So you're 30? Get over it.

I'm going to post about this topic just one time and then, having said my peace, try to bite my tongue ever after...

For several years now, my friends have been reaching and passing the great life landmark of turning 30 years old. During the next year, many more of my friends will turn 30.

I'm dreading their birthdays.

So far it has mostly been my experience that people approaching this milestone freak out. They stress. They whine.... a lot. Apparently if you wake up on February 1st and it's your birthday and you are now 30, you've transform into a gray-haired, hobble-stepped person with wrinkles. In other words, you suddenly and magically got really old.

At the very least, can we please stop with the excessive hyperbole about how "old" you feel when you turn 30?

(I'd really like it if you would refrain from whining, too.)

In the first place -- and I know this is weird, but just to get it off my chest -- me, personally? Not so much with the worrying about the big 3-0. I am actually very, very excited about the end of my twenties. I look forward to being a comfortably adult age and shedding the last obnoxious vestiges of my (perceived) youth. In some ways, I've always been a lot older than my age anyway. I like to think that when I hit 30, the numerals attached to my lifespan will indicate the grown-up-ed-ness I've long felt. (Yes, I know I have a propensity for pranks and a love of technology, both of which make me seem pretty youthful, but I assure you there's a very old soul inside this rambunctious exterior.)

Now here's the other thing: I don't think you should be worried about turning 30, either. Perhaps you could do me a favor and try to see this landmark from a different angle. Will you consider something for a moment?

You can't stay in your twenties forever, so there's only one alternative to turning 30...

Death.

Don't laugh. I'm being serious. Dead serious. And this is the real reason it bothers me so very, very much when people complain about turning 30: Not everyone gets to turn 30.

Just think about that for a moment. Please think about it.

This is the moment in the post where I planned to throw a bunch of statistics at you (want to talk about Africa, anyone?) and then some true, tragic tales of young death. But as I sit here typing, I don't think either of those options are the best course. Instead I'll just use a bit of simple reasoning...


We're all going to die at some point. If you're reading this, how blessed are you, you are still alive. You have made it to your current age. Is your body the springy, flexible figure of youth? Or have you started to stoop and ache with age? Do you have a few gray hairs, or maybe a whole head of them?

Who cares? You're alive.

Too many people die young. Childhood cancer. Car accidents. Freak accidents. Abuse. Disease. Stupidity. We're fairly blessed in the United States to have a long life expectancy and low rates of childhood mortality, but we're not immune to loss. That we -- you and me -- are the ones who have made it this far is a blessing.

Because you could be dead.

So yes, while I have my own freakish reasons to be genuinely excited about turning 30, I also feel there is a Universal Reason to embrace the transformation into a triple-decade winner: YOU ARE ALIVE. And with time to spare, perhaps? You still have time to chase your dreams and enjoy life's pleasures and hug your loved ones.

This is why it irks me to hear people complain about turning 30. Every time the muttering and whining slips out of their mouths -- even when it's people who I deeply, truly love -- I want to shout: YOU SHOULD FEEL BLESSED TO BE ALIVE. Too many people do not get the opportunity. There are people younger than you or me who, right this very moment, are at the end of their lives, and they would give anything if they could live long enough to turn 30. Hell, they'd be happy for one more month or week or even just one more day. But they don't have that much time left.

Meanwhile, you made it to 30...

(Or to forty, or fifty, or whatever age you've reached and you want to complain about being -- because really this post goes beyond the unhappy middle-years folks. It's something I wish we would all remember and take to heart...)

You are alive. You are blessed.

Every breath you take, every morning you get to wake up and have yet another day on this earth, you are blessed. I know life is not always easy or pretty or fun, but the alternative is death, and there are young people who lay dying who would gladly trade places with you and turn 30, and they wouldn't care at all. They just want one. more. day. How many days you have! How fortunate you are!

So please, my dearly beloved friends, stop complaining. Stop freaking out. Count your blessings, eat your cake, and kiss the people you love. Because you still can.

"To be alive is to be blessed, no matter your age."


End rant.




P.S. Okay, I couldn't help myself -- I looked up a lot of statistics as I prepared this blog post and I have to share at least one: In 2012, the CIA's World Factbook listed the average life expectancy in Swaziland (southern Africa, population 1.2 million) was 32 years. In other words, the majority of people in that country are dead by age 32. How many of them don't even make it to 30?

