Springtime and Birthdays and Chili Fresco

So I made tomorrow's dinner tonight to the sounds of nagging from Kate plus 8.

She is freaking insane. More on that later.

I made a menu for the week yesterday. This is a good idea because we're doing Dave Ramsey's money makeover, and we're on a budget now! We're not eating out anymore except for Sunday afternoons and an occasional weekend night. Monday's menu called for cheese quesadillas with homemade salsa (since I had a TON of roma tomatoes left over from last week).

Dinner ended up being Raisin Bran because we spent the day in Athens with Nick, and weren't home until around 8 pm.

So I decided to make my salsa tonight for tomorrow. I got creative. The results were good. Significantly better than my attempt last week to make soup using the pot likker from my collards. It tasted good, if you could get past the sickening green color... blech.

Anyway, the salsa turned into a chili fresco. That is my new term. Many ingredients were raw, hence the fresco.

Jennifer's Chili Fresco

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel WHITE corn (that's important)

1 can Rotel (or generic Rotel, which is what I used)

1 small onion, diced to your preference of size

2 medium Jalepeno peppers, diced

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, Adobo Seasoning with Cumin (to taste, your preference)

Ghee (clarified butter) or olive oil

sautee the onions and peppers in the ghee until they are soft and the jalepenos have cooked off a little bit of the heat.

Mix canned ingredients and tomatoes in a bowl. Drain the canned foods, except for the Rotel. Use that juice. It's good!

Once the onions and peppers are ready, add those in, then season.

I'm planning on serving this on the cheese quesadillas tomorrow for lunch, and then using the leftovers for dinner. I'm going to make whole wheat linguini, mix in the salsa, and top with a sour cream or yogurt based cream sauce. MMMMMMM. (and it's healthy!)

Now, about Kate plus 8. It irritates me that she spelled her book title with an 8 in it. Multiple Bles8ings.

It also irritates me that she is so hateful to her husband. I will NEVER condone adultery, but it's understandable that he would feel the need to find a little "kindness" from somewhere.

It's also a sign that they have TERRIBLE communication.

If it weren't terrible, it wouldn't be so compelling to watch. Meh.

One last bit. If you've never smelled Pacifica Scents, you're missing out on something amazing. I bought Lotus Garden today. It's about 15 bucks, and it smells absolutely amazing. Like springtime and birthday parties. I did some arm huffing on myself for at least an hour after I put it on! I actually huffed my arm again just now.

Definitely check it out. You can get it at Earth Fare and Whole Foods for sure, maybe elsewhere.

That's all for tonight!