Everyone is well aware that eating beans can cause gas. You can reduce the gas-producing quality of beans by soaking dry beans before you cook them. Eating dry beans instead of canned beans can also reduce the bloating and gas associated with beans. Use fresh water when you boil the dry beans, as using the soaking water may give you more gas. While fruits and vegetables are essential to maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, some fruits and vegetables can make you more prone to gas. You can reduce your need to fart by cutting down on certain gas-causing fruits and vegetables. Eat fewer apples, peaches, bananas, pears, apricots, and raisins. You should also avoid prune juice as it can trigger your digestive tract to release gas. Eat fewer artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, green peppers, onions, radishes, celery, carrots, and cucumbers. Many milk based products can cause gas and bloating. Reduce your consumption of dairy products like cheese, milk, and ice cream. You should also avoid packaged foods that contain lactose, like bread, cereal, and salad dressing. Carbonated drinks contain a high amount of gas in them and this can translate to high levels of gas in your body. Have less soda, sparkling water, or carbonated fruit drinks and consume water instead so you stay hydrated. You can reduce the amount of gas in carbonated drinks by leaving them out, opened, for a few hours, until the carbonation is reduced. Alcohol like beer and wine can cause bloating, indigestion, and gas. Beer in particular releases carbon dioxide as you consume it, leading to a build up of this gas and potential farting later. If you do enjoy drinking alcohol like beer and wine, sip it slowly and pace yourself. Taking your time when you drink can cause you to swallow less air, leading to a lower build up of gas in your body.

Summary: Soak beans before you eat them to prevent flatulence. Eat less gas-causing vegetables and fruits. Cut down on dairy products like milk and cheese. Reduce your consumption of carbonated drinks. Cut down on your alcohol consumption.

Cast-iron skillets are recommended for the best results, but you can use any frying pan you have. If you are using a cast-iron pan, you can speed up the heating process by placing it into a preheated 350 F (176 C) oven for about 20 minutes and removing it with an oven mitt. Starting with a piping hot cast-iron pan is key. Add a small amount of cooking oil to the pan. Don't use more than 1 tablespoon (0.5 ounces). If your oil smokes, your pan is a little too hot. Take it off the burner for a couple minutes and try again. When the beads of oil spread evenly and shine, the pan is ready for cooking! Place your patty in the middle of the pan and let it cook. Your burger patty will sizzle once it hits the pan and it might even smoke. This is good. Cook it for about 4 minutes. Resist the urge to poke and prod at your patty. Don't push it down into the pan. Leaving your patty alone will allow for it to form a delicious thick crust that will seal in the flavor. Once and only once, when you see the underside starting to turn brown, flip your burger. Cook for an additional 4 minutes on the other side. The last few minutes of cooking is the perfect time to add a slice of cheese. Place a slice of cheese onto your patty and let it get perfectly melted in the last minute or so of cooking. Your burger is medium-rare at an internal temperature of 130 to 135 F (55 to 57 C). Your burger is medium at an internal temperature of 135 to 150 F (57 to 65 C). Your burger is medium well at an internal temperature of 150 to 165 F (65 to 74 C). Your burger is well done at an internal temperature of 165 F (74 C) or greater.

Summary: Preheat your skillet. Test the heat of your pan. Grill your burger. Flip your burger.

. Now that you know what content you want to include in your autobiography, think about how you want to structure your book. Like any great book, your autobiography needs a great plot. Work with the material you have to craft an interesting story that builds toward a climax and ultimately resolves. Create a narrative arc by organizing and filling out your written memories and anecdotes so that they flow together logically. What's your central conflict? What's the biggest obstacle life presented that took years to overcome or come to terms with? Maybe it's an illness you were diagnosed with at an early age, a relationship wrought with turmoil, a series of career setbacks, a goal you worked for decades to achieve, or any other number of things. Look to your favorite books and movies for more examples of conflicts. Build tension and suspense. Structure the narrative so that you have a series of stories leading up to the climax of the conflict. If your central conflict is trying to reach the goal of competing in the Olympics for skiing, lead up to it with stories of small successes and plenty of failures. You want your readers to ask, will she make it? Can he do it? What's going to happen next? Have a climax. You'll get to the point in your story when it's time for the conflict to come to a head. The day of the big competition has arrived, a showdown happens with your worst enemy, your gambling habit gets the better of you and you lose all your money - you get the picture. End with a resolution. Most autobiographies have happy endings because the person writing the story lived to tell the tale - and hopefully get it published. Even if your ending isn't cheerful, it should be deeply satisfying. You somehow accomplished your goal or won the day. Even if you lost, you came to terms with it and gained wisdom. You could do a straightforward chronology of your life, beginning with your birth and ending in the present, but mixing up the chronology can make the story more interesting. You could frame the entire autobiography with reflections from the present, telling your story through a series of flashbacks. You could begin the story with a poignant moment from your childhood, go backward to tell the story of your heritage, move forward to your college years, and launch into the story of your career, with anecdotes from your childhood sprinkled in for comic relief. Use the major themes of your life as a way to tie stories together, connecting your past and your present. Aside from the central conflict, what themes have followed you throughout your life? A fondness for certain holidays, your fascination with a certain place that you visited over and over, a certain type of guy you've always fallen for, a rich spiritual life you fall back on again and again. Bring up the themes every so often to help form a cohesive picture of your life. You're chronicling your life lessons, but what have you learned from them? Relay your intentions, desires, feelings of loss, feelings of joy, the wisdom you've gained, and other inner thoughts from time to time throughout the book. Taking a step back from the action of the story to reflect on what it all means is a good way to add depth to your autobiography. Chapters are useful because they allow you to move on from discussing certain life periods or events. There's a reason we have the expression that we've "closed a chapter" or "opened a new chapter" in life, and it's even more applicable when discussing an autobiography. Chapter breaks allow you to skip forward 10 years, go back in time, or start describing a new theme without jarring the reader too much. Consider ending chapters on a poignant or suspenseful note, so people can't wait to start the next one. The beginnings of chapters are a good place to take a bird's eye view of your past, describe the setting of a place, and set the tone for what's to come.
Summary: Create an overarching plot Decide where the story is going to start. Weave in themes. Take a step back to reflect. Use chapter divisions to give the book structure.