Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Mind, Body, Spirit, Food by Nicki Sizemore is a beautiful holistic cookbook.  As the cover states, the recipes are adaptable and there are grounding meditations and there is encouragement for preparing meals with joy and intention. This book encourages the reader to focus on the process as they cook. I love that. I also like how flexible these recipes are. The recipes offer advice for making each recipe in your own way with ingredients you have on hand and in such a way that your family's likes and food intolerances are taken into consideration.  I see our bodies as holistic so this book is especially meaningful to me in that way. There is encouragement to have an attitude of gratitude as you work with ingredients, prepare your food and eat with family. There is also a spirit of meditation included. This is definitely a book for my keeper cookbook shelf.   The recipes themselves look to be flavorful. The instructions are easy to follow. There are full color p...

Electronics are great for many things, but I like to keep track of things on paper. I was excited to receive this Eat Better, Feel Better, Live Better 52-week food journal by Nasima Quresahi so that I can visually see my progress and quickly jot down the information that I want to remember. The Eat Better, Feel Better, Live Better food journal starts out with an introduction that includes healthy tips and helpful advice on using the journal to make it a regular healthy habit. It is also breaks down daily, weekly and monthly goals in to segments to make up the year with a place to write measurements every four weeks and to keep track of what your hopes and goals are. Then each week includes the daily places to write meals and easily keep track of water drank, exercise, feelings, sleep and other brief notes. This journal has some positive quotes and encouragement sprinkled through the pages. I have started using The Eat Better, Feel Better, Live Better Food Journal . I believe it...

I watched my paternal grandfather go through dementia and I know how heartbreaking it is for loved ones. As a result, Defeating Dementia by Richard Furman looked interesting and helpful as someone who doesn't want to follow in my grandfather's footsteps. Dr. Furman has been a vascular surgeon for more than thirty years. He draws on his expertise to write Defeating Dementia. At the same time, he watched his mother-in-law go through dementia so he also writes as one who has witnessed the challenges of the disease in a loved one. Defeating Dementia is divided into four parts: Understanding Dementia, The Aging Process and the Health of Your Arteries, The Risk Factors for Developing Alzheimer's, and Lifestyle Choices for Defeating Dementia. This book is straightforward and written so a layperson can easily understand the process and how to prevent the disease. Throughout the book, he also shares a sidebar of his mother-in-law Mrs. Dell's experience with dementia. I fo...

Like many other people, one of my goals for the new year is to eat healthier. Power Plates by Gena Hamshaw looked like a book that could help me with that goal. Power Plates is divided into these sections: Breakfast, Salads, Soups, Bowls, Skillets and Stovetop, and Bakes. Hamshaw also starts out the book with a great introduction to just what she has included in the book for recipes and what you can expect from the book.  She says that she has tried to create recipes that offer "sustained energy and balanced nourishment." Power Plates offers 100 recipes all total. Some of the featured recipes include: Every Day Breakfast Tostadas, Spelt Biscuits with White Bean Gravy, Guacamole Quinoa Salad, Protein Packed Ceasar Salad, Mulligatawny soup, Smoky Red Lentil stew with Chard, Sushi Bowls, Deli Bowls with Smashed Chickpea Salad, Barley Risotto with Butternut Squash and Sage, Creamy Curried Lentils and Quinoa, Black Bean Enchiladas with Roasted Butternut Squash, and Sweet ...

According to Katie Farrell, Nourish is not just another diet or health book. Instead, Nourish shares how readers can pursue better health from three different aspects: spirit, soul and body. Nourish is written by someone who has been there. Farrell shares her own personal story about how she overcame her food struggles with God's help. Her writing shows how how she looks to God for guidance as she writes on page 174, "Instead of thinking about ways to give in to my sinful cravings and desires, I now long to honor God with my body and worship Him with everything I do, think, and say. By no means does this mean that I am perfect or have everything together; in fact, the very reason I am writing this book is that I understand the struggle!" Each chapter offers a part of Farrell's story along with helpful information to improve your own health. At the end of each chapter, she shares a Scripture, reflection questions, prayer and a recipe. Some of the recipes includ...

