Life Lately: A Roundup of What I’ve Been Eating, Watching, and Reading + Recipe Recommendations?

Time to talk food, television, and books. Who’s ready?

FOOD

I recently took part in a church-wide fast. For the first time – in my life! – I abstained from food for a spiritual reason, and it was a transformative experience. It also made me hyperaware of how much I love eating good food and, not surprisingly, I jumped back into cooking with two enthusiastic feet after completing my fast.

Here are the most notable mentions:

• This Curry Chickpea Salad is mindblowing. If you are not driving a vehicle, flying an aircraft, operating on a living creature, or allergic to chickpeas: leave your computer this instant, run to the nearest kitchen facilities, and MAKE THIS SALAD. I learned about the recipe from Birche, and this will be part of my regular lunch routine moving forward. I followed the recipe exactly except I subbed hot red pepper jelly for the mango chutney. So, so good.

• I made chicken quesadillas. It has been years since I made quesadillas. WHY? I put a wheat tortilla on a baking sheet, sprinkled half with cheese, topped it with chopped chicken mixed with a bit of BBQ sauce, green onion, and cilantro, and then sprinkled on a bit more cheese, folded the top of the tortilla over the bottom and cooked for 10 minutes at 400F, and then on a low broil for 3 minutes. So good. L happened to have some friends playing outside and they stayed; one of the boys went back for thirds of the quesadillas so I took that as a good sign.

• Back to Birchie’s recommendations…I also made this Vegan Butter Chicken. The sauce is so good I could have put it in a mug and sipped it for supper. Yum. I’m not a huge tofu fan, so I think I would prefer chicken or roasted cauliflower subbed in, but it’s a great vegan option and the sauce is to die for. I followed the recipe, but did add a glug of maple syrup and subbed cumin for coriander. It is even better the second day (as Birchie predicted)!

• Veggie sausage soup. I don’t have any pictures of said soup because the day I made it we had an impromptu Snow Day Dinner Party (9 children!), but it was so good. Onion, carrot, celery, browned sausage, zucchini, diced tomatoes, beef broth, a jar of pasta sauce, salt, pepper, and basil. Comfort food at its best.

• Lemon chicken. I just cannot stop making this recipe. A adores it; L informs me I’ve made it too many times. This week it was whipped potatoes, chicken, and roasted broccoli. As a quick reminder, one of my new favourite cooking hacks is roasting from-frozen broccoli. I sprinkle frozen florets on a parchment-lined baking sheet, drizzle a bit of EVOO, salt/pepper/spices – roast at 400F for 15 minutes, stir, and then roast another 15 minutes.

• If anyone is curious what my kitchen looks like while I cook. Behold. I am a use-every-single-dish-and-only-clean-up-at-the-end kind of gal.

WATCHING

• Ferrari. It was fine. After my obsession with Formula One last year, I think I enjoyed it more than I would have prior to that introduction to the world of racing. Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz were fantastic, but the movie felt a bit…flat?

• American Nightmare. This was a true-crime docuseries on Netflix. I don’t even have words for this one. CRAZY. INFURIATING. IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP WATCHING.
• Captains. A sports docu-series on Netflix that covers the events of the 2023 World Cup. I have a fanatical Messi fan in my house (though I didn’t let him watch the series; lots of f-bombs!), and this was a really engaging series that I very much enjoyed.
• Nascar: Full Speed. My American friends, I had no idea Nascar was SUCH A BIG DEAL TO AMERICANS. What a spectacle. What a…weird sport. I feel zero attachment to any of the drivers (unlike Formula One, which I now have a genuine interest in), but it felt “educational” since going into this docuseries I knew absolutely nothing about Nascar.
• Frasier. We’re slowly watching through the seasons at night. So many zingers. Such a classic. I laughed so hard at the clip below this week that I could barely breathe, which is exactly what I want out of a sitcom.

READING

There was…a lot of reading for me in January. I know having a digital Sabbath each week contributed to this, and any time I’m home solo I automatically read more as well.

