2014 - Book 15

"Devilish" - Rhode Island

This book was different from a lot of the other ones that I've read. The story wasn't as gripping as something like "Divergent", but it was interesting. Not many people write about demons and selling souls to the Devil nowadays. It was a bit chilling, but still intriguing. I didn't like how cupcakes became a tool of demons, though ;) On a serious note, since I believe that demons are real, it was kind of scary to think of how they might be operating in our world today. Hopefully the next book I read will be a bit more lighthearted.

I have a few recipes to share today, pepperoni pizza lasagna rolls, strawberries and cream cheesecake, and bird's nest cookies.

These were all actually pretty good. The pepperoni pizza lasagna rolls were pretty easy and very tasty. I don't even like lasagna that much. The only thing they were missing was a stronger pepperoni flavor, so I think chopping some up and putting them in the sauce would be a good idea.

This cheesecake was way better than my first attempt at cheesecake (Oreo Cheesecake). This one was very creamy and the baked strawberries added a really nice flavor. I had to bake it a little longer than the recipe called for (I waited until the center was at about 150 F). Give this recipe a try, you won't regret it :)

The final recipe, bird's nest cookies, turned out a bit drier than I was expecting, but were actually pretty good . . . similar to a shortbread cookie. I found the speckled peanut butter M&Ms and they looked cute in their little nests. A good spring cookie :)

Enjoy your week :)

2014 - Book 14

"The Queen of Kentucky" - Kentucky

Yup, you guessed it . . . "The Queen of Kentucky" is, in fact, set in Kentucky ;) This book was actually pretty descent. If you've seen the movie "Mean Girls", the story line is very similar, but I found this one more enjoyable and the characters much more endearing. The book chronicles the drama of being the new girl in school and starting Freshman year wanting more than anything to fit in. There is a lot of the usual teen problems, but also some bigger ones, and quite a few quirky characters so I think almost everyone will find someone in this book that they can relate too. Is it my favorite book? No, but it was a good story and I'd recommend it, especially for younger teen girls who are nervous about high school and trying to fit in.

My recipes to share this week are both sweet ones, chocolate chip cookie in a cup, and homemade pound cake.

The chocolate chip cookie in a cup was just okay. I wouldn't make it again, but I was really desperate for a chocolate chip cookie, so I tried it. It did taste more like cake than a cookie, and the recipe says that might be because I cooked it too long, but honestly, it did not look done any sooner than when I took it out. So, it was a sugar fix, but it wasn't very good.

This was the "before baking" picture. I didn't bother taking an "after" picture because it just wasn't that good. 

My second recipe was much better. I got this really fun book from some friends as a house-warming present: "Cupcakes, Cookies, and Pie, Oh My". Since we were going over to their house for dinner, I decided I should make a dessert out of the book. Most of the recipes include a lot of store-bought ingredients, and this was no exception, but I figured I could make it a little more homemade by making the pound cake myself. It turned out pretty well and stood up to all of the craziness I put it though (with much help from my husband who did all of the painstaking marshmallow work). The cake got a little hard on the outside, but that didn't really detract from the flavor at all. Let's be honest though, this isn't really about the cake . . . it's about the SHEEP :)

I only made 4 instead of 7 . . . that was plenty. 

Isn't he ADORABLE??? Quite filling too . . . at least two servings, if you can bear to eat him at all

I also whipped up some cream and put it on top of the leftover cake with some strawberries for dessert another night . . . yum.

Whew, that's a lot of dessert :) Hope you all have a great week.

2014 - Book 13

"Pretty Little Liars" - Pennsylvania

When I think of Pennsylvania, I generally think of Amish people, so I was not expecting the Pennsylvania book to be about spoiled rich girls who would probably fit in better in southern California or a big east coast city. Anyways, I'm sorry if you like this book, but to me, this book is poison. You know that song, "That girl is poison"? Yeah, these girls fit into that category. They are all lying about some big, bad thing in their past and they all have new skeletons in their closets too (homosexuality, bulimia, shoplifting, drug and alcohol abuse, kissing her sister's boyfriend, almost sleeping with her English teacher, etc.). It's just all drama and lies and nothing good at all. If you want to read a good book about a group of high school girls, I highly recommend the "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" series. They go through lots of real troubles too, but they rely on each other and the book just oozes friendship and love and sticking together . . . the antithesis of this icky book. I know it is wildly popular and even has a hit TV series based on it, but I would not recommend it to anyone.

