A Soup and Chili Weekend

We had a great weekend! Josh had yesterday off, so we had a nice three-day weekend to enjoy :) We didn't go out a whole lot, but we enjoyed a walk in the woods each day, some yummy food, and lots of laughs together!

Our weekend kicked off with dinner at Qdoba with Mary Jo, Mark, and James. I think Josh and I both could eat Qdoba every day of our lives! It was really yummy :)

On Saturday, the Shapiros came over for dinner. Katherine and I LOVE our weekly playdates for the boys, but we really enjoy the rare occasion we can hang out as families. I made Pizza Macaroni Bake for dinner with Pumpkin Brownies for dessert. Seemed like a good fall meal :)

.

Liam, Jackson, and Colin: All dressed in stripes :)

Jackson handled the time change on Sunday morning pretty well. He didn't wake up TOO early, and was in a pretty good mood all day.

Josh and I made our first batch of potato soup for the season. This is one of our favorite fall and winter staples. It was really yummy, and we had Red Lobster Cheesey Biscuits to go with it

(Jackson is smelling the beautiful flowers Katherine brought me on Saturday night!)

On Monday, Jackson hung out with Josh while I ran to a quick doctor's appointment. In the afternoon, I took Jackson with me to Giant to pick up a few last minute things for dinner. Since I only needed a few things, I let Jackson push one of the mini-carts! It was SO cute! It is a little toddler-sized green shopping cart with a pole and flag labeling him as a Customer in Training. He LOVED pushing his cart around. Whenever I gave him something to put in his cart, he grabbed it, grinned up at me, said, "Tank oooo," and happily dumped it in the cart. There was quite a meltdown when we had to return the cart, but it was well worth it ;)

After we got back from the store, Jackson helped Daddy get started on the chili we were making for dinner.

Emptying the beans into the pot.

Opening the next can.

In go more beans!

Stir, stir, stir!

We also had Southern Biscuits to go with our yummy chili!

I thought it would be fun to include our recipes for Potato Soup and Chili since they are two of our favorites!

Potato Soup

3 stalks of celery--chopped

1/2 of an onion--chopped

7-8 potatoes--peeled and cubed

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup of evaporated milk (or other milk of your choice--just don't make the mistake of using sweetened condensed milk--trust us ;))

3-5T flour

salt

1. Put potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.

2. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until they are fork tender. Add celery and onion after a few minutes.

3: Stir in butter and milk. Lower heat to medium high.

4. In a separate bowl, quickly whisk together flour and water (we usually start with about 3T of flour and just a little water--you can always add more water!) Once this mixture is smooth, slowly pour into the pot while stirring.

5. Lower heat to medium low and stir occasionally.

6. Add salt to taste.

7. We like to top our potato soup with oyster crackers and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Some of us also like to add chopped green onion...

Chili

2 cans of black beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of corn

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 packet of chili mix

1 lb of ground turkey/beef

1. Open all of the cans and add to a large pot.

2. Cook ground turkey/beef in a large pan.

3. Once the meet is finished cooking, add the chili mix. Once the mix is in, fill up the packet with water, and stir that in as well.

4. Let pan get to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and stir until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

5. Add meat to pot and turn heat to medium high.

6. Stir occasionally while the chili heats up.

7. We like to top our chili with oyster crackers and sharp cheddar cheese (do you see a pattern?).

For more Things I Love Thursday, visit The Diaper Diaries!