Easy Veggie Chili

Chili is great in the crock pot and its so easy. My boyfriend has been asking for some of my chili, so I had to whip some up! I never use a recipe, I just use what I have and try new things each time. I do always use rice in my chili; I like the consistency it adds and it helps absorb some of the moisture. 

Latest batch of veggie chili:

2 cans of chili beans

1 can of black beans

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato paste

1 green pepper

1/2 a small onion

1 small can of corn

1/2 cup of brown rice

Salt & pepper

Spices and hot sauce

Drain the beans and mix all ingredients in the crock pot. Cook for 2-3 hours on medium to low. Serve with tortillas or chips.

Olive oil flat bread and homemade tomatillo guacamole + leftover chili= great, quick burrito 

Compound Garden Update:

The veggies are growing great! We have some peppers already and a very small head of broccoli. I also just planted carrots and celery. Here are some photos of our beautiful purple iris and wild roses.

Vegetarians ROCK!

Here is a short list of rock stars that have given up meat. Don't you want to rock too?

Cafepress.com

John Lennon                                   Bob Dylan
Paul McCartney                              Prince
Lenny Kravitz                                 Alanis Morrissette
Shania Twain                                 Carrie Underwood
Nelly                                                Anthony Kiedis   
Steven Tyler                                   Michael Jackson
Moby                                               Annie Lennox
Ringo Starr                                    Elvis Costello
Sara McLaughlin                           Meat Loaf
Sinéad O'Conner                          'Weird Al' Yankovic
Dizzy Gillespie                               Peter Gabriel
Seal                                                 George Harrison
KD Lang                                         Billy Joe Armstrong
George Harrison                           Billy Idol
Ozzy Osbourne                             Fiona Apple

Morrissey told you to! 

What is a Kitchen Witch?

According to Suite 101 a kitchen witch "honours what she cooks, preparing meals with loving intent. Using fresh ingredients, often from her own garden, she makes magic in the kitchen by creating delicious, seasonal food, herbal remedies, and magic spells. Most kitchen witches are creative in the home, making their own decorative or practical items." She gardens, respects the Earth and lives environmentally-friendly, and celebrates the seasons. Hey, it's me!

Have you ever seen on of these hanging in your grandmother's kitchen? 

Flying German Kitchen Witch available on eBay

 I remember gazing at the grumpy face hanging above my grandma's fruit baskets as a child wondering what the witch was grumpy about. Kitchen witches, or cottage witches, are a handmade poppet that is hung in the home to ward off evil spirits, and to inspire productivity and safety in the kitchen. They often come with the following note attached : "For centuries, Norwegians have hung this good witch in their kitchen. They believe she has the power to keep roasts from burning, pots from boiling over, and sauces from spilling."  

My own kitchen witch is dressed in her Halloween best and flies right above my kitchen sink giving me inspiration and good luck daily.

Garden Goodness

Happy Mother's Day!

Lots of love to all the mamas out there!  

When I think of my mom, one of the first things that comes to mind is her love of gardening. We've always had gardens full of flowers and vegetables to enjoy at my mom's house. She has quite the green thumb and taught her daughter well.

With all the beautiful weather MN has been having, I decided it was time to start some of my container veggies. My son's marching band was having a fundraiser at the Twin Cities Malmborg's locations, so I bought all my vegetables and flowers this weekend. We are trying some new things this year and if I can keep my plants away from the pesky raccoons, we will have quite a tasty garden!

The garden:

5 kinds of peppers:

     green, jalapeno, banana, purple, & ghost

Basil

Broccoli

Green onions

Garlic

Moonglow tomatoes

Radishes

I'll post photos this summer as all of our wonderful gardens grow here on the compound. The iris are starting to bud, so my backyard will soon smell just like Kool-aid!

Tastefully Simple

     My brother's fiance had a Tastefully Simple party this weekend. She had a couple's party and all the boys stuck together in the bar. I felt a bit bad for the consultant, she had to yell most of the time to be louder than the crazy boys! They sell dips, drinks, bread, seasonings, soups, and desserts.
     We all had a great time and my son loved trying tons of samples and playing games. What I like about Tastefully Simple is that all of their products only require one or two ingredients, plus they were founded in Minnesota. We are hooked on their beer bread (one of our faves!) and their website includes tons of recipes. I can't wait to try the salsa bread and pesto bread when I receive my order. Their seasonings are also really tasty and healthy- low in sugar and they use sea salt instead of the nasty iodized variety. I might have my own party soon to earn some free, tasty products.

