Black bean salad

This is one of my favorite dishes to bring to a pot-luck. None of the ingredients had a face. The only mother these ingredients have is Mother Nature.

As much as I love to cook, I never watch the Food Network, not even for Nigella Lawson. Now that I’ve got you thinking about food porn, here’s the first recipe I’ve ever published here on this blog.

There are a lot of ingredients, but my instructions are detailed. It is incredibly easy to make and comes together quickly. The cayenne pepper and the green chiles give it a “pleasant kick.” However, that which is a “pleasant kick” to me might feel like a thermonuclear warhead detonation to others. For those of you who can’t take the heat, reduce or omit the cayenne pepper or use plain diced tomatoes. But how much fun is that?

Ingredients

1lb. of dry black beans

4 cups of vegetable broth

2 cups of water (use bottled or filtered water, remember my 10 tips?)

15oz can of whole kernel corn, preferably the “no salt added” variety

10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with chiles (I like Ro-Tel or Target brand the best)

1 cup of chopped red onions

3 limes

8-10 cloves of garlic

1/2 oz. fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 cup olive oil

4 tbsp. oregano

2 tbsp. sea salt

2 tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the beans overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse.
2. Combine black beans, 4 cups vegetable broth, 2 cups water, 4-5 cloves of garlic (chopped), oregano, sea salt, cumin and cayenne pepper in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat then reduce to a gentle simmer for 2 hours. Gently stir the beans as little as possible. You don’t want to break the skins. Your house will smell awesome for a few hours.
3. Toward the last half of the simmering process, add the olive oil.
4. Drain the beans and save the broth. Set the broth and about 2 cups of the beans aside. This is your bonus. You will have the beginnings of a tasty black bean soup.
5. Drain the corn and diced tomatoes. Save the water you just drained and add it to the soup base.
6. Combine the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, onions, the rest of the garlic (finely minced) and the juice and pulp from 3 limes in a large bowl. Mix together and enjoy!

Notes

This dish can be served cold. The flavor improves as it reaches room temperature.

You can wait until the dish is ready to serve before adding the chopped cilantro and lime juice.

There is no such thing as “too much cilantro.”

Garnish it with avocado slices. The fat content of the avocado goes great with the pleasant kick of the chiles.

Don’t let the corn scare you. There’s a total of 60 grams of carbs in the entire yield. If you believe that low-carb baloney, there’s plenty of fiber in the black beans to bring that “net carbs” number down significantly. Carbs are good for you. Do you realize you burn off the calories in 20 grams of carbs just by sitting on your ass for an hour?

If you’re worried about gaseous anomalies, add some tumeric and a pinch of sugar.

My only experience with childbirth was a natural one attended by a midwife. When Renee asked me to go see “The Business of Being Born,” I thought, “I’m already a believer, why do I need to see it?” I’m glad I did. My own personal experience made me a believer. This film strengthened my convictions.

Intrinsically, I knew that a natural childbirth was best, but I wasn’t going to push it. It’s our baby, but her body. Renee would have the final say on this one. She chose a natural childbirth with a midwife and has elected to breastfeed for as long as it’s feasible. I am thrilled at her decision.

Childbirth In the U.S.

I always thought a woman could opt for an un-medicated vaginal birth in the hospital. The OB/GYN was on-hand just in case something went wrong. The film shows you that’s not the case. This is the typical chain of events that will follow after a woman in labor is admitted:

1. An expectant mother is sick of being pregnant. She wants to get this baby out.
2. She asks for an epidural.
3. She’s so zonked out, she can’t push properly
4. Pitocin is administered via IV to induce contractions.
5. The baby isn’t coming out. More pitocin is administered.
6. The contractions are so strong, the baby goes into distress.
7. An emergency C-section becomes necessary.

The United States is supposed to be the most technologically advanced nation in the world yet it has the second highest newborn mortality rate in the developed world.

