Green Beans

howdy!  is your weather as lovely as ours has been today?  it's been in the low 70's here.  i'm sure it'll snow again before we're done with it, but today we left the doors open and played with the hose in swimsuits.  the way life should be.

this post is meant to be an encouragement.  because if you're anything like me, you're horrible at cooking vegetables.  i always want to cook them.  jon and jack love them.  i just don't have a lot of easy recipes that don't include cream of something soup or heavy cream.  not that those don't make the taste of veggies better, but i'm trying to keep them, you know, healthy.

it wouldn't really take that long to sit down and find a few good recipes and all, but "time she flies" (name that movie).  how about i'll make it my summertime goal to cook tasty side dishes with all of those vegetables that are going to grow in my garden...

so here's a recipe you can do.  i know that because i can do it.  actually, i totally stole this recipe from my sister-in-law danyele. who makes lots of simple delicious easy things because she has a busy life and a lot of kids ;)



there's something about scooping fresh green beans into a flimsy plastic bag that makes me feel like i'm doing something right.  go do it.  you'll feel right too.  i usually grab a small handful per person who'll be eating them.  my kids count as one "person." three in one.  hahahaha.  sorry, it's late.



bunch them up like this with the ends together and snip or cut off the ends.



i say snip because i use kitchen shears.  i use these for everything.  did you know that if you cut up boneless chicken breasts while they're still frozen using kitchen shears it's significantly easier.  it is.  and not as gross to touch.  just colder.



give them a shower.



toss the green beans in with diced onions and a generous amount of salt in a pot of water.  i've been using purple onions in everything lately, and i kind of like it.  especially in pot roast.  mmmmmmm.  i bought these onions prediced (total cheater).  i become horribly afflicted when i cut onions.  like, practically can't function for a couple of hours after i cut them.  cooking through burning tears...not cool.  i somehow finally realized i could just buy them pre-diced in the freezer section.



speaking of the freezer section...have you ever seen this product before?



it's frozen prepared garlic.  i know, pretty cool.  each square = 1 clove.



i put in two just because i could.   i've never added garlic to this recipe before, but it was just so easy...



now you're done "cooking" and it's only been 10 minutes.  let the whole thing simba down on the stove alllllll day.  i don't think you can over cook it, but i guess i don't know that for sure.  i usually put it on around 9 and we eat at 5:30.



i don't know if that looks good to you or not.  trust me though.  it tastes delicious.  i've had hoards of hungry college athletes put these things away as if they were marshmallows coated in chocolate.  that actually sounds kinda good.  marshmallows coated in chocolate.  ok, enough of me. it's late.  i'll go to bed now.  let me know if you have any good veggie recipes i should try!