Now, for something nicer:

First up are these are fruity Jell-O roll ups. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture, but I made them in orange, and they were a big hit. I don't really like Jell-O, but they were pretty good. Make sure you check the size of your Jell-O, because I used a small 3 oz. box, so therefore I needed two. They were easy to make and I think kids would love them.

My other treat was this sweet & salty pretzel tart. Again, I didn't get a picture of it, but mine didn't look as pretty as the recipe anyways because I didn't dot the peanut butter around enough so it kind of took over the top. It still tasted good, but was not my favorite dessert. It sounded fantastic, but the flavor was a little one-dimensional for my tastes. Oh well, it was good to try. If you do make it, please ignore the stupid directions how to make the crust. I don't know if my way would improve it any, since I always try to follow a recipe exactly the first time I make it so I can do an accurate review, but the way she suggests to make the crust is super time consuming and really didn't work for me. I would just mix it all together and then press it straight into the pan, none of this chilling and then trying to roll it out . . . it did not work. I think just pressing it into the pan and then chilling it would work much better. Hopefully, I'll have better things to share in my next post!

2014 - Book 12

"Divergent" - Illinois

Yes, another winner :) I know this book series is really popular right now, and I can see why . . . it's very interesting. I don't want to give too much away for those who are going to see the movie, or haven't read the book yet, but it's another dystopian society with a pretty awesome heroine, the next "Hunger Games", I guess you could say. I liked the premise of this society better than the "Hunger Games" though. There are essentially five factions with strict rules which you must abide by until you are 16. Then you take an aptitude test to help you see where your true strengths lie, and you are finally asked to choose which faction you will exist in for the rest of your life. They all have different values (knowledge, bravery, selflessness, honesty, or kindness) and operate in very different ways. This book focuses mainly on the Abnegation (selflessness) and Dauntless (bravery) factions and the rising tensions between all of them. I know there are more books in this series, and I might read them, but honestly, getting to know the society and the characters is my favorite part, so reading the rest right now is not my #1 priority. Besides, I have lots of other books on my 50 States of YA list to read yet :)

My one negative about this book is that it was pretty violent and could be scary for the younger audience (there is a lot of discussion of various fears and the author is very good at making it seem so life-life). Other than that though, I have no complaints.

Another thing I liked is that it is set in Chicago-future. I've been to Chicago quite a few times, so I thought it was really interesting to read about the possible futures of places that I know now. Have any of you read this book? What did you think? How was the movie? I would like to see it, but I might be too scared ;)

I also have a few recipes to share this week: lasagna skillet pot pie, and "Death by Chocolate" cake.

The lasagna skillet pot pie was very good, and very easy. Make sure that you get the cinnamon evenly distributed throughout the dish. It adds an interesting flavor, but it's not very good if you get it in large doses. I would recommend this for a fast weeknight meal though.

The "Death by Chocolate" cake was mostly my own invention. I promised to make a friend a cake and he only said that he liked chocolate, so I kind of ran with that and made if full of all kinds of chocolaty goodness that I love. I used this chocolate cake recipe, and the used two of the three cakes to sandwich about a quart of Zanzibar Chocolate Ice Cream (made by Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, quite possibly the best chocolate ice cream in the world). I topped it with chocolate ganache and mini chocolate chips. I just made up my own ganache instead of using the ganache in the recipe. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished cake (it wasn't as pretty as I would have liked because the ganache didn't completely cover the sides), but I did use the remaining cake and more ice cream to make a mini version that was quite interesting. It was really good though . . . I highly recommend it :)

Assembling the large cake

The mini half cake

Yum!

