David's Texas Chili

Jodi has been asking me for David's chili recipe for months. I finally realized that I could totally parlay getting the recipe into a blog post. I announced to him Friday night that I was going to get him to make chili this weekend so that I could photograph the process and turn it into a blog. He gave me the "look," you know the one that means I'm some form of crazy, but he decided to play along.

Admit it y'all. That is just some kind of sexy right there, a man cooking dinner. Mmmmmm, in more ways than one.

Ingredients:
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 large or 2 small cans of tomato sauce
2 cans Ranch Style Beans
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp chopped garlic (we use the kind in the jar that you get in the produce section)
5 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp dehydrated onion
1 pound lean ground beef

And I just have to add here, how classy are we? All of the premeasured spices in the kids' bowls. And yes, he always does it this way.

Brown the ground meat then add the garlic and onions and stir until both are tender. Then he adds all the spices and canned ingredients plus 3/4 can of water. Simmer this until the rice is done, or about 30 minutes.

We eat our chili with rice and cheese. It is good without the rice and with corn chips too. Plus we almost always have enough for leftovers. Sometimes I freeze it and sometimes we just eat it the next day.


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Be sure to visit Rachal at A Southern Fairytale for more Mouthwatering Monday recipes.

A Fashion Don't, Not that we are always a do

Jodi and I were at again while I was in training. Be sure to skip on over to Mom and Mommer and check out who was on our list this time. I promise you will be wanting to slap a fashion don't black bar across this chicks face.

The First Dental Appointment

I hate the dentist. I know that most people dread going, but I really hate it. I put it off for as long as I can. As a matter of fact I don't think I've had my teeth cleaned in about three years. I had a dentist I liked, but he moved and now I have to find a new one. Obviously that is not something I'm looking forward to.

Today I took Baby Girl for her very first appointment. I remember (one of) the first time I went. For some reason the dentist took me back all by himself. I can't believe my mother let that happen, and I'm sure she has regretted it since. Apparently I had an abscessed tooth. He pulled it. It hurt. It bled a lot. And when we were checking out I threw up all over his shoes. I totally remember the scene of that vomit hitting his shoes like it was yesterday. I also remember the satisfaction I felt when it happened because he had hurt me.

Thankfully, Baby Girl's appointment went a thousand times better. She walked right in and got her xrays, with no gagging like I always do. She talked to the dental technician like she had known her forever and had no fear at all. The dentist came in and tapped all of her teeth (two teensy, weensy cavities on her back teeth that we will have to get filled), and the tech started cleaning. She did a great job of explaining the process the whole time and Baby Girl never even once was scared.

I sat there and watched her in the chair. My heart was swelling with pride. She is getting so grown up and she is so brave. Sometimes I'm amazed that she is really my little girl. She faces events head on that make me cringe with fear.

Yes, she is beautiful, and yes, she is smart, but the moments I am proudest of her are the ones that she shows absolute determination and strength of character. These are the traits that I admire in her the most, and the ones that I hope never change.

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This post was inspired by prompt one for Mama Kat's Writer's workshop:

1.) Describe something you're proud of.

Be sure and visit her site for all of the prompts and read what everyone else had to say. And don't forget to comment!

Sleeping...

This is one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen. Baby Girl is still sleeping with us after almost five years. So this... this is like a miracle to me. Every night one of us will rock him for a few minutes and then lay him down in his crib and he sleeps. That simple. Of course sometimes he may wake up or cough or cry, but most nights he just sleeps. And that my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Visit Angie at Seven Clown Circus for more Wordful Wednesday images.

Out of town, Random Tuesday Thoughts

Tuesday means it is time for random thoughts. Be sure to visit Keely at The Un Mom and link up with everyone else.

I'm in Austin this week for training. I've been at this job for almost a year and I'm finally getting to go to training. The sucky part, I have to share a room with the coworker I hate. Let's not discuss how this happened. I hate the sick twist of fate.

Bud is finally starting to talk a little. David said he walked right up to a door Saturday night, knocked and said, "trick or treat." Of course he did this when I was nowhere around. Ugh. Why won't they ever do anything where momma can hear?

I'm totally upset that I didn't win a Flip video camera this weekend. Yes, I realize that there were 700 entries. So. I totally wanted one and I had been planning all of the cute things I was going to video and post on my blog. Like Bud singing "Move on Back" (aka The Wheels On The Bus). It is his favorite song and he really gets into it. Including pointing his little finger and telling you to "mouh awn back, mouh awn back". Very cute. Now none of you get to see it. So there.

I'm actually writing this Monday night because of the training on Tuesday. I won't have a computer all day tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that I'll have some kind of withdrawals. I'll have my blackberry. Hopefully that will suffice.

I was really looking forward to this trip and being able to get some sleep, but tonight, all I want to do is go home.

Update: My roommate snored. It sounded like a freight train was coming through the room. I got up at 1am and got another room. I didn't tell her until this morning. Is that wrong?