Rice and Beans: Recipes

It has begun. After a nice breakfast this morning of eggs, ham and scones lovingly prepared by sweet Ann, I've shifted to eating only rice and beans. Several Commonway folks are also eating rice and beans. Maybe you are. Maybe you're wondering how to prepare them. This is the place to post some recipes that work for you. Just go to comments and drop in your favorites. If your favorite bean recipe happens to be applying a can opener to a tin of Old El Paso frijoles, I really hope you'll tell the rest of us that. We'll laugh with you.

Here's the recipe we used for the rice served at Commonway today:

Cooking Rice in the oven?

Can someone give me some advice on cooking rice in the oven. I've got to come up with 50-60 cups of cooked rice and I don't have space on the range to cook it. Has anyone ever done this and if so how did it turn out. I found a recipe online:

Heat oven to 350

use oven safe pan pour desired rice amount and add 2x the water (boiling water) to it along with about 1/2 tablespoon of salt to every 4 cups of rice and 1/8 cup of oil to every 4 cups of rice

cover pan with foil air tight

place pan in oven for about 45 min

take out oven and let sit and steam with cover still on pan for approx. 10min.

use fork to fluff rice.

serve hot

I think we used a little bit of butter instead of the oil.

As for the beans today, here's the secret: Plenty of sliced onions, sauteed with minced garlic, thrown into beans and water. Toss in a shake or two of liquid smoke, and simmer until done. You're good to go. 

Now it's your turn. If you've got a killer prep plan for beans and rice, share it in the comments.

a little bit of rice and beans

Personally, I love to eat. I wouldn't say I'm grossly overweight, but my enjoyment of a variety of foods in sometimes less-than-moderate quantities does adversely affect my ability to be svelte. In that regard I'm probably like many Americans. And unlike many people around the planet who hardly get enough food to rebuild or replace their current cells. And for variety? Well, for many there's very little. (Or, so I've heard and believe. I don't really have good documentation for that at hand.) In many places people only have a small portion of rice or beans, and that's what they eat whenever they eat. 

Because this is a foreign reality to me and the folks I do church with, we've decided to take a few days and try to imagine (ever so slightly) what that might be like. For five days, starting on Sunday November 2 we're going to limit our diet to rice, beans, tortillas, and maybe some oatmeal. We're not being psycho about it. There will be no official check ups, tests, or reports. We just want to show a little solidarity with our planet-mates who don't enjoy ample quantities of a variety of tasty food. 

The second step in the effort is to try to determine cost difference between five days of beans and rice and five days of what we normally eat. We'll then take that money and donate it to some worthy cause. We're thinking we'll use it to help construct wells in parts of India that struggle to have clean water. 

If you're interested, click here to see where we got the idea. And here's the info that went out to our church: 

Half the world’s population lives on $2 a day or less. As an act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the globe, we encourage you to eat as they do for five days, November 2-7. Set aside the money you would have spent on additional groceries to contribute to a special offering to dig wells in India.

How to join in the 5-Day Rice and Bean Challenge:

• Limit your grocery shopping to rice, beans, plain oatmeal or Cream of Wheat, and tortillas.

• For one week eat only these foods. A one-cup serving is considered generous in most parts of the world. Meat is a luxury, with the average African consuming about ¾ ounce per day—the size of a small chicken nugget.

• Set aside the money you would have spent on additional groceries and redirect it toward the special offering to dig wells in India. Over $4K for these wells has been raised recently at Union Chapel/Commonway. 

John Adams: What a Man

Ann and I are nearing the conclusion of part seven of HBO's John Adams. You know that feeling of impending sadness as you near the end of a really good book? I'm feeling it big time. What a fascinating story. What an amazing man. 

The fear John Adams expresses repeatedly in this film has certainly been proved true in my life. the icons of the Revolution in my mind have always been Washington, Jefferson, Revere. I've given hardly a second thought to the second president. No more. 

