life in general

white sheet cake

 

 A few years ago my sister-in-law Becca brought this recipe to a family gathering, I baked it up (I think she was busy with a baby at the time), and ever since I have been hooked.  It is moist, delicious, with just the perfect touch of almond flavoring.  I've made it three times now for gatherings and each and every time it has been a hit!  

CAKE

Heat and set aside:

3 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups water

Mix:

3 cups flour

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cups sour cream

3 eggs

2 Tbsp. almond extract

Combine both mixtures.  Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

ICING

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

8 oz. cool whip

Cream the sugar & cream cheese until smooth.  Fold in cool whip.

Top it with some berries and I dare you not to steal a bite for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a midnight snack.

I've always thought it would be fun to make a cookbook with all of our favorite, tried and true recipes.  This one would definitely make the cut.  I'll have to add that to my Blurb to-do list.

The last time I made this cake was in the middle of my get-fit-for-hawaii goal a few months back.  As I was taking these photos I was literally all dressed up in my workout gear, moments away from shredding with Jillian Michaels.

But the cake!  Oh my, I just needed to have one more piece.  So I placed a piece on a pretty plate, with the intention of enjoying it after my workout.  I felt so rebellious, especially because Jillian Michaels was sitting there on the tv screen looking over my shoulder.

"Don't judge me, Jillian!"

 

banana cake, the legacy continues

I originally posted the recipe for Banana Cake way back in 2006, when this blog was just a baby.  On Friday I made some Banana Cake and posted a picture on instagram.  I got a lot of requests for the recipe, so here goes.

Banana Cake

recipe from my mother-in-law, Valerie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease & flour a 9x13 pan.

Cream together:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Mix together & add:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup sugar

Beat for 3 minutes.  Bake for 35 minutes.

Banana Cake Frosting (here's where it gets good)

Don't begin making this until the cake is completely cooled

• Melt 1/2 cup butter in a saucepan.  Add 1 cup brown sugar -- cook for 2 minutes
• Add 1/4 cup milk.  Bring to full rolling boil.  Take off heat.
• Add 2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar & beat until smooth spreading consistency.
• Spread onto the cake right away (the frosting will set as it cools)

My favorite way to eat banana cake is to heat it up in the microwave for about 20 seconds -- just until the frosting gets a little soft.  It also makes a fabulous breakfast.  Make sure you have a tall glass of milk ready and enjoy!

Banana Cake is Scott's birthday cake, and has been since he was 8 years old.  Here he is blowing out candles on his birthday banana cake!

Once again at 37.

Once he finds something he likes he sticks with it and doesn't look back!

Even though he had a busy day at work, we were able to celebrate his birthday with decorations, dinner, and gifts in the evening.  And then we had a very relaxing Saturday by the pool which helped to balance things out.

Anna has decided that she loves banana cake.  In fact, Scott had to cut her off because she was stealing slices throughout the following day -- there weren't enough leftovers for him!

the penguin is back

Oh ya! Oh ya! Purple Penguin is back for business!  We've missed him the last 6 months.

This is my new favorite snack.  Perfect for curing the munchies with just a touch of sweetness.  Get 'em at Costco.

Scott and Conner went to General Conference in Salt Lake last weekend (I should probably blog about that!).  I asked Scott to pick up some delicious cake bites from The Sweet Tooth Fairy while they were there.  You know, I'm thinking like . . . 6 or maybe a dozen.  No.  That's not how Scott does things.  He came home with 100!  One hundred.  At first I was like, Ack!  Then I reminded myself to appreciate the gift (even if it was going to throw a wrench in my "get fit" plans).  Soooo we gave some to the kids' teachers, ate some, and froze the rest in small containers for future use.

On General Conference Sunday I made our traditional monkey bread for breakfast.  At that point it had been quite a while since I last ate something so sugary and sweet -- I swear I could feel the sugar rushing through my veins! 

Lest you think it's been all sweets and treats this week, this was my lunch on Tuesday.

Some cauliflower sounds really good right now . . . 

