Sweet Potato

Sweet Potatoes are one of my favorite foods.
They are as versatile as a regular potato, but have many more nutritional benefits. They are rich in carotene, and an excellent source of vitamins C, B2, B6, B7 and E. They also contain minerals such as manganese, foliate, copper and iron. Also they are rich in fiber!
I have been working on a sweet potato chili recipe over the past couple months, and last nights was the best I've experienced so I thought I would share the recipe, or at least what I can remember of the recipe.

Ingredients:
2-3 sweet potatoes
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 cup chopped carrots
1/4-1/2 cup onion (depending on your taste)
Handful of garlic, salt, pepper to taste
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
(or to taste depending on how spicy you want it)

Chop potatoes, onion and carrots.
Add to the pot all canned ingredients, I don't even rinse the black beans or tomatoes, add them juice and all. Fill the empty can of the tomatoes with water and add that too.
Add the potatoes, onions, carrots and spices.
Let simmer for about 2-3 hours.
It will be done cooking in about 40 minutes, but to bring the flavor out of the potatoes and ingredients it's best to let cook for a while. Plus this makes it a lot more like a chili than a stew.

Serve with Frito's and cheese, or whatever your heart desires!

It's so good and so easy, and perfect on these cold winter days.

Keeping Dry.

To be honest, I have been on the search for the perfect deodorant, and I think I may have found it.

I wanted to find something "natural", sans aluminum, affordable, and that actually works.

I seem to sweat more than average, but I don't want to use something that smells like diapers and burns when I put it on, so I've been just suffering, and probably making others suffer with me.

My pain, and your pain ended last Saturday when I bought this gem:

This week has been a breeze, literally!
Even on Wednesday when I wore our polyester "team" shirts to school that don't breath at all, I was good! And by good I mean, I wasn't sweating like crazy.

I spotted this deodorant when I was in an airport last Novemeber, it was being sold in The Body Shop vending machine, I couldn't bring myself to buy it, but I never forgot about it.

Finally my Toms of Maine was running out, it was time to replenish, and I knew exactly what was going to fill the void in my armpit.
This is a gem of a product, I had to tell someone, anyone, even if no one is reading this blog.

It is available here, and all the scents smell nice! It was hard to choose just one.

Thank you to The Body Shop!

Favorites of the Week.

Favorite boy yesterday told me that his favorite color was pepperoni red.

Favorite boy today went through several letters before he could remember my name was Mrs. M.

"Is it Mrs. P?"

"Is it Mrs. H?"

"Is it Mrs. T?"

Second favorite today was a boy telling me this...

Was a tee tee.

Classroom

Day three and I am still excited about school.

I can't wait to see what the year has to offer.

I feel so blessed to have such a large room to make art with the kiddos...

Actually, more than that I feel so blessed to have this job.

Hippy Hair

Today during the slideshow of my summer vacation a 3rd grader stopped at the picture of me and Eric....

"Whoa whoa, Mrs M. Is that your boyfriend?"
"No, it's my husband"
"Well, he needs to get a haircut, he is starting to look like a hippy"
"Oh really..."
"Yeah, he needs to get a hair doo like me!"

The student who suggested this has hair similar to the example below.

Back to school - Year 2

The smell of hand sanitizer and sweaty kids in the air can only mean one thing, back to school!

Today I started my 2nd year, it's fun to see how the kiddos grew up over the summer, and I am excited to see how the new batch of kinders turn out. So far they were very squirmy and excited!

Highlight of today was when 1st grade boy who was looking at a picture of a digestive process asks what the process in the end was.

"Well, that's poop" I told him.

"Gross!!!! Does it go backwards and out of your mouth sometimes?"
"No, it only goes one way"

"Phew"
I walked away and heard him telling another student...
"That would be crazy if you could puke poop"

Last Travels Before School Starts

Restaurants picked out.

Thrift stores mapped out.

Clothes washed.

Sleeping bags folded.

I am so excited to see middle America, sleep on dirty floors and sit in the car for several hours at a time with my favorite person in the world.