Sandye ~ I'm gonna paint the bedroom, perhaps tomorrow. But I have Canaan's room to do as well...so I'm still good for our challenge.

Okay here it is:

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and adjusted it because I wanted a low fat chili and I like mine super spicy. First I'll post mine and then I'll post the original k? These recipes make 4 servings.

Sandye's Version of 'My Chili'

1/2 Onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced (I probably actually added way more than this--we're garlic freaks over here )
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 package of chili seasoning (and extra garlic, onion, oregano and chili powder to taste--I didn't measure, just kept adding until my eyes started to water a bit )
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 14.5 oz cans stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 15 oz can of kidney beans
1 15 oz can of navy beans
1 15 oz can of light red kidney beans
(might have added 4 cans of beans...I can't remember. I DRAINED and rinsed all the beans too to get rid of the extra sodium)

Combine onion and garlic in large pot, cook and stir over medium heat.

Stir in all spices, tomatoes and tomato sauce, break up tomatoes while stirring. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.

Stir in beans, simmer uncovered for 20 min, stirring occasionally.

Truth be told, I don't know if this is my exact recipe--I can't find where I put it and I'm irked because I had figured the nutritional info on it too! Grrr...The first time I made this I added the beans right off the bat and didn't notice a difference.

Now, here's the original recipe--it calls for ground beef:

My Chili (from Allrecipes)

1 pound of ground beef
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
2 14.5 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 15 oz can of kidney beans with liquid

Combine ground beef, onion and garlic in large pot. Cook and stir over medium heat until beef is browned. Drain.

Stir in chili powder, salt, oregano, tomatoes and tomato sauce; break up tomatoes while stirring. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally for 1 hour.

Stir in beans, simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes--stir occasionally.

Delphi~ sounds good!!! I figured once the boys were back in school I could start cleaning up the girls' room and then start priming--ugh...it's going to take a lot of primer to cover up this crazy blue!!!

Happy Monday everyone!
Maybe I'll bring my laptop next time I have a weekend away. There is so much catching up to do! (There's a lot to be said for being unplugged though too.)
I had a strong weekend in spite of my friend's birthday party and then going out of town. I can't wait to weigh myself tomorrow morning.
I also had a good talk with my boyfriend this weekend about wanting to lose weight. He loves me just the way I am (which is great!) but he says he will help me with whatever I want to do. He's such a great guy.
I'll come back later to respond to specific entries on the thread. Looks like some good things happened this weekend.

mmmm chili...Sandye, have you tried your recipe with turkey? I have some frozen ground turkey at home and I'm trying to find some new recipes. I have never tried turkey chili before.

JeanneP~ yay for a strong weekend!!!! Glad you had fun and it sounds like you have a great guy too!

shasha~ ya know, I don't typically buy ground turkey because it has the same fat content as extra lean ground beef and hubby prefers ground beef. I'm sure it would taste fantastic though! I think once you add a ton of spices, you won't notice a taste difference in the meat. Well, unless you're talking about stew meat (which hubby really prefers in his chili--which he hasn't had in eons because I'm the one cooking and I want low fat! ), but between ground beef/turkey--I bet no one would be able to tell.

Okay girls, now I really need to get off of this thing! But before I go, since we're talking recipes...

Anyone got any idea what to do with tofu?! I bought some (firm) and I'm determined to make something with it, but I haven't got a clue as to what!!

Have a great afternoon ladies! I'll be back tonight to catch up! Be good!!

jeannep ~ Yeah, it's hard to keep up sometimes, even if you do check in daily. We are a chatty bunch. Good to hear your boyfriend is supportive, that will be really helpful...he sounds like a great guy.

Sandye ~ Sounds good love, you just let me know..k? Oh.....MY.......GOSH.....did you say Tofu?

I have some tofu at home that I need to use soon. My boyfriend has made it for me before and what he does is stirfry it up with some veggies. I think he used an Asian low sodium marinade you can get in the store. Once the veggies are cooked, he serves it over brown rice. Its really good!

Oh gosh, not you to shasha. What is up with all this goat cheese and tofu?!?!? I guess, living in the south here, I'm just used to meat and potatoes I guess...and loads of fried foods and ice tea.

OK..I'm joining the August Challenge.. I want to be out of the 180's by the end of August.

As for Tofu... Mash is up, add one eggwhite, put in a fry pan and make it like scrambled eggs.. add some onions, peppers, **Goat cheese** couldn't resist!!lol, I add salsa and some grated cheddar.. and you've got a healthy version of Scrambled eggs. You can even do it without the eggwhite.

LOL. I actually rarely eat the stuff. I bought it a few weeks ago because it was only $.89 for like a good sized block. Ahhh bargin shopping.

Delphi~ hahaha! I know! I hardly recognize myself anymore! Veggies and tofu and goat cheese?!?! OH MY!!! But hey, if I'm going to tell everyone I'm making lifestyle changes--I really need to make some CHANGES!!! And believe me, I never at wild stuff when I was a kid--ask my mom, she'll tell you it's true! So for me to be eating veggies and even buying tofu--well, it's completely crazy!

Shasha~ thanks hun! That does sound yummy! The only time I've ever eaten tofu is at a Chinese food place when they bring out soup--there's always little chunks of it in there and I've always liked it so I figured, 'what the heck, might as well try it right?'. LOL about buying it because it was on sale--mine was 2 for $4 and I thought I was getting a good deal! So much for my bargain hunting skills!

Hotsplashes~ and thanks for the tofu tip! You're gunna fit right in here girlie--already crackin' the goat cheese jokes! We have a fantastic bunch of ladies here and we're a chatty bunch so just jump right in! Good luck on your August Goals!!!

Well, the backpacks are packed!!! (minus the flim-flarnin' post its of course) and new shoes are sitting by the door, name tag all filled out for the youngest boy...*sniff*...he's getting so big! My oldest is dreading tomorrow and my youngest is crazy excited! Yay! I'm so glad he's not dreading it too! It really helped that we met his teacher the other day, she was really nice.

Okay, well I completely missed my afternoon snack and I need to get it in pronto otherwise I'm going to be trying to harf down over 700 calories before bed! ACK!!!

Thanks again for the tofu tips girls! Keep 'em comin' if you got 'em!

Until later, be good and smile!!!!

crazymamaof4 I tried tofu once that I made myself and it was yucky!!! Gotta find some good recipes that are easy...not loving cooking.

I use to be an ingredinet tech and we had to taste test lots of food and had to try the tofu... Thought I was going to die.... I just couldn't get past the texture of it LOL

Well ladies I decided on Turkey meatloaf for dinner but when I went to the grocery store they had no ground turkey so I got some lean grnd beef and ground chicken... Can anyone tell me if the calorie count for ground chicken is lower than turkey??? They also had ground pork there, I haven't ever used that.. I am trying to learn how to cook with other cuts of meat and not just the typical ground beef if I want a casserole or something..

Sandye thanks for the chili recipe I will be using that really soon, my Dh loves chili.

After dinner check in
I'm not wild about tofu either. Whenever I've used tofu it was in stir fry