I am not necessarily fond of cold weather and Winter snow, but there are two things I do love – sweaters and cold-weather food. One thing in particular that I enjoy making and eating when the temperature starts to dip low is chili. There are so many different ways to make it, and some day I’d like to try some Cincinnati chili, but the one I make now is pretty simple. I used to make a Cajun style chili but since running out of the proper seasoning, I went back to the very basic recipe.

Although I like a little kick to my chili, neither of the kids would eat it (Breanna would try but she can only take so much heat and Hayley would balk at the first bite). Instead I make it mild for the sake of family eating. First I cook up some ground beef with garlic and onion powder, then drain any fat (today I had medium ground beef so there was a fair amount; if it’s extra lean I don’t usually need to bother). Then I take two cans of beans and rinse and drain them. Sometimes I use one can of red kidney beans and one of white, but I prefer what I used tonight, which was two cans of mixed beans. It’s more interesting that way. I toss those in, and then dump in a large can of diced tomatoes with the juice. I usually put more garlic powder in, along with a generous amount of chili powder (it’s not hot at all) and a little pince of cayenne.

While it simmers, I cook up a pot of rice. I never ate chili with rice at home but George did and after I tried it once I was hooked. It adds to the meal. By the time the rice is ready, the chili is usually nice and thick; if it’s still not thick enough I throw in a spoonful or two of flour to speed it along.

The kids eat theirs as is, and tonight George and I boosted the heat factor by adding some Calypso Hot Sauce from Trinidad & Tobago to ours.

It’s fast to make, it’s easy, and it tastes great. And it helps make the colder weather just a little more bearable.

Care to share some of your favorite Winter recipes?

Hayley didn’t have school today but she’s just as tired as she would have been if she had. That could have something to do with the fact that she doesn’t get the joys of sleeping in. On a school day I usually have to drag her out of bed at 6:30 am and physically deposit her in her seat at the table. On a day off, she wakes up by 7 and is raring to go. Drives me crazy. Can’t she at least sleep until 8 o’clock?

So she was home all day and full of energy and wanting this and that and also those and please please please. On the flip side, Breanna was so stuffed up for the past two nights that she tossed and turned and snored like an old man who drank too much bourbon, so I didn’t get much sleep for two nights in a row. That meant I couldn’t keep up with her and she was ticked. Breanna was also ticked, mostly at her stuffy nose but since you can’t smite your own nose, she took it out on me. It didn’t help that Hayley found a piece of wood and decided to do “construction work” in her room, banging around, right next to the bedroom where Breanna was napping. The nap lasted 30 minutes.

They’ve both been tired and cranky and crazy today and I’m so glad that it’s now almost ten at night and they’re sleeping. In celebration I’m going to make some tea, root around the trick or treat bags for any remaining chocolate, and sit down to watch A Mighty Heart. I write PittWatch and have talked about the movie extensively so I think it’s time i actually watch it, yes?

(The picture at the top has absolutely nothing to do with the entry. I took it at about 7:50 am the other day after I took Hayley to school and I love it so I just wanted to share.)

I don’t think I did. Last year I signed up to do NaBloPoMo and I did it again this year. Basically what this means for you is that I will be posting something to this blog every day in November. Every day. Every single day. Even if I have absolutely nothing worth saying. Which means some days you will get nice posts with photos and stories, some days you’ll get some funny snippets of conversations, and some days you may get stuck with me whining about how I have nothing interesting to write about and yet I must write something because I said I would. Doesn’t that sound fun? Of course it does! And if my daily post is boring as all hell, you can go to that site I just linked and check out the randomizer to find something else to read.

So! Halloween was awesome. Breanna had a fever on the 30th and still had a low grade fever at 7 am but then it broke and she was her normal self so we all got to go out trick-or-treating with some friends. Breanna managed to remain calm enough to wear her pumpkin costume.

Hayley was thrilled with her Orca costume and was even more thrilled when we were walking along and she bumped into a little boy from her class. They were so cute and the way they kept laughing and hooting together was awesome.

As for me, I dressed up as myself before I have my cup of coffee in the morning.

HA! Just kidding. I dressed up in last year’s Hermione Granger costume but since I have somewhat shorter hair than I did back then, I wore a witch hat too. Mostly because I just can’t seem to make myself go out without dressing up at least a little (though not as elaborate as the year I dressed my pregnant belly up as a fishbowl).

We got an obscene amount of candy which is good because that means we get to hide it, dole out a more reasonable number of goodies, and George and I can pork out and eat the rest ourselves. As it is, I already ate several tiny chip bags and this morning I ate five mini chocolate bars with my toast for breakfast.

Who says trick-or-treating is for the kids? It’s actually for the parents of the kids who are too old to go trick-or-treating themselves.