A few simple changes to your grocery shopping can make a huge difference in your families health. Here are a few things that we always buy to make out pantry healthier:

Raw sugar

Brown rice

Whole wheat bread, flour, and pastas

Sea salt

Organic brown eggs

Always choose whole wheat when given the option and go organic on the Dirty Dozen.

The Luck of the Veggie!

I'm a freebie, frugal findin', thriftin' junkie! I send away for samples, enter contests, stack coupons, earn CVS Rewards, resell treasures on Craigslist, you name it and I'm doing it to score deals! Who doesn't like free stuff? Any money I can save on basics goes toward our vacations funds (and honestly eating healthy costs a bit more than eating junk- fact of life). Today I won a set of highball glasses from Smirnoff and a $100 check from Airborne. I thought I would share some of my favorite sites, so that my readers could enjoy some of my luck. I would like to mention that I don't pay anything to participate in any of these deals/sites listed below.

My favorite deal sites include:

Freebies 4 Mom (my mailbox is constantly full due to this awesome site)
Deal Seeking Mom
Money Saving Mom
Stretching A Buck
All You (daily samples, contests, and the magazine is full of great coupons)

My favorite sites for earning cash back & gift cards:

Swagbucks (I earn about $150 in Amazon.com gift cards a year)
Ebates (cash back on online purchases)
UPromise (money for my son's college education)
Recyclebank
GetGlue (earn free stickers for checking in to movies, books, etc.)

I also participate in a couple of online survey sites that deposit money in my UPromise account. Ill keep adding to this list as I find more sites that are worth checking out! Feel free to add deal sites that you like in the comments.

How much fruit feeds 85 kids?

This is the question my boyfriend and I pondered while shopping for my son's marching band last weekend since I was on snack duty. When I ask my son what he would like me to bring, he immediately said fruit. Yeah my kid loves healthy food! (Another snack mom brought cookies and candy, so at least the kids got one serving of goodness). We ended up getting:

6 baskets of strawberries
6 baskets of blackberries
6 baskets of blueberries
4 melons
5 large bags of grapes (probably around 8-10 pounds)

I don't think I've ever bought that much fruit before at one time! I should've taken a photo of our haul. We had a great time cleaning and chopping the fruit salad and the kids gobbled up every piece. Next time we plan to buy more. Feel free to post fruit salad recipes or healthy snack ideas for me to use the next time I need to feed all these talented kids!

DIY Terrariums

I've been wanting to make some small terrariums for awhile- they always look so cool! I found an amazing octagon glass box while antiquing with my boyfriend last week. Even the sales person mentioned it was the perfect size for a mini terrarium!

 Here's what you need:
-A clean clear jar, bottle or other cool container (I like ones with lids myself, but this isn't necessary)
-Activated charcoal (I purchased it at a pet store)
-Small pebbles
-Dried moss (most craft stores have this)
-Sand or soil (I prefer sand, it doesn't harbor mold like soil can)
-Small plants- ferns, cactus, air plants, and African violets work well
-Small decorative rocks, figures, etc.

Layer your terrarium with pebbles, a thin layer of charcoal, a layer of moss, sand or soil, and plants in that order. Decorate- I've even seen one on Pinterest that was a Beetlejuice theme! Mist your plants about once a week, don't overdo it on the watering. I haven't found the plants I wanted yet, so these are definitely works in progress. Enjoy your mini garden!

Vegetarians use their Brrraaaaiiinnnnss!

Here is a short list of people that are respected all over the world for their brains! Wouldn't you like to be a part of this kind of crowd? Click HERE for a huge list of other famous vegetarians.

Buddha
Plato
Socrates
Albert Einstein
Abraham Lincoln
Sir Issac Newton
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Edison
Mahatma Gandhi
Charles Darwin
Emily Dickinson
Leonardo Da Vinci
Ralph Waldo Emmerson
Henry David Thoreau
Rosa Parks
Allen Ginsberg
Vincent Van Gogh
Alice Walker
Charlotte Bronte



Photo courtesy of http://www.peta.org/