Looking for a way to get more fish into your diet, but not exactly keen on fish? Try this:
Simple Salmon Salad
2 frozen salmon fillets
1 can solid white albacore tuna
1/2 cup olive oil mayonaisse
1/4 tsp dill
salt and pepper to taste
Thaw fillets according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake fillets for 20 minutes or until flesh flakes easily with a fork. Cool slightly before transferring to sealable container. Smush with fork while still slightly warm. Refrigerate until cold. (I do overnight.) Drain tuna. Place in container and smush with fork until fully incorporated with salmon. Stir in mayo and dill. Stir in salt and pepper to taste until everything is well combined. Serve cold on bread, toast, crackers, or eat with a fork.
Hubs likes his on toast with pickle relish. He also puts a big dollop of salmon salad on a plate and eats it with crackers.
Yeah, I know, mayo isn't exactly high up on the 'good for you' list, but if you use the olive oil kind, it's better for you than regular mayo. Also, albacore tuna is better for you than regular tuna.
So far, Kraft makes the tastiest olive oil mayo I've tried. I also use Starkist tuna. (Chicken of the Sea was disappointingly mushy.) I don't use canned salmon because it's a pain in the butt, super salty, and kinda mushy. Wallyworld has bags of salmon fillets at a fairly reasonable price.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I know we do.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Sunday, June 9, 2019
Sunday Update - Week 23
Not a lot to report this week. I fell down on the editing and still no writing.
Reading on the other hand went through the roof. Loads of reading.
I only did 4 out of 7 days on the activity front. My weight went up, but it was shot week, so that was expected. After the shot it went back down to holding steady at 179.
I went fishing one day. Caught 7 fish - a bass, three bluegills, two punkinseeds, and one flathead catfish.
On the baking front, I made oatmeal cookies. Nothing really new and exciting about that. I might make pizza today. We'll see.
It rained a lot. Yesterday was the first day without rain in a while. They're saying no rain this week, but they've said that before and it rained every day, so I'm not holding my breath.
And I think that's about it. I'm sure other stuff happened, but nothing important enough to remember and put here. How was your week?
Reading on the other hand went through the roof. Loads of reading.
I only did 4 out of 7 days on the activity front. My weight went up, but it was shot week, so that was expected. After the shot it went back down to holding steady at 179.
I went fishing one day. Caught 7 fish - a bass, three bluegills, two punkinseeds, and one flathead catfish.
On the baking front, I made oatmeal cookies. Nothing really new and exciting about that. I might make pizza today. We'll see.
It rained a lot. Yesterday was the first day without rain in a while. They're saying no rain this week, but they've said that before and it rained every day, so I'm not holding my breath.
And I think that's about it. I'm sure other stuff happened, but nothing important enough to remember and put here. How was your week?
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Saturday Reading Wrap-up - 6/8/19
Hello again!
It was a pretty good reading week, even if everything I read wasn't pretty good.
I've been keeping to my personal mandate about not downloading any more books until I read the ones I've got. Only one new ebook since last week's wrap-up - a noir crime novel set way in the future (SF crime noir?). So, I'm at 7 ebooks. Umm, hardcopies... yeah... I have 16 new ones. In my defense one of the thrift stores had paperbacks 6/$1. So, I dropped $2 there. And $2 at the other place for 4 books. It's a sickness.
Books read:
52) Mildred in Disguise With Diamonds by Toni Kief (6/7/19) - Mystery*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Picked up as a freebie after seeing it on the Fussy Librarian newsletter.
Review: "Cute and fun mystery. There's a lot to it - twists and turns and surprises - and while some of the stuff being thrown around may not seem to be pertinent, it mostly is. It's a wild ride. Loved Mildred. Loved the cat. Loved the other characters. Good plot, good premise, good amount of humor. Definitely a must read - even if you're not quite a member of the older set yet."
51) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (6/6/19) - Mystery - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated. This was part of a bunch of Christie paperbacks I got at St. Vinny's for 50c each.
Review: "I hadn't read this in years, so I really didn't remember much of the story - other than the whodunnit. Still as good as I thought it was back then. Definitely interesting on the re-read to see if I could catch the killer leaving clues, but I still had to wait for Poirot to reveal it all at the end."
Caveat: According to Goodreads, I read this back in 2017, but I seriously do not remember reading it then. I originally thought I hadn't read this since before I married Hubs. Derp. The little gray cells... sometimes they fail me. ;o)
50) A Treasury of Great Science Fiction: Vol 1 by Various (6/3/19) - SF Anthology - 3 stars. Some new to me and some not. Picked up ages ago at a thrift store. Probably paid 50c.
No Review.
Suffice it to say calling this 'great science fiction' was subjective. The first story was good. The rest? Meh or bleh. I skipped several and DNF'd others. Still, I might keep it for the first story alone.
49) Storm Breather by Arthur King (6/3/19) - Fantasy *# - 3 stars. New to me and... well, less than 50 reviews, so it counts. Got this as a freebie from Reading Deals.
No Review.
I thought it was a pretty good story - that could be helped by the use of a really good proofreader - until I got to the end. GAH! It just stops! No resolution of ANYTHING. Is this a new trend in Fantasy? Because I don't like it one bit.
48) Death Report by Erik Racker (6/1/19) - Suspense*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated in reviews on Amazon. Snagged this from the ENT Newsletter for free.
Review: "Good read! I liked the back and forth between the villain's and the main character's points of view. Loved the villain and the hero. And the premise that puts them opposite each other. I'll definitely be looking into this series later."
DNFs:
6/6/19 - UF. It was a pretty good story, good writing, solid editing... and then, about 15-20% of the way in, it went all hippy-dippy, eco-freako on me. Not your target market here. NEXT! Lucky for me, it was free.
Currently reading... I started on one of the suspense novels I picked up at the thrift store last month.
And that's it for me. What did you read last week? Anything good?
It was a pretty good reading week, even if everything I read wasn't pretty good.
I've been keeping to my personal mandate about not downloading any more books until I read the ones I've got. Only one new ebook since last week's wrap-up - a noir crime novel set way in the future (SF crime noir?). So, I'm at 7 ebooks. Umm, hardcopies... yeah... I have 16 new ones. In my defense one of the thrift stores had paperbacks 6/$1. So, I dropped $2 there. And $2 at the other place for 4 books. It's a sickness.
Books read:
52) Mildred in Disguise With Diamonds by Toni Kief (6/7/19) - Mystery*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated. Picked up as a freebie after seeing it on the Fussy Librarian newsletter.
Review: "Cute and fun mystery. There's a lot to it - twists and turns and surprises - and while some of the stuff being thrown around may not seem to be pertinent, it mostly is. It's a wild ride. Loved Mildred. Loved the cat. Loved the other characters. Good plot, good premise, good amount of humor. Definitely a must read - even if you're not quite a member of the older set yet."
51) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (6/6/19) - Mystery - 5 stars. Neither new to me nor underappreciated. This was part of a bunch of Christie paperbacks I got at St. Vinny's for 50c each.
Review: "I hadn't read this in years, so I really didn't remember much of the story - other than the whodunnit. Still as good as I thought it was back then. Definitely interesting on the re-read to see if I could catch the killer leaving clues, but I still had to wait for Poirot to reveal it all at the end."
Caveat: According to Goodreads, I read this back in 2017, but I seriously do not remember reading it then. I originally thought I hadn't read this since before I married Hubs. Derp. The little gray cells... sometimes they fail me. ;o)
50) A Treasury of Great Science Fiction: Vol 1 by Various (6/3/19) - SF Anthology - 3 stars. Some new to me and some not. Picked up ages ago at a thrift store. Probably paid 50c.
