Tomato Basil Pizza Snacks

Quick Tomato Basil Pizza Snacks
serves 4
(found in a cottage cheese ad in one of my health magazines)

Pack of whole wheat pocket pitas
Basil pesto
Cottage cheese
tomatoes
fresh basil

1. Turn oven to 400. Spray pitas with olive oil and heat for 8 minutes.
2. Spread basil pesto for first layer.
3. Spread cottage cheese.
4. Sprinkle tomato slices and basil.

Enjoy! Yes, it's that easy and quick.

This is soooo good. Refreshing and easy to make. I made it for dinner and we both loved it.

Karl's reaction: "Damn tomatoes squirt everywhere, but this is delicious!"

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Why Manuscripts Get Rejected by Literary Agents

Time to get back to work writing!

February began my query process. And guess what? Today, yes, I'm still querying hoping to snag that one literary agent who screams, "I LOVE THIS! Yes! Yes! Yes!" (i.e. the one who LOVES my story, my writing...and me as a person:))

Bite they have. I can't ignore this or get discouraged either (though it's so easy to)! I feel like I get so stinkin' close (so close) and then "poof" it's back to focusing on sending out more query letters again. I can't wait to show off my color-coded excel agent-tracking system someday on here. It's kind of like planning for my wedding all over again! Yeah!!

I needed one of my critique chicks - the awesome Julie Lindsey - to remind me today that she believes someone will sink their teeth in my mss. She mentioned some of her writer friends have received close to a hundred "no thanks" from agents and can't seem to get past the query stage. I've been able to get past it.

In the meantime, I'm working on making my manuscript (mss) better. 

Julie is right - I'm able to stir up some interest. But I can't help and think, if I haven't received a solid "yes", does that mean something is more than wrong with it? I've been very fortunate to have some really great agents read my work. They were kind enough to spend time writing back personal emails saying the story is definitely there and they like it but what I need is an agent who loves it and they believe he/she is out there; it's just not them.

Sigh.

But they know these things! I trust what they're saying. And so appreciate the feedback!

I also have a few literary agents who still have a partial or full right now, and I'm praying and hoping something is going on behind the scenes and that's why I haven't heard back from them just yet. (Have I mentioned I live in bit of a fantasy world?)

I have this email saved from my other critique pal Gabi that's a perfect analogy [for me]. She used my husband as an example. Back in my 20s, I wanted to get married so frickin' bad and was fed up with playing bridesmaid 20 million times and watching everyone else fall hopelessly in love. When would it be my turn?? I dated a lot of frogs, something was always off...my patience wore thin. Blah, blah, blah. Sometimes I wanted to pull my hair out or cry myself to sleep wondering if I was destined to be single. Would someone magical be out there for me? Were all the good ones taken? Well, well, well....someone perfect did come along at just the right time. Took timing, learning and letting go to get there, but he sure was someone I fell totally head over heels for and he the same for me. And it's still happening day after day. I can't thank God enough for what we have. And that's what I need in an agent. Okay, okay...not all that lovely dovey stuff, but an agent who's crazy about my writing! Someone who supports me and wants to cheer for me and wants to see me grow and light up the world.

I want that. I deserve that.

However, I can't help myself from researching some of the other reasons my manuscript might have been rejected. I know agents are crunched for time. There has to be more to it and I'm on a mission to learn and grow. This is my dream we're talking about here and I can't just throw in the towel. Here's what I've found from several bloggers, agents, etc.

It's time to get to work!

Note: If you click on some of the highlighted words, they'll take you to the whole article.

