What To Eat This Week

     

 Sausage and Potato Soup

Delicious. Always a favorite.

Vegan Red Cabbage Bowls with Tofu and Peanut Sriracha Sauce

I added more veggies than the recipe called for and sprinkled some cilantro over the salads too. Good. Would make again.

Cauliflower Crust Pizzas 

Yummy. 

Cold Soba Noddle

I used thinly sliced meat from the grocery store rather than sukiyaki meat. I won't do that again. It was a little tough and hard to eat. Will make again.

On to this week.

 Garlic and Apple Butter Pork Tenderloin

 

 Garlic Sauce Chicken

 Pasta Fagioli

Hake with Crispy Sweet Garlic and Olive Oil

Dinner with friends

Steak and bacon-wrapped scallops

 No Time Taco Soup

What's on your menu this week?

January 2015 Goals Update

How did I do in January on my goals?

1. Make one meatless meal for dinner a week. We ate Bacon-Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder and Spinach Frittata. One week didn't happen. So far everyone's ok with eating meatless once a week. And bacon so doesn't count.

2. Continue working on my fitness and lose another 30 lbs.  I went to the gym 12 times in January and once to yoga. Yoga is my new favorite thing. I didn't think I would like hot yoga but I do. It's pretty relaxing. No new weight lost but glad I'm maintaining what I've already lost.

3. Go back to meal planning. I'm doing it. It's working!

4. Schedule one do nothing, stay home weekend a month. I added this goal more for the summer and holiday time but the end of January got a little busy. We stayed home and did nothing 2 weekends out of the month.

5. Plan one trip with Tai this year. Haven't even thought about this one.

6. Get a will and other necessary estate planning documents. Haven't even thought about this.

7. Clean and declutter one room a month. I decided to start easy and do our downstairs hall closet. Here's the before shots:

Total chaos. I kept trying to make things neat but there was no organization. Plus tons of wasted space.

Here's the after:

 So much better and an empty shelf and a half (which are still empty). It feels so much better. And I can see what we have now. 

8. Do one things for myself a month. I went to the spa for my birthday. I can't wait for my next spa visit!

9. Watch one older (pre-2014) movie a month. Fail. I watched Ride Along and The Grand Budapest Hotel but those are both from 2014. Sigh.

10. Learn to make 5 Japanese dishes. I made chashu. I still want to make ramen but I need the time to make the broth from scratch.

11. Stop complaining and start sharing my gratitude. So hard. Especially at work. I bitch all day long. I do find that yoga is helping me quiet my mind so maybe it'll help with the complaining.

12. Take 2 cooking classes. Ashley had a couple she wan interested in but they sold out before we could sign up. We'll keep trying.

January Book Tally

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics edited by Diana Schutz
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long
Snow by Tracy Lynn
Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare
The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner
The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase
Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman
The Zen of Fish by Trevor Corson

A good start to the year. I've read some good books and finally finished listening to Coraline on audio!

Stats:

What's In A Name Challenge: this month: 1 (Romancing The Duke) YTD: 1

Graphic Novel and Manga Challenge: this month: 3 (Noir, The Silence of Our Friends, and The Shadow Hero) YTD: 3

Historical Reading Challenge: this month: 2 ( The Duchess War, and Scandal Wears Satin) YTD: 2

Foodies Read Challenge this month: 1 (The Zen of Fish) YTD: 1

Total: 11

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Since it's #comicsFebruary, it's fitting that my library loot is all graphic novels.

How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less

I enjoy graphic travel memoirs and I think this one sounds excellent.

Seconds

I'm looking forward to this one.

What did you get this week? Add your link below.

Teaser Tuesday-The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"I'm roasted coffee bean color now. He black as the inside of a chimney."
pg 27 The Color Purple by Alice Walker

January Graphic Novel Reviews

Since I suck at reviewing graphic novels but I need to for the Graphic Novel Reading Challenge, I'm going to have one post a month with short reviews of all the graphic novels I read that month. Unless one graphic novel stands out and needs it's own post. Or I read so many that one post is ridiculous.

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

This one is hard to review since it's a bunch of short graphic stories. They all have a crime either being committed or about to occur. Most were good. I would have like some to be longer. The last one by Brian Azzarello was my favorite.

The Silence of Our Friends

I choose to read The Silence of Our Friends because it was based in Houston, Tx (where my mom grew up) and it was based on a true story. Long changed some of the details but kept the true story. in 1967, two men, one white, one black, try to help bring racial equality. Jack is a tv news reporter and Larry is the leader of a non-violent equal rights group. Both men learn to trust each other and help their families see that hate and distrust isn't the way to solve our problems. Very well told and drawn.

The Shadow Hero

Gene Luen Yang is Ah-MA-zing. I throughly enjoyed The Shadow Hero and I hope he does more Green Turtle graphic novels. Sonny Liew's art was also spectacular. 

What To Eat This Week

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Pineapple Habanero Sauce and Kale & Avocado salad. A family favorite.

