Muscicapine Monday

muscicapine ~ of, like or pertaining to flycatchers and related birds

So . . . it's late Sunday night as I'm writing this, and I gotta say I'm not feeling at all well. And the worst part is, I'm pretty sure this is a self-inflicted illness.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I've been trying to eat healthier the last few months. One of the down sides of healthier eating is that your body can no longer handle it when you eat crap - as I did tonight. I indulged in a bowlful of this generic party mix, and my stomach is rebelling. Serves me right. ;-)

But I've also got something sinus-y going on, and that does not serve me right. I think the super-mega-death-cold-from-hell is trying to make a come back and I want nothing to do with it.

Spring has finally sprung . . . or so they tell me. There's still a lot of snow on the ground and Saturday morning I woke up to a winter wonderland again. The sun melted it away over the course of the day, but still . . .

I finally had my "writing away from home" day. A friend and I took our lap tops to McDonalds for lunch. It wasn't the best venue or time of day for writing, but I did manage to get some words in, so it's all good. :-)

This week is supposed to be sunny, for the most part, although still cold, and I'm going to try walking to the coffee shop to get some writing in.

I was actually at the coffee shop Thursday night for a poetry reading. One of the poets had a double bass playing in the background and it was really cool. It put me in mind of the Beat scene of the 50's and 60's (at least what I've seen of them in old movies), and I had to suppress the urge to snap my fingers at the end.

I got the baby quilt I was working on for my daughter's friend finished, but I forgot to take a picture of it. It's a shame really because it turned out really nice and there's not one machine stitch on it. I also finished a couple of 12 inch squares and one 6 inch square on the scrap afghan I'm crocheting, and even managed to get some reading in.

This week my main focus will be the final polish to An Elemental Water. If you haven't seen the cover Jamie DeBree did for me, then just scroll down a bit for Friday's post. It's there towards the end. Didn't she do an amazing job? She's a woman of many talents. :-)

The hubby's on board with the whole healthier eating thing, so once a week we've been having homemade soup for supper. There's some debate about this just being an excuse to have homemade bread to go with it, but it's still a darn sight better for us than say fish and chips. In any case, I don't make a habit of sharing recipes usually, but this one is too good to keep to myself:

Slow Cooker Ground Beef Lasagna Soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
10 3/4 oz. tomato soup, canned, condensed
14.5 oz. tomatoes, canned, petite diced
15 oz. tomato sauce, canned
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 beef bouillon cubes
4 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
8 oz. Ricotta Cheese
8 uncooked lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces
12 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Combine onions, tomato soup, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and place in the slow cooker. Add all of the spices and bouillon cubes. Add water and spread your broken uncooked lasagna noodle pieces all around. Crumble raw ground beef over top.
Cover. Cook on Low for 7-8 hours or on High for 4-5 hours.
Approximately half hour or so before done, stir in the Ricotta cheese.
Serve with shredded Mozzarella Cheese on top and savor the taste!

Trust me, it is absolutely yummy!

This week I'm experimenting with a tortellini chicken soup. I'll let you know how it turns out. ;-)