Unless you have serious issues of conscience with television, I urge you to buy, rent, or borrow this series and watch it through. It's not entirely kid safe (Well, depending on your kids, I suppose.), so be aware. Except for a gruesome tar and feathering in the first episode, the three other snips that we'd edit out for our kids come with ample forewarning. And there are some bad words. Noble as the founding fathers were, they sometimes spoke with passion expressed by the oaths of the day. 

Here are some lessons for me from John Adams:

• Think hard, study hard, work tremendously hard.

• Marry a good woman (I've done this.) Listen to her often, carefully and with a mind to put into action what she says. (I could do better at this.)

• The anticipation of your place in history can haunt your fiercely.

• Adams had remarkable foresight in his younger days, but seemed as an old man to lose some of it. But what do I know of being old?

• Invest in good friends and stick with them.

• Revolution is for young men, but we'd all darn well better listen to the old men. They know, and realize they don't know, things which we have yet to imagine. 

One last thought: This film helped me decide one important issue. I'm definitely getting Paul Giamatti for my movie. And probably Laura Linney as well. No, I don't actually have a movie right now. But when I do, these two are definitely going to star in it. Until then, I'm going to work on perfecting my Paul Giamatti/John Adams glare, scowl and grin combo. See what I mean in these youtube clips. Go here for more info.

Guest post from my brother, Joel

My Dad, my hero. . .. 

Joel Bennett, Ridin' Shotgun, http://ridinshotgun.blogspot.com/

Dad passed away last night. He heroically battled cancer for over a year. 

Now my dad is a Christian so I have full confidence that I'll see him again in heaven.
And if you'll indulge me, I want to share a few memories...this is for me...feel free to read or not.
My dad always provided for our needs...not always our wants, and, for that, I am glad. When we kids started putting our extra pennies in a huge poodle shaped bubble bath bottle to save for a horse, he smiled, at least I think it was a smile. He knew that was a want, not a need. He was wise. We didn't get that horse, and that was probably for the best. We always had more than enough food, shelter, stuff. When we were very little he had a friend with a backhoe dig in the swamp on the property to make it a swimming hole. It was a rainy Labor Day...I would take breaks from the Jerry Lewis Telethon to go watch. He stocked it with some fish that he and our neighbor, Carl, got at a fish hatchery. I got to go on that trip, too. Maybe he was making a fishing pond that we could swim in and not a swimming hole that he could fish in...either way it was great for a kid.

As we got older and the fish didn't survive in the murky swamp water, he bought and constructed a swimming pool in the back yard. We helped him build this incredible deck that surrounded half the pool. What a delight summer after summer.

We always had many animals. My first memory of pets was our german shepherd named Joker. Joker chased and ate bumblebees. I don't know why. He was big enough for us to lie down on, and amazingly let us do so. As we got older, and Joker went to doggie heaven, we got other dogs. One was Lobo, a black lab mix. On the ride home after the purchase of Lobo, he decided car riding wasn't good on his tummy. He abruptly ralphed on my leg. I still liked him. Many dogs came and went. Bananas was the longest tenured dog. She listened to me rant and rave on many occasions. We also had a working farm...not that we farmed, but we had farm animals. Dad and Mom always bought baby calves and we raised them for meat. My vegan friends wouldn't approve of that, but, come to think of it, I may not have any vegan friends. We also had goats...one time as many as 21. Springs were incredible when the mama goats would have the babies. Baby goats are so much fun! A friend of ours even did an article in the newspaper about Dad, the farm, the goats and Dad's earth conscious behavior. Dad read a magazine called "Mother Earth News". While the magazine itself was full of weird new age propaganda, he was able to glean the good stuff out of it to help provide for the family. He made a solar powered shower out of a barrel, put it up on the roof of a building he built, and we had warm showers without using any electricity. He was way ahead of his time. 

I really enjoyed growing up where I did and how I did. We worked hard cutting wood, taking care of the animals, taking care of the land and playing on a great property in the quiet of the country. 

