I've been experimenting with different breakfast recipes. I have this one blueberry oatmeal bake that's super yummy, but oatmeal tends to make me starving hungry an hour later. So I decided to play around with quinoa instead. My first try was a casserole with uncooked quinoa and while it wasn't bad, it didn't turn out quite right.
Since then, I've adjusted the recipe a bit and found something that works pretty well. Quinoa does not stick together as well as oats, so I might eventually try this with some additional sticky liquids (I was thinking extra eggs or maybe even some applesauce). But here's what I have so far.
Quinoa Blueberry
Breakfast Bake
1-1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
½ cup (or more!) chopped nuts
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup maple syrup
1-1/2 cups almond milk
2 large eggs
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 pint fresh blueberries
Cook the quinoa according to the package directions, in
approximately 3 cups of water, and let cool slightly. Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, half the nuts, baking
powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, mush up the bananas
and then beat in the maple syrup, almond milk, eggs, melted butter,
and vanilla, until it has an even consistency.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir until combined.
Transfer to a 9x13 glass baking dish, sprayed with oil. Sprinkle the
top with the remainder of the nuts and the blueberries, mixing in a
little bit. Bake for 35 minutes or until it looks set (higher altitude means I went with 55 minutes). Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
So, let's just sort-of forget that November is missing from the Roundup menu. Nothing to see here, move along. We're bursting right into December because it's already February and that's how I'm rolling. Breaking those unwritten rules all over the place.
What I've been up to
It took until the end of December (a month late), but I finally typed the end on my first story. A bit over 50K words and still a lot of editing/revising left to do. It's exciting to say I did it, but a little anti-climactic knowing that I still have so much work ahead of me. And don't even get me started on the hamster story. I have to keep working on that, but seeing that the boys just went back to school today, I've been a little lacking in time and motivation these last few weeks.
What I've been reading
Tempted by His Best Friend by Cari Quinn
I didn't feel anything special with this one. It's been quite a while now since I read it and nothing specific stands out. I read it, I enjoyed it, I'm sure it was a good distraction for all the stuff I do while I read.
Crossing The Line by Megan Hart
This book was recommended in one of the comments from a HaBo on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books as being a really good FemDom story. It was enjoyable, well written and very sexy, but I honestly had some problems with it. They had this whole dance around whether or not each of them were ok with Caite being dominant in their sexual relationship. It's an interesting dynamic to think about, especially when the guy is your boss.
But one of the things that really bugged me was, I hate how it always comes up when something would be really special to the woman, everything goes wrong. Was the guy sorry later? Sure, but I can't say he did anything to really make up for that. I wanted some definite grovel and apology from him because of how poorly he reacted and I didn't feel like we got that.
Mari Shu Vol 2, Martian Conquest by Jody Wallace
It seemed like not as much sex as the first story and I'm not up on enough of the sci-fi pop culture to understand all the references, but I had a good time with this story.
Intermezzo by Del Dryden
I'm a sucker for stories with music, so this was a must-read for me. Very sweet, a little sad and painful, but overall a story of second chances. I liked it enough to read it twice, even though it doesn't have a ton of music in it.
In Bed With The Transforming Alien Robot by Crystal Lattis
Cuz yeah, sometimes that's the way we roll, right? It was a fun story. Rather short and has some sexy times with a gear shift, cuz of course.
What I watched
My DH was out of town for 10 days just before Christmas, so I got a bunch of time to watch movies in the evening. I watched a couple old favorites including French Kiss, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and My Best Friend's Girl. Plus I tried Good Luck Chuck. Couldn't get into it at all. At least with My Best Friend's Girl, Dane Cook's friends are filthy but likable. In Good Luck Chuck, the friend was just a major ass. I might watch it again sometime to see if any other parts redeem it, but mostly just to look at Dane Cook a little more.
What I've been listening to
We'll have to go with January for this one. I just bought some new songs finally. My kids were requesting more Pentatonix and pretty much anything that's not SpongeBob or something funky like that, gets my approval - even if it means we listen to a Christmas album for the next six months. This song is not Christmas, but I can't stop listening to it on repeat and the music video is pretty awesome too. The boys were wide-eyed when I showed them. I love, love, love the cello and violin parts. No real surprise there I guess.
And then I had to explain to my kids the definition of post-apocolyptic ideas and why they were so dirty in the video. I'm really hoping I didn't freak them out.
What I've been cooking
I tried making gluten free gingerbread pancakes over Christmas. My DH was a little hesitant because he doesn't like gingerbread that much, but he was totally onboard once he got a whiff. They are super yummy tasting, but I still haven't perfected them. They just don't stick together or flip very well when you use almond flour, which means some broke apart and some got a little burned. I'm thinking what I need to do is try them as Aebleskiver instead of flat pancakes. I'll report back once I've tried.
The
Mindtraveler by
Bonnie Rozanski Rating:
3 of 5 stars
My
Review: This is
one of those books that's hard to rate, more so from the expectations
than the actual content. As a romance, this book gets one star. It
does not fit the loosest definition of a romance, being there's no
happy ending, happy for now, or anything related to that. Even
slightly more picky: the male character in the book is not likeable,
the female character is interesting but not necessarily likeable
either and their relationship is almost unimportant. I didn't feel
emotionally invested in whether or not Margaret ended up with her
boyfriend. It was simply a side note in the rest of the story.
Margaret
is an interesting character. Her motive seems to be more “proving
to the world that I can do this”, than looking for a second chance
at love. She's angry, bitter, and wants recognition and fame. Living
her 35 year old life a second time does give her some perspective and
desire to avoid mistakes, but I was sad that she seemed so helpless
most of the time. The world affects her, including her past self, and
it felt like she took a free pass to be bitter, angry, and powerless.
She had one moment to shine, but then external forces took control
again and she's right back where she started from.
I found
the timeline jumping a little unclear sometimes. Sixty years old
Margaret seems to be the age reflecting and making note of the story,
but when 32 gets thrown in, it's no longer clear that no conscious
mind is currently in that time period. Jumping between 32 and
60-in-35yo-body was difficult to separate and determine what part of
the story is a reflection and what part is happening in some form of
now.
My
biggest quandary after reading this book is, can a past-you make a
change in the past that affects current “you” and you have no
memory of it happening. I haven't figured out the mechanics of how
that would work. If everyone around you “lived” for 25 years but
because of a decision past-you made 25 years ago, your life is
irrevocably different now than the 25 years current-you actually
lived. It was interesting theory for the story and tied in with the
feeling I had that Margaret stopped living 25 years ago and just
coasted all that time, but I can't work out if there's any
theoretical way that it would work as shown in the book. They talk
about two different paradoxes in the story, but I felt like the story
nearly ignored them when it got to the actual time travel logistics.
Was the
book interesting? Yes. I never thought about not finishing it. It was
an enthralling and well written book. With a science background, but
no time to look up every piece of information, I found the theories
well researched and interesting. It was laid out in a manner that
wasn't confusing, even for someone that doesn't know much about the
specifics of quantum physics. As simply a fiction/sci fi novel, I'd
give the story four stars. But I can't recommend it if you're looking
for a romance.