Several Uplifting Things

Here are some uplifting things -- the highlights from my week...

1. An empowering message for all women (I've watched this once or twice a day, all week long):

2. Then I found an insightful TED. The title of it is misleading. It's really a video about the importance of having hard conversations and being compassionate:
www.upworthy.com/a-4-year-old-girl-asked-a-lesbian-if-shes-a-boy-she-responded-the-awesomest-way-possible?c=ufb1


3. Seth Adam Smith wrote a blog post that was nice but didn't quite sit right with me. Then I read a reactionary post, which I think sums up the situation much better (but yay for Seth and his sudden whirlwind of fame): www.askyourdadblog.com/2013/11/marriage-is-for-me-and-you-and-kids-and.html

4. A video of my brother walking: http://juliebike.blogspot.com/2013/11/bill-sat-nov-2-walking-hall.html

5. This new blog, started by a woman with whom I went to high school, which is going to be really fun (and educational) to read during the next year or so: http://myannoyingspendingfreeze.blogspot.com/

6. My novel is going to be published tomorrow. Holy. Crap.

Love One Another

This post was originally going to be a FB status update, until it became clear to me that it was going to be ridiculously too long. So it's here on the blog, instead.

I didn't expect to have such an emotional morning. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation. Maybe I'm just going crazy. But I have some thoughts that have been heavily on my mind, today especially but really...always. So here it goes:

Two days ago (9/3) I noticed an article trending in my FB news feed, "FYI (if you're a teenage girl)". I noted it on my to-read list. I didn't get around to it.

When checked FB after I got up this morning, I noticed there was a reactionary post trending on my news feed, "Dear Mrs. Hall, Regarding Your 'FYI (if you’re a teenage girl)'".

So I decided to check out both articles. First I read Mrs. Hall's letter (the original FYI to teenage girls). It bothered me a bit. Not a lot, since I quickly jumped to read the reactionary letter and didn't have time to really ponder Mrs. Hall's letter.

Beth's response letter to Mrs. Hall's post really touched me. It made me cry, in a good way. The part that reached me so deeply was "I’m someone who needed a second chance as a young woman."

Wow. Did I change my name to Beth and write a post in my sleep last night? Those are my words. At least they feel like my words. I made a lot of bad choices as a young teenager. When I was  about sixteen years old, I finally wised up and looked around and realized I needed to make some changes. I turned to the people around me, my "friends," for support. But no one was handing out second chances. Looking back, I might even say that my "friends" were the kind of people who had Mrs. Hall for a mother.

After a few months of struggling on my own, I fell back on all of my old, bad habits. Eventually I felt like the only choice left for me was to physically leave my circumstances. I walked away from my school, my friends, and the life I had known. I will forever be grateful for that decision. I look on it with no regrets -- it was one of the the most important decisions I have ever made because of where it has led me during this second half of my life.

When I started at my new school (this was my senior year of high school), I made new friends. Different friends. They didn't know I was looking for a second chance. Heck, they didn't know anything about me. I was a blank slate to them and thus I could become the person I wanted to be, instead of the person I had always been.

But here's the thing -- the real difference: The new friends I found were the kind of people who I imagine must have Beth for a mother. I still screwed up and made bad choices and did dumb things, but these friends loved me anyway. They could see that I was more than my actions, or even the sum of my actions. They knew something I had yet to learn, which is that I am a daughter of God, loved of Him, beautiful in His eyes, and of immense worth. I deserve as many second chances as I need, which are infinitely many. "Beth's children" gave me those chances, and that strength enabled me to become the woman I am becoming.

(Because let's face it, I'm still not perfect. I still need second and third and fourth chances.)

So what am I trying to say in all of this? I think my message is that we should be gentle with each other and follow the example of Jesus Christ, our Savior. He taught us to not judge, and to love and forgive. We should not permit or encourage negative and damaging things, but we also should not neglect our duty to love and forgive and be a light unto the world.

