Books & Movies Watched in February 2017

February wasn't a very productive month.

Books Read in February 2017

• A Man Called Ove by Frednik Backman
• Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb (NOTE: This is part of the In Death series. The order can be found here.)
• The Fixer by HelenKay Dimon (Note: This is the beginning of The Games People Play series. The next book is due out in the Spring. More can be found here.)

Movies Watched in February 2017

• The Jungle Book
• Ghostbusters
• Lego Batman
• Trolls

I adored A Man Called Ove - so much that I'm watching the Swedish movie.  We also watched The Lego Movie and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief which I've already watched.  Trolls was super cute and already a family favorite.  

Movies & Books in January 2017

I've been lazy at keeping up with the blog.

Movies Watched in January 2017

• Finding Dory 
• Nancy Drew 
• The Spiderwick Chronicles 
• Just Add Magic
• Hidden Figures

Books Read in January 2017

• Who Do You Love by Christie Ridgway (This is part of the Rock Royalty series. The order of which can be found here.)
• Rules of Contact by Jaci Burton (This is part of the Play by Play series. The order of which can be found here
• Accidentally on Purpose by Jill Shalvis (This is part of the Heartbreaker Bay series. The order of which can be found here.)
• Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

I decided to start listing our Sunday Family Movies.  Every Sunday, we make pancakes and watch a movie as a family.  Most of the time, Little Miss chooses, but we sometimes take turns.  I saw Hidden Figures in the theater with Mom and Sister which was fun.  

The books were all pretty solid, fast reads.  Three romance and one memoir - all enjoyable.

New Food - Chicken Piccata

Husband makes chicken piccata and roasted broccoli often. There was no reason Little Miss wouldn't like it so, this past weekend, she gave it a shot and ate a whole piece and asked for more. She picked off the capers, but so did I so no complaints there. She's been doing really well trying new things or at least giving them a shot. Sometimes, just explaining what's in the food or why she would like it helps. Throwing in some desserts help, too, even if she doesn't always like them. None of always likes new things, but, as I tell her, it's the trying that helps.

New Food - Kit Kat Fudge

Sometimes, you throw the kid a soft ball.  So, today, we made fudge.  It was 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet morsels, 14oz sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract microwaved until spreadable in 30 second increments.  Then, you place Kit Kats on top and chill.  Pretty simple.  Obviously, Little Miss enjoyed. You can find the recipe here. 

Nee food - Lemon Bars

The lemon bars were deemed to "lemony".  Next time, the pastry should bake longer, but they came out ok.  I snagged the recipe from here.

Lemon bars

Ingredients
For the pastry base

• 1 cup cold butter cut in small pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour

For the lemon layer

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• zest of two lemons very finely chopped
• cup juice of 2 lemons about 2/3 to 3/4 juice

Instructions
To make the pastry base

Using a pastry cutter or in a food processor blend together the butter sugar and flour.
Press evenly into the bottom of a greased and parchment paper lined 9×13 inch baking pan.
Bake for 20 to minutes at 350 degrees F ( 325 degrees F if you are using glass bake-ware) The bottom should just be beginning to brown slightly at the top edges.

For the lemon topping
Simply whisk together the sugar flour, eggs, zest and lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved.
Allow the topping to sit for about 10 minutes before whisking together well again and pouring over the baked shortbread base.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about another 20- 25 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and the custard appears to be set. Cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar when cool or try adding a meringue topping.

New Food - Pork

Little Miss decided on pork loin, but I couldn't find one in the store.  With more planning, I think she would have enjoyed a roast pork loin with maybe a sweet sauce/glaze.  However, we ended up quickly baking up some pork chops.  She said they tasted fine, but she didn't like all the chewing.  They were the most moist pork chops I'd ever baked, too.  So, it's on the maybe list.  We'll try it again.  So far, we're keeping up with it though.  

We are cheating.  Little Miss has had pork, even pork chops, before, but it's not plain chicken or pasta so we're going with it.  She chose uncooked carrots as her side which is fine by me.  I don't care how she eats her veggies as long as she does.