You Puerto Rican bean eater! Are some of the racist comments that I heard while  growing up in Jersey.Like for some reason eating beans is a God forsaken thing or a sin, I never understood why people will use food to stereo type other people. Anyway I want to talk about the bean the super food of the legume family with all his relatives. Beans are  a great source of proteins, vitamins, minerals and fiber.  In Puerto Rico we cook a varieties of beans form the pinto beans, chick peas, black beans, pink beans, lime beans, kidney beans and the mighty pigeon pea. We have various ways to cook them bake them or refry them any way you "slice it or dice it " its  all good the trick is to put soak them in water for 3 days an changing the water daily .In general, soaking beans and then cooking removes about 50 percent of phytic acid. One report with peas and lentils shows that close to 80 percent of phytic acid can be removed by soaking and boiling. Boiling beans that haven't been soaked may remove much less phytic acid plus it starts the process of germination were the bean gets ready to be a plant and that is why one most cook them at the third day. Then cook them up to your taste.

 

A Man is built by the words He says! Standing on His actions!

I has always taught my boys that a Man is define by the things one does and not necessary skills are needed all the time. Only will and drive can define the depths of a Mans soul and the things he will do when the time calls for it. It starts be being a provider of the daily necessities, giving respect and expecting it back being able love and  to move one self into compassion which is a God attribute and having faith over all. My son Juan Carlos never forgets the time that I went to Jersey and notice that his Moms apartment bathroom was not up to par, the tub was rusted walls looked grimy and the Landlord will do nothing about it. So I took Him to the local Hardware store and got some stain killer, paint, compound and a few tools for the project we had ahead of us. Back in the apartment we did our thing and at  it came out nice and I remember that as soon it dry up J.C took  a long bath and I never forget his face when he came out of it, and  there  I told him see the deferens a Man makes when he sets his mind to something and accomplish it and he said "Pa your da Man"  . and  made me realize that the lesson was for both of us that day the Man in the making and the Man in the shaping .

My son Santiago in Puerto Rico also recalls the time I went over there for vacations and he had left is Pit bull Princes in Yauco with his  brother at his step fathers house, cause they did not hade space for such animal at his house in Cayey. I remember the first time I laid eyes on that dog it was love at first sight and the untamable 85lbs Pit Bull was strike by the resemblance my son and I have and she just looked at both of us and was double happy. But a year had past by since the last time I saw her and Aim telling my son lets go see  Princes before we do anything else. We drive out to Yauco 45 minutes away and we take the panoramic route,sight seeing and a few stops at the 'bodegas" for a cold one 'una fria" and by time I  knew we were right there at his Moms house. We parked the car and I started to call the dog by her name but she did not answer as  I   walk to the porch I can see a chain-link rope tied to a column of the  house and at the other end there was a dog whom resemble the shadow of a dog I know before and my eyes cant believe that is my Princess weighting 50lbs at the most and looking like she just had a thousand puppies her tits were hanging like gravity was under rated. That dogs eyes look into to my soul and ask me for help and all I can do at the moment is to assure her that things will about to change right there and then, I gentle touched her head with both hands and looked her in the eyes and said " I am leaving but  I am coming back and we going to change your situation and she just stare at me like saying 'I believe you ' so we seeped up the supermarket and grabbed  a bag of dog food a few cans of Alpo and head back to feed Princess. Once back there I opened a can of Alpo put it her plate and watched her like it clean in time record, slow down baby I said  as we gave her some dry food, and all this time nobody showed up to even to say hi. After a few hours hanging out with the dog and asking the neighbors if they had notice the neglect the dog been thru, but in Puerto Rico sometime is like talking to the wall. We took the Highway back to Cayey and on the way we having the conversation about how this people neglected the dog and the whole nine yards that's is when my son said "Thanks Pa for being there You made the deferens" and that is what I want them to take from me.

