M.A. Church's Blog, page 106
June 22, 2016
Love Wins Anthologies
On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. He was killed by Orlando police after a three-hour standoff. It was both the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history. Pulse was hosting a Latin Night and most of the victims were of Hispanic descent. The massacre was widely denounced both as an act of terrorism and a hate crime.
As I'm sure many of you know, the outcry over this horrible event has been far-reaching and loud. Many have stepped up to try and help. Dreamspinner is also aiding that effort.
Love Wins Anthologies are to benefit the victims and families of the Orlando shooting. There will be two volumes: Summer 2016 and Holiday 2016. Authors are donating positive stories that show how love triumphs over any obstacles. All proceeds will be donated to LGBTQ organizations in central Florida.
I wanted to make you guys aware of what's coming and to also mention I plan to donate to both anthologies... and to buy both books when they come out. Every little bit helps, y'all.
#PrayforOrlando
Equality Florida, a nonprofit LGBT civil rights organization, has set up a GoFundMe account
One Pulse T-shirts: http://traxlertees.com/products/one-pulse-support-t-shirt (which I ordered too)
On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 5...
On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. He was killed by Orlando police after a three-hour standoff. It was both the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in U.S. history. Pulse was hosting a Latin Night and most of the victims were of Hispanic descent. The massacre was widely denounced both as an act of terrorism and a hate crime.
As I'm sure many of you know, the outcry over this horrible event has been far-reaching and loud. Many have stepped up to try and help. Dreamspinner is also aiding that effort.
Love Wins Anthologies are to benefit the victims and families of the Orlando shooting. There will be two volumes: Summer 2016 and Holiday 2016. Authors are donating positive stories that show how love triumphs over any obstacles. All proceeds will be donated to LGBTQ organizations in central Florida.
I wanted to make you guys aware of what's coming and to also mention I plan to donate to both anthologies... and to buy both books when they come out. Every little bit helps, y'all.
#PrayforOrlando
Equality Florida, a nonprofit LGBT civil rights organization, has set up a GoFundMe account
One Pulse T-shirts: http://traxlertees.com/products/one-pulse-support-t-shirt (which I ordered too)
June 21, 2016
Winner for the June swag giveaway!
Morningstar Ashley
!!!!Congrats!!!!(email sent)
Okay, the June giveaway is over, but if you didn't win this time don't give up! There's going to be another swag giveaway in July, August, and September.
Also, I have Behind the Eight Ball coming out in audiobook in August too. I can hardly wait for that!
It Takes Two to Tango should release sometimes in September.
Then in October I have something coming out that's part of the Alpha Collection from ARe.
A Country Boy at Heart should be out in November. That's the contemporary story I'm really excited about.
Then finally in December comes my sci-fi In Enemy Hands book.
~I'm hoping I can also get my next merman book out this year (hoping). Then there's the story I'm doing for the anthology Dreamspinner is releasing for the Orlando shooting victims. If I understand the info correctly, the first volume should be out soon.
~M
June 16, 2016
Cover Reveal - Cosmic Inception by Alicia Nordwell and a giveaway!
COVER REVEAL
Publisher:Dreamspinner PressCover Artist:Christine Griffin
Pre-order Release Date: 6/17/2016Official Release Date: 7/18/2016
Genre: MM Science FictionLength: 288 Pages/110kRating:Adult/Mature
Buy Links:
eBook: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/cosmic-inception-by-alicia-nordwell-7231-b
Paperback: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/cosmic-inception-by-alicia-nordwell-7232-b
Blurb: Their journey will span the universe and back, but there’s no guarantee they’ll make it together.
Though Nick and Fieo are drawn to each other, their relationship has never been easy. Their differences go beyond their races, but they’ve managed to work together to prevent the spread of corruption, growing closer along the way. Nick still battles the effects of years of loneliness, fear, and pain but surprises everyone when he refuses to stay behind when Fieo is sent on a vital mission to find the Collectors. Fieo objects, but there’s no stopping Nick when he sets his mind to something. Over the course of their mission, it becomes clear Nick is more than anyone ever imagined, but the mystery of his past threatens to derail his future.
