Menu Monday

Welcome to the first Menu Monday! Hope a recipe entices you to try it :)

Vegan Tacos with Lentil Walnut Meat

 

I'm so happy to start with such a winner, I LOVED this one. Definitely don't skip on the sour cream (didn't remind me of sour cream at all but whatev) because it was delicious and added so much to the taste. I was kind of shocked at how much (roll with me here) the Lentil Walnut meat, well, looked like meat and kind of had the texture. The bf said it was really good for something trying to taste like meat. I count this as a Win :)
Taste:  A+
Ease to make:  Not hard and not incredibly time consuming, took me an hour I think.


White Chocolate Peppermint Fluff 

I like to make themed desserts during certain months. Finding Hershey's peppermint kisses might be a tad difficult in June, too. This was super yummy, I only got one bar of peppermint bark so I ended up adding about half of what the recipe requested of bark. I still think it had a strong peppermint taste. Bf and I got stomach aches the first night eating too much. Winner!
Taste:  A
Ease to make:  Very easy, but recipe does call for whole milk which some might not always have on hand. And like I mentioned, a pretty seasonal dessert as the peppermint kisses and bark might be hard to come by other times of year. 10 mins to make and needs to sit for 2hrs in fridge.
*If making it to take somewhere, I'd let it sit overnight, the peppermint red bled a little and created a pretty pink color. Three day max probably though as the marshmallows started to unravel a bit sitting in the pudding mixture, lol


Firecracker Salmon

Salmon is one of my most favorite versatile meats. You can season and marinate it with just about anything, add some rice, and have a super yummy meal. This seemed a bit sweet but still had a nice hotness to it but if you lean more towards spicy, I'd add more hot sauce and red pepper flakes.
Taste:  B+
Ease to Make:  Very easy, it doesn't say to marinate salmon so that cuts back on time. Even without marinating, I thought it had a good taste. I wouldn't skip broiling, it slightly caramelized the sauce, which I love. Around 40mins to make; made sauce while salmon was defrosting.


Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs

I try to make Wednesdays my app day, this is supposed to make Weds easy for me and give me something to snack on for two days. However, my apps usually turn into full meals, so my save some work for myself often fails. Not here, unless you wanted to get egg belly, I guess. I cut this recipe in half and they turned out great. I made 4 eggs for myself and then mixed in the chopped up bacon and made the rest for the bf. We were both fans. Nice touch of jalapeno spice from them and they kind of looked adorable with the sliced bacon and jalapeno decoration.
Taste:  B
Ease to Make:  25 mins counting the egg boiling time. Super easy!


Skinny Chicken Parm Sliders

I just bought the 1lb chicken tenders from the refrigerator section, there ended up being two tenders per two normal size buns which was a good amount for us (ok, so, I ate half of the second and had to donate the second half to bf). Really good, kind of tasted like a chicken pizza sandwich. They were a bit too salty tasting for me and a bit too much Parmesan (I'm not the biggest fan).

Taste:  B

Ease to Make:  Pretty easy (sensing a trend yet with what recipes I pick out ;). I think this took about 40mins. Nothing that took mad skills, just baking and mixing!

Hope everyone can find a recipe to try!

Any recipes for me?

75%

Call the police.

The novella story ended at 75% on my Kindle.




Abruptly. ABRUPTLY.

Reading Update: 50%

Don't mind me, just over here desperately gobbling up crumbs (it's a novella) Hoyt has bestowed upon me of d'Arque.






Finally, my lust of comte St. Germain has a noble purpose, this is what d'Arque looks like in my mind
#GimmeMeMoard'Arque

New Releases December

New release I'm reviewing and excited to read

5th

Title:  Once Upon a Christmas Eve

Series:  Maiden Lane #12.6

Author:  Elizabeth Hoyt

Format:  eBook, 96pgs

Published:  Dec. 5, 2017 by Forever Yours

ASIN: B01DSTTRIK

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

Adam Rutledge, Viscount d'Arque, really rather loathes Christmas. The banal cheerfulness. The asinine party games. And, worst of all, the obligatory trip to the countryside. His grandmother, however, loves the holiday—and Adam loves his grandmother, so he'll brave the fiercest snowstorm to please her. But when their carriage wheel snaps, they're forced to seek shelter at the home of the most maddening, infuriating, and utterly beguiling woman he's ever met.

