Chili Champ

My precious long weekend is almost over. I swear I could weep with sadness! It just flew by so fast!! It was fun though! Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can look forward to the Christmas countdown! IT'S SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT! I dug through my scary closet today (FULL of stuff) and found all of my wrapping papers, boxes, bows, ribbons and tape. I'm all set to wrap the things I have already purchased and make them all teasingly beautiful! I ADORE giving presents to people I care about. Some people HATE the giving and receiving part of the Christmas tradition. I'm clearly not one of them. The look on the face of someone you love ripping at a delicately wrapped present gets my heart all a flutter. :)

Breakfast today consisted of coffee (lots of coffee) and an egg white scramble.

• 4 egg whites
• mushrooms (chopped)
• green onion (chopped)
• green peppers (chopped)
• tomato (chopped)
• salt & pepper to taste

I topped it with Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa.. Tasty stuff! Very flavorful!


I also had a toasted English muffin on the side with a bit of spray butter.


Before it was time for the usual Sunday visit with the folks, I decided to get a head start on dinner. A warm and spicy vegetable chili sounded good. I busted out the good old crock pot and added the following.

• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of pinto beans
• 2 cans of tomato sauce
• 1 can of diced tomato
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 small yellow onions, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 8oz mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups Morning Star Farms Sausage meal starter
• 1 tbs hot chili powder
• 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp roasted red pepper seasoning
• 1 tsp Liquid smoke
• 1 tsp green habanero sauce
• sea salt & pepper to taste

Done and done. It will be so lovely to come home and not have to fuss with dinner. :)

I wasn't super hungry when the time rolled around to visit the Fam. I decided to just pack a banana, an orange, a honeycrisp apple, some grapes and an Oikos yogurt cup to make a quick fruit salad. It turned out delicious! I couldn't finish it all all so I shared with Mama.


The visit was fun. We did the usual game playing which was full of love filled yell sessions, tantrums and competition. I lost as usual. HA!

When I got home I found Nick hanging plastic on the windows again and putting up the rest of the blinds I bought a few weeks ago. YAY for rooms WITHOUT drafts and WITH privacy! I was so excited! I helped him finish up and then we hung the curtains back up. I'm not a HUGE fan of blinds but I'll force myself to get used to them until I can figure out something more aesthetically pleasing.

We were both starving by the time we were done. The house smelled like chili, GOOD chili, and my mouth was watering for a taste. I quickly made a nice bowlfull, topped it with a bit of cheese and sour cream. YUM!


I also had a Golden Corn VitaTop from VitaLicious on the side. Oh man, good decision! It was super tasty! It had a really good corn cake flavor. I give it a solid 9 out of 10!


Seriously, the chili was mighty fine! I'm not sure if it was the cocoa or or just luck with the ingredients and seasonings I used this time around. I was almost surprised by how good it was!

WHEW! I was stuffed after dinner. Only one thing can help me now. A nice cup of tea and more House M.D. episodes. We're almost completely caught up! YEAH!

Have a great night everyone!