Chili, Cake Balls, and a Christmas Tree?

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. We had a very relaxed and lazy weekend, and it was AMAZING! My good friend Sara and her boyfriend, Tristan, came up and stayed with us on Friday night. It was so good to see them, and to catch up!

On Saturday, Eric and I slept in and then headed to Dick's Sporting Goods and the Galleria for a little shopping. At Dick's, I got the cutest blue Under Armour top. Then it was off to the Galleria, where we were on a mission to find Eric some new jeans. You could see his boxers through his current favorite pair of jeans. While we were at the Galleria, we saw this:

Although I absolutely LOVE Christmas, and I can't wait to start celebrating the most amazing holiday of the year, I feel a little bad for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the most overlooked holiday. As soon as Halloween is over, most people skip straight to Christmas leaving Thanksgiving out in the cold. So even if you are tempted to put up the tree and hang up the lights a little early this year, don't forget to take a little time to remember what you are thankful for this year!

Sunday was another lazy day, filled with football and baking! One of the girls at Eric's office was sweet enough to bring everyone cake balls to work one day, and I don't think the boys have stopped bugging her for more since then. Eric got the recipe from her, and convinced me to make them. I can see why she was reluctant to make them again, because they take forever! It was literally an all day affair. I'm not sure if mine were as good as Rachel's, but I sure had fun trying!

There is absolutely nothing healthy about these little sinful balls of goodness, but sometimes you just have to live a little. These would fall under the Fabulous category of Fun, Fit and Fabulous!

Since we knew we would have to sample a few cake balls for dessert, I wanted to make something healthy for dinner. I decided a nice warm bowl of chili would be perfect for a cool evening.

Ingredients:
McCormicks reduced sodium chili seasoning
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of diced tomatoes (no salt added)

Optional Ingredients:
2/3 lb. ground beef
1/4 cup lentils
1/4 cup black beans

I actually made this chili in two different pans, since I was making a vegetarian version for myself and a T-rex version for Eric. This was a very easy recipe to adapt to fit both of our needs.

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to the directions on the side of the package, and set aside.
2. Brown the ground beef in a separate skillet
3. In a separate sauce pan, combine kidney beans (undrained), diced tomatoes, and chili seasoning.
4. I then poured half of the chili mixture into the pan with Eric's meat, and added the black beans and lentils into my chili.
5. I allowed both pans to simmer for 10 minutes.

It was the perfect meal for homey Sunday! I hope everyone has an amazing Monday!

Food for thought:
How was everyone's weekend?
Do you enjoy Thanksgiving, or are you ready to skip right to Christmas? Don't worry I won't judge!

In health,