1. Mechanical Problems
2. Passive Voice
3. Stale story ideas
4. No recognizable genre
5. Unsuitable word length
6. Too many adverbs (and flowery words/purple prose)
7. Predictability
8. Too many killers
9. Out of control point of view
10. Prologues that don't work
11. Plot with no spine
12. Writer uses phrase "fiction novel"
13. Doesn't seem organic/authentic
14. Too complicated
15. Too boring
16. Writer offers no reason to care for the character
17. Slipping into a sliding point of view
18. Too many stock characters
19. Too "moral"
20. Writers says how great book is over and over
21. Too many cliches
22.Unpleasant tone and attitude
23. Pacing is off
24. Genre isn't doing well
25. Bad dialogue
26. Not having the protagonist involved in climax
27. Spending too much time at the beginning on the story on a character who seems to be a protagonist but isn't.
28. Story starts too slow
29. Too many characters introduced too quickly (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has this and made it big. Hmmm)
30. Too much backstory
31. Flashbacks too early and too often
32. Story starts too quickly

For those who've had their mss rejected, what have you noticed? Please share!

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Tuscan Salmon with Rosemary Orzo

Tuscan Salmon with Rosemary Orzo
"Fresh herbs abound here - as does niacin, an energizing B vitamin: One serving of salmon dishes up nearly 70 percent of our daily niacin needs."
(Recipe found in Self Magazine April 2011)
serves 4

6 oz orzo
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion, divided
1 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
4 salmon fillets (5 oz each), skin on
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS chopped fresh basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley

Cook orzo as directed on package until al dente. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 1/2 cup onion and rosemary until onion softens, 9 minutes. Combine with orzo in a bowl. Season salmon with 1 TBS basil, salt and pepper. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat. Cook salmon until golden, 5 minutes per side, flesh side down first; set aside. Add garlic and remaining 1 cup onion to skillet; cook until soft, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and olives; cook until tomatoes break up, 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; stir in parsley and remaining 1/4 cup basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve fish over orzo; top with tomato mixture.

When Karl and I went to Savor Minnesota, we picked up this awesome sauce made in Minnesota. The woman who makes it said it's fabulous over salmon. So I topped over our meal and it really was heavenly.



I also topped with some leftover feta cheese we had in our fridge. Yum! And white beans for more protein and fiber!

Karl's reaction - Whoa! This looks fancy. Mmmmm, that sauce is good. This is real good, babe. Real good.

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Star Tribune Blog - Are you Waiting on Something?

My latest blog in Star Tribune! Are You Waiting on Something?

Waiting. I feel like I've been doing that a lot. You?
 Read more.

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Pet Peeves

We all have em, right?

It's always good to get things off your chest. So I am. Because today wasn't a good day for me. Snow is coming. It's cold in late April (where are you spring?). I'm wearing the same turtleneck purple sweater I've already worn like 15 times this winter and am so ready to retire to the back of my closet. I feel so out of touch with fashion right now. I'm wondering what the heck I'm doing with my life. I feel like I have so much to give and I'm stuck. I want to do amazing things, but what if this is all I'm supposed to be doing? What if I'm supposed to be making labels for bins and fixing PowerPoints? No! No! It can't be. What's in store for me? Am I doing everything right to get to where I want to be? Ugh...I hate this feeling. Hoping I feel a little more refreshed tomorrow!! And I'm hoping venting will make me feel better. Enter below - a list of my Pet Peeves. In no particular order of course. Sometimes when I unload in my writing, I feel better.

1. Semis. Yes, as in those big ol' trucks. I work too close to them. They are slow, smelly and make me miss the green light (EVERY TIME) on the already strung out stoplight on my way to and from work Plus, I'm still pissed at the one who flung a giant sheet of ice off the top of its body and onto my windshield, cracking it into a thousand pieces as I was drove 78 mph on 35E last winter.

2. People who cough and don't cover their mouth. Seriously, didn't your mom teach you anything?

3. People who take the locker right next to mine at the gym when there are 100 other ones available. Maybe I smell good? Maybe they want to see what's in my gym back? I don't know. But it happens a lot.

4. People who can't figure out the merging system in Minnesota. As far as I see it there are no stop signs, yet I always seem to get behind the one person who believes they need to stop instead of accelerate. What am I missing?

