Lazy Winter Soup

I haven't been really cooking in a long while. The chefs at Boston Market, Chipotle, McDonalds [chief might be stretching it here], Wendy's and the likes have been really busy making food for me.

My baby is now eight months old. He's still having a fever, but now I know that he's caught the winter virus (not quite flu), and his ear infection is making his temperature higher than a viral infection would indicate. No infection showed on his blood test.

Anyway, back to my soup. It's not because it's ingredients were "winter" related. I only titled it such because right now, it's wintry cold for my part of Texas, and I am feeling lazy, but I need to make a soupy dinner.

Let me see if I can remember the ingredients correctly because I was making it up as I went along, and wasn't keeping a close enough attention.

Engredients:
1/2 pound ground beef, shaped into tiny balls*
2 med. potatoes, diced finely
1 med. onion, diced finely
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
1 can tomato sauce
3 cups water [aka 24 oz of liquid]
dash of powder garlic
dash of paprika
salt to taste

1. Saute ground beef in a dry hot soup caserole. Swish it all around until it's brown. No need for oil, the ground beef will have enough.

2. Add the onions, swish it all around.

3. Add the potatoes until both are transluscent.

4. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn, and water

5. Boil high for 15 minutes.

6. Simmer in medium flame for 20 minutes.

7. Simmer in low flame for 10 minutes. Turn off fire, and let stand for another 10 until cool enough.

Serve.

I don't know how many servings this is, and I also didn't count calories. Half the quantity was enough to serve my 4 kids. It's actually quite tasty, especially if you're hungry and too lazy to go anywhere or make anything.

Can be eaten by itself, or with rice, or rolls, or other stuff.


*only if you have time because the little balls will unravel, and you're back to ground meat anyway.

Thankful Enough?

I got this e-mail from my dear MIL. At first, I thought, how crass! Not MIL, the e-mail! I have one of the nicest MIL there is. Then as I read it aloud to DH, I realized that it's actually good. I had to share it. Some of you might have seen this already in your mail. If you have, enjoy it again.

If you haven't, it's good to read.

I wanted to post something other than my baby who's still having fever. It's not raging, but still, it's been around since Wednesday night. Hence, the aborted date with my dear friends. Plus, there's that thing about the weather. There was sleet and some people around me went into panic buying.

It's hilarious if you think about it. I mean, it's much colder in other states, but then our excuse is we're not used to inclement weather.

inclement
adj 1: (of weather of climate) physically severe [ant: clement]

So, without further ado, are we thankful enough?

I AM THANKFUL:
FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED.

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH..

FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

And isn't that beautiful?

Off to see the Wizard

Baby is still having fever. He has been having fever since Wednesday night, and today, we read 102. That's him minutes before he started having fever.

We're off to see his pediatrician in an hour. Poor, poor baby.

Last night, we spent another holding, swinging, dancing, reclining, and cooing, and nothing was good enough. He finally settled down around 3, woke up with no fever, and then spiked one an hour ago.

He's quite crabby, and my house is falling apart. Not really falling apart, I just think that because I couldn't go straighten things up. I really hope he's going to stop having fever soon. Tylenol and Motrin are not working at all.