Weekly Menu #409 And The Book Of The Week

 


Hey Monday. The weather has finally turned warm and I've been hiding inside from the sun. My glow in the dark legs can't handle that much heat, lol.

This weeks read is The Godstone by Violette Malan. This is a book that I picked up from Netgalley that has a very interesting premise that has a lot of potential. I'm intrigued and read to dive in. What's your next read?

Lets move on to the menu, shall we? I tried to keep it lighter since the weather is supposed to be in the 90's and I'm not wanting to spend much time over the hot stove or turn the oven on. I hope you enjoy!




WEEKLY MENU 

Monday

Chicken Nuggets and Veggies

 

Tuesday

French Toast

 

Wednesday

Feta and Spinach Chicken Patty

 

Thursday

Ground Beef Tacos

 

Friday

Open-faced Egg Salad Sandwiches

 

Saturday

Sloppy Joes

 


Sunday
Leftovers Night




at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday Confessions #101

 


Hello Sunday. Welcome back to my weekly recap.

I don't understand this weather. The PNW has gone from 90 degree days back to 60, back up to 90 again. This needs to stop! The change is killing me, causing migraines and allergies.

I'm glad this weekend is supposed to be nice since we are getting our boys a trampoline. My hope is to have them spend all summer outside in the sun, instead of becoming mushrooms in their dark rooms playing on their computers. If they play outside, I can read my books outside while they jump. Its a mama's dream.

On to the recap.


Sunday Confessions #100
~
Weekly Menu #408 And The Book Of The Week
~
Book Shelf Confessions May 2021
~
Book Review: Shutter by Melissa Larsen
~
Recipe: Italian Sausage and Parmesan Soup
~
Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon


Weekly Menu #409 And The Book Of The Week
~
Book Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
~
Book Review: Creativity by John Cleese
~
Movie Review: Cruella
~
Book Review: What We Devour by Linsey Miller
~
Sunday Confessions #102


As I am writing this post, I am listening to Robert Jordan's Lord of Chaos. Its over 900 pages and has taken me several months to get through this one. Its been a little slow paced. A lot of sitting in camps, but all the characters are starting to travel back to each other. They are also all getting married, so that's weird, but hey... It was bound to happen.

I'm sure by the time you read this post, I will have finished. 

Update: I finished it. FINALLY!





I don't know about you, but when the Daredevil movie with Ben Affleck came out and Evanescence came on the seen, I became obsessed. Love this song and album.
 


The last thing I watched was Lucifer. I've decided to start it over, since I stopped watching about 2 seasons in (don't know why) and I need a refresher before I jump into season 3. 

In fact, I watched about 5 episodes last night due to the threeV8 sparkling energy drinks I had yesterday and stayed up past midnight. Little did I realize, that small can has as much caffeine as a typical energy drink in a tiny delicious can of goodness. I wouldn't recommend it. 

I did down another one this morning, only because I had 4 hours of sleep last night and needed to stay awake. It was safe to say the V8 would do the trick.

Can we just say, that I am absolutely obsessed with this look. I've never felt myself to be a very fashionable person. I tend to have to watch others and put outfits together based off of photos, so this one is going on my to have list.

This adorable blog post from Alicia at Alicia-Lund.com is the epitome of an excellent blog that everyone wants to have. The photos are great, the decor is great, its just great.

Check it out!


So, nothing new with my challenges since I've over done it on book reviews again, lol.

31/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge
~
50/341 Gilmore Girls challenge
~
47/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge


Its been a great week out in the world and inside the world of books. Check back next week for more book love and let me know what you are reading this week.






at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , ,

Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon

 


Title: Raya and the Last Dragon

Genre: Fantasy

Release Date: March 5th, 2021

My Rating: ★★★★★

IMDB Rating: 7.4/10

Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina

 

Summary from IMDB: 

In a realm known as Kumandra, a re-imagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization, a warrior named Raya is determined to find the last dragon.

 

IMDB Trailer

 




Review:

I don't normally put Gifs in my posts, but I needed to convey my feelings for this movie clearly.

Make sure you have a tissue box when watching this epic heart wrenching story of trust and overcoming prejudice. 

This concept has been told time and time again over the years, but could not be more relevant to our times now. There is a deep seeded hatred between the different tribes of Kumandra, so much so that Kumandra is no more. 

When the Droon are released again into the world, each tribe fends for themselves, hiding in their small part of the world until the very existence of human life is at risk.

It's not until Raya brings together one person from each tribe, mainly by accident, and learns the hard lesson of trust, giving up her piece of the dragon stone to her mortal enemy in the hopes that she will do the right thing and bring back the people who have been turned to stone by the Droon, but also bring back the dragons that have been gone for 500 years. 

I cried... Ok... I bawled like a baby, but I wasn't the only one. My sweet, softhearted husband had a tear rolling down his cheek too. 

Each character was so masterfully crafted and the humor was spot on. The world building and animation was epic and amazing. 

This movie is one of my families favorites and has been played almost everyday since it became available for all on Disney plus. 