5. People who tell me all about their bad day and forget to ask how I'm doing. Or they just keep talking and talking...and talking...and talking....

6. When I email a simple question and don't get an answer back, just a bunch of "I'm so busy" jargon. As I see it, you weren't too busy to tell me how busy you were. I ponder this one quite a bit.

7. Someone who tells me he has nothing to do and is bored, but then passes work on to me because he just doesn't want to do it.

8. Really great people getting cancer and then really mean people walking the earth healthy, continuing to do really mean things.

9. Fake people. You know the ones I'm talking about. The one who is so insecure they have to raise their voice several octaves hoping to sound sincere but have a perma scowl burned on their face.
10. Someone who disappears off the face of the planet when I invested time and money working with them and they continue to send invoices.

11. Writing up a "to-do" list and not being able to get to a single one because of course at that moment all hell breaks loose.

12. People who throw trash out their car window. Not okay with this. What did Mother Earth ever do to you??

13. Road construction, especially when it's right next to my house.

14. Potholes. Need I say more?

15. Snow in April. Boo hiss.

16. Working out and gaining weight. Could be the extra treats, but seriously...why can't I just eat an entire chocolate bar and be fine?

17. Trying on my fave pair of jeans and barely getting them zipped. See #16.

18. Lack of initiative.

19. People who don't think they're good enough. (Wait a sec....did I just contradict myself here?)

20. Those ambiguous damn posts on Twitter and Facebook that are usually followed by a ... and go something like.
"Waiting...."
"Not sure what to think..."
"OMG! OMG! OMG!"
"I'll miss you..."
"Heart is breaking...."
"Not sure how much more I can take..."

And there are a ton of posts asking what's up and no response. So is it attention you're after, or what?

Do you have any you'd like to add? I promise it'll make you feel better! We are human and are all allowed to feel annoyed every now and then.

Here's to hoping for a good night's sleep. Answered prayers and dreams coming true tomorrow! Happy Christie is back tomorrow!!!

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Living in the Moment

It's hard to do but maybe living is better than all that waiting

I'll be posting my next Star Tribune blog in the next couple of days. It has to do with waiting. Waiting is one of the hardest things to do, and also the most stressful. Sometimes we have no control over the way things turn out or the end result of something. Yet, we always seem to think we have all the control and easily let the worry(ing) eat us alive. We seem to forget that sometimes we need to let go (and let God) in order for the problem/fear to work itself out. I know I'm guilty of it. 

For instance, I had a mole cut out on Monday. No bigs, right? We all have moles removed now and then, right? Well, it kind of was a bigger deal. I took two years off from seeing the skin doctor. ----> insert stupid button here <----- I tan incredibly well. Friends think my skin is made of special sun-soaking material. My family says I inherited my grandpa's skin. That's good because, boy, do I love the sun. It feels good on my face. I'm happier when the sun is out, even more when I'm laying out. For once I finally feel warm when I'm basking under it. In my mind I think I'm invincible. There isn't any family history of anyone dying from skin cancer, that I know of...well, okay, my mom had two spots of pre-cancer found on her face. That was my first warning sign. And the fact I have blue eyes, blonde hair and fair skin was the next.

But I guess I pushed that aside. The sun loves me and I love it. But my last visit to the skin doctor kept popping up in my mind. He stopped on a mole located on my breastbone and told me to keep an eye on it. Since then, I have but it didn't sound so serious. If he was really worried, he would have shown more concern, right?

Since that visit, I've been to St. Lucia, Mexico, California, and Arizona (three times), and sure enjoyed all that sunshine. My husband kept pointing out the mole though. And when we found out the horrible news that our dear friend Erin was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma, Karl practically yelled at me to get in to see the doctor. For a night I tossed and turned and felt bothered that he was so mad, but I knew why. He cares.

Fun in the sun! I was wearing sunscreen! Sun is brutal in Mexico!

