The Blender Girl Smoothies

This summer I decided to replace my usual evening meal with a smoothie (most days of the week), so I was excited to receive a book devoted entirely to smoothies.  As indicated by the subtitle, all of the recipes in The Blender Girl Smoothies are vegan and gluten-free.  What surprised me most about this book (and one of the things I appreciated most) is that there were not a lot of unusual or hard-to-find ingredients in these recipes.  There were only 2 ingredients that were a little challenging to find, but I did eventually find them locally and those ingredients were repeated in many of the recipes, so I was able to easily use them up without having to repeat the same recipe 20 times.  Each recipe included optional boosters, some of these might be more difficult to find, but I chose to leave the boosters out.

Each recipe also featured nutritional information including protein, carbs, fiber, sugar, calories, and more. While every recipe I tried was very tasty, some of them were so low in calories that I felt they didn't work well for my purpose of meal replacements.  There is, however, a section devoted to "dessert" smoothies.  These recipes, while still very healthy, have a higher calorie count then smoothies in the other sections of the book, so they worked better for me.

All of the recipes are written to serve 2.  Generally, when I make smoothies, I make them just for myself, so I had to divide every recipe in half.  I would have preferred single serving recipes, but it did not prove a major inconvenience.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking to incorporate healthy smoothies into their diet.

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Be the Message Devotional

I was really looking forward to diving into this devotional book.  The intention of the book seemed to be to help people get beyond just learning about the Bible, and actually living out the things it teaches.  A great idea, but I don't think it quite lived up to that intention.  The authors seemed to assume that those reading their book already have a solid Biblical background or that Biblical knowledge is unnecessary for living out the teachings of the Bible.  Each devotional only contained one really short Bible passage and then 3 short paragraphs explaining the passage.

I found the application portions disappointing as well.  They seemed to focus on thinking or praying about someone else who needs to apply these truths to their lives and you need to share that with them.  Well, it's great to share truth with people and to encourage one another, but the way these applications were phrased felt very patronizing.  
Perhaps not all of the devotions were like this, or they improved as the book went on.  I don't know.  I lost interest in the book after just a few days.

**Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Salad Love by David Bez -- It might just be love at first sight

There is a lot to love about this gorgeous book from London-based blogger and designer David Bez. The first 30 pages explain the inspiration behind the book, the tools necessary for making all of the salads, and the basics of assembling a salad.  My favorite section in this part of the book is the salad dressings section, which in 4 pages offers simple recipes for 24 different dressings.

This brief introductory section is followed by the 260 salad recipes.  These recipes are organized by seasons, with color coded page edges to easily find the section you are looking for.  Every recipe includes a beautiful photograph of the salad, a label indicating whether the salad is a raw, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or omnivore salad, and an alternative option for making the salad fit a different diet requirement.

The only drawback to this book is that, depending on where you live, some of the ingredients may not be readily available.  For some of these types of ingredients it is not too difficult to think of an alternative and for some of the ingredients, the author has already suggested an alternative.  The recipes can also be seen as a catalyst to making your own unique salad creations.

The book also includes an index.  I think I will be using this index a lot to find salad recipes that will help me use up leftover ingredients.

If you are, like me, someone who has gotten bored with salads very easily in the past, this book may be your best chance to fall in love again with salads.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

If I Fall, If I Die by Michael Christie

As this unique and beautifully written story opens, Will, an eleven-year-old boy, leaves the confines of his house for the first time in his memory. He is surprised to discover that nothing bad happens to him. "The boy stepped Outside, and he did not die."  His agoraphobic mother has always warned him of the dangers Outside, and he has been content to stay in the world she has created for them Inside. Once he goes Outside, however, he begins to discover that the rewards of life Outside far outweigh its risks.

Through quirky characters and an unusual plot, the author has managed to create a story that is at times laugh-out-loud funny,  and at other times, heart-wrenching and thought-provoking. Chapters alternate between Will's adventures Outside and his mother's internal reflections on her past. Although there were times when the plot felt far-fetched, the originality of the book as a whole kept me hooked.  There are many interesting themes touched on in this book that would make it a great choice for book clubs.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

When I received this book, I was skeptical of its claim to be really different from other books on organization.  I am not ashamed to admit that I was proven wrong.  The author truly does have a unique approach to organizing.

