Chinese New Year Party!

Eliza in the parade
Zach and his friend Taylor

Olivia, Eliza and Abby (Taylor's sister)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just have to write about the fun dinner we had last night. My Valentine's tradition is to make a special candlelight dinner for the whole family. This year, Kirk even made menu's for everyone and gave our "restaurant" a name- Valentino's! I thought that was so cute and clever. He also pitched in and made the salad and the drink. Olivia was a great waitress and Zach set the table and made it look beautiful. Eliza inhaled the noodles as fast as she could! I didn't have time to take pictures, what with serving up spaghetti and the chicken parmegana but I did get raves from our customers! And the payment was much better than at a restaurant, hugs covered the bill (also Kirk's idea). Grandma Earl came over and got the whole treatment! It was a fun evening for the whole family.

I love my family and it was fun to share my love with them and let them know how much they mean to me! (Usually, I write a home-made card for each person too, but I didn't remember until the last minute and didn't have time but what with all the hugging and happiness going around no one noticed!!)

Olivia and the kitties...

Olivia with Phantom

(or Phantom Menace as we sometimes call her!)

Look at my new smile!!

(She lost another one last night at the Chinese Restaurant.)

Copper in Eliza's princess chairPhantom on Olivia's new quilt with a little extra blanket thanks to Eliza. She's lucky, Copper usually gets a doll pillow too when he has a nap!

Chili recipe

This is my favorite chili recipe. Without the beans it is similar to a Cincinatti style chili, thin and ready to put over spaghetti noodles. Adding just the refried beans makes it thicker for for a chili dog or burger.

Chile

1 medium onion, diced
2 T. canola oil

2 lbs. ground buffalo

1 small can green chilies
½ small can jalapenos
4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 can beef broth
½ t. oregano
½ t. thyme
1 t. cumin
¼ t. cinnamon
½ t. allspice
½ t. cardamom
¼ t. coriander
1 t. chipotle powder
1 T. ancho or guajillo powder
3 T. chili powder
1 t. black pepper
3 bay leaves

1 #10 can tomato juice

1 can of red/kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
Or
1 ½ cups of dried beans soaked overnight and cooked until tender

1 can of refried beans

Caramelize the onions in the oil until golden over medium heat. Add the ground meat and brown (make sure that there are browned sections on the meat) on medium high. Add the peppers and garlic. Continue sautéing until most of the liquid is gone and add the beef broth to deglaze the pan. Turn the heat to high, add the spices, and cook down the liquid for a few minutes. Add the tomato juice and beans. After the mixture comes to a boil add the refried beans to thicken.
Total time about 45 minutes.

Option:
The mixture can be added to a Crockpot any time after the pan has been deglazed and the rest of cooking continued there. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil the refried beans can be added and then kept on warm from that point. Makes great leftovers or use over a baked potato or spaghetti noodles.

Our Weekend fun...

We had a three-day weekend, Friday was a teacher-comp day. All the big kids had a friend play and we got our chores done early!

Saturday: we had our much prepared for and anticipated piano Festival. Kirk, Zach and Olivia all got a Superior for their performance! We went out to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch for our usual after-festival celebration.

Sunday Snow: Yes, we had more snow...a foot more to be exact (Zach measured). This is the most snow we've had in a few years. It was not fun trying to get to and from church but at least we don't have to drive far! Several church services nearby were actually cancelled, which rarely happens around here.

Biggest News of the Weekend...Olivia lost one of her front teeth!! She is very proud of her new smile. (Pictures will be posted later today when I get the downloaded.)

Awesome Rice Recipe!

I don't have my latest pictures down-loaded, so I thought I would give a meal idea instead! Mike made this up and it is so good! If you haven't liked brown rice in the past you may change your mind after trying this. The flavors and moistness make it yummy for the whole family. Plus it doesn't take much prep time. I like it with pork or chicken chunks the best by the way.


Mike's Rice and Bean Dish

1 medium onion diced
3 cups brown rice

1 t. cumin powder
1 can or 2 cups chopped meat (leftovers are great for this)
1 can green chilies

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cans chicken broth
1 cup water
1T. ground mustard
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. cinnamon
2 t. chipotle powder
1 t. thyme
1 t. ground pepper

3 carrots diced
1 can beans (kidney or black) drained and rinsed very well

Salt to taste

Sauté the onion in 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat until caramelized lightly brown. Add the rice and another tablespoon of oil and raise the temperature to medium high and toast the kernels. Add the cumin, meat and green chilies and heat until most of the moisture from the chilies has evaporated. Turn the temperature to high and add the diced tomatoes and smash the tomatoes as they get hot. Add the broth, water, mustard, thyme, nutmeg, cinnamon, chipotle and black pepper. As soon as the liquid starts to boil add the beans and carrots. As soon as the mixture comes to a boil again, cover and turn the temperature to low. Cook over low heat for 50 minutes. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes before stirring.

Replace the meat with shrimp if desired by adding raw shrimp to the mixture for the last 5-7 minutes of cooking. Add cooked shrimp at the end of cooking during the resting phase.