Category: book review

Real Moms Love to Eat by Beth Adlrich is an entertaining book on how to live a healthier lifestyle. Yea, that’s right, I said entertaining. Also note that I said a healthy lifestyle book, not a diet book. Beth Aldrich knows how to speak directly to us moms out there in a way that can hold our attention.

I, for one, was not very savvy as far as deciphering food labels.  I knew that too much sodium is bad but how much is too much?  What exactly are good fats and bad fats?  And what the science babble on some of the labels mean.  Real Moms Love to Eat answered these questions for me and then some.  Heck, the book even answered questions I didn’t know I had.

Beth Aldrich has a number of degrees and achievements of note under her belt.  This list includes: Certified Health Counselor, healthy lifestyle and nutrition expert, a media personality, and author of Real Moms Love to Eat.  She is a health and nutritionist columnist for Diet.com, Socialmoms.com, HotMomsClub.com, and RealMomsLovetoEat.com.  She is the founder of For Her Information Media LLC. which was established in 2003 that includes productions such as PBS TV series For Her Information, the radio show A Balanced Life with Beth Aldrich, and Real Moms Love to Eat with Beth Aldrich.  She also holds a B.A. in English/Journalism from Christopher Newport University in Virginia.  There are really several lines more of her achievements I can include but I think you get the idea.

I found Real Moms Love to Eat to be motivating and down to earth.  Some of the things I love is that she doesn’t tell you that you’re weak or should be ashamed of yourself for eating a slice of birthday cake or a brownie.  In fact, she tells you to go ahead and let yourself have it every now and then.  She shares her own anecdotes about her fave treats.  There are little exercises in the book you can do that don’t take much time at all.  There are also tips and “to-do” lists for each week that can, for the most part, be easily implemented.  Great tips about organizing your kitchen, using the healthiest cooking materials, getting your family involved, and lots more.

There are also a lot of great healthy recipes in the book.  One that I really want to try is for the nut pate.  One thing I can say, is Real Moms Love to Eat really inspired me to choose my foods better.  Both for me, and for my family.  Here is one of my fill-in grocery shopping trips I did since reading this book.

I much rather buy from a local farmer’s market, but all the farmer’s markets in my area are closed down for the season.  So…I work with what I got.  I actually spent a little more time in my local grocery stores organic food section too.

Real Moms Love to Eat isn’t available until January 2012.  You can pre-order it now though for chances to win some great prizes: http://www.realmomslovetoeat.com/sweepstakes/

You can also find Real Moms Love to Eat on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/realmomsluv2eat
and on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RealMomsLoveToEat

This book is a great read. Entertaining, educational, and inspiring.  A definite read for your 2012 book list.  Also, I have been doing, and will continue to do reviews on some of the great healthy products I’ve recieved as part of the Real Moms Love to eat Food Affairiate program.  You can check out my reviews for Dreamfield Pasta and Peanut Butter and Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams.

***I received an advance e-copy of Real Moms Love to Eat at no cost as part of the Socialmoms.com blogger program and Real Moms Love to Eat Food Affairiate program.  I also received a goody bag and will be receiving SocialMoms points for this post.  I believe they still have a few openings left in this SocialMoms.com blogger program if you’re interested.  Just click on the hyperlinked Socialmoms.com link in this disclaimer.***

I’ve read several financiaal books.  I had a couple things that really stuck with me through most of those books.  I started changing my finances for the better. I’m still not perfect and I still make mistakes.

I believe there’s more than one way to do many things.  One tip or advice will work for someone while for another it just doesn’t hit home enough.  What doesn’t work for you may work great for someone else.

The 60 Minute Money Workout by Ellie Kay is one financial book that I don’t think is up my alley.  It’s called “The 60 Minute Money Workout” but you’re supposed to work on each section for 60 minutes.

Some of the exercises and advice sound a bit cheesy to me.  It’s hard to get serious about something when you feel ridiculous doing it.  She also states that she was a saver from an early age and many people in her family were.  I’m not saver, but I’m trying to change that.

That’s not to say that I think the whole book isn’t for me.  She does say things that I think are important.  She talks about staying positive, not putting others down that are trying to help you with the workout, and incorporating your dreams into your financial makeover.  I think those things are very important.

As I said, this book isn’t for me but it may work for someone else.