The search for the truth will take Fieo and Nick far from Caeorleia, to worlds both familiar and completely alien, and put stress on their already tenuous relationship. It’s a journey that will either tear them apart or finally bring them together.
Excerpt:Chapter One
“Look at you.” The humid warmth of the garden enveloped and welcomed me. I stroked one finger across the fluffy yellow pod of a waist-high flower. The small strands curled in and then opened back into a wider puff, sending out a glowing powder that drifted high into the night sky. I chuckled. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the small flower was ticklish. I rubbed the pollen off against my shorts, glad I hadn’t tried to smell it. “You haven’t told me about these yet, Jirulm.”
The elderly Caeorleian was mumbling as he plucked clusters of hard orange buds off spindly stalks. I’d picked up the habit of talking to the plants from him, and it wasn’t hard to see why. They were so alive. I had flowers, and fruit, and vegetables. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get to live on a planet with wild flora. My schooling and job training had focused on creating new strains of food crops that were grown in chemical vats in the midst of a planet covered in metal and concrete. Not exactly natural. Or very appetizing, if you knew where they got the basic building blocks for the food. No one had ever questioned it—I hadn’t either, until I’d taken the job with the Federal Food Service Corp after I couldn’t find a job anywhere else. Horrified when I learned the truth, I’d spent a few days unable to choke more than few mouthfuls down at a time, and they rarely stayed down. My mistake had been telling a coworker my plans to reveal everything to the public.Of course when you’re a prisoner and starving, you tend to ignore the fact your food was grown from cells harvested from composted humans, and you ate it anyway. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.And I’d begged. A lot. At least five years spent on a spaceship as the experiement of scientists had sucked all hope from me. But then the military scientists’ plans had gone wrong. Ryker and Seral had been sent to the planet in a bid for more information. The doctors assumed the Caeorleians would blame Ryker, one of the hated nelho scum they named the human soldiers waging war on their planet. Instead, something completely unexpected happened. Seral joined in besedad with Ryker, bonding them together. In a daring attack against the human military, using the nanos they filled Ryker with to spy on the Caeorleians, Seral had brought down the scientists’ enormous ship and spread the reengieeerednanos like a plague to the rest of the fleet. Along they way, they also rescued Dade and me, the only other two survivors of the scientists’ experiments.And once again, I was wide awake in the middle of the night. The memory of the moments right before rescue came, when I was forced to watch as the human scientists cut the alien woman open, and listen as the sadistic doctors planned to cut my belly open to compare organs, disturbed my sleep almost nightly and left me sweating and shuddering in my bed. I didn’t mind being awake in the early morning hours all that much. Some of the flowers in my garden only bloomed at night. Besides, I didn’t have much to do, so I could nap during the heat of the day. With a planet this tropical, it made sense for Caeorleians to be seminocturnal. Night was the only time I could count on finding Jirulm, the gardener who taught me about the plants in my garden. Ovrumi suggested I would enjoy gardening when he caught me wandering in the corridors, flinching away from the others passing by.“It’ll be time to prune those soon, Nicklaus,” Jirulm said. The hum of his voice was low, nearly indistinguishable from the light wind rustling through the plants.“But they’re just barely blooming.” Sure, flowers indoors brightened up the rather plain walls of the Residence, but all the ones in my suite were potted. I didn’t like to snuff out their already brief lives.“Good thing, too.” He examined the flowers, pulling at one of the fluffy heads. “When agvarali have absorbed enough energy to glow, the heads detach during the final bloom and migrate along the breeze.”“Oh, I bet that’s beautiful.” I could just imagine the small glowing fluff balls floating along a soft night wind, though I wasn’t sure if I’d get to see it. Fieo, the stubborn ass, refused to believe I’d be going to find the Collectors with his team, so I had no idea when the departure was planned. I’d assumed sooner rather than later, but maybe I’d still get to see the final bloom—some of the heads were already glowing a faint yellow.Jirulm snorted. “Beautiful… and dangerous.”I cocked my head sideways. “What do you mean?” Sometimes getting information out of the old alien was like pulling teeth. But when he did speak, he knew basically everything there was to know about plants on Caeorleia.