everything's better with bacon

Tonight I was at the first meeting of the monthly recipe group I started at church. The featured ingredient was BACON! (Not to my surprise, I got a tongue lashing from an older lady at church for my unhealthy choice of an ingredient! hehe!) Everybody brought a sampling of a recipe with bacon in it. I brought my favorite Smoky Black Bean and Rice Stoup by Rachael Ray. It's not on the internet, but in her express lane book. Everyone loved it. I love it too! So hearty and cheap and healthy, even if there are 3 pieces of bacon in it!

A couple of the ladies were saying they have a rule in the house that everyone in their family has to at least eat a little bit of what is being served for dinner. Then they said they have a hard time getting their husbands to follow the rule and often have to cover for him when they kids ask why dad isn't eating his --fill-in-the-blank. "What do you mean? What won't your husband eat?!" I asked, not fathoming. "Vegetables!" they both said. That cracks me up! Grown men not eating their vegetables! We can't get enough of them here. Roasted sweet potatoes or roasted cauliflower is our favorite. Do your significant others eat their veggies?

Also, Lily is on a milk strike. I boxed up the bottles and she is dehydrating as opposed to drinking milk from a sippy cup. She loves eating yogurt so at least she's getting some dairy. I guess I shouldn't worry too much since the pediatrician said to give her no more than like 12 oz. of milk a day or something absurdly low like that. Still, I don't like it and I hope she drinks milk again soon.

Smoky Black Bean and Rice Stoup
from Rachael Ray’s Express Lane Meals
Serves 4

3 bacon slices, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 celery ribs
1 med. Onion
4 garlic cloves
1 C frozen corn kernels
2 15 oz. Cans black beans
1 Tblsp. Ground coriander
1 Tblsp. Chili powder
1 ½ tsp. ground cumin
1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp hot sauce
salt and pepper
1 15 oz. Can diced tomatoes, fire roasted if you have them
1 8 oz. Can tomato sauce
1 quart chicken stock
1 C uncooked rice

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the bay leaf, celery, onions, and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes to soften the veggies. Add the corn and 1 can of black beans and their juice. Drain the other can, then add half the can of beans. Mash the remaining beans in the can with a fork to make a paste out of them, then scrape them into the soup pot–this will make the soup thick! Season the veggies and beans with the coriander, chili, ground cumin, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and stock. Cover the pot and raise the heat to bring the stoup to a boil. Add the rice and cook the stoup over a rolling simmer until the rice is tender but has a little bite left to it, 15 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and serve.