Monday

Joey worked all day on Saturday so I spent much of the day in the kitchen. The boys had a netflix to watch in the family room next to me. I had soaked several pounds of pinto beans overnight. I had some bacon grease that I sauteed a large onion in before adding the beans and water. I didn't add any other spices so as not to loose the yummy bacon flavor. I cooked several cups of brown rice to have on hand for the week. I also made corn bread with thawed frozen corn. Note to self..... don't do that again. It threw off the consistency. I also made a few dozen chocolate chip cookies. I seem to be having a problem when I bake with baking soda, it's all I can taste. I am going to first buy some new and see if that makes a difference. It was peaceful and the house smelled so good when Daddy finally got home. We had bowls of rice topped with beans, shredded cheese, and sour cream. The corn bread was just okay. Sunday we had tortillas with rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream. I have just started building back up my coupon supply after not getting the newspaper or doing any of the shopping for the past two months while I have been so sick. I was still able to save $108. We made whole wheat english muffin pizzas when we got home. The boys really enjoyed making their own. Joey had mentioned that chili would be good with the pinto beans so on Monday I decided to make some in the crock pot and put it over spaghetti with shredded cheese for dinner. I had left over london broil from Friday night that I ran through the food processor. I started with chopped scallion and the shredded meat in a small amount of oil. I added the beans, diced tomatoes, rotel, cumin, chili powder, nutmeg, and some taco seasoning. It was absolutely delicious. Everyone had two helpings. Matthew sat at the bar and worked on his letters so I could multi-task while Max read a book on Abraham Lincoln. I made a five gallon batch of laundry detergent which should last us a few months. I will make the chili like that again for spaghetti since it went over so well.