Weddings and Birthdays

  So this was a majorly fun weekend.  All of the med school friends (minus Jennifer, who just gave birth to baby Audra) came in for Jess and Joey's wedding festivities.  I wish I had pictures of the wedding, but the iPhone just doesn't do a good job at multiple pics in situations like that.  The wedding was outside on the golf course with a beautiful "aisle runner" of pink rose petals.  Jess looked amazing in a white fitted, strapless gown with beading.  The bridesmaids wore eggplant-colored dresses and the groomsmen had black tuxes with gray vests.  The flowers were by far some of the prettiest I have ever seen...eggplants, pinks, and creme. 
  Now let's get to the important part of the wedding.  Food and dancing.  The appetizers included cheese, fruits, and veggies with dip.  But the real star was pumpkin dip!!!  It was delicious.  Jess and Joey did it right.  For dinner there was an amazing salad bar...every type of veggie and topping you can imagine.  There were roasted potatoes, green beans, rice pilaf, and some sort of chicken thing.  And........BUTTERNUT SQUASH!  There were huge pieces of butternut squash with cinnamon and sugar.  Now that's my type of wedding food.  Also, the bar had a Yuengling keg which was right up everyone's alley. 
  All of us danced the night away and then took the party out in Charleston.  Even though there some mishaps that evening (Courtney?), we all had a great time.  Mary's parents graciously let us stay the night in their house after the wedding.  The next morning Mary and I took charge in the kitchen with cooking because we were not hungover.  Mary's parent's recently got back from a trip to Haiti, so we had to make due with creativity and minimal ingredients in the kitchen.
  Mary whipped up scrambled eggs and pancakes.  I chopped up a quick fruit salad with strawberries, blackberries, and apples.  We had sweet potatoes and Mary wondered what we could do with them.  I quickly attempted to whip up a batch of sweet potato hash.  And it turned out awesome.

Sweet Potato Hash
1.  Cook sweet potatoes in microwave until soft, but not too soft (you want to fry them up in a pan, so they shouldn't be too soft).
2.  Sautee olive oil, garlic, and shallots in a large skillet.
3.  Peel and chop sweet potatoes.
4.  Peel and chop half of an apple.
5.  Add sweet potatoes and apples to the skillet.
6.  Season to your liking.  I added salt, pepper, and dried basil.

The sweet potato hash is in the far right corner.  I have to say it was a really nice blend of sweet and savory.  I will be making these again for sure.

  My hubby is 28!!  Later that evening, I had ideas in my head of what Andy and I should do for dinner.  However, we both decided to be lazy, order takeout, and watch TV together.  We're both kind of bummed because I leave in 10 days for NYC for another rotation.  However, I got Andy a cookie cake which was delicious.  He wanted wings and I went with Nawab.  Best decision I ever made.  I had channa masala with rice and garlic naan.  Doesn't make for a pretty picture, but oh well.

  I wanted to make the end of this post a little different than ususal.  Everyone knows that I love salad.  I am fully capable of eating a salad twice a day everyday.  Not only is a salad healthy, but it's one of the most versatile foods that I can think of.  Almost anything can be thrown on top of a salad.  I made a huge salad last night for both Andy and I.  One of the easiest ways to make sure you have healthy things around the house is to make a big salad, and you can grab some for the rest of the week for either your lunch or dinner.

    I like everything in my salads.  However, Andy is a traditionalist when it comes to salad and I am an anarchist.  No rules for me.  This was romaine, artisan lettuce from Kroger, celery, cherry tomatoes, radishes, scallions, and carrots.  Throw some ranch dressing on there and Andy is a happy camper.  I am a painter and only use this as a canvas.  I will show you what I added and I wanted to mention the basic health benefits of a salad.

My anarchist salad:  dried cranberries, beets, artichokes, and walnuts.  AMAZING!!! I could have eaten that entire large bowl instead of my baby serving.

Nutritional Benefits. (% based on 2000 calorie diet)
Romaine: 10% of daily Vitamin A requirement and 8% for Vitamin K.  Also a source of Vitamin C.
Cherry Tomatoes: 20% Vitamin C needs. Has iron, thiamine (No Wernicke-Korsakoff up in he-ah), folate, magnesium and copper.
Radishes:  (Don't hate on radishes.  They are spicy and delicious.)  30% VitC, 7% folate, and 4% VitB6.
Beets:  37% folate!!!  11% VitC, 2% Pantothenic Acid.
Artichokes:  20% thiamine, 10% niacin, 5% riboflavin.
Walnuts:  27% thiamine, 31% VitB6, 29% folate, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, selenium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and omega-3s.

  I just wanted to show how nutritionally power-packed a salad can be.  I didn't even explore the option of adding black beans or chickpeas for a protein boost.  If you eat meat, feel free to add in some roasted chicken on top.  An avocado would also be an excellent addition..good source of monounsaturated fats. 

Oh, and by the way my nutritional salad was served with a side of mac 'n cheese.  What can I say?  I was craving it.