A Pregnant Lady Tells You What to Make for Dinner

If you don't really use leeks that much, you should. If you put them in a dutch oven or saucepan with a little butter and olive oil and cover them until they are soft, you have yourself something very nice indeed. I feel like I may have been overlooking leeks all this time. No more. Now I will buy them without even having anything in mind for them and still manage to use them up before they go bad. Nothing I have made with leeks has ever been less than delicious.

The other night I did the following: I halved and chopped two leeks (be sure to run them under water after halving them, they tend to hide some dirt). I heated about 2 TBS of butter and the same amount of olive oil in a saucepan. I added the leeks and put the cover on.

I boiled some water for pasta. When the leeks were soft and velvety, I added them to the drained pasta and threw in a bunch of things from the fridge: cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, frozen peas, a tiny amount of heavy cream, and salt and pepper. It was ready so quickly that Bill hardly had time to change into his after work clothes.

I ate the leftovers for lunch today and they were quite satisfying for a 15 minute meal made two days ago.

You don't have to make this, but I do think you should get some leeks and try something with them--anything.

Also, I think that if you drink Swiss Miss or any powdered hot cocoa that gets mixed with hot water you should switch to making it with milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. It will improve your life considerably. You're welcome.

Moving along

On Thursday it will be 24 weeks. Of being pregnant that is. I haven't written at all about being pregnant. You'd think it would be a topic rife with fodder for wit and reflection--and it is. I just can't seem to do it. At first it felt like I had to wait forever to even tell people about being pregnant. It seems early pregnancies are more tenuous than most of us know. Finally I have news to share and a cute bump and huge boobs and everything and it just seems like there's no way to talk about it. I'll either sound like I hate being pregnant--droning on about the aches and pains--or I'll go on about the magic and wonder of it all. Neither one is quite right.

I can say that my belly sort of feels like it should have always been there. I do kind of like it. It's not so big yet so my tune may change.

I can say that we can't agree on a name although I did think of a new one today which I will propose to Bill later and which he will probably hate and which you can't know because we are keeping names a secret.

I can say that I'm freaking out a little (a lot) about the house, my job, money, staying home or not staying home, baby furniture, cloth diapers, not sleeping, and health insurance.

I can say that I had two nights in a row of totally freaky baby dreams. The other night, before I went to sleep the baby was kicking me so hard that I could feel him through my skin, not just little bumps, but like he was trying to kick his way out. I could feel his body parts. It freaked me out. I dreamed that he was trying to nurse through my belly and I had to pry him off. I felt bad because I felt like he was hungry and I wanted to take care of him but he was stuck inside there with no one to look after him. Last night's dream was more about giving birth. The hospital was all crazy and I saw a few babies born but everyone already had a room except me and I had come unprepared. Then my baby was born and he was so fat and huge--the size of a large 6 or 7 year old. Then I had to keep putting him back inside me and giving birth again to feed and change him. Finally I was like "This is crazy, " and I realized that once babies are out, they stay out.

I am now reminded that I need to sign up for childbirth classes. Tally ho! Pregnancy forward! Until later.