That's all for now . . . have a great week :)

2014 - Book 11

Vermont - Jip His Story

Ah, this book was refreshing. It was wholesome, with good morals, and I really liked it. Considering I like Katherine Paterson as an author, and this book won the Scott O'Dell award and I like his books too, I had a feeling I would like this one . . . and I did :)

This is a story of a very hard-working young boy who is of unknown ancestry and grows up practically running the town's poor farm. He is a simple kid who knows how to love people and take good care of animals. I think he is a great role model for any young adults reading the book and it was also a good historical fiction read as well. I would recommend it to teachers and parents alike.

For my recipes to share this week, I have two treats that I liked just as much as this book :)

The first are these absolutely adorable bears in the bubble bath. They were pretty easy to make and would be a really great treat to let the kids help you make. Since they were mostly pre-made ingredients, I wasn't expecting much in the taste department, but they were actually really tasty too . . . give them a try :)

Aww . . . bathtub bears :) 

The other recipe I tried were these M&M bars. They tasted exactly like the giant M&M cookies that my mom would get me when we would go to the mall together . . . a little reminicence from my childhood :) I doubled the recipe and only used about one and a half 12 oz. bags of M&Ms instead of two. So good.

I saved some M&Ms to make these for you when you come visit, Mom :)

Give these lovely recipes a try and let me know what you think :) Have a great week!

2014 - Book 10

North Dakota - The Beet Fields

Alright, maybe I was against it from the start, but I didn't like this book. The author is Gary Paulsen, and albeit stereotypically, I tend to think of his books are more or less "boy books". Granted, "The Hatchet" was a good read, but not the type of book I, or most other girls, flock to. This book was short though, and as you can see from the rather odd cover, took place during the summer. I was cold at the time, so I thought it would be a good read . . . unfortunately, it did not warm me up.

It was basically the story of all the things that happened to him during the summer when he was 16. There was a lot of bad things and not a whole lot of plot or happiness . . . not my type of story. Maybe some would like it, but to me, there weren't really any characters I could relate to and I was left feeling kind of empty at the end. Oh well, at least it only took me about four hours to read the whole book . . . not too much of my time was wasted. Maybe there weren't too many books set in North Dakota to choose from?

On a happier note, here's a good method of baking some potatoes . . . yum :) I made 10 pounds in one day using this method and kept them warm in a styrofoam cooler . . . they stayed hot throughout our whole party and who doesn't love a baked potato bar?

Also, I made these adorable fruit and brownie kebabs. I made up my own chocolate ganache to use as the drizzle so it would harden and they could be stacked for serving. They were a big hit at our party . . . so elegant, yet so easy to make (and tasty :)).

Hope you all are doing well . . . talk to you again soon.

2014 - Book 9

Book 9 - "Bloodlines" (California)

After quite a bit of normalcy in my books, I've returned to the supernatural world of vampires. I have to admit, this book was pretty good. It was pretty clean in the language and romance departments and it would really only get a PG-13 rating for the vampire violence. The whole premise of the other races of vampires and a class of humans (Alchemists) who work to keep the vampires secret from the humans is pretty fascinating. This book is the first in a spin-off series, so I was missing a little bit of the back story (from the "Vampire Academy" series). I would be interested to go back and read that and then read this series again. For some reason, although this book is set in California (Palm Springs), I kept thinking it was in Florida. Oh well, it was still good . . . have any of you read it? What did you think?

For my recipes to share this week, I have a main dish and a dessert. My main dish is fried chicken. I got a small deep fryer for my birthday and wanted to try it out with chicken. I didn't take the time to let the chicken soak in the buttermilk because I was very hungry, but I don't think that made much of a difference. Unfortunately, my deep fryer doesn't have a temperature control, so the outside of the chicken got a bit too done before the inside was safely cooked. Also, it was not spicy at all, so if you like it spicy, I would add some more pepper or hot sauce to it. So, fried chicken is probably not the best use for this particular deep fryer, but it was a good experiment. I made some sauteed zucchini to go with it too, so it made a pretty good meal :)

