Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Chili


Today I changed up our favourite chili recipe just a little bit. The original was from my sister-in-law, but I can never leave a recipe alone. Everyone needs a go-to chili recipe, and this is ours. Nothing fancy-schmancy...just down-to-earth ingredients.


Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Dash or two of tabasco sauce
1 large can (796 mL / 28 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (284 mL, 10 1/2 oz) tomato soup (do not dilute)
1 small (5.5 oz) can tomato paste
1/2 cup beef broth (more or less depending on how thick/thin you like your chili and how long it simmers. I usually use about 1/2 cup)
398 mL can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
398 mL can pork and beans (I pick out the pork chunk cause I can't stand it in there!)

Place ground beef, onion, green pepper, and celery in a large, deep saucepan. Saute until almost ground beef is browned. Drain off excess fat if necessary. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. You can then transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for 3-5 hours.


Linking up

Growing Home







Monday, September 19, 2011

Menu Plan


After a nice week of holidaying-at-home, we are back into the swing of things around here. My husband was off work last week, and we spent the week with family and friends. We went out to eat lots, so I got a break too, which was really nice. However, I must confess I'll be happy to start eating home-cooked meals again, even if I have to cook them myself :-). We spent a few days at my husband's parents' house, so he could help with harvest. His Mom had to get her appendix out a week or two again, and she always helps with harvest, so his parents needed some extra help with an already-late harvest. My hubby, his dad, and brother-in-law worked on the fields while my sister-in-law and I cooked, looked after our toddlers, and harvested some of the garden produce.

This weekend my husband and I had a "date weekend" as we sent our little Ellie off to my Mom and Dad's house for a couple days. I always find it so hard to leave her anywhere, even with our amazing families, but it is nice to spend some quality time with just each other. We went out for a few nice meals, watched a couple of movies, went for a walk, etc.

Here's the plan for this week:

Sunday
Ordered in pizza for lunch
Ate at Mom & Dad's for supper

Monday
Leftover pizza for lunch
Kommst Borscht (using leftover roast beef in freezer) for supper

Tuesday
Leftover Borscht, Cheese Biscuits, Tossed Salad

Wednesday
Grilled Salmon (NEW)(in oven), Rice, Carrot Latkes (NEW)

Thursday
Crockpot Beef Burgundy, Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Broccoli

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Chicken Fingers, Baked French Fries, Veggies & Dip

*For more great meal ideas visit Menu Plan Monday hosted by orgjunkie.com*
Link

Friday, September 16, 2011

Feminine Friday



I decided to join in again on Feminine Friday hosted by Valencia. The pregnancy pounds are being packed on (a little faster than I would like), which, quite honestly is a bit discouraging when I worked so hard to lose all that weight (40 pregnancy pounds plus an additional 35) a year or so ago. HOWEVER.. it's for a good reason...the best reason, actually. :-)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Bedtime Prayers of a 2 Year Old



If you know our Ellie, you know she's sweet, she's stubborn, and she's busy. As my parents have said, "She's got more salt and vinegar than all you kids had combined." (Or something like that). We're on Week 2 or 3 of training her to sleep in her toddler bed instead of in her crib. It has been rough. Most days (and nights) have been very rough. Perhaps we had a breakthrough tonight, though. I'll try not to get my hopes up, but for the first time she fell asleep in her own bed without having to have me in plain sight or sit in her room (and still taking over an hour to get her down for naps and bed). Tonight it took 2+ hours, but finally she gave in. She has woken up once or twice since then but has not yet got out of bed. We shall see how the night goes. Anyway, she said the sweetest prayer tonight. She has just started saying her own prayers, and it just melts my heart. Tonight her own personal bedtime prayer went something like this:

"Dear God, Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for blessings. And...ummmmmm...Thank you for Gerry (her stuffed giraffe). Stay in bed. Thank you for ____(her cousin). Thank you for Auntie ______. And....umm.....Uncle __________. And....Grandpa and Grandma. Thank you for Mommy. Thank you for....Daddy. Thank you for food. Amen.

:-)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

I'm Here and Busy

Yep, I'm still around. I'm just extraordinarily busy. Weddings, birthdays, harvesting the garden, helping with harvest, midwives appointments, etc. Too busy to be blogging. :-) Will post more some other day, but it could be next week sometime.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Feminine Friday & Belly Pic



Valencia from Buildeth Her House is hosting Feminine Friday. I decided it was high time to take a belly picture and participate in her linky party, too. The picture quality isn't the greatest, but that's as good as I can get for a quick self portrait with a timer.

*Also linking up to True Femininity*

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Ellie Turns 2!

It was a busy and fun-filled weekend as we celebrated Ellie turning 2. I hope to do a more in-depth journal post about Ellie at 2 years old, but for now, the pictures will have to do the talking. :-)

Before I forget...I had my first midwife appointment today, which was fantastic! I am SO thrilled to switch my care over to them as they are very pro-VBAC. More about that another day. :-)





She was thrilled when everyone sang Happy Birthday!







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