stuff, share the love with the pregant woman.

To Baby (and the rest of us)

You will lose your baby teeth
at times you'll lose your faith in me
you will lose a lot of things
but you cannot lose my love.

You may lose your appetite
your guiding sense of wrong and right
you may lose your will to fight
but you cannot lose my love.

You will lose your confidence
in times of trial, your common sense
You may lose your innocence
but you cannot lose my love.

Many things can be misplaced
your very memories be erased
no matter what the time or space
you cannot lose my love.

You cannot lose my love.

-Sara Groves

Religion vs. Relationship

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Psalm 34:8

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"There is all the difference in the world between knowing a thing and feeling a thing- between having a knowledge of a thing and having a sense of it. There is all the difference in the world between knowing that honey is sweet and tasting that it is sweet in order to have a sense of its sweetness. There is a great difference between knowing that a person is beautiful and actually seeing in order to have a present sense of the person's beauty. There is a great difference between knowing that a glove will fit the hand and putting the glove on in order to have a sense of its fitness.

Likewise, brethren, there is all the difference between having a head knowledge of Christ and His righteousness and having a heart feeling of His fitness and preciousness. The first may be acquired from flesh and blood, or from books; the second must come from the Spirit of God.

The Devil plainly has much knowledge of the Bible. From the quotations he made to Christ, it is plain that he understood much of the work of redemption. Yet he is none the better for it; he only trembles and gnashes his teeth more. Ah, my friends, if you have no more than head knowledge of Christ and His righteousness, you have no more than the Devil.

Robert Murray McCheyne

12 weeks

Here's 12 weeks... 3 months... however you look at it!

I promise I will not turn this blog into an every-pregnancy-detail, every-baby-spit-up blog with painstakingly private details about the body ie lose my filter. Tell me if I do, or if I get to one-focused :p

In other news, Ben and I went to Charleston for the weekend to celebrate our 2-year anniversary and our last trip alone together before we have an addition to the family. We couldn't afford anything longer or farther away, because I'm in a far-away wedding in November that I'm going to solo. Luckily Charleston was the perfect place to go for a few days! I had never been before.

Outside the bed and breakfast where we stayed.

Rainbow Row.


85 Tradd Street- where Ben's parents lived during their medical school days.


I found my all time favorite childhood candy... rock candy! I haven't seen it in years...