A New Way

And now that I know this (if it's on the Internet, it has to be true, right? ;), things are going to change!

I'm going to work more on getting things done than on wasting so much time on getting them done perfect. 

You know when you read a blog, and they show their house and you wonder how they ever get everything so perfect?!  I'm not even going to worry about making my house as neat, orderly and pristine.  I would like things to have a place and get rid of some junk and I'll be happier!

I'm thinking of doing the 40 day / 40 bag challenge, but only different.  Like, maybe 30 days and 30 bags.  Maybe not even 30 days, maybe like 60 days.  Afterall, I do have other things to do. You know...like cook, do laundry, work, etc.

My usual mode of cleaning out, is that I have one bag left out that I fill as I go along, and after it's filled, I put it in my vehicle.  Once the back of my vehicle is full, then I go and donate it all.

This works great.

Only, I still haven't gotten everything done that I'd like to get accomplished.  So, my thought is that if I try to get more done in a quicker amount of time, then I'll have a greater sense of just getting done and I can move on.

Not everything I have is necessarily going to be donated, but a lot of it will be sold, also. Because of my stores, both online and b&m,  I have tons of items that are still waiting to be photographed and listed.  This is right now, probably the largest of my items. 

So, here and there I am going to make a greater effort to go through, get rid of, thin out, donate and list.  Ha, I almost said 'make room'....but wouldn't that defeat my purpose?  Because if  say that, it makes it sound like I want to make space for more!  And, I don't want to do that. 

Anyone with me on this? 

Anyone else want to clean out some stuff? 

Let's get going! Ü



Wendy's Copy Cat Chili and Canning

PRESTO

This year, I decided to treat myself to a new canner. I got a Presto 23 qt. canner and love it!

We have a few freezers and I have been wanting to can enough meat in them to downsize by 1 of the freezers.  What I've been doing is canning just some plain meat, and then some meals also!

Do you can?

Don't you love opening a jar and you already have something either made or partially prepared!?

Today I pressure cooked Chili!

We love chili!

Now, usually I have my own recipe that I always have made and it's really delicious.  I also add macaroni noodles to it, and after it's in the bowl, a bit of shredded cheese is sprinkled on the top.  Yum!!

This time, I tried a recipe I found online.  It's a knock-off (copy cat version) of Wendy's Chili!  Their chili is so good, that I knew I had to try this!  There isn't a Wendy's here, so I don't get to go there that often, but when I do, their chili is a definite must have!

If I can have a batch of soup at home that tastes very similar, I want it!

Here is a photo of it made:

 Here is the recipe I used:

5 lb. hamburger
2 C. onion ~ chopped
2 green peppers ~ chopped
4 stalks celery ~ chopped
2 Tbsp. minced garlc
2 Cans Ranch beans (15 oz)
2 Cans red kidney beans (15 oz) ~ drained
2 Cans Rotel (10 oz)
2 Cans stewed tomatoes (15 oz) ~ chopped
4 Cans tomato sauce (15 oz)
2 pkgs McCormick mild chili pkgs (1.25 oz)

Now, first I must say that the original recipe calls for 7 green peppers.  To me, that is just too much.  We like green peppers, but not that much!  So, I simply adjusted this amount to our personal taste.  That's the great thing about recipes...you can do that!

Now, onto cooking.

Fry the hamburger, drain.  I rinse my hamburger with water, getting rid of even more of the fat than simply draining.  When canning, I like to have as little fat as possible. 

Add rest of ingredients.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it cook until veges are softened.  I let mine simmer for 2 hours on a low simmer.  I put my into 2 large crock pots for this part.

Next, I put into my prepared jars and canned them!  I won't get into the canning part, as there are so many wonderful sites on how to do this.  For my area, I will say that I can them at 10 lbs. for 90 min.

Here's what I ended up with:

 7 quarts of wonderful Chili!! 

These are going to be great either as a bowl of chili, poured over french fries with some cheese on top, or on hotdogs!!