Cheryl Howe's Blog

Happy New Year and TV rec!

Happy New Year! Needles to say I’ve been a slacker in the blogging arena as of late as well as the healthy cooking arena. But the good news is that I’ve been kicking ass in randomly finding new TV series to watch on Netflix. I know I’m not alone in my series watching addiction, because I’m often consulted by family and friends as to what to watch. It’s nice when you can color your downward spiral into procrastination with a bit of altruism.

There are so many great shows out there, but one of my favorites that hasn’t gotten the buzz it deserves is Continuum. Don’t dismiss this show if you’re not a sci-fi fan.  I didn’t add the link up front because many of you will. I’m not a die-hard fan of the Sci-fi genre ,  but I am a sucker for time travel.  Continuum features a female time-travelling cop, Kiera Cameron,  from the not so distant future. I love the fact that some of the time travelers that Kiera is thrust through time with still have connections in the present which is basically our period. The flash backs are brief and cool and we get so much insight into Kiera. I love the fact that Kiera has a built-in video in-plant that allows her to view her recordings of her young son who she desperately wants to get back to in her own time. Rachel Nichols, the actress who plays Kiera, does an unbelievable job of playing a tough, strong heroine and a vulnerable mother who is separated from her child. I think this show appeals on so many levels.

So I just checked on Netflix to rewatch the first episode of Continuum (partly to complete my review and partly because I like it so much, it made me want to watch it again) and it’s now only available on DVD from Netflix. Bummer. But there will be a Season 3 in 2014 so it’s worth the effort to find Season 1 and 2.

Happy, Happy New Year. Thank you all for giving my books a chance and making this a great year for me. I’m a bit off schedule but I will have the next Pleasure book out next year and hopefully one or two more new releases. For those who are waiting for my next book, thank you so much. I wish I could come to all of your houses and make you dinner. I’m going to try to get better at writing and releasing on a more structured schedule. Uhm, another one of those resolutions or Needs Improvement areas. But not tonight. We’re staying in and having filet mignon and king crab legs for dinner. Cheers, all!

Easy Gluten-Free Beef Stew

It’s been way too long since I’ve posted a recipe. I’ve been struggling with my gluten-freeness over the holidays. I haven’t been making healthy food a priority and my health has suffered because of it. So that’s one of the things I’m going to be working on in the New Year. My proposed 2014 improvements is a very long list since I’ve been an absolute slacker and Netflix addict as of late. A  TV series  recommendation will immediately follow this post.

We’ve been having amazing summertime weather. I shopped for our Christmas tree in shorts and flip-flops. So when we had a rare winter-like rainy weekend, I managed to throw together some beef stew that both the husband and I agreed was damn good. I used to use a spice pack before I had to give up gluten. This time, I used a slow cooker and a lot of red wine, but the flavors came together with little effort on my part. Yay and double yay. Here it is:

Ingredients:

2 lbs cubed beef for stew

gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free all-purpose flower is a staple in my pantry)

beef broth (I bought a carton that came with 4 cups. Very available in all grocery stores.)

red wine

frozen pack of stew vegetables (The first word in this recipe is easy. The frozen pack has cut and peeled carrots, potatoes and celery. You can replace with fresh. Not as easy.)

Herbes De Provence (my new favorite dried herb mix)

one bay leaf

fresh mushrooms

fresh green beans (I bought a pre-cleaned and cut pack, but I think I’ll just add frozen peas for fiber next time)

Pull out a 4 quart Crock Pot and heat it on warm. Coat the beef in the gluten-free flower. Brown the meat on the stove with a bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the meat to the Crock Pot and add 3 cups of beef broth. The meat doesn’t have to be all the way cooked because you’ll be cooking it for a few hours before you add veggies. Depending on time, cook the meat on high for 2 hours on high or around 3-4 on low. Add the pack of frozen veggies, the herbs (about a 1 1/2 tablespoons), and a cup of red wine. Go ahead and add the mushrooms and beans. I waited a bit and the beans took  longer to cook than I thought. Cook a couple of more hours on low or less on high, depending on your time limits. Hope this recipe isn’t too vague, but the flavors really come together in the slow cooker and there is lots of room for experimentation.

Wishing you all a safe and Happy New Years!

