2011 Goal 4: Swap one electronic device for another

It has been a rough couple of weeks in our household as we all managed to come down with something this month that required a z-pack.  Not all of us tested positive, but we're pretty sure we managed to pass strep throat around.  Hopefully that's out of the way for the rest of the season .

I thought a good way for me to keep track of my goals would be to assess them monthly to see where I am.  I thought I'd tackle #4 first since I am pretty confident I won't get another book read this month.  Looking at the tally in the Goodreads Challenge box in the sidebar, I read 5 books for the month of January.

Before I look at what I've read, I'll clarify why all the books I read were written by the same author.  I'm a huge fan of TNT; they've introduced a lot of new shows that are of much better quality than the basic networks these days (The Bachelor is STILL on - really?).  I've gotten hooked on quite a few:  The Closer, Leverage and Hawthorne, just to name a few.  They introduced one last summer with Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander (of NCIS fame) called Rizzoli and Isles.

Names sound familiar and I couldn't quite place why but then I remembered in my stack (OK, box) of paperback books I had a few of the Rizzoli and Isles series, written by Tess Gerritsen.  I read the first 3 or 4 in the series and I was hooked.  I am a fan of police procedural novels anyway, but Gerritsen has a way of pulling you in and keeping you in until you reach the end of the book.   I have an account on paperbackswap.com and some credits to use up, so I ordered the next ones in the series.  Here is what I managed to get through this month:

Body Double:  I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads.  The excerpt of the back of the book was enough to pull me in.  A woman is found shot in front of Isles home and she could be her double.  Couldn't wait to get through to the end.

Vanish:  I also gave this one a 4 star rating.  Nine months pregnant and in labor and Rizzoli finds herself a hostage in the hospital.  Another page turner that kept me engrossed until the end.

Memphisto Club:  This has been my least favorite of all her books so far and got a whopping 2 star rating from me.  The book itself focused way too much on religious symbolism (in my opinion).  I found my eyes glazing over and I started skimming over a lot of it just to get to the end to see who the serial killer was.

The Bone Garden:  This one was OK.  I didn't realize that it wasn't truly a Rizzoli and Isles book - Isles shows up for about 4 pages and that's it.  This was more of a historical romance mystery that kept jumping from the 1840's to present day.  Honestly I think the jumping around kept the characters (from either century) from really being developed.  You learned a little about one - whoosh - back in time you go.  Book was OK though, just not what I was expecting.

The Keepsake:  I was very happy that in this book Gerritsen was back to doing what she does best - weaving a riveting story.  What was thought to be a centuries-old well preserved mummy turned out to be a present day murder victim.  Another one that kept my attention through the end.

All in all, I didn't do too bad with this goal.  Granted none of the books I read were classics, but I have 11 more months to read 5 of them!

Approximately 28 days ...

... until pitchers and catchers repor for Spring Training.  Football seaon is officially over for me!  GO BO SOX!!

Cheesy Beef and Rice Casserole

There is a lot of football watching going on in our house this weekend.  Yesterday we watched the Steelers win (eh) and at the moment I am waiting for da Bears to hurry up and win so the Patriot's game (the important one) can start.  Although, honestly after the way Seatlle played last week I kind of hoped they would have shown up for the game today.

So the menu focus this weekend was quick and easy.  Last night for supper I threw together the following recipe that I've had floating around in my 'to try' pile for years.  I cooked everything up in the morning and just tossed it in the refrigerator and then put the casserole together right before I baked it.  It took about a 1/2 hour for it to start bubbling.  We had it with steamed broccoli (frozen that you just toss in the microwave) and a salad.

I did change it up a bit.  I used brown rice in the base and regular sour cream as I hate the funky taste of the fat free.  I added a can of black beans to the skillet with the ground beef and called it six servings instead 4.

GO PATRIOTS!!!!!!!

Cheesy Beef-and-Rice Casserole

Yield: 6 servings
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 (15.5-ouce) can black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups cooked long-grain rice
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup (3 ounces) reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375°.

Cook first 3 ingredients in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until meat is browned, stirring to crumble. Add water and next 6 ingredients (water through beans); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

Combine the rice, sour cream, sliced green onions, and milk in a bowl. Spoon rice mixture into a baking dish. Top with beef mixture; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 438 Calories; 12g Fat (29.5% calories from fat); 17g Protein; 48g Carbohydrate; 9g Dietary Fiber; 33mg Cholesterol; 387mg Sodium.

Turkey Chili

I am home from work today with Madeleine who has strep throat.  I took her to the doctor after work yesterday for a cough that has been lingering for a week along with a gross nose that led me to believe she had a sinus infection.  I was right on the sinus infection but was surprised when the strep test came back positive, since she never once complained about her throat and she hasn't had a fever.

Good little employee that I am, I logged on to work this morning to get a couple of hours in but I kept losing my connection, so I gave up for a while.  I'm not having an issue with any other websites so I am taking the opportunity to do a little sale shopping (shhh, don't tell) and a blog update.

I made Pat Monahan's Turkey Chili (lead singer for Train) from the latest issue of Rachael Ray's magazine over the weekend.  I haven't been able to eat ground turkey since I was pregnant with Madeleine, so I subbed in the same amount of boneless skinless turkey tenderloins that I cut into chunks.  Three tablespoons of oregano scared me a bit so I decreased it to 2 and upped the amount of chili powder and I also cut the oil back a bit.  By the time 2 hours were up, the turkey chunks had started to fall apart and the chili itself was a nice deep red.  Yum.  This went over well with the kids, although I did catch the little guy piling up the black beans on one side of his bowl.  Maybe next time I'll use kidney beans instead.

