Chili Tots

1 lb ground beef
2 cans chili w/o beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 can sliced ripe olives
1 can chopped green chilies
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 package frozen tater tots

Brown and drain ground beef, stir in chili, tomato sauce, olive and chilies. Transfer to greased 9x13 baking dish, sprinkle with shredded cheese and top with tater tots. Bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

This is the original recipe. I had to make a few changes. I used ground pork (cause it's what I had), and I browned it with taco seasoning. I omitted the olives and chilies - cause my family doesn't like them. And I ran out of cheddar cheese, so I added some colby jack and sharp. I also found I had to add about 8-10 minutes to the baking time. And then we topped it with sour cream. It was very good - again, even Lily gobbled it right down! It was very very filling, and I think it would be good on a day when the kids were out playing in the snow. It would be good served with biscuits and salad to round it out...
Note- it's not lovely though cleaning it up in the middle of the night when Joelle got sick.... but that was completely unrelated to the dinner.

Country Chicken 'n Biscuits

So, I'm trying to make better meals for my family. So this past week has gone pretty well, and I thought I'd post what we had for dinner. I figure it'll help me keep track of what went over well and what flopped. Last night we had 'Country Chicken 'n' Biscuits'

Preheat oven to 375*
Combine in a greased 9x13 baking dish:
8 slices bacon, fried and crumbled
2 c. cooked chopped chicken
1 pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 c. chopped tomatoes
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Combine 1 can cream of chicken soup and 2/3 c. milk and pour over casserole.
Bake, covered, at 375 for 15-20 minutes.
Prepare biscuit topping:
1 1/2 c. Bisquick
1/2 can french fried onions
2/3 c. milk
Drop by spoonfuls to form 6 biscuits around edge of casserole. Bake, uncovered 15-20 minutes more, or until biscuits are golden brown.
Top with other half can of french fried onions and bake 2-3 minutes longer till onions are toasted.


My family absolutely LOVED this meal - Even Lily - we will be making this one again! And it didn't make a whole lot of dishes, so that's a plus for me.

I've been tagged...

Jess tagged me in her post of 7 weird things. Now I'm supposed to come up with 7 weird things about me and I've been thinking about it now for 6 hrs!! No kidding. I guess I'm just not that weird... yeah right. Ok, let me try....

1. I hate, hate, HATE parking garages. I hate the darkness, and the awful winding ramps. I have to close my eyes till we're parked.
2. If I'm holding a remote while watching tv, my thumb travels the directional arrow buttons, like the volume up/down and the channel left/right buttons, in a clockwise circle, just without thinking about it, I just do it until Joey stops me or takes the remote, usually I don't even realize I'm doing it.
3. When people talk, I usually picture the words in my head, as if I'm reading close captioning.
4. When adjusting volume digitally, I have to leave it on an even number, or a factor of 5.
5. I can roll my tummy, even when I was pregnant.
6. I cannot cook food with bones or skin, Or worse, scales - gag!
7. I don't like traveling, if I will be in the car for longer than a 1/2 hr, I must have a book. And if we are driving in the center lane between the median and a truck, I have to close my eyes till we pass the truck. Of course, if I'm driving and find myself in that position, I hold my breath till I can pass the truck.

Alright, so I guess I'm a little weird. Anyone else know anything weird about me? And I'd like to see some other people's weird traits too - so leave me a comment! Danae - anything strange you want to share???

Our House...

Well, Danae asked about how our house is coming, so I figured I'd do a post about where things stand.
Right now, we are in the process of getting our contractor approved with the USDA, which supposedly is a rather complicated ordeal. Fortunately we have been blessed to have a friend who is a contractor and who is willing to go through this process for us. From what I understand, it involves a credit report, a BBB report, consults with previous clients, evaluations of previous work and maybe a few more things. Kerwin, our contractor, has been extremely gracious and doesn't think that any of these things will cause a problem, just a hold-up.
Once he is a USDA approved contractor, they will reevaluate our financial status to see if we still qualify for the same loan that we already approved for but has expired because of all this carrying on. Again, that doesn't look like it should cause any hiccups, since nothing's changed since last year.
Once all that is approved, we will sign for the loan, and then give our builders the go-ahead. From that point, it should take approximately 4-6 weeks till the house is ready to be delivered. In that time, Joe will be getting the basement ready. Once the house is here, and set, it'll probably be about 2 weeks (give or take) to finish it, like hang the doors, finish the drywall, lay the hardwood floor, etc.
My hope and prayer is that it will be done and we can move in by spring. I've learned a lot through the whole process, about the details of building a home, and also about myself. I've gone through a lot of emotions, and continue to. But ultimately, it comes down to my desire to search for God's will and plant myself in it. I'm daily trying to rest in knowing that God brought us to this place, both physically and spiritually, for a purpose; and though I may never know what that purpose is, it is my responsibility to just walk it out. He has blessed us in so many many ways, that sometimes I am just overwhelmed by His goodness and grace. I can trust that He will pour out from His abundant stores.
And, just so no one thinks I'm flying through this in perfect peace.....
I also find myself crying out, "Please God soon!" when I trip again on the peeling linoleum in the kitchen or lose my balance on the weak spot in our bedroom floor!

Lily says...

The other night as we were getting the girls ready for bed, we were being silly and I put Eva's monitor belt around my forhead, with the wires hanging down by my ears. Lily laughs and says, "Look, mom looks like an idiot!" Anna's eyes about popped out of her head, then she giggled and said, "Lily, I think you meant to say she looks like an Indian!".

This week I sat down to work on the alphabet with Lily, and I was writing letters to see if she could name them. It came to "A" and Lily thought for a moment and said, "Ace!". I'm thinking we need to play less card games and work more on educational things!