I am now an Iron Chef

I had seen them before.
Alton Brown has one.
The Iron Chef Stadium uses them.
Then the mailman knocked on the door yesterday and made my life complete.
At 4:45 I put in 1 lb. completely dried pinto beans that were not soaked (only rinsed).
I also added half a jar of salsa, 15 oz. of water, 1 large can of green chili's, an onion, and some seasonings.
At 5:30 the beans were done to perfection so I set the unit on warm.
I ate two huge bowls.
Ben came home at 8:45 and told me the chili tasted great.
I love my mom.

On another note, has anyone seen the new food pyramid?

What was wrong with the old one? Although the older one seemed seemed simple many people misunderstood the servings from each group. If you have a sandwich one slice of bread is 1 serving so in a sandwich you are eating two servings, not one. It also didn't emphasize that whole grain foods are good and processed grains (like white flour) are not so good. Also, that protien from good sources (beans, nuts) is better for you than proteins from red meat. Some people were blaming the old food pyramid for the obesity problem in the United States. So, here comes the new pyramid. Yeah...
I love the color, don't get me wrong but does anyone find this more confusing than the last one? At the least the guy is taking the stairs. You can get online and find more information at
www.mypyramid.gov but here is some guidelines for the rest of us:

Amounts of food will vary on gender, age, and lifestyle: You can look this up at the food pyramid site or google it but your body tells you what it needs. Eat healthy and learn to stop eating before you feel full.

• Daily exercise and food portions
• water
• At most meals serve whole grain foods, including oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and brown rice (1 serving=1 piece of bread)
• Plant oils: 2 oz. per day (replace cooking in butter with olive oil)
  
• 3 or MORE servings of vegetables a day (serving: 6oz)
  
• 2-3 servings of fruit a day (serving: 4 0z or half cup)
  
• 1-3 servings of nuts or beans (serving: 2oz)
• 1-2 servings of dairy (8oz of non fat or 4 oz of whole)
• 1-2 servings of poultry, fish, or eggs (4 oz or 1 egg)
• sparing use of white rice, white bread, potatoes, white pasta, sweets
• sparing use of red meat, butter, fats
• avoid saturated oils especially partially hydrogenated oils
• avoid high fructose corn syrup - yes it's made from corn, and no, your body can't process it as well
  

And Finally - (cause this isn't long enough)

My Carrot Smoothie my kids actually drink

12 oz orange juice concentrate
2 bananas
5 oz raw spinach
20 oz frozen strawberries
3 cups carrot juice

Pour orange juice concentrate into blender and fill halfway with water. Blend. Add bananas and blend again. Add to a 1 gallon pitcher. Put raw spinach in bottom of blender. Add frozen strawberries and carrot juice plus water to blend easier. Blend until smooth. Pour in pitcher. Add water until pitcher is at the 1 gallon mark. Stir.
This does have a subtle carrot flavor but I let my kids know beforehand so they wouldn't think ice cream smoothie and they have been drinking it all week in little cups as a quick snack. Since carrot juice does not come in small containers I froze the unused portion into ice cubes to put in the smoothie next week.