Reading in the New Year

I have decided to commit to reading more this year.  I thought I was going to do it last year, but Goodreads said I only made it to 12... not so successful.

This year I'm going to try something a little different, who will join me?

There are a bunch of book challenges out there... some of the choices I found

• Popsugar offers 40 in the main challenge plus 12 more they are calling "advanced".
• Modern Mrs. Darcy with
• Book Riot's "Read Harder" Prompts you for 24 categories (to qualify for the prize, you do not need to read 24 books, as long as every category is filled...one book can fill multiple categories.  Finish your list by the end of the year and earn a 30% discount on the store.
• Anythink offers a shorter challenge with a new prompt in each month.
• We Are Teachers has a 12 prompt list as well.
• Want more lists to choose from...Check out girlxoxo.com's "Master List of 2017 Reading Challenges"

I've signed up for the Read Harder challenge myself.  Here's my list so far.

What will you read this year?

Good Bye 2016

2016 for the world was hard.  Just some examples of that are:

• There are people hungry, hiding and fighting for their lives.
• The US is emotionally divided over a difficult choice for president.
• Great Britain is also divided over the choice to leave the European Union.
• Samsung released exploding electronics: Note 7 & Washing Machines.
• So many people who touched our lives passed away.

But we had some fun too:

• Leo finally won an Oscar.
• The Chewbacca Mom made us laugh. 
• We met a new (old) robot K-2SO (who is everything C-3PO could only dream of being).
• The Cubs win the World Series in a really fantastic game 7.
• Tigers have fought extinction and their numbers have grown by 22%. The Giant Panda , Manatee, Grizzly Bear , Columbian White-Tailed Deer , Green Sea Turtles & Humpback Whales  are also increasing in number.
• The Mannequin Challenge brought some really great creativity to internet memes.
• You made it, you survived!

Some of you also had good things happen in your lives, new babies, new marriages, families reunited, job offers and improved health.  

My New Years Eve wish is that there are more good things to remember in the new year than bad ones.  

In my new year I start school again, and made plans with a neighbor to work on getting stronger.  I'm going to challenge myself to reading more for fun and go forward with intention to find a reason to celebrate every single day.

Falling Off

So I've fallen off of my diet efforts.  Started with a cough that lasted almost 2 months, and then the holidays came.  However in all of that I have still managed to lose about 20 pounds and we are planning to get starated again soon.

Things I have managed to accomplish however...
Finished a baby blanket. 

 

&  make a ton of baked yumminess for my team.

 

.

 

Moving to so-cal my group of coworkers expanded dramatically, and my team with it.  Before I worked in a team of 3, now I manage a team of 14.   That is a lot of people to buy gifts for.  So I decided to try something different last year.   I baked. They got browniese, blondies, meringues, mock toffee, & shortbread, all individually packaged and super cute. 

 

This year, I started baking a bit early and realized if I continued as planned the cookies would either be all eaten... or stale so I went at it a little differently.

 

The first batch I delivered contained the infamous "Nieman Marcus" cookie, shortbread cookies & candied orange peels.

 

My second round  had those same cookies again, plus Sweet Potato Fudge, Chocolate Haystacks, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin, Brownies, Mom's Butterscotch Chews, Spritzer Cookies & Melomakerona.

 

Today I discovered

 

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

OMG I am super inspired and have already signed up to participate next year.  But that means I need a food blog, so today I start one...but it's going to be a brand new one.  Now I have three.

Here you will always find just me.
At Hoverbug Online you can discover the internet with me.
and at 4 Square Feet you'll find my new home for all things baking.

Wish Me Luck

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

Stumbled on this recipe last week and have now made them twice.

As it is, its lovely, I made only 1 substitution, Pecans instead of Walnuts.

Having a chat with a friend at work today though, I think maybe some more changes are in store to maybe make it a vegan treat too. I'm pondering upping the pumpkin for egg, and using applesauce for butter. (She also wanted more pumpkin just because its yummy).

Great recipe and way to use up a some delicious Quinoa.

WIC

We know some people who are both young, and un-experienced cooks. They are soon to have a baby and qualify for wic... but were a little concerned with their limitations from the WIC menu... time for my favorite thing to do... research

Here's some really great things I've found to make the tight budget not seem quite so unfriendly.

Cooking with WIC

CA Dpt Public Health

Food Stamps Cooking Club

Military Wives Saving - Cooking with WIC Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5

The Bean Book

You don't have to give up the good stuff.

My husband is lactose intolerant, almost severely so. I love ice cream - but feel guilty buying the delicious treat for just myself.

Then I realized his grandma left us an ice cream maker... and cow's milk is no longer the only choice.

So I went on a hunt for Chocolate - Coconut Ice Cream. OMG! I am so glad that I did.

We tried a Gnowfglins recipe for our first try... sorry, I didn't take any photos of this experiment. I used 2/3 cup of cocoa powder and everything else to the recipe. A little bit of user/mechanical error caused it to freeze a little too hard - but the taste was perfect.

Some other recipes I discovered on my searches can be found at...

Kitchen.m

The Nourishing Gourmet

Living Well On Less

Love and Olive Oil

I also did a little bit of math... while I really enjoy Coconut Bliss ice cream from my local freezer section... it costs over $6 for 1 pint... Making my 2 quart batch... I spent just a little less than double that amount. (2 quarts = 4 pints)