My Summer Vacation: Easy Ground Beef Chili

I made another meal out of ATK's Easy Everyday Keto cookbook; we had "Easy Ground Beef Chili" tonight. Like the 2 other recipes I tried, it, too, was good. This time it called for 1&1/2 pounds ground beef for 4 people, but I could only get packages from Kokua in 1 pound sizes.

Browning the hamburger with bell pepper.

Almost ready.

Dinner is served! I forgot the cilantro.

It was tough but I was able to get out of bed this morning. I was a little late, I didn't quite start at 10 minutes before sunrise. I took it easy and only walked the circle which is 1/2 mile.

One minute before sunrise on Waiʻalae.

Nine minutes after sunrise on Maunalani.

They have removed the old roof on about half the building.

Yuki actually came out from behind the gate as I walked by.

I stopped by to get the irrigation parts and add the 2-way splitter for the hāpuʻu but Kelly had not put them out yet; I was there about 30 minutes earlier than usual. I returned later and took care of things. I also changed the watering schedule; instead of every hour it will now get misted every other hour. However, if the weather gets hot as early as it did last year I will go back to hourly mistings.

I did the rest of my banking after I worked on the hāpuʻu. I also stopped by Otto Cake for some cheesecake; since today is Cinco de Mayo the flavors were somewhat Mexican inspired for the initial offerings of horchata, tajin, mojito, Kahlua, and Mexican chocolate. By the time I got there, however, the Mexican chocolate was gone. I got one slice each of horchata, honey cinnamon, root beer float, and key lime.

Their Instagram post lists the 1st 5 flavors available in the morning; Otto bakes throughout the day.

L to R: horchata, root beer float, honey cinnamon, and key lime.

Otto's review in Zagat.

After I left Otto Cake, I went to Kokua Market to drop off more jabon with Abdul. He said the last batch did not make it out to display, he called a member who was asking about it and they were sold before he got off the phone! He said I can bring more in this week, too. I didn't want anything but he gave me a red bell pepper in exchange; I used it in the chili.

Just after I got home, Elijah from Terminix called. He had a cancellation and wanted to know if he could come by earlier to do the termite inspection; I said sure. While I was outside getting some jabon for him, I noticed that the new leader on one of the papayas was broken. Fortunately a couple others have gotten larger while I was gone and I had not removed them; I will train another to replace it.

I had bought a tub of Parmesan Asiago Dip along with some Parm Crisps at Kokua. These are both keto-friendly food items. They are also delicious! I generally wait until things like the dip are half off so its not as expensive; besides, its really not something I think I should have around all the time!

The Neighborhood Security Watch sent out a drone photo of Kapāolono Park which is a few blocks up the street from us. Mom & I would walk up to the park and then back down the other side for her exercise until the uphill portion became too much for her to handle. Our route changed so we walked past Liholiho Elementary School towards the freeway and back; it was totally flat and she also couldn't forget and keep on walking because the street ended at the freeway.

Keala has been totally accepted by S'mores and Luna. Not only do they play together a lot, they also groom each other.

S'mores grooms Keala.

Luna doesn't mind Keala being near her when she eats.

I didn't see this Instagram post until it was too late to include it in my post yesterday, so you are seeing it a day late. Our Lt. Governor is a practicing emergency room physician. With a sense of humor! (It looks better when its streaming.)

There were 4 new COVID-19 cases reported today, bringing our total to 625 known cases; all new cases were on Oʻahu. While the curve here has remained flat, the continental US is seeing about 20,000 new cases per DAY. The Lt. Governor says the number is only going to increase since so many states are relaxing their restrictions before their numbers have dropped to a manageable level. We are also reducing restrictions as we move in to Phase 2 to the Kamaʻaina Economy but our new case load has stayed in the single digits for over 2 weeks; physical distancing & masks are still required.