101 in 1001 // new year update

While it's January and we're all talking and thinking about goals and things we want to do I thought I would re-visit my 101 in 1001 goal challenge.  Yes, I haven't forgotten about it!  My 101 in 1001 page is up to date with everything I have completed so far.  But I did a little math and forecasting and I realized that I need to kick things into gear if I want to accomplish these things by my end date!  

Also, I've already missed a few months in my goals like journal every month, send happy mail every month, etc. etc.  Ack!  But I have decided not to beat myself up about it.  Well, I did for a second and then I moved on.  Whatever number I reach, whether it's 30 or 13 over the course of this 33 month project, will be an accomplishment in my books.  There.

Today, I wanted to give a little update on a few goals that I completed over the last few months.

Anna had a little bit of a rough transition to her new kindergarten class after our move last spring.  The curriculum & methods were just so different from what she was doing in Oregon and it really threw her for a loop.  She lost her self-confidence (going from thinking she was an amazing student to thinking she was a horrible student) and things kind of screeched to a halt.  At the end of kindergarten her reading skills were not where I would have liked them to be so we set a goal to read 100 books over the summer.  And boy, it was just the thing she needed.

We went to the library every week and checked out a big bag of books.  Nearly everyday we would spend a little time sitting on my bed reading those books.

She started to love reading and she definitely improved.  I'm so glad we completed this goal because it set her on the right foot for 1st grade.  And today?  She is a great reader.  And loves it.  She has begun chapter books.  Each morning she begs for more verses to read in the Book of Mormon.  And I couldn't be more pleased.

This little video is typical Anna.  Shot way back in July, she's having some fun with our reading time. 

We kept a list of the 100 books we read.  Here are a few of our favorites:

• Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• The Best Kind of Kiss by Margaret Allum
• The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willem
• Beware of the Frog by William Bee
• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
• The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

In August I spent 3 separate days taking each child individually on a back to school shopping date.  This was the first time I had done something like this and it worked out really well!  Oh, I can still remember the trauma & frustration from the back to school shopping trip of 2010.  Never again.

On each of our dates they got to choose a place for lunch.  With Conner we ate at Applebee's (he had received a coupon for a free kids' meal through the summer reading program).  Payton chose Wendy's so that he could eat the Son of Baconator.  And Anna wanted something "healthy" to eat so we ended up at Chipotle.  ??

It was so great to have one on one time with the kids and I know they really enjoyed it too.  I loved it when Payton hopped in the van after lunch and said, "this is fun."  That was enough for me to know that this time was well worth it.

Has anyone else been through this situation:  You purchase your kid a kit/project type gift for Christmas, and everytime the kid comes asking if you will help them do it (because it requires adult supervision) you say "not now" and then 2 years go by and they are still asking and you feel totally lame.  Anyone? . . . . Just me?  Alright.  But I'm owning up to it.

A while ago we bought a crystal kit for Payton.  He LOVES crystals, rocks, minerals, gold, and shiny things.  And the poor kid has been so patient while I've put him off and off.  I decided that this Christmas break it was going to happen!

Just look at that happy look on his face.  We currently have crystals growing in our dining room.  And I feel like a good mom.  Now, we just need to hang up that Darth Vader Fat-head we got for Conner's birthday 6 weeks ago . . . . .  

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies - These were very good and the kids really liked them.  Just a touch on the oily side, though.

Nutella French Toast -- I had high hopes for this one, and it does look so pretty, but it was just too soggy for me.  I cooked and cooked and cooked it, but just could not compensate for the layers of bread & nutella & egg mix that had saturated everything.

Nutella Brownies (4 ingredients) - These were super quick & easy to make (beware, the batter is thick).  And it makes a small batch of 12 mini brownies.  Perfect for when you just need a little snack.

For Christmas I pulled together the photos from Scott's first 9 years of life and compiled them into a project life album for him.  It turned out so great!

There is more work to do (ages 10-18) but for now I am calling this goal complete!

my week with eMeals (and a give-away!)

About a month ago I was contacted by eMeals, asking me if I'd like to try out their program.  Seeing as menu planning and grocery shopping are one of my least favorite, time-sucking activities I said, "sure thing!"