No Review.
Suffice it to say calling this 'great science fiction' was subjective. The first story was good. The rest? Meh or bleh. I skipped several and DNF'd others. Still, I might keep it for the first story alone.
49) Storm Breather by Arthur King (6/3/19) - Fantasy *# - 3 stars. New to me and... well, less than 50 reviews, so it counts. Got this as a freebie from Reading Deals.
No Review.
I thought it was a pretty good story - that could be helped by the use of a really good proofreader - until I got to the end. GAH! It just stops! No resolution of ANYTHING. Is this a new trend in Fantasy? Because I don't like it one bit.
48) Death Report by Erik Racker (6/1/19) - Suspense*# - 5 stars. New to me and underappreciated in reviews on Amazon. Snagged this from the ENT Newsletter for free.
Review: "Good read! I liked the back and forth between the villain's and the main character's points of view. Loved the villain and the hero. And the premise that puts them opposite each other. I'll definitely be looking into this series later."
DNFs:
6/6/19 - UF. It was a pretty good story, good writing, solid editing... and then, about 15-20% of the way in, it went all hippy-dippy, eco-freako on me. Not your target market here. NEXT! Lucky for me, it was free.
Currently reading... I started on one of the suspense novels I picked up at the thrift store last month.
And that's it for me. What did you read last week? Anything good?
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Thursday This n That
Gah! How did it get to be Thursday again already?
I have to go out into the world today. Except it's raining. Oh, I have no problems driving in the rain. I'd just prefer not to.
I crawled out from under the wrong side of the rock this morning. Probably because I was in a long, involved dream that I can't remember now. I just have the feeling that damn dream lasted all night. (I know it didn't. They don't do that.) And thus, that dream made me really tired like I was working all night.
Coffee is the savior of the day.
Yesterday, I went to the park. The only other people there were far away from where I wanted to be. Oh, and there are no park hosts for the time being. Yay. No one to harass me while I fish. It was quiet, there was a breeze, and the fish were biting. Only caught one keeper fish - a 19.5" flathead catfish. I didn't keep him.
The other day at the dollar store, I was just grabbing a cart when I noticed an old lady with a cane walking toward the door. I leaned back out and asked if she needed a cart and since she did, I gave her the one I'd just pulled free. She seemed really happy. It only takes a moment to make someone's day.
Same day, I went to Wallyworld. There was this dude singing as he walked through the aisles with his little family. Which was kinda cool. And kinda not. He was offkey.
For some reason, my big hydrangea only bloomed on the bottom branches this year. Weird.
My little hydrangea is out there trying to survive after last year's deer attack left it munched to the ground. It's up to about 3-4 inches tall now. Go, little hydrangea.
Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Remember it well and hope we never have to do that again.
Now, go forth into your day. Have a good one if you can and weather through if you can't. :hugs:
I have to go out into the world today. Except it's raining. Oh, I have no problems driving in the rain. I'd just prefer not to.
I crawled out from under the wrong side of the rock this morning. Probably because I was in a long, involved dream that I can't remember now. I just have the feeling that damn dream lasted all night. (I know it didn't. They don't do that.) And thus, that dream made me really tired like I was working all night.
Coffee is the savior of the day.
Yesterday, I went to the park. The only other people there were far away from where I wanted to be. Oh, and there are no park hosts for the time being. Yay. No one to harass me while I fish. It was quiet, there was a breeze, and the fish were biting. Only caught one keeper fish - a 19.5" flathead catfish. I didn't keep him.
The other day at the dollar store, I was just grabbing a cart when I noticed an old lady with a cane walking toward the door. I leaned back out and asked if she needed a cart and since she did, I gave her the one I'd just pulled free. She seemed really happy. It only takes a moment to make someone's day.
Same day, I went to Wallyworld. There was this dude singing as he walked through the aisles with his little family. Which was kinda cool. And kinda not. He was offkey.
