Gma J's Chili

 I have this dream of having a big family Sunday dinner- every Sunday. Unfortunately, we don't live near enough to our blood families to make this happen. So, I have started the tradition with a few of our neighbor friends. It is a good time for us all to get together, share laughs, and talk. 

 Steve and I often find ourselves having regret about deciding to buy a townhouse versus a single family home. But, when I get to thinking about it- I wouldn't change that decision for anything in the world... Except maybe a giant mansion on 2 acres... Joking... Kind of. See, if it weren't for us having moved into a town house and forcefully having to be literally so close to our neighbors we might not be so close to our neighbors. Since we didn't know ANYONE here having people right outside our door forces us to interact and get to know our neighbors. And, this I am thankful for. Our neighbors have become our family away from family. We are super close with 2 households and acquaintances with a lot of others. Our direct neighbors that we share a front porch with is a family of 5 and the people across the driveway is a woman and her roommate are the people that have become our family. We were grateful to get such amazing neighbors... I know some people aren't so lucky.

 Anyways, this Sunday I decided to host a family dinner with our 2 neighbors across the driveway, and their dog, my God-Daughter. I have been wanting to make my grandmothers chili forever- but Steve isn't a big fan of soup so I knew that in order for me to make a big pot (which she always does) that I would need to recruit some help eating it. It turned out as good as my Grandma's and it was COMPLETELY gone. Yeah, 4 people ate an ENTIRE pot of chili. It even got called the best chili ever by one of our guests.

 Here is the recipe...

G-ma J's Chili
1.5 packet of McCormick's chili seasoning (Grandma says she uses one regular and a half of a spicy packet- but our grocery store was out of spicy so I went all regular)
 1/2 green pepper
 3/4 onion
 1.5 lb. ground beef
 1 can kidney beans
 1 can spicy chili beans
 1.5 can Tomato sauce

Season the ground beef (with salt and pepper) and brown in large pot over medium high heat. Once browned, add the finely chopped green pepper and onion. Let the veggies soften then add 1.5 packet of chili seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Let sit for a few minutes then add the beans and tomato sauce. Stir and let cook until it comes to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow to simmer until ready to serve.

 I made my chili around 2 and left it cooking/simmering until about 3:15. Then I covered with a lid and turned off the heat and let sit until about 25-30 minutes before we were ready to eat at 7. Grandma said the longer that it can sit the better it is because the seasoning seeps into the beans. Which is why I made it so early. It was delicious. 

 If I would have been thinking I would have served baked potatoes on the side. But, that idea didn't come about until we were sitting down at dinner. It would have been amazing to put the chili and some cheese in a baked potato. Oh well, next time! 

 Well, the secret is out of the bag on the world's best chili... Make it and let me know how it turns out! 

Game Day Ribs

 I have been slacking major with the blog posts lately. Oops. I need to get better at this! 

 Nevertheless, we had a pretty great weekend despite our Mountaineers getting slaughtered by Texas Tech. We got up that morning and I played 'Horse' and 'Whale' with my two little neighbor boys (7 and 14). That was a lot of fun. I come from a pretty close knit family and being away from them is anything but easy. Which makes having neighbors that became our family away from home even more special to me. I love them. Garyn (7) always got to go first because he could spell horse and whale the best! ;)

 Then, Steve and I made a quick grocery store run to pick up ingredients to make the 'best ribs ever' (according to Steven) and stopped on the side of the road to buy some pumpkins for me to paint. I only got 1 rack (the recipe called for 3) and they were HOUSED within 30 minutes of being finished by just the 2 of us. I started them before the game started,  they were finished by half time and gone by the 4th quarter. Our game was so horrible that I went outside at the beginning of the 4th quarter and drowned my football sorrows with some pumpkin painting.

 Here is the rib recipe... Seriously, try them they are AMAZING!