*** I received this book for free from the Blogging for Books program. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post. ***  




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I’m generally a fan of those “weird fact” type books.  I like to read the occasional posts online of funny observations when they are well written with humor.  So I jumped on the chance to review a book called “Weirder Than Marshmallows“

Weirder Than Marshmallows is a book of essays and satire by Daniel Fogg.  I have to admit I expected much more from this book.  I expected a few laughs.  Some moments where I would say “Oh yea, that’s so true, I never really thought of that”.  But alas, those moments never came.

To me it reads more like a teen’s facebook page or online diary.  It seemed kind of all over the place.  A few parts, I felt, were just plain mean.  Yes, I realize a lot of satire can be mean sounding but, you can usually get a chuckle out of it.

Still I realize different people like different things.  This was not a book for me but may be one that someone else is interested in.  So if you want to check out the book Weirder Than Marshmallows you can find it on amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Weirder-Than-Marshmallows-ebook/dp/B005FMC7YU/

If you do decide to buy the book, you can forward your receipt to: dc@nightfirepublications.com and for a limited time they will send you a free Scentsy Pumpkin Marshmallow scent circle.  

You can also find Weirder Than Marshmallows on facebook.

Weirder Than Marshmallows is a Nightfire Publications book.  Nightfire Publications can also be found on facebook.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More

I had not heard of “The Dragon and the Turtle” books by Donita K. Paul and Evangeline Denmark, prior to this review. I thought it looked like it might e a cute book that the boys would enjoy.

The Dragon and the Turtle is a beautifully illustrated children’s book about friendship. More specifically, about being a true friend. Dragon meets turtle as a stranger but goes above and beyond to help the turtle he met. This of course starts a wonderful friendship.

This story was a very nice story to read to my children. It gave them an idea of what being a true friend should be about. There were also another moral or two tucked into the story. There are questions in the back of the book that you can ask your children once you’ve read the story.

My boys enjoyed the story. The story itself engaged them. The illustrations kept them interested as well.

I believe this book is the first in a series of Dragon and turtle books. There is also “The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari”. To go along with these books, Waterbrook Multnomah publishers is having a contests around these books to “send your child on safari”.

The Grand Prize includes:

–A child size tent

–2 sleeping bags

–Campfire treats

–Essential Safari tools (compass, flashlight, and spy glass)

–Stuffed animals

–Copies of “The Dragon and the Turtle” and “The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari”

2 runners up will receive a copy of each book and a stuffed animal.

You can go HERE to enter.

***I received a hardback copy of the book “The Dragon and the Turtle” as part of Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Groups: blogging for books program.  I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post.  Any opinions expressed are my own.***

 IF you have a minute, I’d love for you to stop by and be the first to rank my book review on Waterbrook Multnomah publishing group.  You can use the little widget below for convenience!

Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More

In a January blog post I mentioned my new year’s resolution was to pay down my debt. I’m still working on. My husband and I have both been reading financial books. As a member of Booksneeze.com I found “Mind Your Own Mortgage” by Robert J. Bernabe. 

This book guides you through a money saving process of researching, obtaining, refinancing (if ever) and paying down a mortgage.   I was relieved to find clear descriptions of financing terms.  Robert Bernabe goes on to explain further the reasoning behind his advice and what the alternatives are.  He refers frequently to a website in the book to obtain tools to better help your mortgage process.  Robert Bernabe is a christian author and occasionally refers to christian beliefs in the financial process.

This book changes many people’s ideas of how to shop for a mortgage.  I, myself, learned a few things. I found myself saying “oh my gosh that’s true, I never thought of that”.

If I did have disappointment in that book it’s that I wish there were more information regarding paying off a mortgage.  There is of course some information regarding this late in the book.  Another, detail I would like to point out is that this is not a book to sit and read easily on your lunch break etc.  In order to understand effectively the information you will need to access the website to refer to forms and other tools Mr. Bernabe refers to.

If you are someone who is considering starting your first mortgage, buying another house, or refinancing I would certainly recommend this book.  I wish I would have read this book when my husband and I were house shopping.  This book requires you to actively participate to get the full benefit. It is apparent that Robert Bernabe is well versed in the ways of the mortgage industry and feel this book would be of great benefit to the home buyer or someone looking to refinance.

***I received a free copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com to review on my blog.***