2014 - Book 32

"Arise" - Louisiana

I thought I would like this book quite a bit, but I had a hard time getting into it. I don't know why they decided to put the 2nd book in the series on this list, but I don't think it was a good idea. I spent the first third of the book wondering what the back story was that I was missing. It is about a girl who is a ghost but dating a live teenage boy. His family can almost all see ghosts and when they travel to New Orleans for the Christmas holiday, things start to get really weird. There is some strange voodoo stuff and I just wasn't that enthralled by it. Also, it was rather long. Oh well, on to the next book now. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to finish all 52 this year, but I've made good progress. Maybe some of the other books will be shorter and I'll be able to get through them faster.

For my recipes this week, I have Mile-High Peanut Butter Pie and another round of crock pot freezer meals.

The Peanut Butter Pie was very tasty, and I really liked the Nilla Wafer crust, but I didn't take a picture of it because my chocolate and peanut butter "drizzles" were more like globs and didn't look very nice. I think to get it to look like the picture, you would have to put it in plastic baggies with the corner snipped off. Oh well, it was very tasty and everyone liked it . . . yum.

These are the recipes I used for my Slow Cooker Freezer Meals:

Mom's Slow Cooker Chili - http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/02/10-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-in-less.html
This was a repeat recipe, I made two bags because I knew it would be good. This time I used ground turkey instead of ground beef to try and save money, but the chili really is better with the beef.

Crock Pot Pork Carnitas - http://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2013/10/easy-crock-pot-freezer-meals-2.html
So far, this one is the real winner, it is AMAZING. Maybe it's just that I haven't had pork in so long, but this was really yummy. We put it in tortillas with tomatoes, lettuce, hot sauce, cheese, and sour cream . . . so good. Go try it :)
 
Crock-Pot Chicken Sweet Potatoes - http://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2013/06/crock-pot-chicken-sweet-potatoes.html
I haven't tried this one yet, but I'll let you know how it is when I do.

Crock-Pot Honey Garlic Chicken - http://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2013/06/crock-pot-honey-garlic-chicken.html
This was was just meh. The chicken turned out dry and really the sauce served over rice was the tastiest part of the meal. I won't make this one again.

Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti - http://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2014/03/crockpot-freezer-meal-recipes.html
I haven't tried this one yet either. I'm really skeptical about putting precooked pasta into the crock pot, I'm expecting it to be super mushy and gross, but I thought it was a good experiment. The pasta took up so much space in the bag that I didn't have room for the Velveeta, and the Velveeta package says not to freeze it, so I'm just going to add it in the morning when I put the rest in the crock pot and hope for the best.

Sweet Potato Basil Soup - http://www.mommysfabulousfinds.com/2014/03/crockpot-freezer-meal-recipes.html
I was hoping for more with this one . . . it was not too bad, but the onions were kind of chewy yet and it wasn't as creamy as I thought it would be. Not a make again recipe, but it was okay. 

Bean Tator Tot Casserole - http://growingtofour.blogspot.com/2014/09/crock-pot-freezer-meal-bean-tater-tot.html
Tator tots are always better in the oven I think. After cooking, I had to stir it up to mix in the cheese and soup and the tator tots pretty much fell apart. Luckily the recipe calls for less than the full bag, so I baked some of the left over tator tots in the oven and put them on top. It was a very mellow flavored dish and I think kids would like it, but I think making it ahead and then baking it in the oven is probably the best way to go. I did see some crock pot recipes that line the crock pot with the tator tots and then thaw the soup mixture and pour it over . . . I think that would turn out better, but I still think the oven would be the best.

Chicken Taco Soup - http://www.lovingmynest.com/learning-activities/cooking/freezer-crock-pot-recipes/ AND http://www.allergyfreecooking.net/chicken-taco-soup/
I've made this before too and it's excellent so I also made two batches of it. I couldn't remember if the beans were supposed to be drained or not (one link says to rinse and drain the black beans and the other doesn't), so I made one batch with all of the beans rinsed and drained, and one batch without doing that, so we'll see which is better :)

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week. Go make some pork carnitas, it will make you feel better ;) See you next week.

2014 - Book 31

"The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls" - Delaware

I found this book very strange. It's about a book club, and I think it was written to be a book club book. There just seem to be lots of things left unanswered that the reader can decide for themselves or discuss with others. I don't really like books like that . . . I want the author to tell me what happens. Maybe I'm boring, but I like answered questions and happy endings. So, if you're looking for a book about four very different teenage girls and their mothers and what happens in a small town in Delaware over one boring summer, then this is for you. Take it to your book club and discuss it, but it just wasn't for me.

My recipes this week, on the other hand, were definitely for me: Blackened Tilapia, Parsley Pesto, and a Great Zucchini Brownie Challenge (Fudgy Zucchini Brownies vs. Low-Fat Zucchini Brownies).

I wish I could give credit to whomever came up with this tilapia recipe, because it's delicious. However, I got it off of the tilapia package and I only saved the recipe part, I don't even know what brand it was. Here is the recipe:

I think MasterChef has improved my plating skills :)

1 lb. of tilapia fillets, thawed
1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cayenne
2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. onion powder (I didn't have this, so I just upped the garlic powder)
1/2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tsp. brown sugar

Combine the dry spices together to create a rub. Completely coat the tilapia fillets and allow to sit for 15 - 20 minutes before cooking. Heat oil in a large pan (I used a cast iron griddle) and add fillets. Cook fillets for 2 - 3 minutes on each side. Enjoy :)

So good :) I made a southwestern style salad to go with it. Yum :)

I had a big bunch of parsley from my CSA box that I didn't really know what to do with. Luckily, the CSA farm sends recipes with the boxes and this recipe was included. I don't really like parsley all that much, but I do love pesto, so this was a very good way to use it up. I have no idea who thought 1/5 of a cup was a good measurement though. Are you starting to see why I prefer to use weights in a lot of my cooking? Oh, and I don't think I've shared this page before, but it is very helpful once you transition to using a kitchen scale: How Much Does a Cup Weigh? It's a very handy chart with weights in ounces and grams for one cup of a wide variety of different ingredients. Give it a try.

And finally, another brownie challenge, but this time with zucchini brownies. I think you can probably guess, just by the names, that the fudgy zucchini brownies won by a landslide. The low-fat ones were still good, but the fudgy ones were GOOD. I used dark chocolate cocoa powder for both the brownie and the frosting of the fudgy brownies and it was very tasty. If you want the nice color contrast that she has on her blog though, I would use regular cocoa powder in the frosting. Mmm, so good :) Not to neglect the low-fat brownies though, they were still good brownies, and much healthier than your typical brownie. Give them a try if you are watching your weight and still want something sweet. But if you are just looking for a really yummy zucchini brownie, go for the fudgy version :)

That's all for this week folks :)