Cathy Chats

A Very Inspiring Blogger Award #CathyChat

Good-morning, kittens & dawgs! First up, I made a tiny name change for Tuesday’s chat to CathyChat, instead of CatChat. I didn’t want to confuse others who are looking for fellow blogger Caren & Cody.

Okay, I’m really excited!! Looky, what I got…

Very Inspiring Blog Award photoThanks to Dixie at dcrelief, for bestowing to me the Very Inspiring Blogger Award! I’m a bit mystified and humbled by the nomination. I think she must have hit her head when she pulled that muscle in her leg. lol Really, though wasn’t this the sweetest thing? Absolutely!

I guess, I need this means I need to share something that’s inspiring, eh?

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I captured this piece of frigid beauty last month. It’s inspiring how our local utility company braves the elements to restore lost electricity to thousands. We were among the fortunate who did not lose our power at all in February. Way to go #KnoxKUB!

There’s nothing like a hot bowl of chili to chase away the cold of a winter’s day.

Curious as a Cathy Homemade Chili

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped                     1 tbsp. ground cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced                      2 tsp. salt
2 pounds lean ground beef             1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 8oz. can tomato sauce                   2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes           2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 ½ c. water                                        1 tsp. sugar
⅓ c. chili powder                               16oz. kidney beans

Directions:

  1. Cook kidney beans to desired tenderness.
  2. Drain kidney beans, but reserve water for use later.
  3. Brown ground beef; toss in all cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne pepper, and chili powder. Stir often while breaking beef into small pieces, cooking meat thoroughly until there is no pink.
  4. Add drained cooked kidney bean to seasoned beef, add onions, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, & sugar (if desired). If more liquid is needed, then add the water from the cooked beans.
  5. Cook chili over medium heat to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for an hour.
  6. Serve bowls of hot chili with a slice of homemade cornbread and enjoy!

 

Curious as a Cathy Homemade Cornbread

 Ingredients:

  • 1 c. yellow corn meal
  • ¾ c. plain flour
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ½ c. buttermilk
  • ¼ c. canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º; grease round pan and set aside. Mix all ingredients thoroughly and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 25-minutes. Serve hot out of the oven!

By accepting this award, I agree to follow these rules for the Nominees:
1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.
2. Display the award logo.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers (more or less) and include their blog link for others to find. I choose to pass this honor to 5 fellow bloggers, for now until others come to mind, who always inspire me:

4. Leave a comment on their blog, to let them know they have been chosen.
5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

  • The amazing talent of street performer, Sammie Jay. Check her out here!
  • I found a tempting recipe, easy-to-make Chocolate Chip Oreo Muffins @ Home.Made.Interest inspirational.
  • Finally, inspiration for next month’s A to Z Challenge is forming inside my head, as I jot post ideas down to begin creating soon.

Are you feeling inspired? I am! 😀

A personal note to my readers: I thought you should know that some of my commenters blog URL associated with WordPress does not link back to their actual blog making it difficult for others to find you. You may want to fix this to encourage newbies to find you easier! 😉

That’s a wrap for this morning. I hope you’ll hop & link up tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday. Have a terrific Tuesday!

 For day specific blog hops, click here.

17 Comments

  • McGuffy Ann

    Sorry I am late. Bill just got home, after being on the road for a month!
    Congratulations on your award. I confess, I think you are an inspiration, too. I often read, but just don’t get to comment. It has been a stressful year so far. I am still healing from the broken, displaced ribs (they debated doing surgery). We have also been remodeling our bathroom. They gutted it, and have totally rebuilt it. Chloe Jo has endless health issues. *augh* Life goes on…this too shall pass…

  • Noah Weiss

    I’ve never considered the combination of chili and cornbread. Then again, my odd combo with chili is…

    Chili with cinnamon rolls! It seems to be a Nebraska thing.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Noah, I know in some parts of the US folks like to add cinnamon to their chili recipe, but that’s a taste I can’t get into. Cinnamon rolls is more of a breakfast/snack food to me, so this is really an interesting combo and yeah, it has to be a Nebraska thing. lol I have a good friend who lives in NE. I’ll have to ask her, if she likes these paired together, too. 😀

  • Rorybore

    An incredible shot!!! I’m almost inspired to go out in our latest snow storm and capture a shot! LOL
    And, I have always wanted to try and make my own cornbread! Hubby might even give your chili recipe a try!
    Congratulations and thanks for passing the nomination to me! I am always inspired by your words and your pictures when I visit! 🙂

    • Cathy Kennedy

      The key word here is “almost”, but not inspired enough to jump outdoors in the Canadian cold, right? Word of advice…stay indoors where it’s warm! lol What’s this? You have never made cornbread? I know in some northern states in the USA bagels are more common than biscuits for breakfast. Is this why you haven’t made cornbread because it’s not so common? Well, if your hubby makes my chili, tell him to feel free to alter it to suit y’alls taste. I know there are many variations to making this wintry comfort dish. DH likes to turn the heat up by adding Tabasco to his bowl of chili. That’s just too much for my stomach to handle, though. Tonight and tomorrow night, we’ll definitely need some of this keep us warm. Hmmm, I wonder if I have some in the freezer? 😀

    • Cathy Kennedy

      It’s not Martha Stewart I’m worried about, Caren. I was afraid Cody would attack! Cats can be territorial and I definitely didn’t want to trend on marked ground. lol Seriously, as you know the name of my blog is a play on words I’ve had several to stop by thinking it was about cats. After I thought about using CatChat for my random Tuesday posts the more I thought it would be better if I changed it to CathyChat to keep with the word play AND to not lead others away from your blog accidentally when they are searching for pet related blogs. But, I appreciate your kindness. You’re a nice blog neighbor/friend! 😉

  • createwithjoy

    So, I decided to take a break from the post I am working on, approve a few comments, and lo and behold – what a wonderful surprise to come across your comment, Cathy! Congrats on your much deserved Very Inspiring Blogger Award – and thank you for honoring me with the award in turn!

    Your chili sounds wonderful – esp in lieu of all of your snow!

    Have a wonderful week – and now I have food for thought…

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Thanks and you’re very welcome, Ramona. Accepting these types of awards, I always find it difficult to come up with a list of bloggers off the cuff. However, I knew instantly this is a perfect award for you. Your blog is always full of inspiration and I am always amazed at the number of participants you have joining you week after week. I don’t know how you do it. You inspire me, if nothing else for the ability to keep up with your readers/commenters. lol Oh yeah, I forgot to mention (a brain dead moment) I received the book (Chicken Soup for the Soul ~ Find Your Inner Strength) that I won on your site a few weeks ago. I was going to drop you a line to let you know, but then it slipped my mind. I plan to give this to one of my daughters who can really use the encouragement & inspiration. Thanks!

  • Arlee Bird

    Chili and cornbread! Doesn’t get much better than that. I made some not long ago but probably due to make another batch.

    I did the Inspiring Blogger award on my blog for my January 30th birthday post so I won’t be doing it again this soon. I wouldn’t want to get so inspiring as to annoy people:)

    I sure do appreciate the gesture along with the kind words though.

    And now I’m inspired to make some more chili. Guess I’ll wait until after next week when my wife comes back from visiting our daughter in Houston. Mmm!– chili!

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    • Cathy Kennedy

      It looks like you’re quick on the draw this morning. You learned about your nomination before I could leave you word. I reckon I have the time difference to thank for this, huh? Well…I certainly understand why you wanna decline accepting at this time, but know you can claim it anytime you want! There’s nothing like a bowl of chili to fight off winter’s chill.

  • dcrelief

    Cathy, you are one amazing and adorable person. I am very glad I met you. Your photo is outstanding. I could ‘feel’ the cold through the screen! I have pintos with ham going on right now, but will copy the chili for another time. (Cornbread is always a must. I think we have very similar recipes.)

    Congratulations on the well-deserved award! And my thanks again, for being an inspiration to me! 🙂

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Amazing?! Adorable?! Well, I certainly like your choice of adjectives and to think I’ve been using silly or crazy to describe me. Hmmm, so I’m crazy, amazing, adorable me! That works! 😀 Mmm, I love pinto beans and cornbread! My mom use to put a ham hock or bacon in her pintos when she cooked them and that’s some kinda good eating. I ate a lot of brown beans and bread as a kid because my folks didn’t have a lot of money. In fact, I remember swearing off on them, saying “I’ll NEVER eat pinto when I grow up.” Well, I lied. I found as an adult this is one of those comfort foods I like to have from time-to-time and it gives me a sweet feeling every time I enjoy a bowl ~ simple times of faded memories long ago warm the soul. Again, thanks for the award and kind words. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?

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