Here is one of my favorite stories about Jesus, as an example of what I mean (see Luke 7:36-50): When a sinful woman came to see Him while he was dining at the home of a Pharisee, Jesus did not say to her, "Too bad. No second chances for you." He permitted her to come and bathe His feet with her tears, and wipe them clean with her hair, and anoint them with oil.

The Savior of the world said of her, "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." And to her, Christ said, "Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

Let us please give people room (opportunity) to change. Let us give them all the second chances they need. Let us enable and encourage each other to become better people -- our best selves. And let us love others even if they don't.

Home Improvements in the Yard

My daughter is down for her nap and the kitchen is clean. I can't continue working on my ciabatta rolls for another 30 minutes. It's too early to start dinner. It's Sunday so I can't (shouldn't) work on my novel, hang drywall or go outside and shovel stuff. I've written my ROW-80 post for the week. I'm caught up on The Bachelorette. I'm not interested in the novel I started reading yesterday. There's no laundry to fold. I'm not in the midst of any sewing projects. Darling's toys are put away....

So I guess I will just have to write a blog post. :o)

I'm not sure what has gotten into me lately. I've been driving full-steam ahead on various house projects. I think it's just because I am fed up with being halfway through so many different things, and having so many goals and dreams that just aren't going anywhere. I've said, "Screw it. I am going to get some things done!" It probably helps a lot that Nate is off work for the summer and the weather is finally good.

Outside in the backyard, we (Nate) got the tree stump from that old, massive pine tree out of the ground. That was a huge task all by itself. Then came the trouble of how to chop it up and haul it away. The thing probably weighed 300 pounds! The short version of the story is that it's gone now. (Of course, before we were finally rid of it, the !^@%ing stump broke the back window in our truck. The window is fixed now. In retrospect, it would have cost less to hire a tree removal company to take out the stump than it cost us to put in the new window. Ugh!!!)

The stump went away a couple of weeks ago. Since then, we've been working on clearing and leveling the ground that use to be at the base of the tree. Part of it is going to be planted with new grass in the fall. Another part of it will be a play area for our daughter.... I just need to find her a playet or a yard. (I really want this one from Costco... but something like this would be great too.)

Here's a series of picture of the backyard, from when we moved in until today (sorry, these are not the best photos; I didn't do a good job getting the "before" shots):

It's a huge difference. There's still quite a bit that we need to do, but I am very happy with the progress we've made, especially this last year

In the front yard there have been a few improvements so far this year, with several more planned this summer. We re-did the planters that lead to our front door. I have a "before" picture from when we first moved into the house, but unfortunately I don't have any "between" pictures. Then again, the current look of the planter is still not final -- it's just a nice-looking improvement until we can afford to make a rather drastic set of changes. Oh well. Here's the original planter, and the current version (noting that we did not make all of these changes this year, but have been working on it for the last four years):

On the north side of the front yard, projects include rebuilding the planter with new stonework, pouring a "BBQ" patio just off the kitchen, and pouring/building a new shed for our garbage cans.

...

And with that, I'm out of time. I need to go work on cranberry ciabatta rolls and start thinking about dinner. I guess I will need to find time for an inside-the-house post later this week!

(P.S. I'm also posting updates to my writing blog: brookerow80.blogspot.com)

This week: Recovering, rebuilding, and re-attempting

My work sent me to Nashville last week. As I mentioned in my last post, my mom came with me so that I could bring my daughter, too. My mom wrote two blog posts about our trip -- one that highlighted all of the negative experiences (mostly caused by our hotel), and another about the good/fun stuff. You can check out her blog for the details; I don't have anything to add.

Darling girl has had a rough time this week, transitioning back to being home. She missed her dad but at the same time is being a total mama's girl and wants nothing to do with him. (Paradoxical much?) I think it's just really confusing for her that he's here-and-gone so much.

Because, speaking of the hubs, he had this awfully busy week that made for stress all around. It was the last week of school. So he spent many long hours getting files in order and helping his staff get the sites cleaned and ready to close for the summer. Thankfully the next couple of weeks should be much easier for him, and then he will be off for the summer.

Unfortunately, he's probably going back to work full time in September. I can't remember what, if anything, I've shared about the changes going on at his work. We don't know exactly what's going to happen yet so I won't speculate. When there's solid news to share, I'll share it.

