Five on Friday | 11.10

Happy Friday everyone! I hope those of you in the upper Midwest are staying nice and toasty today. We have the day off from school in observance of Veterans' Day tomorrow. So Lew and I went to the farm to spend time with some friends and get ready for hunting.

I'm linking up with Christina this week for another round of Five on Friday and this week's edition is featuring the last five books I've finished. Surprise!

one | Everything, Everything

 

from goodreads

my review here 

 

two | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

from goodreads

my review here

three | Level Up

 

from goodreads

my review here

 

four | American Born Chinese

 

from goodreads

my review here 

 

five | Stitches

 

from goodreads

my review here 

Apparently I've been on a graphic novel kick lately. Take a look at most of these books and I can't wait to hear what you think about them.

Happy Friday!

 

 

Mid Week Book Talks | 02

I'm coming at you this week with another Book Talk. For whatever reason, I've been flying through books. A little background before I dive into this week's book.

In years prior, I've set goals for myself to read two books a month. 24 books. That's not unmanageable. Yeah, right. So, this year I set my goal even lower. 12 books. 1 per month. I expect my students to read at least 1 every six weeks, so 1 every four weeks should work.

And then book recommendations started flying my direction.
And then we started focusing on reading in class.
And then I remembered advice from my Education classes--MODEL READING.
And then I started reading while my students were reading.
And then I finished a book.
And then another.

And before I knew it, I was 12 books into the year and going strong.

So, here's a short book talk on book number 20.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (with John Tiffany & Jack Thorne)

Written in a screenplay format, this story was an astoundingly quick read. I picked it up because I love the original series.

 

 photo from goodreads

buy book here 

While I'm a big HP fan, I was not a fan of the most recent installment. For nostalgia's sake, I loved seeing Harry, Hermione, and Ron back together after all this time. But, the story was greatly lacking. 

We see Albus on his first trip to Hogwarts and he becomes friends with Scorpius, the only son of Draco Malfoy. Albus gets sorted into Slytherin and from there the story derails for me.

Yes, there was the adventure and the mischief that a true HP installment should have. But where all of the other novels really dug into characters, development, their adventures, and lessons, this merely scratched the surface of Albus and Scorpius'  friendship and trials. It really fell flat.

I'm hopefully optimistic that had I watched the play instead of reading it, I would've been transported back to that magical world.

Even with that hope, I still only consider this a 2 or 3 star book as it was a huge letdown. 

What did you think? Yay? Nay? Or somewhere in between?

Happy Wednesday!

Monday Meals | 02

It's Monday and I'm thinking about our meal prep for this week again. We just came back from a weekend at the farm and we don't have a long week at home again. So, it's going to be pretty sparse around here.

But that doesn't mean that I can't share some meals with you. The first is a family favorite. What's more "home cooking" than potatoes and gravy? If you said, "not much", then you are correct.

Potato Klub

Klub is a Norwegian dumpling with pork and gravy. Many people make it into balls and the meat is in the center. Then they fry it in butter.

We don't make it in balls. It's more of a log. Super appetizing I know.

Here's the recipe:
5 lbs potatoes shredded/chopped
2-3 c flour
salt & pepper to taste
chopped pork

Gravy:
1/4 c butter
1/2 c flour
2-3 c milk/cream
salt & pepper to taste
garlic (if desired)

Mix together and place into a steamers bag and boil until done (approx 15-20 min)

While the dumplings are boiling, make a roux with the butter and flour. Add milk all at once and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir continuously until thickened to desired consistency.

Serve dumplings hot with gravy or melted butter on top.

Baked Oatmeal
We love the baked oatmeal recipe from Joy the Baker. We usually double the recipe and cut the sugar in half. 

I also add raisins, craisins, coconut, and any other dried fruits/nuts we have on hand.

Bake and serve warm with milk.

Mac & Cheese (from the box*)
*because we're classy*

Tonight Lewis had generic mac and cheese, while Kyle and I had Cracker Barrel cheddar/Havarti. And it's one of our favorites.


Since this week is a short week, we didn't have to buy any groceries. I have parent/teacher conferences again tomorrow and it'll be a late night at work for me. So this is our exciting menu for the week. Hah.

Have you had any of these? Let me know!

Happy Monday!

Five on Friday | 11.3

I'm back with another Five on Friday with April.

one | Halloween

Lewis was the cutest dragon ever!

two | snow

The snow is here to stay. And it was absolutely beautiful yesterday!

three | teething

Lew is teething and it's a pain. I feel so bad for him and there's not much that can be done for him. :( Send some prayers & good vibes our way if you remember.

four | conferences

Teachers, how do you manage parent/teacher conferences and missing your kiddos? We had conferences last night and I barely saw Lew. It made my heart so sad.

five | oven roasted veggies

I'm not usually a fan of beets, but this new recipe from Wednesday was a hit! Find it here. Also, we nixed the feta. As the cook, I get to make those decisions. :)


We're off to the farm for the weekend to spend time with family during Deer Hunting Opening weekend. Wish the guys luck! I'll be back with a new recipe next week.

Happy Friday!