You have to see this movie!



at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , ,

Recipe: Italian Sausage and Parmesan Soup

Italian Sausage and Parmesan Soup 

Some nights are soup nights. On these cool spring evenings, I love to sit in my porch swing and sip a hot soup. This was the perfect dinner for my family. My husband loved and and so did I. Delicious!

Ingredients 

1lb Italian Sausage
1/2 Medium Onion
1 TBS Garlic
1 Can Tomato Sauce
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning 
Salt and Pepper
4 Diced Roma Tomatoes
1 Cup Chicken Broth
4 oz Cream Cheese
1 Cup Heavy Cream
1/4 Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Parsley

Instructions

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté onion until translucent. 
  2. Add Italian sausage and brown until its cooked through. 
  3. Add tomato sauce, diced tomato, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, chicken broth, heavy cream and cream cheese to the pot and mix well.
  4. Heat through for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot topped with parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of parsley.





at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Book Review: Shutter by Melissa Larsen

 


Title: Shutter

By: Melissa Larsen

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 362

Release Date: June 15th, 2021

Publisher: Berkley Books

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Summary from Goodreads:

A young woman agrees to star in a filmmaker's latest project, but soon realizes the movie is not what she expected in this chilling debut novel.

In the wake of her father's death, Betty Roux doesn't allow herself to mourn. Instead, she pushes away her mother, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves everything behind to move to New York City. She doesn't know what she wants, except to run.

When she's offered the chance to play the leading role in mysterious indie filmmaker Anthony Marino's new project, she jumps at the opportunity. For a month Betty will live in a cabin on a private island off the coast of Maine, with a five-person cast and crew. Her mother warns against it, but Betty is too drawn to the charismatic Anthony to say no.

Anthony gives her a new identity--Lola--and Betty tells herself that this is exactly what she's been looking for. The chance to reinvent herself. That is, until they begin filming and she meets Sammy, the island's caretaker, and Betty realizes just how little she knows about the movie and its director.

 

Add on Goodreads

 

Review:

I have strong feelings about this book and wished it didn't have so many issues for me. 

The pacing was slow and at times it was hard to keep my attention. It there was more excitement or plot twists, then maybe it would have been better. The story its self was odd and seemed to jump from plot line to plot line without holding true to a single point. 

Don't even get me started on the characters. Betty seemed to have daddy and mommy issues that were brought up from time to time, but didn't really feel relevant to the story.  The fact that she felt something was off about the movie opportunity that she had been presented, but continued on with it makes the story feel unrelatable. And the other characters were off and unlikable. 

The only saving grace was the large plot twist at the end that really narrowed down the plot to one storyline. It was powerful and thrilling. If only the entire book had followed this example.

I think the author is talented at putting words together and painting a picture, but needs to focus her plotlines.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. 



at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , , ,

Book Shelf Confessions May 2021

 


Hello, and welcome to my first edition of Book Shelf Confessions. I've had so many book requests on Netgalley and Edelweiss, library holds and recently received books that I thought I would share my book haul with all of you. Lets compare, shall we?



Waiting on these ones from Netgalley, crossing my fingers that I'm approved. I found these books through Bloglovin' and the wonderful bookish community. Both very different, but both sound like amazing reads.





I've been waiting patiently for these books on hold at my library. The Devils Highway, The Inheritance Game, The other Black Girl, We Begin at the End and Desperate Measures were all found out in the bookish community.

Kingdome of Flesh and Fire is a sequel to a recent book I read and loved.

Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon is a no brainer. I've been waiting for this one since it was announced and I won't get my hands on it until November, unless I can get my hands on a review copy, but that will be hard to do.







These 9 books are all from Netgalley. I'm already done with Half Sick of Shadows, Shutter and What We Devour. Reviews will be coming soon. I need to finish Child of Light which is the last book from my first haul this month before I move on to the rest of the books from my newest approvals. 


This is the only book from the Library I actually got my hands on this week. This cover is gorgeous and the story sounds wonderful. I can't wait to start reading it.


I'm crossing my fingers for those pending books and have a lot of great reads to fill my time with.

I hope you haven't overloaded yourself as I have, but if you've found yourself here, you probably have. Good luck reading.




 



at 4 comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , ,

Weekly Menu #408 And The Book Of The Week

 


Hello Monday and welcome back to the blog. Its been a long week at work, busting my butt and working overtime to get things done. Listened to a lot of audio books this week to keep my mind busy. 

Book of the week is Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan. I know I brought this book up a month or so ago, but to tell you the truth, its taken me a while to get through it. This book has a whopping 940 pages. Mind blown.

Even though I've been reading this book for a lot longer than I should have, I'm almost done with it. Sitting at 85%.

Hopefully, I will be done with this book by next Monday.



WEEKLY MENU 

Monday

Roasted Sausage and Potatoes

 

Tuesday

Creamy Bruschetta Chicken

 

Wednesday

Cheesy Ham Chowder

 

Thursday

Teriyaki Chicken

 

Friday

Chicken Nuggets and Veggies

 

Saturday

Spaghetti Night

 

Sunday

Leftovers Night


at No comments: Links to this post
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)