Starting Out the Week Right

I think everyone's favorite days of the week are Saturday and Sunday, right?  In recent years I've come to love Sundays more and more.  And I definitely know that I have David to thank for that.  While my family can be very religious/spiritual, we didn't always attend church regularly.  Adding the fact that we moved around a lot when I was a kid, then tried to drive back and forth (5+ hours one-way) to visit family a lot on weekends...it was just hard.  But, I was always raised with a strong Christian background and have never doubted my faith. 

David, on the other hand, lived in the same house the vast majority of his childhood and still retains membership of his hometown church.  When we met, I began going to church with him weekly and I really have noticed a strengthening in my faith.  While the two of us have both grown up in different Protestant faiths, we have much common ground within this vast network of Christian sects.

Luckily, we have found a local church that we've been attending the past five or six months that we've come to really enjoy.  Oddly enough, the denomination is not what either of us grew up with...but, after trying one early on that was NOT a good fit, David did a search on Google including keywords that are important to both of our faiths.  We found the church that we are now attending...and have really enjoyed it thus far.

Each Sunday morning I really enjoy heading to church and I think both of us truly enjoy the pastor's message each week...though, like any church, some more than others.  I look forward to getting to know members of the church better and taking part in more and more activities.

When we got home from church yesterday, I decided to spend some time and finish a book I had been nibbling at for a while.  I had about 100 pages left and thought that a Sunday was the perfect day to go ahead and complete it.

This book, The Dovekeepers, is a work of fiction that is based upon a true event that occurred in biblical times.  Because of this, I have labeled this post as both fiction and non-fiction...because it truly is both. 

The timeline of this book is four years, beginning in 70 C.E.  Now, you must begin this novel knowing that at the conclusion of this story, the community in which the dovekeepers reside, Masada, is completely obliterated.  The Jews within Masada are hunted like dogs by the Roman soldiers and while this community is able to survive for many months based upon the strongholds and fortifications of their location...in the end, it doesn't matter.

This story revolves around the women that are the dovekeepers within this society.  The dove, as most know, is typically viewed as a sacred bird.  Because of this, the doves in Masada are (for the most part) not eaten.  However, their manure is used to fertilize the soil of the fields and their eggs are used for sustenance.  So, the keepers have a very important job within Masada.

Four women are focused upon within this storyline (Yael, Revka, Aziza and Shirah), specifically their journey in arriving at Masada and what their role within the dovecotes and amongst the other women becomes.  Each woman's story is so very touching and each is an incredibly strong woman, even though each may not think so about themselves.

I'm not going to lie, there were parts of this story that dragged a bit for me.  But, I think some of that stems from the fact that this book has zero chapters.  Zero.  There are sections/parts that are approximately 100ish pages long and while there is some dialogue, there's not a ton.  Because of that, this 500+ page book can be slow-going at times.

With that being said, I still really enjoyed this book.  Shirah (the last woman who's story is told) has an amazing background and story.  Plus, the book's ending is heartbreaking and breathtaking at the same time.  Obviously, since most everyone dies.  Oh, and of course, there are a couple of plot twisters. 

I would say if you're fond of Francine Rivers-type books, you'll definitely enjoy this.  I certainly did, just be ready to invest a little bit of time with this one.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I did pull the bike out of the garage for a nice, long ride this beautiful Monday morning?  Trying to continue this week on the right path...

Cornbread Stuffed Peppers

So, this past week I decided that I really needed to use up all the vegetables that my in-laws left with us from their garden.  I saw this pin and thought this was a really good idea...only instead of using jalapenos, I'd use the big green peppers my FIL gave us.

Source: ohbiteit.com via Crystal on Pinterest

So, I started out with the four beautiful peppers and mixed the cornbread mixture together. 

The cornbread mixture is super easy...I just used Jiffy and mixed up the batter according to the box's instructions.  Then, you add one cup of corn (I used frozen) and one cup of shredded cheddar cheese. 

Next, you want to cut the peppers open length-wise and remove the seeds and membranes.  Then stuff the cornbread mixture into the peppers.  And sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the cornbread is cooked through and puffy.  I made these on the same night that I made my famous stuffed peppers (a definite Dave's Fave).  So, it was truly a "stuffed pepper night."

I really liked this recipe, but I think next time I'll use my MIL's corn casserole recipe and just stuff that inside the peppers.  It has a creamier consistency...plus David grew up with it and might be slightly jaded to it's flavor.

While this was a recipe I'll be amending for future consumption, I'd definitely say this was a winning food pin on Pinterest!

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Sunday night and all day Monday I was suuuuper sore from The Dirty 30.  You know how when you overdo it, you always feel it the most a couple days afterwards?  Yea.  That was me...but, at least I can find some solace in the fact that I'm one of these people...

Source: koyushoyu.tumblr.com via Crystal on Pinterest

As we march right into fall, I need to really remember this...

Source: healthy-is-the-way-to-go.tumblr.com via Crystal on Pinterest

I believe I mentioned a while back, that for our two year wedding anniversary David and I bought each other road bikes.  Tulsa has an absolutely awesome trail system and I've been utilizing this...A LOT.  In fact, my weekly exercise regime has been approximately two days on the bike and two days in the gym.  I think I'm in love...with my bike.  But, last week I got caught out when the wind was horrendous.  Ever tried to ride a bike in strong winds?  No fun...at all.  And since then it's been kinda windy and kinda cold (at least in the mornings when I work out).  And it's Thursday and the bike has hung on it's rack all this week, getting zero of my attention.  So, maybe tomorrow?  I'll keep the above pinned quote in mind tomorrow when I crawl out of bed.

With all of this exercise and soreness talk, I thought I'd share with you a pretty healthy recipe that I've encountered recently...and love.  I copied this recipe out of my MIL's Cooks Country a while back and haven't had any cucumbers on hand to give it a go.  Well, if you have a home garden...or have a friend or family member who has one...then you've probably noticed a run on cucumbers this year.  My in-laws are covered up in these and peppers.  With the cucumbers they gave me (David doesn't like cucumbers, so yes, they were for me and me alone) I've made two batches of this recipe and have loved every forkful.  

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Cooks Country

3 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced thin (home-grown cucumbers tend to run smaller/skinnier, so I used 4 and didn't de-seed since there wasn't much to de-seed)

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

3 tbs cider vinegar

1/2 cup sour cream (you could easily use Greek yogurt and health-ify this recipe even more)

1/4 cup minced fresh dill

1/3 tsp granulated sugar

salt and pepper

Spread cucumber slices in single layer on paper towel-lined baking sheet; refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Combine onion and vinegar in a bowl and let sit for 20 minutes.

Whisk sour cream (or Greek yogurt), dill, sugar and 1/2 tsp salt together in a large bowl.

Add cucumbers and onion-vinegar mixture, and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!

I'm seriously diggin' on this recipe.  In fact, I can't wait for more leftovers tonight with my supper!  Try it out, it's super quick-to-make and super tasty!

Zombie Domination

As I shared this past Friday, on Saturday some of my friends and I participated in the newest edition of The Dirty 30.  We had tons of fun, though it was suuuuuper cold.  Here were are all bundled up pre-race.

It really wasn't that bad once you got going.  I'd say that by the time we were a 1/4 of a mile in, none of us were really cold anymore.  Sadly, we did lose all our flags.  There were just so many zombies!  There were very few people we saw that still had their flag-football-type flags by the end.  Here we are in all our muddy glory...

So much fun...and I would definitely do it yet again!

Zombie Apocalypse

A few months ago I mentioned that I participated in The Dirty 30 with a few friends.  It was, seriously, the funnest 5K I've ever done.  If you'd like to read my previous post about this (and another) race, you can click here.

Tomorrow is the latest Dirty 30, the zombie edition*, complete with event volunteers dressed up as zombies and chasing you throughout the 5K.  It's my understanding that you receive two flags (like in flag football) at the beginning of the race and the end-goal is to still have your flags at the finish line.  We shall see...

Also, in light of the fact that it's breast cancer awareness month, I'll also mention it's going to be "freeze your tatas off" cold.  Today the first big cold snap of fall has arrived...and it's making me wonder what I've signed myself up for, considering the fact that tomorrow's low and high will be 37 and 54 degrees, respectively.

Am I crazy?  Yes.  Am I going to have so much fun with my friends that it should be illegal?  Yes.

Wish me (and my friends) luck tomorrow!

*If you'd like to read up on the worthwhile charities this event supports, click here!

Healthy Taquitos!

This past Friday I did something pretty amazing...I got an iPhone.  Specifically, the iPhone 4S.  I'm not one to need the latest and greatest, most cutting-edge technology when it comes to phones.  But, in the past year I've had REALLLLY bad luck with cell phones.  And I don't understand it.  The usage of my cell phone has dropped dramatically, yet the last two phones I have had appeared to be super delicate and started messing up almost immediately.  Could it be a conspiracy amongst the cell phones manufacturers?

I'll bring you up to speed...one month after moving to San Antonio (April 2011) I bought an HTC slide phone.  I'd heard good things about these types of phones.  I bought the hard case to protect it and...lo and behold, two months later the texting stopped working when the phone was vertical.  I had to turn it horizontal ever.single.time to text.  Annoying, yes.  Deal-breaker, no.  Then, when we moved to Tulsa in November (2011), the phone started to mess up even more.  I figured, I only have a few more months to go for an upgrade, I can make it.  In February (2012), I accidentally dropped it (in the case) and the entire screen cracked and went super dim.  I hobbled along for a week or so, but then bought a new Blackberry off eBay.  I figured I just needed it to get me through to April (2012), when I'd claim my yearly upgrade.  April came and went and the Blackberry was suiting me just fine, so I figured I'd keep it for a while longer.  No point in buying it and dumping it just because an upgrade was available.  Then, within the past month/couple weeks it started to act up and I figured I just needed to wait a few more days until the iPhone 5 came out...that way I could get the 4S for cheaper than it was pre-iPhone 5 release.

