The Weekly Smile for the 27th of January, 2020 #weeklysmile

49 Replies

weeklysmile2a

I think this might be a repeat.  I know it doesn’t matter, but I like each Smile to be different, though I often hit the same types of things, week after week.  I guess you can read a lot into who I am by that ;)

Anyway, this week I made (vegan) chili again.  I didn’t have the fresh-from-the-farm ingredients that I had the last time I wrote about chili, bit it was still great.  I started off as before by dicing and then stewing tomatoes.  I sautéed (local organic) garlic, (local organic) onions, hot peppers, etc and added.  And then the beans I had soaking (I had rinsed them a few times along the way, then brought them to the verge of boiling, rinsed one last time, before dumping them in).  On and on.  It is very time consuming, and takes a long time in the crock pot (days), but is well worth it.

I have made chili many times in past years and it is usually pretty good, but often either too hot or not hot enough.  This is the third time I made some this year, and each time was better than the last.  This weeks chili was not only the best I have ever made, but the best I have ever tasted.  Yum!

That was my smile this week, making chili from scratch.

What made you smile?

****

Come on, I’m sure you smiled at least once last week.  Why don’t you share it?  I hope you can join in!

Here is list of “rules” and guiding ideas.  If you don’t have time to read it right now, just remember that this is an exercise to spread positivity.  Don’t smile about the misfortune of others.  Don’t smile in a way to excludes others.  Make sure a 12 year old can read it.

And remember, the Smile can be anything, large or small.  Nothing, nothing at all is too small for a Smile!  Sometimes taking time to notice those small, every day smiles is more important than those once in a lifetime huge ones :)

To join in, write a post to share your smile and then leave a comment on this post with a link to your smile.  Or, if you prefer, do a pingback to this post (pingback = have a link from your post to this one) (Note – pingbacks have been very inconsistent – please leave a comment :) ).   You can post any time until next Sunday evening (to be simple, I will say midnight GMT, which is 7 PM Sunday for me).   Next week I will compile all of the Smiles and do a separate post of them on Monday morning just before the smile.  (I will shoot for around 7 AM EST).

Try to use the hashtag #WeeklySmile when you use Twitter or other social media that uses hashtags. I searched Twitter and found that #weeklysmile had been used only a handful of times back in 2012 and 2013. It hasn’t been used since. So it’s ours! I also registered it on Twubs.

You can use the graphic at the top. It is the official graphic for the event.

Now go out there and find something to smile about! :)

49 thoughts on “The Weekly Smile for the 27th of January, 2020 #weeklysmile”

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      My dogs and cats make me smile every day as well, even when they are being naughty ;) I do love seeing wildlife, but don’t see nearly enough, though I saw two large red tailed hawks from close up just a few minutes ago while walking the dogs…

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It seems that this is “Food Week” on the Weekly Smile ;) Besides your post and mine, we had a couple of others about food. As to chili, I think it is a staple for the cold, winter months.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      It is funny that chili is thought of as “Texas”, yet is best up north where it is cold ;) And it is good! Over half of it is gone already, and about 2/3 of what is left is in the freezer to be pulled out in a week or two, so it’s just as well that everyone lives so far away – there wouldn’t be enough to go around ;)

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  19. Marilyn Armstrong

    I hope you measured your ingredients and wrote them down. I tend to forget exactly how much of what I used to get that perfect taste. And no matter what I do, some ingredient isn’t exactly the same. Different tomatoes, different hot peppers or the same hot peppers don’t taste exactly the same. At least if I write down everything, I have an even chance of getting it right again.

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Nope, I just go by feel each time and haven’t written anything down… Part of it is the ingredients, and as you said, you never get the exact same twice. A lot of it is the amounts and proportions, which I probably should write down. But I am finding that a larger portion than expected is the process – the order I do things and how I do them. For instance, last time I chopped my tomatoes, tossed them in the pot and stewed them over night. I chopped and sauteed the onion, garlic and the first jalapeno in the morning. This time, I started chopping those veggies as soon as I put the tomatoes in the pot and so stewed the tomatoes with them in and it made a huge, huge difference in taste. Yes, I do things like a mad scientist and just experiment ;)

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  20. dprastka

    I never really thought about how much better chili would taste with fresh ingredients. I use a dried package of chili mix (I’m terrible) but it’s easy quick chili! Lol 🤪 Because you are having so much success you have me thinking I need to make homemade chili from scratch!! My
    next day off, I’m thinking this the plan!! Thank you for the continued sharing of your successful chili! 😄

    P.S. I’m much like you and don’t want to repeat myself over and over with my blog which may inevitably happen no matter how creative I try and be. Am thinking I love reading whatever you write, maybe it’s not so bad that some things may be repeated! It’s going to happen no matter what anyways…. Haha… 😉😃

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I’m sometimes a food snob. Of course, I sometimes eat cheap, nasty crop,but that’s beside the point ;) The point is, most of the time, the fresher the better. But if you are making it, the fresher also often means the more time consuming ;) I started with a mix. These days, my chili is almost a vegetable soup, but thickened and spicy like chili. If you do decided to make some from scratch, I hope it comes out! Nothing better in the cold weather (what, 60 or 70 for you? ;) ) thanks a nice homemade chili.

      I know it is impossible not to repeat. When I first did the Weekly Smile, I posted twice a week, and found I had a few that I did over and over again. I’ve been trying to avoid that, but there will be a few do overs :)

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I bought my wife an Instant Pot for Christmas, 2018. It’s still in the box… Actually, the slow cook does give me time to slice, dice, mince and chop at my leisure. I do things in certain groups and spread it out over time. And 90% of the time, it isn’t cooking, but “blending”. Someday I’ll try the Instapot…. It’s possible once I do ther will be no going back.

      Full disclosure – the chili is vegan, but I typically eat it with cheese. And I have used beef in the past, but am using the chili as part of the way that I push my diet to being more plant based. And this was so good, it didn’t need any ;)

      I’ll be by to check out your smile in a few minutes.

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  24. Prior...

    Third time lucky? And likely will get better from here but if you like to change it up well
    There might be recipe variation in outcomes –
    And also T – so nice to have you share not using canned stuff- not against all canned goods but something about soaking the beans and the whole natural process.
    —
    I had some fun smiles this week and this month.
    But they have been pulled from with this winter cold! In fact – going back to bed right now
    And I might dream of chili…

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      I don’t use a recipe, so I do change it every time I cook, but I also figure out better ways each time. Proportions of spices and such? Oh well, I guess I just guess with that ;)

      It is funny – I have a friend who is into fresh and natural and organic everything. After the last time I made chili, I mention the bean soaking thing and she laughed and told me that she used canned beans. lol. I guess we all have out limits.

      Nothing is better than chili in the winter cold… Have a good nap.

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  28. dawnkinster

    Sounds yummy. I struggle with the not hot enough, too hot thing too. My husband doesn’t like spicy and in my attempt to make it edible for him I often make it too bland. Cool that you’ve made it 3x and better each time! I don’t mind repeats of smiles…mine are usually similar too. As long as we’re smiling it’s all good – right?

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    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Getting just the right amount of hot… I’m glad I don’t have to worry about anyone not liking spicy food here! I used two jalapeno peppers in this, besides the chili powder, a bit of Tabasco, etc…..

      I know repeating the same smile over and over isn’t awful – you’re right, it is the idea of smiling :) The last time I did the Smile, I was posting twice a week, and at least one a month, often twice, I would post that I was smiling because I spent the weekend on Cape Cod. I thought people might be getting sick of hearing that, so I have tried to mix it up more :)

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