A Good Day for Chili

In just about every picture that we take of Madison, her mouth is wide open. Today she was busy as a bee in her play pen.

Today was a dreary, rainy day. Madison and I ran a few errands this afternoon and then headed back to the house for her afternoon nap. I tried to iron a few pieces of clothing while she played in the living room, but I was only able to iron "a few" before she got restless.
This evening, we gave Madison a pretzel rod to gnawl on while we ate dinner and she gnawled on it with her two little teeth until it was too short to hold.

Tonight we cooked Daddy's favorite chili recipe. This recipe actually won the chili cook off contest at Russellville's Fall Fest one year. Speaking of Fall Fest, it's this Saturday...on Halloween. They have a costume contest for kids and I am going to enter Madison in it. She is going to be the cutest little lady bug that ever did exist. Gabe told me the other night that he used to be a judge for the costume contest. Weird, huh?!

I also thought about taking Madison to First United Methodist Church to take some pics in their "pumpkin patch." They have about a million pumpkins in front of their church and it looks so pretty.

Chili Recipe

3-4 T. chili powder

2 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1 30 oz. can mexican style chili beans

2 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (crush w/hands)

2 cans rotel

4-5 bay leaves

2-3 T. garlic powder

3-4 slices jalapeno

1 c. tomato paste

2 sm. yellow onions

Simmer all ingredients except for beef, onions, and chili powder. In a separate pan, fry beef, onions, and chili powder. Drain and mix in with simmering ingredients. Simmer together 20 more minutes. *Note: I cut this recipe in half for my family. I cut back a little more on the jalapeno slices and garlic powder. It can get too spicy!

Enjoy!