End Results

All my kids have attended public schools, just as I had growing up. Mainly because we could never afford any private schools, or even those Montesorri ones. I always looked at it as public schools are good for preparing them to be around all sorts of people in life, rather than those that are better off financially, or that strive to achieve perfection constantly. Yeah, I am stereotyping somewhat, but that is just the way I am.

Anyways, due to the area of Phoenix we live in, the elementary school the two younger ones attend has been   doing the 'free lunch' program for the past few years. Many of the families in our district area are financially low enough (myself included it feels at times) that the school just made it available to all students, and not just ones that were approved via some financial form to be filled out. Last year they included a free breakfast as well. One other thing they added, was every 3-4 weeks, the school sent home what we call a 'snack-pack bag'. Basically a plastic grocery bag that contains usually a couple granola bars, fruit or pudding cups, about 4 cans of miscellaneous vegetables, maybe some crackers. It is all part of the program to help make sure the students are eating well in these hard times. How we ever got signed up for this part, I have no clue. Maybe the Wife did it. But not all students get these bags. Since I have two boys there, they both get one. I am not complaining. It's nice to have a few days of extra snacks for the kids, and the canned goods always help in dinners. It helps us save a few dollars in shopping.

The other day, the Wife was looking through our cupboards, trying to find something to fix for supper. I think she said she was going looking to throw together a stew, or something fairly close to that idea. One can she located, looked to have sliced carrots in it. Should go good in a stew. Only, she couldn't read the can. The label was written entirely in Spanish, though there was a picture of the sliced carrots on the front. Obviously, it was a can that had been sent home in one of the snack-packs, as we would never had bought it ourselves with it being in Spanish. The can was opened, and she decided not to use it. Turns out the sliced carrots also included onions, and what appeared to be some jalapeno peppers. She tried a carrot slice, and decided it was way to spicy for her, let alone the boys. Being the frugal person she is, she dumped the contents into a tupperware container, in hopes within the next day she would be able to figure out something else to be able to cook this with. She showed it to me the next day, where I tried some of it, and determined it was fine for me (I like spicier foods than the rest of the family). The Wife decided to make some chili with it, and I said I wouldn't mind the carrots in some chili.

Needless to say, she made the chili with the carrots, onions and peppers. Threw in some ground beef, tomato sauce, and pinto beans. At which point, she stated it looked too watered-down, and asked what she should do. I told her to add some pasta noodles. Now I know chili doesn't traditionally have pasta in it, but to make dinners stretch to feed everyone, I grew up with the Reverend Mother always adding some elbow noodles to chili. So, to me, it's chili even with pasta. Heck this wasn't really chili anyways, since it had carrots in it, too.

End result was a huge container of this concoction (as I have no idea what to call it) that I have been eating the past couple days for lunch. I am only about halfway through the container, and am debating freezing some of it, so it won't spoil, and I can eat at a future time, since I am starting to feel a bit tired of the same dish. Pretty good stuff too! I remember now, the Wife also had found an old seasoning packet called 'Cuss Bros Chili Mixings' that she had added. The directions on the seasoning said to add 1/4 packet for spicy, 1/2 for hot, and the whole bag for ... well, Cuss Bros means something! I had told her to put in the whole bag. Needless to say, I don't need to add any additional spices to bring the spiciness to the level I like. The odlest son, he tried some of it, and decided he liked it as well. Makes me a bit proud to see him actually trying some spicier stuff, rather than complain it is 'too hot' like the younger ones. He's even been using a little bit of Tapatio sauce on occasion.

So, the Wife's experiment turned out pretty good, as tow of us males are eating it down pretty good. Though, I do admit, the Wife ain't entirely happy about it. Though we both enjoy eating this new dish, our digestive systems have been having a blast (almost literally). If only we had stocks in Glade air products, we could be a little richer this week, if ya know what I mean?! 

I gotta head out. Doing the regular Tuesday morning trip over to the MIL's to sit with FIL so she can get out and do some grocery shopping. It's been nice with the boys out of school, as I send the oldest one to help Mom. Then we all help unload stuff. I know it helps her out tremendously.

PeacE