It seems like everything we do in the United States is backwards. (Don’t get me started on the metric system) According to the statistics quoted in the film:

• 70% of births outside the United States is attended by a midwife. It’s less than 8% in the U.S.
• In 1900, 90% of births in the U.S. were home births.
• In 1938, the number dropped to 50%.
• By 1955, it was less than 1%. It remains that number to this day.

When I did a search for Pitocin on Wikipedia, it takes me straight to the page on ocytocin. In all fairness, pitocin is the synthetic version of ocytocin. Rats. I thought I had uncovered a little conspiracy. However:

• Ocytocin is produced in the brain. Pitocin is administered intravenously.
• Ocytocin has a chance to act on the brain before it’s released into the bloodstream. Pitocin does not.
• Ocytocin enters the bloodstream in surges. Pitocin comes in a steady stream via IV.

The C-Section Factory

I remember in school, during a discussion about childbirth, a student piped up and said he was delivered via C-section. The first thought that popped into my head was, “I always knew there was something a little ‘off’ about this kid. I didn’t realize how commonplace it is.

I understand that a C-section is medically necessary in certain situations. In cases where it’s a high-risk pregnancy (diabetes, multiples, other medical conditions) it’s the only option. There was no way Kate Gosselin could deliver the sextuplets vaginally.

Too Posh to Push

We live in a performance and results oriented society. Natural childbirth offers too much of a margin for some schedules. Celebrity moms, career-track moms, and many others are electing for the “scheduled C.” An even more disturbing trend is the c-section and tummy tuck package deal.

The motivation behind an elective c-section is often fear. Much of what we know is from the media we absorb. In movies and on television, 3-month old babies are cast as newborns. A 3 month old baby is significantly larger than a newborn. A woman might see that “newborn” on TV and think, “no way am I going to push something that big out of me!!!”

The Choice is Ultimately Yours

I’m only qualified to speak to you about this from the father’s point of view. I wasn’t the one whose body would be irreversibly altered by this experience. I wasn’t the one doing the pushing. I wasn’t the one who could opt to be medicated. However, I have made decisions in the past while disregarding an entire set of data that in retrospect would have changed the decision I ultimately made. Those decisions are insignificant next to the birth of my child.

The birth of a child is the most profound experience you will ever have. All of the options available to you are worthy of your due consideration.

Buy “The Business of Being Born” on DVD.

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A quick and easy meal doesn’t have to mean, “pierce film to vent. rotate once during heating.” If you make Hamburger Helper often enough to skip reading the instructions, we have a problem.

Step 1 is to take the advice of personal finance bloggers. Cooking at home saves money. Further, it saves time and is an enjoyable activity if you pick up the tips below. You’ll discover some of your own too.

Cooking is part science, but mostly art. You don’t have to be a creative person to employ these tips. Your taste buds will guide you here. No matter what your comfort level in the kitchen is, you know what tastes good.

I’m one of those “recipe? I don’t need no stinkin’ recipe” type of cooks. Instead, I will share some bits of wisdom I learned over the last 22 years in the kitchen.