Sweet-And-Spicy Baby Back Ribs

2 lb. rack baby back pork ribs

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 c. beer (I used Leinenkugal Sunset Wheat)

4 tablespoons butter

8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I used 3 GIANT cloves)

1 tbsp. chile powder

1 c. thai sweet chili sauce

2 tbsp. backed brown sugar

1/3 c. rice vinegar (found with the Asian food- NOT with the other vinegar as one would expect)

 Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put the rib meat-side down on a cutting board and remove the membrane with a knife (fortunately, my wonderful neighbor did this step for me because raw pork makes me gag). Rub the ribs with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the ribs bone-side down in roasting pan, then add beer. Cover with foil and cook in oven until meat pulls away from the bone. Took an hour and 35 minutes.

 Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden (about 4 minutes). Add the chili powder and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in chile sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, and 1 c. of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and let the sauce thicken for about 40 minutes (stirring occasionally) (warning this makes your house smell super amazing!).

 Remove ribs from the oven and turn the temperature up to 400 degrees. Remove the foil and stir 1/4 c. of the liquid from the pan into the sauce then toss away the rest. Pour the sauce over the ribs making sure that it has a good coating all over. Save about 1/4-1/2 cup of the sauce. Return to the oven and cook for another 35 minutes. I kept opening the oven to spoon the sauce onto the top of the ribs (and burned myself pretty badly). 

 Cut the ribs then return to the roasting pan and pour the remaining sauce on them. Toss around and then serve. 

 I found this recipe in a food network magazine and I hope that I am not breaking any copyright laws by posting it in my blog! 

 Warning: these ribs are seriously delicious!  

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

 Today, I was productive... Way to get out of my funk! I completely finished ALL of our laundry, vacuumed the entire house, worked on my blog AND made a fantastic dinner... Good-bye, Funk. Hello, Productivity.

Here is the recipe for my homemade, better than the jarred stuff, spaghetti. It is super easy and takes less than 30 minutes to make.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Put large pot of water on to boil.
Start cooking .5-1.5 lb of ground beef seasoned with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic until browned.
Finely chop 1 small-medium onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic.
Once, beef is browned, drain fat and return to pan. Turn heat down to low/simmer. 
Add onions, 1-1.5 cans of tomato sauce (I use Hunts), and a can of diced tomatoes.
Salt and add noodles to boiling water (if you cover the pot with wooden spoon it will prevent water from boiling over).
**Don't forget**- set timer for 9 minutes
Season the beef mixture with salt, granulated garlic, salt and pepper (to taste).
Add chopped garlic to sauce mixture
Add 4-6 oz cream cheese to sauce mixture
Add 1.5 tbsp of Italian Seasoning
Add 4 tablespoons of sugar (This is the sauces secret weapon. You can add as much or as little as depending on your sweet liking- but definitely add some!)
Add 3 tbsp of butter and let simmer
Drain noodles once timer goes off/ they are cooked to your liking
Add about 2 tbsp of butter to noodles as they drain in colander
Finally, combine sauce and noodles in large bowl or pot and stir.

 You could also put the combined product in the oven (at 350) for 15-20 minutes to make it set up.  Add mozzarella and parmesan cheese to the top of your individual servings then eat up!

 It is sooo good as soon as it is made- but makes even better left overs! 

 I also have enough sauce for another serving which I will freeze to be used for the next time. My sauce this time came out a little thin- if I had some tomato paste on hand I would have added it- however, it was just fine with out it. Also, another secret weapon is to add a few heaping spoonfuls of Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herbs Cooking Cream (but I am out!) so it didn't get added this time. It makes it even better and creamier in my opinion. 
 Don't be afraid to edit this and make it your own. You can serve it on any kind of noodles, or make it with out any meat at all or with whatever meat you might like. This is also the sauce that I use for my lasagna. It doesn't take much more effort than the jarred stuff but the outcome is A LOT better.

 Hope you enjoy the spaghetti. Let me know how yours turns out or any changes that you make for it to turn out better! Bon Appetite. 