Sarah St. John really rather loathes rakes. The self-satisfied smirks. The sly predatory gazes. Oh, and the constant witty banter rife with double meaning. But in the spirit of the season, she'll welcome this admittedly handsome viscount into her home. But as the snowstorm rages, the Yule log crackles, and the tension rises, Sarah and Adam find themselves locked in a fiery, passionate kiss. If love is the true meaning of Christmas, it's the one gift this mismatched pair can't wait to unwrap.

12th

Title:  It Takes Two to Tumble

Series:  Seducing the Sedgwicks  #1

Author:  Cat Sebastian

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 217pgs

Published:  Dec. 12, 2017 by Avon Impulse

ASIN:  B0714J1PY2

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

Some of Ben Sedgwick’s favorite things:

Helping his poor parishioners
Baby animals
Shamelessly flirting with the handsome Captain Phillip Dacre

After an unconventional upbringing, Ben is perfectly content with the quiet, predictable life of a country vicar, free of strife or turmoil. When he’s asked to look after an absent naval captain’s three wild children, he reluctantly agrees, but instantly falls for the hellions. And when their stern but gloriously handsome father arrives, Ben is tempted in ways that make him doubt everything.

Some of Phillip Dacre’s favorite things:

His ship
People doing precisely as they're told
Touching the irresistible vicar at every opportunity

Phillip can’t wait to leave England’s shores and be back on his ship, away from the grief that haunts him. But his children have driven off a succession of governesses and tutors and he must set things right. The unexpected presence of the cheerful, adorable vicar sets his world on its head and now he can’t seem to live without Ben’s winning smiles or devastating kisses.

In the midst of runaway children, a plot to blackmail Ben’s family, and torturous nights of pleasure, Ben and Phillip must decide if a safe life is worth losing the one thing that makes them come alive.

19th

Title:  Can’t Forget You

Series:  Risking It All #3

Author:  Rachel Lacey

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 353 pgs

Published:  Dec. 19, 2017 by Forever

ASIN:  B06XFFKLVC

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST LOVE

Jessica Flynn can't wait to buy up that patch of unspoiled North Carolina woodland next door and expand her spa. What could be more sensuous than a hot-tub soak under the stars? Jessica would love to bask in the romantic view herself-but first she needs to find the right man to join her in this fantasy. Back in high school, she thought that was the dark and brooding Mark Dalton. But then he left to join the Special Forces, and when he returned to town, it felt like their teenage love affair had never even happened.

Mark Dalton has his eye on the same property for his own business. Yet there's something he wants to have even more. Because Jessica is sweeter than he remembered, and he's finding it hard to resist his attraction to the competition. When they finally find themselves alone, deep in the forest, nature can't help but run a little wild. But if she ever finds out what he's been hiding all these years, she may never forgive him...

26th

Title:  The Art of Running in Heels

Series:  Chinooks  Hockey #7

Author:  Rachel Gibson

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 384pgs

Published:  Dec. 26, 2017 by Avon

ASIN: B06Y12BDFN

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

Running in five-inch stilettos is an art form

Leaving your fiancé at the altar on live television is a disaster. Lexie Kowalsky thought she was ready to get married in front of millions of people, but at the last minute she fled the set of television’s hottest reality show, Gettin’ Hitched. Wearing a poofy white dress and a pair of five-inch sparkly shoes, Lexie hopped a float plane for Sandspit, Canada. She figured no one would find her there. But she was wrong.

Sharing her flight was the Seattle Chinooks biggest star, Sean Knox. Lexie wasn’t just a reality-show runaway, she was his pain in the butt coach’s daughter. She was chaos and temptation and definitely off limits, but getting her luscious body out of that wedding gown, he couldn’t resist getting her in his bed for one amazing night.

Then a photo of Sean and Lexi breaks the internet—and suddenly they’re both swept up in a crazy plan to spin the whole story. But you can’t run from love—

Title:  A Distant Heart

Series:  Bollywood  #4

Author:  Sonali Dev

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 352 pgs

Published:  Dec. 26, 2017 by Kensignton

ASIN: B06XZR97YK

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

Her name means “miracle” in Sanskrit, and to her parents, that’s exactly what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbai’s Pali Hill, surrounded by love and privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that requires her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the Arabian Sea churning outside her window for company. . . . Until one person dares venture into her world.

Tasked at fourteen-years-old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant shows up to wash Kimi’s windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimi’s eyes to the outside world—and she becomes his inspiration to better himself by enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and keeps them apart.

As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may yet lose. And when his investigation into a black market organ ring run by a sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home, only Rahul's deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safe—and reveal the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances. 

Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart.

