From the Kitchen

When I have time, which has been sparse due to working full time, or maybe I should say that when I make time, I enjoy being in the kitchen and cooking yummy foods for Hubby and me. Today is Colts game day... and I try to make game days special for my Honey. He jerseys-up for the game, stretches out, and then plays like a pro - from the couch. Go Colts!!

First, I want to explain that our cupboards are a bit sparse. Yes, I have money to get groceries, so no pity. I mean, if you feel the need to send money, by all means, I am NOT going to stop you! Who am I to quench the spirit of giving! ha! When the cupboards begin to get sparse, I take it as an Iron Chef Challenge to get creative .... Sometimes some of my most yummy creations have come out of creative necessity.

Today I am creating a new chili. I like cooking with ground turkey; however, ground turkey can have a weird, well, ground turkey or manufactured taste to me. So, the key is to really really really flavor-up and spice the heck out of it. I put a bit of oil in the skillet, heated it... then added roasted garlic and onions. My Hubby is "allergic" to onions. Strongly dislikes them, that is. So I caramelize them, then remove them... or I could puree them, and then add them back. It's the texture that he does not like... so, I get creative. Then I added the ground turkey, and added chili powder and ground red pepper, salt and black pepper. I have a chili spice pack, and added some of that too, sorta like when I do tacos and spice up the meat. I added a bit of water and let it simmer. We had some 15 beans in a soup pack, dry beans. I boiled them good for an hour, having added a bit of salt, black pepper and ground garlic... to soften them quickly. I added the beans, meat, the rest of the chili flavor pack, and some tomato sauce to a ready crock pot and will let that simmer all day, until the evening game at 6:00. Later I will fix corn bread. And, Viola! Dinner! And we will have left overs for the week.

I may fix a dessert too, later. But, for now we have the main course!

Yesterday my mom and I drove to Liberty, KY where there is a Mennonite community. I found a bulk foods store! I was soooo excited to find this store! They have unique bulk flours, sugars, cheeses, spices and much more. It was an hour and a half drive away, but well worth it. A gorgeous drive through rolling countryside. I plan to take Brandon there next week, and take the camera to get pics for the blog. Mother and I ate at the Bread Of Life Cafe. Deeeee-lish! I will take pictures and post next week on our day retreat!

"Movin' On UP!"

Here is our new red couch and leather chair!! We are sooo excited to actally have REAL, new, and NICE furniture to lounge on... And, the girls seem to love it too!! The couch is their new favorite hang out!!

September sentiments...

Geesh... It's been FOOOORRRREEEVVVERRRRR since I have blogged... All is well here... We have since added new furniture to our living space... A gorgeous red couch. Yes, I said RED couch... and a chocolate leather .. yes, leather... recliner... We loooove our new furniture.... and so do our cats... Pictures will be coming soon... Tilly use to sleep under the bed... but now she sleeps on the back of the couch in the open air of the living room.. My mom says that Tilly was ashamed of the previous, old furniture that we had... but now the we have pretty new stuff... she is no longer embarrassed or ashamed of our furniture... Ha...

I've been working in a interior design/gift shop... Going well so far... Brandon is doing very well. He and his partners have negotiated to pay Brandon a salary per month. It's enough to cover our needs per month...including what I make... Hopefully some time in the near future I will be home.... Oh, I am teaching dance... did I mention that?? I am teaching jazz and hip hop... I am enjoy it... A woman who has taught clogging for years is opening up a full studio for dance, karate, and tumbling... I am helping to build her business... I am hoping, praying, and believing God for more classes... maybe 6 or so... in the spring... and I also plan to write grants... I am working on grant info gathering then grant writing for the local animal shelter... I plan to then just teach dance and write grants from home... eventually... (And I am hoping Santa brings me a laptop for Christmas...)

Ok... there is a quick Wilhite update...