“They gather energy, like sampanga trees, but so much in such a small sphere means when they touch something—or something touches them, like a careless finger—they explode.”I snatched my hand back. “Explode?”His lips twitched at the corners. It was probably the closest I’d come to seeing a smile on his face. “Oh, not enough to kill you, but you could easily lose a finger in the energy jolt that spreads the seeds. Luckily, these blooms are harmless.”“That doesn’t sound harmless! Why plant these in a garden if they’re so dangerous?” I couldn’t believe they were actually cultivating the damn things.“They attract insects to pollinate the other plants.” Jirulm tapped one long stem, and one of the creepy flying bugs crawled out of a waving puffball and flew to another vine a few beds over. “See.”That was one aspect of gardening I could do without. I did not like bugs. I had nightmares of them crawling inside my ears and laying eggs that would hatch into little buggy babies just dying to burrow into my brain. I backed away from the agvarali. “Well, feel free to prune these while I’m gone.”Thoughts of going into space again on the mission kept crowding into my mind, disturbing the peace I usually found in my garden. I tried pushing them away and succeeded for a while as Jirulm rambled on. After checking the natural spring fountain in the center of the garden that fed the irrigation lines, he left me alone. There was a small carpet of grass around it, the blades a dull gray in the silver light of the moons. Nighttime lent a certain somber feel to the garden, muting the usually vibrant displays; I sighed as I settled on the grass to stare up at the stars twinkling.There was a lot of beauty in the darkness.
About the AuthorAlicia Nordwell is one of those not so rare creatures, a reader turned writer. Striving to find something interesting to read one day, she decided to write what she wanted instead. Then the voices started ... Yep, not only does she talk about herself in the third person for bios, she has voices in her head constantly clamoring to get out.
Fortunately for readers, with the encouragement of her family and friends, she decided for her own sanity to keep writing. Now you can find her stories both free and e-published!She can be found quite often at her blog, where she has a lot of free fiction for readers to enjoy or working hard, or maybe hardly working, as an admin on GayAuthors.org under her online nickname, Cia.
Oh yeah, she's a wife, mom of two, and lives in the dreary, yet ideal for her redhead complexion, Pacific Northwest. Except for when she disappears into one of the many worlds in her head, of course!
Find her at: Cia’s Stories:http://www.ciasstories.blogspot.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/alicia.nordwell
Twitter:https://twitter.com/AliciaNordwell
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4479520.Alicia_Nordwell a Rafflecopter giveaway
Cover Reveal - Cosmic Inception by Alicia Nordwell
COVER REVEAL
Publisher:Dreamspinner PressCover Artist:Christine Griffin
Pre-order Release Date: 6/17/2016Official Release Date: 7/18/2016
Genre: MM Science FictionLength: 288 Pages/110kRating:Adult/Mature
Buy Links:
eBook: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/cosmic-inception-by-alicia-nordwell-7231-b
Paperback: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/cosmic-inception-by-alicia-nordwell-7232-b
Blurb: Their journey will span the universe and back, but there’s no guarantee they’ll make it together.
Though Nick and Fieo are drawn to each other, their relationship has never been easy. Their differences go beyond their races, but they’ve managed to work together to prevent the spread of corruption, growing closer along the way. Nick still battles the effects of years of loneliness, fear, and pain but surprises everyone when he refuses to stay behind when Fieo is sent on a vital mission to find the Collectors. Fieo objects, but there’s no stopping Nick when he sets his mind to something. Over the course of their mission, it becomes clear Nick is more than anyone ever imagined, but the mystery of his past threatens to derail his future.
The search for the truth will take Fieo and Nick far from Caeorleia, to worlds both familiar and completely alien, and put stress on their already tenuous relationship. It’s a journey that will either tear them apart or finally bring them together.
