Not A Total Chili Day

I wanted to remind anyone and everyone about May being Motorcyle Awareness Month, as Rob and I own a motorcycle, as do many of our friends and acquaintances, as well as some of our Family members.  It is good once in awhile to put a "gentle" reminder in place, as we all tend to forget to take that "extra" look in our mirrors or front side to side too quickly when pulling out, as I know I have.


Another early morning it turned out to be around here.  No worries though, as I got to talk to my youngest son when I was out very early with ... um, I think it was Bandit, at that time, lol..  It is nice to know I am not the only person up in those sometimes "still dark" wee hours of the morn.

Actually Rob went in to do a day shift, and I mean an all day long day shift, as he left here just before 8 am, and he is still out there working.  I had the whole house, almost to myself, if I don't count all the four legged family members being here with me, but how could I ever exclude them?

I got right to getting the pot out and the ingredients together, thinking it was going to be a damp chilly day.

"My freezer supply had diminished so I thought I would do up a double batch of homemade Chili."

"Nothing like a hot bowl of chili packed full of fibre on a damp miserable day, served alongside a loaf of rustic style bread, now is there?"

I love having extra made for in the freezer, for those times I have been too busy to start a meal from scratch, or for when I need to make something up quick for Rob to take along to work in his thermos.   Big Batch Cooking "rocks" !!!


Recipe Please?


Cindy’s Homemade Chili

1 – 1 ½ pound of lean ground beef
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
Celery, diced
Onion, diced
2 tbsp Chilli Powder, heaping
Pepper

2 – 796 ml (28 oz) canned diced tomatoes, undrained
2 – 540 ml (19 oz) cans of Mixed Beans (or your preference of beans mixed & matched), 
drained
2 – 398 ml (13 oz) cans of Beans and Tomato Sauce, undrained
2 - 284 ml (10 oz) cans of Tomato Soup
2 - 284 ml (10 oz) cans of Mushroom Pieces & Stems, drained
1 – 156 ml (5.5 oz) can of Tomato Paste

In large Dutch oven pot, cook ground beef until pink is gone; drain well. Add minced garlic, celery, onion, Chili Powder and pepper; Add remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until celery is a la dente.

NOTE: Careful with the heat, as not to have the chili stick and burn to the bottom. Chili freezes well to be used at a later date


Let me tell you, I think opening all those cans is the most time consuming part of this whole recipe, especially when it is a double batch !!!  


The remainder of my day was pretty much spend doing those most usual type household chores like dusting and vacuuming.  Since Rob has been gone all day, I had to also take on his job of cleaning out the outside kennel run, then hosing it all down, as this gets done once a day.


I also had to make a trip into town today to order some "Crabby Cabbie" hats and T-shirts from Koreen at Ram Sports & Trophies Wiarton, as well as post a couple of cards at the Post Office.  I also dropped a slice of the Mascarpone Flax Banana Nut Bread I had made yesterday, off to Debby at the "Berford Street Tea Room" for her to try out.  

"It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day today, so really not a total "Chilly" day at all !"

"While Bandit was out on his afternoon tour of one of our fields, I enjoyed watching this Red-winged Blackbird do his thing, flitting from post to fences."

"I find myself not being able to come in and out the door without looking in on the "Spectacular Six".  My goodness, first thing this morning I lost track of time as I had been so busy watching them "wrestle, growl & chew on each other" ... lol.  Some of them are still pretty "wobbly" on their back ends, so this was pretty funny to watch as well."

Friend, Russ Ewing, who does has "Stinky Dog Art" on Facebook, sent me along this drawing he did of Rob and Bandit, since I had blogged the one he had did of Bandit and myself, HERE, a couple of days ago.

"I can't wait to see what this one will look like all nicely framed?"

...and I also received an offer from Russ to just ask if there is anything else I need done in the way of his "talents".  A very generous gesture on his part.

It was just a "Chili" kind of day, without it being too "Chilly" here after all, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".