This weekend, I came home from the farmers market with a tote bag full of green beans; the kind so fresh they squeak when you snap them. It felt like I was holding a little bundle of hope. In a season where showing up can feel like a marathon, maybe this was my sprint. Maybe this was proof that small can still matter.

The truth is, difficult seasons rarely announce themselves politely. They barge in, leave their shoes on your clean rug, and eat all your snacks. And when they do, showing up looks different. Sometimes it’s big: the late-night talks, the cross-country train rides, the hard conversations. But other times, it’s as small as making sure there’s something green and good on the table.

When my tote hit the counter, I thought about how many times food has been my way to keep showing up. When I can’t fix the whole thing; the health scare, the military goodbyes, the high school drama … I can still put something nourishing in front of someone I love. It’s my way of saying, I’m here. I see you. Eat this.

How to Steam Green Beans (recipe from Spend with Pennies)

What You Will Need:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Salt & pepper to taste

What You Will Need To Do:

1. Wash and trim the green beans, snapping off the stem ends.
2. Fill a medium pot with 1–2 inches of water and bring to a simmer.
3. Place a steamer basket in the pot, add green beans, cover, and steam 5–7 minutes until tender-crisp.
4. Drain the water, add 1 Tbsp butter to the pot, and stir in the beans with salt and pepper until coated.
5. Serve immediately.

How to Freeze Green Beans

1. Get your water ready
   Fill a large pot with water (enough to cover your beans) and bring it to a full boil. While you wait, fill a big bowl with ice water… the colder, the better. This is called an ice bath, and it stops the cooking so the beans don’t get mushy.
   
2. Blanch the beans
   Drop the beans into the boiling water. Set a timer for 2–4 minutes, depending on how thick your beans are. You’re not cooking them all the way just giving them a quick heat to lock in color and flavor.
   
3. Cool them fast
   As soon as the timer goes off, scoop the beans out with a slotted spoon (or pour them into a colander) and immediately plunge them into the ice bath. Let them sit for 4 minutes. This stops the cooking in its tracks.
   
4. Dry completely
   Spread the beans out on a clean kitchen towel and gently pat them dry. Any leftover moisture can cause ice crystals and freezer burn later.
   
5. Flash freeze
   Arrange the dry beans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place the sheet in the freezer for 1–2 hours, until the beans feel firm. This keeps them from freezing together in one giant green bean clump.
   
6. Bag and label
   Transfer the frozen beans into freezer-safe bags or airtight containers. Press out as much air as possible before sealing to help prevent freezer burn. Write the date on the bag so you know when you froze them; they’ll be best within 8 months.

Steaming green beans won’t solve the world’s problems. But it might keep someone from skipping a meal. It might remind your teenager that home is still a soft place to land. It might be the thing you can do when you can’t do all the other things. And that counts. Sometimes showing up in a hard season is about the grand gestures. But more often, it’s about the quiet ones; the kind that happen in the kitchen, at the table, in the everyday rhythms no one else sees. For me, that means I’ll keep steaming green beans, keep setting the table, and keep believing that small can still be sacred.

So tell me — in your hard seasons, how do you keep showing up, big or small?

Gracefully yours,

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Reference
Niequist, S. (2024). Celebrate Every Day. Zondervan.