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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Matt's 25th Birthday!

It's that wonderful time of year when my husband and I are the same age! He can't call me grandma until I turn 26 in April :)
Matt wanted chili for his birthday. The boy loves my chili. (It is SO easy and SO good!) My father-in-law, Marc, has been quoted as saying, "I think this is the best chili I've ever had." Matt is the same way, so sweet and complimentary no matter what I make!
He woke me up Friday morning before he left for work to make sure I was making chili for his birthday dinner that night. His co-worker told me it's all he talked about all day. He called and checked up on me just to see what I was doing, even stopped by the house once and smelled it cooking in the crock pot. He is so funny!
Here it is after simmering all day and making the whole neighborhood smell fabulous!
I was surprised at the reaction I got regarding the plastic liners I use when I uploaded these pics to facebook! They are a lifesaver. You don't have to lift your heavy ceramic part into the sink to soak or scrub off any stuck-on goodness! Just throw that plastic liner away. Heaven!
Here's the recipe:

2 lbs. ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 (15 1/2 oz) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2 oz) can pink kidney beans
1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2 oz) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 oz) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4 1/2 oz) cans diced green chiles
1 (4.6 oz) can sliced black olives, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 (1 1/4 oz) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1 oz) package ranch salad dressing mix


For Garnish:
Corn Chips
Sour Cream/Ranch Dressing
Grated Cheese
Green Onions (optional)

Brown ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain excess fat, then transfer browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, black olives, taco seasoning, & ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6-9 hours. Or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with garnishes of choice and enjoy!

Here I am baking some cornbread muffins...with some honey and butter on top...YUM!
Matt got this picture of Sandy and it is my favorite. She has the best wrinkles!
Please note the candle in his muffin...it totally melted because the muffins had just come out of the oven. Oops!
My bowl, a la ranch
Matt's - a la sour cream
We watched the movie The Proposal after dinner and laughed so hard, it's a funny one! Makes us want to visit Alaska, too.
...
Sunday evening we had Matt's birthday celebration at Nana's! She made a delicious ham dinner with cheesy potatoes, green salad, broccoli, and her fabulous bread. She's the best!
Here's Matt getting ready to open his gifts!
He puts up with me shoving the camera in his face all the time. I think he's excited for Ada to get here so I have another subject to focus on :)
I made a chocolate peanut butter pie and Bobba made his famous apple pie!
The recipe is here. It's amazing! Seriously, you have to try it. I made it the night before and popped it in the freezer until we headed over to Nana's. It sat out while we had dinner and opened gifts and was perfect by the time we ate it. Chocolate and peanut butter...two of my favorite things together!
Matt thinks he looks creepy in this pic, but I think he looks adorable. A little excited for some yummy pie!
Happy Birthday Babe! You're the best and I love you more and more every year :)

3 comments:

Beth and Brittany said...

Your Chili sounds exactly like my recipe for Santa fe soup except mine uses chicken.

Kali said...

awesome recipes! I've been copying them for future use.

Do you have one for a Thanksgiving Turkey? :) I could use one of those!

Kara said...

Good Kali! You'll have to let me know what you think when you try them out :)
I don't have a turkey recipe...my Nana does it every year and won't let anyone else do it! We're lucky if we can talk her into letting us make a side dish to bring! Are you doing a turkey yourself this year? You're so brave!!

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