The Pirate’s Jewel Free on Amazon

Hope everyone is surviving the holiday rush! If you’re like me and sometimes feel like Christmas is throwing up all around you, and have a moment to escape (a big if this time of year) download a free copy of The Pirate’s Jewel from Amazon. The ebook will be free through December 22. This swashbuckling romance  is set on the eve of The American Revolution. The cover was created by Kim Killion and features the very handsome cover model, Harvey Stables. Kim did an amazing job of translating the feel of the book with the colors and the tropical background.

Here is a little description to whet you appetite:

Jewel Sanderson has relinquished hope that the treasure map her estranged father left with her for safekeeping holds any value. Being the daughter of a notorious pirate was just as useless for a girl raised in a tavern on the docks of Charles Town as the map she couldn’t read. She is ready to accept the suit of a man who thinks of her as nothing but cheap labor when a ghost from her past sails through the tavern door demanding she hand over the map. Her rescuer is her father’s former protégé and she’ll gladly give him the map as long as he takes her with him to find the treasure.

Nolan Kenton ran away to be a pirate in his youth, but soon found he was trapped and at the mercy of a cruel mentor. When he was old enough to escape, he returned to his pious father and tried to lead a moral life. Only the lure of joining in the coming revolution can persuade him to return to the sea and the past he left behind. But to finance his venture, he must face the thing he dreads the most: his old mentor’s daughter, the only woman who has ever captured his heart. Nolan fears that finding the treasure with Jewel will reveal secrets he wishes to stay buried and will result in his losing his heart, and Jewel, forever.

Thanks so much for everyone who has bought my books. I appreciate you all so much. Happy holidays and hang in there. Only five frantic days left.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ahoy,  matey. It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Believe it or not, I did not have this marked on my calendar, but coincidentally (or synchronistically if you’re of the mind that there are no coincidences) The Pirate and the Puritan is free on Amazon today and through the weekend. Here is the blurb:

Felicity Kendall forced her passionate nature into hiding after a handsome rogue seduced her only to sail away with the profits from her father’s shipping company. Afterwards, she embraced the strictness of her mother’s faith, molding herself into a rigid spinster before her time. After ruining herself so thoroughly, she can never marry. Her only hope is to escape the strict mores of Boston’s Puritan population so she could be of use in her father’s enterprises in the Caribbean.

On Barbados, she discovers her father has added a new partner to his venture. Lord Christian Andrews might charm her father, but Felicity sees the scoundrel behind his handsome exterior. She won’t allow him to send her away, despite the fact a notorious pirate has targeted her father’s ships and murdered his other business partner. Felicity feels it her duty to sneak aboard Lord Christian’s ship before he sails away with her father’s fortune. What she discovers is a man capable of unleashing her denied lust, though their passion might destroy them both.

And if you still be needing a bit of swashbuckling check out my newest release, The Pirate’s Jewel. This one is set in 1775 on the eve of the American Revolution.

Jewel Sanderson has relinquished hope that the treasure map her estranged father left with her for safekeeping holds any value. Being the daughter of a notorious pirate was just as useless for a girl raised in a tavern on the docks of Charles Town as the map she couldn’t read. She is ready to accept the suit of a man who thinks of her as nothing but cheap labor when a ghost from her past sails through the tavern door demanding she hand over the map. Her rescuer is her father’s former protégé and she’ll gladly give him the map as long as he takes her with him to find the treasure.

Nolan Kenton ran away to be a pirate in his youth, but soon found he was trapped and at the mercy of a cruel mentor. When he was old enough to escape, he returned to his pious father and tried to lead a moral life. Only the lure of joining in the coming revolution can persuade him to return to the sea and the past he left behind. But to finance his venture, he must face the thing he dreads the most: his old mentor’s daughter, the only woman who has ever captured his heart. Nolan fears that finding the treasure with Jewel will reveal secrets he wishes to stay buried and will result in his losing his heart, and Jewel, forever.

And don’t forget to down some grog and party like a pirate. Aarr! Which means have a nice day in pirate lingo.

Bye-bye Summer 2013

My last post of June an F-ing long time ago suggests that I might be prone to laziness in the summer months. And I did  enjoy my slacker time. But Labor Day arrived and forced me to feel guilty and get my happy little self back to work. Though I would like to note that Summer isn’t officially over until the Autumnal Equinox on  Sept. 22.