Excerpt:Chapter One“Look at you.” The humid warmth of the garden enveloped and welcomed me. I stroked one finger across the fluffy yellow pod of a waist-high flower. The small strands curled in and then opened back into a wider puff, sending out a glowing powder that drifted high into the night sky. I chuckled. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the small flower was ticklish. I rubbed the pollen off against my shorts, glad I hadn’t tried to smell it. “You haven’t told me about these yet, Jirulm.” The elderly Caeorleian was mumbling as he plucked clusters of hard orange buds off spindly stalks. I’d picked up the habit of talking to the plants from him, and it wasn’t hard to see why. They were so alive. I had flowers, and fruit, and vegetables. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get to live on a planet with wild flora. My schooling and job training had focused on creating new strains of food crops that were grown in chemical vats in the midst of a planet covered in metal and concrete. Not exactly natural. Or very appetizing, if you knew where they got the basic building blocks for the food. No one had ever questioned it—I hadn’t either, until I’d taken the job with the Federal Food Service Corp after I couldn’t find a job anywhere else. Horrified when I learned the truth, I’d spent a few days unable to choke more than few mouthfuls down at a time, and they rarely stayed down. My mistake had been telling a coworker my plans to reveal everything to the public.Of course when you’re a prisoner and starving, you tend to ignore the fact your food was grown from cells harvested from composted humans, and you ate it anyway. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.And I’d begged. A lot. At least five years spent on a spaceship as the experiement of scientists had sucked all hope from me. But then the military scientists’ plans had gone wrong. Ryker and Seral had been sent to the planet in a bid for more information. The doctors assumed the Caeorleians would blame Ryker, one of the hated nelho scum they named the human soldiers waging war on their planet. Instead, something completely unexpected happened. Seral joined in besedad with Ryker, bonding them together. In a daring attack against the human military, using the nanos they filled Ryker with to spy on the Caeorleians, Seral had brought down the scientists’ enormous ship and spread the reengieeerednanos like a plague to the rest of the fleet. Along they way, they also rescued Dade and me, the only other two survivors of the scientists’ experiments.And once again, I was wide awake in the middle of the night. The memory of the moments right before rescue came, when I was forced to watch as the human scientists cut the alien woman open, and listen as the sadistic doctors planned to cut my belly open to compare organs, disturbed my sleep almost nightly and left me sweating and shuddering in my bed. I didn’t mind being awake in the early morning hours all that much. Some of the flowers in my garden only bloomed at night. Besides, I didn’t have much to do, so I could nap during the heat of the day. With a planet this tropical, it made sense for Caeorleians to be seminocturnal. Night was the only time I could count on finding Jirulm, the gardener who taught me about the plants in my garden. Ovrumi suggested I would enjoy gardening when he caught me wandering in the corridors, flinching away from the others passing by.“It’ll be time to prune those soon, Nicklaus,” Jirulm said. The hum of his voice was low, nearly indistinguishable from the light wind rustling through the plants.“But they’re just barely blooming.” Sure, flowers indoors brightened up the rather plain walls of the Residence, but all the ones in my suite were potted. I didn’t like to snuff out their already brief lives.“Good thing, too.” He examined the flowers, pulling at one of the fluffy heads. “When agvarali have absorbed enough energy to glow, the heads detach during the final bloom and migrate along the breeze.”“Oh, I bet that’s beautiful.” I could just imagine the small glowing fluff balls floating along a soft night wind, though I wasn’t sure if I’d get to see it. Fieo, the stubborn ass, refused to believe I’d be going to find the Collectors with his team, so I had no idea when the departure was planned. I’d assumed sooner rather than later, but maybe I’d still get to see the final bloom—some of the heads were already glowing a faint yellow.Jirulm snorted. “Beautiful… and dangerous.”I cocked my head sideways. “What do you mean?” Sometimes getting information out of the old alien was like pulling teeth. But when he did speak, he knew basically everything there was to know about plants on Caeorleia.“They gather energy, like sampanga trees, but so much in such a small sphere means when they touch something—or something touches them, like a careless finger—they explode.”I snatched my hand back. “Explode?”His lips twitched at the corners. It was probably the closest I’d come to seeing a smile on his face. “Oh, not enough to kill you, but you could easily lose a finger in the energy jolt that spreads the seeds. Luckily, these blooms are harmless.”“That doesn’t sound harmless! Why plant these in a garden if they’re so dangerous?” I couldn’t believe they were actually cultivating the damn things.“They attract insects to pollinate the other plants.” Jirulm tapped one long stem, and one of the creepy flying bugs crawled out of a waving puffball and flew to another vine a few beds over. “See.”That was one aspect of gardening I could do without. I did not like bugs. I had nightmares of them crawling inside my ears and laying eggs that would hatch into little buggy babies just dying to burrow into my brain. I backed away from the agvarali. “Well, feel free to prune these while I’m gone.”Thoughts of going into space again on the mission kept crowding into my mind, disturbing the peace I usually found in my garden. I tried pushing them away and succeeded for a while as Jirulm rambled on. After checking the natural spring fountain in the center of the garden that fed the irrigation lines, he left me alone. There was a small carpet of grass around it, the blades a dull gray in the silver light of the moons. Nighttime lent a certain somber feel to the garden, muting the usually vibrant displays; I sighed as I settled on the grass to stare up at the stars twinkling.There was a lot of beauty in the darkness.
