Friday, September 15, 2017

Low Carb Parmesan-Crusted Bacon and Ranch Chicken - Finicky Friday



Parmesan-Crusted Bacon and Ranch Chicken




Carbs Per Serving:2g
Prep Time:5minutes


Ingredients
16 oz chicken breasts thinly sliced
1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
2  eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
4 oz garlic jack cheese shredded
4 slices thick cut bacon
4 tbsp Ranch dressing
1 pinch salt to taste
1 pinch pepper to taste

Instructions
In a shallow bowl, crack the eggs and beat with a fork.
In a separate bowl, mix together the parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
Dip each piece of chicken in the eggs, and then coat them completely with the parmesan mixture.
Over medium heat, add olive oil and butter to a large pan.
Fry each side of the chicken for 5-6 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Cook the bacon in the microwave for 6 minutes (or until crispy) and then crumble.
Shred the cheese.
Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet and sprinkle the cheese evenly on each piece; top with crumbled bacon.
Place the baking sheet in the oven under the broiler for 2 minutes until the cheese melts.
Finish by drizzling ranch dressing on top.


Nutrition Facts
*Amount Per Serving:
Calories 595 Calories from Fat 387
Total Fat 43g  66%
Saturated Fat 17g  85%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 11g
Cholesterol 241mg  80%
Sodium 1167mg  49%
Potassium 68mg  2%
Total Carbohydrates 2g  1%
Dietary Fiber 0.05g  0%
Sugars 1g
Protein 50g  100%
Vitamin A  15%
Vitamin C  4%
Calcium  49%
Iron  8%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Earning His Trust by Alicia Nordwell and an awesome giveaway!




Title: Earning His Trust
Author: Alicia Nordwell
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Sept. 6th
Price: $4.99
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 38,718


When I had my first baby, I learned what exhausted means. I never thought I’d use that knowledge to write a book. Okay, authors know what it means to be exhausted. We’ve all been kept on the brink of passing out by a story idea or set of characters who won’t let go. But that’s an intensely focused drive, for the most part.

Being a new parent means you lose a large part of your brain. You don’t mean to lose it, but you can’t really help it. You are sleep-deprived and worried about doing things right. You incessantly check recommendations for food, growth curves, developmental milestones…. It all takes its toll and romance becomes the last thing you worry about.

A reviewer said that I nail this feeling head on when it comes to Evin’s character in Earning His Trust and I am so happy that, for her, that experience I drew on also rang true. Days, months, and years becomes a series of moments that seem utterly mundane, but that’s life with kids. We take snapshots of those moments that are more, and those become intensely important. In the same way, romance can be so much simpler, more heartfelt, than those dramatic moments most people think about when it comes to love stories. Ben is going to do everything in his power to make sure Evin knows how he feels, even if it takes a million of those moments. 



Blurb:

Evin lost the only two men he ever loved. But he might get a second chance with one of them—if he’s willing to take the risk.  

Following the death of his husband, Evin is living in Portland and raising the infant son they had through a surrogate. Six-month-old Micah is his life, and if it means no time for activities or friendships beyond his minuscule support network, that’s a sacrifice Evin is willing to make. When he suffers a burn baking teething biscuits, the last person Evin expects to encounter in the ER is Ben, his lover from college—and the man who left him without a word of explanation.  

Ben knows it won’t be easy to earn Evin’s trust and prove he’s not the same man Evin once knew, but he can’t bear to watch Evin struggle to care for Micah, hurting and alone. He wants back in Evin’s life, as a friend and hopefully more, but Evin’s heart is fragile, and the years have changed him too.



Excerpt:

