2014 - Book 8

"Wake" - Michigan

I had no idea this book was set in Michigan until I looked at the US of YA list after reading it. I guess they did drive up to Canada one day, so I could have guessed it was somewhere in the northern US, but other than that, it wasn't very obvious.

I did enjoy this book though. Too much foul language, but a really interesting concept. I don't want to give the whole story away for anyone who wants to read it, but essentially, the main character gets sucked into other peoples dreams. So if someone dozes off in study hall, she has a real problem because her body gets all rigid and it looks like she's having a seizure and she can't control it. Throughout the book she learns how to deal with it better and it actually becomes a pretty cool talent. It's crazy some of the things people dream about, that's for sure. This is the first book in a trilogy, so it leaves room for more story at the end, but it still has a decent amount of closure, so that's good too. Overall, not an excellent book, but still intriguing and fun to read.

In other news, I tried this new method of cooking rice in an attempt to get more "restaurant-quality" rice. Honestly, I don't think it made that much of a difference, but it was still good rice. Plus, I got to make it on my NEW STOVE. I'm very excited about it :)

Isn't it beautiful? 

An update for the crock pot meals too: the curry chicken with cabbage and peppers was just okay, I didn't really like it. It definitely needed salt and pepper added. My other stove-top curry recipe is much better. However, the sloppy tamale pie over cornbread was pretty good. It doesn't taste too much different than chili on cornbread, but it was pretty tasty.

That's all for this week, hope you are all doing well :)

2014 - Book 7

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" - Kansas

I think this is the kind of story that you either love it or hate it, and that is probably based on the movie, because I don't know if I've ever met anyone who actually read this book. To be honest, I don't like the movie, but I loved "Wicked" so I was pretty undecided about this book. It was better than I thought it was going to be, but to be honest, it was rather boring. That might be because I knew most of the story already, but it also might be because it's a very young, young adult book. It was in the children's section which confused me at first, but that was definitely correct. It is as G-rated as it gets, and I did appreciate that, but it just seemed like the conflicts got resolved too easily every single time. It would be a great book to read to your younger kids or for an early reader to dive into though. I liked it better than the movie (isn't the book always better than the movie?), but not as much as "Wicked", I might be a bit partial to musicals though ;) It was cool to hear the original story and see how some of the aspects of "Wicked" that I thought were deviations from the movie were actually true to the book. But what does everyone have against the Good Witch of the North? I don't think she was in the movie or "Wicked", I don't think she was even in the most awful recent retelling, "Oz the Great and Powerful". Someone needs to get on writing her story soon :)

For my recipe to share this week, I present these interesting-looking Raspberry Neapolitan Cupcakes.

Vanilla & Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Frosting

The cupcake was good, although I may have overfilled my pans and only got 36 cupcakes instead of the promised 48. Also, the frosting was super runny for me, even after chilling it and adding probably close to 5 and a half cups of powdered sugar. I was going to be late for work if I didn't start frosting though, so I ended up with this interesting starfish shaped frosting job. It actually gave a pretty good amount of frosting per cupcake, in my opinion, and after sitting out for a little bit, got a nice crust on it that was pretty tasty. So, they may not have been the prettiest things in the world, but they tasted pretty good. I probably won't make them again, but it was good to try.

Have a great week :)

2014 - Book 6

"The Fault In Our Stars" - Indiana

Okay, I realize some of you might have strong feelings about this book because it is very popular right now, but bear with me. First of all, I did like this book . . . it is one of the better ones on the US of YA list that I've read so far. However, I was not a fan of the premarital sex (which seems to be in every book these days unfortunately, at least it was very minimal in this one) or the view that a belief in God or heaven implies that you are unintelligent. I happen to believe in God and heaven and I don't think anyone would classify me as an unintelligent individual. But, apart from that, and the few bad words, this was a pretty quality book.

The basic premise of the book is that it is a love story between two teenagers battling cancer. I think this book is so relevant and popular now because everyone, it seems, has been personally affected by cancer in some way. This was particularly moving to me because one of my best friends in grade school died of brain cancer when we were only in 6th grade. The emotions are raw and run pretty high in this book, but not in a bad way. It's a very real book and I enjoyed that aspect of it. Also, part of it is set in the Netherlands so I felt like I got to go on a journey with the characters too, which I always enjoy.

Supposedly this is coming out as a movie this year, but I'm not so sure I want to go see it. I did enjoy the book, but I have a feeling the movie will be a bit disturbing. Cancer is ugly and I'm sure actually seeing the damage it's having on these young bodies will be even more emotional than just reading about it. Also, I'm not entirely sure I buy the casting of the male lead because that is not how I pictured him looking at all, but that's open to each person's interpretation I guess.

So, all in all, it was a good book, one of the better that I've read so far this year, but there was a little room for improvement. I'm interested to see what comes of it after the movie.

Apart from reading, I promised you more recipes this week, and I will provide those in the form of my second crock pot freezer meal prep extravaganza :)

Before I tell you about all of the recipes I made this time, I feel the need to clarify something about one of my previous recipes. My favorite of my first batch of freezer meals was one that I dubbed "nacho soup". It was a taco flavored black bean concoction of yumminess, but I think I had my recipes switched up. When making this 2nd batch, I thought I made it again, but then realized I had used a different recipe so here is the break down:

Chicken Taco Soup

This is the real recipe: "Chicken Taco Soup"

This is the recipe that I thought I was using until I realized that the real one had chicken in it, and the one I made during my 2nd batch was with hamburger: "Black Bean Taco Soup"

That's what I get for using two lists that each have a "taco soup". So, because of that mix-up, there are no repeat recipes in my 2nd batch of meals from the first batch of meals, but that's okay I guess :)

This is what I made:

Enchilada Wraps (x1) (I omitted the olives)

Sloppy Tamale Pie (x1) (Again, I left out the olives, because I just don't like them)

Chunky Chili with Veggies (x1) (I'm looking forward to trying this one because of the nice beef in it (I used a chuck roast), I think I may have ruined it by cutting with the grain though instead of against . . . I didn't know which was the right way and it was the last one I made so I was tired and ready to be done. Hopefully cooking it in the slow cooker with keep it tender)

Black Bean and Corn Salsa Chicken (x2)

Mom's Slow Cooker Chili (x1)

Chicken Curry with Cabbage and Peppers (x2)

A sample of what the meals look like

Black Bean Taco Soup (x1)

Teriyaki Chicken (one recipe makes 2 batches)

Think I bought enough groceries?

Almost all of the ingredients (minus some spices and garlic that I already had) came to $84.48. Not too bad for 11 full meals that will feed us for at least 2 - 3 meals a piece I'm expecting. If each only fed us both for two meals, that's only $1.92 a meal / person. Better than the Dollar Menu if you ask me :) Also, the meat was by far the most expensive part, so if you find some that are vegetarian, or reduce the amount of meat you add, you could save even more money.

Again, I'll keep you posted as we try them out and let you know which ones are keepers :) I'm happier with the variety of ethnicity of meals this time . . . there is some Asian and Indian, not just a majority of taco flavored things like last time . . . I think that will be an improvement :) Oh, and since I made these all by myself (my husband cut up all of the meat for me last time) it took 5 hours, but for the amazing amount of work I've saved in the kitchen after my last batch of freezer meals, one Sunday afternoon is a small price to pay. Try it out with your family and let me know how it works!

A well stocked freezer :)

Let me know if you give any of them a try and what you think . . . talk to you later :)