Recipe of the Month - "Perfect Chili"

My Mom gave me this recipe and told me if I would make it just like the recipe says I would always have perfect chili, and she was right. I do vary a tiny bit sometimes, but not much.

I have had several people ask for this recipe lately, so I thought it would be a good one for my blog. It is definitely a good time of year for chili, and it's really easy. Enjoy!!

Perfect Chili

Saute 2 - 3 lbs. ground meat (chili meat, hamburger or turkey) and one chopped onion in large pot. Drain off fat. Leave meat kind of chunky. Don't it break up too much during cooking.

Add:

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tbls. chili powder

1 Tbls. salt (I usually add only a teaspoon.)

2 Tbls. paprika

2 Tbls. cumin

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 Tbls. oregano

2 cans tomato sauce

2 cans of water - use tomato sauce can

1 large can of diced tomatoes

2 cans of pinto beans (can add these late if desired)

Simmer for 1 hour or longer on low heat.

Add (and this is important):

3 Tbls. masa flour or corn meal to 1/4 c. cold water - stir in chili (I use corn meal.)

This mixture will thicken the chili and give it a good Mexican flavor. Heat through until bubbly and thick.

Home Improvement "Finally"

Ok, I know I've broken the first rule in blogging, "Post Often", but it has been really busy in my house and this post will show you some of what I've been up to.


Our house was built back in the 70's and to me that really doesn't seem that long ago, but in the decorating world it's several lifetimes. We have lived in this house for about 18 years and done very little in the way of remodeling or redecorating. I finally had to set my foot down and say, it's time! I decided the bathrooms were in the greatest need. So, Danny and I started ripping old wallpaper and scrapping up floor tiles. Like any project, one thing leads to the next. I think we ended on plan D. Plans A, B and C were discard along the way and, like it or not, I decided plan D was great. We are still waiting on the installers to lay the ceramic tiles, but here are a few photos to show the progress.







These are before pictures. You can see the layers of old wallpaper . My cats, Maggie and the new baby Ozzie have been so..... much help. :)








This was my first attempt at mudding walls. It was actually so much fun! Except when it came time to clean up the mess. I had way too much fun slapping mud everywhere. I'll be a little more careful with the next room. The new sink and counter are cultured marble.







This is the "almost" finished product. I put one of my new rugs down because the floors is still just concrete. The walls are a tan color, with dark brown and light turquoise for accents. I'm most proud of the little medicine cabinet. It is just a replica, but I have some really old medicine bottles inside and it looks pretty good. I wanted to use some antiques, a combination of modern world meets old world, without being country.



It's now time to tackle the master bath. Danny and I both love the ocean, so my goal is to create a beach side resort feel. We'll see.... remember that's plan A. :)

Monster Cookies

I have a new favorite cookie called Monster cookies. They are amazing!! The recipe came my friend Nancy in Midland, TX. I've made them several times now and everyone I share them with love them. My husband took them on a hunting trip recently for all the guys. The cookies were discovered by the men in his truck, who promptly hid them and wouldn't let anyone else have any. There's a standing order for me to make them every year now.

This weekend I made them for my granddaughter, 14 months, and instead of putting peanut butter in them I used SoyNut Butter and instead of the chocolate I put in raisins. I don't know how she liked them yet. The jury is still out. I tasted them and they were ok, but I like the peanut butter better. I also made a few for her mamma with extra chocolate. :)

They also don't have any flour, so it would be a great recipe for people who are allergic to it. There are many variation that you could do with this recipe. Enjoy!! and thank you Nancy.

Monster Cookies

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. corn syrup

1 1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

2 tsp. baking soda

4 1/2 c. oatmeal

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 oz. M&M plain candy

Cream together the first 6 ingredients. Stir in peanut butter. Add remaining ingredients as listed mixing well.

Drop by spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees - 13-15 minutes.

Yield 4 - 6 dozen

Divers In -- Trash Out

This is a picture of four of our best diving buddies; Micky & Debbie D. and David & Debbie Y. We had a great time diving in the Comal River a couple of weeks ago. We participated in a trashfest sponsored by Texas Gulf Coast Council of Dive Clubs in New Braunfels, TX. There were three teams of eight divers each representing our East Texas area and Scuba Steves Aquatic Adventures, we all did quite well in the competition, earning a second and fourth place in the weight category, and a third place in the number of items picked up. My team was the Reef Rangers we weighed in 556 pounds of trash. The Angelfish weighed in 372 pounds and the Chicken Divers had 1083 pieces of trash. Our divers worked so hard to get that trash out of the water, bagged and then up two very long flights of stairs. The TGCCDC reports:

"We had perfect weather and 294 participants on 42 teams. All told, we weighed in 4353 lbs of trash from the river, and counted another 7215 cans, plus 229 shoes and sunglasses. The participation figure is a record for this decade, and the shoes and sunglasses number was the highest count in 10 years!"

Saturday evening we were all treated to a fabulous BBQ dinner
and awards were handed out. All our of teams earned "Super Scooper" dive
shirts. There was also a drawing for some nice prizes and a few of our folks
were lucky then too (not me this time). The best reward for me was when some of the people floating down the river thanked us for cleaning up the river. That's what it was all about and we had some much fun doing it. We have such a good group of people we dive with. They have all become friends and we look forward to our next adventure.

Geocaching

Geocaching is one of my new interests. (Pronounced 'geo cashing') I was introduced to this new sport last spring by my oldest son and his wife. They took me on my first hunt and it was so much fun!! If you haven't heard of it this is the definition from Geocaching.com.

"Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache."

A cache is a treasure, so basically it's a treasure hunt using a GPS. This is a sport done all over the world and in almost every one's home town. All you need is a decent GPS and a computer to download your coordinates. You can keep to the simple caches that are easy to get to, or you can do the off road, out in the boondocks searches.

I have now figured out how to find caches in my area on the computer and load them on my GPS. The next step is to go find them, which I am planning on doing very soon. My name on the geocaching site is smithtrekkers, if you want to look me up. The picture is of me after I found my first cache with my kids in the Virginia area. I hope some of you will try this new sport. It's really something different, a lot of fun, and a good way to get out of the house. You might even get a little exercise. Go to the geocaching site and read more about it.

My First

I have read plenty of blogs, but this is my first to actually write myself. I'm not sure how good I'm going to be at this. I've never been much of a writer, but it seems like a good way to share things with friends and family. My family is scattered across the fifty states and I don't get to see them very much. This will give me a way to share things about the traveling my husband and I like to do and all the other exciting stuff going on in my life, which might not be exciting to anyone else but me...

So, stay tuned and I will try to add tidbits about things I love the most: scuba diving, beaches, books, cats, good food, bargains, and my wonderful family.