Broken Dishwasher

 Our dishwasher decided to quit working mysteriously over the weekend. Which leaves me pretty bummed. I know this seems super superficial but I HATE doing dishes by hand... This has led to an excuse for not cooking, which led to an excuse to do nothing but sitting on the couch and watch season 5 of Gossip Girl. Which, I have loved, however, I feel like I am being a giant slug and that is not a good feeling... So, I am trying to pull myself together and get my mojo back. Only 4 episodes of Gossip Girl left to watch tonight- and then tomorrow, I SWEAR, I am going to get back in line. That means getting back to blogging, cleaning, cooking, and working on projects. Does anyone else get in slumps? Well, it sucks. So does the stomach virus I had for about 48 hours, but that isn't very appealing so I won't go into any more detail about that. 
 Here's to pulling myself back to normalcy, back to being productive, and back to trying to make something out of this blog that no one reads... I am making my To-Do list for tomorrow and I WILL accomplish everything on it. Anyways, wish me luck.

Thankful text...
 Today, I am thankful for summer. Warm weather, oh how I miss you... It was 39 degrees here today for the majority of the day and that SUCKS. I know I proclaimed that I love fall... And, I suppose that I do, however, this cold weather can GO. Low 60s is cold enough for me. 39 degrees?! You've got to be kidding me. So, Sunshine, feel free to make your way back to Indiana and warm my soul. 

Thankful image...

My sister. The only person that I can vent to about ANYTHING on the face of the planet and she will listen and not judge. She's a rock in my life. She is the banana to my pancakes. Love her. 

Busy Football Saturday

 Yesterday, was a super busy but fun day. We went to the IU/Michigan State game and tailgated with friends. It was really fun. It was a noon kick- so we started our day with shots of tequila and cinnamon rolls at 9AM. IU football games are really disappointing compared to the atmosphere I grew up with at Mountaineer Field (aka Milan Puskar Stadium). However, we still had a ton of fun tailgating, sitting in the front row, and cheering on the Hoosiers. It had been disgusting and raining here ALL day on Friday so we weren't sure that the weather would cooperate for us to attend the game on Saturday, however, it cleared right up and turned into a great day for watching football. I even got a little sunburnt! Good times, good drinks, good food, good friends, and good football. An all around good day! 

LOVE

 Our master bedroom closet wall was super boring- but since it is taken up of about 98% closet doors there is not much space to do anything else with it. My solution? Buy wooden letters from Hobby Lobby and cover them with an ombre(ish) affect of yarn. This was a super easy, super cheap product that gave that boring wall some much needed personality. 

 All it took was a few little dabs of hot glue, and some yarn. If your budget is SUPER tight you could probably get away with using just one roll of yarn for all of the letters (as I have A TON of yarn left over). I just started at the end of the letter put a little dab of hot glue the end of the yarn on it and started winding it around. So simple. So cute. Right up this girls alley. 

 Here is the outcome...

Cute and easy... The first thing I see every morning.

 What would you do with such a tiny space? Also, lately I have been thinking about painting the stark white doors and trim in this room... What do you think? I am not sure why I am so intimidated by the idea of this... For real, it's just a little bit of paint! But, yet, there is something super scary about it to me. 

Thankful text...

 Today, I am thankful for my iPhone. Seriously, it is my right hand man. I can do everything on this little handy thing. Skeptics, get over your skepticism- it IS the greatest phone ever. It allows me to have a camera always on hand to snap adorable, spur of the moment pictures. It allows me to read my emails in bed. It allows me to play solitaire every single night to soothe me to sleep. It allows me to text and constantly keep in contact with family that I miss dearly from back home. It allows me to have HILARIOUS text conversations with my sister-in-law daily. Get adorable pictures of my niece and nephews... I can facebook stalk. Check my twitter. And, even keep track of my period. Iphone... You really are the bees knees. And, I LOVE you!