Here's basically what they offer:

• A weekly menu plan - It includes 7 different meals with recipes.  The variety is great.  The week that I tried out included beef, chicken, pork, fish, a salad, a breakfast casserole, and a crockpot meal.
• A printable shopping list - This was super cool. All you do it print it out and head to the grocery store.

One of the meals that we enjoyed:  Beef Burgundy with Egg Noodles and Fresh Steamed Carrots

Ingredients

• 1 lb London broil, cut into tips
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1/2 cup red cooking wine (I substituted with a little worcestire sauce and water)
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms

Instructions

Cut beef into bite sized tips.  Add meat to crockpot and mix in soup, water chestnuts, wine, soup mix, and mushrooms.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Boil 1 package of egg noodles until done.  Drain and serve with beef burgundy over noodles.

Steam a 16 oz bag of mini carrots and season with butter and salt.

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After trying out eMeals for a week, here are my observations:

Cost effective -- In my opinion, the coolest feature of eMeals is that you can sign up for a plan that is specific to the grocery store that you shop at.  They do the extra work to coordinate the menu/meals with items that are on sale at your grocery store that week!  This is a big time saver for me - as I usually spend time each week pouring over the grocery ad to plan our menu and write out my grocery list.  Also, with eMeals doing all the work for me, my grocery bill for that week was lower than usual.

Normal food - Nothing froo-froo or fancy.  Just good, normal, family-friendly food.  I would say that 6 out of 7 meals got a thumbs up from most of the family.  (It's impossible to please everyone.)

Organization - These people are super-organized.  On the shopping list, I love that the food items are cross-referenced with each meal number.  So, say there's a meal you don't want to cook (maybe fish isn't your family's thing), then it's quick & easy to eliminate those items from your list.

Ease of mind - Knowing all week that I had the ingredients for 7 planned meals, count them . . . seven, in my cupboards & fridge, ready to go, was just awesome.  It made dinner time a stress-free experience.

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Today I get to giveaway a 3 month membership to eMeals!  To enter, leave me a comment telling me which eMeals plan you would try.

For additional entries:

1) "Like" eMeals on Facebook -- then come back and leave a comment to tell me you did

2) Follow eMeals on Pinterest -- leave a comment here to tell me you did

I'm going to close the giveaway on Monday, June 25th at 9pm PST and announce the winner soon after.  Good luck! 

link: get in my belly

Just a few things that I have put in my belly that are more than welcome to return again.

Sobe Lifewater with coconut water -- I was already a fan of Lifewater, but the coconut . . . . I am addicted!  Thanks to Paige for introducing me to this.  Each time I go to Target I clean them out.  It is just so refreshingly delicious.

Slow cooker shredded beef tacos -- Mexican dinner success!  I even got a thumbs up from my non-Mexican-food-loving husband.

Chocolate Banana Spring Rolls -- So easy to make and so delicious.  Of course, everything tastes better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  (I used semi-sweet Baker's chocolate squares instead of dark chocolate)

Fresh Mozzarella & Tomato salad at BJ's -- Love.

Oven cooked bacon -- Have you tried this?  I did and I am forever changed.

The "get in my belly" wishlist:

Crepe Cake -- I may need to hire someone to make this for me for Mother's Day.  Or any day.  

Source: creampuffsinvenice.ca via Shannon on Pinterest

cooking with pinterest

Yes, this is another pinterest-related post.

A few weeks ago I pinned my 1000th pin on pinterest.  Now that's a lot of ideas, projects, and visual-goodness.  I think this sums up the feelings of a lot of pinterest users . . . .

Source: marlenemccune.blogspot.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

I feel creative every single day!  :)

I also like this quote . . . .

 

Source: iloverosemarywatson.blogspot.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

I came across a great idea on a blog the other day.  She creates a pinterest board for things she has actually completed, and simply re-pins the idea to that board.  Love that.  So I did it too.  I made a board for the recipes I have tried that turned out well.  If it was bad, I just delete it.

So here are a couple that I have tried in the last month that have my mouth watering and taste buds dancing.

