Eat those green things; they make you tall.

That's what I overheard my pediatrician saying once to another child as he wrapped up with him/her to come in for my child's checkup.

I've recently decided that I need to eat more vegetables. So, I went to the library and got a few cookbooks to help me.

One thing I wanted to cook was kale. Dark green, leafy vegetables are supposed to be very good for us. They're also not very well liked outside of the American South. I once tried making mustard greens the way my Tennessee-native grandmother cooks them. We threw them away. We'll eat the occasional meal with spinach, but mostly my husband turns his nose up at it. But a year ago I had made a beef and barley soup with kale in it, and we all liked it, so I wanted to give kale another try.

Last night I made kale with potatoes and bacon, and it was very good. The recipe was simple: boiled potatoes; boiled kale; sauteed onions; a little crumbled bacon; salt and pepper. It was better than we expected it to be. The five year-old didn't want it (he doesn't even like potatoes), but the husband _really_ liked it and the baby enjoyed sharing my leftovers today. If you've never had cooked kale, it tastes somewhat like cooked broccoli. And goes well with potatoes.

How do you get your greens?

Breathe Deeply

Q: Are peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches good?
A: Yes.

These are the types of things I have time for when I can't fall asleep at night. I went to bed two hours ago only to cough or gasp every time I got relaxed enough. The asthma is acting up again, and it's really pretty bad for no good reason. If this is a result of my new medication (which I LOVE) then sadness for me. About halfway in to this insomnia I thought I'd use my inhaler, but having used it so much already in the past 48 hours, the stimulant effect was too strong and woke me up even more. Thus the sandwich.

Try one sometime. (The sandwich, not the inhaler.)

Back again after a supreme hiatus

You thought I had given up on this blog. So did I! But we've gotten past the first nine months of the baby's life and I'm getting enough sleep!

A couple days ago I made some black bean soup that was so good! This isn't a detailed recipe, just a list of the ingredients:

black beans, cooked from dry by Jer
lots of frozen corn
dried minced onion (had no fresh)
green pepper
fresh tomato
some water
chicken bouillon
frozen cilantro (Mmm. When I buy a bunch of cilantro, I chop it up and put it in a gallon freezer bag with some water. I let it freeze flat so I can break chunks off as needed.)
garlic powder (contemplated the garlic clove... too lazy)
whole cumin seeds, crushed a bit with back of spoon

It simmered a while. Then we each seasoned it to our liking with salsa and hot sauce at the table. Jer added shredded cheese. The baby even liked it (although I took some out for him before adding the chicken bouillon so he wouldn't get the salt and MSG).

I was too tired to make cornbread to go with it, but luckily we had tortilla chips, and together it was delicious! Leftovers the next day were just as good.