Second Place

I am not competitive.

We had a chili cook-off at school on Friday. Participation was "optional," but if everyone on their team participated, then everyone on the team would be allowed to wear jeans for the whole week before Spring Break. For those of you who don't know, allowing teachers to wear jeans is HUGE. So, my participation was a little forced.

Thursday evening, I went to Wal-Mart and bought all the meat and supplies I needed for the great chili cook-off. Todd came with me. We like to shop together. We busted our budget on stuff that night. We finally got home, then around 9:30, I started to cook.

As I browned the meat, I realized that I hadn't bought any tomato sauce! Neither Todd or I was willing to go out and buy tomato sauce, so I had to deal. I had 1 can of pre-seasoned tomatoes for chili, which also called for the addition of 1 can of tomato sauce. I used a can of petite diced tomatoes instead. I sprinkled in a little garlic powder and cumin.

To make this already too long story short, I won 2nd place in the competition. The kids loved the chili. Of course, the room was nasty from them eating in it (Breakfast in my room starts tomorrow and I'm thrilled!). As they announced the winners, the kids SCREAMED and ran to hug me all at once. I tripped and almost fell with all the kids attached to me.

One of my students was Principal for the Day because he reached "Star Level" with Reading Counts. He promptly brought me my prize ($15 for Saltgrass Steakhouse). Then one of my girls found her Perfect Attendance ribbon and gave it to me. She said, "Mrs. K, I'm so proud of you! You make really good chili."

Oh, and Rollei must have been really hungry Friday, too. He stole my new small loaf of white bread off of the counter and ate 3/4 of the loaf! He looked a little tubby.

Have a great week!