Beans and Cornbread

After a week of almost no sleep, I'm feeling a little bit desperate for some comfort food. So tonight we're having dinner with friends, and I made a huge pot of beans and iron skillet corn bread with caramelized onions. I don't really know why this is comfort food for me, but even just the smell of the beans as they're cooking makes me feel better. So Micah's longest sleep stint last night was 45 minutes, so the laundry's not done and the floors need to be vacuumed, I'm having beans and cornbread tonight...ah, the world is good!

Oh, and did I mention that Micah said "Ma-ma" for the first time today. Where? In the kitchen of course!

Black Beans Recipe
1 large sweet onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 c olive oil
2 TB chicken base
16 c water
4 c dried black beans (rinsed and checked for pebbles)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 TB molasses

Soak the beans overnight in 8 cups water. (Or for a quick soak fill pot with 8 c hot water, add the beans, and bring to a boil. Let boil for 5 minutes or so then cover and remove from heat. Let beans sit for at least 1 hour. Ok, so quick is not so quick but it beats letting them sit overnight!)

In large soup/stock pot heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic until soft. Add water, beans, and chicken base. (I have also simply used 8 cups of chicken stock and 8 cups of water.) Bring to a rolling boil. Stir in brown sugar and molasses. Boil for about 60 minutes on medium heat or until beans are soft. Then turn heat down to low and allow to simmer until dinner time.

Or make these a day or two in advance and let them chill in the fridge until you're ready to re-heat them for dinner. Why are beans always better the 2nd or 3rd day? Also, as a left over these beans make great "refried" beans if you just mash them up. LOVE them on tortillas with salsa.

Enter the Zombie Mom (Pork Chop Recipe)

So the Zombie-Mom has decided to start blogging. I don’t really know who will be interested in my unorganized ramblings but here we go…

Yes, I am the Zombie-Mom. You’ve probably seen me stumbling through the grocery store with my adorable 8-month old son. He’s all laughs and smiles, and I look, well, like a zombie. My clothes look like I grabbed them off the floor in the dark (because I probably did), “doing my hair” means changing the color of my scrunchy to match my T-shirt, and I don’t even remember what drawer my make-up is in (besides, the only way to cover up these dark circles would be with a mask!)

I have a wonderful 8 month old son, Micah, who spends most of the day laughing, playing, crawling, and pulling up on everything. The he spends most of the night crying. He just doesn’t like to sleep, never has. Even when we (my amazing husband and I) get him to sleep, it doesn’t last more than an hour and a half to two hours. At that point he starts to cry for no discernible reason. He doesn’t want to nurse, is rarely comforted by racking or singing, and often doesn’t even wake up until his cry has ramped up into a full fledged scream. It is so pathetic trying to comfort a sleeping baby who’s crying inconsolable. As a result, I’ve discovered the sleep dance – a bouncing-rocking-swaying walk that helps Micah stay asleep. The downside of the sleep dance is that I have to be wide awake to keep him asleep. Some nights I spend very little time in bed (truly, last night I was in bed for a grand total of 3 hours). Thus, Zombie-Mom.

This is not exactly how I imagined my entrance into motherhood would look. I planned for something much more…neat and organized. I’m learning that with Micah very little goes according to my plan (nor is much of anything neat), so maybe it’s better to chuck the plans and enjoy life as it unfolds in happy chaos. I’m not good at this yet, but I’m learning.

However, I do need some space in my life where plans work and I’m in control. Spotlight kitchen.

The kitchen is MY room. The baby may have cried all night, the house may be a wreck, and I may be about a month behind in answering emails and returning phone calls, but in the kitchen things go according to my plan – mostly. I am in control – sort of. Ok, so sometimes things fall apart in the kitchen too, but at least it’s the place where I find a little bit of stress relief. It’s a place to breathe and create. I may be cooking dinner but I’m also Cooking Peace.

“Peaceful” Pork Chops Recipe

In a gallon sized plastic bag place pork chops (any size/thickness/whatever). Add half a bottle of Italian salad dressing (I buy the cheap store brand stuff for this) and about 6-10 shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Seal and let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then cook however you want – toss them on the grill, pan fry, whatever.

This makes a great camping recipe too. Put it together the night before then stick it in the freezer. Take the frozen chops with you in the cooler and by dinner time they’re thawed and well marinated for grilling over the fire.