Some of the meals this week...

I don't indulge in these often.  This week was a yes week.  Cheddar Jalapeno bagels, toasted, then topped with some avocado is just so good.  I just turned the top half upside down to show the cheddar and jalapenos; it had avocado on that half too.

Chicken Burrito Bowls was one night's supper.  Zatarain's Cilantro Lime rice, some baracho beans (I just buy a can and heat them up), shredded lettuce, avocado, and tomato, cooked chicken breast, topped with some queso cotija and Cilantro Lime salad dressing.

Another night was Shrimp Soft Tacos.  I put frozen shrimp (straight from the freezer) sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic in the air fryer for ten minutes or so at 400°.  Warm corn tortillas, coleslaw, shrimp, avocadoes, queso cotija, mango salsa and some lime garlic sour cream.  Tasty but messy!  :)

Roasted Spaghetti Squash Primavera.  Delicious garden bounty.  Spaghetti squash rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, then roasted till tender.  While spaghetti squash was in the oven I sauteed thinly sliced onions untill they were caramelized, then added halved cherry tomatoes, finely diced zuchini, and finely diced cooked chicken, cooked over medium low with a teaspoon of chicken bouillion powder, garlic, Italian and seasoning.  Add a few ounces of cream cheese toward end of cooking time and stir in till melted.  After spaghetti squash is tender, shred the flesh with a fork, then fill with the vegetables cooked on stove top, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Thirty-fifth challenge finish of the year.

This is a newly published continuation of the story of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.  It was very satisfying follow through with the characters, and I really enjoyed reading it.  The vivid descriptions of sights and sounds put me right into the setting with them.  This is the third book I've read by this author.  All very good.  

Thirty-sixth challenge finish of the year.

Took me awhile to settle on a book for this prompt.  Then I was reminded that in the movie The Princess Bride, the grandfather is shown holding and reading the book of the same name to his grandson.  Since I knew I've had the book on my Kindle (since 2012), I decided it followed the intent of the prompt close enough (as well as  my own intent to get books I already own read!) 

I did enjoy it, but it was a bit challenging.  Having already seen the movie, which was pretty straight forward as fairy tales go, I wasn't prepared for the satyrical bent of the rest of the book.  It was a work of metafiction in which the author breaks the fourth wall, and speaks directly to the reader.  I didn't realize that the 'introductions' of the anniversary editions of the story were actually not introductions, but were how the  original story was spun by the author; also the follow up story at the end of the book was actually still part of the original story.  It made it difficult to understand where to start and stop reading. I don't always read introductions, and I did skip part of it in this one, only to find that I needed to go back and read it.

It was very imaginative with the inclusion of actual living people.  I found myself wondering if the author had to get their permission to include them in the story.  Once I caught on (thanks to some research on the book and author), it made more sense to me.  The portion that was made into the movie was followed pretty closely, and had additional back story of the characters' histories which was enjoyable.

Not quite Monday, not quite meatless...

 

I've been waiting...and waiting...and waiting!  Every day Carey brings in a handful of green beans harvested from the garden.  Maybe enough to toss in with other vegetables in a stir fry, but we really love green beans on their own.  So for a week I've been setting aside the green beans till there was enough accumulated for a pot of green beans with new potatoes and bacon.  

I cut 3 slices of bacon into 1.5 inch pieces, and cooked them a bit in the bottom of the pot at medium high heat.  I stirred in a sliced onion, added some new potatoes, and the green beans.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, and about a teaspoon of chicken bouillion powder.  I added a cup and a half of water, covered the pan, and reduced heat to low.  Then I left them alone for about 3 hours.  I made a pan of cornbread, and then we sat down to our simple fare.  Inexpensive, easy, and delicious!

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Thirty-third challenge finish of the year.

So excited to get this one read, because it has been on my Kindle since 2011!  There's lots of new books that I want to read this year, but when I don't have something in mind, I look at books I already own to see if any fit the challenge prompts.  I go to my Kindle's content library/books/sort:acquired oldest to newest.  It's more fun to read a long-owned yet never-read book if I can make it fit into a challenge prompt category.

This one was okay.  It was originally published in 1920, and was about the life of the aristocratic families of New York's Gilded Age.  None of the characters really made me care about them.  But it was well written, and in 1921 the author became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for this work.

Thirty-fourth challenge finish of the year.

So good!  It is the first new release (April 2026) that has kept me this entertained, guessing, and surprised since I read Gone Girl when it first came out fourteen years ago!  The minute I finished it, I called Kasey and told her I had a book she HAS to read.  She asked which book, and when I told her, she said she had just finished it on Friday.  She really liked it as well.

This one is about a wife and mother who becomes a viral social-media influencer.  It is so imaginative and well written, and has an element of time travel?!  

A word of warning:  there is a lot of talk about faith.  This is NOT Christian fiction.  It is more a satire of current events surrounding social-media-content creators and Christian nationalism.  I wouldn't be surprised if some people do not grasp that aspect of it.

Meatless Monday...

 Things have been growing in the garden.  Today (Monday) the harvest was yellow squash, zuchini, and cherry tomatoes.  I put them in a fry pan with a little olive oil, a sliced onion, and some salt and pepper.

Let them cook, turning often, until cooked through and caramalized a bit.

I was feeling too lazy to cook a main dish, so I served with frozen Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmesan from the freezer.  If you like Eggplant Parmesan, I highly recommend this brand that is found in the freezer section.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Thirty-first challenge finish of the year.

Once in awhile I get a wild hair to read a book that I probably should have read in high school.  As I was consulting Goodreads 52-Books-2026-Challenge page for this prompt, nothing was calling out to me, but then I saw that this was a suggestion for 'featuring a conspiracy.'  I've never read it, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Conspiracy and dystopian novels are not usually genres that I pick up to read for fun.  This one didn't do much to change that.  I checked this one out from the library as an audiobook, so I could kill two birds with one stone (and keep working at organizing my new cardmaking area that we moved into the guest room...I call it the 'annex,' as all my quilting supplies stayed in the original craft room).

Now, I have listened to more audiobooks this year than I have during the previous 68 years of my life, and I know I have mentioned that I don't usually love the narration.  This may be why I didn't like this book better.  It just seemed to never end.  I'm writing about this on Thursday afternoon, and the book was set to be returned to the library at 5:00 p.m., so I had to power through.

I think I will just say this about it using a reference from the book.  If I were sent to "Room 101," it would probably be after being told I would be there for an eternity, and I would walk in to find that the room was filled with books, and every single one of them was this one.  I'm giving it 3 stars, because it is a classic after all...it was very imaginative and well written...but OMG it was a real downer.

Thirty-second challenge finish of the year.

I usually get bored with long series unless I really like the characters.  And I really do like the characters in this series...particularly the dog.  :)  The main characters are a deputy sheriff and her K-9 partner.  I like all the regular secondary characters as well.  One of the secondary characters is a veterinarian, as is the author's real-life husband, so the animal healthcare in the books seem pretty realistic.

She has a new book coming out in September of this year.  I look forward to it.

This is Mexican Cornbread Casserole...

This photo is from a post last year.  I've been making Mexican Cornbread Casserole for probably forty years, as it's one our family really likes, and it is pretty easy.  A layer of cornbread on the bottom, beef and cheese baked in the middle, then a top layer of cornbread.

I made it again tonight.  I got a bit of a late start, so was kind of rushing through it.  I forgot one ingredient.  Cornmeal!  Hence tonight we had Mexican Mistake Quiche.  It was edible, but just.  Didn't warrant a photo.  LOL