Seven Days

Joining Jacquie, the Barefoot Crofter, and sharing a photo from each day of my past week.

Pulled my cutting boards out of the cabinet.

This is so much more convenient since I use them so much.

Chili in the crockpot.

With some of the last of the fresh tomatoes from our garden.

(We picked all the green ones back in Oct and they've been slowly ripening over the past month.)

**recipe below**

Deep cleaning the house.

The only thing that gets me through it,

is knowing how good the house looks and feels afterwards.

Cuties!!!

We love 'em!

My new candle~~Apple Cinnamon.

Sadly, not much knitting happened this week.

Asparagus...one of our favorites.

Roasted in the oven with olive oil, coarse sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and plenty of minced garlic.

A mural I quickly snapped as we drove by.

At first glance, that guy looks real :)

**My go-to Chili**

This is less of a recipe and more of a guideline as I just throw it together.

-1 - 1 1/2 lbs ground beef; browned and drained

-1 lb dry pinto beans; cooked and drained (I cook these in the crock pot overnight and then drain them in the morning and throw the rest of the chili ingredients in because beans take so long to cook here.)

-1 14.5 oz can diced stewed tomatoes; undrained (or use approx 1-2 cups fresh diced if you have them on hand)

-1 green bell pepper; roughly chopped

-1 medium onion; roughly chopped

-1 jalapeno pepper; chopped

-2qts tomato juice

-chili powder; I never measure, but it's probably around 1/8-1/4 cup

-ground cumin; I never measure, but it's probably 2-3 Tbsp

-garlic powder; again I never measure, but probably around 4-5 Tbsp

-salt; to taste

Combine all ingredients.  You can use a crockpot on low and forget about it.  Or you can use a pot and let it simmer for at least 2 hours before serving.  Chili is always better the longer you let the flavors blend.

Oldest thinks it's a travesty if we have chili without cornbread.  So we do.  And shredded cheese.  And I usually chop fresh onions and jalapenos too.  Sometimes we have Fritos with it.

This freezes really well.  And the leftovers are great for chili dogs too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sending you all a little Colorado Sunshine!