This month for book club we read "From a Name to a Number" an autobiography of a Holocaust survivor, Alter Weiner who lives right here in Hillsboro. My co-worker who hosts the book club picked the book because she personally knows Alter, and last Saturday he came and spoke to our group, we all invited friends and family to join our group for the night. The book was great. Alter is not a professional writer but he needed to tell his story so we would never forget the horrible things that the Jewish and other religious & ethnic groups suffered during World War 2.
Even without the book being edited and English not being Alter's native language it is pretty good. It gives you a true and authentic view of what happened during those times. I was brought to tears several times while reading the book. Alter is a great speaker. He is very funny and somehow has not ever taken things for granted in life, because of his experience in several different concentration camps in Germany. He makes no money off of the book- all proceeds are donated, and he spends his time speaking to churches, schools and communities about his experiences. I felt honored to meet him and hear his story. He mentioned that some young people he talks to have never even heard of the Holocaust and there are others that deny it ever happened. This seems absurd to me. I think it is important to continue to remember these events so we don't repeat it. I recommend the book to everyone. And if you have the opportunity to hear Alter or any other Holocaust survivor speak you should take it.

Spring!

Well, it has been spring for almost a month now but it definitely hasn't felt like it! It has been dark, gray and rainy! Today there was actually some sun! This year I am going to attempt a garden plot at our church's community garden. I am not doing it all by myself, my friend had a plot last year and was looking for someone to share it with this year. We spent the morning pulling weeds and preparing to plant! I am looking to forward to having fresh vegetables whenever I want. I think we planning on planting onions, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, peas, zucchini, carrots....and I'm sure I'm leaving a few things out. I will keep you all updated on how it goes and any gardening tips would be much appreciated :)

Recipes!

So the last few weeks I have been on a "trying out new recipes" kick. First off I have given up coffee for lent. This is something that needed to happen. Spending almost $4 for a cup of fancy coffee practically every morning is no good. So I have replaced coffee with a morning smoothie that I found on the Cheapskate Cook blog I mentioned in my last post. See recipe below. It has spinach in it which may scare some people off, but you can't even taste!!!! The fruit flavors totally overpower the spinach. I think this is my new favorite way to get my vegetables in my diet.


Makes 1 big smoothie or 2 small smoothies

INGREDIENTS:

•1/2 C. water
•1/3 – 1/2 a small orange, peeled and sectioned OR a generous spoonful of frozen orange juice concentrate
•4-5 medium-sized strawberries (if frozen, make sure they’re sliced)
•3/4 of a banana, sliced into 1” chunks
•3-4 handfuls of fresh spinach
•Optional: You can throw in a few chopped baby carrots, slices of cucumber, almonds, and /or ground flax seed for added nutrition. Or even protein powder.

DIRECTIONS:

•Layer the ingredients in the blender in the order listed
•Blend together, beginning on a low setting, then increasing until it’s on high. Maintain a vortex in the middle of the mixture while blender is running. If there is no vortex, add more water as necessary
•Thanks to the marvelous blend of all these different colors, you will probably have to add 1-3 more handfuls of spinach/kale to get a strong green color. I usually add them while the blender is running and keep it running on high until I don’t see any more leaf fragments.
•Pour into a glass and enjoy!

The next thing I made the other night that was absolutely delish was the brownie recipe below. TO. DIE. FOR. Seriously. I found this recipe on the Dave Ramsey website (I know that is totally random). I have to admit that I usually don't attempt to bake brownies from scratch because they kind from a box usually turn out better for me, but these were great. I also didn't have all the ingredients for the fudge frosting, so I just added like a cup of chocolate chips to the batter and put the peanut butter on top. so good. ENJOY! :)


INGREDIENTS:

Brownies

1 cup of butter (2 sticks, no substitutions)
1/3 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) jar peanut butter

Fudge Frosting

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup whole milk (no substitutions)
10 large marshmallows
1/4 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:


Brownies

1.Melt 1 cup butter and 1/3 cup cocoa in a saucepan over low heat until butter melts, stirring constantly.
2.Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3.Combine sugar, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
4.Slowly add chocolate mixture and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended.
5.Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended. Do not overbeat.
6.Spread mixture into a greased 15 x 10 inch jellyroll pan.
7.Bake in 350-degree oven for 25–30 minutes. Every oven is different, so I recommend inserting a toothpick in the middle of the brownies and making sure it comes out clean. If not, cook one minute at a time until done. Don’t overcook.

Peanut Butter Topping

1.Spoon mounds of peanut butter across the top of the hot brownies. As peanut butter begins to soften and melt, gently spread evenly across the top of the hot brownies.
2.Let cool completely, and then chill for 30 minutes until peanut butter sets up firm.

