Friday, July 27, 2012

Almost Amish Book Review

Almost Amish is a book by Nancy Sleeth about how we can incorporate Amish daily habits and traditions into our own lives. I enjoyed this book. She includes many helpful hints on how to save money and how to live with less. She also includes tips on how to reduce waste, electricity use and stretch your every day items. There are also Amish recipes, including bread and soup that will be fun to try.

I recommend this book as a nice light read and to help get over our nation's current overabundance craze.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

CSA Box #5

Beets, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Lettuce, Onions and Broccoli.


The only new veggies this week were the onion and broccoli. Actually it is a different type of lettuce, so we will probably put that into a salad.


From our previous  CSA Box #4, we also got Swiss Chard which my husband made into Swiss Chard and Onion Tacos.



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My New Challenge

I decided to give myself a new challenge. I have read several blogs where they post pictures of what they ate that day. In the spirit of trying to keep track of what I eat, I figured this would be a good way to do that. I'm calling it, What I Ate Today!

Sunday July 15




Not Picture: 1 Tootsie Roll, 1 Hershey's Kiss, and 1 Slice Dutch Apple Pie with Ice cream.

What did you eat today? I'm sure it was way healthier than me! :)

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Friday, July 13, 2012

The Scarlet Thread Book Review

The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers is the story of Sierra Madrid in present day California and her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray during their journey across the Oregon Trail.

When I first began reading this book, I really didn't like the character Sierra. I felt that she was a whiny, ungrateful, mean-spirited, selfish person. It was actually very difficult for me to get into the book because of those feelings. I am happy to say that she goes through life-changing circumstances and by the end of the book I liked the character.

This book is a very good read. I especially enjoyed the excerpts from Mary Kathryn's journal on their Oregon Trail journey. I recommend reading this book. I can't say that I would read it again, but I did enjoy it and am happy to have read it.

The Tehran Initiative Book Review

The Tehran Initiative is the second book in a new series by Joel C. Rosenberg. It continues the story began in The Twelfth Imam.

Just like The Twelfth Imam, I couldn't put this book down. I have four children and I was able to read this book in 3 days. It is very good and I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

David Shirazi continues to do his CIA field work in Iran. There is actually tons more action in this book than the first, which is kind of hard to believe. This book was great! I highly recommend reading this book! It is very good!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Apologia Giveaway on TimberDoodle.com

TimberDoodle is giving away Apologia Science books! Check it out here:

http://www.timberdoodlecompany.com/doodleblog/2012/07/09/apologia-giveaway/comment-page-2/#comment-8604

I am interested in the Astronomy and Anatomy Science Books.

Monday, July 9, 2012

CSA Box #4


Friday, we received our fourth box from our CSA share. It contained Kale, Collard Greens, Fennel, Bok Choy, Lettuce, Green Onions and Turnips.

I plan on making the Kale Chips again. They were so delicious. For that recipe, check out my blog post here.

The Collard Greens will be going to our Benny Rabbit of course. He just loves them! He will also get the tops and stems of any of the veggies that we don't use.

My husband, who is an AWESOME cook, used some of the green onions and fennel in a corn salsa that he made on Saturday. Sunday evening he used some of the swiss chard and bok choy in pasta. Both were very good!

I'm not sure how will use the turnips just yet. I have heard that they are good mashed, so we might do them that way. Please share any comments or recipes that you have tried in the comments!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

The Twelfth Imam Book Review

The Twelfth Imam by Joel C. Rosenberg is a book about Islam's coming Messiah. The central characters include David Shirazi a CIA NOC Agent and Dr Najjar Malik a physicist with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. This book is the first in a series and basically sets up the characters, their back stories and how the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi or Islam's Messiah comes to power.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. It is action-packed and well written. There are several incredibly violent scenes as well. The characters are all well developed and easy to connect to. I found myself unable to put this book down several times. I highly recommend reading this book and have already started the next one in the series.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

CSA Box #3

On Friday, we picked up our third CSA box.


I have really enjoyed getting these for the last two weeks and was so excited to get our box again this week.


Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Pak Choi(aka Bok Choy), Carrots, Strawberries, Beets and Spinach

This box is definitely going to be a new experience for us. Clark and I haven't ever had Swiss Chard or Pak Choi (aka Bok Choy). We also haven't ever liked beets. In the interest of trying new things, we are going to try the beet recipe for Roasted Beet Risotto that was in our CSA Box Notes.

Do you like Beets? Do you have any recipes for Beets that you can share?


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The First Gardener Book Review

The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones is about the Governor of Tennessee, Gray London, and his wife, Mackenzie. They have a five year old daughter, Maddie and are trying for another child. They had great trouble conceiving their first child and are still having trouble conceiving. The Governor's mansion has a beautiful garden with Jeremiah as the head gardener.

This will be a complicated review. I really liked the characters. I thought that they were well-developed and I felt connected to them for the most part. However, I really didn't like the circumstances of the story. I don't want to give anything away, but I really didn't like the deaths in the story. They seemed very needless. I like my fantasy to be fantasy. The ending didn't even seem to "wrap up" or conclude everything. Every few chapters, there is a chapter written in Jeremiah's voice with the Southern accent written out. I went back and forth on whether or not I liked it. Overall, I have to say that I didn't like the book. The characters were wonderfully written but the story was needlessly sad in my opinion.

Amazon.com Product Page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/141433558X/ref=cm_cr_thx_view