Healthy Wallet, Healthy Body: Awesome Chili!

I love “healthified” recipes. That is, taking a traditionally unhealthy meal and using lighter ingredients to make it nutritionally better. But do you know what I love even more? Affordable healthified recipes! Here’s a healthified, affordable chili recipe that was a hit with my very picky eater of a husband. The best part is that you make it in your slow cooker for 9-11 hours, which is really important for working gals who spend 11-12 hours away from home. I got 7 separate servings out of this! Add some cornbread and voila!

Awesome Chili

2.25 lbs. extra lean ground beef OR ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1-15 oz. can red beans

1-15 oz. can dark red kidney beans

 2-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 T. chili powder

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. ground cumin

Salt, to taste

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onions. Put the ground beef, onions, and all other ingredients in a 3.5-5 qt. slow cooker. Stir well. Cook on LOW for 9-11 hours.

Happier Mornings

Getting to work on time with a baby in tow is no small feat. Here are some tips that work for me:

1. Get your hubby involved. Ricky leaves for work at a different time than I do, so his contribution to the Morning Mess happens the night before. He prepares all of Jake’s bottles for daycare the night before and puts them in a small cooler bag. He also makes sure the diaper bag is fully stocked and ready to go.

2. Load the car…early! Before getting Jake out of bed, I load the car with all 5 (yes, 5) different bags. Then, when it is time to leave, I’m simply lugging Jake in his fortress of a carseat.

3. Preheat the car while preparing your coffee/breakfast. This may not be “green”, but it sure does cut down on that panicky crying period in the car!

4. Lay out clothes the night before–yours and the baby’s. The less thinking you have to do, the faster your morning goes, and the more time you have to enjoy your sweet baby.

Any other ideas?

Me? SAHM?

It’s official. I’m a working mom.

I’m now in my second week being back at work after a totally relaxing and luxurious maternity leave.  Ha! I say that sarcastically because I have seen the light: stay-at-home moms have the toughest job on the planet, as cliche as it may sound. It’s true! There is nothing more challenging than caring for the needs of your child(ren) all. day. long.  It’s frustrating to not even pee without peering over the toilet and into the bedroom where your baby lays wailing in the bouncer. And it’s a bit depressing to not leave the house because your first-class sweatsuit (and somehow your ponytail) is covered in spit up and you don’t have the energy to change clothes. Even so, I find myself longing to join the ranks of the SAHM.  Toward the end of my maternity leave–when I was beginning to feel like a real, live SAHM–Little Man and I found a nice routine. We were venturing out of the house together, having all kinds of conversations, and he was on the brinks of showing me his colorful little personality. When it came time to return to work, I was surprisingly disappointed. Don’t get me wrong. I love working. I’m a careerist at heart. But, when Jake hit the scene, I suddenly realized that my career was a little less important than I thought it was. 

My return to society has been really fabulous, though. My co-workers have been encouraging, and Jake and I are figuring out a new routine that is working very well. I don’t spend my days pining for my baby, and I really enjoy wearing clothes with buttons again. But, Ricky and I have a whole new vision for our family, and in the coming years, it doesn’t involve me working a 9 to 5er. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the precious little time we have together as a family, and I’ll trust God to help us make the right decisions as we prepare for my eventual return to the difficult, messy, and wonderful world of spit up and ponytails.