 

Title:  Beautiful Lawman

Series:  Devil’s Rock  #4

Author:  Sophie Jordan

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 368 pgs

Published:  Dec. 26, 2017 by Avon

ASIN: B06Y118YR2

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

From the wrong side of the tracks and with most of her family in jail or dead, Piper Walsh is used to everyone in town thinking the worst about her. It doesn’t seem to matter that she’s worked hard to build a good life for herself. So she isn’t surprised that when she comes into contact with Sweet Hill’s wildly irresistible, arrogant sheriff, Hale Walters, they’re instant adversaries. Piper has nothing in common with the town golden-boy-turned-lawman—and she refuses to be a notch on his bedpost.

Despite rumors, Hale avoids fooling around with the women of Sweet Hill, many of whom are hoping to get him to the altar. But staying out of Piper’s path is proving near impossible. The infuriating troublemaker clearly has no respect for his badge. As she continues to push his buttons, it becomes clear to Hale that he must either arrest Piper—or claim her as his own.

Title:  The Pretender

Series:  Games People Play  #3

Author:  HelenKay Dimon

Format:  Paperback & eBook, 368 pgs

Published:  Dec. 26, 2017 by Avon

ASIN: B06Y5HKWGY

Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N

They say it takes a thief to catch a thief, and Harrison Tate is proof. Once a professional burglar, he now makes a lawful living tracking down stolen art. No one needs to know about his secret sideline, “liberating” artifacts acquired through underhanded methods. At least until one of those jobs sees him walking in on a murder.

Gabrielle Wright has long been estranged from her wealthy family, but she didn’t kill her sister. Trouble is, the only person who can prove it is the sexy, elusive criminal who shouldn’t have been at the island estate on that terrible night. She’s not expecting honor among thieves—or for their mutual attraction to spark into an intense inferno of desire.

Under the guise of evaluating her family’s art, Harris comes back to the estate hoping to clear Gabby’s name. But returning to the scene of the crime has never been riskier, with their hearts and lives on the line.

Review: A Duke in Shining Armor

A Duke in Shining Armor by Loretta Chase
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Olympia is dangerously close to being on the shelf but when she serendipitously catches the attention of a duke, she has a chance to help her large family from financial ruin.
The Duke of Ripley is doing all he can to help his bestfriend not flub up his wedding but he should have been paying attention to the bride. When he sees her make a run for it, he chases her.
They're not meant to be together but they also wouldn't have it any other way.

He was trying desperately to find a way out of whatever it was he'd got himself into.

The first in a new series, A Duke in Shining Armor introduces us to the three Dis-Graces, dukes who have a bit of a tainted reputation because of the antics they have gotten up to over the years. The Duke of Ashmont has the face of angel but a bit of a drinking problem. Through some reverse psychology his uncle gets him to really pay attention to Olympia and offer for her. Just returned from a trip on the continent our hero, the Duke of Ripley, has come across Olympia at balls and such but tried to keep his attention of her to the peripheral as he wasn't ready to grow up yet. This latent attraction becomes the source of his problem.

This is a road romance that from page one hits the ground running and doesn't let up into well into the second half of the book. Ripley and Olympia have a bit of madcap adventures as they constantly spout wit back and forth. It gave them some spark but the duration and focus of it, came at the expense of some depth. Their dialogue had a tendency to come off as them talking at each other instead of with and I had a hard time getting to know them.

He'd said things and looked at her in ways other men didn't, and the combination had started to make her think she wasn't altogether the young woman she'd always believed she was. She knew rakes were dangerous but she hadn't understood how subtle the danger could be. Her ideas about a great many subjects were threatening revolution.

Along with their dialogue lacking exploring other emotions for most of the book, the vast majority (I think the last 5% goes a week into the future) takes place within 4 days, the first 50% of the story is the first day. I will say, even with this time frame, it doesn't feel like insta-love, which is a credit to the author's writing. The author has Ripley admit to himself a couple times that he always noticed Olympia and liked her personality and Olympia remembering having a pining moment over Ripley dancing with someone else but we don't get the scenes of a solid emotional growing between beginning attraction that I personally look for and enjoy.

"What are you doing?" he said.
"I'm being unsubtle," she said.

With the hero and heroine busy being witty and flitting around, I never gained a strong grasp of who they were. Olympia was probably the stronger of the two with her large family driving her to marriage and feeling like she didn't belong because she was voted the most boring debutante years in a row, which felt brought up more than enough. Her love of books and categorizing books is discussed but I would have liked some family interaction scenes or if she had friends; scenes that help show more personality and different nuances of a character. Ripley is given a very vague bad past with an ill father and though he has scenes with his friends, the Duke of Ashmont who's bride he's accidentally stealing and his brother-in-law the Duke of Blackwood, we're not shown how they became friends or what really binds them together. I was left with a lot of questions regarding Ripley and who he was.

