Book Review: Inspiralized

I've heard a lot of great things about the spiralizer, but I'm still not sure I'm convinced yet... so I decided to take a look at the Inspiralized cookbook by Ali Maffucci to decide whether or not I want to invest in one of these kitchen gadgets. The spiralizer is basically a $30 veggie cutter that cuts in 3 different ways (ribbon style, fettuccine style, and linguine style). 

This specific cookbook provides of a list of various veggies that can be "spiralized" and creative but easy recipes using those veggies. The book is filled with beautiful colored pictures of the dishes, hints and tips, and easy to follow directions. There are plenty of recipes for breakfasts, snacks/sides, soups/stews/salads, sandwiches, wraps, casseroles, "rice" dishes, pasta/noodles, and even desserts! The recipes exclude butter, dairy milk, cream, sugar, mayo, cream cheese, and white bread! There are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and paleo recipes (clearly classified as such)! 

I think this book, along with a spiralizer is a great gift set for your cooking friends and family who are looking to eat healthier. However, personally, I'm not sure I'm convinced to invest in the Spiralizer. I'm not sure I can really turn in my pasta for zucchini quite yet. There are plenty of recipes using other veggies and fruits, such as beets, broccoli stems, butternut squash, carrots, celery root, cucumber, parsnips, radish, apples, pears, etc., but I'm just not convinced yet. 

If you already have a Spiralizer, I would recommend checking out the book. You may find some great ideas for other ways to use your Spiralizer!  

I received this book for review from Blogging for Books!

Book Review: The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book

Before I begin my review of the The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book, I should first begin by saying that I actually don't have a pressure cooker... YET. I selected this book mostly out of curiosity and to educate myself on the option of cooking with a pressure cooker. My mom and grandma always cooked with one, but out of fear, I just never have.

This book has a great introduction of do's and don'ts when it comes to cooking with a pressure cooker. The intro alone was enough to inspire me to actually order an electric pressure cooker (my person preference due to all the bells and whistles to the newer models). The book is broken down into chapters by breakfast, soups, meat, poultry, fish/shellfish, vegetables/beans/grains, and desserts.

There are a few things that really stand out about the recipes:
1. SUPER easy steps. Most of the recipes are only a handful of steps!!
2. Ingredients I can pronounce! I can't stand cook books with 15 ingredients I've never heard of! Most of the ingredients used are items I would have on hand or would mostly use for other dishes as well.
3. HUGE soup recipe section. Soup is one of my personal favorite foods, and I love the variety of recipes. The best part, even though I may not have a pressure cooker yet, I can still adapt the recipes for either on stove cooking, or even crock pot cooking!

All-in-all. I love the cookbook! This is such a great gift idea with an electric pressure cooker for your food/cooking loving family and friends!

Looks like I know what I'll be adding to my Christmas this year!

Happy cooking!

I received this book for review from blogging for books!

Book Review: The Paleo Chef

Last October, I tried WHOLE30 eating plan. I was fairly successful at losing weight on the WHOLE30 plan. However, the menu got boring really quickly. I was looking for a book that would give me some ideas. Even though I'm no longer on WHOLE30, I still like to make WHOLE30 recipes. I decided to get The Paleo Chef because the principles are fairly close to WHOLE30.

The Paleo Chef by Pete Evans is absolutely beautifully put together. There are pictures for every recipe. However, I was very disappointed by the actual recipes. They required too many ingredients I don't have in the house. I don't foresee myself making many of the recipes because of the ingredients list. I will do some substitutions here and there, but if I had seen the recipes for the book prior, I would not have purchased this book.

If you enjoy using unique ingredients and are looking to expand your paleo menu, this might be the book for you... but for our family, this cookbook was not what our taste buds were looking for.

I received this book for review from Blogging For Books.

Book Review: The Dawn of Christmas

I didn't realize I had already read this The Dawn of Christmas in the 3 book compilation of Christmas in Apple Ridge by Cindy Woodsmall. As I started reading it, I thought the story line sounded sooo familiar. And long and behold, I already read it! 

Here is the review of The Dawn of Christmas.

The Dawn of Christmas is the story of Sadie and Levi. Levi's former sister-in-law left his brother and nephew. His focus is on helping his brother raise his nephew, his job of toy making and training horses. Sadie, heart broken from the deception of her ex-fiance, she focuses on making soaps and raising money for mission trips. When Sadie saves Levi after being thrown from a horse, they decide to pretend to court to stop the pressuring from their family. As Sadie's ex-fiance ends up being Levi's business partner, trouble stirs. 

I absolutely loved the book and would recommend it for women of all ages! 

Book Review: Forever Friday

I received Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis for review from Blogging for Books. I wasn't totally sold on the idea of this book at first. The book toggles back and forth between the past, Huck and Gabe's story, and the present, Adam's search for the secret to Huck and Gabe's lasting love.

This book reminded me of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks in the sense of two time periods in one book. You will fall in love with the characters immediately. It's easy to sympathize with Adam and his heartache over his divorce and his need for hope. Huck's spunky personality is just captivating. You can't help but just love Gabe's determination and devotion to Huck.

This is all-in-all a wonderful love story, and I would recommend this to any woman looking for a sweet love story.

Book Review: Summer Promises

I received Summer Promises by Robin Jones Gunn for review from Blogging for Books. I read this book years ago as a teenager and just reread it in the last 2 days! As I reread the book, I remembered why I loved it so much as a teenager. This book definitely speaks to the teenage girls. Christy is an innocent 14 year old from Wisconsin staying with her Aunt and Uncle in California for the summer. Staying in California, she struggles with fitting in, her confidence, self image, and of course, boy issues.

The book definitely has a focus on a personal relationship with Christ and what that means. This is a wholesome and encouraging book and I would recommend it for teenage girls.

Book Review: For Every Season

I received For Every Season by Cindy Woodsmall for review from Water Brook Multnomah Publishing. I was a bit hesitant to review this specific book because it's the 3rd book in the series and I hadn't read the previous books. Luckily, there is a recap of what's happened in the first two books before going into the 3rd book. In For Every Season, Rhoda is in a difficult place caught between two loves: her boyfriend Jacob and his brother Samuel. While the orchard has to weather out a frost that threatens to destroy a large percentage of their budding apple trees, Jacob must weather his legal issues. Rhoda's friendship continues to strain her relationship with Jacob.

I enjoyed this book, but I was pretty frustrated with the characters and their lack of actually talking about their feeling. A sense of duty and obligation seemed to override whatever they truly felt like they should do. One of my favorite characters is Landon. Landon works for the King's Orchard and brings up a lot of great questions questioning the Amish lifestyle.  

Cindy Woodsmall does include 2 recipes at the end of the book! Can't wait to try them!! I would recommend starting with book 1 on this series.