Peanut Butter Spinach Time!!

When we went to Uganda last year, we discovered the joy of Peanut Butter Spinach. I'm not sure what they actually call this in Acholi, the cooks were all kind of vague about the names of dishes.

I did not take a picture of this because it doesn't photograph well. It looks a little bit like baby poo. But I can assure you it's very, very delicious.

First we shelled a bunch of peanuts. This is a very soothing activity and helped us to make the transition from our frustrating lives at work to our tranquil home. I would say we got maybe a cup and a half of actual peanuts shelled. Next, M cooked them in some oil. He ground them up with salt in our pitiful little food chopper (of all people who should have a full-size food processor, we are at the top of the list, but a nice model is pretty expensive, and we just kill the cheaper models way too fast). He then mixed in some frozen spinach (about two packages worth), and chopped that up, too. In the meantime, he sauteed one finely chopped onion and the last three small tomatoes from our tomato bush (Thanks DC and Lori!). He put it all back in the pot, salted it liberally and heated it up. Simple and delicious.

We also ate roasted turnips and sweet potatoes. And rice of course; we're still working through that 25 pound bag.

Not sure how this meal stacks up nutritionally. I supposed it has a fair amount of nutrients from the spinach, turnips and sweet potatoes, and some protein from the peanuts. There was also a lot of salt in the meal. However, I recently read that adequate salt intake is actually quite important for women in the third trimester, and it can help prevent toxemia. The American Pregnancy Association still recommends laying off the salt, but this source indicates otherwise. So, who knows?

When I first got pregnant I knew nothing about how I was supposed to take care of myself, other than giving up alcohol. I read a whole bunch of books and spent too much time on the Internet, only to become confused by the conflicting information. So, I developed my own principles for eating, based mainly on the very non-scientific idea of following my cravings. In months 2-5, this mainly consisted of grilled cheese sandwiches and popsicles. Thankfully now I have shifted to a more normal diet.