Chili, more chili, and cake, oh my!

A couple of nights ago we had a very hastily planned birthday party for The Engineer. (When your birthday is five days after Christmas, parties tend to be "hastily planned.")

I made chili. LOTS and LOTS of chili--two large pots of turkey chili, plus a small pot of vegan chili (no meat, extra beans.) Here it all is, simmering on the stove--with a small, improvised double boiler in the back, melting chocolate for cake frosting. My stove was happy being so well-utilized!



I love this chili recipe, which I got from SnoWhite's blog Finding Joy in my Kitchen. She got it from another blogger, Lucy, who got it from somewhere else.... You know how it goes! I altered it to fit our tastes, and the recipe is at the end of this post. It's chock full of veggies, and uses lean ground turkey instead of beef. It's healthy and absolutely delicious. Here is a photo of the chopped veggies I used--three recipes' worth.



And the finished product...



I also made Oreo Cookie Balls, with Candy Cane Oreos. These are so easy! And somehow people find them impressive, even though the ingredients are anything but fancy.



The cake...mmm. This is my go-to easy chocolate cake recipe now: Too Much Chocolate Cake. I made one recipe as directed, as a bundt cake, sprinkled with powdered sugar.



I made the other as a two-layer round cake, with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.



And as much as I like frosting, I preferred the simple bundt cake. It was rich and delicious. (The Engineer, however, who is not generally a frosting guy, really liked the frosted cake. This frosting is not terribly sweet.)

For recipes, just click on the names of the dishes above. The chili recipe is below. Enjoy!

Turkey Veggie Chili
(Or Vegan Veggie Chili)
Modified from SnoWhite

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (omit if making vegan chili)
  
• Minced garlic (2-3 cloves or 1-1 1/2 teaspoons from jar)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 bell peppers (preferably of different colors)
• Carrots, chopped (2 large or 10 baby-cut)
• 1 zucchini, chopped (unpeeled)
• 1 yellow squash, chopped (unpeeled)
• Diced tomatoes with juices (2 regular cans or 1 large can)
• 2 cans beans (any variety), drained and rinsed (4 cans if making vegan chili)
  
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder (use more or less to taste)
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Grated cheese (such as cheddar or monterey jack), optional (omit if making vegan chili)
  
• Corn chips (such as Fritos), optional
  

Instructions:
1. Brown ground turkey with garlic in large stockpot. Drain if necessary. (Skip this step if making vegan chili, but put garlic in with the rest of the ingredients in the next step.)
2. Add remaining ingredients. Stir.
3. Cook on medium low until vegetables are soft. (Higher temperature is okay if you're in a hurry.) Simmer on low a few hours if you have the time. Stir occasionally.
4. Serve topped (if desired) with corn chips and/or cheese.

Trophy wife

When I started dating The Engineer, I was 21. I was surprised to find out he was 29. An older man! We got married a year later, and we both jokingly said I was his "trophy wife." I'd say, "When you're 40 and I'm 32, you're going to look so cool."

Well, somehow that day came a lot quicker than I realized it would. Today The Engineer is turning 40 years old. Of course, now the eight year age difference seems much smaller than it did then. I don't feel like a trophy wife--instead, I feel like an equal partner. The mother of his children. The love of his life. Glad to be married to the love of my life.

Happy Birthday, my Engineer. When you're 80 and I'm 72, you're going to look so cool.

Yep, that's funny

I'm at the end of a very busy day, as I write this on Monday night. So instead of trying to convince my brain to come up with something brilliant, I'm linking you to an absolutely hilarious article:

Yahoo Answers' Dumbest Questions