 

Source: landeeseelandeedo.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

Love love love this recipe!  I took it to a Relief Society activity and was glad to have most of it gobbled up so I didn't feel obligated to eat it all myself.  I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie but this totally works for me.

 

Source: tasteofhome.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

Made this for dinner on Tuesday and we had the leftovers last night.  Country Pork Ribs went on sale a while back at Safeway so I stocked up my freezer.  But I had never cooked them before!  These turned out so tasty and tender, I think it will be my go-to recipe from now on.

 

Source: eatcleandiet.com via Shannon on Pinterest

 

 

Scott's new diet has introduced us to tilapia.  It is surprisingly versatile and really easy to cook.  Add some spices, grill or bake, and 10 minutes later you have dinner.

As for dinner tonight, the kids have requested German Pancakes.  That works for me.

 

quesadilla & guacamole . . . works for me!

 
 yum-o!  I love this dinner.  It's a recipe I pulled from Parents magazine (thanks to my free subscription - another great deal find).

You need: 

• 14 oz. chicken breast tenders, or 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1Tbs. Mrs. Dash fiesta lime seasoning blend (I haven't been able to find this in my store so I use 1 Tbs. McCormick's Montreal Chicken Grill Mates Seasoning and the juice from 1/2 lime)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 2/3 cup chopped red sweet pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen corn
• shredded cheese
• tortillas

Coarsely chop the chicken tenders and toss with the seasoning blend.

Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add chicken and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink inside.

Add pepper and corn to chicken and cook for 2 minutes.  Spoon filling onto tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, top with another tortilla and cook quesadilla style.  Serves 4.

Serve with guacamole.

Here's a little something I tried to whip up some guacamole.  I caught part of a Food Nanny episode on BYU-TV and I think this is what she did.  So, so good and easy.

Mash 1 avocado with a fork.  Add 1 clove of garlic (minced), juice of 1/2 lime, and several dashes of salt (to your liking).  Mix and enjoy.

our day off

Let's see, I had intentions of getting up and exercising this morning but decided to sleep for another hour.

We had intentions of going on a little hike mid-morning, but it was raining.

Instead I dove into the boys' room and spent 1 1/2 hours cleaning, organizing, and attempting to de-stink the place.  We came away from the job with a bag full of garbage, everything back in it's place, and a deal that if they keep the room clean for 30 days I will take them to Chuck E. Cheese.

Then we packed into the car and drove into town for lunch at Chipotle.  This is the first time we have gone there with the kids and not brought along Happy Meals from McDonalds.  Today we ordered plain cheese quesadillas for the 3 turkeys and everyone was perfectly happy.  Score.

For entertainment we went to Sleep Country and tested mattresses.  The kids thought that was great fun.  We (mostly Scott) would like to get a new mattress.  Our current mattress is 11 years old and he often wakes up with a sore back.  Our favorite of the day, the Simmons Bonnard Plush (a.k.a. The Heavenly Bed).  Ahhhhh.

A little detour to show the kids the apartment complex we once lived in (2000-2002).  Conner had a hard time believing we actually lived there once, because he has no recollection of the place.  Yep, not too surprising since he was 17 months old when we moved out.

A "like it" or "love it" for everyone at Coldstone.  Thanks to E! for celebrating 20 years, we got 20% off.  Anna was the first one to finish her "like it" and then turned to Scott and said, "It is nice to share."  Hint, hint.

Now we're home.  Doing laundry.  Scott is setting up the kids with some Guitar Hero and I'm about to cut up some pineapple for grilling with a very delicious glaze from Tucano's.  Here's the recipe:

• one half pineapple, cut into spears
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• lemon juice

Warm your grill to medium heat.  Sprinkle pineapple spears with half of the cinnamon and a little brown sugar.  In a small saucepan heat butter, brown sugar, and rest of cinnamon.  Heat until bubbly and sugar is properly melted.  Grill pineapple spears over direct heat about 2-3 minutes per side, turning occasionally.  Each time it turns, baste with a brush of glaze.