For some reason, my big hydrangea only bloomed on the bottom branches this year. Weird.
My little hydrangea is out there trying to survive after last year's deer attack left it munched to the ground. It's up to about 3-4 inches tall now. Go, little hydrangea.
Today is the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Remember it well and hope we never have to do that again.
Now, go forth into your day. Have a good one if you can and weather through if you can't. :hugs:
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
A Morning Reading Rant
Is there some kind of trend in fantasy fiction these days that I missed where you don't actually end the book?
I'm not talking about wrapping everything up. Obviously there needs to be some kind of continuing thread to lead readers to want the next book. I'm talking about not wrapping anything up so that readers have to read the next book to get any kind of closure. And with the first book not wrapping anything up, how are they supposed to trust anything will get wrapped up in the second book?
After spending hours upon hours reading a story to get to some kind of end, it's a total let down to reach the final pages and find no real end.
That's happened twice to me in the last week or so. And it's making me leery of opening the other new fantasy novels I have on my Kindle. Who wants to get burned a third time?
And another thing... it's making me have to leave ratings under 4 stars, which I hate. I don't actually finish books if I think they're going to be under 4 stars. But this crap isn't happening until the very end of the books. Gah!
And it wastes my time. Since fantasy novels are typically pretty damn long, I could probably read two other books in the time it takes me to read all the way through one of these fantasies-with-no-end books.
:steam:
I know the theory is to have people get so wrapped up in the story, they automatically one-click the next book and keep reading. I get it. But it's a dirty trick to play on someone. Give them an ending that makes them want to learn more. Like every other genre does with their series.
Don't even get me started on the one I read last week that didn't even have a sequel published yet. First book doesn't end, and no sequel available? GAH!
Ack, I hope this is a trend that doesn't leak onto other genres. I can't imagine getting to the end of a suspense only to discover there is no end and you have to read the next book to find out how they stop the killer. Or reading a romance that stops in the middle so you don't know if the boy gets the girl until you buy another book.
Come to think of it, I have seen this in a couple of other genres - but even then, the author has been thoughtful enough to say Part 1, which lets the reader know ahead of time it's not a complete book. Still cheeses me off, but at least there's a warning there so I know not to buy the book unless and until all the parts are published.
:heavy sigh:
Oh, I'll keep reading these newly published fantasy novels. I can't let a couple bad apples spoil the whole bushel of potential fun. But I swear to god, it's making me want to poke people in the eye.
:end rant:
I'm not talking about wrapping everything up. Obviously there needs to be some kind of continuing thread to lead readers to want the next book. I'm talking about not wrapping anything up so that readers have to read the next book to get any kind of closure. And with the first book not wrapping anything up, how are they supposed to trust anything will get wrapped up in the second book?
After spending hours upon hours reading a story to get to some kind of end, it's a total let down to reach the final pages and find no real end.
That's happened twice to me in the last week or so. And it's making me leery of opening the other new fantasy novels I have on my Kindle. Who wants to get burned a third time?
And another thing... it's making me have to leave ratings under 4 stars, which I hate. I don't actually finish books if I think they're going to be under 4 stars. But this crap isn't happening until the very end of the books. Gah!
And it wastes my time. Since fantasy novels are typically pretty damn long, I could probably read two other books in the time it takes me to read all the way through one of these fantasies-with-no-end books.
:steam:
I know the theory is to have people get so wrapped up in the story, they automatically one-click the next book and keep reading. I get it. But it's a dirty trick to play on someone. Give them an ending that makes them want to learn more. Like every other genre does with their series.
Don't even get me started on the one I read last week that didn't even have a sequel published yet. First book doesn't end, and no sequel available? GAH!
Ack, I hope this is a trend that doesn't leak onto other genres. I can't imagine getting to the end of a suspense only to discover there is no end and you have to read the next book to find out how they stop the killer. Or reading a romance that stops in the middle so you don't know if the boy gets the girl until you buy another book.
