Nothing makes me happier than soup and chili in the fall. Or any time of the year really. You will find me with tomato soup in the middle of August. True story. So last week in our meal planning, we decided to make chili. We had gone to Publix to pick up our items and were on our merry way. Unfortunately, when it came time to make my chili, I realized that our cashier had left out 2 cans of kidney beans that we purchased. Drat!!! I checked my receipt and we had in fact paid for them and they were in none of my bags! (Or on the floor of my Rogue, because I looked there too!)

I was a sad panda. Now what were we to eat? Well, I had some pinto beans just chillin in the pantry, and I had managed to make it out of Publi with one of the three cans of kidney beans. I had most of the other items to make some chili since we had just been to the store. The chili recipe I had was to be made in the crock pot, I have made it several times before. I have never made regular chili on the stove, so I figured I might just throw some stuff together, no recipe, and hope for the best. (Insert evil laugh here.) Scary, right? This actually turned out to be better than my original recipe. Chris even commented on how good it was, so I know the recipe is a keeper! Luckily I wrote down what I did as I went so that if we liked it I would remember!

What you need:

1 lb of extra lean ground beef (I had a little over a lb)

1 can of reduced sodium kidney beans (drained)

1 can of reduced sodium pinto beans (drained)

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of minced garlic

2 cups of tomato sauce (you could probably just use a 16 ounce can if that is what you have, I had a carton)

1/2 cup of reduced sodium fat free chicken broth

1/2 cup water

2 cans tomatoes (I think I used petite diced)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of sugar

Toppings: Sour cream, 4 state cheddar cheese, banana peppers

Here it is simmering on the stove! It smelled wonderful. I was all GET IN MY BELLY!

What you do:

Brown the ground beef in a large stock pot.

Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Recipe note: I like my chili more soup like than stew like. If you want yours thicker, I would suggest not adding the water and maybe even leaving out the chicken broth. I had the perfect consistency for me, very soupy.

What is your favorite thing to consume in the cooler months?

Linking up with Ashley, Jessica, and Heather.

Well hey there an hour later than usual! I hate to spring forward, but I love to fall back! What did you do with your extra hour this weekend? I might have used mine to sleep. Don’t judge.

Friday – Friday evening we stayed in and had some left over baked ziti that we had from the night before. We stayed up until midnight binge watching The Lying Games. Has anyone seen that show? It is already over and only lasted two seasons, but seriously good. Chris also gave me my anniversary present early because he got his over a month ago and thought I might want mine early too. I was so excited!

Saturday – I started the morning with the weekly cleaning and laundry. I had done some of the laundry on Friday night since we stayed in, so I was already ahead. Score! We then got ready for the day and headed out to The Summit to go have my watch sized. I have the wrist size of a child, which tells me I should probably be way smaller than I am. That is neither here nor there. Anyways, The Summit was PACKED! I had to look at my phone to make sure time hadn’t gotten away from me and it wasn’t black Friday. Like seriously, what are all these people doing out? We finally found a parking spot after driving around no less than 3 times. Ridiculous. The girl that we like to deal with was working and was able to size it right away. I took a peak at all their arm candy while I was there, they have SOOOO many cute bracelets right now that would look perfect paired with my watch. However, I am not spending $85-$125 on each of them when they aren’t real. Splurge on the watches, yes. They at least have real gold plating, but not the bracelets. I am certain I kind find some that are just as cute at Private Gallery or some other boutiques around here for way less.

Anyways, after we got my watch sized we headed over to Blackwell’s for lunch. Yum. Then we went to my sister in laws house to watch some football games. Glad to see that Georgia pulled it out over Florida! Gator hater right here. We hung around there for awhile and then went to see Chris’s parents for a little while too. Great day.

We stopped by the store on our way home and picked up some items to make a big breakfast Sunday morning. Haven’t done that in awhile.

Sunday – We enjoyed our breakfast while watching more Lying Games. Then we meal planned and I headed out to Target to try and beat the Sunday after church crowd. I may have gotten a little later start than I realized because the place was crazy! I got our grocery shopping done, and was gone longer than I would have liked but at least it was done! I headed back home where we proceeded to spend the rest of the evening watching more Lying Games.

Speaking of TV shows, anyone watching the new show Reign? I heard a premier for an episode on the radio the other day and it sounded pretty good. Just wondering if anyone is watching. Apparently I like high school shows, Pretty Little Liars, Vampire Diaries, The Lying Games. Reign is on the CW so I would probably like it too, haha!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Enjoy reading all the Facebook daily thanks statuses for the rest of the month. Maybe we should try being thankful for things more than just November of each year?  At any rate I would much rather read what people are thankful for than their petty drama that is usually plastered all over my news feed. For that, I am thankful!

Well good morning and hello November!!! There is so much about November that I love, so let’s look at the top 5 things for me!

1. Our anniversary. Chris and I got married November 10, 2012. This year we will celebrate our first wedding anniversary, and (hopefully) a start for many many more to come! I cant believe it has been a year already, and at the same time it has only been a year. Crazy!

2. Thanksgiving (duh) It is a holiday about food, and I love food! Plus I love spending time with our family and being lazy all day. It is pretty awesome. Give me all the pie. And casseroles. And turkey. YUM!

