Thursday 13: Cats, Chickens, Flowers, Freezers, and Work

 It has been insanely busy at work this week, so I wasn’t sure I’d have 13 things for Thursday 13, but I do. 

1.    Part of why work has been so busy is that there have been some changes.  I’m working with some people I haven’t worked with before.  I’m an assistant, so I’m always working with someone else on almost everything I do.  So, I was a little nervous about working with different people. 

When you’re an assistant, the people you assist can be the difference between loving your job or hating your job.

I had a meeting with my boss and one of the people I’ll be working with now, and I think we’ll work well together.  I had a one-on-one meeting with another person I’ll be working with now, and I’m pretty excited about some of the projects I’ll get to work on with them.  I think we’ll work well together. 

The rest of the year is likely to be super busy, but knowing that I’ll work well with at least some of the people is a huge relief. 

2.    Mortimer was not the least bit concerned about my job stress.  Doesn’t he look so relaxed?

3.    The free-range chickens have still been coming over for their snacks. 

4.    The chickens next door arrived in two batches.  The original chickens have been there almost a year and the new chickens have only been there a few months.  The original chickens are the ones who run up to meet me for food.   The new chickens are starting to do that, too.  All of the gray chickens, except the front right one, are the new chickens.  It looks like they’ve caught on that I’m the snack lady. 

5.    The smallest of the new chickens still hangs back some, but I’m determined to win her over. 

6.    Feeding time is always a little bit chaotic in our house.  Most of the cats are on different foods.  ALL of the cats are positive that the other cats get better food, so there’s a lot of trying to eat each other’s food.  Charlie and Howard took it to a new level this week.

I’m not sure if Howard went under Charlie, if Charlie went over Howard, or if it was a joint effort.  I feel like they deserve major points for their efforts to eat each other’s food here. 

7.    We’ve had some slightly cooler weather this week; 70s and 80s, which has been a welcome change, but not cold enough to hurt the plants.  I don’t know what these pink flowers are (GrandDaddy (Nick’s grandfather) gave them to me for Mother’s Day), but I think they’re pretty, and I’m happy they’re still doing well.   

8.    The hydrangea is still doing well. 

9.    The roses aren’t in full bloom anymore, but we still have some roses to enjoy. 

10. The marigold is still doing well.

11. I’ve realized that it’s time to work on getting the freezers at least a little bit cleaned out.  Thanksgiving isn’t that far away, and we’ll need the freezer space for when turkeys go on sale. 

12. Right now, both freezers are pretty jam-packed, and I’m not entirely sure what’s in them. 

13. I thought taking and sharing pictures of them might help hold me accountable and get me to focus on working through what’s in there. 

So, here they are in their horribly unorganized state.  (I promise we don’t actually live entirely on junk food/convenience food; it just seems like those things work their way to the top whenever we dig something else out). 

Hopefully, there will be a future Thursday 13 about the progress I’ve made in cleaning out the freezers.

How has your week been? 

Easy (Lazy) Slow Cooker Chili

This isn’t a made from scratch recipe, but it is delicious.  I’m all in favor of made from scratch recipes, but sometimes the reality is that they’re just not possible. 

Does it seem to you that your obligations, appointments, social engagements, etc. are never spread evenly throughout the month, but instead are all in the same week or three to four day period?  This certainly seems to happen around our house!  Last week was our super busy, this is when everything is happening week.  Some of what we had going on was fun stuff (pumpkin carving!) so I’m definitely not complaining, but it still made for a busy week.

Busy weeks call for fast, easy dinners and this one definitely fits the bill.  My friend Crystal and I carved pumpkins Wednesday night, so I wanted a dinner that wouldn’t require me standing over the stove.  It was also very cold Wednesday, so chili just seemed perfect.  Here’s the recipe:

½ pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 banana pepper, chopped (optional)

1 packet taco seasoning

2/3 cup water

chili powder and cumin to taste

2 jars (24 oz. each) pasta or marinara sauce

2 cans (15.5 oz. each) pinto beans, drained

2 cans (15.5 oz. each) kidney beans, drained

1 can (14.5 oz) tomatoes with jalapenos, drained (any type of canned tomatoes will do, this is just what I had on hand)

1 can (15.5 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup water

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

A few sprinkles of black pepper

¼ - ½ tsp red pepper flakes

Brown ground beef with pepper(s), onion, and chili and powder and cumin to taste.  Add taco seasoning and water.  Simmer for about five minutes.

(Make ahead tip:  do this part the night before, and you can just put everything in the slow cooker in the morning.  Or make a double batch of this and freeze half of it until you’re ready for chili again.)

Place beef mixture and all remaining ingredients in a large slow cooker.  Cover and cook on Low for 4 – 6 hours.

Sometimes we serve this over rice or macaroni noodles, and usually top it with cheese, sour cream, onions, etc.  We opted to forgo the rice or noodles in favor of saving time, but we topped it with cheese, sour cream, chopped onion, and diced avocado.  It was delicious!  This chili re-heats well, so the leftovers are great for lunch the next day.