So what have I been up to exactly?

At the end of June, I released The Pirate’s Jewel in e-book format with a stellar new cover by Kim Killion.

The Pirate’s Jewel is set at the start of the American Revolution and features a former pirate turned privateer, a treasure map, and a hero who falls for his enemy’s daughter.

Thanks so much to all of you who have given The Pirate and the Puritan a chance over the summer and kept it in the Amazon Top 100 for seafaring novels. I raised the price back to $2.99, (actually it used to be 3.99), but you can get it free September 18th-22.

Starting tomorrow,  Improper Pleasures will be free through Sunday Sept. 17th.  Though set in England, that book also features an American privateer hero who comes to collect a barony and estate after the war. Needless to say, it’s not nearly as simple as he hopes.

Thanks to all of you for dropping by the blog and buying my books despite my radio silence. And to all you other summer slackers out there, we still have almost a week and a half to bask in the sun!

And here is my pick for song of the summer:

Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Mango Smoothie

Happy Summer! Well, it won’t be official until the Summer Solstice on Friday, but I’m already thinking beach, barbeques and fresh fruit. No to the fresh fruit? How about strawberry short-cake? That’s one of my summertime favorites and it doesn’t taste the same without fresh, ultra-ripe strawberries. But this post has nothing to do with strawberries. Except that I need to find a gluten-free recipe to substitute the cake part. Hopefully I’ll post about that later.

Smoothies also remind me of summer. I’ve gotten a lot of hits on my Chocolate Gluten-Free smoothie so I decided to share a different version made with mangos and coconut milk. This smoothie is so creamy, it’s hard to believe it has no dairy. I used vanilla hemp powder instead of the chocolate, but beware, the powder is a little on the green side and it doesn’t disguise the hemp flavor as well as the chocolate version.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoon of oatmeal

1 tablespoon of flaxseed

3/4 cup vanilla coconut milk

1 banana

16 frozen mango pieces

water if needed

3 tablespoon vanilla hemp powder (the package calls for 4 tblspoons but my first try tasted a little heavy on the grains so I cut down on the oatmeal, flax and hemp that I used in the chocolate smoothie.)

I start with putting 3 tablespoons of oatmeal in the blender and blend because it’s not instant which dissolves better in the smoothie. I then add the flax-seed, banana and the cocoanut milk. Blend before you add the mangos. I take the clear part of the lid off and feed in the mangos. It doesn’t blend as well, not to mention it’s hard on the blender, if it has to blend everything at once. If the mangos are making the mixture to thick, add a little water. When everything is blended, sprinkle in the three tablespoons of vanilla hemp powder. Don’t dump it all in at once or it won’t blend well. Enjoy! This smoothie is great for a midmorning snack when your coffee buzz has worn off. It’s light but filling enough to keep you going without making you sleepy like a full meal.

And a few other things that remind me of summer is reading in a lounge chair by pool or surf, pirates and the Caribbean. In honor of my favorite time of year, I have The Pirate and the Puritan free until this Friday and .99 cents for the rest of the summer. My other pirate historical, The Pirate’s Jewel, will be available on Kindle early July. I hope to make it available before the 4th because the hero is a pirate turned privateer at the start of the American Revolution. Of course, he has a treasure to find, and the daughter of his arch-enemy to seduce before he can do any of the patriotic stuff.

Thanks to everyone who has been enjoying my books. My readers mean the world to me.

Friday Movie Rec: Lost In Austen

I stumbled upon Lost In Austen a few years back when I broke my foot. The story involves a Jane Austen fan that travels back in time to find herself living with the Benett family from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.   The trailer speaks for itself.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3094938393/

You can rent the 4 episode mini-series on DVD on Netflix. I believe you can also find the first episode on YouTube.  Happy Friday!

Gluten-Free Fried Brown Rice

When my doctor asked me to give up gluten, all I could think about was warm bread and Cinnabon. Little did I know avoiding soy sauce would be one of my toughest challenges. Sure, Tamari is gluten-free soy sauce, and I always keep a supply at home, but regular soy sauce is a standard ingredient in so much Asian food, going out is an obstacle course. It’s in teriyaki and just about every sauce at my favorite local sushi bar. And forget about Chinese food except for PF Changs. They have a nice gluten-free menu, but it’s a bummer that I can’t share dishes with everyone else.  Before I share my recipe for homemade fried rice, I want to mention that San-J makes travel packs of Organic Tamari. I try to always keep a couple in my purse. You can find where to buy them on their website but I get mine at Sprouts.