Hake with Olive oil, butter, and lemon and Orange and Maple Syrup Roasted Beets and Carrots, The reviews were mixed. I thought the hake was still very fishy. But loved the beets and carrots. Tai liked the fish and didn't care for the beets and carrots. Dad liked it all. 

New York Steaks and roasted brussel spouts (not pictured).

Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce and Oven Roasted Cauliflower. Dad and I loved the meatballs. Meatballs aren't Tai's favorite but he thought the meal was good. No one was impressed by the roasted purple cauliflower. 

I also made this Vegetable Beef Soup which was excellent. I forgot take pictures! Oops.

What's on the menu this week?

Sausage and Potato Soup

Dinner Out

Vegan Red Cabbage Bowl With Red Cabbage and  Peanut-Sriracha Sauce

Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion, and Potato Hash

Deep Dish Pizza Pie

Knock Your Socks Off Slow Cooker Chicken and Sausage

 Pork Tenderloin

Weekend Cooking: The Zen of Fish by Trevor Corson

I added The Zen of Fish to my library queue because I love reading about my favorite foods. I really enjoy sushi and, after reading The Zen of Fish, I feel I'll be a more confident sushi eater.

Corson follows a group of students at The California Sushi Academy. Along with their training, he intersperses the history of sushi. I enjoyed the interactions of the students and their teachers but I really liked the history. In some ways it reminded me of Salt: A World History. I could see how the student stories might get on some people's nerves but I thought they added context and helped break up the historical facts. Salt was a much more history focused story where as The Zen of Fish talked about how people influenced the way sushi developed. Corson spent a lot of time talking about how sushi came to the United States which I liked. I also enjoyed learning the differences between American sushi and Japanese sushi. I won't be nearly as surprised if I ever go to Japan and eat sushi.
Sushi rolls like California rolls developed in the States and aren't common in Japan.

The Zen of Fish also made me hungry! It was hard to read and not want to rush out and eat sushi all the time. I can't wait for our next sushi visit! Others who shared their thoughts on The Zen of Fish: Historica Canada and The Wine Dark Sea.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

This was my first read for the Foodies Read Challenge.

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Desert Tales

More stories set in the Wicked Lovely world? Sign me up.

All The Bright Places

This one is supposed to be The Fault In Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park. We'll see.

Mistress of The Revolution

I wanted some historical fiction set during the French Revolution.

What did you get this week? Claire's got the linky.

Teaser Tuesday-The Zen of Fish by Trevor Corson

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Without this mold, sushi as we know it wouldn't exist. The mold's Japanese name is kōji."
pg 13 The Zen of Sushi by Trevor Corson

What To Eat This Week

It's was a good week. We stuck to the plan. Yay!

 Cheeseburger in Paradise with roasted brussels sprouts. Delicious. Would make again.

 Bacon Apple Smothered Pork chops with mashed sweet potatoes. The smothering made it good. Would make again.

 Slow Cooker Roast Beef with beef gravy and mashed potatoes. A real winner. The beef was so tender and delicious. Would definitely make again and again. 

 Bacon-Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder. Good, hearty soup. Everyone liked it. Would make again.

 Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp. A family favorite.

Beefy and Cheesy Low Carb Green Chile Bake. Very good. Everyone liked it. Would make again.

Here's what on the menu this week:

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Dinner Out

  Meatballs In Mushroom Sauce

 Hake With Olive Oil, Butter, and Lemon

 Creamy White Bean Stew With Smokey Bacon

 Cauliflower Crust Calzones

Crockpot Roast Beef

(Go Hawks!)

What's on your menu this week?

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

I loved These Broken Stars and I have been eagerly awaiting This Shattered World since I read the last page of These Broken Stars. At first, I was disappointed that Lilac and Tarver were not the main characters in This Shattered World but I enjoyed my time with Jubilee and Flynn. Another fantastic novel by Spooner and Kaufman.

Jubilee Chase is a lifelong solider. Where as other recruits are marking time, getting their training, and a paycheck, Jubilee knows she's in the military for the long haul. There isn't much else left for her. Flynn Cormac has a family. A family of rebels but he belongs somewhere. But when the rebels want to fight and break the tentative peace, Flynn feels that he needs to find a way to bring both sides to talk. Flynn believes that Jubilee is the person to listen.

Jubilee and Flynn are on opposite sides of a war. But they keep coming back to each other for reasons they can't understand. At first, Jubilee would rather shoot Flynn than go along with his ideas. Flynn doesn't know why Jubilee won't listen to reason. They go back and forth, round and around for a long while. But I enjoyed their getting to know one another. The mystery of why Avon isn't terraforming as quickly as it should and what's this mysterious facility was more the focus than Jubilee and Flynn's romance. And that worked in this one. If they'd run off and forgotten saving Avon, then it wouldn't have been as good. Again, chapters are told in alternating format, Jubilee and Flynn. As the reader, you get to understand them and see them understand each other. Beautifully told story.

I'm a huge fangirl for this series. I'm anxious for the next book. Others who shared their thoughts on This Shattered World: Reading After Midnight, Fiction in Fiction in Fiction, The Book Monsters, and Mrs. ReaderPants.