As you may have noticed, I made a few changes around here this week. I found this nifty new background and added a little picture of Photobaby and me to my profile. And if you really dig deep, you’ll see that I added not just my favorite books and movies to my profile, but really, every book I’ve ever read and movie I’ve ever seen. Except for the ones I hated. I didn’t include those.

And now, I’ve got one more big change. I’m changing my URL to reflect who I am and what this blog is about. Okay, not really. I’m changing it to something that doesn’t make me cringe when I type it. I never liked my address but couldn’t figure out a better one.

But starting tomorrow, I won’t just be giving up on perfect, I’ll be giving up on picture perfect. (Squish that together and you get my new address. I’m not linking it because it doesn’t exist yet. And I’m afraid someone will steal it between now and tomorrow. I’m not a computer expert, people!)

I hope you’ll join me at the new address. I’ve got a big project coming up for November, and I think you’re going to like it. See you there!

As you all know, I’ve been going to Weight Watchers. For the fifth time. For about three months. I won’t make you ask – I’ve lost 5.6 pounds. Please, let’s not do the math. I don’t want to know what that makes for a weekly average.

Anyway, during one of my rare and short-lived spurts of commitment to this weight loss thing, I looked up the infamous Zero Point Soup. If you’ve ever done WW, you know what I’m talking about. But for those of you blessed with skinny genes or willpower, let me fill you in.

Zero Point Soup is, depending on who you ask, anything from a tasty snack to the secret ingredient to losing your love handles. Because it’s made only from veggies, it has no points. And lots of fiber and water. Therefore, it fills you up (making you less likely to eat, you know, muffins and pizza and such).

But when I found the recipe (and there are dozens, possibly hundreds, of versions to be found), I realized it includes a large amount of cabbage. And while I don’t have anything against cabbage, the soup just didn’t sound good to me anymore.

So I decided to make do with chili (and the occasional can of Healthy Choice or Progresso). Here’s how I make it, as part of this blog carnival from BooMama.

Photo’s Phenomenal Chili
(Not really – I just liked the alliteration.)

1 ½ lbs. ground beef (browned, drained and rinsed)
½ packet hot chili seasoning
½ packet mild chili seasoning
1 can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies)
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can chili beans
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 can (medium or large) tomato sauce
1 can (small) tomato paste

Dump it all into the Crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Eat a big bowl. Sigh in contentment. (You can garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream or crackers. But that adds points, you know. Without all that, a bowl of this stuff is about 3-4 points. And way better than cabbage soup!)

Your turn: Do you like soup? Do you use the Crockpot to cook?

When I was a child, I collected dolls. Not the fun kind. Not Barbies or Cabbage Patch dolls. No, I collected porcelain dolls. The kind you leave in the box – or at least, keep the box, in case you want to sell them in the future. (FYI, I’ve checked eBay – they aren’t worth much at all. So, yes, they are still taking up room in my garage.)