Pat Monahan's Turkey Chili
Modified from Every Day with Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds boneless, skinless turkey breast, cut into chunks
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons chili powder
4 teaspoons ground cumin
Three 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
Two 15.5-ounce cans black beans, rinsed
1/4 cup dry red wine
4 bay leaves
Shredded cheddar cheese, for serving
 
In a large dutch oven, heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over high heat. Working in batches, add the turkey and cook until browned; transfer to a bowl.

Lower the heat to medium-high and add the remaining half tablespoon olive oil to the pot. Add the bell peppers, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the oregano, chili powder, cumin and 2 teaspoons salt and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, black beans, wine and bay leaves. Stir in the turkey and 1 cup water, lower the heat to medium and simmer until thickened, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. To serve, top with the cheddar cheese.

Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette

Here is another recipe from the latest issue of Cooking Light that we liked.  I served it with the Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis I made the other night.  This came together quickly; I was able to get it together during the 25 minutes it took the meat loaf to cook.  Be warned though, if you are not a fan of garlic then this is not the vinaigrette for you!  I was afraid to take the leftovers (which held up OK in the refrigerator for 2 days) to work as I didn't want to stink up my cube.

Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups baby spinach leaves (about 6 ounces)
1/4 cup vertically sliced red onion

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add 6 cups spinach and red onion; toss to coat.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups)


CALORIES 66 ; FAT 5.1g (sat 0.7g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.5g); CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 31mg; CARBOHYDRATE 5.2g; SODIUM 147mg; PROTEIN 1.1g; FIBER 1.9g; IRON 1.3mg

Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis

I'm working on those New Year's Goals I posted about! 

My subscription to Cooking Light ran out last year and I did not subscribe again because I thought the magazine started to decline.  Issue after issue was making its way into the box for Half Priced Books without even one recipe marked to try.  Last weekend I decided to check out the magazine index online and see what the Jan/Feb issue looked like.

I'll say I was pleasantly surprised.  There were a handful of recipes that looked pretty good and the Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis was one of them.  Meat loaf in any form tends to disappear off of the kids plates although I'll admit to chopping the onions pretty finely in my food processor; Madeleine has decided lately that she doesn't like onions because one of her daycare friends doesn't like them.  I'm sure she'll catch on pretty soon but until then the food processor is my friend.

These were good and we'll go into our meat loaf rotation.  I did make sure that none of the diced cheese was showing so all of it wouldn't ooze out while cooking.  Served this with some potato salad (courtesy of the HyVee deli) and a spinach salad. 

Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 meat loaf)


1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (about 1 ounce)
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
3 ounces white cheddar cheese, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 425°.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.

While breadcrumbs cook, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup ketchup, and remaining ingredients. Shape into 6 (4 x 2-inch) loaves on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray; spread 2 teaspoons ketchup over each. Bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until done.

Nutritional Information
Calories:256
Fat:11.6g (sat 5.7g,mono 3.9g,poly 0.9g)
Protein:28.5g
Carbohydrate:11.2g
Fiber:0.9g
Cholesterol:112mg
Iron:2.6mg
Sodium:620mg
Calcium:159mg

Happy New Year!

It is THAT time of year.  The new year has arrived which means, among other things, that parking will be hard to come by at your local gym.  Until at least February ... that's about the time of year those pesky new exercisers tend to slide back into old habits .

Along with millions of other people, I took a look back at the last year and came up with a list of things I would like to achieve.  I like to think of them in terms of 'goals' and not 'resolutions' though.  A resolution is more of an intention where a goal requires me to make some sort of effort in order to achieve it.  So, whether you are into making resolutions or goals, here is my list of goals for 2011:

1)  I'll start with the one that is probably on the top of most people's lists:  Lose weight.  Specifically after stepping on the scale this morning I have decided I would like to be 25 pounds lighter than what I currently am.  That would put me in the low-mid area of my height/weight range instead of in the mid-high area.

2)  Get back to exercising regularly.  I was plagued with back pain through most of 2010 and fell far off of the exercise wagon.  Hopefully this goal will help me achieve the first one!

3)  Get back into cooking.  I have an abundance of cookbooks in my kitchen that have been neglected over the last couple of years.  My goal is to cook at least 3 new recipes a month over the course of the year.

4)  Swap one electronic device for another.  I received a Kindle for Christmas as well as a gift card to use towards books.  I used to love to read and often find myself logging on to the computer rather than picking up a book.  It is my goal to read 25 new books this year AND since most classics are free to download, my goal is to read at least 5 classics.

5)  Get financially organized.  Top on my list is getting us on a budget so we can work towards paying off the home equity loan that we've had for a while.  While I don't want to go all Dave Ramsey on our finances, I do think we can benefit from being a little more organized.  I'd love to pay my car off this year but this is supposed to be a list of goals not dreams!

6)  Find a hobby and work on honing the skill.  Over the years I have tried many different things:  knitting, crocheting, rug hooking and basket weaving (yes, basket weaving).  I even picked up a cross stitch bookmark set (for a whole $2.50 on clearance) thinking it might be something I might like.  I'd just like to be able to start and complete a project this year.  Doesn't sound like too lofty of a goal ...

I could probably sit here for the next hour and come up with an even longer list of goals that I'd like to accomplish.  Faced with too long of a list however, and I probably wouldn't even accomplish one.  Although I do like to think I work better under pressure, the point of the list is not to stress myself out  :)

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2011.  I am off to work on Goal #4 while the little ones are still napping ... too late ... someone is peeking out their bedroom door looking at me.  Sigh.