About the AuthorAlicia Nordwell is one of those not so rare creatures, a reader turned writer. Striving to find something interesting to read one day, she decided to write what she wanted instead. Then the voices started ... Yep, not only does she talk about herself in the third person for bios, she has voices in her head constantly clamoring to get out.
Fortunately for readers, with the encouragement of her family and friends, she decided for her own sanity to keep writing. Now you can find her stories both free and e-published!She can be found quite often at her blog, where she has a lot of free fiction for readers to enjoy or working hard, or maybe hardly working, as an admin on GayAuthors.org under her online nickname, Cia.
Oh yeah, she's a wife, mom of two, and lives in the dreary, yet ideal for her redhead complexion, Pacific Northwest. Except for when she disappears into one of the many worlds in her head, of course!
Find her at: Cia’s Stories:http://www.ciasstories.blogspot.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/alicia.nordwell
Twitter:https://twitter.com/AliciaNordwell
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4479520.Alicia_Nordwell a Rafflecopter giveaway
Finicky Friday Healthy Slow Cooker Moroccan Spiced Salmon
The swag giveaway is HERE
Hey everyone, I'm a day early this time since I have something scheduled for tomorrow. :) So, I thought it would be cool to post some recipes I had found online. I’m going to *try* to do some of these beforehand, but I’m sure there’ll be times I won't. I'm going to call this Finicky Friday. :)
MOROCCAN SPICED SALMONDidn't plan ahead? Fish cooks quickly, so it can be ready for lunch or dinner even when you don't get a head start. Salmon is brimming with omega-3 fats, the kind that tamp down inflammation and play a role in joint and muscle pain. Omega-3s also get kudos for helping reduce the risk of heart disease.
This zesty, no-carb dish gets its zip from cumin, coriander, and turmeric: spices with antioxidant properties that protect your cells from everyday damage. No salmon? Halibut and cod fillets work just fine. Marinate the fish the night before or in the morning.
Ingredients4 cloves minced garlic2 tbsp fresh lemon juice2 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp paprika1 tsp cumin3/4 tsp salt1/2 tsp ground coriander1/4 tsp turmeric1/4 tsp cayenne pepper2 12-oz salmon fillets1/2 cup chopped cilantro
DirectionsPut the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag, then place the fish in the bag, making sure that the marinade coats both sides of the fish. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
Add 2 tbsp water to the slow cooker. Cover and cook 2 hours on low. When done, let the fish sit, uncovered, for 5 minutes before serving.
Use a spatula to remove the fish from the slow cooker and transfer to a plate. Gently remove any bones from the fish.
To serve, divide the fish between plates, serve it on top of couscous or rice, and garnish each portion with cilantro.
Adapted with permission from Everyday Gluten-Free Slow Cooking by Kimberly Mayone and Kitty Broihier, M.S., R.D. (Sterling, 2012)
NUTRITION FACTS Serving Size (Makes 4 Servings)Amount per servingCalories 412Total Fat 28 gSaturated Fat 5 gTotal Carbs 0 gProtein 38 gFiber 0 gCholesterol 107 mgSodium 540 mg
bodybuilding.com
Hey everyone, I'm a day early this time since I have something scheduled for tomorrow. :) So, I thought it would be cool to post some recipes I had found online. I’m going to *try* to do some of these beforehand, but I’m sure there’ll be times I won't. I'm going to call this Finicky Friday. :)
MOROCCAN SPICED SALMONDidn't plan ahead? Fish cooks quickly, so it can be ready for lunch or dinner even when you don't get a head start. Salmon is brimming with omega-3 fats, the kind that tamp down inflammation and play a role in joint and muscle pain. Omega-3s also get kudos for helping reduce the risk of heart disease.