You know, you hear that once you get an iPhone, you'll never go back.  It's been pretty fantastic thus far...I never realized how much more user-friendly they could be!  And there are sooooo many useful apps.  I figured out this week that there is a Hobby Lobby app, so you don't have to print off their weekly coupon to provide to the cashier.  Rock on.  Let's hope the cell phone honeymoon period here doesn't last a mere 6-9 months like it has with my past two cells.  Cross your fingers for me...it's encased in an Otterbox, so we should be good!

One of the things that's super fantastic about my new iPhone is the camera.  It's way better than any camera phone I've had before...in fact, I decided to take a picture of our supper from Sunday night and Tweet the pic.

Delicious-looking, no?  They were.  Big time.  I got this recipe from Giada's show, "Giada at Home"...also referred to by David as "Boobs at Home."  Have you ever watched this girl?  She's cute and skinny, the daughter of a chef and model, I believe.  The ol' saying goes to never trust a skinny cook, but I like to watch some because I feel they're more healthy.  I can't continuously watch other cooking shows (which shall remain nameless) where every recipe starts with a stick of butter or a cup of whole milk/cream.  At least, if I make a Giada recipe, I know my waist won't be expanding later on that day/evening.

But seriously, look at the girl.  She kinda deserves the nickname David has dubbed her with.  This is the kind of outfit she seems to wear EVERY EPISODE.

But, I digress.  Giada's recipe was delicious and I highly recommend you trying it.  David doesn't even like black beans and still really liked this recipe...of course, I waited until he said it was tasty before I revealed that tidbit of information.

Here's the recipe and if you'd like a quick and easy printable, just click here.

Turkey and Spinach Taquitos

Ingredients

Vegetable oil cooking spray
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 packed cups baby spinach leaves, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup mascarpone, at room temperature (8 ounces)
Eighteen 6 1/2-inch-diameter extra-thin or regular corn tortillas
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup shredded white or extra sharp Cheddar (4 ounces)

Serving suggestion: salsa or guacamole

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Spray a heavy nonstick baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray. 

For the filling: Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a 12-inch skillet. Cook the onions, salt and pepper, stirring frequently, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add the turkey and cumin. Cook until the turkey is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the beans. Mash the beans until smooth, using a fork. Stir in the mascarpone. Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brush each side of the tortillas with olive oil. Cook the tortillas in batches until warm, about 30 seconds.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the filling into each tortilla and roll up into a cigar shape. Place the tortillas, seam-side-down, on the baking sheet and sprinkle with Cheddar.

Bake until the Cheddar is melted and the tortillas are crisp and golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve with salsa and guacamole.

Gone Girl

How do you prepare for vacation?  Let's just go through a listing, shall we?  You might have your mail stopped, ask a friend to check on the house while you're gone, clean from top to bottom, do laundry so you can pack, set up a dog-sitter, clean out your fridge...I could probably keep going, but I think that's enough.  You get the idea

One main thing I relish before a trip is picking out what I'm going to read.  For David and I, we agreed upon four books and ended up finishing two.  That's pretty good; our road trips usually consists of two, so we were right on track this time.

Separately, I had a few books that I wanted to try and either finish or read through.  One was Gone Girl, which is sweeping the nation right now.  It's been on top of the New York Times Bestseller list for weeks and the author, Gillian Flynn has been making the rounds.

 

In fact, it appears that the book will be made into a movie with Reese Witherspoon looking to be taking on the lead female role.  But, when you have this kind of hype and you're really looking forward to finishing the book after reading a mere 50 pages...doesn't it sound like a fantastic idea to leave the book in your car right before you leave for vacation?

Because that's what I did.

Fan-freakin'-tastic.

Oh well, I was able to finish the book earlier last week.  No biggie, this small hiccup allowed me to progress further into Les Misérables while we were actually on vacation.  Which is a realllly long book, I might add.  But, really good too.

Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard the premise of this book.  On the off-chance you haven't, I'll indulge you.  Amy and Nick have been married for five years...and after a celebratory five year anniversary crepe breakfast, Nick heads off to work.  Later that morning/early afternoon Amy goes missing.  And, inevitably, the first place the police and media look...is at Nick.  And he's an easy scape goat, you soon realize.

The way this book reads (predominately) is Nick's present day telling and Amy's journal over the past few years.  So, while the police and media immediately appear to convict Nick, you as the reader have access to his inner thoughts and fears.  This is a new and interesting way to tell this type of story and I enjoyed it.

I don't want to get into the nitty gritty of this novel and what happens...because there's no way to do that without revealing HUGE aspects of the story-line.  However, I will say that I am not a mystery/thriller girl.  Over the past year, I've tried to read a few mysteries (in the classic sense of the word) and they just don't excite me.  But, I will say that I enjoyed this book.  Am I doing back flips over it and telling everyone I know to read it?  No.  But, I would recommend it simply based upon the literary quality of the book.  Flynn is an excellent story-teller and there are definitely some unexpected plot twists.  And everyone loves real, flawed characters; Nick and Amy both fit that bill to a T...one of them maybe a bit too much.

Go and pick this book up if you're so inclined, it is a treat to read.  But, the world won't end if you don't read the newest and most coveted bestseller.  I'll give you the overall message Flynn said this book presents, that no one really knows what kind of person they may be married to...