A Few Book Suggestions

I'm a voracious reader and go through a lot of books.  I like to alternate more intense books with light fluffy books and usually read 3 or 4 books a month during the school year (don't even get me started on how many I read during the summer months).  Over the past couple of months I have read a few books that I loved enough to pass along to friends and family so I thought I would share my suggestions with all of you too.

The Last Child by John Hart

This book was one that I might not have chosen all on my own but the woman next to me at the thrift store highly recommended it and I could tell by the books we were both discussing and recommending to each other that her taste was right up my alley.  It is about a little boy whose twin sister has been missing for a year and he is on a mission to find out what happened to her.  The book is fast paced and has some great twists.  It seemed like a mix of The Green Mile and Huck Finn plus a few others.  This was one of those books where I couldn't wait to have a chance to sit down and find out what would happen next. 

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

This book reminded me of a Jodi Picoult book and since she is my favorite author that is high praise.  Magic Hour is set in a small Washington town where a little girl appears out of the woods one afternoon.  The town police chief calls her sister who is a well-known California child psychologist to come help the girl.  The first few pages of the books were about the psychologist's recent problems and my least favorite part of the book.  As soon as the Washington portion got going I was hooked! 

Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

Sometimes I am in the mood for a juicy historical fiction and this book certainly delivered.  Nefertiti is told from the point of view of Nefertiti's younger half-sister and details the many decisions and calculations of the whole family to rise in power in Ancient Egypt.  The narrator is very likeable and the descriptions and emotions really bring the book to life.  I have seen this book compared to The Other Boleyn Girl and I have to agree that I was just as drawn into this tale of sisters and rivalries and it certainly had the same level of drama and intrigue.

A Valentine Treat

The ninja farmer has a sweet tooth (okay I have one too) so I decided to show him my love by making him some Valentine cookies.  One of my very favorite cookie recipes is Peanut Butter Kisses.  They are so easy and super yummy too.  I saw a picture on another blog of someone using heart shaped chocolates instead of Hershey kisses and I liked the idea and promptly stole....I mean borrowed it.  They turned out as scrumptious as always and have a Valentine flair.  Thankfully the ninja farmer was busy so I was able to snap a few pictures before he started eating them. 

Peanut Butter Kisses

2 cups peanut butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
That's right only three ingredients and no flour...so easy right?!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix peanut butter, sugar, and eggs in a bowl until blended and then roll into tsp size balls* and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  I can fit 18 on my big cookie sheet since they don't spread a whole lot during baking and usually get about 36 cookies from this recipe.  Bake for 12-14 minutes until tops are cracked and dry looking.  As soon as the cookies come out of the oven press your chocolate hearts (or kisses) into the center of each cookie.  Transfer to a cooling rack after 3 or 4 minutes. Let the cookies cool until the chocolate is set.  Enjoy!

*The recipe calls for floured hands which I used today but if you want to make these gluten free I'm sure you could use gluten free flour or another substitute.

Mediterranean Chicken Rollatini

As with most Sundays I had some extra time and energy to make a delicious dinner tonight.  The results were delicious and I thought I would share. I decided to work on perfecting my rendition of Chicken Rollatini that I found on SkinnyTaste.  Her recipe uses shredded zucchini but since I didn't have any in my fridge I decided to give the recipe a Mediterranean flair by using a combination of spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta.  As with most of my cooking I didn't stress about actually measuring the ingredients, I just eyeballed everything. I chose to saute some green beans in the pan after my filling was done and I added a little lemon juice in to tie the flavors to the chicken.  We also had a spinach salad with strawberries, the last of the feta from my container, onions, and a Greek vinaigrette dressing.  Our meal was rounded out by some delicious honey wheat bread that my gem of a Mother-in-Law brought us when they stopped by yesterday.  Needless to say our bellies are full and happy tonight!

Mediterranean Chicken Rollatini

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 4 or 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/2 cups spinach roughly chopped 
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Romano cheese (or Parmesan)
• 3-4 oz crumbled feta
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each or 4 larger/wider thin cutlets
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and fresh pepper
• non-stick spray 

Directions:

Wash and dry cutlets, season with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

 Start warming the skillet on medium heat. Add oil when hot then saute garlic a minute, or until golden. Add spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, salt and pepper and saute about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool. When cool, add feta cheese and mix to combine.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 3 tbsp of spinach mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.  *I forgot to lay mine seam side down and you can see how my chicken "blossomed" as it baked.

Combine breadcrumbs and grated cheese in one bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Splendiferous Soup!

After a bean soup disaster earlier in the week I was ready to avoid new recipes for awhile but in my daily perusal of Pinterest this morning I came across a picture of Cheddar Broccoli Soup and was tempted.  When I found broccoli on sale at the grocery store I figured it was meant to be.  I also got a little round loaf of Rosemary Sourdough from a local bakery which paired wonderfully with the soup; I highly recommend getting some nice crusty bread to accompany the soup.

I'm happy to report that this soup got a resounding seal of approval and will definitely be made again at the Ninja Farmer residence.  The soup doesn't require any crazy ingredients and it is easy to make but does take some time and occasional attention. 

I ended up perusing a few recipes I found and tweaking them to fit what I had on hand and was willing to do.  So without further ado........

