My {not so} famous chili...

Time for payback. All of you that know Sammie and know what chili does to him, this is your chance to make this chili and get him back!!! This is a decently priced, ONE POT chili!!!

                                 

What you need:

-One big soup(?) pot
-Cheese grater
- 1Onion
- 2 cans of pinto beans
- 2 cans of great northern beans
- 1 Can of tomato juice
- 1 McKormic chili seasoning package
- 1-1/2 to 2 lbs. of ground beef
- Salt, garlic powder, chili powder



This is what you do:

This is a ONE pot chili! That means easy clean up and barely ANY mess! You can do this in the crock pot, but I would brown the meat in a pan and then put it in the crock pot.

Anyways, Start with the onion. One way to cut an onion and WITHOUT the tears is by using a cheese grater. Cut the onion in half and peel the outside. Do NOT cut off the ends. You will want the ends to hold on to because you will use the cheese grater to "cut" it up. Sammie doesn't like onion unless it is so small, you can't notice it in the meal. I used dried minced onion for the longest time and then got the idea to use a cheese grater.  The onion almost looks pureed after it is done. (I knew I should have gotten a pic. Sorry.)

Forgive the pot markings. They are always there no matter how many times I clean it. Anyways, after grating the onion into the pot, put the meat in and brown it! Mix the meat and onion well. While the meat is browning, do a once over with some chili powder and garlic powder. After the meat is brown, of course drain the grease, but you don't have to do it well. I keep a tiny bit in there to add flavor. I usually use the leanest meat I can find, too. So there isn't that much grease anyways.

After that, add the ENTIRE can of tomato juice. Sometimes I only add 3/4 of the can and put water in it. It all depends on what I have in my fridge. :) Then add the McKormick package, drain the excess juice from the cans of bean, and add beans. Don't fully drain the beans. I like a little bit of excess bean juice to add flavor...which might could explain some things.

Alright! After mixing everything together, bring the chili to a boil. I would suggest using a medium-high heat. You don't want anything to burn at the bottom. Stir frequently as it boils so that burning doesn't happen. I would also suggest boiling it about 10-20 minutes. It really depends on how much time you have. After it heats up a little bit, most of the time I take this moment to add more garlic and chili powder and salt if needed. Tomato juice already has plenty of sodium in it. So, you might not need to add salt. If you added some water though, you  most likely will need to.

I let it simmer the rest of the day. I stir it every once in a while so that things don't get cooked to the pan. If you go to work and are not a stay at home mom like me, that is why I suggested the crock pot(on high). The longer it cooks the better it will be!  Not to mention, the more it cooks, the more the flavors seem to just melt into each other! I like it when the beans are tender and the meat practically melts in your mouth. That is why I use pinto and great northern beans. I hate kidney beans and they always seem tough no matter how long you cook them. Also, feel free to use the recipe as a guide to make your own style of chili!

Thanks for letting me share! You can also feel free to share any suggestions of making it better or even what you do for your chili! If you use this recipe as a base for your own, please share that, too! I love hearing what other people do. Have a great day!!

Mean Girls (Part 2) and the 4th of July

So, after reading my previous post a couple of times, some questions came into my mind. I realized I didn't post anything about what I might be doing to prevent my girls from becoming "mean girls". So here goes:

First of all, I think it is going to help that they are so close in age. Lucy is the main one I am concerned about since we are so much alike. She has gotten a lot better since Lainey was born and can be very gentle with her sister. Sometimes though, she likes to yank the pacifier out of Lainey's mouth for kicks and giggles, just so she can try to get it back into her mouth. So, I guess just really encouraging acts of kindness between the two of them is my first thing. To really praise Lucy when she is gentle and/or actually gives Lainey her paci when she is crying!

My second thing, is really communicating/communicating "why". Kids really understand more than we give them credit for! They can really understand so much. So, when she is being unkind to Lainey or me, I really try to explain to her WHY it is mean. Even if I use big words, I feel that she understands me. I guess you could say I don't want to "dumb down" my kids just because they are young or kids. I am sure that could get positive and negative remarks, but I think communication is so important. I think it is so important that kids learn how to communicate their feelings rather than act out on them. I am by no means a perfect parent. I make mistakes and sometimes I yell even though I don't want to be a yeller. Or, I can lose patience and not communicate in a nice way. That brings me to my next point.

Third, I am trying to lead by example and it is easier said than done!!! I have two very loud children and one sounds like a pterodactyl! They can wear on my patience quickly. I have really learned to start taking deep breaths, praise(Praising the Lord for these gifts), and God's word. Sometimes all I need is silence. One time I was really having a hard time and was being very impatient with EVERYONE. At this point, I didn't want to be with anyone, not even friends. I didn't want to have to give to someone...if you know what I mean...all I wanted was some silence. So, at naptime one day, Sammie got irritated with me and I walked outside, read a couple of chapters from Proverbs and it helped me so much. What really helps me sometimes when I am reading my Bible are the notes that I have written in margins. Some of the notes contain my goals and desires for being a good and wise parent.

