Work Week 1, Elizabeth 0

Work this week has really put a cramp in my style. After being in Texas for three days, and working 18 hours of overtime, I am waving the white flag of surrender for the week. 

As the title says: Work 1, Elizabeth 0

An Italian cornucopia of cooking
goodies. My welcome home present
from my fab hubby. 

Although I feel relatively unsuccessful, the hubby and kiddos survived Sunday through Tuesday on their own, enjoying some crockpot Chile Verde (see below) and some yummies from the freezer. When I returned home mid-week, I scrounged up some Chile Verde quesadillas one night and homemade pizza (with dough from the freezer) another. 

Last night, though, after working an 11-hour day (it was supposed to be my day off), I couldn't even fathom coming home and cooking. Hubby and I agreed to meet for dinner. After stopping at two packed restaurants with 30-45 minute wait times, we had this call:

"You know," I said, "if I had just gone straight home, we'd already be eating now."

"Yes," he said. "I just didn't think it'd be this hard to find something to eat. Why is everyone out tonight??"

We settled on a deli, Santini's, and had a tasty, albeit not homemade, dinner. The plus side: we ran into dear friends we'd not seen in well over a year and were able to catch up over dinner. They'll be coming over next weekend for a nice autumnal homemade dinner and my famous pumpkin bars. 

Tonight is date night. Hubby and I head to a delicious local restaurant, Potowmack Farm, that serves everything local and farm fresh. They churn their own butter and don't serve anything that's not homegrown or from further than 50 miles. We found this little delicious piece of Heaven last year and have waited an entire year before returning. We hope tonight's dinner meets our expectations. 

I did start the weekend off on a good note, though. We had homemade oatmeal pancakes (Hubby's favorite) for breakfast, and I made a few loaves of banana bread. We'll be planning our menu for the week tomorrow morning, and it will be full of autumnal goodies, including spaghetti squash casserole and hearty greens. (Finally!)

 * * *

Crockpot Chile Verde (adapted from Eating Well)

• 1 pound 93%-lean ground beef
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 16-ounces green salsa
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 15-ounce can pinto or kidney beans, rinsed

Turn crock pot on to low. In a skillet, brown the ground beef. Set aside. To the crock pot, add chopped pepper, chopped onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salsa, water and beans. Stir in ground beef. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Serve with tortillas or chips. (Makes a great filling for a quesadilla, too!)