It seems like many of us end up with one form of arthritis or another by the time we are elderly. Instead of being one of those statistics, this book could help change those odds. Healing Arthritis: A 3-Step Process to Conquering Arthritis Naturally by Dr. Susan Blum, a leading expert in functional medicine, offers a better approach to healing arthritis permanently. Even more inspiring to me, she shares her own personal healing story in this book along with her expertise. I have osteoarthritis in an ankle that I broke when I was in my early 20s. I didn't really feel the arthritis until the last couple of years due to a combination of stress and a tendon tear in the same ankle. I don't want to take a lot of medication so I decided to read Dr. Blum's book to see if I could make a difference naturally. Dr. Blum gives a lot of information in an easy to read format. She first explains the various types of arthritis that one can contract. She also shares stories of real pe...

The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs by Joel Salatin might sound like a book about how to raise pigs, but it is not. Joel Salatin is a respected, successful Christian family farmer who shows readers how the Bible actually instructs us on how to eat, take care of the land, whether you are a farmer or not, and how to feed the world. Each chapter of The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs analyzes the different ways of looking at the natural world around us. Salatin debates ideas related to caring for the earth, animals, plants and each other throughout this book: abundance versus scarcity, biological versus mechanical, abundance versus scarcity, narrow way versus broad way and dependence versus independence, among other topics debated. To use more common language, Salatin talks about whether we should factory farm or free range our animals, whether we should use chemicals or not, whether we should eat junk food or whole foods, and other similar topics. I resonated with many of Salatin's ideas ...

I think most women want to have beautiful skin. We just don't know how to always get it. Many times, we change our soap or our external care, when we really need dietary changes to make a difference. Eat Beautiful by Wendy Rowe was written to help you nourish your skin both inside and out. To start with,  Eat Beautiful is divided by the seasons. When Rowe lived in Paris for 4 years, she said she learned to eat with the seasons which made a big difference in how she looked at and felt. With in each seasonal chapter, there is information on ingredients representing each season, such as asparagus, leafy greens, radishes and spinach for spring. Each ingredient is described with nutritional information and how the ingredient could be beneficial to your skin and other aspects of your health. Following the ingredient descriptions within each seasonal chapter are various recipes that could be used for that season. All of the recipes have beautiful color photographs accompanying the...

 I want to be a healthy eater and I want to fix healthy, nourishing meals for my family. Two out of the three of us have gluten and dairy allergies and intolerances. Nourishing Meals is a beautiful book full of information to help someone like me who wants to make changes to benefit the whole family, one meal at a time. I do have some background in eating healthy for myself but have felt challenged trying to get the rest of my family to eat healthfully. The front part of the book is full of a lot of good information on laying the foundations for good health through good nutrition. This book is written by popular food bloggers and leaders in the functional medicine movement, Ali Segersten and Tom Malterre. Together they offer solid information and tips to change your diet and eat more wholesome foods at every stage of your family's life. They are both work together as graduates of Bastyr University and raise 5 children. They understand on many levels what it takes to feed a fam...

In Vegangelical, Sarah Withrow King encourages Christian readers to consider what the Bible has to say about the stewardship of animals as related to our world today. She encourages us to look at creation through the lens of God. In the first section of Vegangelical, King lays a theological foundation for her premise that God wants us to care for animals and the world around us. I especially liked this section of the book.  The second section of the book offers information on the way animals in our world today are cared for in various situations: our pets at home, wild animals, research animals and animals used for food and clothing. King says she has a passion for Jesus and animals which is why she is a vegan. That is quite clear throughout the writing of this book. Much of what King shares in this book is quite blunt and the stories are disturbing to say the least with the way she has presented them. I was already familiar with much of what she shared on factory farming ...

