Clean Slate ~ Book Review

Clean Slate: A Cookbook & Guide

Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body & Feel Your Best

ISBN: 978-0-307-95459-6

$17.10 (paperback)

$11.99 (kindle)

About the book:

It’s time to hit the reset button. This book emphasizes eating clean, whole, unprocessed foods as part of a primarily plant-based diet, with delicious and healthy recipes that make it easy to do just that. Refreshing juices and smoothies, savory snacks, protein-packed main dishes, and even delectable desserts will keep you satisfied all day long; among them are plenty of vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, and allergen-free options, each identified by helpful icons. Comprehensive, informative, and utterly satisfying, Clean Slate is the complete go-to guide for boosting your energy and feeling your best.

More than just a cookbook, Clean Slate, from the editors of Martha Stewart Living,provides you with the nutritionally sound information you need to shop for and prepare food that nourishes body and mind. You’ll find guidelines for restocking your pantry with whole grains, beans and legumes, lean proteins, and healthy fats; glossaries of the best sources of detoxifiers, antioxidants, and other health-boosting nutrients; and menus for a simple 3-day cleanse and a 21-day whole-body detox, with easy-to-follow tips and strategies for staying on track.
 
Get inspired by more than 160 beautifully photographed recipes organized into action-focused chapters, including: 

My thoughts:

I have a confession. I LOVE just sitting and looking at cookbooks. I don't actually cook out of them much anymore as my fibromyalgia advances and I don't have much energy but this book caught my eye because of the cover and the text on the front. 

I choose this book for a couple of reasons. 

1) I feel better when I watch my processed foods and while I don't do it 100% (and not even 80%) I do feel better when I cook my own food and eat healthier. It seems to help me control my symptoms & I'm not nearly as tired.

2) As the years have gone by I've gained weight and as I've gained I've gotten sicker and I'm ready for that to end. The phrase "Detox Your Body" caught my eye and I'm wondering if Detoxing will help me feel better in the long wrong as the chemicals & preservatives in processed foods, our everyday produce and meats leaves. I've been told it will - and it just might.

When I took it out of the package I was excited to find a book that was interesting, beautiful and caught my attention. I immediately fell in love with this book. It's truly beautiful. I don't say that lightly - the pictures are gorgeous and the information that is contained is interesting, well written and concise. It is not a DIET book - but more of a lifestyle change type of book. You will not find a book full of dry scientific facts like "why this works and why you shouldn't have.....". 

I found several weeks of menus - there is a 3 day and a 21 day Detox plan that is easy to use. The detox itself uses a variety of smoothies & salads that are filling and has enough flavor so you don't get bored. I think the thing that most impressed me is 10 pages of Smoothies with easy recipes that don't need special ingredients - there are mangos, pineapple, apples, kale - and that most dreaded veggie in MY house BEETS! Ugh. 

Breakfast was my favorite chapter and I even purchased some Quinoa to use to make Cardamom Quinoa Porridge. I haven't tried it yet - but will soon. I found chicken and fish and several side dishes I want to try.  One thing I always look for in a cookbook anymore (I am dairy, whey & soy intolerant & Baby is Gluten Free) is whether the recipes are labeled vegan, dairy, nut or gluten free. I found plenty of anti-inflammatory ingredients & recipes that will help with the pain and discomfort of a Chronic Pain condition. =D 

A few good recipes:

Replenish: Get off to a good start

Whole-Wheat Waffles with Strawberries and Yogurt; 

Poached Eggs with Roasted Tomatoes

 

Reboot: Drink to your health

Grapefruit, Carrot, and Ginger Juice;

Green Machine Smoothie

 

Recharge: Load up on vegetables

Roasted Mushroom Tartines with Avocado; 

Steamed Vegetable Salad with Macadamia Dressing 

 

Reenergize: Choose your snacks wisely

Warm Spinach-White Bean Dip; 

Trail Mix with Toasted Coconut

 

Restore: Make meals with substance

Wild Salmon, Asparagus, and Shiitakes in Parchment; 

Grilled Chicken with Cucumber, Radish, and Cherry Tomato Relish

 

Relax: Have a little something sweet

Dark Chocolate Bark with Hazelnuts; 

Berry-Almond Crisp

I'm planning on trying out the 21 day detox program and will let you know how I do. The only reason I'm waiting at this point is that I don't have a juicer for the smoothies. 

Anyone have any suggestions for a good juicer that is $50 or less? (that is easy to clean?)

Disclaimer: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review. Regardless I only recommend products or services I have personally read or used & think my readers will enjoy.

Blind Hope - a true story about love

~ Review

Blind Hope: An Unwanted Dog and the Woman She Rescued

by Kim Meeder
208 pages
ISBN:9781601422804
Amazon: $5.60 (paperback)


An unwanted dog. An emotional rescue. Two lives forever changed. 

Laurie's dreams had been shattered before she came to work at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch—the ranch of rescued dreams—where broken horses and broken children encounter healing every day. In an attempt to soothe her aching soul, Laurie reached out to save a dog in need. And she soon began to realize that the dog was rescuing her. 