I made my appointment and both the nurse and doctor didn't think my tanning habits were very funny. I undressed. Laid on the table and the doctor scanned every inch of my skin. Of course she just had to stop on the mole that's been giving me troubles. She said she wanted to biopsy it because it "looked suspicious." That word sounds so scary.

"Can you do it now?" I asked, surprising myself. Now? Did I just say that? I wasn't even giving myself a minute to think about it. Not when I heard Erin's story and how she wished she had her mole biopsied back in 2009 when she felt something was wrong with it. Ahh, intuition. Mine was telling me to have mine removed. Number one rule: listen to that voice whispering and pushing you.

Me and Karl looking majorly TAN in Riviera Maya.

I was moved to another room and laid on a table that resembled the operation tables on the show ER. Keep in mind the only surgery I've had was tubes in my ears when I was two (do not remember) and on my wisdom teeth. I didn't mind that I was completely exposed lying on the table with lights shining down on me. I just wanted the mole off. The doctor wiped some ointment and cloth along my skin and stuck a needle in close to the mole. "This will pinch."

A month before I had just gotten two fillings so I remembered what that "pinch" felt like. And to tell you the truth, it feels worse to get fillings or to give blood than have a mole removed.

Soon she was cutting it out with a tool that sounded like a drill. The smell was interesting, but it was over in three minutes. The nurse asked if I wanted to come back in 14 days later so they could remove the stitches. I opted to have my husband do it. He likes to cut out his own ingrown toenails, so part of me knew he'd have no problem snipping them out. (Yes, I love him for his weirdness.)

Friday, I got home from work and a letter sat in the pile of mail from Park Nicollet. I opened it and saw a pamphlet stuck in the mix. My heart dropped. Crap. They're trying to educate me on the type of mole I have. But my eyes landed on the results: atypical nevus. No cancer. (Huge sigh of relief.) There were more scribbles from the doctor and I couldn't make out most of her writing or code jargon. However, she asked to see me for 20 minutes. So that will be my next plan of attack, as well as always wearing sunscreen (and not just on my face).

Mole, Before (In St. Lucia - August 2009)



Mole, After - buh bye (April 2011)

So my question to you is...have you had your skin checked lately? What are you waiting for? Some of the facts below from The Skin Cancer Foundation might persuade you...

1. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 3.5 million skin cancers in over two million people are diagnosed annually. 
2. Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon. 
3. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
4. Over the past 31 years, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.
5. Nearly 800,000 Americans are living with a history of melanoma and 13 million are living with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer, typically diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.

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Mexican Turkey Burger from a Housewife

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Real Housewives (though I tend to get hooked when I turn it on). I used to watch Real Housewives of Orange County but then all these other states started to follow and I couldn't keep up anymore, plus I couldn't take all the stupid drama. But I can't seem to ignore Bethenny Frankel. She's popping up everywhere, and in my Health Magazines. She always seems to have the greatest recipes too. I decided to give one a try. I promise you, this burger won't disappoint.

Mexican Turkey Burger
serves 4
(found in Health - March 2011)
Bethenny Frankel's recipe

1 pound extra-lean ground turkey breast
1/2 of red and yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
a dash of Tabasco (I used Cholula and just got super pumped because they have a ton of delicious looking recipes on their website!!! SCORE!)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Make 4 patties; put them in the broiler on a foil-lined pan coated with cooking spray. I used our George Forman (thanks Aunt Susan D). Broil patties until done (5-6 minutes on each side). Each one is only 126 calories!! This is 59 calories fewer than a regular turkey burger and 132 calories fewer than a regular burger. Seriously....crazy, good flavor in these!

Karl's reaction: "I think this is one of my top five favorites. Yum, babe!!! It just needed to be cooked a minute less."

Picky...picky...picky!



I added cheese (sorry...it's a Wisconsin thing) and used sweet potato fries and Suddenly Salad as sides.



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