Venison Chili

The hubs and I have some venison in our freezer. Some of it in steak form, some of it in ground venison form.

Tonight, we experiment with venison chili. He was pushing for venison chili, so he's the master chef tonight.

What you need:

• 1 pound venison
• 2 cans chili-ready beans
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• half of an onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons steak sauce
• 1 tablespoon Cholula sauce
• 1 jar of salsa (chunky)
• 1 can southwestern style diced tomatoes

What you do:

• Brown the venison and chop your onion and pepper (we have a handy-dandy veggie chopper aka time saver).
• Throw everything in a stock pot (or crock pot) and give it a stir. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, or until veggies are tender-crisp (5 to 6 hours in the slow cooker, on low).
• Top with your choice of chili toppings. I go for cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. Hubs does cheese and sour cream.

Pretty tasty meal. And! I didn't have to cook OR clean! Win-win in my book!

Baby!

I recently brought my beloved husband into our local baby store. All baby stuff.

These types of stores aren't really my cup of tea, as prices are usually marked up. I think they're going for the convenience factor of being able to get everything for baby in one place. There are pet stores that are the same. I don't spend much time in these stores for a couple of reasons.

1. The prices are high.
2. They sell quite a few unnecessary items.

The only child I have right now is a mere 16 weeks along, so I am no expert when it comes to babies. At all. Who really is an expert, anyway? I did; however, work in a daycare that had babies as little as 6 weeks old. Even as a 22 year old, I was saddened by how quickly parents were called back to work at babies were sent off to some form of daycare.

That said, I know a little bit about babies. I know a bit about the stuff that goes along with a baby. And, holy cow, it is a LOT of stuff.

My husband, on the other hand, wasn't as aware.

And it freaked him out.

Of course, he has now realized how awesome of a shopper I am. Upon leaving the store he said, "Thank God you found a dresser slash changing table for $35."

I smiled. Planted a kiss on him, too.

Oh, and. Craigslist has become my new best friend.

Adios, Raja

My beautiful Rust Bucket. The wonderful Mitsubishi Mirage. She's been a gem. A joy. Her radio crapped out a few months ago. She's louder than ever. If you lift the hood, pieces of it fall to the ground. She's that rusty. She and I don't go anywhere without the jumper cables (even though I've never had a problem).

The time has come, though. The time to say goodbye. I find myself a little bit sad...but mostly super excited!

You see, my mother-in-law just bought herself a new car. And her old car is coming to us. She just gave us her Explorer. It's hard to believe. But it's true. We get her on Saturday.

I find myself happy, though, because this came at the perfect time. My brother drove his car into the ground. His car won't start. It won't budge. No sound of an engine even turning over. D-E-A-D, dead. While the Rust Bucket has a few quirks...don't close the gas door, it won't open again...she runs. She'll get you from A to B and then back to A or maybe off to C. She needs new tires, but she has a brand new battery.

I think, come Saturday, the Rust Bucket will be moving downtown. What a wonderful car she has been. And she's made it through the whole family: my sister bought it, I've had it, and now the little brother will have it. It just seems fitting.

Another One of Those Posts

I know, I know, I know. In the last couple of months my posts have all mentioned how tired I've been. How when I get home from work, all I want to do is chill on the couch and veg out. How I haven't felt that great. How I've been a little bit stressed out. All of which is no fun to read.

And because of that, I've been rather distant. I have just "stayed away."

But there's a reason. A pretty good reason. A reason that takes 9 months to "cook." A reason that is a third of the way there.

You've guessed by now, I'm sure. And you are right:

I'm pregnant!

The hubs and I are expecting little nugget #1 in May, and we couldn't be more excited!  And now, I apologize for being so distant. Every post that I have started has ended up with a pregnancy note, and we just weren't ready to share the news until now. Of course, we're not sharing with everyone quite yet. Our families know. Our closest of close friends know. Now, my sort-of-anonymous blog knows. My personal Facebook? The husband's personal Facebook? Still in the dark. And that's how we want it for now...

There are so many things that can go awry. So, so many things. And for us, it is best to keep it a little bit on the quiet side.

Quite frankly, though, I was missin' my blog and itchin' to write!