This zesty, no-carb dish gets its zip from cumin, coriander, and turmeric: spices with antioxidant properties that protect your cells from everyday damage. No salmon? Halibut and cod fillets work just fine. Marinate the fish the night before or in the morning.
Ingredients4 cloves minced garlic2 tbsp fresh lemon juice2 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp paprika1 tsp cumin3/4 tsp salt1/2 tsp ground coriander1/4 tsp turmeric1/4 tsp cayenne pepper2 12-oz salmon fillets1/2 cup chopped cilantro
DirectionsPut the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag, then place the fish in the bag, making sure that the marinade coats both sides of the fish. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
Add 2 tbsp water to the slow cooker. Cover and cook 2 hours on low. When done, let the fish sit, uncovered, for 5 minutes before serving.
Use a spatula to remove the fish from the slow cooker and transfer to a plate. Gently remove any bones from the fish.
To serve, divide the fish between plates, serve it on top of couscous or rice, and garnish each portion with cilantro.
Adapted with permission from Everyday Gluten-Free Slow Cooking by Kimberly Mayone and Kitty Broihier, M.S., R.D. (Sterling, 2012)
NUTRITION FACTS Serving Size (Makes 4 Servings)Amount per servingCalories 412Total Fat 28 gSaturated Fat 5 gTotal Carbs 0 gProtein 38 gFiber 0 gCholesterol 107 mgSodium 540 mg
bodybuilding.com
June 12, 2016
#PrayforOrlando and how to help
(CNN)Hundreds of people have answered the call, waiting in line to give blood to help the victims in the Orlando, Florida, terror attack, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
So many that OneBlood, the local blood bank, met its needs for Sunday, according to Pat Michaels, a spokesman who spoke to CNN affiliate WFTV.
But the organization will need blood in the coming days, especially for the rarer types -- O negative, O positive and AB plasma, says Michaels.
You can help the victims with monetary donations, as well. Equality Florida, a nonprofit LGBT civil rights organization, has set up a GoFundMe account for the victims and their families. Equality Florida spokesperson Ida Vishkaee Eskamani says all of the money donated will go the relatives. The initial goal was $500,000 which was met in just hours. Now the goal is $1 million. "We've gotten responses from folks all over the world," says Eskamani.
The global nonprofit organization Planting Peace has set up a site for donations on CrowdRise. The money donated will help cover the funeral and medical costs of the victims. The goal is $100,000.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said that relatives of victims who need information can call a special hotline at (407) 246-4357.
Impact Your World will continue to look for ways you can help.
Victims-Posted date: June 12, 2016On this very difficult day, so many of us offer heartfelt condolences to today’s victims and their families. Many are working tirelessly to get as much information out to the families so they can begin the grieving process. Please keep the following individuals in your thoughts and prayers. #PrayforOrlando
The below list of individuals includes victims who have lost their lives during the early morning incident, and next of kin have been contacted. There are so many more to come. :(
Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old
Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old
Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old
June 9, 2016
Finicky Friday - Healthy tuna casserole
Hey everyone, I thought it would be cool to post some recipes I had found online. I’m going to *try* to do some of these beforehand, but I’m sure there’ll be times I won't. I'm going to call this Finicky Friday. :)
Tuna Casserole
Ingredients
5 slices whole-wheat bread, crusts included
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large stalk celery, finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 (10-ounce) box white mushroom, stemmed and chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups 1 percent milk
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 pound whole-wheat fettuccine noodles, broken into thirds and cooked according to package directions
1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 (10-ounce) box frozen peas, thawed
4 (6-ounce) cans chunk light tuna in water, drained
Total Time:1 hrPrep: 20 minCook: 40 minYield: 6 servings
Nutritional Analysis:Per ServingCalories 476Total Fat 6.5 g
you and you will you
Directions
This is a surprisingly lowfat version of the classic tuna casserole you grew up with. You make your own creamy mixture, which replaces the high-fat condensed soup in the original version. Fresh bread crumbs toast right on top of the casserole!