10 Ways To Enjoy Cooking At Home More

1. Mince several cloves of garlic at once. Keep it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer. Use it instead of garlic powder. Use it liberally.
2. Not every part of the meal needs to be a “home run.” If you’re doing something elaborate for the meat, go simple on the side dishes. If you’re making a process-intensive vegetable side dish, just add some simple seasonings to the meat and broil it.
3. Keep frozen vegetable puree on hand. I prepare some vegetable puree about once a month and make “ice cubes.” These cubes are easy to add to spaghetti sauce, shells and cheese, gravies, and other sauces. In a fit of inspiration, I defrosted some of these “veggiecicles” in a skillet, added curry powder, parboiled potatoes, and chopped onions – instant vegetable curry! Just add basmati rice and you have some Indian fast food that’s actually good for you.
4. Invest in a good chef knife. It really makes a difference. I’ve used the same Henckels chef knife for over 10 years. Food preparation (or any task) becomes a joy when you use high quality tools. A good German-made Henckels will outperform and outlast any late-night infomercial knife. Get it sharpened professionally on a regular basis. Take care of it and it will last a lifetime.
5. Use fresh ingredients whenever you can. Fresh vegetables taste better than their frozen or canned counterparts. Spices grown in your garden have more kick.
6. Avoid using prepackaged “seasoning blends” if you have an adverse reaction to MSG. Make your own seasoning blends, or add seasonings individually. Learn about the different spices in your spice rack by tasting them.
7. Use natural sea salt instead. Do a side-by-side comparison and you’ll really taste the difference. Regular table salt tastes metallic and bitter compared to sea salt.
8. When you are shopping, choose versatile staples. Spaghetti noodles can be made into spaghetti. You can also add sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger to turn it into delicious Asian-inspired stir fry noodles.
9. You don’t have to follow the instructions to the letter when making pre-packaged “instant” meals. Be wild. Be adventurous. Use chicken or tofu instead of tuna when you make the box of Tuna Helper. Add some fresh vegetables. Add plenty of garlic. If the instructions call for milk, substitute a small portion of that with whipping cream. It makes it taste better. Add more butter than the instructions call for. It won’t hurt you.
10. Don’t be afraid to experiment and deviate from the recipe you found online. You won’t ruin a dish because you added more basil or rosemary than the recipe called for. Your taste buds (and your family’s) will guide you. Successful experiments (they happen more than you think) will bolster your confidence in the kitchen.

Since #9 and #10 are actually very similar, here’s a bonus tip – Food handling safety. NEVER use a wooden cutting board to prepare raw meat. The porous surface will harbor bacteria. Designate one cutting board for raw meat. Sterilize it in the dishwasher after every use.

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My Own Battle With Smoking

Photo: Porcelaingirl

A few bloggers I read regularly have talked about their struggle with smoking. It’s a habit I’ve struggled with for most of my life, but I think this time, I’ve quit for good. I knew that when my daughter was born, I had to quit smoking.

When I was single and perusing the dating sites, it really limited my choices. Very few non-smokers would tolerate a smoker. It is often a deal-breaker. The limited pool from which I could choose from also translated into limited success. My self-esteem took a double hit. This nasty habit left me dateless on many nights. When I quit (for whatever length of time it was), I had more dates.

Renee has been wonderful to me since day one. I was on the slippery slope of smoking relapse when I met her, and was back on the puff-wagon within a couple months after we started dating. I refrained from smoking when we were together, but there were times when I indulged. Then we started spending even more time together. It wasn’t actively discouraged, so I continued to smoke.

The Effects of Smoking

Other media channels have done a better job of describing the basics. Here are some of my observations:

• You’re lighting something on fire and breathing in the fumes
• One guy told me that he smoked 3 packs a day for over 40 years. That’s almost 1 million cigarettes!
• A pack-a-day habit is a $150 hole in your budget. A fellow dad blogger tells me that he and his wife both smoke a pack a day. That’s a car payment.

“Please Don’t Smoke, Daddy.”

I always knew I had to quit. Then Twilli was born. I REALLY had to quit. She won’t have conscious memories from this time, but neural pathways are being forged. I didn’t want to imprint the cigarette smell along with things like warm, safe, daddy, love, hugs, and snuggle time.

I grew increasingly self-conscious of my habit. I washed a lot of dishes by hand to further scrub the smell from my hands. After a cigarette, I would wash some dishes, brush my teeth, and sometimes change my shirt. A crying baby with a dirty diaper isn’t going to wait for daddy to go through that whole routine.

Slaying the Smoke Monster

A few months ago, I was taken down with a nasty flu. I could barely breathe. How could I smoke through that? I spent 4 days in bed. I didn’t want to smoke. After the 3 day hump, I didn’t want another cigarette. I also lost 10 pounds, which I’m happy to report remain lost. I’ve lost another 10 pounds since. Maybe it’s all that bike riding I’ve been doing lately.

I quit smoking, but I wasn’t ready to quit nicotine. I tried a product called Ariva. It’s a pressed tablet of tobacco that dissolves in your mouth. It’s actual tobacco rather than pharmaceutical nicotine. That’s what was missing from the gum, the lozenges, the patch, and other nicotine replacement therapies. Ariva is also the same price as a pack of cigarettes while the replacement therapies cost more. I used joesgoals.com to track my progress of weaning myself off the tablets.

