Mini Chili Cups

My kids don't like chili.  It's no surprise, really.  They don't like beef.  They don't like beans.  They don't like tomatoes.  Since these are the 3 main ingredients of my chili... well... you get the idea.

Ben and I love chili, and I have a rule that the kids have to eat what we are having for dinner - although they don't always eat the ingredients the exact same way.  Normally I just make a small bowl of chili for the kids with sour cream and cheese to make it not so spicy, and they can dip tortilla chips in it for dinner.  At least they are getting used to the taste, right?

This past week I got the idea to do something a little different that would actually require them to eat the beans.  And hopefully not gag in the process.  (Can we say "melodramatic picky eaters"?)

I call them Mini Chili Cups.  And they went over pretty well with Olivia, so-so with Connor, and Kelsey even choked down a couple before dinner was over.  I thought I'd share in case anyone else out there is in a similar situation.  There's  no real recipe with this - just assembly instructions.

First you take some of those Tostitos Scoops chips and put a few on a plate.  I made each child 6 because I'm obsessed with even numbers and 4 seemed like too few.

Then I spooned a little chili inside each cup - including at least one kidney bean and a little tomato.

Sprinkle with a little shredded cheese.

Then microwave it for about 20 seconds to melt the cheese.  I also put a tiny little dollop of sour cream on top of each.

They were so good, I snitched a couple off Connor's plate when he was done eating.  These would also make a fantastic party snack.  Or late night snack.  Just in case you were wondering.

What's in the Mail Today?

Best. Package. Ever.

Upside Down

My house has been turned upside down for the past week or two.  Not because we're doing anything major - yet.  But we're getting READY to do something major.  So I have been pulling baseboards and patching walls and painting and tearing up tile and moving stuff all over the house.  And since we have a very active, inquisitive, and gets-into-everything 1-year old, everything we've got has to be either up and out of his reach, or hiding behind closed doors - i.e. the pantry.

If you know me at all, you know I'm a tad bit OCD and I hate having things out of place.  Extreme clutter drives me batty, and that's essentially what I've got.

Our old entertainment center and TV have yet to find a new home or get out of ours.  Also, be sure to notice the two-tone paint job over the doorway and wall repairs on the left in the yet-to-be-painted area.

Mirror waiting to be repainted and rehung.  Incidentally, it is also serving to block... (see next picture)

...the space behind the couch where we've all the (so far) removed baseboards waiting.

Clutter on my washer (and I really need to do laundry today).

Clutter and boxes in my den.  Pretty soon this room will just have to be off-limits to Maddox so I can move stuff into here.  However, that has to wait until after tomorrow afternoon - there are people coming over to take a reading and a writing class here tomorrow.  I'm not teaching it - just hosting it for my fabulous neighbor, Terri.

Clutter in the pantry.  And here's a (not so) funny story.  Almost all of this stuff was already in here last Friday when we realized the pilot light had gone out on the hot water heater.  It's in the back left-hand corner behind a door there.  Ben realized it in the shower when the water started cooling too quickly.  He forgot to do anything about it until he heard me running the water for my own shower at 6:15.  Shucks.

 Tools and random laundry on the drier.

And this, my friends, is why our pilot light was out on the hot water heater last Friday morning. 

Thursday we put in our new (to us) gas stove.  We also had a near miss.  Apparently, most gas stoves that have been installed in the past few decades have a gas cut-off valve behind the stove.  That way, if you have to disconnect the gas for any reason you don't have to shut off the gas to the house, or have gas pouring into your kitchen should you forget to shut off the gas to the house.  Well, I didn't even think about cutting off the gas to the house, and there wasn't a cut-off valve behind the stove to remind me.  Fortunately, when I pulled out the old stove to disconnect it, the gas line was too short for me to pull the range out all the way for me to get to the line to actually disconnect it.  And since I am not currently flexible enough to climb over the counter and slide behind the stove, I called for back-up.  Fortunately, our friend and handyman Kevin was available to come over and take care of it for us.  And turn off the gas to the house.  And install the shut-off valve.  And install the stove for us.

Oh well, at least it's done.

Let it... Snow?

After the last couple of winters we have had, this doesn't seem like very much.

 

And yes, I can see that the roads are just a little slushy, not icy.

But considering the warm winter we've been having, it is probably our first and last chance for a "snow day" this year.

But did they cancel school?

Of course not.

I think they kids got gypped.