Best Chili Around...


We can now officially say that our Bold and Spicy Buffalo Chili is the BEST...at least at the ward chili cook off. We thought it was good, but we were totally surprised when we took the Best All Around Chili Award! There were about 25 awesome entries (we especially liked a great white chili with turkey - yum!). There were 4 award categories...heartiest, spiciest, most unique and best all around. We won a yummy pumpkin loaf with caramel to drizzle over it (see pic above) Here is our award-winning recipe...I still can't believe we won!

Bold and Spicy Buffalo Chili

Ingredients
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 4 15oz cans chopped tomatoes (drained)
• 4 15oz cans dark red kidney beans (drained)
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
• 3 Tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 3 Tablespoons parsley
• 2 Tablespoons oregano
• 1 Tablespoon sea salt (or to taste)
• 2 Teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Chipotle chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon Ancho chili powder
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 whole red habenero (de-veined, seeded and diced)
• 5 jalapeños (de-veined, seeded and diced)
• 1 pound bottom round steak ½” cubed (easier to cube if slightly frozen)
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground buffalo
• 8 oz beef stock

Directions
Sauté the onion, garlic, jalapenos and habanero in a small amount of olive oil until the onions are translucent. Meanwhile place the tomato paste, tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, garlic powder, cumin, parsley, oregano, salt, black pepper, Chipotle chili powder, Ancho chili powder, and beef stock in a large crock pot. Add the onion, garlic and pepper mixture to the crock pot. Brown the cubed steak, ground buffalo and ground beef in a large skillet. Drain the meat. Add the browned beef and buffalo mixture to the crock pot. Mix thoroughly. Slow cook in the crock pot all day. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream and chopped green onions.

Wish us luck!

We are entering our Bold and Spicy Buffalo Chili into our ward's Chili Cook-off tonight...we'll let you know if it's award-winning. ;-) The best part was inventing it...Brian's idea was to use buffalo meat while I cooked up the spice combination. We have so much fun inventing recipes together. Brian is so great at making suggestions and thinking out of the box. Here's a pic of our entry!

It's been almost exactly one week since we have returned from evacuating. Things are almost back to normal. Believe it or not, our return from evacuating took longer than evacuating. The majority of last Friday was spent driving around the Dallas area looking for gas cans (six stores later, we finally came up with 4 two-gallon cans)...we then secured a large Coleman cooler to bring back staple items such as milk and eggs. The reports from our neighbors told us that gas was still scarce and that most of the grocery stores still weren't open (the ones that were open were swamped). We found places to fill up along the way home so that we had a full tank when we arrived in Houston around 9:30 PM.

We didn't know what to expect. We were shocked at the amount of damage had been done even on the north side of town. As we drove through our neighborhood (realize that we live an hour from the coast) we saw 8 foot piles of debris, roofs with tarps over them, 30 year old trees cut down to the stumps and piles of ruined carpet on almost every corner. When we arrived home, we carefully went over the interior and exterior (with a flashlight)...and...nothing. Our house was in perfect condition. We didn't even lose a shingle. We have been so blessed. All the houses behind us have major shingle damage and their roofs leaked down into their homes, ruining sheet rock and carpet. Our fence didn't budge either. I know without a shadow of doubt that Heavenly Father was looking out for us that day. I cannot put to words how much gratitude I feel.

The next day, Brian went back to work at 6 AM. I was able to go to our local Petsmart to donate some dog food to the Humane Society - that is where we adopted Jack-Jack. They have so many animals in need (our Humane Society rescued over 600 animals that had been abandoned during Ike in our county alone.) As I was driving home, I took the opportunity to take some pictures around our neighborhood.

Fences Down...and major shingle damage which let the rain inside.

Fences down at a neighbor's home.

Roof and carpet damage right down the street.

Ward members on our street...they lost their beautiful Chinese Elm, but it didn't fall on their home...what a blessing.

Our street - minimal damage compared to the rest.

Our home...ten large yard bags of sticks, pine needles and leaves...minor cleanup.

The extent of our damage...one $20 package of black shingles to replace those that were chewed up by our large elm branch that banged on them repeatedly during the storm. We are so grateful!

We spent Monday and Tuesday returning our yard to its pre-Ike state. I planted some cheerful yellow mums to help encourage autumn to make its way down to Texas. I am so impressed with the blessings that Heavenly Father poured out upon us in the midst of this natural disaster. Out ward really pulled together and was able to account for and take care of every member who had a need within the first 48 hours. We have spent the last week providing meals, laundry facilities and company to those members still without power. Everyone is safe. We have been able to reach out in fellowship to neighbors and in return have gained new friends. I have seen so many people pull together in the spirit of service during this time. Heavenly Father has blessed Brian and me with the opportunity to serve our brothers and sisters as well. I see the extent of his love in the many helping hands that have been extended...this is an amazing blessing.

Take a hike...Ike!

So far so good...I am sitting in the club room at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Dallas as I type. Hurricane Ike hit Houston with a vengeance. We were able to evacuate with very little problems. Brian had to stay at work until 3 PM on Thursday. I spent the morning packing all our important documents, clothing and necessities. When Brian arrived home, we quickly pulled in everything off our patio and packed the car - we were on our way by 4:30.