What title one as a Man is others and not ourselves, we can build our self with words but they most be founded on Our actions. Being the Son the Brother, that Uncle and that Friend only shapes  us up to be a good neighbor, fella man and a great Human Being the way God sees us like Men.

There is a  Puerto Rican Dish called 'Pastelon' or 'Pinon' one of the main dishes in the Island but not every body knows or have the time to make it. Is a bit complicated to make but it is very delicious and liked by most people.

PASTELON

1lbs ground beef

2 dozens of eggs

4 Yellow plantains

Small bottle of Corn oil

Garlic, onions, red peppers and cilantro 'Sofrito'

Frist blend the garlic, onions red peppers to make the sofrito, in a pot cook the ground beef with  the sofrito  and  salt pepper to taste just like making a Chilly but with out the sauce.

The yellow plantains should cut long side and like a quarter of an inch thick and put in water for a few minutes to take out the stickiness, then deep fry them into the start to float in the oil. Remove them from the pan and place them in a plate cover with towel paper to absorb the excess oil.

Now we make 2 omelets with the 2 dozens of eggs 'big ones' before the second is fully cooked the trick is going to be to layer out the Pastelon, first  one layer of beef then a layer of plantains and so on till you run out of layers now put on top the second omelet so it may finish cooking on top of the layers of ground beef and plantains and let it rest till it reaches room temperature.

Put on a big plate and slice it like a pie chart LOL do not take the bigger part for your self other people want to eat to LMAO  

Thanks every body for commenting on my blog thanks again! No one is fool proof in life anything can happen  to anyone at any giving time . I found my self the other night in a very a awkward which I will spare the details of it due to the situation was a little bit embarrassing, all I can say don't waist time getting ready for the moment if your not going to be ready at the moment.

The Art of Cooking Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza Sativa(Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia. It is the grain with the second-highest worldwide production, after corn, according to data for 2010.Since a large portion of maize crops are grown for purposes other than human consumption, rice is the most important grain with regard to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing more than one fifth of the calories consumed worldwide by humans. That is information is from the encyclopedia now Aim going to talk the way Puerto Ricans cook rice specially the way I cook it, when it comes to white rice I follow a Chinese method were one may cook it with little or no oil but you most watch the rice cook all the way through and most lower the heat as the water evaporates till there is no more and put the lid so it finish cooking be it self.
Now the way we cook rice with something else like beans, meats or veggies will varied from household to household in the Island but basically is all the same. The real secret is in the 'sofrito' a mix of garlic, onions, green and red peppers and cilantro the mixer should be cook in some oil in the bottom of the pot but not fully just enough so the juice come out 'sofreir' once that is done just throw in the ingredients beans, chopped meat or veggies add water salt and pepper to taste and a small package  of 'sazon accent' Spanish annatto with flavor, bring it to a boil pour in the rice once the rice start to stick you move it around and mix it all together and reduce the heat little by little till the is no water then put the lid on it fifteen  minutes later rice is done.  

My lemonade! when lives gives you lemons make lemonade! is the old saying but even for that one still needs water and sugar or other wise all we have to show for is lemon juice, so all we can really do is make the best from the worst which is better then nothing. I lost my cat last year in a very awkward situation and that kind bombed me out for a good while but now where a live there are a few strays and I kept to habit of feeding them and even do they don't live with me I get the satisfaction of looking  at them and the joy I feel also has come back and in all honesty the way I see it is like having a friends with benefits in this case the cat minus the litter box which is a very good deal. Live gave me the lemons and with my attitude "water&sugar" Aim making my lemonade.      The good thing about life is hope because hope is the force that keeps us dreaming about that better future the place we know we will be because we all ready there. 

