Alright, alright… if you read yesterday’s post you may be thinking “Uh oh, Jenny’s totally losing it!” But not to worry- I woke up today feeling more like my normal self. Of course, Tuesday is my Friday, because I don’t work on Wednesdays… it’s always easy to be happy on a “Friday.”
ANYWAY. I am on a roll with my books! There are so many books I’m excited to read, which is a nice position to be in. I read two this past week. First up:
This book got a rave review in this Modern Mrs. Darcy post. Granted, the post was about the best sci-fi/fantasy on audiobook, and I read the print version- but I didn’t love it. I LIKED it though. The main character is a “Sec-Unit”, half robot-half cloned human, and the main point of interest is how it interacts with the humans in the story. The rest of the story, which was billed as a “thriller,” was not very thrilling. This is the first book of a series, and I have a feeling it gets better and better- but there are too many other books to read for me to continue with this series.
This book was another “like” but not “love.” The problem was, it felt like a mash-up of a great mystery and a poor romance novel. The main female character spends a lot of time thinking about weight watcher points, how much weight she’s gained, and whether or not to wear control-top pantyhose on her date. Now, I don’t mind a serious discussion about struggles with food and body image, but this was supposed to be funny. The book was written in 2010 and maybe this was the kind of BS we were used to back then, but it was annoying, and made me take her character less seriously. The male main character went on to solve the mystery (probably because he wasn’t wasting his brainpower on calories and pantyhose) so, good for him!
Again, the mystery was very good, and this is the first book in a series. And again, there are too many great books I want to read to continue on in a series I don’t love.
Eating. Oof. It was another rough week. I ate a tofu scramble for dinner three nights in a row. My husband was working and my daughter ate something else (offhand I can’t remember what! At least one night I probably got her sushi from the grocery store- an easy dinner I fall back on about once a week for her.)
For this scramble (night #3), I used tofu and anything else I could find in the fridge- a little broccoli, a little cauliflower, peas, and some chickpeas. It was GOOD!
By Sunday I was feeling guilty enough to actually make a nice dinner- baked ziti, salad and garlic bread.
The baked ziti recipe is one I cut out of the newspaper about 20 years ago. Back then we actually had the paper delivered, and in the weekly food section there was always a vegetarian recipe, which was frequently vegan! The creamy sauce is made with tofu, and after all these years it’s still our favorite baked ziti recipe.
We ate leftovers on Monday, and now I’m back to wondering what we’ll have for dinner. WHY IS THIS SO HARD???
Do you think I should try the next book in the Martha Wells series?
What are you making for dinner this week??? – Give me some inspiration!
Top photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
32 Responses
Both the scramble and the ziti look delicious!
I’m so glad that I don’t have to come up with a dinner idea every day…. I’d run out of ideas after three days!
We just eat a “big ass salad” every day with varying ingredients. Whenever Kai has had enough of salads, he cooks something, either something with chicken or salmon. Fortunately, he loves cooking, so this set-up works out well.
HMM! I went through a phase where I ate a huge (“big ass”) salad almost every night for dinner- I don’t know why or how i got away from that. i should incorporate more salad dinners into my life.
How fun that this ziti recipe has withstood the test of time for so long! It sounds like it was ahead of its time.
And geez, the weight focus of the 2000s! I feel like we are in a slightly better place with that, at least, but you are so (hilariously) right to point out that the character’s concentration on points and calorie counts would distract her from solving the mystery! I think you are right to go to books you want to read rather than keep going with a series you might not love. You can always change your mind later!
Dinners are SO HARD. Boo to dinner planning and all its associated work!
I feel like I’m almost through the week at this point (Friday is always takeout.) I’m glad that you bother to meal plan, because I’ve gotten some good dinner ideas from you!
I love the Murderbot books but I 100% support your not reading more of them if you didn’t click with it. Every book isn’t for every reader and that’s perfectly fine. There should be no pressure, is what I think.
The ziti looks delicious! Hooray for tried-and-true recipes.
Well, I’m keeping the Murderbot books in the back of my mind, because so many people love them. And they’re short- I might try book #2 at some point.
Tomorrow I am going to make a coconut rice dish, with roasted asparagus and Brussels sprouts. It’s a very tasty meal and it all just pops into the oven, which is a really nice easy meal. I mean, it’s not totally easy. I have to, you know, make the stuff. But relatively speaking. Tonight we are having a big kale salad with candied pecans and chickpeas and apples and I don’t know what else, with some nice crusty bread. The guys will have air fryer chicken as well. Friday is always Greek salad with hummus and pita night (AND WINE) and I think I’ll continue the Greek theme to Saturday with falafel and chicken shawarma for the guys. Sunday is my birthday and we are going out for dinner!
Of all the people I know, you have the dinner situation nailed down. Everything you make sounds so good! Hmm, I do like coconut rice. And roasted vegetables. I could make a dinner like that. Also Greek salad sounds good! You and Catrina are inspiring me to make more salads.
I am in such a rut with food. I got a frozen pizza from Costco over the weekend and that plus salad is what I’m having every day for lunch until it’s gone. You know what sounds great right now? Tofu scramble!!!
2010 sounds pretty late in human history to be fretting about pantyhose and calories, but maybe it’s close enough to the Bridget Jones era to have an effect. Whatevs. If the rest of the book was good, I think I’d give the series another chance but it wouldn’t be at the top of my list. Like maybe if I was “between books” I’d pick it up to tide me over.
Hungry Runner Girl is reading Every Last One! And someone named Jenny recommended it to her! She didn’t link to anyone, but in my mind she has to be talking about you. HRG is in the CBBC!