Fast Metabolism Food Rx is the first book I have read by Haylie Pomroy. This fascinating book offers food plans as a prescription for seven  health issues: Digestion problems, Fatigue and low energy, Hormonal issues including PMS and Menopause, High cholesterol, Brain issues like depression, anxiety and forgetfulness, blood sugar issues, and immune/auto-immmune disorders. I found it to be well-written and interesting to read. I found this book to be very interesting. I like the idea of using food to help heal our bodies over medication whenever possible. Haylie encourages readers to work with their doctors to make changes but she also encourages patients to use food to improve health, either eliminating or cutting down on medication by working with their doctor. This book becomes especially credible to me when Pomroy shares her own health issues and how food has made her feel so much better without medications. . .and she has doctors who work with her and listen. She encourage...

An incredible amount of research went into the book, Think and Eat Yourself Smart. This information resonated with me along with the Bible verses she shares with it. I appreciated those two things combined.  Dr, Caroline Leaf is a neuroscientist who has spent many years doing research. She also is a Christian and looks to combine her love of brain science with her faith. This book is divided into three parts: Admit It, Quit It and Beat It! In Admit It, Dr. Leaf shares information we need to know, if we don't already, about the Modern American Diet (MAD). She documents where all of her information comes form in an extensive end notes section. I especially like that. If you have a question about something, it makes it easy to find the source and check the facts for yourself. I was familiar with many of the sources she quoted and I heartily agree with the truth that the MAD isn't so good for us. In the second section, Dr. Leaf shares how our minds play a large role in what...

The Oz Family Kitchen is a gorgeous, full colored cookbook full of delicious recipes for all types of eaters. One of the things I especially appreciate about this book is that Lisa shares how their family is made up of vegetarians, gluten free eaters, and meat eaters. In my own family, I sometimes struggle to make recipes that fit the bill to make us all happy as a meat-eater, a gluten/dairy free eater and another that is mostly vegetarian. It can be a challenge to make meals we all enjoy. Lisa shares how they make recipes and meals that can work for all of them. Lisa shares that she wrote this cookbook for families like theirs who are "trying to juggle healthy options with hectic lifestyles and varied eating styles." In the beginning of the book, Lisa shares how to create healthy meals and what types of things they cook.From shopping ideas to menu planning to actual cooking secrets, Lisa shares how she makes their meals work for them and how the reader can apply those p...

The Longevity Kitchen by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson is a beautiful cookbook chock full of healthy recipes. However, this book is more than a cookbook, it is a guide to many of the foods that are voted most likely to help you live longer.  The Longevity Kitchen starts out with three very important chapters for the reader to use before cooking. The first chapter offers a ton of information by taking a tour through your body and how to care for your gut/liver/kidneys, brain, heart, bones and muscles, immune system, respiratory system, circulatory system, nervous system and endocrine system. Don't let  that intimidate you as this book is user friendly and Katz and Edelson make this information easy for the reader to understand.The second chapter lists several of the most healthy foods along with their benefits. The last part of the chapter shares how to tie the body systems together with the foods in the recipes that are in the book to build up your body's health. Chapter...

I have watched Giada on Food Network and enjoyed seeing her, but this is my first Giada cookbook. I want to share that up front in case you are a huge fan and have every cookbook. However, that being said, I totally enjoyed this cookbook. According to the back cover, this is Giada's most comprehensive cookbook to date. I have to say it is packed with delicious recipes and gorgeous food pictures. There is also a bunch of healthy eating tidbits, such as "Know Your Grains" where Giada tells all about different grains like quinoa, amaranth and Freekah and shares how to best use them in recipes. Her Fiesta Quinoa Salad looks delicious and is on my list to try. I also like that each recipe has symbols indicating if they are vegetarian, vegan or gluten free. Since some family members need to eat gluten free, I especially found that helpful. There is a delicious cookie recipe for chocolate amaretti cookies that is gluten free that I also want to try but I need to get a p...