Come to think of it, I have seen this in a couple of other genres - but even then, the author has been thoughtful enough to say Part 1, which lets the reader know ahead of time it's not a complete book. Still cheeses me off, but at least there's a warning there so I know not to buy the book unless and until all the parts are published.
:heavy sigh:
Oh, I'll keep reading these newly published fantasy novels. I can't let a couple bad apples spoil the whole bushel of potential fun. But I swear to god, it's making me want to poke people in the eye.
:end rant:
Sunday, June 2, 2019
Sunday Update - Week 22
Yep, totally forget it was going to be Sunday today until after I'd already been up for a while. Not an auspicious start to the day. So, here goes nothing...
Still no writing. Thinking about writing happened, but no words were put on paper. I did get some edits inputted, though. Not a lot, mind you, but it's a start. I also didn't do much in the way of marketing, but I did set up a sale with advertising for later this month.
I read a bit, but didn't finish much.
Gah, what did I do with an entire week?
I did manage 5 out of 7 days with activity of some sort. Mostly walking, along with some weeding and cleaning. No weight loss, but that's expected this week because it's shot time again. At least that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.
I did make a pizza. I think I have the crust part down now. (See below) I also made BBQ ribs. Yummers.
The deer are starting to come back un-pregnant. Should start seeing fawns soon. :fingers crossed: A friend up in Michigan already posted pics of a doe with her fawn. Totally jealous. But we figured out that does drop their fawns earlier in Michigan than here, probably due to the fact that up there fawns have to be old enough by winter to survive the harshness. Just educated guesses on our part, but it sounds reasonable.
And I think that's it for me this week. I feel totally boring, but that's the way life goes sometimes. What's up in your world?
Recipe:
Still no writing. Thinking about writing happened, but no words were put on paper. I did get some edits inputted, though. Not a lot, mind you, but it's a start. I also didn't do much in the way of marketing, but I did set up a sale with advertising for later this month.
I read a bit, but didn't finish much.
Gah, what did I do with an entire week?
I did manage 5 out of 7 days with activity of some sort. Mostly walking, along with some weeding and cleaning. No weight loss, but that's expected this week because it's shot time again. At least that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.
I did make a pizza. I think I have the crust part down now. (See below) I also made BBQ ribs. Yummers.
The deer are starting to come back un-pregnant. Should start seeing fawns soon. :fingers crossed: A friend up in Michigan already posted pics of a doe with her fawn. Totally jealous. But we figured out that does drop their fawns earlier in Michigan than here, probably due to the fact that up there fawns have to be old enough by winter to survive the harshness. Just educated guesses on our part, but it sounds reasonable.
And I think that's it for me this week. I feel totally boring, but that's the way life goes sometimes. What's up in your world?
Recipe:
Pizza Crust
2 tsp quick yeast
¾ cups warm water (separated ¼ and ½ cups)
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 T EV olive oil
¼ - ½ cup flour for dusting
1 T EV olive oil
1 T melted butter
Place yeast in a small bowl. Add ¼ cup of the water. Stir to get all the yeast granules wet. Let sit.
In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Make a well in the center. Add yeast mixture. Put remaining water into yeast bowl and stir
around to get all the yeasty goodness.
Add to flour well. Add olive oil
to well. With your fingers, mix wet
ingredients into dry from center until totally incorporated. Knead dough in bowl for 7 minutes, dusting
with flour occasionally to keep it from sticking to your hands. Put 1 T olive oil in the bottom of a clean
large bowl, and rub it all over the inside of the bowl. Place dough ball into oiled bowl, turning to
get the ball oiled. Cover the bowl with
plastic wrap and let rise for one hour in a warm place – should double in
size. Turn dough onto lightly floured
surface. Using your hands, push dough
(flipping occasionally) into flat, circular shape roughly the size of your
pizza pan. Place onto pan lightly spritzed
with cooking spray, pushing until it’s the right size and shape, and has a
thicker outer crust band. Brush crust
band with melted butter. Top with
stuff. Bake in preheated 475F oven until
crust is golden and cheese is bubbly in the center.
