The Blender Girl by Tess Masters

The Blender Girl by Tess Masters has 100 gluten free, vegan recipes. The Blender Girl is so much more than just recipes though. In the first couple of chapters, she explains a little bit about blenders and how to use them to their fullest. Chapter 2 has lots of really great information on live enzymes, cleansing, the importance of raw foods, super foods that are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. She also talks about how soaking improves digestion. She speaks to sprouting and milking. Some of these techniques I have already incorporated in my diet but some are new to me. I  have not tried making my own milks. I really want to have the time and energy to do so but it also seems so much easier to by almond milk from the store. 

I love her information and explanations. Many of her recipes are wonderfully easy but some of them are fairly involved. I want to get to the point where I find eating the way she speaks about easy --- sometimes it seems like alot of work. That is when I just opt for a simple salad that incorporates all the raw vegetables, seeds and nuts. It seems easier then blending it all up. I want to be a blender girl more often than I am. I am hoping these recipes will inspire me to pull out my blender every day.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for free in exchange for an honest review. 

What odd looking lettuce!

We have had a very cool spring and start to the summer. Cooler than normal. And my lettuce seems to love it. I grow lettuce in a pot on a table on the back porch. This way the bunnies don't get to enjoy all my lettuce. This year I just can't eat it fast enough --- it keeps growing and growing.

It looks like a small bush - doesn't it. It is extremely tasty. Kids keep teasing me that my lettuce is out of control. They say it is starting to look like a small tree - I think it looks more like a small bush. Odd for lettuce, don't you think?

Hand Vacuum for pet hair

We have a dog - a wonderful beautiful Siberia Husky - tan in color with some black. We also have a darker green couch and love seat. The cream color hair shows up so well. When the dog is in full shed as he is now - my couches just get covered in hair -- it is so bad that people don't really want to sit on them. And yes I know - we could try to get the dog to not be on the couches but my animals are part of the family. I love when they cuddle up next to me. I love the dog and cat far more than I care about furniture. 

Still there are times when I like to clean up the furniture and make it presentable. We have really struggled for years with various different vacuum cleaners. They really do the floors well but have an inability to get the dog hair off the furniture. Plus they always seem cumbersome and difficult to use on furniture. My husband (when I was complaining that the new vacuum we just bought being the absolute worst at getting the dog hair off) suggested getting one of these ---

All I can say is WOW! Love it! I am totally sold. It was not expensive at all. We got it Walmart. And WOW - it works wonderfully. It is easy to use and more importantly it actually gets the hair up. I am sooooooo impressed. Why didn't anyone tell me about these before! So I am blogging about it. If you have issues with pet hair on your furniture --- I highly recommend one of these bad boys - a Shark Hand Vacuum Model #V15Z. Works amazingly well. 

Very Berry Detox (smoothie)

I found this recipe in Deliciously G-Free by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. She has lots of really good recipes in her book. If you are going gluten free --- I recommend this book. She calls this a detox but it really is a delicious smoothie. It was very refreshing on a warm day.

1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blackberries

(I didn't have raspberries or blackberries --- I had blueberries and strawberries that we had picked ourselves and then frozen. Frozen worked really well. Added a bit of cold to the mix - really delicious!)

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup brewed red bush or green tea (we used organic decaf green tea)
1 tablespoon sugar (we did not add this - berries are sweet enough)
4 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Serve immediately.

A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury - book review

Abby and John appeared to have it all. They appeared to have the perfect marriage. Things aren't as they seem. Abby and John have grown apart and now all they do is fight. John is on the verge of an affair. Abby is just distant or angry. They no longer sleep in the same bed. After 22 years of marriage they are on the verge of divorce. Yet, with God all things are possible. They each begin to put their focus back on God. Slowly they each being to see the other's point of view. The book is a story about reconciliation and healing. I very much enjoyed the book. I highly recommend reading it. 

A Stillness of Chimes by Meg Moseley

I really enjoyed this book. I think the book's cover was kind of strange - although once I read the book I understood the symbolism on the cover. At first look I thought the hand was covered in blood - yet upon a closer look one can see they are berry stains. 

Laura Gantt's mother dies suddenly and now she is left parentless. Her father supposedly died when she was 18 years old. He drown in the local lake although his body was never found. Then, neighbors begin reporting having seen sightings of her father. She is determined to find out the truth of her past and discover what happened to her father. Sean Halloran was Laura's high school sweetheart. Sean is still in love with Laura and wants to protect her from harm. He helps her to find out the truth. 

Here is a link to read the chapter one. 

It was a very good story. This story seeks to illuminate some of the issues families faced when the Vietnam vets came home. Some of the vets were broken inside. They struggled to be normal, to live a normal life afterwards. I know my own uncle struggled with things he saw in Vietnam. He would never much talk about it. At the heart of this book, it is a love story between Laura and Sean, who waited 10 years for Laura to come back. Wonderful story. I highly recommend reading it. 

"I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."

A Promise Kept

A Promise Kept by Robin Lee Hatcher is a book that is based on a similar path that the author walked. In the book, Allison was devastated when her marriage ended. She felt like God didn't answer her prayers. She also felt that God had told her he would saver her marriage. So when it ended she felt that God had not kept His promise to her. Yet in her heart she knew that God always keeps His promises. So she begins questioning whether she heard Him right. In our human form sometimes we can only see one way and expect that God will do things that one way. Sometimes God has a different way. Sometimes we also have to wait because promises are kept in God's time - not our time. We want things instantly. Often that isn't the way it works. This was a very good book. I really enjoy her writing style. It was a very enjoyable book.