101 in 1001: Update IV and Book Review

It's time for a 101 in 1001 update. Now first you may wonder what 101 in 1001 is. In 2009, I first heard about the concept. The goal is to complete 101 goals in 1001 days. I am now on my second second 101 goal list. For those of you who have become used to seeing my 101 list on the left side of my blog it has a new home under the 101 in 1001 tab. The side column was providing too many formatting challenges for me, so you'll have to check out the tab to see my progress.

I am now up to 38 goals being checked off. Good thing I have until November 14, 2015!

A few things that I have am proud that I am working on is reading more books. I find it pretty impossible to make time to read. However, thanks to the Boy I have found a great app to listen to books called Audible. He listens to books in the skidsteer every morning while he feeds the cows. Now whenever I travel I also listen to audio books. Not only have I completed two books this way, and I have added the additional goal of listening to five hours of audio books a month.

So what books have I read?

Lean In: You must read this book. Seriously. I think I have brought up this book to ever women friend I have. The author Sheryl Sandberg has an amazing career and wonderful personal life. She is also extremely motivated and successful, two things that our society don't always associate as positive attributes for women. I plan on buying a hard copy of this book and rereading it. You will definitely be inspired by this read.

The Duck Commander Family: How Faith, Family and Ducks Built a Dynasty: The Boy and I are big fans of Duck Dynasty. I would consider this book a lighter read, but it tells a great story of how hard work faith and sometimes doing this the unconventional way can bring you closer to your goals. It is really interesting to learn where the Robertson family started and the hurdles they have overcome.

Spoken From the Heart: This is Laura Bush's book. I have just started reading (listening) it it and I have 8-plus more hours today. So far so good, but I definitely need to get farther into it to give a full review.

p.s. Now for a Beauty Swap update. Be watching the blog because next week I will be sharing the details of the March/April Beauty Swap!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust – Don’t Let the Name Fool You

The major problem with this cauliflower pizza crust is that there’s already something called pizza. If you’d never heard about pizza before, and someone served this to you, I think you’d really enjoy it. 

Unfortunately, we’ve all had pizza before, and so this will invariably be compared to the awesomeness of the real thing. You know, sort of like what happens to deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza (said the New Yorker).

Regardless, this was very tasty, pleasantly textured, and contains almost no carbs – in case you’re into one of those alternative lifestyles. For the cheese, I decided on goat after seeing this recipe on Detoxinista. All kinds of cheeses are used for this technique, usually mozzarella and something else, but I figured the tart chèvre would best simulate the fermented dough of a classic pizza.

Texture aside, the flavor of this final product was very pizza-like, and I’ll be doing further experiments to be sure. By the way, if you have a version that’s clearly superior to this one, feel free to share. Otherwise, I hope you give this cauliflower crust pizza a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one 10-inch pizza crust:

1 head cauliflower (about 3 packed cups ground)

1/2 cup water

- Cook cauliflower with water for 5-6 minutes, let cool, and squeeze out ALL water with a towel. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of dry cauliflower pulp left.

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about a 1-1/2 inch square grated)

2 ounces fresh goat cheese

cayenne to taste

1 large egg

Next Up: Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Pan-Roasted Halibut with Clamshell Mushrooms & Lemon Butter Sauce – Long in Name, Short in Shopping List

Above and beyond keeping things simple, and pardon the cliché, letting the natural goodness of the ingredients shine through, the beauty of a recipe like this pan-roasted halibut with clamshell mushrooms, is that there are just less things to possibly screw up. 

That should be great news to people terrified of making fish recipes. Brown some mushrooms, sear some fish, and finish with yet another simple and delicious pan sauce. That’s really it, and much like our famous, “Just Chicken and Mushrooms” recipe, I think you’ll be amazed at how much flavor these few components provide.

Speaking of flavor, you can certainly use a non-stick pan here, which pretty much insures your fish will go un-mutilated; but as you’ll see in the video, if you use cast iron, or stainless steel, a little bit of fish flesh will form a fond on the bottom of the pan, which will give you a much richer base for the butter sauce.

In case you didn't already know, mushrooms and halibut have a natural affinity for each other, and both are wonderful with the lemon-parsley butter sauce. So, whether you fear cooking fish, or not, I hope you give this super simple, yet fabulous recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter, melted in oil

2 (7-oz each) halibut filets

salt and cayenne to taste

handful of clamshell mushrooms, or sliced un-cool, regular mushrooms

1/4 cup water

juice from 1/2 lemon, or to taste

1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

1 1/2 tbsp butter to finish sauce

Next Up: Pan-Roasted Halibut

You’re Welcome, America!

Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks, and to everyone who won money betting on them using our never-fail chicken wing bone prediction! Incredibly, that makes 48 Super Bowls in a row that the bones have been correct! I realize that’s very hard to believe, but in fairness, lots of things are very hard to believe. 

Anyway, you’re more than welcome, and if you did win big, please feel free to break me off a little something. These chicken wings don’t pay for themselves! ;) Enjoy!
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The Food Wishes' Chicken Wing Collection

Just in case you haven't decided on a chicken wing for tomorrow's Super Bowl party, maybe this will help. Here, for the first time, we've pulled together every single Food Wishes' chicken wing recipe into one, convenient post. Enjoy!

	Jerk Chicken Wings In the spirit of full disclosure, these will be the wings I'll be enjoying for the game.
	Garlic Parm Hot Wings If casual dinning restuarants have taught us anything, it's that people love garlic-parm whatever.
	Original Buffalo Chicken Wings There's no way to prove this is the original recipe, which is a probably good thing.
	Clifton Springs Chicken Wings By far, our most popular and highest-rated chicken wing recipe.
	Pastrami Chicken Wings Sure, pastrami sandwiches are awesome, but they don't have any bones! Now, these on the other hand.
	Spicy Orange Chicken Wings I can't say who I stole this spicy orange glaze from, but it rhymes with "Panda Express."
	Peanut Butter & Pepper Jelly Chicken Wings This is no gimmick! Okay, it is, but it's an incredibly delicious gimmick.
	Sweet and Hot Mustard-Glazed Chicken Wings Hey, there's a reason honey-mustard is the second most popular chicken nugget sauce in the world.