Probably the best thing he ever did for us was to take us to church. I was in church at two weeks old. His faith, as far as I knew, never faltered. He taught Sunday School for as long as I can remember. When he began watching TBN and learned about the Holy Spirit, he studied voraciously. He taught us, too. When the knowledge and experience he had with the Holy Spirit grew, he moved the family to another church that embraced the Holy Spirit. The skill and leadership he had was used well at Union Chapel. He has many friends to attest to that.

My dad always had a hobby...some out of necessity, some out of pleasure. Again, sorry to my PETA friends, if I have any, but I remember Dad would trap. The animals he caught would be sold to provide for the family. His pleasure hobbies were always changing. He was very musically inclined. I remember as kid we would all sit in the den, or "gun room" as we would call it, and sing along with him as he played. He mostly played folk music on his autoharp. He was very good. He loved Peter, Paul and Mary, Flatts and Scruggs, and '50's music. In his job at the Central Indiana Gas Company, he would work a swing shift. This was hard on me, but way harder on him. One week he would work days, then two days off, then afternoons, then two days off, then midnights. Then the cycle would repeat. I don't know how his body always handled that. It was just like him. It had to be done, so he did it. He had to perpetually be in jet lag mode. Anyway, his job provided him some down time, especially in the wee hours of the morning, so he would learn a new skill. He picked up a harmonica and taught himself how to play. He was very skilled at that, too. He got into CB radios. He used them to talk to the family when he was out of the house or driving way before cell phones were the norm. He also set up an elaborate cb at home that he would try to talk to the world with. He had a map on the wall with pushpins on the countries he'd talk to. I remember Japan as one of them along with all fifty states. When computers came along, he slowly made the trek into that world. He became very skilled at surfing the net for information, Photoshop, and great emails. In the past few years, he realized his dream...retirement and a pond. This time around, he designed the pond, had it dug professionally, stocked it with great bass and bluegill and cared for it meticulously. I think that may have been his proudest accomplishment on his property. It is still a great gathering place for all the family.

He traveled this country in the National Guard...took us on great vacations including Washington, DC, Charleston, SC and Panama City, FL. He loved deep sea fishing. He traveled the world spreading the Gospel. He went to India on several occasions and made some lifelong friends with some believers there. 

He helped shape me into who I am today. He took care of the earth. He took care of others. He took care of us. He led people to the Lord. 

He took the talents God gave him and multiplied them. 
And he made God smile. I know it.

And then some. . .

I was challenged at church today. Our pastor spoke about how to do well at your job and enjoy it at the same time. Along the way (I say "along the way" because I really don't remember the context!) he said that three words make the difference between just getting  by with our work and really knocking it out of the park: And then some. 

Most workers do what it takes. Excellent workers do what it takes, and then some. Sometimes we do the minimum. What if we did the minimum and then some? He challenged us to think about our town (which presently suffers from a collective self-esteem problem) and what would happen if everyone decided to do what was required and then some. It's a cool vision. 

I'm going to try to keep this rolling around in my head for a few days. It would do me good (and maybe some others) if I would do what was right and then some. 

Yeah, well, I've got a wish. . .

We celebrated Ann's 12th birthday this evening with friends, presents, and cake. At a lull in the action, I posed a question, "Got any birthday wishes? Any wishes for your twelfth year?"

Check out the video (low bandwidth folks read below):



Anna says she has no wishes. Well, I have a wish for her: My dear, never grow older than twelve.

Ladderball

We tried out a new game during our recent staff day at the lake: Ladderball. You may know it as Hillbilly Golf or an even less flattering moniker. Since it was pretty fun and I'd found a bag of old golf balls left by the previous owners of our house, I thought it would be fun to make one today. A quick trip to Lowes, just under $20, two hours of time and we're playing ladderball in our front yard. So far I'm the reigning champion. That is, if you don't count Ann or the dynamic duo of Alia and Abigail, who have all beaten me!

Here's the photographic evidence: