Taco Soup--a fall favorite!

Today is a soup day. Unfortunately, I had to go buy meat! GRRR! I'm tempted to head to Jones' Meat Locker to just buy a bundle until my cow is ready...or I get a deer.

Taco Soup
2 lb hamburger
1 medium onion

2 taco seasoning mixes
2 ranch dip mixes
1 can black beans (drained, rinsed)
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can red beans
1 can Rotel
1 LG can diced or crushed tomatoes
2 cans white corn
2.5 cups of water

Brown hamburger and onion. Do not drain any of the beans or corn (EXCEPT black beans).
Simmer for 2 hours, or cook in crock pot for 3-4 hours on low.

My addition--2 tbs chili powder for a little kick.

Garnish with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

Fall 2010

We made our annual pilgrimage to Broom Orchard in Carlinville, IL on October 16. We met my friend Crish and her three kiddos. We started doing this 3 years ago when Wade wasn't even walking! I measure him every year. He's definitely growing!

We picked up some pumpkins for carving and some apple cider for the boys. Then off to lunch at Nick's...another yearly tradition!

We all carved the pumpkins. I bought a handy dandy kit at the end of the season last year. That's how I got this funky faced pumpkin...the orange one, not Wade :)

The Chillifest tractor pull was the next day. Wade pulled first and didn't do too well. He'll get there one day, or not :0)
Tonight we went Trunk or Treating at two of the local churches. We didn't plan to meet up with Carson and his family, but they were there. I have missed my friend Kelly. Wade has also missed his friend Carson. I got my baby fix...though Rose is definitely growing up!

Swiss Chicken

I'm a chicken and stuffing lover. My husband, not so much. He will eat the chicken out of the bottom of this though. I make him left over potatoes and a veggie, and he is happy (usually).

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 c milk
1 tsp of minced garlic or more if you like
3-4 slices of swiss cheese
stuffing--stove top works, but not as well as pepperidge farms does
1/4 c butter melted

Spray a casserole dish with PAM. Lay chicken on bottom of dish (I cut mine into smaller slices for a faster cooking time). Layer swiss cheese on top. Mix together milk, soup and garlic. pour over cheese. Put stuffing on top. Drizzle butter over the top of stuffing.

Cook for about 60 minutes at 350 OR until chicken is done!

This is even good as a leftover! :) YUMMY YUMMY!

Get caught

With the help of my assistant principal, I have started a positive behavior reward program at school. Ok, so it takes more than just M and I, we get a lot of help from the other teachers.

If a student is caught doing something positive, they can be rewarded. We have no budget for this plan, but I was able to secure several rewards that many students would LOVE to have!

• Tornado gear
• Tornado apparel
• free game admissions
• concessions gift certificates
• Off campus lunch
• Get out of school five minutes early--ok, might not seem like such a big deal, but that gets a kid out of the parking lot early...that's a big deal!

We are trying to figure out a few others, but that's what I have come up with so far! We drew our first names today. C was a bit put out that she couldn't take a friend out to lunch. We have a few wrinkles to work out, but I think it will work out well!

Easy Apple Cake

I enjoy trying new recipes from time to time. Yesterday we were having a weenie roast, so I wanted to try something sweet that wouldn't be stuck around my house for a week or more!

I found this recipe on Bakerella's site. It is easy and DELICIOUS! I'm dubbing it Carmel Apple Cake...and will definitely make it again to take somewhere!

Easy Apple Cake

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups diced apples
1 cup chopped dates rolled in flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon with a wire whisk and set aside.
• Combine sugar and oil using a mixer until blended.
• Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
• Add flour mixture and mix well.
• Stir in nuts, dates and apples. The batter will be very thick.
• Pour into a greased and floured 9 X 13 pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until done.
• Cool cake and using a skewer, poke holes in cake.
• Cook topping ingredients on stove until mixture bubbles.
• Pour topping over cake letting some (ha… more if you like) seep into the cake.

Progress

I had to run home at lunch yesterday (15 minutes one way, so not something I regularly do). I couldn't see! My contacts are either too old, or I am having eye issues. Maybe both. I had to get my glasses, but it also gave me a quick look in on what the drywall men are doing.

They had scraped the ceiling. Sanded the walls and were ready to prep/tape/mud a few areas that needed a little love. Hopefully, today (Thursday) they will get my ceiling DONE! Then the walls will be completely done on Friday. I hope to bring home a rug doctor and clean the carpet in there that evening. Touch up some spots on Saturday morning before I have to return the machine.

Then we can move furniture back in Saturday before our get together. I think some of our furniture is going to be displaced for a while though. I don't think we are putting our entertainment center back in there. We want to sell it! I need to take pictures of it.

I have pre-work pictures of the room. Might get a progress picture tonight. AND we need to pick out paint colors!

Oy vey. Remodeling is TOO much work!

Fall and renovations

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the leaves turning and the brisk weather. I enjoy sleeping when it is chilly, but not so cold that I have to close the windows and turn the furnace on. I also enjoy the power bill being a bit lower. Fall means shorts and sweatshirts. Jeans and t-shirts.

This summer my dad began the renovations on our master bath. All that is left to do is some drywall work and then finish painting the room. The color is "early dawn." I would like to get that part finished so we can put the door on and finish trimming out that room, my closet and the master bedroom.

One evening this summer, I got a wild hair. I decided to take part of the paneling in our living room down. I took two sections of faux brick down. There was, low and behold, drywall behind it. Before the summer was over, we took down the rest of the paneling and had naked walls. We contacted a man whose job was drywall. Nothing else. He gave us a quote and we jumped on it. We had some preliminary work to get done that took us a while for various reasons.

We knew last week that we would be ready for drywall this week. The man we hired is not a very good communicator. I'm pretty sure he works through his wife...or that is how it seems. Not really effective. Monday he probably worked less than an hour. Tuesday maybe 3 hours. I'm glad this job is a total cost job and not hourly. Our living room is EMPTY. No light fixtures. No furniture. No dog. Dog is at grandma's and furniture is STUFFED into mainly the dining room and a few other places throughout the house. I'm hoping drywall man makes good progress including the CEILING today. Otherwise, I might start to get angry.

We are having our annual weenie roast this weekend...so my kitchen needs to be mostly cleaned up! I know renovations give me a little slack on the cleaning end...but I can't handle it. Wade watched his morning Clifford on a 13" tv while sitting in the computer chair in the otherwise empty living room.