3. Black Friday – My mom and I count down to Black Friday for as long as I can remember. There is something about the day that gets me all warm and fuzzy. The last two years my mom and I started out Thursday night and shopped well into the afternoon on Friday. Yes, we are those people. You wont find me running someone down with my car, or starting a fight in line. We enjoy watching the crazies and getting good deals on stuff. Plus, it is something we do together every single year. I love spending that time with my mom and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I don’t care if I didn’t buy one thing, it is about going and doing!

My mom’s car last year when we were done!

4. Christmas catalogs start coming. We received our first two this week on the same day and I was so excited. Yes I know there is the internet, but there is something special about holding the catalog. The glossy pages. Call me nostalgic. We used to circle the things that we liked when we were little. We used to get so excited to see the big toy catalog from Toys R Us. Any PA people out there remember Hills? Hills is where the toys are.

5. November swag. Swag? I don’t know what to call it. You know what I am talking about…the essence that is November. The crisp fall air, the changing and falling leaves, the intense sunsets, the spirit that most people are in as we draw closer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love every thing about November!!!

Look at the leaves!

What is your favorite thing about November?

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! We are supposed to have gorgeous weather here in Alabama after the rain clears out, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Go link up with Joy for the Friday Five!

Well hey there. While everyone is all Happy Halloween, I am over here like “Get out of the way Halloween! I got Thanksgiving and Christmas coming!!!!” So maybe tonight I might pop some hot air popcorn and enjoy  Hocus Pocus (duh)….but you better believe I am secretly wishing it was Elf instead! I love the month of October because it is the first full month of fall, but I gotta tell you, I am not sad to see November coming at us full force! I don’t like scary  movies, or haunted houses, or parents dragging their kids to my door to try and steal my candy, so actual Halloween day isn’t my favorite. My poor dogs are going to go CRAZY tonight barking at the goblins..err… kids walking around our neighborhood. Nothing gets past Mac!

Here is a list of my top 5 favorite things from this past month:

1. The Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salted Carmel Frappuccino

2. Fall colored Reese cups

3. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chip Cookies (I must find one more package before they go away)

4. The leaves changing colors

5. The nice mild temps we have been experiencing here in the south

I hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween! Enjoy taking your kids trick or treating, dressing like a slut and partying it up…or sitting at home with the lights off like us!

All you moms out there, I know this will be you!

Just remember…

or play Quidditch!

I completed the Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 three weeks ago. I worked out Monday-Friday for a month following levels 1-4. each level per week. I enjoyed that there are 4 levels to the DVD and after just one week you can move on. The one thing I didn’t like about the 30 Day Shred was that it was 10 days of the same work out over and over again. It got a little boring after day 5 or 6. I also liked that there were a lot of new moves, and some were much more difficult than others as the weeks advanced.

I didn’t like all of the jumping. I have really bad knees and I found some of the jumping moves were just too hard on my knees. Plus, I work out at 4:30 am in our living room, which shares a wall with our master bedroom. I try not to be too loud while my husband is sleeping. It is hard to be quiet when all the cardio moves involve jumping. I found myself modifying what I was doing for cardio a lot. I would run in place, do jumping jacks or jump rope instead of some of the other jumping moves to give my knees a break.

Overall, I think the DVD provided a great work out. Am I ripped? No. While I didn’t see any results on the scale, in fact, I have gained 4 lbs over the last month…I do notice that my abs are more defined and the muscles in my arms have gotten to be pretty awesome. Perhaps the 4 lbs gain was muscle? My honest opinion, it was a great work out and I will probably rotate it back in at some point, but I like the 30 Day Shred better. I had better results and it wasn’t as harsh on my knees. I liked the girls in Ripped better than the girls in 30DS. Well, I didn’t mind Anita in the 30 Day Shred, but Natalie cheated a lot and didn’t do the advance moves all the time when Jillian wasn’t watching her.

I have started the 30 Day Shred again. I am on my first week of level two already.  I will let you know how my second run at it goes. I completed it the first time from mid-July to mid-August of this year. I want to try out Jillian’s 6 week abs program, but I want to wait until after the holidays to give it a fair go. I know I will eat my weight in casseroles and pies on Thanksgiving and that I wont refuse sugar cookies or Peppermint Mochas at Christmas, so I will probably start the 6 weeks abs in January after we come back from Gatlinburg and are eating super clean and I can really hone in on those ab muscles. I can finally say ab muscles again because I can clearly see where they are coming back and I am so excited! I gotta keep it up and chisel some more. I also am planning on trying the Advocare cleanse after the holidays as well. I have read soooooo many great blog results on the cleanse to not give it a try! It sounds safe and works for a lot of people. It isn’t too drastic, I think it will be perfect. (Minus the whole not having caffeine for 10 days. Yikes)

I have been working out nearly every weekday day since July of this year. It has become a habit that I have missed of my younger fitter self. I try to eat healthy 75% of the time, with weekends being a real test. Especially during football season, am I right? I wont completely deprive myself, as I feel you gotta live and enjoy a little. I want to be able to have a beer or two on the weekends or a cookie or chips and salsa now and then without feeling completely guilty for it. It is all about a maintainable lifestyle not just a diet. Diets have an ending.

Are you doing any fitness programs right now? Tell me about them. I am always looking to try something new!

Linking up with Skinny Meg for WOW and Heather, Bailey and Ash for Weigh In Wednesday.