Next book - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Next up on the reading list if Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
I had a friend from high school who recommended Kingsolver. She typically writes non-fiction, but this book is her first non-fiction piece.

The book follows the author and her family as they undertake a one-year mission to eat only those foods that are locally grown, either by themselves or by others they know. I think that's a terrific idea and one I wish we could implement. Maybe that will be a goal for the future!

I'm already into the 6th chapter, so I'll report back soon!

Book Review - The Lost Symbol

I finished up Book $6 for 2010 over the weekend. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, who also wrote The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.
I enjoyed the book. I thought it was good, but not great. I'll have to agree with my husband and say some of events and ideas are a bit far-fetched and hard to believe. But overall I liked the book. The Robert Langdon character has been quite the money-maker for Dan Brown and I suspect this book will continue that tradition.
The whole book takes place around Washington D.C. so it refers a lot to national landmarks, museums, etc. I really enjoyed that part of the book. Makes me wants to go back and visit D.C.
So, a thumbs-up on this book. It does appear to be very big and it has a lot of pages, but I really thought it was an easy read in terms of speed. There wasn't much dilly-dally in terms of getting to the good stuff and I do like that!

Texas Style Lasagna

I made Texas Style Lasagna last night and as was expected, it was fabulous. This meal comes from the Once A Month Cooking cookbook. The first time I made it I did freeze and cook it later; last night I just put it together and cooked it immediately. Still tasted awesome. It gets a thumbs up from everybody.

All the ingredients (except the ground beef). Nothing too expensive or hard to find!
The meat mixture simmering away on the stove. I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes because they are my favorite diced tomatoes lately.

The finished dish, ready for the oven.

Look at those lovely layers!

The finished product, after we ate part of it! I meant to get a complete picture, but we were too hungry!

So, here's the recipe for Texas Style Lasagna.

1.5 lbs. lean ground beef

2 cups (16 ounces) small-curd cottage cheese

2 eggs (I used 2 egg whites and it still comes out fantastic)

1 1-ounce package taco seasoning mix

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles

5 flour tortillas cut into 1-inch strips (I cut mine with a pizza cutter--makes it fast!)

4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Brown the meat in a large skillet. Drain off excess fat and add the taco seasoning, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chiles; mix well. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Combine the cottage cheese and eggs in a small bowl.

In a 9x13 baking dish treated with nonstick cooking spray, layer half of the meat sauce, half of the tortillas, half of the cottage cheese mixture, and half of the Monterey Jack cheese. Repeat the layers.

Option 1: Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil, label and freeze. To serve, thaw, and bake, uncovered, in 350 oven for 40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Option 2: Bake in 350 oven for 35 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

My only variation on the recipe is the amount of cheese. I probably only used about 3 cups; 4 cups was just way too much cheese for me. Otherwise, that's exactly how I made it and we love the recipe. It gets a big thumbs up from the Mr., too, so it is man-approved!

Rainy day, Sunny photos

It's so dreary outside, so let's go with happy, sunny photos to brighten the day! Going to the playground at our local elementary school has become more fun this year and Brady can walk around and explore the equipment.
Checking out the view from the top of the jungle gym.

Playing with the steering wheel.

Playing some giant version of tic tac toe with Dad.

And just running around.

16 months old

Yes, as of yesterday, Little B is now 16 months old. I never even posted his 15-month update, but one month isn't too bad, right? At his 15-month checkup Little B was 29.75 inches tall and weight 20 pounds, 6 ounces. That put him at the 10th percentile for height and first percentile for weight. Still a little on the skinny side, but again, not shocking given his parent's stature.

More importantly, here is everything our little guy is up to at 15 (or 16) months:
Walking and running everywhere.
He still eats very well, although he's getting pickier about the vegetables. He'll eat green beans just fine from his day care provider, but won't touch them at home. But he eats adult foods now, including enchiladas! Still eating with the hands, though. No utensil usage in sight.
Still sucking on the index finger of the right hand for comfort.
Climbs up and down the stairs with zero help from mom and dad.
Has quite the independent streak.
Also throws quite the temper tantrums.
Loves cell phones and remotes.
When we get home for the day, he usually runs into his room and immediately starts pulling out his books and "reading" to himself. He even will shut the door so he can read by himself at times.
Takes one big afternoon nap of about 2 hours and then at night sleeps from about 8 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.
LOVES MUSIC. Love. Seriously. We may have a budding musician on our hands. He dances and claps and sings. His favorite song, at least with mom, is Carry Out by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. He squeals when it comes on the radio.
Continuing with the music theme, he also still loves to bang on the piano.
And he loves to rock in the rocking chair if we put him in it.

Down the Stairs

In the past month Brady has figured out how to climb down the stairs all by himself. Needless to say, there are now no obstacles remaining in his quest to conquer our entire house!

He doesn't venture down to the basement or the long flight of stairs leading to it, but the other stairs in our house are no match for him.

Before the weekend snowstorm, we had some very nice weather. Brady is quite the outdoors kid and his favorite thing lately is playing with the Cozy Coupe.
He loves to just get in and out of that thing.

It's a good life just cruising along in the sun, isn't it?