The time has come. I have finished my second children’s book and I am ready to find an Agent to help me get it traditionally published!!

But wait…aren’t you an Indie Author? Yes, I know, I know. I am and I should just do it myself, but this book is different. It needs artistic skills that might take me years to develop. So I have decided that this one needs to go out into the world in a different way. We will see where the world takes it. {Fingers crossed!}

In the meantime, I am making new dishes and seeing how honest my husband is about our dinners. haha! If he likes a meal, he will get seconds and sometimes thirds. I have found out that if he REALLY doesn’t like it, then his response to the meal will be: “Well, it isn’t horrible.” Yep. That is what he said when I made Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole for the first time.

Don’t get me wrong….it was f@cking delicious! However, it seems that anytime I make something healthy, he just doesn’t like it. Did he like the cauliflower rice? No. Shrimp scampi with spaghetti squash as the noodles? No. But if I were to make fried chicken, fried okra, fried green tomatoes then he is all in. Get the point? hahah!

Anyways, I loved the dish and it was so incredibly easy that I needed to share it with you. You will love it too! I hope.

INGREDIENTS:

1 or 2 small spaghetti squash
marinara sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
pepperonis

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half then place open face down on a greased baking sheet. Bake approximately 35 minutes. Let cool then scrape the inside out with a fork into a strainer. Then lightly take some paper towels and push some of the extra water out.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add the cooked spaghetti squash noodles and marinara sauce. Mix well.
Pour into a large baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top. I like a lot but my husband hates cheese so add how much you like. Then add pepperoni.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley and basil if you have it.
Enjoy!

Categories: healthy mom recipes, random thoughts, recipes, Writing

Tagged: healthymom, need an agent, recipe, spaghetti squash, spaghetti squash pizza casserole, writing

Finding My Way Back

jwarren

Posted on July 16, 2018

Everyone struggles in life. Sometimes it takes us down a dark path, but we must always keep trudging along to find the way out.

Lately, I have been feeling down. I lie. It has actually been over a year now. I have kept my distance from friends, my house is becoming a disaster, and I have to remind myself daily how great I have it even though life isn’t what I dreamed it would be.

I usually keep my true self away from my blog posts, but not anymore. For the past year, I haven’t blogged much nor have I written as much as I would like. This past weekend I decided that enough is enough. I have been walking in mud for months trying to find my way out to happiness, but it is time to find that vine and pull, yank, swing myself immediately to the right path.

Book rejections, my mother’s Alzheimer’s, and my struggle with fertility have been like these tremendous weights on my shoulders all consuming my thoughts. At some point, we have to just break free and take charge. So this is me taking charge.

I am revamping my blog. My next Children’s book has been written; I just need to edit, edit, rewrite, and edit again. The three books I have written and published are all FREE for the next couple days! Summer is great for reading! Just click on FREE!

As for my mother’s Alzheimer’s and my infertility? I just need to admit to myself that it is what it is. I have guilt that I cannot provide my son siblings and I have guilt that I cannot help my mother in all the ways she needs due to time and financial reasons. I also have embarrassment about the infertility and have not spoken much about it. I am done not speaking. It is time to yell about something that people should feel like they can share. The time is now. I just need to do the best I can, appreciate all that I do have, visit my mom as much as I can, and just live.

If you are going through struggles as well, please remember you are not alone. There is a light at the end of that long dark road. I promise. You just need to keep walking or running. But don’t just sit in that darkness and hope you will find the way out. You must make yourself get up and get out. If you don’t have the energy, please tell someone. Tell a friend. Tell a family member. Call a counselor. You are not alone and we can all get through this. ❤️

Photo by Frans Van Heerden on Pexels.com

Categories: Alzheimer's, random thoughts, Truth Tales, Writing

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

jwarren

Posted on July 15, 2018

If you grew up similar to me, then you grew up on cinnamon sugar toast on Saturday mornings after watching cartoons while your parents slept. Man, I still love it today even in my 40s. This morning, I woke up and decided to make doughnuts! However, I was out of regular all purpose flour AND out of confectionary sugar. Some recipes called for bread flour but then frying the doughnuts. I didn’t want to deal with hot oil today.

Disclaimer: I have never made doughnuts, but I did recently buy a doughnut baking pan on a whim. So that must mean I am qualified.

So hopefully, if you are a doughnut newbie like myself, this post will help you out. I found a great recipe and had to tweak it due to my lack of readiness and my desire to not have a dozen doughnuts to add to my hips! Once you hit 40, it really does happen. So anyways, here is what I came up with. If you make doughnuts soon, please comment and let me know. Or if you have a better recipe, please share it! I am so excited to try more delicious recipes soon!

Ingredients:

1 cup bread flour (it was more chewy than I wanted…next time I will use all purpose flour)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 egg (yeah this was difficult to do halvsies with! haha!)
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the topping:

2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray doughnut pan with flour/oil mixture or if you are like me and don’t have that handy: spray the pan with Pam then sprinkle flour on it.
Stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a big bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla together.
Stir the wet with dry ingredients until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the doughnut baking pan. Put just a little more than 3/4 because I didn’t and the doughnuts ended up not as round as I would want. You live and learn.
Bake for 17 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes. While cooling get a bowl for the 2 tablespoons of melted butter and another bowl to mix together the cinnamon and sugar topping.
Tap the doughnuts out onto a sheet pan.
Brush melted butter on the doughnuts. Or you can dip the doughnuts in more melted butter for a really buttery/sugary doughnut.
Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top.

You might want to add more cinnamon sugar if you want it really sugary. I didn’t; however then my son refused to finish the doughnut. Yes, you read that right! Crazy world we live in. 🙂

Categories: healthy mom recipes, recipes

Tagged: baking donuts, baking doughnuts, cinnamon sugar donut, donuts, doughnut recipe, doughnuts, healthy mom recipe, recipe

Kale Salad

jwarren

Posted on July 14, 2018

I LOVE kale salad. I know, I know, it isn’t for everyone, but once I realized how to make it, I fell in love with it.

The trick for me… is to wash and pat dry the kale, then (in a big bowl) drizzle olive oil on it (maybe a tablespoon’s worth or more depending on how big the salad is).
I then massage the oil into the kale.
Then I do it a little more until the leaves are all oily.
Sprinkle some salt on top and let it sit for a few minutes. I usually do all this and then fix the rest of dinner so my kale usually sits out for 15 or so minutes.
Then when you are ready, just throw your toppings in and enjoy! I like to cut up some celery, carrots, cucumbers, add feta cheese, and a little bit of Hidden Valley Greek Yogurt dressing which is the bomb!!!!!

Let me know if you fix it; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Categories: healthy mom recipes, recipes

Tagged: foodie, healthy eating, healthy mom, healthy mom recipe, kale, kale salad, yum

10 Ways to Find Motivation

jwarren

Posted on June 19, 2017

Last week I went on vacation and my writing slump felt like it was coming to an end. Then I realized that maybe I hadn’t been paying enough attention to myself. Maybe I was neglecting what my body and mind needs. Suddenly, the school year was over and I was on a beach without a care in the world, enjoying the breeze, listening to my son’s laughter, my husband next to me, and inspiration hit. Sometimes we just need to take a breather and life becomes manageable yet again.

Categories: Writing

Tagged: motivated, ten ways to find motivation, writer, writing, writing motivation