Ripley was a disgrace and had been for years, but this had to be the worst thing he'd done in his life.
Yet it seemed to him the best thing he'd ever done.

The last 15% or so was more of what I was looking for, Ripley and Olympia seemed to talk with each other more and I began to feel their emotional connection, but it would have been great to have that start more towards the middle of the book. They also start to hit the sheets more but I frankly could have done with more of the platonic growing together at the time. Ashmont definitely doesn't shine here but as I'm sure he'll get the chance to be a hero of his own book, his redemption will interesting. The other friend Blackwood and his wife (Ripley's sister) seemingly have a secret frosty relationship that raises a lot of questions. With all the dukes running around, even I started to get fatigued but it's still a hard title to say no to. In a very small side story that managed to kind of steal the show for me, Ripley’s aunt seems to have a very interesting hurt and angry past with Ashmont’s uncle. The emotion and tension could be cut with a knife whenever the two were in a room and I’m greatly looking forward to seeing what comes of them.

With a bit too much wit and one-upping sarcasm for its own good and short time duration, this didn't start providing enough emotional building blocks for me until closer at the end. This author's writing is always engaging though and if you're in the mood for a quick paced witty back and forth, this definitely would provide.

View all my reviews

70%

He kissed her in the way of a man who wants what he can't have and has to have it anyway, the way of a man who knows only when he's got it and needs to know nothing else.

Reading Update: 35%

"Maybe you're the one who's bored," he said. "Maybe your brain's too large and lively for the company you keep. Good little girls. A lot of rules about every damned thing. Maybe you go on and on about the books because nobody understands you anyway, and at least it's fun to watch their eyes glaze over."

Surprise Soup!

Until noon, I was operating on the thought that today was Thursday. It is not. After realizing this and staring at my desk for a couple minutes, I decided the day was done for me. Did November happen? It's all a blur for me. I think I say this every year but holy cow is the end of the year busy for me. 

Anyway, I'm changing things up a bit with Sunday Soup. I've missed the last two months and I miss talking food, because food, y'all. Instead of a Sunday Soup, I'm going to try Menu Mondays. I'm going to post the recipes that I made for the previous week and if I liked them or not; less pictures and more recipes. We'll see if I can keep up with this better :)

I will send you off with two soup recipes though, to make up for missing the last two months.

Cleansing Vegetable Turmeric Soup

From what I've been able to catch, this would qualify for a Festive square? Even when I don't have time to play, I'm playing! 

Not a bad start, right? Sounds pretty good?

A little different mash-up for ingredients but hey, we're all adventurous people here!

Looks, interesting, right? This soup was a total fail for me. I could barely eat it. Maybe, probably, my fault because I'm not sure I knew if Turmeric was totally and completely for me. I also think I'm a wannabe healthy person, I try because my stomach demands it but my heart is dark beer and donuts all the way. I would recommend not trying this soup because, Bleh. Unless you have a Turmeric cauliflower heart.

Onto,

Creamy Vegetarian White Chili

This is another first step Olive Oil heating soup! Peppers and jalapeno sizzling together, makes my heart warm just looking at it.

Garlic and cooomin! (Everyone mispronounces it the first time, right?) 

Beans, beans, and beans! I swear I'm not a stinky person to hang around ;) Bananas not needed in this recipe but feel free to admire anyway.

Looooove this milk! It's like a Sunday morning on my tummy.

Looks appetizing! Stay with me, folks.

Avocado, lime, and chips can turn anything into a fun party! I really enjoyed this one but the bf said it tasted bland, which is weird because I more often complain of this. Looking at the comments, I see others said the same thing. Whatev. I'm counting this one as a win. I also added cheese. Come at me Vegetarian police!

Now for dessert and because I'm a woman of my word,

Champorado

Remember rice pudding Sunday and the talk of what is we made it chocolate? Here you go. Hold on to your excitement because pictures are going to look a wee bit less appetizing from here.

Melted cocoa krispies twin.

Good but, very rich. I would add less chocolate chips next time. Makes a decent amount too and this is kind of a one bowl dessert because of the richness. Alas, I did my one good deed for the bf and he enjoyed it. 

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and their reading. I'm lurking as much as I can and trying to keep up with posts, even if my gabbing on posts aren't as frequent. 

Hope some people can join me on Menu Mondays or can share some recipes. Because fooooooooood, y'all!