Little, Tiny, Red Haired Lisbeth

I'm almost finished with the series of books by Stieg Larsson, starting with The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.  I read the 1st book months and months ago and decided to skip the next two books.  I wasn't sure why everyone seemed to love the book so much.  It seemed dark and dreary and "The Girl" was hard to relate to and get to know much.  Of course I did love the fact that she was tiny and red haired.  Made me feel a little kinship...but other than that, it just didn't seem like that amazing of a book...except that the story line kept you hooked until the end, I may have even given up at some point.

Recently I've been devouring some fun, and sometimes nonfiction books and I was ready for a good, deep novel again.   So I started the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire.  And I fell in love.  It was so much better and so much more about Lisbeth and so, so, so entertaining.  Lisbeth is a strong, independent woman and is quite willing to take control of her own life.  She's a survivor and even when the unthinkable continues to happen to her, she does not give up.  She is not a victim and I respect that.  Lisbeth takes what life has given her and fights back.  I'm always impressed with characters who don't feel sorry for themselves or want anyone else to feel sorry for them.  I love it when something bad happens to a female character and instead of blaming everyone else, they figure out what is going to make them happy and do it.  Sometimes life throws you for a loop, sometimes things happen that seem out of your control, but it's all about how you react and deal with the situation, not really about what has happened. It's hard not to admire the character that holds her head high and says that what you do does not change who I am.  
Again, Larsson writes books that make you keep reading, because the mystery is only solved at the end and it's so worth it.  Especially when it had to do with Lisbeth and her life.

The third book has stayed more like the second and I am so happy for that.  It's so great to get involved with characters in novels, especially when the author does such a great job with the story line!  I now see why so many people are upset about Larsson's passing.  What a great series to read and I wish there were more of his work!

Pizza Making Party

Even when I plan ahead, I still manage to forget the squeezable pizza sauce for the kids and the extra bottle of fancy wine for the adults...because I was not going to let the kids spread on their own pizza sauce...and one does not throw a party without expensive wine (and enough of it).

Pizza For the Kids

prepackaged buttermilk biscuits

squeezable pizza sauce

pepperoni

canadian bacon

olives

pineapple

mozzarella cheese

Dessert Pizza

 (made mainly by the kids)

prepackage pizza dough

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3Tbl butter

1 sleeve graham crackers (crushed)

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 cups mini marshmallows

9 oz Hershey's chocolate bars, broken

(Original recipe called for chili powder and cayenne powder, and even though the adults loved it...the kids went thru a lot of water while eating dessert)

Bake pizza in 400 degree oven for 6 minutes.

Brown almonds.

Melt butter in skillet and cook graham crackers and salt for 2 minutes.

Top pizza with marshmallows and chocolate.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Top with almonds and graham cracker mixture.

Green Bean, Tomato & Chickpea Salad

(A little too much "fun" during the party, before I put together the salad, and I accidentally used the diced tomatoes I had chopped for the pizza in the salad...the pretty cherry tomatoes ended up on top of the pizza.  Lucky for us it all worked out!   I had to use frozen green beans because the fresh looked awful, but it worked out perfectly because the kids ate the extra 1/2 lb of green beans it made.)

1 1/2 lbs of green beans

3 Tbl lemon juice

2 Tbl EVOO

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 can chickpeas

1/2 cup feta

2\3 cup Italian parsley

Steam green beans for 5 minutes and then rinse in cold water to stop cooking.

Whisk lemon juice and oil.

Stir in tomatoes, onion, and chickpeas.

Add feta and parsley.

Arrange green beans on serving platter and top with tomato mixture.

Grilled Rosemary Crusted Pizza

(Note to self...so much easier to just buy a ball of pizza dough...as opposed to making it yourself.  Love my kitchenaid...makes it so much easier...but why even bother with them mess!)

Dough Ball

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

Form dough into 4 9" rounds.

3/4 cup olive oil

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 pound Italian sausages

2 yellow or red bell peppers, cored, lengthwise

1 large red onion, cut into1/2-inch thick wedges

Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Let vinaigrette stand 15 minutes at room temperature or refrigerate up to 2 hours.