The greatest strength of the author's approach to decluttering and organizing is its utter simplicity. There aren't any complicated processes for choosing what to keep or what to get rid of.  Basically it boils down to going through your belongings by category and sorting through all the items in a category in one fell swoop and then organizing them.  One part of the book that really resonated with me was her assertion that you don't need to invest in any fancy organization systems or items. "Basically, the only storarge items you need are plain old drawers and boxes -- you don't need anything special or fancy." I can't tell you how many times I have fallen into the trap of spending money on the perfect "storage solution" only to find it doesn't really work for me and then it ends up being just another item cluttering up my home.

I received this book in January and have applied some of the methods she prescribes to my clothing. Just decluttering and organizing this one category has felt so good and has freed up so much space.  I love, love, love her method for folding and storing clothes.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but it is so simple and so amazing.  I am eager to continue decluttering and organizing other categories and hope to be finished by this summer.

Interestingly, the greatest strength of this book, its simplicity, is also its greatest weakness.  The author's approach to deciding what to keep and what to discard involves handling each item and asking yourself if it brings you joy.  While this is not a bad starting place, it feels a little too simplistic to me.  Sorry, no matter how wonderful they are, I just don't see socks sparking lots of joy. Nevertheless, I don't think it would be wise to throw out all of my socks and go sockless. Conversely, as I was sorting through my clothes, I came across items that do spark joy, however, they are 3 or 4 sizes too small.  Is it wise to continue holding onto these items?

One other area of weakness is that the only categories she covers are clothes, books, papers, and "komono" (miscellaneous items).  I would have found it helpful if she had included a few other categories as well, such as dishes, kitchen gadgets, etc.  But maybe as I work through the categories she does cover, I will figure out how to tackle the categories she neglected.

Also note that the author is Japanese, the book is translated from Japanese, and not all of the ideas neatly translate into western culture.  I personally, found this easy to look past, but some readers might find it more difficult.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has tried, and failed at other decluttering and organizational approaches.  Marie Kondo truly does bring a unique spin.  But know that all the details of her method might not be practical for you.  If you take the basic principles of what she says, however, and figure out how to apply it in a way that does work for you, you will have a cleaner and happier home.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Skinnytaste Cookbook by Gina Homolka

I love this cookbook full of super yummy, low-calorie recipes made with mostly easy-to-find ingredients. It is a keeper! Beautiful photographs accompany the majority of the recipes.  Each recipe also includes a table listing nutritional information: calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate, fiber, protein, sugars, and sodium. This cookbook includes recipes that are vegetarian, gluten-free, quick, freezer-friendly, and/or made in a slow cooker.  There are icons that denote each of these types of recipes making them quick and easy to locate.  Unfortunately, there are no freezing or reheating instructions given with the recipes labeled "freezer-friendly".

The first recipe I tried was the Rustic Italian Gnocchi Soup.  Hands down the tastiest soup I have ever made.  As is true with so many soups it was 10 times more delicious the next day.  I immediately tried a couple more recipes from the book and they were very tasty as well.  I am excited to keep cooking my way through this book.

While this may not be a great book for beginning cooks, it is the perfect book for those looking to jazz up their recipe repertoire or for those looking for healthier alternatives to some favorite dishes.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

The Great Waffle Experiment of 2014

The other day at work, my co-workers were having a conversation about waffles.  (I love the fact that I get to work with people who love food and books as much as I do.)  All their talk of waffles, of course, left me with a craving for waffles.  I started thinking about how much I love waffles, but that I rarely make them because they are not terribly healthy.  Their biggest health flaw in my eyes is the amount of oil (or melted butter) in them.  But then I got to thinking about one of my favorite baking tips.  In many recipes, canned pumpkin can be used in place of oil. I had only ever used it successfully as a substitute in cake recipes before.  A month or so ago, I had tried to use it as a substitute in a cookie recipe, which was not such a success.  I wondered how well it would work in a waffle recipe.  Well, only one way to find out.  I just used my go-to basic waffle recipe from my trusty rusty Betty Crocker cookbook.  I replaced the 1/2 cup of vegetable oil called for in the recipe with 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin.  I also added about 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice to the batter. They turned out great!  I topped mine with some plain yogurt and pure maple syrup. Yum!  Next time, I will also try adding some toasted pecans either to the batter or as a topping.