I guess the fourth thing would be proper discipline. This is so hard and I am not going to go to far into this. I am learning about this, too. I constantly pray for the wisdom and intutiveness I need to raise my kids. I am a really my harshest critic. Sometimes I don't feel like a very good mother and notice myself comparing myself to other mothers. I do my best when it comes to this. When she throws something at her sister and makes her cry, I will take the object away and spank her. I recently posted something about this on Facebook. So that is another reason why I won't go so far into it. I think prayer and asking God to mold and help me mold our children to be sweet is the major thing. I know that my girls are human beings and life is really learning by experience. That means I know they aren't going to be perfect, but I will do my best to encourage them to love and communicate well with people of all ages!

Are you still reading? Would you like to know what it is like to jump into a lake from 33ft?

I will be quick. To celebrate the fourth of July, we were invited by friends to go and hang out on a yacht. It was 133ft. long and 33ft high. When the boat was parked, I just climbed down the ladder and got into the lake. I had had one cocktail and was feeling relaxed. When I saw the boys start jumping into the water from the second story of the boat all I could think was, "I have got to try that." It was awesome! Well, after hanging out in the water a little while longer, someone got the idea to jump fromt the third story! Again, I told myself that I had to try it. When you jump from that high, you just can NOT think about it. I was glad I had something to relax me a little. I was one out of two girls to jump into the water from either story of the boat. Anyways, when I jumped in the feeling was just like the panic you feel when you are having a "falling dream". The three emotions I got were: panic, excitement, and elation! I literally thought "Am I going to hit the water?" When I did, I landed on my butt and it hurt a long time after that. It also lead to a huge bruise the size of soft ball on my rear end. O well! It was so worth it and I would encourage any one to do it if they have the chance!! You only live once!!

Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for letting me share!

Mean Girls? And maybe a few tips.

Bullying seems to have started becoming popular. When I was younger, I believe I was the bully, not the one being bullied.  I might have had a few instances where someone was mean to me. That lead to me just being mean back. I once got sent to the principal's office. A girl had been making fun of my acne and that lead to me saying, "I rather have acne than butt breathe like you." Hahahaha. I still find it funny, even though I probably shouldn't. I don't think that is bullying though. I think bullying is when you get your class to surround someone who used to be your friend, heckle her, and kick her shoes. The image of that girl is still stuck in my and I hope it stays there. I do not want my girls to grow up as mean girls.

Recently, I was talking to my mom and I was going through some of the mean things (that could be considered bullying) and I had a realization. I realized that most of the time when I was acting that way, it wasn't my IDEA to treat people that way. It seemed that it was always someone else's idea and I wanted to look cool. So, I succumbed to peer pressure. I am by no means blaming these people. It was my decision to do it and then continue with my actions.  I know my kids aren't perfect, even though I think that the sun shines out of their butts, but I just don't want to be one of those moms where they think their kid could do no wrong. Anyways, I hope I can teach them the things they need to be sweet girls, but to know how and when to stand up for themselves. I don't want them to be suckers either...

Anyways, some people might think I am still a mean girl. I consider myself a very blunt person and I know that some might consider that "bitchy".  I am just not the kind of person that is going to tell you if something looks good if it doesn't! If you ask my opinion, you better REALLY want it because I am going to give it to you! :) Has anyone else noticed that when someone asks for an opinion or advice, they don't really want it anyways? People are still going to do things the way they want to anyways.

Alright, on to bigger and better things...

So, I was looking for a mattress pad for Lucy. Potty training will be soon approaching us and we will deifnitely need one.  Right now, I just couldn't stand that you could see the mattress through her pink sheets! I don't know why. It just seemed ghetto. Well, we do not have the money right now for a mattress pad. At least, we couldn't afford a good one that ranges in prices of 20-30 dollars. So, I ended up getting a twin size comforter that we have had forever and put in on the mattress and then used her flat sheet over the comforter. She doesn't really use covers and that flat sheet was becoming a pain in my toosh when I made the bed!! This was a cheap, quick fix. I was thinking of putting some kind of plastic underneath when potty training comes. I am sure the plastic would be cheaper and you couldn't hear it with that comforter over it! After I put all of that on, I covered it with the fitted sheet and it worked out great! Just an idea for you moms out there that are frugal!

I haven't really tried any new recipes lately. I know that since Lucy is on almond milk, instead of cow's milk, I have used sour cream in our mashed potatoes. We use sour cream more and usually have it on hand. However, I would not recommend using almond milk in your mashed potatoes. It doesn't taste terrible and some might like it, but I prefer the sour cream. It makes very tasty mashed taters! I will also say that lately, we have grilled a lot and have had some of the BEST burgers.  If you want a tasty burger you must mix the Kraft Fresh Takes with the meat! (Use the four cheese one for burgers) I also put a tiny bit of Allegro in it to make them moist and a little more flavorful when it comes to the grill. Not to mention, I usually don't eat meat for left overs because I can't stand the taste, but I ate a left over burger last night and it was still delicious!!

Anyways, thanks for letting me share with you! Hope everyone has a blessed day!!