Fruit is a great way to end a meal, offering sweetness and goodness without any of the processed mess. Besides avoiding all kinds of chemistry created ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and food colorings and flavorings, it also teaches your child about "real" food—that is food that comes into being by growing in a field somewhere. With this, eating becomes learning.
I'm not suggesting that your youngster never taste the joy of a cookie, pie, or cake, merely that making the choice of whole fruit (e.g. an apple, banana, peach, strawberries, or grapes) the norm at home will teach your child to appreciate these naturally sweet whole foods, and hopefully help them to make better food choices down the line.
Recipe: Cuban Black Beans
El Rincon Criollo, a Cuban restaurant in Culver City, is the place I blame for my Cuban black bean addiction. Theirs are so good I was determined to find a recipe that could compare so that I wouldn't have to keep dropping by whenever I was struck with a craving. The recipe below is the best I've found, and they are pretty darn good. Now you just need to cook up some fried plantains to round out the meal.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 lb black beans
1 medium to large white or yellow onion, divided
1 organic green bell pepper, divided and seeds discarded
1/3 cup olive oil
6-7 cloves of garlic
salt to taste
1) Place beans in a large pot and fill 2/3 with water. Cut the onion and green bell pepper in half and toss them in the beans. Soak overnight.
2) In the morning, bring the beans to a slow simmer over low to medium heat. Let them simmer partially-covered for 2 hours, or until tender. Remove the onion and green pepper and discard. Continue cooking beans, fully-covered, making sure there is still enough liquid (water line should be 1/2 to 1 inch over the beans at this point).
3) Dice remaining half of onion. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add onions, sauteing until they are soft and transparent. Add the oil and onion mixture to the beans. Cut the remaining bell pepper into thick slices and add to beans.
4) Mash cloves of garlic with a mortar and pestle (a garlic press will work too). Stir garlic into the beans. Then, add salt to taste. Let simmer at least another ten minutes for flavors to infuse. Discard slices of bell pepper, and serve over white rice, ensuring that plenty of bean liquid infuses with the rice.
Product: Beach Toys That Aren't Plastic!
They're cuter, sturdier, and won't end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
1) Garden Tote and Tools for Children
First you get a sturdy canvas tote with a ton of pockets and a cute ladybug and a frog on it, and then inside comes the three scaled-down tools, which have metal heads and wooden handles. They all work great for sand play.
2) Small Metal Pail
Made for both indoor and outdoor use, this cute colorful pail is metal, with a wooden grip handle, and is just the right size at 5 inches tall x 6½ inches wide to fill with sand and then dump over to make a sandcastle.
"We've had bad luck with our kids—they've all grown up." -Christopher Morley
No comments:
Post a Comment