Mmm . . . fried chicken

The dessert I have to share is another cupcake recipe . . . these adorable chocolate malt cupcakes. The author of that blog is right, the frosting is really easy to work with, I enjoyed that aspect of it. However, for as much malt powder was in both the cupcake and the frosting, they didn't tasty very much like a chocolate malt. The little malt ball topping really helped illustrate that they were indeed malt cupcakes, otherwise, the were just tasty chocolate cupcakes with a slight malty flavor. Give them a try and let me know what you think :)

On display

Time for their close-up :)

That's all for now . . . talk to you later :)

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 :)

2014 - Book 5

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" - Washington

Here I thought Washington would be the "Twilight" saga . . . oh well, I already listened to those in book-on-CD format, so it was good I didn't have to "read" them again.

This book was just okay for me. It was one of the only books I'd actually heard about on this list, so I was expecting a little more from it that it just didn't deliver. Perhaps I was just a little weirded out by being in the mind of a teenage boy, who knows? While I enjoyed learning about his life, family, and tribe, I could have done with less personal boy puberty stuff. So, I wouldn't recommend this book for a girl, but I could see boys liking it quite a bit. The cartoons in it were entertaining, but the story was over-all sort of sad. It wasn't a bad book, but not my favorite either . . . hopefully the next book I read will be better.

Sorry I don't have any recipes to share this time . . . I'll make up for it in my next post ;)

2014 - Book 4c

"Front and Center" - Wisconsin (again)

This was the third and last book in the "Dairy Queen" series. I enjoyed it . . . it was good to get more details on the life of D.J. Schwenk, but I wasn't too happy with the ending. I mean, all of the details were nice, but it could have used just a bit more, and the way it was written was kind of an abrupt stop in my opinion. Overall though, I still enjoyed the series and I'm glad I read all three of them. It gave me a greater appreciation for farmers and student athletes . . . two groups of people I don't really know very much about. Have any of you read them . . . what did you think?

In other news, I made this insane caramelized onion mac & cheese. My aunt shared the recipe with me on Pinterest and it just sounded so fantastic that I couldn't pass it up. Caramelizing the onions took quite a bit of time (WAY TOO MUCH) plus all of the chopping . . . check it out: that is a lot of onions!

Three pounds of onions chopped into 1/4 inch slices

After 1 hour

After 2 hours . . . according the recipe, they should be done by now

After 3 hours . . . perhaps I should turn the heat up a bit?

After 4 hours . . . I'm getting very frustrated

Yup, after 5 hours . . . grr

About 5 and a half hours in . . . finally done

Finished masterpiece

While it was good, it turned out to be very heavy tasting. Not bad, just a bit much for a main course. It would make a stellar special side dish though. I still think I taste and smell like onions the next day ;) Also, the sauce was really salty on its own. The sweetness of the onions balanced it out well, but it was a little disconcerting knowing how much sodium was in the dish. Oh well, it was good to try :)

I also made the 2nd batch of crock pot bean soup. It was much improved by soaking the whole batch overnight in 3 cups of water and the addition of 1 tsp. baking soda before cooking. I also did half and half water and chicken broth to reduce the salt level. I don't really know which it was, but the soup was much better this time around . . . thanks for the suggestions!

Hope you all have a great week :)

2014 - Book 4b

"The Off Season" - Wisconsin (again)

I must say, I quite enjoyed this one too, maybe even more-so than the first book in the "Dairy Queen" series because it's written more like a book and not quite so much of a narration. The story is good, the characters are developed more, and it was a good, clean book. I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy sometime soon.

I have decided that I am definitely a sucker for a happy ending. This book wasn't "full of fireworks" happy, but it still had a good sense of closure and promise for a bright tomorrow. To illustrate my love of a good ending, I have decided that pretty much every story has to have one. I made up a happy ending for Javert in Les Mis. I was inspired after seeing Norm Lewis, the guy who played Javert in the most excellent 25th Anniversary Concert edition, on a Cialis commercial. See, it turns out that Javert didn't die when he fell into the river, he just floated along until he found his house and his wife. He decided that Valjean was right all along and he should really stop being such a workaholic and take life easy. He moves with his family to the U.S., loves to watch his son's play little league, and now he has a good job as a commercial actor. Brilliant, right?

