What's for Dinner? the easiest chili ever!

I love this time of year! Our windows and doors are always open as we enjoy the sunshine and a cool breeze. The cooler weather also brings a welcome change to our dinner menu, but there is no point in wasting such a beautiful day while slaving in the kitchen. Tonight we had our fill of a wonderfully easy and completely delicious chili, in less than 30 minutes and using only four ingredients. Don't knock till you try it, I have heard a few times that this chili tastes just like grandma used to make.

2.5 lbs of Ground Beef
2 cans of Hunt's Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz each)
1 packet of McCormick Chili Seasoning
2 cans of red kidney beans

Brown ground beef (use whatever season or onions/peppers that you would normally use when cooking). Add canned crushed tomatoes, McCormick seasoning, and kidney beans. Simmer for a while to blend flavors and increase the thickness. I don't always finish off the second can of tomatoes, it depends on my mood and how hearty I want the chili. The crushed tomatoes are a great alternative to figuring out the ratio of tomato sauce/paste or diced/stewed tomatoes, and you still get the great consistency without all those weird chunks of tomatoes that make every kid (and some adults) gag. 

Scrapbooking. . . four year old fashion

We found this idea on the Lesson Pathways website, and we love it! Their idea was based around the letter of the week, and at the end of the week have your child cut out pictures that start with that letter and paste those pictures in a "scrapbook". Well, we turned the letter of the week into the letter of the day and rather than cutting out magazine pictures (or printing them) we do a small craft each day. Crawfish Pie already knows her ABC's, but gets the "b" and "d" confused as well as the "u" and "n" so this is a good review for her. I also make a tracer sheet on the Kid Zone website for each letter of the day to start working on handwriting skills. I keep the tracer sheets in my curriculum binder, and Crawfish Pie keeps her projects in her scrapbook. The scrapbook is something that a proud Crawfish Pie shows Daddy with excitement every night when he gets home from work, she absolutely loves seeing her work in a book! Here is the beginning of her Alphabet Scrapbook.

I printed a very large A and punched holes all the way around so she could lace with the yarn

B is for Butterfly! We used coffee filters and pipe cleaners to make ours.

Left page was for words that used the hard C sound. One piece of tape along the top of each picture allows her to flip through several pictures on one page. The page on the right was for words that used the soft C sound. 

I cut out Diamond shapes, and emptied the hole puncher for Dots. Crawfish Pie played with her shapes all morning before we glued some of them in the book. She kept most of the diamonds to play with. 

E is for Elephant! A paper plate made for a great elephant face along with an online template for ears and a trunk. Most mothers have probably guessed already that my house was NOT quiet this day!

CSN Stores $50 Giveaway!

My fabulous friend Kayla is at it again! More great giveaways! This time she is giving away a $50 gift card to CSN stores. They have tons of great stuff in several categories, you can check out their selection at http://www.csnstores.com/. If you love what you see like I did, go to Kayla's blog and enter the giveaway!

Built Louisiana Tough!

Often I hear, "things aren't made like they used to be". With prices rising on raw materials, and cheaper alternatives being continuously added to the market, it really is no surprise that quality has gone down the drain. There has been no experience in my life that has shown me the value of the good ole days, quite like having a large portion of a tree fall on our old house. Here in hurricane country, trees on houses are not out of the ordinary. Blue tarps are like some sort of symbol that memorializes the struggles that families in our area have suffered. I have seen many a tree or tree limb do serious damage to property, and have somehow decided that I am able to gauge the destructive capabilities of such trees. When I saw the size of the branch that fell on our house, I just knew it was a total loss.  Much to our amazement, we have a hole in our bathroom ceiling, another hole in the bathroom wall, and some damage to the back porch. The majority of the weight lay solely on the kitchen, which was built before kitchens were attached to houses (it was later moved and attached to the dining room). It was a slave kitchen, and it saved our lives! Had the roof given under the pressure of the tree, the heaviest part of the limb would have landed in our laps as we watched t.v. that night. We are forever grateful to the solid wood, blood, sweat, and tears that built that kitchen. I have seen more damage done to houses with much smaller branches, but those houses don't have the history that our house has. The shed (seen with the red wagon) was actually "the maid's" room. Her name was Buella, and she worked in the kitchen that saved our lives. I believe her spirit held the tree up. Don't mess with a southern woman's kitchen! The bathroom was the last room to be added to the house. It is a young room and it was crappy from the start. Built in a hurry, it has no history, no love in its walls. It received the most damage even though it was farthest away for the tree. Go figure. Things aren't made like they used to be.

we were sitting in the room directly below this monster when it fell

More Awesome Giveaways!

Could it possibly be time for me to start having a few giveaways of my own? It's quite possible, but for now I will gladly pass on the great giveaways that I have entered!

The first awesome deal is a Tommee Tippee giveaway. In case you haven't heard of the Tommee Tippee brand, they make the best, ultra spill-proof sippy cups along with other great infant and toddler merchandise. To read Kayla's review and enter the giveaway for a chance to win your very own magical spill-proof sippy cup, go check out the blog post over at and Potato Makes Three!

One more really cool giveaway is over at Frugal for my Friends. The author of this blog is offering a chance to win a super cool Kidorable umbrella, and the winner gets to pick the design! They have tons of cool kid gear in matching themes, and I can't lie. . . I want to buy them all!!!! Enter today for your chance to win one!