chili (with beans)

Only somewhat recently did I discover that there is a controversy over what constitutes chili.  I was raised up on one kind:  tomato-based with ground beef and kidney beans.  When I went to work at camp in Tennessee, I first met people from Texas.  Their idea of chili was about as far off from mine as you could imagine.  They insisted that it needed to be discrete chunks of meat, and no beans.  I thought theirs was more like a steak soup - delicious in its own right, but not chili. 

Wednesday evening was cold, windy, and rainy.  I mentally scanned through the list of recipes that I go to in a pinch:  tacos, pasta, stirfry?  None seemed right.  Then my mind drifted to a steamy bowl of chili and cornbread.  Perfect!

Jeff and I have made a serious commitment to cooking more at home.  We had gotten so lazy, and picking things up or eating out seems so easy.  But, my waistline has stopped shrinking since my initial pound sheddage after the baby's birth, and we spent $646 (I'm not joking) on eating out last month.  That's right.  A family of two.  Six hundred forty-six dollars.  So, cooking has to become a priority once again. 

I whipped this up after putting the baby to sleep on Wednesday night, and we ate cheaply and nutritiously.  And I had leftovers last night.  A win-win.  The apple cider vinegar gives it a perfect little tang in the background.  If you're wary about canned foods (and I'm really trying to reduce our reliance on them, since many contain BPA as a can liner), just use a scant two cups peeled and chopped fresh tomatoes and two cups of soaked and rinsed dry kidney beans.

Chili
1 lb ground beef (use whatever lean/fat percentage you like, but you may have to skim the fat a little if you use chuck; we used 93/7)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
scant 2 C chicken or beef broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (low- or no-salt)
1/3 C chili powder
2 t cumin
1 16 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 T apple cider vinegar
salt
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Skim off some fat if there seems to be too much.  Add the onion and saute until it is clear and soft (about ten minutes).  Drop in the garlic and saute for a minute or so.  Add the broth and use a spoon or whisk to scrape up all the brown stuff on the bottom of the pot.  Add tomatoes, chili powder, and cumin.  Bring to a boil, then drop back to a simmer.  Simmer for ten minutes, then add beans, vinegar, and salt to taste.  Let it simmer until you're ready to eat.  The longer it cooks, the more the flavors come together.  Serve with sour cream and cheddar as toppings.  Serves four.

We also ate this with cornbread made from the recipe on the cornmeal container.

our family doctor

Like many families these days, Jeff and I never had a "doctor," per se.  Jeff has had myriad specialists and always has a gastroenterologist because of his Crohn's disease.  I saw a nurse practitioner or midwife every year for an annual exam - as most women do - and that was it.  Because I was in school for so long, I benefited from the clinics that are associated with universities.  I never had to pay for these visits, but I also had no continuity of care.  I saw a different person each year that I went in. 

One of the things I loved about being pregnant was going to the midwife.  It was like a fun little social appointment with some measuring and weighing added in.  I really looked forward to those visits, and when they became more frequent toward the end my delight was multiplied.  It made me realize that I owed it to our family to find a medical professional who could care for us, and with whom we had a solid, lasting relationship. 

The search for a doctor for your baby starts when the baby is still in utero.  They tell you to really begin calling and looking around at about six months.  Most people ask some friends, check with their insurance company, and find a pediatrician who is part of a large practice that specializes in child medicine.  I decided I'd rather have someone who knew our whole family, and would be able to see Vicki Jo past the age of childhood.  I wanted a family doctor.

A general practitioner is surprisingly hard to find these days.  Topeka is a city of about 120,000.  I found exactly four family doctors.  A couple were older and weren't taking any new patients.  One wouldn't accept our insurance.  That left us with Ryan Bennett, DO.  I was curious about what those letters after Dr. Bennett's name meant.  She (yes, Ryan is a she) is an osteopath.  When I began researching DO vs. MD, I discoverd I much favored the approach of the osteopath, anyway.  These doctors are trained in the almost-lost art of diagnosing illnesses with the hands, rather than relying so heavily on testing and analysis.  Also, I loved reading that osteopaths tend to favor a more whole-person approach, finding out about mental, emotional, and physical health as part of one package. 

We made an initial appointment with Dr. Bennett and it was a smashing success.  I was heavily pregnant at the time, and she caught on immediately to the fact that I was quite swollen and my blood pressure was up.  She was actually the first person to suggest I be screened for pre-eclampsia, just based on her initial observations.

She was also knowledgeable about Jeff's Crohn's (although, as I mentioned, he sees a specialist for that).  When we explained that we were still deciding how we felt about all vaccinations for our child, she encouraged us to make informed decisions and offered resources, rather than just pushing a party line. 

After the baby came along, Dr. Bennett was thorough and thoughtful.  Although the baby never gained weight at the rate most doctors would have like, Dr. Bennett never freaked out on me.  When we decided to slow down on our vaccination schedule, she just asked to take a look at it so she could familiarize herself.  She trusted that we had done our research and found what was best for our family.  The only thing she ever pushed was Vitamin D.  She spends a lot of time with us at each visit, and we never feel like our baby is being pushed through a factory.  I kind of love the fact that there aren't a lot of babies in her practice, because she isn't constantly comparing Vicki Jo to a million other babies in her mind and using that to judge whether she is "normal" or not. 

Jeff threw his back out recently while riding the bike I got him for his birthday, and Dr. Bennett helped him regain strength and ease his discomfort through a series of stretches and exercises, rather than just prescribing him painkillers.  That's the kind of thing I love about osteopathy. 

All in all, I am so happy with the decision that we made.  I love that Dr. Bennett can identify patterns in the health of our family, and encourage us as a unit to make better choices for ourselves.  She can see if Jeff's Crohn's is making an impact on Vicki Jo's digestion, or judge whether my anxiety is causing her to have sleeping troubles.  I hope that Dr. Bennett remains a part of our family for a long, long time.