The mission - Day 6

Yes, that's right, six.

Six days that The $200 Mission has been disabled, six days that I have faithfully checked my dashboard and my inbox, six days that I haven't heard so much as a peep from ANYONE with a pulse at blogger.

The whole experience is unbelievably disappointing.

I'm trying to hold out hope, rationalizing that perhaps because there was a weekend and a federal holiday mixed in there, maybe my request is just on the edge of being seen and addressed.

But then I read the "Help Groups" postings and find that there are folks whose blogs have been locked for MONTHS.

And then I found where Google lists the addresses and phone numbers for all of the google offices.

hehehe.....

Obama's Chili

I saw this recipe over at A Year of CrockPotting and just HAD to give it a try. According to her, this is the Obama family chili recipe...wherever it came from, it is DELICIOUS. I have wimpy tastebuds, and my toddler and I were both able to enjoy this chili without any mouth emergencies :) It's well-seasoned without being spicy, but for those who enjoy a little heat it would be very easy to add either diced jalapenos or hot sauce to jack it up a couple of notches.

When I made this I only had black beans and balsamic vinegar on hand, but the substitutions worked wonderfully - another benchmark of a great recipe, it's yummy AND flexible! I also took the Crockpot Lady's advice and increased all of the spices - the recipe below reflects the amounts I used but check out the link for the original amounts.

According to the original post the Obamas serve this over rice - other options would be to serve it over Fritos or crumbled up cornbread!

Barack Obama's Chili Recipe

Ingredients:
--1 can kidney beans - and the goop! (I used black beans)
--1 lb lean ground meat (I used ground turkey)
--1 green bell pepper, chopped
--1 large onion, chopped
--5-6 medium tomatoes, chopped (include seeds and all)
--4 chopped cloves of garlic
--2 tsp cumin
--2 tsp oregano
--2 tsp basil
--2 tsp turmeric
--3 tsp chili powder
--2 tsp salt
--5 T red wine vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)

Directions:
(Ms Crockpot noted that she did not brown her ground meat ahead of time - I also didn't bother browning the meat. Unless you are using a fatty ground meat and want to drain the fat off a bit, just toss in the ground meat raw!)

Chop up the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Add to the crockpot. Open the can of beans, and pour in the whole thing (do not drain or rinse!). Add the ground meat. Stir in all of the spices and the red wine vinegar.Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-5.

Total Cost:
Beans - $0.65
Ground Turkey - $1.50
Pepper - $0.85
Onion - $0.30
Tomatos - $3.20
Garlic - $0.20
Seasonings - $0.75

Grand Total: $7.45 for 8-10 servings, or $0.75 per serving!


**an update - this chili does WONDERFULLY in leftovers. I made burritos by mixing the chili with rice, rolling it in a 12" tortilla and frying both sides in the pan. Then we used some in omelettes for breakfast! YUMMY!

The Mission - Day 5

OK - today will be the telling day....we are past the weekend and the holiday, so I *hope* business is rolling over at Blogger again. Either way, The $200 Mission WILL be back up before the end of the week - either because Blogger restored my old site, or because I threw in the towel and started up a new one.

Thanks to everyone who's left comments - I feel the love!!! And I can't wait to post once things are back to normal - I have two HUGE shopping hauls to report!!

Thanks,
SavvySuzie

Mission - Day 4

Day 4...still no communication from Blogger, still no movement towards restoring my service. Must....get...blog....back! If this goes on beyond the next day or two, I may just create a new account and put up The $200 Mission on a new blog. It would stink because all my old stuff would be stuck on the old blog, but at least I'd be able to move forward!!!

Keeping multiple appendages crossed,

SavvySuzie

The Mission - Day 3

Yep, it's Day 3, and The $200 Mission is still down. I am hoping that with the regular work week starting up again, this will be fixed quickly...but time will tell. I still haven't gotten any communication from Blogger's folks that my restore request was received...my neuroses are kicking in but I'm trying to hold it together!!

Thanks for hanging in there with me!
SavvySuzie

The Mission - day 2

Well here I am, day 2 of my blog being disabled because of Blogger's anti-spam program singling me out as a spam blog. Anyone who reads The $200 Mission knows that this is hooey, but for whatever reason their program pegged me. I submitted to have my blog restored yesterday morning, and have yet to hear from Blogger as to whether they have even received my request. I am hopeful that this is just an oversight because this occurred on a Friday and come Monday this will be taken care of.

At any rate, keep checking back - I will be posting updates on this blog for now, until everything is back to normal :)

Thanks!
SavvySuzie

The mission is still on!

Happy Friday!

I wanted to post a quick note regarding my main site, The $200 Mission - in reconfiguring the site for my new layout, Blogger apparently flagged me as spam and temporarily disabled the site. I am working to get it restored, so check back!

Thanks :)

Savvysuzie