Chili, Cornbread, and Mint Oreo Ice-Cream

I made chili and cornbread last night.

Yeah, in the Spring.

We had a former foreign exchange student and her brother from Germany over, although they almost didn't stay for supper because she didn't like the spicy chili she'd had on a previous trip to America.  I convinced her it wasn't spicy, because honestly, it isn't.  I mean, this is another one of those family friendly recipes that has been made in my house ever since I can remember and was a super picky eater.

Actually, I haven't always really liked chili, not even this chili, but the night I realized that I did, I had like, 5 bowls.

I got the cornbread recipe online somewhere... Not sure where. :(

Anyhow, my friends liked it.  And of course, my family and I liked it.  I love chili.  Well, family friendly chili anyhow... I'm not one of those people who yearns for the hottest chili they can destroy their bodies with.

I didn't take too many keepable pictures of the chili, because the little girls we had over from church were making fun of me. :(

After supper, I took our German friends back to their host home, and when I got back, the two girls from church who are staying with us for a few days, my little sister, and I made a tent.

Not that we don't have ready-made tents.... We just wanted to branch out.  And try something new.  Y'know, in case someday we don't have a tent and need one.

Okay, actually, I've slept outside without a tent on more than a couple occasions.

But anyhow, it was awesome!  We even slept in it, although the front tarp and back ponchos (not pictured) didn't quite maintain their protective positions all night... But it worked. :)  And I sleep like a rock, so there coulda been a hurricane (in Indiana?) and I may not have noticed. 

Today when we got home from hanging out with our German friends, my sister and my new nephew came over, and he stayed more awake for longer than I've ever seen, which was pretty awesome. :)  He was a little fussy some of the time, but hey!  Fussy is more exciting than asleep!

I love his little concerned wrinkly face. :)  But when he gets sad I can just shift him around and cuddle with him and he gets happier.

Okay, so he still looks a little sad or something...  But adorable.  And less audibly whiny.  :)

Lastly, we "made" some ice-cream.  It's somewhat of a lesser-used family tradition that we take some plain vanilla ice-cream and mix in some crushed oreos.  Only this time we used mint-stuffed oreos.  It was pretty tasty, although mine was kinda melty by the time I finished cuddling with my nephew. :)

Delicious as this was, I know I need to stop eating so much sugar. :(  I've done it before, I can do it now- I hope.  It's way harder the second time, though. I guess we'll see how that goes! :)

This blog post has taken a long, long time to write, because last night I popped my jaw or something and it hurts and the hurt has sort of spread to the back of my head and my ear, and now I'm pretty cold and am cuddling in my room feeling sorry for myself.  Plus I'm chatting on Facebook, and listening to music on Youtube, which means that I have to choose a new song every time.  That equals very, very slow progress.

But finally, here are the recipes for the chili and cornbread!  Enjoy, and have a great week!

Chili Recipe Card

Cornbread Recipe Card