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Place bread in food processor and pulse for 30 seconds into bread crumbs (makes about 2 1/2 to 3 cups crumbs).
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until onions are soft and translucent, 8 minutes.
Add celery and cook, stirring, until just tender, 6 minutes.
Add mushrooms and cook, stirring, until mushrooms release their water, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add flour all at once and stir immediately and vigorously with a wooden spoon until flour is completely incorporated into vegetable mixture until there are no flour lumps.
Add milk and broth, stir to combine and bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to a vigorous simmer and cook, stirring, until liquid has thickened and reduced by about 1/2 cup, 7 to 8 minutes.
Add salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Combine cooked pasta, vegetable-liquid mixture, broccoli, peas, and tuna and toss to incorporate. Pour into a 9 by 13-inch casserole. Top with bread crumbs.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until crumbs are golden brown and toasted.
~I'm not a big fan of tuna, but the hubby like it.
Ellie Krieger
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/tuna-casserole-recipe.html?oc=linkback
June 6, 2016
Giveaway Alert - Who wants some signed swag???
It's a June giveaway LOL! This one has all of the following:
Shadows in the Night signed postcard
Perfect signed postcard
Pure signed postcard
The Harvest book #1 and book #2 signed postcards
Trouble Comes in Threes notebook
several signed book marks
two magnets
pen
chapstick
four Harvest coasters
merman pin
Open to US residents only. If you enter the giveaway, please be aware you're going to have to give me your name and address so I can mail this to you.
All you need to do to enter is comment! Make sure to leave me your email. You have from now until June 21st to enter. Each month until GRL I'm going to do a swag giveaway. WHOOT!
~M
June 5, 2016
2nd MM Memorial Day Scavenger Hunt!
Welcome to the
2nd MM Memorial Day Scavenger Hunt!
10 Days, 31 Stops, and loads of prizes! The rules are simple: At each stop on the tour you’ll find a military themed picture with a word or words. Collect the words and figure out the secret phrase (HINT: It’s lyrics to a song). Once you think you have the correct phrase, enter it into the Rafflecopter at any of the stops.
Three winners will be selected from all the correct phrases for the three prize packs.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Our stop’s word is: Love
Prize Lists: 1st Place Prize
$25 Amazon GC from Sassy Girl Books
$10 Amazon GC from Aria Grace
$10 Amazon GC from Two Chicks Obsessed
$5 Amazon GC from Jessie G
$5 ARe GC from Kai Tyler
Winners Choice of 2 Audio Books from Amy Lane
Winners Choice of 2 eBooks Susan MacNicol's backlist
Winners Choice of 3 ebooks from The Rock Gods Series from Ann Lister
eBook of Trouble Comes in Threes by Decadent Delights
Winners choice of any eBook on JR Gray's backlist
2nd Place Prize
$10 USD Amazon GC from NR Walker
$10 ARe GC from MM Book Escape
$10 Amazon or ARe GC from Chris McHart
$5 Amazon GC from Andrew Jericho
Winners Choice of any ebook on Jessie G's backlist
Winner's choice of eBook from Jaime Reese's backlist title (ebook gifted via Amazon)
eBook from Brita Addams
eBook of The Shape of Honey from Ki Brightly
eBook of My Zombie Boyfriend by T. Strange
3rd Place Prize (US Only)
$10 USD Amazon GC from BFD Book Blog
$10 USD Amazon GC from Joyfully Reviewed
$10 ARe GC from Prism Book Alliance
$5 Amazon CG from Carly's Book Reviews
Signed copies of all three published Kethric Wilcoxbooks
ebook Hitting Black Ice by Heloise West
Set of Mile High Romance eEooks from Aria Grace
eBook of Fire and Rain by Andrew Grey
eBoook of Unexpectedly Lucky from Carly Rose
a Rafflecopter giveaway
***Note: all graphics are stock photos purchased from Adobe.