Oooh, I’m behind in reading her blog- I better pop over there. I hope she likes the book (the subject matter may not be for everyone!) I can’t even remember, but if she talked about books at all I might have recommended that book. What are the odds it was a different Jenny?
Don’t even get me started on lunches. The only meal I have under control is breakfast at this point.
The ziti and tofu scramble both look so good! I feel you on the not knowing what to make for dinner every night — this week especially my dinners have been very thrown together because I was out of town last weekend and didn’t get a chance to go to the grocery store so I’m basically scrounging for things at this point until I can go to the store again this weekend. I think I need to keep more nonperishable stuff like rice and beans on hand for these weeks!
Yes, I like to keep a can of chickpeas around. If I also have rice and some sort of vegetable, I can make that into a dinner. FOR MYSELF. My husband and daughter would complain though- that’s the really tricky part, sigh.
Oh, if you didn’t think the first Murderbot was one of the funniest things you’ve read in years, I say you should stop with that series. It only gets more action-y from this point on. I LOVED the first three or four in the series, but actually DNFed #7. Oh, well.
Is it weird to have things for three days in a row? My husband and I regularly cook only three meals for dinners during the week. Last week we had pumpkin black bean soup (made on Friday, leftovers on Saturday), chickpea curry (made on Sunday, leftovers Monday/Tuesday) and tonight we’re making a frittata and will have leftovers tomorrow. This is 100% normal for us.
I could literally cook once on Sunday and eat the same meal for the rest of the week- my husband is not on board with this approach though.
I did appreciate the humor in the Murderbot book- sooooo…. okay fine. I’ll read the second one.
That tofu scramble looks delicious
Maybe not the 3rd day in a row though.
Hugs on the not feeling it
Thanks, Cari! I still enjoyed it on day 3, but the rest of my family would be complaining bitterly if I tried to feed them like that.
I’m not feeling ANYTHING this week if that helps! (I am 99% sure it is PMS. Maybe 1% mourning the end of our good weather streak!?).
I also say ditch the series – too many awesome books out there. My husband really likes the Murderbot series but I’ve never tried it out!
Yeah, this time of year is hard- all we have ahead of us is heat, humidity, and hurricanes. Arg!
I actually LOVE eating the same thing on repeat. I don’t think this is anything to be upset about! Sometimes we need to take off the mental load and IT IS SO MUCH WORK TO COME UP WITH MEAL IDEAS EVERY DAY. Seriously, it’s one of the worst things about being an adult. Having a varied diet like we do is relatively recent, so I try not to feel guilty if I end up going back to the same old-faithful recipes again and again.
I don’t mind eating the same thing every day, either. It’s the rest of the family who minds- so… hey wait. minute. Maybe they should do the cooking!
No cooking this week. Yay.
Oh, I’m envious!
Way to go on the reading front… I am so “lazy” when it comes to reading right now. I just don’t find the leisure/time. Sigh. I’ll get back to it.
I am making an orzo one pot meal with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes this week. It’s so tasty.
I’ve found that if I get out of the habit of reading, it’s easy not to do it. But when I have a bunch of good books lined up, suddenly all I want to do is read!
The orzo dish does sound tasty!
We just came back from carbo-bonanza, so dinner has been abundant vegetables with one egg/tofu/chicken dish. So far it has been great, I enjoy having vegetables back to life. I was surprised how little vegetable French eats.
Your tofu scramble looks sooo good! do you use firm or soft tofu? what spices do you use? I never got to make them the way I like them, not sure why.
That’s interesting about your diet in France- I knew it was bread-heavy. For the tofu scramble, I usually use firm tofu. And I season it with nutritional yeast- not sure if that’s something you have access to- onion powder, and turmeric. Then I’ll throw in other seasonings if I have them- like to this one I added a dollop of white miso paste. And hot sauce. It really is good.
I’ve heard the Murderbot series is really good. I read a couple of Camilla Lackberg books years ago and I SO AGREE with you – the dumb romance and the weird references to obsessing over weight. Do Not Like.
A couple of friends came and brought lasagna and caesar salad and garlic bread on the weekend (while I’m stuck at home with the recovering doggo and no husband) and I was reminded again what a really great comforting meal this kind of meal is. The tofu scramble seems like a really good meal to fall back on, with vegetables and protein, so I wouldn’t feel bad about it at all
Oh good, I’m glad someone agrees about Camilla Lackberg! I definitely won’t read another of her books, but I might read the next Murderbot book. So many people have raved about them.
Yes- lasagna, garlic bread and salad is probably the ultimate comfort food! You have some great friends.
I am on board with your tofu scramble, or anything you want to make every single day. I will eat it. I don’t have time (or inclination) to come up with new meals every day; I am a very routine (read: boring) person and am fine with that!
I have not read either of the books you mentioned, but now I am curious about this Murderbot series that I have never even heard of but all of the commenters seem to like!
The Murderbot books are short, so if you’re curious it’s definitely worth your while to try the first one!
If you didn’t LOVE the Martha Wells book, I would probably hold off on continuing with the series, but I have to really really like a book to keep going with the series because there are too many great books out there that I could be reading! But I know sci fi people love that author (I am so not a sci fi person).
My eating has been ridiculous lately. But I have barely eaten at home. We got back super late last Thursday so I made do with odds and ends until Phil grocery shopped on Sat. Then I left for NJ on Monday. I fly back today, am home for a couple of nights, and then go to ND for my grandma’s funeral and will probably stay at my parents for one night and come back on Sunday. So I will have no time to do any meal prep over the weekend… but then I leave for OH on Thursday so it’s another partial week for me (and another partial week the following week). Gah. No wonder I am perpetually tired.
Lisa, that is A LOT of travel!!! I would be exhausted. And yes- when in the world would you have time to meal plan, shop and cook? I certainly hope things calm down when this month is over.