Book #14 - Sula by Toni Morrison

I've wanted to read a Toni Morrison book for a while now, but didn't want to pick up one of her longer ones only to find that I didn't like her writing style. I was very happy to find Sula in my local library. The story of the difference between two best friends - one growing up to be the good wife, one growing up to be a scandalous woman - really sparked my interest, and the story was short enough that I knew I could get through it even if I didn't like the style. Sprinkled throughout the story are undertones of racism during the time of the depression. Central to the theme was the idea of whether or not your upbringing and background creates your destiny. I enjoyed this book, and more importantly, found Toni Morrison's style to be fascinating. She paints such pictures with her words that normally, I would find her style to be overly flowery, but she still captivates with a fascinating story. I'm looking forward to reading "Beloved," which I will be reading in the next couple of months.

Book #13 - Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea - Chelsea Handler

I had heard really good things about this book and then couldn't find it anywhere. Borders near my house, Barnes & Noble, and the Library were all out. So when I finally found it at Borders while on an extended shopping trip... (Ooops! I mean work break!) I picked it up. No doubt, this was a funny book. I think Chelsea's style of writing is not for me, however. I find her style to be a bit over the top obnoxious (which is fine, just not my style of comedy), even on TV, and when given the opportunity to be mostly censor free in her books, she runs with it. I wasn't offended or anything, just didn't find it as laugh out loud funny as I thought it would be. I think those who find her really funny on TV would probably love this book, but I should have thought this one through before I bought it just because I finally found it.

Kicked Up Ramen

Early in my days of cooking real meals for my husband and me, I came across a recipe in a Pampered Chef pamphlet that I was surprised to see there. It was a ramen noodle stir fry. As a child, I adored Top Ramen and would eat it daily whenever I was home from school (seriously, it's scary how much of this stuff I ate!). I couldn't believe that Pampered Chef had a grown up recipe that I could make that would still count as cooking dinner! I promptly cooked it up, and when a guy from my office wanted to know what I had for dinner the night before, I told him "Ramen." Then I described it and he said, "Wow, that's not just ramen, that's kicked up ramen!" Since then, that is what I've called this dish. If you don't like ramen or are watching your sodium intake, this isn't for you. But it is so easy and really, really good, and brings back memories of all those summer days when I was eating hot soup!

Kicked Up Ramen (adapted a lot from a very old Pampered Chef booklet)

1 package beef flavored ramen noodles

3/4 lbs sirloin steak, sliced very thin

1/4 Cup Light Soy Sauce

2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 package frozen vegetable mix, thawed

1 cup water (1/2 of what the package calls for)

1 Tbs olive oil

Marinate beef in Soy, ginger and garlic for at least 20 minutes. Stir fry in oil in wok over medium high heat. Remove from pan. Add 1 cup water, ramen noodles & seasoning (add the seasonings now, not at the end). Cook for 3 minutes or until noodles are soft. Add the vegetables and simmer for about 1 minute until just softened. Add the beef back in and toss well to incorporate all ingredients. Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition Info: Calories: 638.8, Fat: 27.9g (9.5 Sat, 1.7Poly, 12.75 Mono), Carbs: 37.1g, Fiber: 2.8g

Artichoke Chicken

Oh my, how I love this recipe! I'm a California girl, so I love me some artichokes, and artichoke dip is so sinfully good. This recipe takes those flavors and adds chicken. I inhaled this meal. The husband likes it too, but ate it at the speed of a normal person. I think that is why I try not to order artichoke dip when we go out very often. I love it too much, and I eat way more than my fair share. This is a nice at home treat, and it isn't nearly as bad for you as restaurant artichoke dip, especially with the reduced fat ingredients I use (if you can't tell, I have no problem with low fat versions of products, I'm just not that picky about that sort of thing).

Artichoke Chicken (adapted from Allrecipes)

2 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 can artichoke heart quarters (not marinated!) - you can save the other 1/2 can for pasta, mmm!

