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I do not cook very often, although I usually enjoy it when I do so. It takes me much longer than the average person to cook a meal. By the way, I am talking about cooking nice full meals, not just grilling burgers as I do that quite often. I like to be very organized and prepared. Friday seemed to be the perfect night for me to finally take the time to make a nice meal. I ran errands most of the day which left me plenty of time come evening. Megan had to work until 8 so I decided I would cook a nice meal for the two of us and really try to make it special. She often times gives me trouble about how infrequently I cook, so this was the perfect opportunity to surprise her.

I spent quite a bit of preparation time getting everything lined up and ready to roll. That way I could get everything cooked pretty quickly and have minimal dishes as I finished. This also allowed me to better time the meal. I was able to have the meals on the table, plated with music and a candle just as she walked in!

Pork chops, black beans and rice filled out the menu. It turned out amazing! The main point of this post is so that I can put the recipe in here and be able to reference it later. Feel free to give it a try yourself and let me know how it turns out.

I found the recipes at AllRecipes.com -

Coriander and Cumin Rubbed Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 boneless pork loin chops
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Mix the salt, cumin, coriander, garlic, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to form a paste. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, and rub with the paste.
2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the pork chops about 5 minutes on each side, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 279 | Total Fat: 22.1g | Cholesterol: 39mg

Black Beans a la Olla

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2/3 large onions, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/3 (19 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2/3 tomatoes, diced
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

This recipe’s Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 6 servings. (Neat feature on the site so you do not have to do the math yourself.)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; cook the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the black beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, cumin, and cayenne pepper; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup cilantro and simmer another 2 minutes. Stir in the green onions and remove from heat. Garnish with 1/4 cup cilantro.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 179 | Total Fat: 5.3g | Cholesterol: 0mg

The pork chops looked like they would be too strong, but not at all. I loved the taste and how fresh and light it was. The black beans were amazing! I love back beans and Megan likes, but does not love them. These had great flavors that blended well together. I mixed it with my rice and it was perfect. It also seemed like it would be a great burrito stuffer. If you try it in any other way, let me know how it turned out. I definitely plan to make these a lot in the future.

What I thought going in:

When first learning that I would be teaching a Social Media class in Blue Springs, I was very excited. I immediately began thinking and creating scenarios in my head, which extinguished my excitement. What if I bombed? What if these people don’t learn anything? Then I thought, this is going to be a great “learning” experience. Funny how the teacher always becomes the student.

• excitement
• fear of failure
• approach as a learning experience

What I learned along the way:

I quickly learned that I do in fact know quite a bit about the subject at hand. Often times I doubt my own knowledge because I spend most of my time with people “like me” that know and use social media tools early and often. I love the relationships that come from a teaching/learning environment because it really gives me sense of purpose.

What I am going to do moving forward:

I absolutely had a blast! I can not wait to seek out more opportunities to not only teach more social media classes, but to find more learning opportunities in the things I am interested in. I felt like it took me slightly out of my comfort zone and I was able to adapt and learn new things and meet new people.

I think that one always learns more while teaching. It was certainly proved in my case.

Have you ever taught a class? If so, what did you teach and more importantly what did you learn?

So I am hanging out with Liv today and all of the sudden…

“Apple bottom jeans! Boots with the fur!”…She knew all the words. I started laughing so hard I cried and asked if she would do that for me again so I could video her.

Enjoy!

O likes Apple Bottom Jeans from chrisculbertson on Vimeo.

Last Friday Simon, Zach, and I set out to take some photos around KC. We had been talking about doing something like this for a little while. Zach has been spending less time on photography as of late and we wanted to get him back in the groove. This was in honor of his birthday, but hopefully something that we continue to do every once in a while. I had a lot of fun exploring some of the city through the lens. Plus, afterward we had a blast at the Cashew catching up with lot’s of people that stopped by for Zach’s B-Day drinks.

Below are several of the photos that I took!

I have been very busy lately and really do not have time to write this right now, but I thought it would help me as I talk through each of the things I am going through at the time. This is kind of my “to do” list, if you will. And if you won’t, well I guess I will just have to deal with it. So here is what I have been up to and will be up to for the next few weeks/months:

KCFit.net - KCFit.net is working towards some neat new walking programs that will engage kids throughout the KC Metro area. We are excited to do things like this because kids, frankly, are more gracious. I think most people will agree that doing anything for kids is rewarding and worth the effort.

Ideas and Angles - I have been asked to come and speak to a group of business owners about Facebook and the power of the social networking site. Many are interested due to some recent work we have done with I-70 Auto Service on their Facebook page.

We have been working on a website design for the Blue Springs F.I.T. (Families In Training) organization I am a part of. It is scheduled to be unveiled August 1st!

We partnered with a local Executive Search Firm to bring an online presence to a new service they are looking to provide in which they/we do your networking for you. We think it is a great idea and will help people find jobs in this tough economy. Check out NudgeYourNetwork and please send your thoughts and feedback our way. Reaching out to your contacts is the fastest way to getting a job, but it is not always the easiest thing to do on your own. If you think it is valuable, I ask that you pass the word on (through Twitter @networknudge or on your blog) and help us help more people find a job!

I am meeting with a few people tomorrow to discuss a website for their new company. It sounds like they would like to build in some social networking tools to help them get off the ground. I am really excited to meet with them, as people starting their own company are generally more passionate about their work than most!

I received a phone call yesterday from a local company that came across the Ideas and Angles website and were looking into some social media agencies to aid them in some 2010 campaigns. They have some things going and it would certainly be fun to work on a campaign as apposed to just helping someone get a presence and teach them how to manage their presence on social networking sites. We hope to put together a some very compelling ideas and proposals in order to land the project.

Wedding - I am getting married in October and even though it seems like we have most things under control, new things constantly surface.

ABoutiqueParty - Megan’s company ABoutiqueParty sells Miche Bags and we are about to launch an e-commerce site in order to sell more Miche products and hopefully expand into more Boutique items that she takes with her to her Boutique Parties. This should be unveiled within the next week or so. Keep an eye out as we will probably have some specials as it gets rolled out. Megan is such an amazing marketer, that I know she will be incredibly active both online and with her at home “parties” to get momentum early.

Olivia - She just keeps going and never stops. I love it! I just wish I didn’t feel so busy and rushed all the time right now. I feel like she and I have not had a great deal of “quality time” together for the last week or so. She continues to amaze me every day.

My brother - Scott and Julie bought a house and are doing some work on it before moving in. I spent the last weekend helping him put in a new floor for the entry way/kitchen. I really like some “manly” work every now and again.

I am sure there is more but I better be getting back to making things happen. Keep an eye out for all the great stuff coming up soon. Please leave comments about some of the projects and what you think of them. Or leave comments about projects you are working on.