Good Reading

I've gotten quite a few books read these past few months.  I'm trying to get back into reading at night before bed instead of watching television.  Growing up and in high school I read for pleasure (that's a naughty sounding term!) often, but during college I was kind of over reading.  I'm trying to get back in the habit.  A few of my favorites that I've read recently are:

 This book took a while to get started, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down.  I've put the movie version on my Netflix.  It'll be interesting to see if it's as good as the book.

 This was a last resort read.  I didn't make it to the library and the only actual books we have in the house are leftovers from college.  KB (being your average peace, war and defense major) had this on hand and told me that I "probably wouldn't hate it".  It took me a long time to read, but it was a really moving story.

I'm really loving the Hunger Games books right now.  I read the original Hunger Games around Christmas and couldn't wait to read the sequel.  These books go by so fast because they are well written and are a really interesting story.  I'm waiting on the final book to become available at the library.

What good books have read recently?  Are you on GoodReads?  If so, feel free to add me (REBrown).

Workout Review: Biggest Loser Boot Camp

I really wanted to challenge myself to a workout that was insane.  A lady I work with told me that this was a really really hard workout and that it would definitely challenge me.

When I got this from Netflix I was expecting it to be super challenging, so the first night I only did the Level1 boot camp routine.  The whole thing lasted about 25 minutes and wasn't too bad.  Since the first one was so easy I thought I'd step it up a bit and do all three levels combined.  All together (with the warm-up and cool down) it was about an hour and by the end I was sweatin' it.  It's definitely challenging, but there are lots of modifications.

The entire program is meant to be done in segments.  One week on the Level 1 boot camp, then add Level 2 and then add Level 3.  Overall it was a pretty good workout and even though it called for some specialty equipment (waterballs, medicine balls, resistance bands, etc) Bob had some easy  modifications that made the exercises possible with just weights.

It's definitely worth a try, but I'm not sure if I could stick with it for six weeks!

Menu Sunday

Here's what the Browns will be eating this week:

Mon:  Soup and Grilled Cheese
          It's supposed to be rainy and nasty all day today and early tomorrow, so soup and grilled cheese sounds good.  I also got the soup for FREE!  The podunk grocery store had a promo that if you bought Progresso soup and their version you got both for free.

Tues: Slow-Cooker Creamy Chicken and Biscuits
         I love chicken pot pie, but it takes forever to make.  This slow-cooker version seems really simple.  All you have to do is combine your ingredients and put some frozen biscuits on top....voila!

Wed: Asian Style Pork Chops
         For the Love of Cooking always has good recipes and pork chops just happened to be on sale this week.  I also ended up having everything to make the marinade on hand, so all I had to buy was the meat.

Thurs: Lamb, Balsamic and Sun Dried Tomato Meat Loaf
          I love meat loaf, but KB is not a big fan.  He refuses to eat meat loaf with any type of sauce on it, so I'm constantly on the lookout for sauce free meat loaves.  I saw this in my Woman's Day for this month and knew it would be so delicious.  I will be using ground turkey instead of lamb, but I think the balsamic and the sun dried tomatoes will be the stars of the show, so it shouldn't matter too much.

Fri: Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches
      I love chicken salad and this recipe looks pretty simple.  Instead of the sour cream I will be substituting plain greek yogurt to give it an extra protein kick.  KB has also requested that this be made with tuna instead of chicken....I'm not so sure about that one.

Extra: KB's mom's Grape Salad
          I made this last night and it was so delicious.  Apparently this is a really common dish, but I had never heard of it or had it until last weekend.  I found the recipe on Taste of Home's website.  I substituted plain greek yogurt for sour cream, used splenda instead of sugar and used low fat cream cheese.  I'm telling myself that it's ok to eat almost the whole bowl full!

What goodies will you be eating this week?

Mean Green Cleaning Machine

Because I'm not Uncle Penngybags, I've decided to go green and save some green in the cleaning department.

Being the ultimate cheap skat that I am, I'm thinking about making some of my own cleaning products.  Not only are cleaning products expensive, but I've started to notice that they don't really work any better than just water and hard scrubbing.

I've heard a lot about vinegar, baking soda, castile soap, peroxide, and lots of other weird things combined, but I'm a little wary to start combing household items all willy nilly.

Does anybody know any good recipes for homemade cleaning products or any good blogs/websites about it?

Thoughts on a Thursday

These are my thoughts on a Thursday:

• I did Carmen Electra's "Vegas Strip Workout" last night.  I really thought I was going to love it....big mistake.  It was probably the worst workout DVD I've ever done.  She teaches you dance moves, but then they show her doing them in slo-mo.  I can't learn in slo-mo Carmen.
• I found out today that I have to "work from home" on Sunday.  While my job is most of the time not very stressful and I don't have to work outside of normal business hours, recently things have been getting crazy.  I feel like I'm drowning in work!
• The tights I wear with anything other than black officially bit the dust this week.  I'm so ready for spring so I don't have to buy another pair in order to wear anything other than dress pants or black tights.
• At KB's birthday dinner last week his mom made this delicious desserty salady thing called grape salad.  Ever since I ate it I've been having visions of it....it was that good.  I'm thinking about making a lighter version of it this weekend.  Recipe review on the way!

Link up with Carolyn to tell your thoughts on a Thursday!

Recipe Review: Gravy Pork Chops with Stuffing Biscuits

I made this recipe strictly for KB.  He loves all things gravy and all things pork chops, so why not combine the two?  I got this recipe in a weekly recipe newsletter from Bisquick. 

This is what the recipe is supposed to look like:

This is what mine looked like:

While mine definitely is not the prettiest, it did end up tasting pretty good.  I made quite a few tweaks to the original recipe though, so that may be why it didn't exactly look right.  First off, I made my own gravy.  Pre-made gravy was almost $3 a jar at the store, so I ended up buying a 50 cent packet of brown gravy mix and just made my own.  This made way tooo much gravy (if there even is such a thing!).  I also used "Heart Smart Bisquick".  It's supposed to be better for you, but when you eat mashed potatoes, gravy and pork chops....does it really matter?  My pork chops were also seasoned with lemon pepper seasoning because KB has some weird obsession with lemon pepper.

Overall it was a pretty easy recipe that tasted pretty good.  It was a little on the salty side for my tastes, but you could easily not season the pork chops and I think it would be a little better.

Happy Happy Birthday....take two

Someone else in our family has a birthday this week:

 My darling little Rosebud!!!!!

Happy 2nd birthday little Rosalita!