January Recipe and Book Roundup

February 1, 2009 at 2:31 am (Uncategorized) (books, cooking, goals, reading, recipes)

Part of the point of this blog is to keep track of my goals for the year, so what better way to track it than to do it monthly. So here is my January wrap up!

Recipes

I’d been hoping to try 5 recipes this month, but only managed to do 4 (unless I am forgetting one!) I think a few of these recipes will find their way into our usual repertoire, in particulat the three delicious casserole-type recipes we made. I truly am a fan of the casserole – often, these recipes can be prepared ahead of time and refridgerated or frozen, making it much easier to have a nice home-cooked meal even on a weeknight when time is scarce. I can’t wait until I have an extra freezer I can fill with pre-made meals!

Chicken Tamale Casserole – from Cooking Light. Delicious Mexican-food inspired casserole. I found the recipe and bought the ingrediants, while the husband cooked it. A true team effort!

Pasta with Butternut Squash and Bacon – from Cooking Light. Taste wise, this was great – the bacon and squash really were good with the pasta and sauce. I do have to admit – the appearance of the dish wasn’t as nice as in the recipe, though that may have been b/c  I double the recipe and used a much bigger pan.

Turkey Tetrazzini – from Cooking Light (though I think this may have been a Chicken Tetrazzini recipe initially. This was delicious! It made a HUGE pan since the recipe was originally meant to make two small pans for freezing – it fed us for dinner twice, not to mention lunches. A definite keeper. 

Hoisin Pork and Snow Pea Stir Fry – from Cooking Light. This was a good stir fry recipe, though on the sweet side (which I like). Definitely something I might keep on my quick evening dinner ideas list. 

Books

I managed to make and exceed my reading goal this month, though I’ll admit that I started one of the books in December and didn’t finish it until this month. But it still counts. I can’t complain about any of the books I read this month – all of them were fairly good and represented a variety of topics.

Madness: A Bipolar Life – I really enjoyed this book, a memoire written by a bipolar woman. The writing style may not appeal to all, but it really is a startling illustration of what life is like for a severely bipolar individual. I’m very interested in this author’s other works, and will be reading more of her work.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility – I’d heard a lot about this book, which many women use to learn about charting and maximizing their chances of getting pregnant. Well, after reading it, I think all women should read it. It is amazing and full of fascinating information useful not only if you are looking to get pregnant, but also if you are avoiding – or just want to understand your body better.

The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker – I’ve been on the search for a new sci fi/fantasy author, and I think I have found her. After reading a compilation of short stories by Ms. Baker, I took a chance and read my first full length story by her.  I definitely think she is a keeper, and I am already on the road toward reading more  of her books.

Sarah by Marek Halter – A fictional story about Sarah (biblical Sarah, wife of Abraham). It was a nice weekend read, and I’ll be looking into the author’s other works about biblical women.

 Gardens of Water by Alan Drew – I picked this book up on a whim, and am glad I did. Set in Turkey, and focused on a Kurdish family. It never quite went how I expected, and it is not a happy book, but it is good nevertheless.

A Free Life by Ha Jin – I’m finishing this up today. While I don’t love it like some of the other books this month, it was a nice book to read before bed. It’s a bit slow and not a lot of action, but sometimes that is a good thing.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell – Interesting, albeit startling book. Makes me glad to be a woman in today’s world. I liked it though!

Exercise

This didn’t go so well this month. Started out strong, but got out of my ‘beginning groove’ when we went to Arizona, and never got back with it. But, I will look forward and do better in February. I am eying a 4 mile walk at the end of April called the ‘March for Babies.’ That could help keep me on track since I would have a specific goal.