A Nap, A Niece & A Nice Meal

It's 11:14pm on a Sunday night, and I should really be in bed, BUT I took a nap this afternoon. I've been burning the candle at both ends this week, and at the gentle suggestion of my sweet hubby, allowed myself the luxury of a nap, in my bed, with a pillow over my eyes and ears, and no alarm set...I slept for 3 1/2 hours. I must have needed it! However, because of my lengthy, late afternoon siesta here I sit, wide a wake, and writing a blog post. *shrugs* Oh well!

After waking up @ 5pm and realizing that I hadn't made any kind of supper plans for my family I needed something I could put together fairly fast. Winter Veggie Chili to the rescue! The name of this recipe confuses me slightly though because in my mind anything with the word chili in the title should contain beans, yet this one has nary a legume in sight. Are you of the bean containing or bean-less chili population? Some people are quite passionate about their chili beliefs. I would think a more appropriate name for this concoction to be Winter Veggie Stew, but surprisingly they did not ask my opinion about the whole matter. I know on St. Patty's day it's tradition to consume green colored food and beverages to channel the luck of the Irish, but given my lack of planning and sleep induced time crunch we are apparently going to end up with the luck of the Oompa Loompas instead.

I served it with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top, and triscuts and sugar snap peas on the side. As we were eating our orange colored "chili" I asked Matt if this was an "acceptable sweet potato delivery mode", he's not a fan of the orange night shade. With his mouth full of my latest culinary experiment, he nodded yes. I have a feeling he was mostly just grateful this meal contained some meat, which is always a BIG plus on his score card. lol  And as the kids took turns singing a jingle from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, "You gotta try new foods cause you just might like them", ad nauseum, they cleaned their bowls. Ladies and Gentlemen we have a winner! *insert Mommy victory laps around the table* Next time though, I'll increase the amount of chili powder and Matt requested a bit more salt. I'm always a bit cautious with the salt because I would much rather under than over salt something, nobody likes cotton mouth.

I also became a new Auntie again today! My b-i-l & s-i-l welcomed little Ilinca Joyce into the world this afternoon at 12:30pm. We'll probably get to see her on Tuesday, and yes, I'm going to make her some cupcakes. I can't WAIT to hold her and kiss her soft little cheeks and smell that precious newborn scent and let her know how very very happy we are to meet her.