Thankful image...

Icalender on the day we got engaged, framed by my ring and my trusted mug of coffee.

 In theme with my iphone being what I am thankful, I decided he needed to be the picture... But, just a photo of an iphone is not that exciting. So, I thought I would make it more meaningful by loading the calender up set to the date we got engaged framed by my phone and to include my beloved mug of coffee with the inspiration I read every day. Today's things may seem a bit shallow, but, I think we all are allowed to be shallow every now and again. These things ARE things I am thankful for every day. 

Free Artwork

 On Pinterest, awhile ago, I found a lot of "where we've lived" map inspired art work. Since Steven and I moved to Indiana a few years ago, I am always missing our home state (also where we met!). So, what better way to show tribute than artwork that you can see to have as a reminder every day? Well, I hate spending money on things like artwork... I'd rather buy shoes or clothes. So, one night Steve wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. I was at home bored, alone, and decided to try to tackle a Pinterest project... 
 I don't consider myself artistic, WHATSOEVER. But, I am first rate with the scissors and I can trace with the best of them. We have acrylic paints and paper laying around so I decided to give painting our home state as well as our current state a try. I did not expect this project to turn out well- but I buckled down and took my time and was thrilled with the outcome...
 First thing, I did was print out a large outline of IN and WV. Then, I began the tedious project of cutting them out. I was super careful and went super slow because I wanted to make sure to make the states as close to their realities as I could. Once, I had them cut out I put them onto the white canvas paper and traced them with a pencil. Next step, was to mix the paint color I wanted... I decided a sage(ish) green would go best with the blue walls in our office (where I wanted to hang them). So, I mixed a little bit of blue and yellow with a lot of white. Turns out I got a shade I was satisfied with the first try. I took a small brush and started filling in the lines. I put the paint on relatively thick and I like the texture on the outcome... 
 Like I said, I have ZERO artistic ability (which I am working on!) and accomplished this project pretty well. Obviously, the paintings aren't perfect... But, what is?! Steve was proud and impressed with his little surprise when I woke him up to check out the finished project- then immediately went back to bed! I was soo excited with the outcome I HAD to wake him up so I could share it with someone. 
 The next day we went to Hobby Lobby to get frames and mattes for them to be hung. Which was the only part of this project I had to spend money on. I think for both frames and mattes it ended up being around $40.00. Not bad for TWO pieces of artwork! 
 Here are some pictures...

I am not sure why these won't rotate the proper way, but turn your head and pretend. They were still wet in these pictures.

WV... Making sure all of the details of the outline was painted to but not over was the hardest part!

IN.

Both framed.

WV Framed

IN framed

Finally, hanging in their new home. 

 I decided to go with a dark blue matte against the lighter blue walls. I like the way it looks. It reminds me of the green of land and the blue of the sea. Even though Steve was quick to point out that both IN and WV are landlocked and not surrounded by water... Whatev, technicalities, shmecnicalities. (Yep, I just made up a word.) Trust me, if I can accomplish this painting project... You can too! Plus, things always mean more to you when you create them with your own two hands! Give it a try...

 Thankful text...

 Today, I am thankful for my wonderful fiance. Who only gets slightly annoyed when I wake him when he is sleeping. Who is always a CONSTANT support system for me. Who loves me, unconditionally, no matter my mood, or how difficult loving me may be at times. Who always sees the best and beauty in me even when I am not looking my best or being the most beautiful person. Who eats all of my food creations; even the epic failure. Who pretends to be interested in things like new furniture, and new shoes to appease me.Who is such an amazing pet-papa that I can't wait to see how amazing of a father he is to our future children. I, truly, hit the husband-to-be-jackpot. Thanks, Babe, for making all of my wishes come true! You inspire me every day.

 Thankful Image...

Steve being a good Papa giving freshly bathed Josie some lovings. She thinks he is her Knight In Shining Armor. He's mine too, kid!