An Alabama Girl And A Cleveland Chili Cook Off

Well today I participated in my first ever Cook Off. Sure I’ve attended many a cook off at state fairs etc. And I have even thought about entering myself in to a few of them…especially a bake off…..I make some mean baked goods! But this was my first time to ever actually participate in one!

The recipe I used wasn’t just any recipe I pulled offline. Although I must say Pinterest has given me some of my favorite recipes and cleaning tricks!

No this was my mom’s Chili recipe. Now my mom might be a bit of a goof ball….but this great woman does not mess around when she is in the kitchen! She’s gets down to business!

So wouldn’t you know that when I used her recipe…..I tied for FIRST PLACE at the Chili Cook Off! And I will have you know I was competing against 15 others! So what happens when an Alabama girl enters a Cleveland Chili Cook Off? She wins haha!

Now that I’m done gloating I guess I should share the recipe right:)

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Cup Onion

1 Can Chili Magic

1 Can Diced Tomatoes (Undrained)

1 Can Rotel

1 Can Ranch Style Beans (Rinsed)

(Or if you’re up north, and they don’t have ranch style beans….chili beans will do just fine) (If it weren’t for Walmart-I wouldn’t have found the Chili Magic either!)

Instructions:

Brown the Ground Beef with the Onion. Once the meat is brown, add in all the other ingredients. Let simmer for about 45 minutes.

And there you go! Delicious and Simple! Let me know if you try out the recipe….or if you have some secret chili ingredients you love!

Teachin', Trick or Treatin', and Truckin' On

We got our 2nd dose of snow this week. However, I do believe the fun is just beginning. I am trying to embrace it by singing fun holiday songs, but in the back of my mind as I travel to work I know this amount of snow would shut Alabama down for a whole week!

My job is still going really well! Thanks for all your prayers out there-the Lord has blessed me with a great job and a wonderful company to work for.

Sorry for my lack of blogging since the start of my new job....shew the tub is lucky if it gets cleaned during the week let alone me sitting down to gather my thoughts. But I do so desire to keep everyone updated and share what's going on.

I actually got the opportunity to go in to one of the local Cleveland schools this past Thursday. The opportunity came through my job believe it or not! I was able to teach a class of 1st graders about different topics including family, neighborhoods, and the value of a degree. It was great to hear some of the kiddos tell me that God made their family and that God has the power to do anything. This school was not religious in the least. Nor was I allowed to make such statements. But I sure did a lot of head nodding as they declared such sweet truths. May these kiddos never doubt that they were created by God and that our God is powerful!

Please pray this would just be the beginning of opportunities like that.

Tony and I also had the opportunity on Halloween to meet some of our neighbors. We dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Waldo as you can see below! We had 16 bags of candy, 7 batches of popcorn, a bowl of doughnuts, and spiced tea for the adults-but we were still looking in the pantry for candy before it was all said and done. Such a great opportunity to see some of our neighbors.

Tony and I are finally getting in to a normal routine of doing life in Cleveland. Now that we're settled the next step is trying to find ways to engage people. We want to engage unbelieving people to share the good new with them and we want to engage believers to come along side us in our mission. We need your prayers friends for the Lord to guide our steps and start a great work in people's hearts.

We have several other events coming up such as a Game Day at the park this Saturday and a chili cook off our development corporation is sponsoring the following Saturday. We covet your prayers our friends and we will keep you updated!