Super Delicious

Broccoli and Smokey Cheddar Soup

Makes about 5 servings (1 1/2 cups per serving)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/2 medium chopped onion

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 1/2 cups 2% milk (or half and half)

4 cups chicken stock

1 lb fresh or frozen broccoli florets

1 cup finely chopped carrots

Kosher salt and freshly grated pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

6-8 ounces grated Tillamook Smoked Black Pepper White Cheddar 

Directions
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat, and sauté onion until soft, about 3 minutes. Add additional butter and flour, whisking for 2-3 minutes to create a roux. Whisk while adding the half-and-half and chicken stock. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Stir in the broccoli florets and grated carrot. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and pulse with an immersion blender until smooth.
*Or, blend the soup in batches in a food processor until smooth, adding mixture back to the pot.

Return pot to low heat and stir in cheese. Simmer for 10 minutes, and serve.




I really think the thing the made this so good was the black pepper smokey cheddar.  I found the Tillamook at Fred Meyer and bought it awhile ago for the ninja farmer since he sampled it when we were in Oregon and he loved it.  If you can't find that kind of cheese I'm sure a different sharp or smokey cheese would do the trick.

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did!

Birdnest Earrings and Necklaces

This may have been my first thing project I ever attempted from Pinterest when I started playing around with the birdnest jewelry way back in the summer. I made several color combinations for myself and one has turned into something I wear often since it has green and blue beads that match a bunch of my outfits.  I also decided that most of the important ladies in my life would enjoy wearing this type of jewelry too so I made a necklace for my sister-in-law and my sister and earrings for both my mommy and mother-in-law.  I would have posted about these pretty little nests earlier but I wanted their presents to be a surprise! Now that Christmas has come and gone and everyone has their bird nests I can show you how I did it.

How to make a birdnest necklace:
You need: 22 or 26 gauge jewelry wire, round beads (3 or 4 for each bird nest), pliers, necklace chain of some type or earring hooks if you are going that route

The first step is to choose your beads, I've been into choosing 3 in the similar color palettes but none of the same in one nest...you can do what you like though!  If you are doing earrings then just try to match your beads for each nest.
Once you've chosen your beads then you are ready to start creating.
Thread all your beads onto the wire and leave yourself a tail of an inch or two to twist onto the nest.
Then start winding your wire around the outside edge of your beads, as you wind try to stay close to the beads because the nest tends to get looser as you go. 
After you have about 10 circles of wire take a second to decide if you want a thicker nest or if you are ready for the next step. 
The next step is to cut the wire leaving yourself at least 6 inches or more of wire so you can wind the wire around the nest.  Sometimes I like to do 3 neat little wraparounds between each bead and the nest and other times I get a little more sloppy and make it look like a random nest.  This is totally up to you and your style. 
When you are done wrapping the nest make a small loop to attach to the chain/hooks and then trim and tuck the end of the wire. 

The thing I really love about these nests is that they look far more expensive than they are and they are really easy to create.  I've also unwound my nests more than once and the wire is pretty forgiving if you don't like your results the first time.

Swirled Paint Glass Ornaments

This was the easiest craft I've done in a very long time.  All I needed was some craft paint and clear glass balls.  The paint was something I already had on hand and the ornaments came from Michael's where they were on sale for $2 for 4 ornaments.  I also used some foam ice cream bowls I had on hand to help with draining excess paint but you could use the container the ornaments came in to support and help as they dry.

All I had to do was squirt a little bit of 2 colors of paint in the neck of the ornament in several spots and lay it on its side.  Then after 15 minutes I rotated it a quarter turn and let the paint keep moving and swirling.  If you want to cover your whole ornament quickly then you can use more paint but be aware that you will have a lot of paint that will need to be drained.  The ornament will continue to change its pattern and swirls as you turn it while it dries.  Several of my favorites didn't start out that way but as the paint moved I started to like them more.  The ornaments dry if you leave them to sit for a few days but if you are like me and want to give them as gifts the next day you may want to use a hairdryer to help them along ;).

These ended up being a simple, pretty present for family members and I'd definitely make them again next year.

Feeling Crafty: Wreath with Flowers and Ribbon

   Yesterday I was feeling crafty and since I was already making the journey into town to go grocery shopping and pick up awesome printables at Costco I decided I would swing by Michael's to find some crafty supplies.  I have been inspired by a bunch of wreath ideas I've seen lately (on where else, Pinterest) and last time I was at the Dollar Tree I bought a cool wreath for $1 with the intention of making it into something fancier.  

   Yesterday all the fall flowers were discounted 90% at Michael's so I picked up the 5 bunches pictured for $1.50.  I also bought a spool of craft wire since I had seen a tutorial where the wire worked well.  When I got home I pulled out my skinny ribbon that I had in my craft box and I was ready to start crafting.

   I pulled the little flowers off the stems so that I could string the wire through them and then I started artfully arranging the flowers and wrapping the wire around sections of the wreath. Then I took a length of ribbon and wove it in, out, and around the wreath.

  I chose to use the red, white, and green with the hope that it would look somewhat festive.  I'm not convinced that it is Christmas-y enough to stay up through December but for now I'm loving how it looks on our front door.

  I had yellow flowers and the leafy stems left so now I can make something else with them.

             Total cost of wreath: less than $5! 
($1 for wreath, $1.50 for flowers, $1.50 for craft wire, ribbon was free but I know when I bought it the spools were 3 for $1)