This recipe is great for using up left overs and veggies that are questionable. Here are some of the things I typically use.

Ingredients

cooked cold rice (I like to keep a box of cooked frozen brown rice on hand. The Trader Joe’s version has about 3 cups per package and I use two bags. I cook it for about a minute in the microwave then put it in the fridge while I chop the vegetables.)

2 tablespoons of oil

1 red bell pepper chopped

chopped garlic

1 pkg sliced mushrooms

broccoli florets

carrots (I sometimes buy shredded carrots in the package and use those.)

pea pods (If I happen to buy them but they’re not crucial.)

cooked shrimp or pork or both (I use frozen cooked shrimp or a left over pork chop. It’s best with both.)

gluten-free soy sauce

2 eggs

green onions chopped

Heat oil and sauté the chopped vegetables in a large skillet (except for the green onions) until soft, add the thawed cooked shrimp and or cooked meat. Add the rice then season with soy sauce. Add the eggs. I stir the eggs in a bowl before I pour it into the skillet. Stir in the eggs until they’re cooked. I throw in the green onions last. It’s easy to over cook and make the rice mushy. This is pretty hard to screw up so feel free to experiment.

Here is a song that kept catching my attention on one of my Pandora stations. The group, Electric Guest, was not what I expected when I saw the video. They do a great job and the songs quite catchy. It’s hard not to move to This Head I Hold.

Friday Movie Rec: Ondine

Instead of a sunset pic, I’m featuring a super cute dog pic. I had to take Jenny’s rawhide bone away and I gave her a stuffed bear instead. She kept stealing my older dog’s bone while he was napping.

In addition to recipes, I’m going to start featuring movie and series recommendations. Every so often, I need to take a movie vacation and put in some serious couch time.  Gorging on a series also does the trick. I love scouring Netflix or the movie channels looking for something offbeat.  I found Ondine while flipping through HBO. It had already begun but the setting immediately drew me in. It’s filmed in Ireland and when I found out a Selkie was involved, I searched the whole day’s schedule until I could record it in its entirety.

First I thought it might be a little sad and depressing, but it manages to be dreary and dreamy at the same time. Also, unexpectedly uplifting. If nothing else, I thought I would watch it just for the scenery, but the story really drew me in. It makes you desperately want to believe in magic and fairy tales, and even more so, shows us why we need to. Here is a trailer. I think you can also find it on streaming Netflix.

Gluten-Free Chipotle Chicken With Sweet Potatoes

My poor blog has been sadly neglected so I am shamefacedly posting a delicious gluten-free recipe before the last day of the month. Hopefully I’ll be more on it in the future. I’ve been cooking quite a bit and this one has become an unexpected favorite. It’s super healthy and easy to throw together.

I followed the recipe almost exactly from Stephanie O’Dea‘s book Make It Fast, Cook It Slow. I had avoided this recipe because of the sweet potato. My husband doesn’t like sweet potatoes but their  are pretty significant. I went ahead and snuck it in on him and he really liked it. The only ingredient I had trouble finding was the chipotle powder. I found it at Sprout’s. The chipotle gives it a spicy flavor and disguises the sweet of the potato.

Ingredients:

6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

10 oz package sliced mushroom

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced (I use the chopped garlic in the jar and added a couple of teaspoons)

1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped in chunks

2 green onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced (I used an orange one)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon chipotle powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup sour cream

You’ll need a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the chicken on the bottom. Add all the chopped vegetables on top followed by the broth and spices. Cook 6 to 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Add the sour cream 30 mins before it’s done, finishing on high. I didn’t add the sour cream last time I made this and it was still good. You could even just add a dollop when you serve it. My allergies have been awful with all the pollen in the air so I’m trying to avoid dairy which makes me even stuffier. I served this with red quinoa instead of brown rice.

Here is a song by Imagine Dragons that’s been playing in my head. I’d never seen this video before and found it unexpected and kind of amusing.