The Effects of Smoking on Babies and Children

One of the select bits of conventional wisdom I subscribe to is for pregnant women to abstain from smoking. It really does have the deleterious effects claimed by the most fervent doomsayers.

Our friend Steve is a smoker who is trying to quit. His wife said that it was going to be even more difficult for him than most. Steve’s mother smoked during pregnancy, so Steve has been addicted to nicotine since before birth! I had not considered that as one of the negative effects of smoking during pregnancy.

“Crack babies” and “heroin babies” get all the coverage in the media. What about the Marlboro Baby?

Before this revelation, I thought that children of smokers became smokers simply due to modeling of behaviors. Smoking during pregnancy imprints this nicotine dependency upon a malleable brain. I know my mother had smoked during at least one pregnancy. Both of my sisters smoke. The last time I visited my mother, I was standing out on the porch with my mother and my sisters. We all had cigarettes in one hand and beers in the other. My sister quipped, “This is an activity the whole family can enjoy!”

Kicking the Habit

If you’re a smoker, you can quit. I will be your cheerleader, not a self-righteous finger pointer. I support you in your decision. It won’t be easy, but you can do it. I’ve tried several methods including cold turkey, weaning, smokeless tobacco, Zyban™, the gum, the patch, and the lozenges. The key for me is persistence. If I fall off the horse, I’m getting back on right away.

The one thing that helps me the most is a focus on all the positives. I think about the money I save, the health benefits, the self-esteem boost, the sense of accomplishment, and a host of other things. My focus is on what I achieved or gained rather than what I’m avoiding, running away from, or lost. BTW, this works on other areas of your life too.

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Making The Shift To Vegetarianism

Growing up in the United States means you were told that meat is an essential source of protein and other nutrients. The livestock industry is subsidized by our government. Vegetarians are seen as weirdos. It’s all about the beef here in the land that brought you the golden arches and hardened arteries.

Eating meat has become less appealing. I still enjoy the taste and texture of many meats, but it takes a toll on my conscience. Stories about factory-farm raised chickens and the treatment at cattle feedlots are almost enough to make me want to swear off meat. I’ve already stopped eating veal. These calves are kept in the worst conditions and slaughtered within days of being born.

Being a better steward of our Earth and vegetarianism go hand-in-hand. There are environmental reasons for going vegetarian. Did you know that:

• Eating a vegan diet reduces more carbon emissions than replacing your conventional car with a hybrid.
• Approximately 55 square feet of forest is destroyed for each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land.
• One pound of beef requires an input of approximately 2500 gallons of water.
• One pound of soy requires 250 gallons.
• One pound of wheat requires only 25 gallons.
• With the water used to produce a single hamburger, you could take a luxurious shower every day for two and a half weeks.

Activism isn’t going to turn us all vegetarian overnight. However, we can all do a little to reduce the demand for meat. A decrease in demand will not go unnoticed by the livestock and poultry industries. Fish farms do their share of damage to mother Earth too. There’s wild-caught fish, but are we fishing faster than the supply replenishes? One has to wonder.

Quitting Cold Turkey Cold Turkey

I’m not prepared to go full-time vegetarian, despite the benefits. Special dietary needs and travel don’t mix well. It really puts a damper on “souvenir dining.” I still know people in Philadelphia. There’s nothing quite like a steak from Rick’s in Reading Terminal. Mmm mmm. And what about sushi? Butter makes everything taste better. As of today, going 100% vegan is out of the question. There’s a little thing called feta cheese that’s near and dear to me.

I continue to unsubscribe from long-held beliefs on my personal development journey. Everything is on the table. What I decide to eat is also under the scrutiny of this audit and subject to change. I truly believe there is a better way.

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Save those envelopes to write your shopping list on. Then you can stash your coupons inside.