Hope you are enjoying your day off!

chicken and wild rice soup

It's been quite a while since I posted a recipe here.  But this soup is most definitely blog-worthy.

{photo taken just after the addition of spices -- curry, mustard powder, pepper, parsley}

I made this for the second time yesterday and Scott & I can't get enough of it.  The kids on the other hand . . . they were happier with a can of chicken noodle soup.  {sigh}  They don't know what they're missing.

The recipe came from My Kitchen Cafe.  If you have the time, also try her bread bowls -- fabulous!

My recipe notes:  

• I omitted the slivered almonds -- didn't want to add something that crunchy to an otherwise creamy, delectable soup.
• Use fat free half-and-half like she suggests . . . your taste buds won't miss a thing.
• Uncle Ben's Ready Rice is simply amazing.  2 cups of wild rice ready in just 90 seconds . . . I'm sold!

 

brown sugar muffins

When I married Scott, part of the package deal was a set of recipe cards handwritten by his mom, that she had given him when going off to college.  Chicken fried steak, Ketchum poporn, crescent rolls, cream of wheat potatoes, finger jell-o, and banana cake to name a few.  I remember staring at the card for brown sugar muffins several times, a bit confused -- is this a breakfast muffin? is it a dessert?  When Scott informed me that it was a dinner muffin and they were fabulous, I made a batch.  And we still make them 1 or 2 times a month.  They are yummy, quick & easy to whip together, and thankfully Conner doesn't like them so there is more for us!  Ha-ha!

Sorry there's no picture, but here's the recipe.

Cream together:  1/2 cup shortening, 1 cup brown sugar

Add:  1 egg

Sift together and add:  2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt

Mixture will be dry

Add:  1 cup milk  and mix until smooth

Spoon into muffin cups and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Makes about 16-18 muffins.

craft happy

Saturday I entered a store where the employees were happy and more than willing to help me out . . . . the customers smiled at each other . . . people commented on how good (and cute) Anna was . . . I was complimented on my parenting . . . pleasant women with names like "Joy" cut my fabric and rang me up . . . a general air of happiness permeated the place.  A crafter's utopia.  Ahhh . . .  Like Pres. Uchtdorf says, creativity brings happiness.  :)

This weekend I crafted a bit . . .

I found the tutorial for the necklaces here.  If you click, be careful, she has lots of fun projects to share and it just might eat up your afternoon.  And I purchased the glass tiles, bails, and chains from Candy Tiles's etsy shop.  She has a plethora of great combo packs if you'd like to make a bunch of them.  Trust me, you will.

And trust me, you'll want to make this dessert.

My mom's friend, Sandi, made it for lunch after Mason's mission farewell.  When she brought it out, everyone seriously hovered over the counter, vying for position to ensure they got a slice.  Sooo good.

Crust:  2 cups ground gingersnap cookies (about 38 cookies), 2 Tbsp Sugar, 1/3 cup butter

In a medium bowl combine ground cookies & sugar with a pastry blender.  Add butter and mix until moist clumps form.  Press mixture into bottom and sides of 10" removable bottom tart pan.  Bake 8 minutes or until lightly browned.  Let cool.

Filling:  8 oz. cream cheese (softened), 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup whipping cream

Combine cream cheese, sugar & lemon juice with electric mixer.  Add whipping cream & beat at high speed until light and fluffy.  Spread in tart shell and chill several hours.

Arrange fruit (strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, oranges, red or green grapes, raspberries, blackberries, etc.) on top of chilled filling.  Combine 1/4 cup Smuckers apricot preserves with 1 Tbsp water and brush over top.  (Makes it look shiny & scrumptious).

seeing green

the girls in our green

I got to wear my Wicked shirt today.  And did I mention that Anna got her hair cut?  It's a really cute bob.

But what do you do about boys who wear uniforms to school?  I wasn't sure what fit within the rules, so some last minute brainstorming and a Crayola marker led to this . . .

shamrock socks.  Payton also came home with several teeny-tiny clovers he picked at recess.  One for me and one for Anna. 

St. Patty's Day play . . . .