To keep myself from going crazy while Nate was gone this week, I fell back on a very dirty habit: I worked on the electrical wiring in our basement. I spent my evenings standing on a four-foot ladder, shoving wires through tiny holes in the ceiling. I'm not kidding about it being dirty -- I came away from these adventures with sticky black dust up to my elbows, and chunks of I-don't-even-know-what in my hair. Nasty. But I can proudly report that, at long last, all of the lighting on the west side of the basement is rewired and it all works. There's one part that needs a fix (the wiring is backwards), and there's a bunch of old wiring that I still need to strip out. So maybe there's an evening or two of cleanup before I will be done.

This also means we can work on putting our basement back together! We can hang drywall, close up the ceiling, and do some finishing work. Neat.

As if that wasn't enough, I also made three batches of macarons this week. I finally had a taste of some real macarons when I was in Nashville and they were amazing; totally worth all of the fuss. I also had a duh moment, as I realized that I don't have to make a massive batch of macarons every time I want to try cooking them. I can half or even quarter the recipe. (Like I said, it was a duh moment.) So each little batch this week was just a quarter-sized batch. It only makes half a cookie sheet worth of macarons.

Batch One: Every single shell was cracked and none of the cookies had feet, but the insides were perfect. That's some serious progress after so many hollow batches.

Batch Two: Every shell was perfectly round and pretty with beautiful feet, but I baked them too long and they were very hard. (Grr!!!)

Batch Three: I had a toddler yanking on my pants when I was piping the cookies, so they came out in a variety of sizes and kinda oddly shaped, although most of them had feet. The insides are excellent, although perhaps a tad undercooked. I think two more minutes would have been just right.

I'll make another batch again soon (tomorrow???) and I anticipate that my cumulative knowledge is going to yield some perfect cookies here very soon. Stay tuned!

Highlights of the last six weeks

Oh my, has it really been six weeks since I last wrote a blog post? How is that possible? I was thinking that it had been about a month but nope, my last post was April 8th. In my defense, I was sick for most of April, and life has been crazy busy...

But when is life not busy? Seems like all the careful efforts I've made recently to make life less hectic has just meant I have more time for one of the 1,000 other things that are clamoring for my time. (Sound familiar, friends?)

At this very moment, I am sitting in a hotel conference room, very far away from home. I'm here for a week-long work conference. My mom came with me to see the sights and so that I could bring my daughter. (There's no way I could have left Darling at home for the week; I would have been miserable.) They are at the public library this morning, which is just one block down the road. Yesterday they did a bit of sight-seeing. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so I think they will get trapped inside. Thankfully we have a whole bunch of toys and books with us because we needed a lot of things to keep Darling busy on the long airplane ride, so I think they will have plenty of things to do tomorrow.

Now let's see if I can remember all of the things I've been doing and working on during the last six weeks...

We had family in town, which is definitely the highlight among recent event. Nate's brother, who currently lives in southern California with his family, had some work-related meetings in a city near us. His wife (my SIL Amy) and their daughter Maddie came with him so they could visit us and Amy's family. We got to spend several days together.

It was great to spend time with them, talk, play, and cook. Darling and Maddie had a great time together. They played and read books, and even took a bath together. Darling spent the whole long weekend saying Cousin. We tried to get her to say Cousin Maddie but she didn't seem to get that Maddie is Maddie's name -- I think she thinks that Maddie's name is Cousin. Lol. She still asks for her cousin every couple of days. It's adorable. We loved their visit but did not get enough time with them. Hopefully we'll be able to go to southern California sometime soon and visit them.

That excitement happened during the first weekend in May.

The week before their visit, I took a little day trip to visit friends Kimmy, Nathan, and Little. That's the second-best thing to happen in the past six weeks. I got to see their newly fenced garden and recently built garden boxes. We attempted to make macarons, and had many other delicious things to eat. The babes played with each other. I temporarily lost my keys. I started to panic about the lost keys while I was there, but right now I can't think why I was so worried. I'd love an excuse to move in with my friends and never go home. :o)

Since I'm ordering recent events from most-to-least favorite, I guess the next thing on the list is Mother's Day. Nate was kind enough to make it a bit of a Mother's Weekend for me. I didn't get a complete break from the madness of life, but I did get extra time to rest and read, and I had to change fewer diapers. The Saturday right before mother's day, I actually spent most of the day running some errands while Nate was Super Dad. Some of the errands were fun, others were not. But it was nice to be out of the house and able to do things at my own pace, not at the will and speed of the Toddler.