Well, I made this up after we'd just finished watching "Coriolanus". I was intrigued by the Shakespeare tragedy after seeing that Tom Hiddleston is currently starring in a production of it in London, and thanks to modern technology, it is being broadcast to movie theatres in the U.S. If you know me, you probably know that I'm a sucker for pretending that I live abroad, so whenever these events come up, I'm pretty excited to go see them. (Anyone want to go with me?) I'm not the hugest fan of Shakespeare though, so I wanted to make sure the story was decent before I paid money to see it in the theatre. I rented the 2011 movie rendition starring Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler. It was rather violent and weird (mostly weird because they tried to put it in a modern setting but still used all of the old English language), and of course, depressing because it's a tragedy. Anyways, after thinking up this crazy ending to Les Mis, I figured there was no way I could come up with a happy ending to Coriolanus . . . he is, after all, (SPOILER ALERT) very dead in the end.

But fear not, I did manage to think of something. I know it's kind of silly, but I thought it was fun. So in the story, Coriolanus is a war hero who gets pushed into politics even though he's got pretty poor people skills. He tries to maintain his ideals, but eventually the people (lead by some nasty power-hungry politicians) turn on him and he is banished from Rome. He joins forces with the rebel fighters that he used to oppose in order to fight back against Rome. Delegations from Rome are scared and try to reason with him, but in the end, only the delegation of his mother, wife, son, and some other random lady manage to get him to agree to make a truce. That doesn't sit very well with the rebel leader and when Coriolanus comes back after signing the treaty with the Romans, the rebels kill him. So, I decided that  Coriolanus has a secret identical twin. He is kind of a psychotic sociopath, so he's been imprisoned (and his exsistance hushed up by the family) for most of his life . . . funnily enough, in Azkaban (the wizard prison in Harry Potter). The twin brother bears a striking resemblance to Lord Voldemort, but that's besides the point ;) Anyways, when Coriolanus goes into Rome to sign the treaty, his wife, brilliant detective woman that she is, manages to get the twin brother out of Azkaban and into the waiting car to take Coriolanus back to the rebels. The manipulative mother, not realizing this is her other son (because she's just so caught up in "saving Rome" and the brother is rather in shock and confused about what to do) tells him exactly what he should do . . . go back to the rebels and live with them. Who knows what her real motives are, but he does so, because he really has no idea what else to do. So the real Coriolanus escapes to Sicily with his wife and son and lives happily ever after and the man the rebels kill was evil anyways, so everyone is happy, right? So there you go . . . didn't think I could make a happy ending out of one of the most tragic of tragedies, did you? :) I know . . . I have quite the imagination ;)

Anyways, back in the real world, I made some "healthy" maple pumpkin muffins today . . . aren't they pretty? They taste pretty good too (although the whole wheat flour does make them taste healthy, so it depends on if you like that or not). Here is the recipe: maple pumpkin muffins. I used a little over one Tbsp of water to make the glaze just right. Have a great weekend :)

2014 - Book 4a

"Dairy Queen" - Wisconsin

Okay, so I might be a little bit biased, but this was my favorite book so far. The bad language was at a minimum, there was no inappropriate romantic stuff, and not a single werewolf or vampire. Amazing, I know. It wasn't my favorite book of all time, to be sure, but I did enjoy it. It is a story about a teen girl who has to do almost all of the work on her family's dairy farm and a lot about her family dynamics. Oh, and football . . . a lot about football. It's written like she is speaking it all, and the author did use the word "annoyinger" once, which was well, annoying, and a negative in my opinion. For some reason, her voice in my head sounded like she had more of a southern accent . . . weird. But it was pretty good, and since I don't have any of the other books from the library yet, and my friend who lent me this book also gave me the other two in the series, I just might read those as well. 

We got a winner of a frozen crock pot meal tonight too. It was cilantro lime chicken tacos. Of course, they were improved with lots of avocado, salsa, and cheese in the taco shell, but the chicken mixture was pretty good. I had to add a little bit more salt and some southwestern seasoning to spice it up a little bit more, but it's a good base recipe. You could add whatever other seasoning you wanted and adjust the spice level to your taste as well. . . I highly recommend it. 

