halloween pics, work news, and chili recipe
Okay. Here's the adorable moose kid from last night.
Isn't he precious. I got him to hold Edgar von Moosenstein, but he didn't quite hold him up enough for the picture (and it was dark and I had trouble seeing through the camera's viewfinder. But for those of you who haven't met Edgar, this is him.
There aren't enough words for my love of Edgar.
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In other news. I sent invoices yesterday for the two jobs I finished on Monday. For the index that I had to get an extension on, I knocked 5% off my bill because I figured that might help with getting future work and stuff. Today I got an e-mail from the editor saying that her boss (my old boss) said to put the 5% back on. I hadn't cost them a delay with getting this to the printer, so no need to discount. She also said she looks forward to working with me again. So I feel much better and confident that I will continue to be able to pay the mortgage and shop at REI. *g*
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We are having left over chili for dinner because I'm too lazy to go the grocery store. Last month I made this 6 qt pot of chili and put four bags of it into the freezer. Tonight's the last bag. Guess I know what I'm doing on Sunday if we don't go skiing -- making more chili. For anyone interested, this is my recipe. Basically, I made it up as I went, but wrote it all down. It turned out really good.
2 - 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 - 28 oz. + 1 - 16 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 - 16 oz. cans red kidney beans
1 - 16 oz. can pinto beans
1 - 16 oz. can black beans
1 - 16 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 - can of corn (I used a small can, but will use 16 oz. next time)
1 to 1-1/2 lbs. of ground meat (I mixed turkey and beef leftovers that I had, you could also use fake meat or no meat at all. Or toss in a bunch of chopped mushrooms instead.)
3 - bell peppers (I used 2 orange and 1 yellow, but you could use red or green, more or less, depending on how much veggies you like)
1 - large white onion
1-1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1. Dice up the onion and peppers and cook in a little olive oil until mostly done. (If you plan to let the chili simmer all day you don't need to cook these so much, they'll cook in the chili. But if you want to eat it right away, you definitely need to cook the veggies first.) Toss in your big soup pot or crock pot.
2. Brown the ground meat. Then add to the pot.
3. Add in all your tomatoes, beans, and corn. Stir it all up. Sprinkle in spices and stir some more. Let it simmer on low heat for a few hours. (Again, if you want to serve it fast, increase the heat and heat it through. Note that the flavor is better when it's simmered for longer.)
If you want this to be hotter, add more cayenne pepper and a little more cumin (balances the pepper nicely). With the spices listed above, this has good flavor but it's not too spicy. If you've got a really sensitive stomach you could use a little less of the spices -- start with half as much and see how it tastes.
If you don't want to make this much at once - cut it in half. With the mix of beans, it's probably easiest to drop a can of kidney na done of the others (for 3 cans total instead of 5). This turned out nice and thick. Chris loved it and so did I. He was nervous that I didn't have a recipe and wasn't using pre-packaged "chili mix". But he was quite pleased with the results.
Serve up with grated cheese and/or sour cream. Toss over elbow macaroni if that's your thing. Whatever. Enjoy.
Isn't he precious. I got him to hold Edgar von Moosenstein, but he didn't quite hold him up enough for the picture (and it was dark and I had trouble seeing through the camera's viewfinder. But for those of you who haven't met Edgar, this is him.
There aren't enough words for my love of Edgar.
---------
In other news. I sent invoices yesterday for the two jobs I finished on Monday. For the index that I had to get an extension on, I knocked 5% off my bill because I figured that might help with getting future work and stuff. Today I got an e-mail from the editor saying that her boss (my old boss) said to put the 5% back on. I hadn't cost them a delay with getting this to the printer, so no need to discount. She also said she looks forward to working with me again. So I feel much better and confident that I will continue to be able to pay the mortgage and shop at REI. *g*
---------
We are having left over chili for dinner because I'm too lazy to go the grocery store. Last month I made this 6 qt pot of chili and put four bags of it into the freezer. Tonight's the last bag. Guess I know what I'm doing on Sunday if we don't go skiing -- making more chili. For anyone interested, this is my recipe. Basically, I made it up as I went, but wrote it all down. It turned out really good.
2 - 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1 - 28 oz. + 1 - 16 oz. can of tomato sauce
2 - 16 oz. cans red kidney beans
1 - 16 oz. can pinto beans
1 - 16 oz. can black beans
1 - 16 oz. can garbanzo beans
1 - can of corn (I used a small can, but will use 16 oz. next time)
1 to 1-1/2 lbs. of ground meat (I mixed turkey and beef leftovers that I had, you could also use fake meat or no meat at all. Or toss in a bunch of chopped mushrooms instead.)
3 - bell peppers (I used 2 orange and 1 yellow, but you could use red or green, more or less, depending on how much veggies you like)
1 - large white onion
1-1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1. Dice up the onion and peppers and cook in a little olive oil until mostly done. (If you plan to let the chili simmer all day you don't need to cook these so much, they'll cook in the chili. But if you want to eat it right away, you definitely need to cook the veggies first.) Toss in your big soup pot or crock pot.
2. Brown the ground meat. Then add to the pot.
3. Add in all your tomatoes, beans, and corn. Stir it all up. Sprinkle in spices and stir some more. Let it simmer on low heat for a few hours. (Again, if you want to serve it fast, increase the heat and heat it through. Note that the flavor is better when it's simmered for longer.)
If you want this to be hotter, add more cayenne pepper and a little more cumin (balances the pepper nicely). With the spices listed above, this has good flavor but it's not too spicy. If you've got a really sensitive stomach you could use a little less of the spices -- start with half as much and see how it tastes.
If you don't want to make this much at once - cut it in half. With the mix of beans, it's probably easiest to drop a can of kidney na done of the others (for 3 cans total instead of 5). This turned out nice and thick. Chris loved it and so did I. He was nervous that I didn't have a recipe and wasn't using pre-packaged "chili mix". But he was quite pleased with the results.
Serve up with grated cheese and/or sour cream. Toss over elbow macaroni if that's your thing. Whatever. Enjoy.