Kim in the Kitchen - Crock Pot Chili

Oh Paula, how I love thee so! I modified Paula Deen's Spicy Chili recipe for my Crock Pot and it was delicious! You can find her exact recipe HERE. But below is what I did to make it crock pot ready.

Spicy Chili:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package chipolte chili seasoning 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (15-ounce) can niblet corn, drained
• 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chillies

Brown your ground beef, drain and add in Chipotle seasoning. Place in crock pot. Add in all other ingredients and stir. Set Crock Pot for 7 hours on LOW. I served the chili with some corn chips sour cream and shredded cheese on top. I didn't take a picture but the flavor was amazing and my husband was raving about this dish.

By the way, I browned the meat the previous night, cooled it down and left it in the fridge. I also cut onion and green pepper placed them in a bag (also left in the fridge). I measured the seasoning and used a tupperware smidget container and left my can goods out and ready with a can opener for the morning. This way I didn't have to rush before work this morning. GREAT way to save time in the morning. 

Kim in the Kitchen - Cookie Order

This year marks the 200th Anniversary of my church, Bay Shore United Methodist. I have been a member since I was 8. Sunday October 24th is the celebration. We are having a Pot Luck lunch, I decided to bring baked ziti and also cookies. It was mentioned that if I could do "200th" cookies it would be cute. So, that is what I did. Below are the some of the cookies that I made for this event.

small & large squares / crosses 

packed up and ready to go

It took a while to get 200 cookies baked, glazed and just basic decorating. I give tons of credit to the other cookie makers out there who do multiple orders in one week!

 

 I made these cookies along with the Church order. The Pink Ribbon with the "Thank You" tag were for my Hematologist office. I made 20 individual cookies wrapped.  I am there at least twice a week for treatments and they deserve something sweet for the excellent care they give. The "A" cookies were a small pack of 20 I made for Book Club. We read The Scarlet Letter this month and I figured... Why not! 

Organizing the Cutter Clutter

Over a year ago I went to a Cookie Decorating class. Since then, You can read about them Here , here,  and here. I have collected a lot of cookie cutters and they were getting a bit out of control in the box I was keeping them. I had to figure out a few things:
1. What ones & how many I had
2. A neater way to store and find them
3. Where to store them

I took Sunday afternoon and tackled this project. I separated them into categories, catalogued them, then put them into groups in clear shoe boxes (thanks to Target). I realized then that I was over 150 cutters and there are still a few I want need.

 

 When I finished that- I had to start baking for a LARGE order for this coming weekend. Here is a hint of what I am working on.

Check back later this week for the finished results and more about this order.

What a beauty...

...that this chair is going to be!!

I found this chair at a Church yard sale yesterday. I bought this piece for $15- I would have bought 2 if they had it but nope. I am leaving the cushion since it is in excellent condition. I think the chair is going to be white soon!

Now it is time to check some of my favorite bloggers for tips on painting / finishing this chair.

October Goals

I have had a busy beginning to October, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. So here are the goals for the month.
1. Read 3 Books
2. Finish 2 Crochet projects
3. 4 new recipes
4. Make lunch
5. Organize craft items

Good Luck to me!

September Goals Recap

I feel like September has FLOWN by! But here is how the goals went for the month.
1. 3 new recipes
Done! Lamb burgers, Turkey chili and also 3 bean chili
2. Read 2 books
The Castaways and Nantucket Nights
3. Improvements on Diet / Gym routines
Fail! My health hasn't improved enough to start the gym.
4. Clean out paperwork (left over from last month)
Fail! I am procrastinating on this job BIG TIME.
5. Finish first Crochet project
50/50 Almost done. But I did sign up for another class for October, making a baby blanket.
6. Bake & freeze Halloween cookies
Fail! But by choice. I decided to hold back on this one until October.
7. Go to Craft / Street Fairs for ideas
Pass! I looked around online and through magazines, went to 2 fair- most were rained out
8. Save more & plan money spending better
Fail! Big time fail!
9. Decorate for Fall
Done! It looks great.
10. Change all passwords for accounts
Done! A little mishap, when I lost the sheet of paper I wrote them down on, until I remembered them all. But I found it and it all worked out!