Beginnings of Married Life

I've now been a married women for almost three weeks now. Honestly, I never thought I would be married in college, but life takes you in different directions as you grow. And frankly, it's great. The difference from "dating" to "engaged" is the wonderful very likely possibility of sharing the rest of your lives together. The difference between "engaged" and "married" is that you're now living that reality.

We had been dating for a bit over 2 years when we tied the knot, by some standards not long at all and by others an eternity. Since we knew each other quite well, transitioning into living with one other was pretty easy. The hardest part is probably figuring out how much food to make. When a recipe says that it's 6-8 servings, that generally is enough for one meal...and hopefully enough for lunch tomorrow as well. Since this is a food blog, I figured I might as well put some ideas out there for fairly easy dinners for newly married couples. Anything pasta related is cinch and there's so many varieties. Just mix up the type of sauce, vegetables, and meat or cheese and you have a new meal every time. Also a favorite is deviled eggs - lots of protein and super yummy and easy to make. For a more fancy dinner, turkey meatballs and salad can be fun. It's also a great activity to do together as one of your makes the meatballs and the other sautes them. Basically, cooking together can and should be fun!

Anyways, just wanted to say, if you've found the right person then keep him/her. I grew up in a secular community and getting married in your teens or early twenties is unheard of. People from back home found our decision odd, to say the least. On the other hand, people that knew me starting in college thought getting married now was the only logical decision - likely because they knew my relationship with my boyfriend (now husband) well and I was slowly starting to become more religious at the beginning of college and much more so by the second year. But, basically, you know what's right. Only you and your significant other know when's the best time to start your married lives together.

If you've found the right person, why wait? There's only so many years in a lifetime. When you're 60 or 70 or 80, won't you say you wish you had just a few more years being married to the love of your life? Well those few years are right now.

Getting Ready for Pesach

So Pesach is one of those times when eating seems, well, difficult.  I keep reading blog entries about how really it is quite easy to make food - just use fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish.  The problem is, though, I have too much of a liking for pasta and rice.  They're both quick and much easier to make.

Not only is it Pesach next week, but I also started a low-nickel diet.  I have hand eczema and it is highly recommended to try a low-nickel diet for a few months to see if it helps.
(If anyone else has similar problems, I highly recommend trying this out to see if it works for you! - http://www.pennstatehershey.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=0888ec6e-3d2f-4766-833e-b38bd920ffcd&groupId=102184)
Good news and bad news...the diet certainly seems to be helping, but that also means there are very certain foods I can eat.

Some restricted foods in the low-nickel diet overlap with both keeping kosher and kosher for passover - no shellfish, no legumes, no peanuts.  Yet, when we bring in the mixture no lettuce, no raw tomatoes, and no raw onions you just have to throw salads out the window.  Also, did I mention no chocolate? Who doesn't love chocolate?!

Basically, I will be having a very meat-filled week - that chicken is finally coming out of the freezer for some matzo ball soup and chicken salad fun!  I still haven't figured out how to cook fish - I'm so afraid of making the whole house smell - but maybe it's time to learn.  Also, mashed potatoes are a great staple food.  I can finally use up those three pounds of potatoes I bought awhile back.  So all in all, I think I can manage kosher for passover and low-nickel foods.  I mean it's just one week!

Good luck to everyone on the all the cleaning! Feel free to comment and share your favorite Pesach recipes!

Egg Salad

So here's my second attempt at the world of blogging. Not sure how this is going to go, but oh well.

Musing + cooking. I'll give you great (tested) recipes that happen to be kosher, if you follow that. If not, they're still great recipes, I promise! And, of course, some musings...about what it's like to be a bit of a of a different kind of college student.

Firstly, the basics (aka everything that is important for understanding the future of this blog as I see now):

1. When college comes up, I'm always asked what I want to be. So here's the debate...teacher or psychology researcher or anything else that pops into my head that day that seems super interesting for all of about 24 hours.

2. I fence. No, I don't build fences (obligatory joke). I hit people with a sword. Yes, like Zorro.

3. I love to cook. A lot. And bake. I'm not sure how much I'm helping the feminist movement at the moment with that phrase, but to be honest, why can't I (a person who happens to be a women) really enjoy cooking?! Side Note: I also enjoy Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping.

4. I'm currently engaged. Yay! Yes, I'm in college. No, I'm not graduating this May. Yes, I will finish my education. I'll write more musings on this subject later...especially as we start to plan the wedding. Ahh! Exciting!

5. I've been taking on more religious observance bit by bit (hence the kosher part). It's been really great - certainly harder at times than others. Overall, though, I feel more fulfilled. I'll be sure to speak of my triumphs and tribulations of becoming more observant for anyone that is interested, going through a similar process themselves, or is thinking about it.

So the moment you've all been waiting for! The recipe of the day!

Story Behind It: I bought a dozen eggs about 2 weeks ago thinking I would use them. Of course, I didn't. I figured eggs are the main ingredient in egg salad so might as well give it a go! (Credit: Foodnetwork.com, with some modifications by me!) Also, this should give you food for about 4-5 lunches!

Ingredients:
12 eggs
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dill weed
2 tablespoons mustard (whatever type you have on hand)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle of pepper

1. Dice the onions and let soak in cold water for 15 minutes.

2. "In a large saucepan, with a tight-fitting lid, place the eggs and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Cover the eggs, remove from the heat, and set aside for 8 minutes. Drain the water from the pan and cool the eggs in the pan under cold running water. Peel the eggs and cut into sixths."

3. Combine the celery, mayo, dill weed, mustard, lemon juice, and salt in a separate bowl.

4. Add in the cut eggs to the combination in Step #3 and mix gently until coated.

5. Season with a sprinkle of pepper.

6. Eat in a sandwich, wrap, or salad. Yum!