Until next time :) 

2014 - Book 3

"Everybody Sees The Ants" - Arizona

Okay, this book was not so bad, but I still don't think I really liked it. The amount of swear words was off-putting, in my opinion. Other than that, it was at least a real story with morals and characters that seemed real, so that was nice. It even had some pretty good messages about standing up to bullies and being engaged in your family-life. I don't really get the whole premise of the ants that cheered for the main character and told him what to do, and it was a little odd (but fascinating at the same time) that he had dream adventures with his POW/MIA grandfather, but still, miles above that last book. 

Other than reading, I wanted to give you a crock pot meal update. I haven't had to make too many lately because of so many generous people (my mom especially) who made us lots of food over Christmas and New Years. That being said, I only really have one to report on: tortilla soup. It was not as good as the taco soup, but it had just the right amount of spiciness. It was a bit too watery, so maybe next time I'll put less water in it, but it wasn't too bad. If I had to choose between the two to make again though, I'm definitely making the taco soup. I'm getting excited to compile my next list of freezer crock pot meals to try . . . Pinterest, here I come ;) 

Hope you are all doing well . . . talk to you soon :) 

2014 - Book 2

"Where Things Come Back" - Arkansas

Okay, I started reading this US of YA list with the assumption that these were actually good books. I sure hope they improve because I did not like this book at all :(

I feel almost guilty for being so harsh on the last book, because compared to this one, I loved "Shiver". I never, ever stop reading a book that I've started, and I was about ready to give up on this one by page five. It was nothing like what I think a good book should be, and granted, that is my own opinion, but I enjoy books because they can transport me to another time and place and introduce me to new friends and, in the end, give me some sort of joy, hope, and satisfaction in a happy ending. This book was just crude (foul language), scatterbrained and depressing. Not that it didn't have a "happy" ending, but I had no sense of closure or completeness when I finished this, I was just glad it was over. So sorry, Arkansas, I didn't like the book that was picked for you. Here's to hoping the next book is better!

Other than that, I tried a new recipe tonight . . . homemade crab rangoon. I got a cute little Fry Daddy deep fryer for my birthday and finally broke it in tonight. It worked well even though the control freak in me was a little stressed that it had no temperature control dial. The filling didn't really taste like much, and once they were cooked, did not fill very much of the rangoon at all. That might have been my fault for just using up scraps of egg roll wrappers and making crab rangoon sticks instead of the traditional star/cluster shapes. Oh well, I'll try a different recipe next time I guess, and not over cook them . . . oops. I'll get a hang of this deep fryer yet :)

Crab rangoon sticks

Black hole award

To ensure that this post is not entirely depressing (sorry about that), and because I can't believe that I forgot to share this recipe with you guys . . . I present something good and wonderful: crockpot cinnamon almonds. . . YUM. In the midst of all of the rest of my Christmas baking frenzy, I somehow forgot to mention these. They turned out perfectly and are super good. Give them a try, you won't regret it :)

MMM . . . cinnamon almonds :) 

Okay, I'm off to try and redeem the US of YA now with another book . . . I pray that it's better than the last one.

2014 - Book 1

"Shiver" - Minnesota

Well, my first book of 2014 was aptly chosen. I was indeed doing a lot of shivering during the time that I was reading this book. I experienced some -40 wind chills, I think the coldest I've ever felt in my entire life. 

As for the book . . . it was just okay. It started out rather "Twilight"-esque because it's a story about werewolves, although instead of being really warm all the time, the outside temperature causes the wolf-human transformations. I'm really hoping the majority of books on this list aren't like that. Not that I didn't enjoy the story, but I just hope YA novels are a bit more diverse than just werewolves and vampires nowadays.