I’m slowly working through My Brilliant Friend for Engie’s CBBC (it’s not too late to join the club!), but here are the books I finished in January. A lot of them I’ve already recapped in this post, so I’ll only write little summaries for the ones that haven’t already been discussed on the blog.

Can you tell I favour non-fiction?

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears. (Not rating this since it’s a memoir). Much has been said about the writing style; I think it deserved to be written in Britney’s voice and it was – no complaints from me on that. I could not put this book down, but spent the whole time feeling…sad. What a sad life. What a sad family. What a sad set of circumstances. A very revealing look at the dangers of teen stardom and the potential corruption of those who might be “supporting” them on their journey. (Y’all, I had her first album ON CASSETE TAPE…along with the Spice Girls; I had NSYNC, Five, and Backstreet Boys on CD.)

The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman. (4/5 stars). I think this might be my least favourite of the four Thursday Murder Club books. It was good but missing some of the warmth and humour of the other books (especially the 3rd – my favourite book in the series). I had a few chuckles along the way, but nothing like in previous books and the story felt a bit disjointed and tired. Still a solid offering by Osman, but not as engaging as earlier books in the series.

Momfluenced by Sara Petersen. (3/5 stars). I was very excited to read this book but after the first few chapters, it fell flat for me. It was long and boring with too many hashtags. It also felt like a double standard – Petersen rips apart specific momfluencers, but then admits how much she enjoys reading their content. There were some interesting and thought-provoking passages but, overall, this was not a book I would recommend to others. Which was especially disappointing as I think this book had SO much potential.

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom. This was a Meh for me. I generally don’t rate memoirs (and won’t this one) but I struggled to get engaged in the story and I had some moral quandaries about the situation. I also found the flip-flopping timeline distracting. I know this is a much-beloved book on a very hard and heart-breaking topic, but it didn’t hit the right notes for me (despite having two family members who suffered from extreme dementia for over a decade each). *FYI: This ties in really well with the Richard Osman book…!

Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar. I don’t generally rate memoirs, but I did give this a 5/5 stars on Goodreads. While I didn’t grow up in IBLP like the Duggar family, I found myself nodding along to many of the fundamentalist views they had been forced to align with as children – this memoir was a revealing, yet respectful, look at a troubled family involved in a troubled cult. I found Jill and Derick’s story wholly captivating. It serves as a reminder that tragic stories like this can have threads of redemption and pointed evaluation of “faith points” (she wears pants! she has a nose ring – how scandalous) does not always lead to total abandonment of faith.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller. (No rating; memoir). This was a hard book to read. How brave to share her story and to show the world the depth of the impacts of sexual assault – both to the victim, but also anyone who knows and loves them. That said, I did find it very, very long. I think it would have been more impactful if it had been about 50 pages shorter.

Do Parents Matter by Robert and Sarah LeVine. (3/5 stars). This book had a lot of potential but was bogged down by dry regurgitation of facts. Some really interesting anecdotes, but not a compelling read.

Recipe Recommendations

• I need some homemade sauce recommendations. Salad dressings, dipping sauces. A really great Italian dressing? In general, I avoid dairy so anything sour cream-based is out (but I do use mayo and realize that can often be subbed for sour cream). What dressings do you use on your salad? What dips do you use for veggies? For years I made and loved Pinch of Yum’s Everything Marinade as a salad dressing (I left out the soy sauce and doubled the balsamic) and should start making that again, but I’d like some options for diversity.
• Gingercake. Any amazing recipes?
• Easy, delicious, filling muffin recipes (or breakfast cookies)? I have a child who hates apples in anything, so as much as I love apples in muffins, I think I need an apple-free recipe. I’d love something that incorporates ingredients like flax and chia seeds.

Your turn. What have you been cooking, watching, and reading lately? Any recipe on current repeat in your household? When is the last time you laughed so hard you could barely breathe? Has anyone else watched American Nightmare?