Sunday Supper: Vegetarian Chili Even A Doofus Could Make!

And when I say doofus, I'm referring to myself! I am no gourmet by any means, but I do make a mean spaghetti, a decent lasagna, an edible macaroni & beef bake (I'll do a little post on that one soon). Do you see a trend here? It's all pasta! Who can mess up pasta, right?

So, I scour all my favorite blogs daily to see what my blog idols are up to, and I happen across this entry from Door Sixteen called Soup For Lunches. I love Door Sixteen. It's classified as a design or home design blog, but I consider it more of a lifestyle blog. Anyway, one of the "soups" was this mouth-watering recipe for Vegetarian Chili. I am probably one of the biggest carnivores on the planet-the kind that has to have some kind of meat with just about every meal. I was very skeptical and intimidated by the ingredients. There weren't any complicated ingredients, but there were a lot of ingredients! I had about 3/4ths of them surprisingly. I did have to go to the Giant to pick up a few things, but my cousin Kellie and I were determined to make this chili because the chili looked so delicious, and we wanted to try at least one completely meatless dish.

My assessment: LOVES IT!!! It's the best chili I can remember having in a very long time. This recipe yields a huge pot!! You can easily have lunch for the entire week with this recipe. Pictured is my finished version. Does it not look delicious? Oh, the original recipe calls for Bulgar wheat which I could not find at the grocery store, but I substituted it with pearled barley, and let me tell you-absolutely scrumptious! Try it. You will love it! Take it from a gal who lives by the cow!

Crazy For Cupcakes

Cupcakes are all the rage, and I'm like, "Where have you people been?" I've been lovin' cupcakes before they became the "it" dessert. Cupcakes are everywhere-on clothes, on shoes, on greeting cards, on ribbons, EVERYWHERE!!!! My homage to the cupcake are these cool soaps that I posted in my Etsy shop last night. Love, love, love these soaps. Not only do they smell good, they look good, and they feel good. The lather is creamy and not overly foamy. The only drawback to making these soaps is waiting for the frosting to set. I've cut back on the added glycerin in hopes they firm up a lot sooner. It's so funny how I have all these cooking supplies and utensil, and they're all used to make soap. Soap making has actually inspired me to start cooking. I may just have to bake some cupcakes this weekend.