Well, not really, but almost. I was sitting here after my husband went to bed thinking about what I should eat. Taco soup came to mind, I figured there would be more than plenty to eat over the weekend and to stock the freezer for a less motivated cooking day.

Here's my recipe:

1.5 Lb ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
1 can fiesta corn, drained
1 can tomatoes with habaneros
2 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup sour cream
3 cups shredded cheese (I used CMJ)

Heaping estimates:
1 Tbs + 1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

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Brown beef in a frying pan and set aside. In soup pot, saute onions in 2 Tbs olive oil until tender. Add beef and all other ingredients and spices except the cheese. Stir until ingredients are well mixed. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer over medium heat for up to 20 minutes. Add cheese and stir. Simmer an additional 10 minutes.

I plan on serving this with fresh baked bread on the weekend. My mom gave me a bread machine that I am dying to try out. For tonight I just crumbled a handful of tortilla chips over the soup. It's my kind of spicy. If you want yours less spicy use canned tomatoes with chili peppers instead.

Enjoy!

Meh

Not a whole lot going on around here these days - at least nothing interesting enough to write about really. I don't say that in a bad way, either, I'm perfectly content. My days have been filled with laughter, love and too many cookies. My son continues to fascinate me with every little new thing he does. Maybe enraptured is the better word in this case... It's hard not to fall in love with toothless smiles and pudgy fingers.

So my friend Kristy has been knitting up these gorgeous socks recently and I think I'm getting the itch. I temporarily swore off socks for awhile because I was sick of toothpick-thin needles and socks that never found mates. It's not that I wasn't willing to knit up the mates, it's just that I lost my notes on one sock and broke up with the other sock's former future owner. I tried finding that huge monstrosity today and came up empty-handed. I think I dumped it along with any memories attached.

I've never crocheted a sock before and I'm thinking I'd like to give it a try. I still have a couple balls of sock-appropriate yarn lounging around somewhere but I'd like to do a heavier wool sock to start. Last night I strapped in my son and headed to the craft store for some retail therapy before my husband got home from work. I had some coupons I was itching to use so I picked up a few balls of cream wool that I want to dye. I figure I can kill two birds with one stone- crochet socks and dye yarn for the first time.

In other knitting news, I am mere inches away from finishing my first sweater. To say I am excited is an understatement. Of course it's kind of odd that as soon as my sweater is going to be finished the weather gets warmer again. I was kind of hoping to wear it soon, but I've patiently (cough) been knitting it for about two months, so I guess I can wait a little longer to wear it.

I kind of like the idea of these pedicure socks.
It was refreshing to attend the knitting group this week. I did just about everything but knit though. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I sat down and took note that I was at a venue that served food that I a) did not have to prepare and b) was available within minutes. Being famished it was like a godsend from above. So, with the delish broccoli cheddar soup and pumpkin spice latte distracting me I caught up with my favorite ladies at knitting and leisurely knit three rounds of 2x2 ribbing on my sweater sleeve.

The weather has been cooling down and it's been a real breath of fresh air. Summers in Virginia are no joke, I don't want to see another scorching day of humid 90's for at least another 9 months. Being very pregnant during said months of gross, wet heat probably didn't help, but it would have been semi miserable regardless.

I'm in the midst of fall cleaning. What a disaster. Chaos reigns in our house. I have not been able to finish anything that I've started. The doggy-smelling living room rug is still in the kitchen covered in a heavy layer of baking soda. My attempt at green cleaning in that direction is so far not been so hot. The rug still smells like my pug's belly. (yuck) I did, however, discover that vinegar really makes a kitchen shine.

One of our two couches is still covered in random books, magazines, decorative elements and such that was formerly crammed into our shelf coffee table thing. The stairs are covered in stuff that belongs upstairs. Sigh. I won't talk about the rest of the house. It's not that big of a deal, but all the mess combined seems like a mountain I just can't seem to step over.
Seriously, I'm not. Just slightly overwhelmed. Last week I had a sudden urge to make the 733 mile journey home so the rest of the family could meet our son. What normally takes 12 hours took me 16 with the little one. He was amazing, he slept the whole way.

On my way home last Thursday I made a ghastly wrong turn that led me 40 miles off course in the Pennsylvania countryside. I've never made a better mistake. Just as dusk was falling and my nerves were unraveling to the sound of hiccuping and crying from the backseat I passed a B&B. I figured it wouldn't be as economical as a big name hotel along the highway, so I kept driving, all along praying that I would find the highway eventually. Two miles down the ridiculously sloping dirt road I turned around and hoped for the best.

I ended up in the most welcoming home away from home I've encountered in a long time. Sue and her husband are a retired military couple that put me up for the night. After I'd cleaned up and settled in my gorgeous suite I went down and had a very lively evening with the two of them. We reminisced about Germany and I learned of Sue's husband's experience in Vietnam and the rest of the world.

In the morning I awoke to brilliant sunshine... and the smell of poop outside. A true farm experience I suppose. Sue prepared me some amazing french toast and an egg and bacon bake. I left two hours later than I'd planned because, again, I had such a good time talking with the couple. To top it off, they gave me my room at half their normal rate. The cursed wrong turn turned into a blessing.

I'm looking forward to knitting this Wednesday. I missed two weeks because of my trip. I hope I never have to make the trip home alone again, it was incredibly boring and stressful always hoping I would be able to stop soon after the little one woke up so I could feed and change him.