Close to Perfect Chicken Chili

Ahhh, it’s fall time again. The time for hot apple cider, pumpkin carving, hay rides, and haunted houses. This is also the time when a good stew on the stove smells (and tastes) just right. I love fall!!

A couple of weeks ago, my family went on a quick little weekend trip to Kelley’s Island. Our home away from home. We love it there! There is a dreamy quiet quality the island brings to our lives. The island itself is very laid back and easy going. That’s why we love it. We get the chance to slow down, enjoy one another, and listen to the water sweep the shores.

On Friday night, since we traveled most of the day, I was not about to cook. So my husband took us to Docker’s for dinner. It’s a little restaurant/bar on the south side of the island, with plenty of dockage for boats (hence the name). We had never ate there before and we are always out to try new places. Since it was starting to get a little chilly out, and we were sitting out on the back deck, I decided on a cup of chicken chili.

Now, mind you, I am a huge chili fan. I love chili.  I could eat chili every day in the fall. There’s just something about it that makes me warm and happy. And of course a little gassy, but that’s another blog post. But I had never had chicken chili. I thought to myself, “well you love chicken, and you love chili, how bad could it be?” Boy was I in for a surprise.

I fell in love. It was absolutely delicious. I wished I had asked for a bowl instead of the cup since I cleaned that cup with my tongue (I’m not joking). It was just the right amount of everything. The perfect amount of chicken. The perfect amount of tomatoes. It. Was. Perfect. And since that night, I have been trying to come up with my version of that perfect chicken chili.

Now let me say this, the recipe below is close to what I had devoured. However, I still have some tweaks to do. And when I do, you betcha I will update all of you. So stay tuned!

Close to Perfect Chicken Chili

3-4 cups of shredded chicken (I bought the rotisserie chicken at Sams Club and shred it that way, so much easier and faster)

1 chopped onion

1 chopped green pepper (optional)

1 can black beans

1 can chili kidney beans

1 16 oz. tomato sauce

1 can chili tomatoes

1 bag frozen corn

1 package taco seasoning

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

To make in a crockpot:

1.       Throw everything in together and cook on LOW for 10 hours or High for 6 hours. Stirring occasionally.

To make on stove:

1.       Throw everything in together, bring to boil, and then turn to low and let simmer for hour. Stir occasionally. 

Hey you! Are you a great role model?

In light of what is being projected by the media lately, I wanted to take a moment and write about who the true role model your child should be looking up to. You.

Hasn't every parent heard from their mini me, “I want to be a (teacher, doctor, football player, singer, actress, etc…) when I grow up!” I am starting to think the tides are changing.

In the news recently, local and national, we have heard stories of a football player punching his fiance so hard that she passes out, a standoff with a school board president who is wanted for sex crimes against children, a doctor who was accused of molesting his patients while under anesthesia, Miley Cyrus who is a bunch of twerk stories rolled into one bundle of hot mess, I can’t keep up with the Kardashians (someone please remind me why they are famous!), and don’t even get me start on the Bieber.

Why are we allowing these people be role models for our up and coming generation? Why are we even placing these kind of stories on the news at night? I personally, would rather hear about the charitable things a football player has done, instead of one being suspended for 1 year for smoking pot. Where is the story about John Cena, the wrestler, working with Kids Wish Network? Did you know he has helped grant the most wishes for the Make-a-Wish Foundation than any other celebrity?  And what about Lebron James? He has donated more than $2.5 million to the Boys and Girls Club of America.

You don’t hear about these things on Sports Center or ESPN. You may (and I use this term loosely) hear about them on the late night news, but they skim over it and don’t give it the time it deserves. Yes, the media wants ratings and right now ratings means giving the public a story of a celebrity’s fall from grace. Basically the media is a bully.

I want my daughter to be raised with a clear definition of what is right and what is wrong. Hitting someone is wrong. Bullying is wrong. Raping someone is wrong. Grinding upon someone else’s husband (public or not) is wrong. Cheating is wrong. Lying is wrong. Blaming others for your mistakes is wrong. Now what is right? Making your dreams come true. Believing in yourself. Being true to yourself. Getting a great education. Praising God. Loving yourself and others.  

I know that everyone has their own opinion, and this just happens to be mine. I am aware that the media wants to portray that celebrities are people too and they make mistakes just like the rest of us. But the difference is, the rest of us don’t have our most private and personal mistakes shown on national news.

So by ending, I want to be my daughter’s role model. I want her to be just like me. I have a college degree, own my own house, own my own car, pay my bills on time, have a full time job that I enjoy, don’t do drugs, don’t fight, I have friends that I consider family, I have a family that I treasure, and I praise God every day for all the blessings in my life. Yeah, I consider myself my child’s role model. I am showing my daughter that hard work, perseverance, and faith in God will make for a better life than being a “celebrity”. I want my daughter to one day say to me, “Mommy, I want to be just like you when I grow up”. But for right now, I will settle for “ookie mama ookie!”. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

For well over two years now I have been making my own laundry detergent. Not only did I find it to be cheaper, but it has been more effective at making my whites white and my clothes cleaner and softer. 

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I wanted to cut corners and save as much money as I could before she was born, and after realizing that I spent so much money on laundry detergent for just 2 people I couldn’t imagine how much laundry I would do with two people and a new baby (holy hell spit up and blow out diapers!) 