Thanks to the GPS (a big thanks to Bri's mom!) we were able to take the back roads out of Houston and then up through Brenham (the home of Bluebell ice cream!) and Waco...we didn't really see a lot of traffic and we got to go 70 most of the time. It took us about 8 hours (normally a 4 hour drive). It would have taken much longer if we would have stayed on I-45 - it was jam packed. Brian was fielding calls the entire time - it was one crisis after another at work.

Jack did really well on the 8 hour drive. He either slept in his crate in the back seat or he sat on Brian's lap with his head hanging out the window doing his best bat-dog impression. He started whining the last 30 minutes on the road and Brian pacified him by slathering the front bars of his crate with peanut butter...the continuous licking noises from the back seat kept us smiling during this stressful time. The Crowne Plaza usually doesn't take dogs, but they made an exception since we were evacuating - thank goodness they did, as we were in the midst of evacuating when I called to confirm (Brian's company had originally booked us in the dog-friendly Candlewood Suites, but they changed the reservations at the last minute). By the time we checked in to the hotel, we were both cranky and exhausted - we crashed by 2:30 AM, only to be awakened at 6:30 AM. Brian had to go back into work after only 4 hours of sleep...yuck!!! We did a lot of praying that morning - asking Heavenly Father to help Brian get through the day. I drove Brian to work and then came back to the hotel and crashed for a couple of hours.

Funny side-note: I found out later that I had dropped Brian off at the wrong site (we had the wrong address). Brian spent 20 minutes walking around (lugging 3 laptops and a work bag), before someone picked him up and drove him down to the other company building a half mile away. Brian said that it was a blessing in disguise - he was pretty awake after the vigorous exercise. He said that it really helped him get through the day.

I spent most of the day with my family who are staying about 15 minutes away. My grandfather is doing much better - he collapsed in the hotel lobby on Thursday when they arrived. The EMTs thought he was suffering from a heart attack or stroke, but it turned out that it was just exhaustion and stress fatique. Once they got him some food and his medication, he was fine. I am so relieved! That was scary. Brian and I said some fervent prayers when we first found out (we were still evacuating at the time). When we found out that Papa was ok, Brian said..."well, you did ask Heavenly Father for a speedy recovery...he definitely delivers!" I am so grateful everything worked out.

I have spoken with a couple of friends this morning and they are all doing well...they said that they weathered the storm...our friends who live near by watched their fence blow away this morning and some of our other friends that live in our neighborhood got some shingles blown off their roof and leakage. Our friends drove by our home a few minutes ago and they said it looks fine from the front, just some small tree branches down...and no shingles blown off that they could see. We don't know about the back of our home yet...the important things are safe - our family and friends...so I am content. We will update you as we know more...love y'all!

I know it's been a while, but things have been so busy this summer! First our Oregon trip and then various projects around the house (including the garage, which was a total mess, but now we can almost park our cars in it!).

Brian convinced me to take the one class I was missing in order to have an Associates degree. Even though I am well into my junior year, he thought it would be a good idea (and I agree) to take that one class, that way, the associates degree transfers with me no matter what, and none of my classes would ever be wasted. So I spent the last 5 weeks of summer in an evening class...weight training of all things - I needed a second PE course and I had already taken running two years ago...an easy A, but a lot of fun - the college has a great workout area and I was able to do cardio and weight training 3 days a week. Now I can apply for my Associates...wahoo!

Brian got to go to Utah to celebrate his mom's birthday...we were so excited that he got to go! All accounts agree that they had an awesome time - I would have wrapped him up for her, but I'm sure airport security would have alerted Homeland Security...paper cuts can be lethal ya' know. :-)

The week of my final came and we got to celebrate by hosting some of our awesome nieces and nephew! It was wonderful, we got to spend time in the Houston Museum of Natural Science and an entire day at Schlitterbahn, the best water park ever! We had a blast - and no one got burned...even the two red heads, which is quite an accomplishment!

Now that Gustav has passed us by, we are gearing up for Hannah, Ike and Josephine...it seems to be a very busy time for storms down here in the tropics. We were on standby until 2 pm on Sunday with Brian's work. They told us Saturday that they would make the final decision to ship us up to Dallas by then. Brian's boss told them to go home after work Saturday and pack (of course they didn't let them out early, so Brian didn't get home until after 8:30 PM). If they made the decision to ship us out Sunday afternoon, Brian would have 30 minutes to drive home, pick me up, and drive to Dallas by 7 PM...crazy, huh?! We were on pins and needles, praying that the storm wouldn't come here, and that it would hit somewhere where as few people as possible would be affected. Needless to say, we were quite relieved not to have to go...I celebrated by taking a nap Sunday afternoon... :-)

We are now counting down until our Florida vacation in October - Sandestin, here we come! Sandestin is a resort in the city of Destin, located on a peninsula in the Florida panhandle. I can't do justice to their beautiful beaches - sugar white sand and emerald green water (on the Gulf side!) - and it is only a 9 hour drive from Houston! I still can't believe we're on the same Gulf. Brian got us a sweet deal - we're staying at the Courtyard by Marriott for 5 days for only $170...can you believe it?