The curtain slid on the overhead rails, and Evin held in his urge to snap about how long it took to get to him when the nurse said the ER was slow, but he froze with his mouth open.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Perez. I see you burn—” The doctor snapped his jaw shut and stopped before he reached the head of the bed. Micah was oblivious, sitting between his legs and playing with his fake keys, chewing away on the rubber tips and drooling. He clutched the soggy remains of a biscuit in his other hand.
Evin had to swallow hard himself. Of all the hospitals, in all the cities, his old boyfriend had to be in this one.
He looked… good. Older, some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. It had been… how long since he’d seen him? Not since Ben was graduating medical school the same year Evin was graduating with a business degree. Evin certainly never expected to see him here, and by the shocked look on Ben’s face, he hadn’t known Evin lived in Portland either. Evin waited for Ben to say something else, but he just kept staring. Evin took a deep breath. He could be an adult. He was a dad now.
“Burned my hand,” he finished the sentence Ben never did. “I did it about an hour ago, and it really hurts.” Maybe he could move this along. Plus, Micah was on his third biscuit and getting fussy again. He probably needed to be changed, have some lunch, and then would fall asleep for the afternoon, just so he could keep Evin up all night again.
Ben dropped his gaze to Micah and then looked up to stare at Evin again. “What happened to you?”
Did he mean how Evin probably looked like he’d aged at least ten years since Ben bailed right before graduation, the last night they’d spoken? Well, spoken wasn’t a very good description for the fight they’d had after weeks of Ben ducking Evin’s questions about what he was planning. Maybe their relationship had run its course; maybe it was better for them not to be together.
But he’d never expected Ben to just up and leave. It’d been hard, but Evin had a job offer in Portland and he’d taken it. Fortunately, his best friend, Gianna, came with him, and they got an apartment together in a not-so-great area of Happy Valley. It’d been nice to have a friend he knew would stick by him, but then she met Carl, and they fell in love. Not long after that he met someone, but that had gone wrong too.
Gone was the bright, glittery guy who lit up the room in a flash, and this version of himself was all Evin knew how to be anymore. It was probably a disappointment. His hair was cut short instead of hanging down to his shoulders, and he was in a blue T-shirt and a pair of gray sweats instead of skintight everything. Nothing at all like how Ben would remember him.
Was he wondering how in the hell Evin had a kid, since he’d never even kissed a girl—at least before when Ben knew him? Probably.
Or had he brushed off their history, leaving Evin as the only one thinking about how the years had changed them—Ben definitely for the better. Most likely, he meant how Evin got the burn. He was a professional after all, and Evin was probably just another patient to him.
In the end, it didn’t really matter. His appearance, how he got hurt, it all came down to just one thing.
“Teething.”


Purchase Links:

Universal Amazon Link: http://mybook.to/earninghistrust






The number one question folks ask Alicia when she shares she's a MM romance author: "Why gay fiction? Why write men when you're a woman?" and her answer is: "Why the hell not!" Alicia Nordwell is one of those not so rare creatures, a reader turned writer. Striving to find an interesting story 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, 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. When she’s not on the computer typing away, she's a wife and a mom of two 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! She can also 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.


Social Media: 




Rafflecopter Contest:

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Link to contest page:


[Prizes: Amazon Fire 7” *US Only* $20 Gift Card (Amazon or Dreamspinner) (2) Backlist title winners]

Friday, September 8, 2017

Healthy Cranberry Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe



Cranberry Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe


It’s time for Finicky Friday



Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cranberries fresh

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup erythritol / stevia blend

1/2 tsp orange extract

1  turkey breast boneless

2 tbsp butter

2 tsp poultry seasoning 3 if turkey has strings holding it together

1 stalks celery

1/2 cup chicken broth


Instructions

In a small saucepan, heat cranberries, water, sweetener and orange extract. Cook, stirring until berries burst.

Mash the berries and cook until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.

Place thawed breast into a casserole dish. Rub softened butter all over the breast. Sprinkle the seasonings on all surfaces.

Cut the celery into three sticks. Place them under the turkey breast to lift it off the baking surface.
Spoon half of the cranberry mixture onto the breast of turkey. Place into a heated 375 degree oven.

Pour the broth into the dish. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove turkey and spoon the remaining cranberry sauce over the top.


Cover with a tent of foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until an internal thermometer reads 175 degrees.


Thursday, September 7, 2017

1,000,000 page view celebration and giveaway!!!




Yay! I've hit a million views on the blog! Whoot! To celebrate, I'm going to pick five people who comment  to win free e-Books of mine! (Does not include up-coming releases. Please choose from either my self-pub or DsP books.)

~~Contest runs until September 28th~~




To Enter!!! Make sure to leave me an email addy so I can get in touch with you and what book you would like from the list:

My self-pub
The Harvest: Taken
The Harvest: Journey's End
The Harvest Young: Bound by Fate
Paws and Claws
Nighttime Wishes
Nighttime Promises
Beneath the Surface
Riding the Tide
Faded Love


DsP books
Priceless
Perfect
Pure
Shadows in the Night
To Touch the Sky
A Country Boy at Heart
Texting, Autocorrect, and a Prius
In Enemy Hands
Trouble Comes in Threes
Behind the Eight Ball
It Takes Two to Tango
Wrapped in Leather

Monday, September 4, 2017

Labor Day sale at Dreamspinner - Sept 4-8



From September 4-8, the entire store (of all 3 imprints - Dreamspinner, Harmony, DSP Publications) is on sale for 30% off.

Plus, readers can get free shipping to YCon using the code YCon2017. (Sale is set to begin and end based on Eastern Daylight Time.)

Perfect time to save on DsP books and mine too! (I have a Dreamspun Beyond novel, from the new house line, releasing Oct 1st called Dragon's Hoard.)