31 Days of Natural Nutrition: Day 7 ~ Easy Peasy Veggie Cookin'

Here I am. Posting again. I'm loving this 31 Days challenge mostly because it's keeping me accountable to my blog and writing consistently. Thus, I'm feeling more inspired. 

Head on over to the Nesting Place if you want to read some of the many other 31 dayers' challenges.

Day 7 for me was all about easy peasy. After turning my scrumptious chocolate chip banana bread recipe into muffins this morning for MOPS, I was kind of petered out on cooking the rest of the day. (The banana bread recipe is a total necessary share, but was a hand-me-down from my grandmother-in-law, so I'll have to type it up and share later. Stay tuned.)


*Short commercial: MOPS is not a household cleaning product nor is it a weird syndrome; it's Mothers of Preschoolers. If you haven't heard of it or been to one and you have preschoolers, find a group and GO! Now! Seriously. It's saved my life and made me a better Christian wife, mother, and woman overall. 


Anywho, still recovering from my cold kept me from planning dinner and left me standing in front of the fridge at 5:15 p.m. thinking, "What in the world am I going to cook?" Meanwhile, hubby's grumbling in the living room because he's already been hungry for an hour. 


I decided to throw some chicken in the oven and grill up some of our fresh veggies that were, quite literally, dying to get used. This reminded me of one super-easy thing I could share.


I don't know about you, but fresh veggies used to intimidate me. I didn't know how to prepare them, let alone cut them half the time. I'm no pro now, but I've made strides and have found some go-to methods that work in a pinch. 


If you're in a rush and want to (or need to) cook up some of your fresh veggies, here's a little secret. Two ingredients are all you need to make most veggies taste fantastic. Be prepared to be dazzled. Here you go: olive oil and season salt. It really is that easy. Toss your chosen veggie(s) in a blend of olive oil and season salt and either roast them in the oven or toss them in a grill basket and let the magic begin. BAM! Our favorite veggie prepared this way is zucchini. The season salt just makes the flavor explode and grilling them keeps them from getting too soggy, as squash can be prone to do. 


I've used this recipe with zucchini, all different types of squash, sweet potatoes, etc. It's so simple and relatively healthy. No more Rachael Ray 15-ingredient veggie side dishes around here. I'll save those for when I truly have the time, which may not ever come. For now, we do simple. And simple is good.