One of my co workers back stab me and the crazy thing is that it back fire on him. This guy had the guts to talk behind my back after all the things I had help him in the past. Having nothing better to do he decided to talk about me with my Boss whom has me in very good regards, but my Boss was not sure about the gossip and decided to approach me later to talk about the situation this guy created, but before we could that conversation this guy started to spread rumors about the Boss him self and there and then is that things got complicated for him 'the back stabber". He said something to someone whom at the end told my Boss about it, and after a long analysis of the situation he came to the conclusion that this guy was trying to frame my first divided us second and cut my Boss thought third. Tomorrow he is getting fire not for that, but for some dirt we dugout from this guy, my advise is grow eyes in the back of your head because it is a 'dog eat dog' life far from a doggie life!    

I forgot to blog about a incident that happen to me on January, 26 2014 and this is why I been writing about the word lately. On that Sunday I went to visit a Spanish Christian Center on Bumby Ave near Down Town Orlando a friend of mines Ricardo Zeno who is a  Christian Pastor for over 30 years been asking me to visit for mounts all ready and I finally had sometime and decided to visit that Sunday morning. Its a small Congregation with a Pentecostal background the  Pastor Dionicio and His wife are from the Dominican Republic and are great people and servants of God, so every thing was normal my friend Ricardo was delivering the message that morning and after everything was said and done he has a last minute announcement and there is where I got involved. He started to tell the Congregation that I was a Teacher  in the word of God and about the extend knowledge that I have. When I realized the all ready had railroad me to being the Congregation Bible Teacher and the crazy thing is that I accepted and now Aim the new teacher at Centro Cristiano Vision Nueva! 

I can't believe January is all ready over, where is time flying? all ready the 7 of February and this is a short month by time we realize it be over to. There is a prophecy in the Bible that talks about days being shorten specially in the days of Tribulation what Jesus spoke about in Mt Olive lets take a look at what He said:  
³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.
⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’^[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.
²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[b]

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.^{[d] 31} And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[e] is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Some people ask them self How can this possible? Very simple the one Whom made the Earth go around the Sun and turn around on it axle, is the same One the will make that happen.

This whole thing about dieting and drinking less is paying off big time, I all ready feeling great about my self and every thing that surrounds me. Sometime life like the planets align it self and one can feel the gravity pull in Our lives weather is faith or destiny it just seems to come together. One thing is for sure and real Aim loving it to the max, I guess it was about time and it was over due. Thanks to this new class "Introduction to Nutrition" with Thameshwarie Singh I been able to make better choices when it comes down to food and thanks  to Prof Erika I can blog about it.
  

I really don't believe in New Years resolutions and those sort of promises that we make to Our self just to fail miserable  and find One self on square one again in February. On the flip side having a date were One may start life all over, make the old new, change the prospective of how we see things and to take that fist step in to the new. So when 2014 came in I made up my mind to make changes for the better. Frist one was to stop drinking and the second a better and third some exercise just to feel better. So far I have not drink till this very day the 24 of January  and we know that once the  body gets use to anything after 21 days. Same thing with eating right, once the body realizes that you giving it great nutrition it will react to it. Now got to doing exercise  but is to dam cold out there.

                                        
                                                   Fricassee De Pollo.... French Chicken stew

1 whole chicken

2 lbs.  Russell Potatoes

1 bottle of Spanish red wine

1 six pack of beers ' 3 for the stew 3 for the cook'

1 cup of green Spanish Olives ' alcaparrado'

1 head of garlic

1 small onion

1 cup of pickle red pepper

3 to 5 bay leaves

2 cans of Spanish style tomato sauce

1 lemon

Salt and Pepper to a season

Defrost the chicken to room temperature, rinse the bird cut it in pieces, cut the lemon in haves and

rub it all over  the chicken till all the juices come out then season the meet with salt and pepper to

 taste . Peel the 2lbs. of potatoes rinse them out and place them in a 5 gallon pot. Cut the onion in

small pieces and peel and crush the entire garlic head. In the pot mix very well  all the ingredients

expect for the wine and the beer. Once the all ingredients are mix pour the bottle of wine the pot and

top it off with the 3 beers. Cook over high heat till its boils , reduce heat to a medium low until the

soup thickens. Serve with white rice and a  lettuce tomato salad