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

2 Tbs reduced fat mayo

1/3 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

1 clove garlic

salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Season chicken with salt & pepper, place in a shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. In a small mixing bowl, combine artichokes, sour cream, mayo, garlic and parm cheese. Mix well. Top each chicken breast with 1/2 the mixture. Bake, uncovered for 30 minutes or until juices run clear and artichoke mixture just starts to brown.

Nutrition Info: Calories: 386.2, Fat: 15.6g (6.5 Sat, .9 Poly, 2.9 Mono) Carbs: 11.3g, Fiber: 3.9g

Grilled Mahi Mahi in Poke Marinade

I was in the mood for fish this weekend and decided to stop by Lazy Acres, Santa Barbara's local answer to Whole Foods (although I can't wait until we get our own Whole Foods in December!). Lazy Acres has pretty good fish, and I love going in, looking at the case, and just pointing to what looks good. Mahi Mahi fit the bill, and right above the seafood case was a "Hawaiian Poke Marinade" by Santa Monica Seafood that I had to buy as an impulse buy. One of the main reasons I love Hawaii as much as I do is the food, and I still have dreams of our Ahi Poke from Mama's Fish House on our November Maui trip. So even though I had just picked out Mahi Mahi, not Ahi, I ran with it. The fish grilled up wonderfully and tasted like steak, I loved the thick, meaty texture. The marinade was okay. I thought it was fine, but the husband really didn't like it and pulled out some soy sauce to try and mask the marinade flavors. Too much sesame oil for his tastes, I think. But now we know that Mahi Mahi is great on the grill, and next time, I will marinate with my favorite island style marinade, Soy Vay Island Teriyaki. There isn't much of a recipe for this one, and I don't have nutrition info, so I'll just post the pretty picture and you guys can consider this a product review for the marinade.

Black Bean, Corn & Pineapple Enchiladas

Mmm, Enchiladas. They are one of my favorite Mexican dishes, but whenever I have had them cooked at home, they lose some of their gooey goodness. They are either too dry, not cheesy enough, or they get crunchy in weird spots. I decided to try this recipe from a blog on the nest because I liked that it didn't include any meat, so it removed that from the equation of things that could go wrong. I also love pretty much anything with pineapple in it. Note: the lack of meat does NOT in any way imply healthiness with this recipe! We liked the flavors of this recipe, but again, the texture wasn't quite right. The tortillas got a little too soft (which is the first time I've ever seen that happen with homemade enchiladas, normally they are too hard). My husband thinks that maybe I should have used different tortillas, but I think it was because I didn't squeeze enough of the juice out of the pineapple before adding to the mix. Either way, I am pretty excited that for my first attempt at homemade enchiladas, these resembled the enchilada flavor you get at restaurants, and with tweaking, I think I could perfect homemade enchiladas on my next attempt (I think I'll try regular chicken next).

I stuck to the linked recipe pretty closely, but I used about 2 cups low fat mexican cheese blend instead of the 3.5 cups of regular. Also, the 1 can of Enchilada sauce can be a small can. I didn't use much out of the huge can I bought.

Nutrition info for two enchiladas - my version (with low fat cheese): Calories: 627.1, Fat: 17.9g (8.1 Sat, .2 Poly, 0 Mono), Carbs: 93g, Fiber: 10.9g

Book Review #12 - Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox

This is another book that I probably wouldn't have picked up if it weren't for the online book challenge I'm participating in. One of the categories for the Winter Challenge was to read a book about a celebrity. I wasn't really interested in anyone all that much, but then I saw this book at the library and thought that Michael J. Fox's story would be an interesting read, because not only is he an actor, but he came from another country (Canada), has a debilitating degenerative disease (Parkinson's Disease), and he kept that disease a secret from everyone for nearly 10 years. All this while keeping a seemingly solid marriage. I found this book to be a very interesting read, and thought that for a celebrity biography, he did a good job at delving into some of the deep demons that he faced, particularly surrounding his diagnosis. He tended to get a little over-wordy, almost as though he was trying to prove his intelligence (he was a high school drop out, but is quite obviously very smart), but I appreciated this honest look at celebrity, the harshness of Parkinson's, and the power of a strong marriage.