My mom's day gift this year was an ice cream maker. I specifically requested it, and even went with Nate to get it from Costco. I also picked out the gift wrap that Nate used. (He was "allowed" to pick out the card on his own, ha ha.) Nate was a little bit upset that I picked and helped buy my own gift -- he prefers for gifts to be a total surprise. I'd rather have something I know I'll like. I told him the fun part was the beautiful wrapping he was required to do, and the unknown card.

Unbeknownst to me, Nate had decided to spice up the experience. He spent a couple of weeks writing a series of rhyming riddles, which together made a scavenger hunt. I had to hunt down my present! It was great. The riddles were so well done that I thought he'd found something on the internet that he copied. But no, it was completely original! I loved it, maybe even more than the ice cream maker. So thoughtful.

I think that's it for all of the big events. So in other news, we've been working on the garden. We had some uncharacteristically warm weather in April -- it was hot! The cool-weather plants were unhappy, but then I also couldn't seem to get the warm-weather plants to sprout because it was still cool at night. I finished all of my planting last week before I left on this trip; hopefully when I get home everything will have started growing.

I sold one of our Burleys. I can't remember if I ever blogged about the fact that I have three Burley bike trailers. If I haven't explained this, then don't worry about why I have three. Chalk it up to me being crazy. The good news is that we're down to two because someone came and bought one (the little Bee). I'm working on selling the Cub. I had a couple of people show interest -- one offered me a pathetically low price, the other one wants to come see it. Let's all cross our fingers!

I've also been doing a fair amount of writing. I started a new writing project a few months ago. It's a novel about angels and demons. I feel weird saying that because "supernatural" stories are not in my normal realm of writing, and not even the kind of thing I typically read. But an idea came to me one day, and I've been going for it. Between the outline and the sections I've written, I have more than 12,000 words down. (Generally novels are 50,000+ words.)

One of my goals with this project is to create a complete, detailed outline before I dive heavily into the writing. As of right now, I have a skeleton outline for the whole novel and have written detailed scene outlines for the first half of the story. I want to finish writing the actual story by the end of this year (2013), have it edited at the start of next year, and self-publish it in spring 2014. I think I'm going to re-join a writing challenge called ROW-80 in July, when the next (3Q) round begins. Right now my unofficial goal is to write 1,200 words a week.

My biggest cheerleader for this goal has been author-friend J.R. Pearse Nelson. It's good to know someone who has already jumped through the self-publishing hoops; she's an invaluable resource. She also has another novella coming out soon. I just got to Beta Read the story -- it's the third book in her Children of the Sidhe series, called Flight. It was great. It will be out sometime in July. She plans to publish another novella (book 4 of CotS) and a novel by the end of the year! Amazing. She's such an inspiration.


With that, I think I covered the major news. I hope everyone is doing well!

A bunch of recipe recaps with links to printable recipes

I'm sick again. It has made for a long week -- a week which is mostly a blur in my mind. I did some work, I cooked some food, I cleaned the house and laundry; Nate was home sometimes; my toddler screamed at me a whole bunch. I guess it was really just like any other week, except for the part where I stopped to blow my nose every so often and had to take naps.

Because it was such an uneventful week, I thought I might take this opportunity to share some Recipe Recaps instead. But then I remembered how long it takes to write the recaps. So here's a list of some of our dinners from the last six weeks, with links to print-ready recipes where available (and a few notes... or... maybe a lot of notes, now that I'm done writing them! Ha.):


Broccoli Chicken Casserole on Penne: I actually made this with rotini noodles instead of penne, but it was still great. Nate says... more salt. I disagree. But that debate is eternal and applies to all of our meals.

Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts: I've made this recipe twice so far and been disappointed both times. It sounds good and seems like it would be good, but the chicken comes out dry and you actually get very little of the pesto flavoring. I'm going to have to think about how to "fix" this recipe because I think it could be amazing, with a little help.

Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie (<<< title links to my printable version, but the original recipe comes from Kimmy's Bake Shop): This recipe is delicious and comforting. I love it. I've used 1% milk where it calls for milk. In the biscuit ingredients, I use 4 Tb butter (not six) and I've never added the scallions (green onions). If you're really in a hurry, you could get a bag of frozen mixed veggies instead -- that's the more modern approach to most pot-pie making.

Chicken Divan (on rice): From the Better Homes and Garden cookbook, 90s version. A classic dish in my family, although I make it with a few tweaks to my mom's recipe (because my (newer) copy of the BHG cookbook told me to). We call it Divine Divan.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup: Original recipe calls for turkey but I made it with shredded chicken. It's good.

Chicken and Rice Casserole: I think this recipe is perfect just the way it is.

Thai Peanut Chicken (with Broccoli and Quinoa): From "Quinoa 365", but use peanuts instead of cashews. An excellent dish.

Tofu Pad Thai: This is my own recipe, a mix of a Martha Stewart recipe I tried and the shrimp pad Thai recipe in the "Pasta Revolution" cookbook. Note that the recipe is written for me/us, so it has some funny and distinctive notes. If you don't like tofu, you could substitute chicken or shrimp, or maybe even pork.

Tofu Mushroom Stroganoff: This is my very own recipe, and it's good.

Stuffed Bell Peppers, Southwestern Style (stuffing pictured above; peppers pictured below): Good. I recommend. I don't like traditional stuffed bell pepper recipes -- it calls for too much pepper, in my opinion. So I cut the peppers in half, thoroughly pre-cook the halves, lay them in a glass baking dish, and pile the stuffing on top of them. I also hate to see the pepper tops go so completely to waste, so I cut out the edible bits and cook them up in the stuffing.

Loaded Baked Potatoes (black bean and corn): The salsa you choose will really define how the recipe tastes. I also recommend using more cheese than it calls for.

Mexican Lasagna: I felt like the tomatoes in this recipe made it very watery. Next time I'll try adding a can of tomato paste to thicken things up, and maybe let it cook down a bit more.

Veggie Quesadillas: My own original recipe. And very good.

Black Bean Enchiladas in Pumpkin Sauce: The sauce was too watery and too spicy, and didn't really taste anything like pumpkin (not that it needed to, per say). I'd say use half a jalapeno, and reduce the water to 1-1.5 cups. The tortillas are a pain to work with; if you heat them a little in the microwave they are more flexible. But for us, they just fell apart in the watery mess of the sauce. The resulting dinner was mushy and almost unpalatable. Conclusion: The recipe needs work.

Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers (<<< links to my printable recipe, but is originally from Kimmy's Bake Shop): Original recipe calls for rice. I used quinoa because it was handy and it cooks faster. I put beef bullion in the quinoa while it was cooking to add more flavor. The homemade buns are great. I baked mine until they were just done, then toasted them in the toaster oven. Perfect. I also used the bun recipe for the other version of the quinoa burgers, listed next...

Quinoa Burgers: The original recipe is for mini burgers, but I bumped them up to full size. It makes 10 burgers if you use 1/3 cup of the mix for each burger. The proportions are excellent. I used one carrot, and Monterrey Jack cheese on top. The avocado is a must. I recommend mixing in the quinoa when it's still hot, I think it made them stick together better.

Chickpea and Corn Burgers (on homemade buns): Okay, I confess, there was a two-week period when I got a bit obsessed with different ways to make burgers. And I'm not done experimenting, just giving my family a break. These burgers I threw together using themes I saw in the quinoa and black bean burger recipes. They were unfortunately a bit dry and didn't stay together well; I need to work on that.

Quinoa and Bean Chili: Instead of using 6 cups of white beans, I tried it with 3 cups of cooked quinoa, 1.5 cups of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), and I added 1 cup of corn. It's mild a bit bland. It definitely needs the cheese and avocado. Nate says it needs the sour cream. (I don't like sour cream, so I couldn't say.) It's better with chips, too.