 Bread and Butter looks like a book that will become a "bread and butter" basic in my cookbook collection. As my son can not eat gluten and I am wheat intolerant, I found this book to be a sort of wish book of all the yummy food we haven't been able to eat but have been longing for. Erin McKenna is the founder of BabyCakes Bakery in New York City. She is also gluten sensitive and spent many years forced to"ignore the bread basket" at dinners at her favorite restaurant. Boy, do I relate to that! Honestly, I received this book in the mail and almost instantly started salivating. Practically every page is full of beautiful color pictures of the delicious gluten free goodies with recipes in this book. Recipes are included for basic breads, bagels, pizzas, tortillas, savory turnovers, crackers, sweet rolls, cookies and more. I honestly was amazed at the complete list of gluten free recipes in this book. I also like that McKenna included ideas on how to use what...

The Chia Cookbook is beautifully illustrated with brightly colored pictures of the recipes. I was drawn to this book from the moment I received it. I selected it after reading, Chia Vitality, Janie Hoffmann's first book, and wanting to incorporate the seeds into more of my recipes than just my smoothies. The Preface of this book gives a history of Janie Hoffman's experience with chia seeds. Janie is also the founder of Mama Chia. If you have read Chia Vitality, this part isn't new. However, if you are new to Janie Hoffman's books, it is a nicely summarized background to the cookbook. It is also a good refresher on her background. This cookbook is divided into chapters for smoothies and drinks, breakfasts, snacks, salads and soups, main dishes and sweets, desserts and cocktails. The illustrations  make the recipes look inviting. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. Recipes include| chia peach jam, chia gazpacho, Tuscon white beans and b...

These past 3 years have been fairly stressful for my family and I as we have done some moving around for my husband's job. I was excited to review this little book because I thought it would help us maintain our health rough the challenges. I am so glad that I did. Cherie Calbom writes about stress and adrenal fatigue quite thoroughly in this little book. She shares how stress affected her, how it affects the reader, lifestyle changes to make and dietary changes to make including juicing. The book is easy to read for a layman, colorfully illustrated and has some good recipes included. I had read some of this information in her book on juices but most of he information is new and specific to this issue. I appreciate how she talks about mind, body and spirit working together for healing. Her holistic approach seems realistic to me. I would encourage anyone to read it who is under a lot of stress. I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a ...

 The New American Herbal is described on the back cover as 'a masterful A-to -Z introduction to the full spectrum of herbal plants." This beautiful book, authored by Stephen Orr, would be a great addition to any gardener, cook or crafter's library. The New American Herbal is an eye feast of beautiful photographs of foods made with herbs, herbs in the garden and other ways to preserve and use herbs. I thought this book offered sound advice and sage wisdom on growing herbs and using them. Each herb detailed in the book has a side bar listed with the most basic information such as where it is grown, how to grow, how tall it gets and other basics to growing any herb. Herbs include the every day herbs we all know like oregano, parsley and tarragon, as well as those not as well known, such as lungwort, epazote and sweet cicely. I thought several recipes in the book looked appealing to try. Recipes such as: Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Oregano, Braised Chicken with Tarrago...

Chia Vitality by Janie Hoffman is a great guide to overall health--not just a book about chia seeds. Just what are chia seeds anyway, you may ask? Janie Hoffman shares not only what these seeds are, but what they can do for you. In a nutshell, these are little seeds full of protein, calcium, and antioxidants, making them a nutritious superfood for today. Hoffman shares how chia changed her life--along with her holistic approach involving exercise, meditation and a healthy diet that includes plenty of chia seeds. She includes a 30 day vitality health plan complete with chia recipes. I thought several of the recipes looked good: strawberry chia seed jam, chia chocolate pudding, California fritatta, and chicken chia chili. Hoffman is the founder and CEO of Mamma Chia, an award-winning organic chi-based food and beverage company. She shares how the idea for this business came about and ways that the business has helped her as a person, as well as her healthy plan with the chia seed...