Traeger medium heat. Arrange sausages, peppers and onion on baking sheet. Brush with some of vinaigrette. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill sausages until cooked through and peppers and onion until slightly charred, about 12 minutes for sausages and 8 minutes for peppers and onion. Transfer sausages and vegetables to cutting board. Cut sausages into 1/2-inch pieces and peppers into thin strips.

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups crumbled goat cheese

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

3/4 cup chopped green onion tops

Place 2 dough rounds on grill. Grill over medium heat until top of dough puffs and underside is crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn rounds over. Grill 1 minute. Transfer to baking sheet with well-grilled side up. This side of the dough becomes the surface that will hold the toppings.

Repeat with the remaining 2 dough rounds. Sprinkle each with 1/4 of mozzarella and Parmesan. Top each with 1/4 of sausage, peppers and onion, then with 1/4 of goat cheese, tomatoes and green onions. Drizzle each with 1 1/2 teaspoons vinaigrette.

Using large metal spatula, return 2 pizzas to grill. Grill until cheeses melt and dough is cooked through and browned, using tongs to rotate pizzas for Transfer to plates. Repeat grilling for remaining 2 pizzas.

Finding Happiness in the Small Stuff

I set a goal for myself of 5 miles at a 6 minute pace.  I am no where near hitting that goal.  I am so far away from that goal, that I had to start setting smaller goals...in the hopes that someday...in the far away future...I'll be able to run 6 minute miles.  I have doubts that this goal is attainable.  I have doubts that this was even a reasonable request to ask of my 36 year old body.  I have not give up my original goal...but  I am finding happiness in being able to meet my smaller goals.

Goal 1 - Run 5 miles at an 8 minute pace.

Goal 2 - Run 3 miles at a 7 minute pace.

Goal 3 - Run 1 mile at a 6 minute pace.

Goal 4 - Get to level 14 at Group Ride.

Goal 1 ~ Today I finally was willing to run on the treadmill for 40 minutes.  It seems like an eternity, being stuck indoors, running in place, but I did it.  I would love to put Reed in the jogging stroller and run with him, but he's so happy going to the gym, and I'd rather run when Scott can push him.  My IT band started hurting 4 1/2 miles in...but I knew I could run with the pain for another 1/2 a mile.  I felt great when I finished and am hoping my IT band will be willing and able to work with me doing this again next week.

Goal 2 ~ I also accomplished 7 minute miles for 3 miles this week.  This was not as much fun as running 5 miles at 8 minute pace...in fact I was gagging for the last 1/2 mile.  I was so happy to be off the treadmill at the end, that I kind of thought about laying flat on the floor and resting.  My body was working hard and was ready to be done.  My abs are rocking now...but it was hard work to get there. 

In fact, running as much as I have been, I've been enjoying the benefits of burning calories faster than I can intake them!  I even ate a piece of Konditori cake this week.  It took my 3 days, and it's my first sugar I've had since the beginning of Lent, but I needed to eat extra calories and that sounded like the most fabulous choice.

Goal 3 ~ I keep meaning to get to the gym early enough on a Tuesday or a Thursday to get one mile in before Group Ride...but I have yet to get that done!  I realize that 6 minutes is not that much time to schedule in, so I am pretty sure I'm still scared to do an actually 6 minute mile.

Goal 4 ~  This one is kind of a hit and a miss.  I did get to Level 14 and I did maintain it and I did keep going back to it...but that was the first 20 minutes of class...and after that, I just couldn't recover enough to get that high again.

I was pretty disappointed since I've slowly been working my way up the levels of the bike at Group Ride.  I didn't understand why going from Level 12 to Level 14 was such a staggering difference.  I asked the instructor what he thought and he asked me how much I weighed.  Since working out so hard has kept me below 110 pounds right now, I was not the least embarrassed to tell him.  And then he pretty much said he was impressed I was even able to move the pedals at Level 14.  According to him, I don't weigh enough and to keep working at it, but not to be discouraged.  So there was a little compliment and then a bigger challenge all in one.  Since I'm really getting into Group Ride...and almost to the point of being willing to buy the $80 shoes to wear during it...I'm accepting the challenge!

Two small goals down...two more to go.  And I'm still waiting to decide what my next running speed goals will be.  In fact today, I'm just hoping my knee lets me walk on it tomorrow.