Fudge Frosting

1.Cook 1 stick of butter, milk and marshmallows in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until marshmallows melt.
2.Remove pan from heat and gradually sift in 1/4 cup cocoa, beating with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.
3.Sift powdered sugar and gradually stir into cocoa mixture with hand mixer until smooth.
4.Spread frosting over peanut butter; place back in fridge and chill at least another 20 minutes so fudge frosting will set.
5.If not serving immediately, cover with foil and keep in fridge.
6.To serve, trim off all of the edges of the brownies. Cut into small squares (these are very rich). Optional: Garnish each piece with 1/4 of a miniature peanut butter cup. Best served at room temperature

So I finished “Water for Elephants” and I have to say I REALLY enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out. I am also feeling more ready for the race this weekend! The website said they are at full capacity, 30,000 people will be running in this race. That sounds like craziness to me, but I’m sure it will be fun.

I wanted to share with you all a couple blogs I have been loving lately. The first one is the “Stuff Christians Like” blog written by Jon Acuff. If you are a Christian and haven’t read this, it is a must! He is such a witty writer and blogs about random funny things we as Christians would relate to. Below is a link to a couple of my favorite posts by him:

The Jesus Juke

Asking People to “scoot to the middle” in church

The other blog that I randomly happened upon was the “Cheepskate Cook.” This girl and her husband are on the Dave Ramsey plan with a $35 a week grocery budget but she is all about healthy whole food living. Usually eating healthy and saving money don’t go together, but she has all sorts of frugal tips on buying healthy foods, meal planning, recipes etc. I think I might become obsessed! Check it out for your self:

The Cheapskate Cook

Read, Run......Blog

So I have 2 goals for this week, to Read and to Run!!! I should be doing one of those 2 things right now, but I am blogging instead :)

I am going to furiously read "Water for Elephants" to try and finish it by Friday, that is when it's due back to the library. I checked online today to see if I could renew it and there are 50 holds on it!!!! Well, I can't say I am surprised the movie for it is coming out in April, so everyone is trying to read it first! I am really enjoying the book so hopefully I will get it done!

I need to run this week since the Shamrock run is coming up THIS Sunday! I have only ran outside a few times (the weather has been crappy, I know, I'm a wimp). I really should be running outside rain or shine considering what I will probably be facing Sunday morning (forecast shows a temp of around 40 and rain).

Ok, that's all for now, I'm headed to the gym since it's pouring out ;)

So we are settling nicely into our new place. I'm not sure why, but having more space is so much more relaxing!!! It's crazy how that works. Here are a few pictures. The place feels almost bare, because we have furniture for a place half the size!!

Dining Room/Kitchen

Living Room

Other side of the living room. Colin has been wanting to mount that TV on a wall forever!! lol. We just gotta figure out how to hide all those wires!

We have had a lot going on lately; Colin has been working back at the City of Portland for almost 2 months now, we're both working for my dad's business on the weekends/days off, we are still helping lead the young adults group at our church, and we are both trying to get back into running and training for up coming runs! Our first run of the year is in just 2 weeks, I finally made it outside for a run last week, it was the first time it wasn't pouring/freezing out! Yesterday I did a 5 mile run at the gym, which felt good since I am only doing the 5 mile course for the Shamrock!


I am still on my book club, so in my free time (which almost non-existant) I have been doing some reading. The last book we read was "Handle with Care" by Jodi Picoult. Good book. She's kind of writer you have to prepare yourself before you read her books, they will tear at your heart strings! Next we are readin "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I've heard the name thrown arounda bunch, but have no idea what it's about! Hoping I have some time to finish it :)

Oh my goodness...I have probably started like 3 blog drafts over the last few weeks but haven't had time to complete/post them!

So right now I am sitting on the living room floor of our new apartment!! HOORAY! We have been wanting to find a place with a bit more space before our lease is up in March. So I have been checking online everyday for move-in specials and last Friday I saw a post on Craig's list for a 2 bed 2 bath at the apartment complex next to ours. I went right over there after work and got the tour and found out they were offering 1 month free rent, but it was a move in ready deal so we would have to apply and sign the lease that day. Well, I called Colin and even though he was at work and would not be able to see the apartment he told me if I liked it to do it! (That is not a typical Colin response, he very much likes to be involved in every decision). We are both very excited about it! The price is right, the space is double what we had, it is a top floor with vaulted ceilings and it has a fireplace! I will post pictures as soon as we get things set up, we are in the process of moving our stuff over, which is nice since we have both apartments for a little while. I am going crazy right now wanting to decorate this place!! Patience, I need patience :)