It was interesting going back and reading YA fiction now that I'm not in the age group that it is targeted at anymore. I found myself more frustrated with the parents for being irresponsible and clueless to what their daughter was going through than identifying with the teenager. I would say it should be aimed for a bit older YA crowd since there was more romance in it than I was expecting for a YA book, but it was still PG-13. I don't want to give too much away, but essentially the protagonist has an unhealthy obsession with the wolves in her backyard after she was attacked by them as a child. She is "in love" with one of them and ta da, he turns into a human when the weather is warm enough and they find each other for a few moments of bliss before strife comes into the picture threatening it all. There is an interesting resolution though, and if you're a high school biology teacher out there an assign your class papers on diseases, if this book gets popular, I would expect lots of girl's papers to be about bacterial meningitis . . . just saying ;) 

So, I wouldn't buy this book, and I probably wouldn't read it again, but it was entertaining for the most part, and I can see some of it's appeal to the YA crowd. I think another book on the US of YA list is by the same author so we'll see what else she can come up with. 

In other news, not book related I made the baked oatmeal again, this time a cherry/apple/walnut version and it was really good. I just doubled the recipe and baked it in a 13" x 9" pan for about 50 minutes . . . yum :) 

Okay, well that's all for now, I'll keep you posted. Hope you are all staying warm :) 

The End of 2013 & The Beginning of 2014

Hello everyone from the beginning of 2014. Did you all have a nice New Year's celebration? Any closing thoughts on 2013 or new resolutions for 2014?

I can't believe that it's been two years now since I started this crazy life experiment blog. I sure have done a lot more than I thought I could or would. It's been a great growing experience and I think has molded me more into the person that I want to be. I'm involved in a lot more things and capable of way more than I thought I was. Although 2013 was not quite as crazy in terms of challenges as 2012 was, I still got a lot of things accomplished, just perhaps not what I originally set out to do.

On the negative side, I didn't finish my children's book or get anywhere on scrapbooking (oops), although I did get quite a bit of knitting and baking accomplished. But hey, in the big picture, getting a house isn't so bad ;) Things like that just kind of came up and I tried to roll with them and just do what I could do, and that theme will continue into 2014.

My husband has decided that my phrase of 2013 was "I'm busy", so my 2014 goal is to learn to relax a little bit and not be so hard on myself. One of the reasons I started this blog was because I found that I had a lot of free time and I didn't feel like I was filling it with very productive things. Now, after two years of solid productivity challenges, I think I've altered my habits enough that idleness will not be a problem anymore. At the same time, I do want to just be able to veg out and watch a movie if I want without feeling guilty about all of the self-imposed things that I have to do . . . it's time to find a more healthy balance :)

As for this blog, I will still keep it up for my faithful readers (you know who you are ;)) because I know how much I enjoy reading my friend's blogs, but I won't hold myself to one post a week. If I didn't do anything noteworthy, I don't have to write a blog about nothing . . . but if I have a very productive week, maybe there will be more than one post . . . who knows :)

I will also keep exercising because that's just a good idea for my health (especially if I want to keep baking ;)). My goal is still one hour a week, but one and a half would be more ideal, and seriously, that's really not that long.  

And of course I can't go a year without some sort of challenge, so when a friend posted this list on her Facebook, it seemed to be fitting for 2014: The United States of YA. Also, another friend did a "read at least 50 books in 2013" challenge and I was rather jealous of her, so they were both inspirations for my 2014 challenge: read all 50 books represented by the United States of YA map. I adore reading, and was a little surprised that I hadn't read a single book on this list. Granted, it's been a while since I was the YA target audience, but after reading some adult books, I'm more than happy to go back to YA literature . . . less graphic, gory, etc.

So, I'm going to aim for one book a week, but if I have more or less time, it's flexible, and if I don't finish, oh well (or so I'm trying to convince myself) ;) In addition to the reading, I do want to continue learning new knitting things, cooking and baking experiences (of course!), work harder at my job as my church's special music planner, and personally devote more time to my musical instruments (now that I don't have to worry about disturbing my apartment neighbors :)).

While I aim to relax more, I will not be idle, I promise :) Any one want to join me on any of my tasks? I look forward to a new year of adventures, thank God for all of the blessings He brought me in 2013, including all of you, and wish you all of the best today and for the rest of the year :) Talk to you soon :)