An inspiring true story told through the engaging voice of Kim Meeder, Blind Hope reveals poignant life lessons Laurie experienced from her ailing, yet courageous canine friend. Despite the blindness of her dog—and her own heart—Laurie uncovered what she really needed most: authentic love, unconditional trust, and true acceptance, faults and all.

As Laurie and her dog, Mia, both learned to follow the lead of a master they couldn’t see, Laurie discovered the transforming power of God’s grace even for imperfect and selfish people—and she experienced a greater love than she had ever known.

“Love is a bridge that stands firm through difficulties and connects one heart directly to another, not because of how it looks, but because of what it is.”    --Kim Meeder, Blind Hope




My Thoughts:
Blind Hope is about more than rescuing a dog from a neglectful owner but it's also about a woman who ends up learning more about herself and the God who loves her than she expected. She ends up learning about why she takes risks with her life, why she can't trust others and why she can't trust God to provide her with what she needs and wants more than anything.

Blind Hope is a good book to leave in the bathroom, on the end table, in the guest room and it's a great book to read with your kids 12+. There are some parts kids will have questions about but you can take the time to explain the answers and use those questions to help your children to form an opinion about right and wrong. The book is a quick read even though it's 208 pages long. It moves fast and is chock full of good advice, scripture and has a wonderful section on what Christ's sacrifice means to us.


Read An Excerpt

You can purchase the book on Amazon where it is currently on sale for $5.60 which makes it a good gift for a friend who loves animals. 

I was given a copy of Blind Hope through Blogging For Books. I was not required to write a positive review nor did I receive $ for my review. 

Would you take a moment to review my post and let me know how I did? This enables me to receive more books and helps me improve my reviewing skills. Thanks!

Adult Review: The Daughter's Walk

Please Note:

I'm sure you've noticed I've started adding adult type book reviews to the blog. I'm in the process of moving my reviews for non-children's books to this site and I would appreciate it if you'd let me know your thoughts on this.  Many of them will be Christian with some secular mystery/thriller (not creepy vampire/dark type books). Thanks so much!

The Daughter's Walk

by Jane Kirkpatrick

ISBN: 978-1400074297 Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Purchase online:
Amazon - $8.19 paperback

               - $9.99 kindle

About the book:

A mother's tragedy, a daughter's desire and the 7000 mile journey that changed their lives.


In 1896 Norwegian American Helga Estby accepted a wager from the fashion industry to walk from Spokane, Washington to New York City within seven months in an effort to earn $10,000. Bringing along her nineteen year-old daughter Clara, the two made their way on the 3500-mile trek by following the railroad tracks and motivated by the money they needed to save the family farm. After returning home to the Estby farm more than a year later, Clara chose to walk on alone by leaving the family and changing her name. Her decisions initiated a more than 20-year separation from the only life she had known.





My Thoughts:
This is the story of 2 women, mother and daughter, who make a 7,000 mile trek (ON FOOT) across America to earn the money to save their family farm. Helga (the mother) has agreed to start out the journey in normal everyday women's turn of the century attire and part way there they are to switch to split skirts to promote women's lib and show that women are just as hardy and able to hold their own without men in their lives.  Helga volunteers her 16 year daughter as her companion and also agrees to speak to women (and some men) along the way to share their experience and help promote women's lib.

Along the way they battle freezing cold, hunger, desert conditions and near death - the only way their deadline can be extended is through illness.

Outstanding book! I really enjoyed it and actually stayed up late into the night to read it. I sympathized with the daughter more so than the mother. It is actually the daughter's story more than the mother's. There is a father disappointed and disillusioned with the mother choosing to leave home to do this (he feels her place is at home), a sudden split in the family, dishonesty and loyalty, and also the story of how the daughter (Clara) makes her way into the world and finds the support of two women who educate her and support her after she finds herself unemployable and suddenly without a family.

I found it amazing and strangely uplifting to read what these two women went through all for something that the mother believed in whole-heartedly and that ultimately made a difference in women's lives in future America.


I strongly encourage women to read this book. It's suitable for kids 13+ to adult to read. I can't think of anything that is questionable as far as language, premaritable sex, etc. It's a great way for young women to learn about the fight women had to get basic freedoms other than the right to wear pants and work outside the home.

About Jane Kirkpatrick:
Jane believes that our lives are the stories that others read first and she encourages groups to discover the power of their own stories to divinely heal and transform. Visit her website for more information about her current projects and the privilege of following one's passion wherever the dreams may lead.

You can find Jane Kirkpatrick here:
Words of Encouragement (blog)
Jane's Facebook Author Page
Jane's Twitter Author Page

What others are saying:
"Jane Kirkpatrick is a wonderful writer who creates a story full of strong, admirable characters with human flaws. Clara and Helga come to life with dimension and depth pulling us into their world. I walked across the country with them, experienced their triumph and disappointment, and faced the shattered, angry family when they returned. Jane has given readers a wonderful story of a family schism that comes full circle to love and grace and the importance of family, especially when one has been an outcast. I highly recommend The Daughter’s Walk!"
~ Francine Rivers, New York Times Bestselling Author.

Much thanks to Blogging For Books by WaterbrookMultnomah for sending me a copy of The Daughter's Walk to review. No money exchanged hands and I was not required to write a positive review.


Would you consider (pretty please) ranking my review so i can get other books to review for you? I really appreciate it!
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/view/12215