18 Month Party

This past weekend we celebrated Hunter's half birthday.  Why?  Because he's our first child and I'm allowed to spoil him!  And to me, 18 months is a big milestone. 

The guests included my parents and my sister and her husband.  These pics are in random order.

This is the birthday boy with his Carrot Cake in a jar.  I'll do a separate post on this.

In order not to go overboard with decorations, I hung up some of Hunter's art work he had done at preschool so that my family could see it.  I used mini clothes clips I had to hang them on the blinds.

Chocolate or vanilla cake to celebrate?  I went with Carrot Cake!  I made it in a jelly roll pan, iced it, and then used the back of a spoon to make the scallops.

I made chili and served it with toppings, cornbread, and fritos.  Little man decided he needed to taste test the fritos.

This is the cornbread I baked up.  I used a baking pan that had square muffin shapes in it that Korey had bought me one year.  I used a box of Jiffy cornbread mix and added in cheese and diced green onions.

I served me and my sister's famous Cranberry/Sprite drink in glass bottles.  Although, Sprite wasn't on sale so I used 7Up.  Next time I'll add ice.

This was Hunter' Carrot Cake in a jar.  I'm on a let's-buy-glass-jars-because-everything-will-look-prettier-in-them kick.  Just ask Korey.

My feeble attempt at a chain thingy.  I took an old gift bag and cut it into strips and linked the strips into a chain using tape.

Fabulous!  These were leftover candles from Hunter's first birthday I had purchased at the dollar store.

And these were the chili toppings.  Cheese, sour cream, and green onions...all served in jars!  These made for super-easy cleanup because we just had to put the lid back on and put them in the fridge.

A little bit of a fuzzy photo, but here is our birthday boy with his grandparents.

Thanks to my family for helping us celebrate and for indulging my "he-needs-a-half-birthday-party" whim!

Chili

Two weeks ago I invited some of Korey's friends over to have dinner for his birthday without him knowing.  Which meant I had to feed a crowd.  And since the weather was starting to turn I decided chili would be the perfect dish.

The recipe calls for Sazon Goya which is a spice packet found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store.  I already had some on hand because I had previously used it for a Latin pork dish.  There are no beans in this recipe but if you like beans in your chili feel free to add them.

These are the main spices...

and Rotel now makes tomato sauce so I used this!

I know this is a messy looking bowl of chili but I didn't have time to get a picture before the guests arrived so this is Luke's (one of Korey's friends) third bowl of chili.  He said he preferred it over the chicken taco chili I also made.

When I finally got to sample this I thought it had the right amount of heat and spice.  I thought it was perfect!

Or if you don't want to eat a bowl of chili you could make chili bites with Tostitos Scoops as an appetizer!



Chili - by KSK



Chili

(click for printable recipe)


3 lb ground beef
1 can Rotel tomato sauce with green chili
1 can fire roasted, diced tomatoes
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water


Spices:
1 packet of Sazon Goya (in Mexican food section of grocery store)
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Chili Powder
Cayenne
Black Pepper
Cumin
Garlic Salt

In a large pot brown the meat and drain grease. Then combine beef broth, water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and browned beef and simmer for a few minutes. Then add 1 T onion powder, 2 tsp garlic powder, 1 T paprikia, 1 packet of Sazon Goya, 1 T chili powder, and two shakes of cayenne over the top. Let it boil for an hour.

Then add another 1 T of chili powder and 1 tsp of cumin and boil for 45 minutes.

Finally, add 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 1 T cumin. Boil for 15 more minutes.

Serve topped with cheese and a side of cornbread!

This fed 6 adults plus kids!


Adapted from Deb's Hot Rod Chili

P.S. I don't read Esquire!