As long as I'm here . . .

Me again.

I have a favor to ask. I'm approaching the end of my list of books to read. Pretty soon I'll have to just go to the library and start grabbing books off the shelf, which I've never had great luck with.

So I wanted to beg all you lovely relatives for any and all suggestions you could throw out to me. I miss the book reviews we had on here when the blog first started (not that I put any up myself until a few minutes ago - sorry!). It doesn't matter if you don't know what kind of books I like. My only preference in trying new books is that I like each one to be totally different from the last one I read. So anything goes.

Call me, email me, or just toss the title up here on the blog so I (and everyone else) can see it. But please don't let me end up at the library looking aimlessly around the shelves.

Understanding Comics

I know this is random, since it's been a while since anybody posted here, but I want to throw this out for your consideration. I've been reading a few graphic novels lately (that is, books written in comic book form). There are some I've really enjoyed, like Maus, which many of you have probably read. There are others, like Jimmy Corrigan, which I couldn't get into at all. Seriously, I can't figure out why that one is considered to be so wonderful.

Anyway, I started wondering about graphic novels in general, and how they've flown under my radar for so long when there are such good ones out there. So I picked up this book: Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. It's a comic book written about comic books. It has the information you'd expect if you picked up a textbook on the subject, but the layout and the way McCloud explains things make it fantastic. It's intelligent, thorough, and often quite funny. I kept thinking that if every textbook were written like this, even the school classes I hated would've been okay.

I don't know if any of you are interested in comics or graphic novels, or if you enjoy nonfiction at times, but if you like either one you should pick this one up. I'd never read anything quite like it, and I learned a lot.

Pasta E Fagioli Soup

 I found a recipe for Olive Gardens Pasta E Fagioli soup. We liked it and it was pretty easy:

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can cannellini beans (or white kidney beans), drained and rinsed (I couldn't find cannellini beans so I just used two cans of the kidney beans)

1 (26 oz.) container beef stock (or 3 cups)

1 jar (25 oz.) spaghetti sauce

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup uncooked ditalini pasta (or your favorite pasta shape) (I used Picolini pasta here since I couldn't find ditalini)

Salt, to taste (about ½ tbsp. kosher salt)

 

Directions:

Brown and crumble ground beef. Drain excess grease.

Add all the other ingredients to the slow cooker (except for pasta) and stir.

Set slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

During the last 30 minutes or so of cooking, add in the pasta and stir. 

Cooks Notes: Pasta likes to absorb a lot of the liquid so if you like your soup more soupy, be prepared to have an extra can of beef broth handy. You can add it towards the end.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken

This recipe is so easy and only has 4 ingredients which is my type of meal!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix cheese, dressing mix and garlic powder.
3. Moisten chicken breasts with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish.
4. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

I found it on pinterest but this is the website
It has such a great taste (if you like garlic, which I do). All my kids liked it.
Try it, its yummy!

The Hunger Games

Hey All,

I'm probably super far behind everyone, but I finally finished The Hunger Games series.

I LOVED this series... though I admit that the first and second books were better than the third. I had seen a preview for the movie coming out in March, and I thought I should read the books first so I had something to compare the movie to.

I burned through all three books in just a few days (which is really good, since I'm a terribly slow reader), and was overall impressed with the way it flowed. The books are written in present tense, which starts out tough for me, but I quickly forgot about it and it became more natural as I read through the series. Definitely a good one if you're looking for a book that is easy to read and intense at times. I'm giving it a 4 out of 5, just because the last book was slow-moving. :) Very good, though, for those of you who haven't read them yet!

Cindy

Crock Pot Chicken

Crock pot chicken 

(I got this recipe from Vonnie who got it, I think, from Sarah)

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup

6 oz. Italian dressing

3 - 5 chicken breasts (or about 10-12 chicken tenders)

Mix the Cream of mushroom soup with the 6 oz Italian dressing and pour into crock pot. (I actually just mixed it together in the crock pot)  Add chicken breasts or tenders and push them down into the soup mixture to coat.  Put the lid on and cook on high for 6-7 hours.  Serve over rice.   How easy is that!  

It has a good flavor and is nice enough for a company dinner.  

 

My kids all liked this, and it was extremely easy!

Report on Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

This autobiography is the story of Daniel Tammet, who suffers from autism (Asbergers syndrome), epilepsy and is a savant. Although it became tedious in places where Daniel's descriptions of his thought processes went WAY over my head, it was still fascinating. It was amazing that he was able to write his own autobiography, let alone describe so well what life is like with autism, and how he experiences and processes his environment. Imagine being able to memorize and recite pi to the 22,514th number without an error! I looked on youtube and watched a few clips of Daniel's documentary, Brainman. I would love to see the whole thing. Very fascinating story.

I wonder if Earl would be interested in a story like this?

I should probably take a break from reading and try some of these recipes!