 

Flubber!  In one bowl mix 1 1/2 cups warm water, 2 cups white glue, and food coloring.  In a second bowl combine 1 1/3 cups warm water with 3 tsp. Borax (you can find it by the laundry detergents).  Mix each container thoroughly.  Pour contents of smaller container into the larger bowl.  Gently lift and turn the mixture until approximately a tablespoon of liquid is left.  Flubber will be sticky at first.  Let excess liquid drip off.  And your flubber is ready to go!  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.  Stretch it, bounce it, roll it.

St. Patty's Day food . . .

 

White chocolate popcorn:  Pop 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels.  Melt 1 bag of Wilton melting chocolates & add food coloring.  Pour over popcorn, stir, lay out on wax paper to set.

Lucky Charms is hands down my favorite sugary, kid's cereal.  And how cool is this retro 70's packaging?  I convinced the kids that green macaroni cheese for lunch would be fun.  Payton was pretty skeptical.  

St. Patty's Day project . . . .

time to paint the kids' pinewood derby cars.  Payton's is going to have a nifty flip top roof.

 

Still not seeing any green on the trees, but with any luck we'll have some spring blossoms soon!

phenomenal

Those were the words out of Scott's mouth when he devoured tonight's dinner.  Actually, those words came 10 minutes after dinner when he obviously could not shake this tasty meal from his head.  It is a rarity for me to try a new recipe and have it go down so well.  Scott usually tolerates my experimentation.  But this, this was good.  Penne a la Betsyfrom the Pioneer Woman.  Shrimp and pasta with a creamy tomato sauce.  Mmmm. 

Another great recipe from PW is her chicken spaghetti casserole.  Just go easy on the cayenne pepper.

I've yet to try the Marlboro Man sandwich, but I've heard it's amazing.

I've found that lately I do a lot of recipe searching online.  My printer tray is full of recipes I've come across and printed out for "someday."

Last summer I visited The Daily Bite often for recipe helps.  The Asian BBQ chicken was awesome and the Asian BBQ chicken pizza was a great follow-up recipe for leftovers.  (A lot of work, but good).

Allrecipes.com has become my go-to recipe finder.  From there I found my beloved Pumpkin Muffins . . . it gave us the tastiest Thanksgiving turkey ever . . . . it helped me find something to do with my turkey leftovers . . . and was a good little kitchen helper for our at-home anniversary dinner with twice-baked potatoes.

Tomorrow we'll be making some good popcorn for National Popcorn Day.  One of my favorite recipes is this insanely easy and fast one from my friend Ily.  It's seriously a crime that you can get popcorn this good, this fast.

Pop a bag of microwave popcorn.  In a microwave-safe bowl add 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup light Caro syrup, 1/2 cup sugar.  Heat it in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until smooth.  Mix with the popcorn in a large bowl.  Done.

And don't forget the ever delicious white chocolate popcorn.   Basically the same idea, just make sure you have some good melting chocolate.  Twice, we've received some of this stuff from very nice people and both times I have hoarded the popcorn and eaten it almost entirely on my own.  Hands off!

chili for dummies

Our ward held it's annual Harvest Party last weekend.  There were activities like apple bobbing and donuts on a string.  And to fill our bellies there was pumpkin pie, freshly pressed apple cider (mmmm!), cornbread, and the ever traditional chili cook-off.  I do enjoy a good bowl of chili.  Paige's recipe for white creamy chicken chili is fantastic . . . although, her pot was empty by the time I got to the front of the line.  So I got a bowl of another chicken chili (this one with red sauce) that was really great (if you or someone you know made it, please tell me!). 

Tonight I made chili for dinner.  Not so fancy as the ones at church.  In fact, it only has 5 ingredients and the primary kitchen tool required is a can opener.  But it is delicious.  My mom shared this little secret with me a few years ago.  I just love it when something so good is so easy to put together.

Without further ado . . . .

 

• 1 can Stagg chili with steak
• 1 can Cattle Drive chili (we get it at Costco)
• 32 oz can of Bush's Original Beans
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ketchup

Dump it.  Stir it.  Heat it.  Love it.

Pair it with the best cornbread and you are done.