Quinoa "Mac" n Cheese: Good. Surprisingly good. I used 5oz of fresh spinach and it was a good balance. Could fry up some garlic with the spinach. Could reduce the cheese to 6oz. I used a couple teaspoons of chicken bullion while the quinoa was cooking and it definitely improved the overall flavor. Yes to the dash of salt. I don't know that I could taste the nutmeg.

Mulligatawny: This soup was okay. Good flavor, but lacking in substance. You could easily double the lentils, maybe even triple. I'd also suggest cutting up at least one more carrot, and adding it with the lentils, after you blend/puree the rest of the soup. Nate says this would be better as a side soup, not a main course. I might be inclined to agree with him, but I won't acquiesce until I've tried it again with tweaks.

Tikka Masala (pictured below; we ate it on rice): I didn't especially like this recipe. I thought the proportions were unbalanced; it had too much tomato. Next time I'd go with maybe half as much tomato...? And I'd try adding chickpeas.

Moroccan Tagine (pictured below): I used raisins instead of apricots, orange instead of lemon. I liked the carrots, but thought they could have been cooked more.

Lasagna Bites: Don't believe the recipe -- rolling out your own "wonton" wrappers takes some muscle and is very difficult if a screaming toddler is yanking on your pant legs. I didn't use vegan ricotta, just the regular stuff. Actually, I can't even remember what all I put in these things. But they were yummy.

Beef and Mushroom Lasagna: This is based on the classic Campbell's recipe and requires a can of cream of mushroom. Yes, I know how we feel about that. I'm sorry. But it's delicious.

Goulash (with veggies): This makes a lot of food. I used 1.5lbs of beef and probably an extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup of noodles. The ratios still seemed fine to me.

Bachelor Beef Stew: From "Slow Cooker Revolution." Just a basic slow-cooked beef stew, nothing special or interesting to report. Throw some beef, baby carrots, chopped potatoes and diced onion in a slow cooker with beef broth and a bit of seasonings. Low heat. Eight hours later, nom.

Lentil Stew (with sausage): Hearty winter comfort food. Filling and tasty. Nate discovered this recipe.

Broccoli Beef: We've been asked for this recipe a few times. It's one of Nate's specialties. I think it's okay, but I don't ask him to make it very often.

Cabbage Soup: Gosh, isn't this one of those recipes that everyone just magically knows how to make? No seriously. Apparently it is. But I had to make Nate write it down for me because I don't ever remember having cabbage soup when we were growing up, even though it is some kind of American classic/staple.

Pork and Ramen Soup with Spinach (slow cooker): This recipe comes out of "Slow Cooker Revolution." It's good, not great. Always comes out a little watery and bland.

Tofu and Eggplant on Noodles (pictured below): I thought this recipe was horrible. Nate said it was fine. My mom said it was fine. But I will never, ever make it again. I think it's the eggplant -- we never get along in recipes -- and the hefty dose of lime. Yuck, lime.

Now for the SWEET TREATS...

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (<<< links to my printable recipe, but originally comes from Kimmy's Bake Shop): Kimmy mailed me some of these in March, when I was sick. Bless her. They were amazing. As soon as I got better, I made them for myself. The result was delicious, but the instructions needed a little help because I had no idea what I was doing the first time around. I've made them twice now.

Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting: I hate it when recipes tell you to turn down the temperature because you're using a glass dish. Yes, the food is more likely to burn in glass at a high temp, but it also takes a bazillion years longer to cook if you turn down the temp. And this cake took a million billion gazillion years to cook all the way through, and it still burned. I had to cut off the crust. It was tasty, but it was a pain. I don't know what the answer is, except maybe that I should buy a metal dish or two.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies: I've made these a couple of times, using the "from scratch" instructions. You can't really taste the cream cheese flavor, but it adds richness to the cookies that make them heavenly. Milk vs. dark chips? The jury is still out. I tried it both ways. I like the dark because I like dark chips in cookies, but the milk weren't bad.

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars: Good but frustrating. The raspberry makes the bars mushy in the middle. You could pre-cook the crust even more to help prevent this, but then it will burn on the second round of cooking. I don't have a good solution yet. Maybe try mixing the raspberry mix with the topping? That's what I will try next time. Also, I didn't think one pound of raspberries was sufficient; I'd use at least 20oz, maybe even 24oz (1.5 lbs).