Nutrition is on every parent’s radar. Some are better at it than others. I’ve learned over the years what makes for healthy eating habits, so imagine how appalled I was at Austin’s eating habits, which are, for lack of a better term, &*@#$! horrendous. Unfortunately, this knowledge doesn’t seem to do me much good since I encounter steadfast opposition to my efforts to reform this family’s eating habits.

When I met Renee, her eating habits weren’t the best. They weren’t the worst either. To her credit, she eats her food deliberately, takes her time to chew it thoroughly, and doesn’t overindulge with huge portions. She is usually willing to try my creations, as long as it doesn’t have shrimp. Single mothers have it tough, and one of the things that slipped through the cracks was nutrition. As a result, Austin didn’t develop sound eating habits.

The last thing any parent wants to see is their children suffer. It’s especially maddening when it’s the child’s own poor nutrition habits that cause this suffering. Then your efforts to help are met with resistance.

• He usually struggles with the first class in the morning and the one right before lunch.
• He has trouble concentrating and focusing.
• He has trouble waking up in the morning.
• His stomach is easily upset.

All of the above can be mitigated or even eliminated by making smarter food choices. But like most teenage boys, making his choices is far more important to him than making smart choices.

I was at the classic car show last week when it hit me. I’m the kind of guy who only cares about basic maintenance of a reliable automobile. This is in stark contrast to the level of care these car aficionados put into their vehicles. A car is a necessity, at least in the suburbs. Food is a necessity. I happen to care more about the food I eat. I love variety and I love knowing that what I eat is good for me. Austin only cares about getting from point A to point B, and there’s only a handful of ways he’s willing to do it. I prefer a Lexus and Austin is content with a ratty old clunker that belches smoke and leaks fluids.

A popular piece of advice for parents is to “pick your battles.” Rest assured I have a wide selection to choose from. Will the dinner table be another battlefront? This is my dilemma. His diet is less than optimal. I’ve warned him. He’s chosen to ignore my suggestions. Am I being a bad parent by letting this one slide? When I prepare something healthy, he isn’t hungry. When I stock up on pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets and Capn’ Crunch, his appetite returns. Isn’t it worse to let him starve? Weigh in on this one by leaving a comment.

To his credit, he tries a good amount of what I present to him, but like most teens, he will always choose the path of least resistance for short term gratification. Now that I started adding pureed vegetables wherever I can, he’s eaten more broccoli in one week than he has in almost 14 years. Heheheheheh.

I normally supply my own photographs to illustrate my articles. This one was too cool to pass up. The photo of Randy’s Donuts is by Carol Highsmith, and used here under a Creative Commons license.

Even in this impaired state, I can still offer you one quick cooking tip. It’s an oldie but goodie with a new twist.

We all wish our children would eat more vegetables. Some parents have better luck than I do. A trick favored by many resident chefs is to puree vegetables and add the mix to various sauces.

The other night, I pureed a pound of carrots, added some to the spaghetti sauce. The remaining puree was poured into a couple of freezer bags. Next time I need some vegetable puree, I’ll just break off a piece and add it to the sauce.

For the next round, I’m going to use the ice cube tray to make things a little easier.

It’s so simple, a caveman can do it.

If you saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico, please make a donation.

Food is a broad and general topic, but I can focus on how it applies to families today. What will you learn from me, other than high fructose corn syrup is evil?

• The secrets on how to make some of my not-yet-famous entrées and side dishes.
• What to stock your kitchen with. The freezer is your friend.
• Ideas for quick meals that are really quick.
• Concepts for a more efficient workflow in the kitchen.
• The occasional tidbit of nutritional wisdom.

Here’s my biggest challenge. How am I going to teach you when I don’t follow recipes? I’m following in the footsteps of ethnic grandmothers everywhere. All that information is stored away in my head. The measuring spoon is buried in my kitchen junk drawer. Solving this problem is worth the effort to my readers. If you’re so inclined, you’ll learn how to make some delicious meals that are usually healthy. Be forewarned. I’m a big fan of butter.

I’m looking forward to this. The next best thing to doing something you enjoy is to write about it.