Music Monday: Justin Bieber

Yep, you read that right. I never would have thought I'd listen to and LIKE the Biebs. But I do. It happened because I just throw Spotify on at work and don't really pay attention to the artists sometimes. So I heard "What Do You Mean" and thought it was catchy. I decided to look at the artist as it was playing, and was floored to see it was Bieber. I actually ended up liking a few other songs of his after I listened to his more recent stuff. Who knew?! He actually grew up and I can appreciate this version of him. Plus this segway cover is pretty awesome:



Original Vid:



- L

Foodie Friday - Red Wine Ribs

Originally this was supposed to be"FIT Foodie Fridays" and I'm dropping the FIT part. I love food. Period. I occasionally try to be healthy. But more often than not I will cook questionably healthy items. Sue me. I'll get it together one day. 

Yesterday being Thanksgiving and all, Hubs and I just stayed home and kept it simple. I work Thanksgiving weekend at one of our biggest shows of the year, so I can never really go anywhere. I leave Wed night to be back Friday and it is just not worth it. I will take the down time when I can. That being said, I was more than ready to have the time I needed to make me some ribs. He doesn't eat pork, so all the more to myself. I usually do Guinness or some other dark beer ribs in the crockpot. This year he wasn't as willing to give up his beer for something he wouldn't be eating. I didn't have any broth to substitute, and I didn't want to use water. So I raided the liquor cabinet. Whiskey was out the question, but what about red wine? People cook with red wine all the time, why not ribs? I dumped in half a bottle, turned the crockpot on and went about my business. It did occur to me to look up if this was a thing and did I just ruin my ribs? Apparently it is and it tastes DELICIOUS. 

I don't have any pictures of my own as I am not particularly great at making food look good. So here's the general idea:

source

I did not follow the recipe from anywhere, except what was in my head. I'm sure there are much better ones out there, but this worked for me.

1 - family pack of ribs

1 - medium onion sliced

4 - cloves of garlic thick cut

1/2 bottle of red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)

whatever seasonings you want (I used Flavor God's Honey BBQ and Pink Peppercorn/Himalayan Salt)

Once the onions and garlic were cut up, I threw them in the crockpot. I tossed in the ribs and covered them in Flavor God (side note, I use these because I'm lazy and they make my life easier, just using one bottle, sometimes two.) Snapped on some gloves and went to work mixing these all up and massaging everything into the ribs. I covered the ribs with the red wine,which ended up being half a bottle for me. You can mix in broth or water if you don't want to use all wine. I figured it would pull in more of the wine flavor if I didn't dilute with anything, so I left it alone. I cooked these on high in the crockpot for about 4 hours. The meat was juicy and falling off the bone. It shredded so easily. I actually like this better than using the beer. Win for me.

Any recipe substitutions you've used in a pinch that worked out for you? Or maybe didn't?

- L

Music Monday: Adele - 25

Source

When Adele released "Hello" the world collectively lost it's mind. We've been waiting for her to settle down after motherhood and bless us with her soulful ballads again. As with most anything, the Internet finds a way to nit pick on certain things. And I will not stand for it with Adele. Calling her mediocre? Stop it. Just stop it. Saying the lyrics to "Hello" are not original or inspiring? Because Fetty Wap is SO profound. Please.

Anyway... I obviously love Adele and it was a no brainer to pre-order her album on Google Play. Though I do wish I would have gotten the Target CD with the 3 bonus tracks. I still may go pick it up. She is one of the very few artists I will actually buy an album from. Normally I just buy a few tracks here or there, but rarely an entire album. I woke up on Friday and was happy, ok ECSTATIC to see Adele's album had been added to my Google Play library. Unfortunately I didn't have time to download it on Wi-Fi until I got to work, so I couldn't soothe my ears on the train ride into the city. I plugged in almost immediately at the computer and was not disappointed. I can say I've had this album on absolute repeat this entire weekend. I listened to it initially in order, to get a feel from the album, and then on shuffle x10000 because I like mixing it up.

Just like her previous albums, her songs give you ALL the feels. While her last album, 21, left us feeling her heartbreak, 25 gives you hope. She calls it a makeup album, and some tracks are more uplifting than others. I think it's a good mix. I definitely fell in love with "Water Under The Bridge", "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", "I Miss You", and "Sweetest Devotion" immediately. I like the direction of this album and I hope she doesn't leave us hanging for another 5 years before releasing another album. 

Did you buy Adele's album yet? What are you waiting for?

 - L

***Disclaimer - I did purchase this album and am NOT being compensated in any way for this post. I also am not a music genius or any type of self proclaimed audiophile.***