So of course, being the money conscience person I am, I sat down and did the math one day. A 150 oz. jug of Tide that did 96 loads costs $17.97. That’s 19 cents a load! After that minor sticker shock, I started researching (Pinterest of course!) for an easy to follow recipe for laundry detergent that was HE compatible since we just bought a front load washer. 

I came across some that had you ordering things from websites and “only can get at such and such specialty store”, and that just wouldn’t work for me. I wanted to be able to walk into my local Wal-Mart and get items readily there on the shelf. So I took a few recipes that I liked and came up with my own. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Items you will need:

Big pot

Grater

2 clean gallon jugs

Funnel

Whisk/Slotted Spoon (your choice)

1 cup measuring cup

A bar of your favorite soap (or a bar of Fels-Naptha)

Borax Detergent Booster

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT BAKING SODA!)

Original Blue Dawn Dish Soap

Directions:

Grate the bar of soap and put into the pot (I usually grate the soap right in the pot)

Fill one gallon jug with warm water and pour over grated soap

Over medium – high heat on your stove, whisk the soap water mixture until grated soap is dissolved

Once the grated soap is gone, mix in 1 cup of Borax and 1 cup of Washing Soda

Stir until dissolved and then turn off heat

Let mixture cool for about 20 minutes

Once cool, stir in ¾ cup of Dawn.

Fill gallon jug with cold water and stir in

Using the funnel pour into your gallon jugs (the bubble will overflow out of the jug).

Directions for use:

Shake Well

Use ½ cup per load

Here is a picture of what my set up look like when I am getting ready to make my detergent.

No this isn't cheese. This is what my grated Dove white bar soap looks like. 

My finished product :)

When I was getting ready to make my first batch, I drove right to Wal-Mart and wouldn’t you know they had Borax, Washing Soda, and Fels-Naptha all right together on the shelf in the laundry detergent aisle. It’s like the Wal-Mart Gods knew I was nervous about scouring the aisles hunting down these items and they felt sorry for me.

However, once I picked up the Fels-Naptha bar I knew that my husband was not going to like the smell. His nose is very finicky and he can’t stand certain smells. So I decided to try his favorite bar soap, Dove White, to see if that would work. And amazingly, it did! He loves the smell and even comments on how good the house smells when I am making a batch. 

Now for the savings. For a bar of the white Dove soap, it was $1. The Borax in a 76 oz. box was $3.97. Arm & Hammer Washing Soda box of 55 oz. was $3.24. And a 38 oz. bottle of blue original Dawn was $3.97. After calculating how much per “whatnot” it tallied down to 5 cents per load! I was ecstatic!

After making a couple of batches it has become repetitious to make and I do not have to have the recipe right next to me each time I make it. It’s become almost second nature; kinda like that grandma that adds a dash of this and a pinch of that and can make any dish with her eyes closed. Well I am almost like that.  

A few times I have added different things to see if it made any difference. One time I added Oxy Clean to be stronger but I didn’t notice a difference.  Another time I changed up the Dawn dish soap for scent factor only. Try what works best for you. I do know there are some “no grating” recipes out there. But for some reason, I just like the fact of another soap being a cleaning power that I continue with grating my Dove soap.

This recipe is not the best recipe, but it’s what works for my family. I enjoy knowing that I don’t have to lug home a huge jug of laundry detergent every few weeks when making my own lasts for months. If you have a recipe for laundry detergent, please share with me. I am always playing around with my recipe and welcome and new ideas.

My next venture is trying a recipe for laundry softener. Wish me luck!

The Beginnings of Mumbo Jumbo

So here goes nothing. My first blog post. I had another blog in the past, but decided I wanted to change directions since my life has changed drastically since that last blog. 

First let me tell you a bit about what this new blog will consist of. I love Pinterest (follow me at kateyburgs) and Etsy so I want to share my own attempts at Pinterest ideas and Etsy findings. I have come up with a few good ideas on my own and have twisted some of the others into something that works best for me. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Making something that works for someone else, work for you? I love to share ideas, recipes, humor stories of my life, and my love of photography (even though I think I suck at it).

So now what about me? Where do I begin? I am a thirty fo…something year old mom to a 2 year old little girl, named Metta and a wonderful and generous husband named, Kristian. And the three of us live in a house on the West side of Cleveland, Ohio with 2 cats, a dog, and of course with some fish thrown in. 

My life is hectic to say the least. Kristian and I both work full time jobs outside the home and we car pool together on our way to work. Which to say the least, sucks big hairy you know what’s when I makes my commute to work more than an hour and a half one way. 

Anywho, I work in the Legal Finance field and my husband is in the Sales/Marketing/Customer Service field. I love my job and for those of you that are stay at home moms, good for you! And I mean that in the truest sense. I tried the stay at home thing for 9 months and I was ready to pull my hair out. Bravo you SAHMs! You’re my heroes!

I have sometimes very sick and dry sense of humor so bear with me. I honestly don’t try to offend anyone, it’s just the way that God made me. He must have given me an extra twist with me when he was done. So if you read something here that you don’t like or if you feel its offensive, please don’t take it to heart. 

Now that you know what this blog will contain, I hope you can relate and want to follow along this mumbo jumbo of words that come spilling out of my fingertips as I click away at the keyboard. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at houseofrosesblog@gmail.com.

You can also follow me on the twatter @houseofroses

Thanks for reading! 

Katey B