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Satuday Reading Wrap-up - 6/1/19
Well, would ya look at that, it's a brand new month. Here's
what the reading week looked like for me...
I only finished one book, but it was an epic fantasy and kind of long. Then I started an anthology and those are usually pretty hefty. Now I'm reading a suspense. Loads of reading, but not a lot of finishing.
Downloaded five new ebooks - a humorous novel, a historical mystery, a fantasy, and a mystery. Plus, I still have a mystery, two fantasies, a suspense, and a steampunk to read in addition to those new books. Nine total again. No new hardcopies.
Books read:
46) The Passage of Kings by Anant V. Goswami (5/26/19) - Fantasy*# - 3 stars. New to me and few reviews. Picked up for free off the Freebooksy newsletter.
No review. But if you make me read all the way to the end, I have to leave a ranking. Yeah, I know, I don't usually finish books under four stars. It had four stars right until the end, when it didn't actually end. It had a kind of 'see what happens next in the next book' message. Nothing got wrapped up even a little, which lost it a star for me. Even in an ongoing series, you've gotta have some kind of resolution of something. I had a feeling this was going to happen about 85% of the way through the book when the author started introducing new characters in a different area of the world, but at 85%, you gotta finish the book. Gah, and even if I was inclined to buy the next book, it ain't out yet. Pisses me off no end. Makes me want to go back and delete a star. (But I won't because I felt bad enough leaving a 3 star ranking.) Note to authors: Do not piss off readers this way.
DNF:
5/30/19 - Mystery. It felt like the author was spending too much time trying to impress me with how snarky they could be. Oh, I like me some snark, but it's gotta feel natural and this felt forced.
Currently reading... A SF anthology from the 1950s. About midway through, I took a break and dipped into the Kindle. Which is where I DNF'd that book and then picked up one of the suspenses I had left to read. So far, the suspense is pretty good.
What happened in your reading week?
I only finished one book, but it was an epic fantasy and kind of long. Then I started an anthology and those are usually pretty hefty. Now I'm reading a suspense. Loads of reading, but not a lot of finishing.
Downloaded five new ebooks - a humorous novel, a historical mystery, a fantasy, and a mystery. Plus, I still have a mystery, two fantasies, a suspense, and a steampunk to read in addition to those new books. Nine total again. No new hardcopies.
Books read:
46) The Passage of Kings by Anant V. Goswami (5/26/19) - Fantasy*# - 3 stars. New to me and few reviews. Picked up for free off the Freebooksy newsletter.
No review. But if you make me read all the way to the end, I have to leave a ranking. Yeah, I know, I don't usually finish books under four stars. It had four stars right until the end, when it didn't actually end. It had a kind of 'see what happens next in the next book' message. Nothing got wrapped up even a little, which lost it a star for me. Even in an ongoing series, you've gotta have some kind of resolution of something. I had a feeling this was going to happen about 85% of the way through the book when the author started introducing new characters in a different area of the world, but at 85%, you gotta finish the book. Gah, and even if I was inclined to buy the next book, it ain't out yet. Pisses me off no end. Makes me want to go back and delete a star. (But I won't because I felt bad enough leaving a 3 star ranking.) Note to authors: Do not piss off readers this way.
DNF:
5/30/19 - Mystery. It felt like the author was spending too much time trying to impress me with how snarky they could be. Oh, I like me some snark, but it's gotta feel natural and this felt forced.
Currently reading... A SF anthology from the 1950s. About midway through, I took a break and dipped into the Kindle. Which is where I DNF'd that book and then picked up one of the suspenses I had left to read. So far, the suspense is pretty good.
What happened in your reading week?
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