Chili Season

Although I can't eat the chili myself (thanks to Jameson...have I mentioned that he doesn't digest well?), I entered into a chili contest at work. People paid $5.00 to sample and judge the chili's and all the benefits went to Operation Santa Claus. DES sponsors a few hundred kids each year through Operation Santa Claus.

Well there were three categories, beef, poultry, and vegetarian. I entered a veggie chili and...I won! I've never won anything before so I felt pretty darn proud of myself. I got a cool plaque some homemade oven mitts along with a chili chocolate bar (that I have hidden in my pantry and will dig into when I'm finally done nursing).

The only problem is that people keep asking me for the recipe and I have to tell them that between getting dinner made for the kids and getting the kids to bed, I threw a bunch of things into a pot and let it simmer. Not exactly an easy recipe to hand out!

Me with my winnings. And yes, this is taken in my cubicle at work with the depressing lighting and industrial concrete ceiling. Whoever said state workers have it easy have clearly not visited the west wing at DES!