Dinner Recipes

There is nothing more like home than a home-cooked meal. Amen? Everyone, whether young or old enjoy a good comfortable meal now and then to disrupt the unhealthy eating habits adapted to their work life.

Even students have to turn to eating ramen noodles or mac and cheese from the box as a staple food when studying for exams.

This is where this book comes in handy. Of course, you do need a kitchen and some cooking utensils like pots, pans and stirring spoons. But the recipes can be made in one big pot and can last several meals.

Dinner is all about options: inventive, unfussy food with unexpected flavor. Clark’s mission is to help anyone—whether a novice with just a single pan or the experienced home cook—figure out what to make any night of the week without settling on fallbacks.  These inherently simple recipes can turn anyone into a better and more confident cook.

Love Letters from God to Girls!

There's something so sentimental about love letters to girls especially. Girls and women all over the world are exploited for heinous crimes, but here, these letters are made for our daughters to read.

So to sum it up, girls are important to God. There's a saying out there: behind every man is a woman on her knees.

I have reviewed all the other books in this series and I think this is the best because it is specified to girls who need this extra confidence boost in today's world.

In this heart-warming picture book designed for girls, author Glenys Nellist tells the inspiring stories of incredible women in the Bible. With beautiful illustrations by Rachel Clowes and sweet lift-the-flap envelopes, each story delivers a special message for children to open as they read their own personal love letters from God. Full of warmth and love, this picture book will fill girls’ hearts with the wonder of the Lord. The stories of Eve, Miriam, Esther, Mary, and much more will delight children and remind them of the bond they can share with God, just like th
e women of the Bible.

Coloring Devotional Book

Have you ever wanted to be your own illustrator? Now's your chance! This devotional book let girls be their own illustrator while reading the Bible. Each page is printed on high-quality, thick paper stock that won’t bleed through. And when you’re finished coloring with markers, metallic pens, or colored pencils, you will have a chance to reflect and journal about each promise from Scripture, and find inspiration for every day. Perfect for girls 8-12.

Even though this book was received for free from Book Look bloggers, I still wanted to receive this devotional for my cousin who is 13. Even though she is now a teenager, her passion is coloring and making designs on paper. As an older cousin, who can resist thumbing through those black and white pages without designing the flowers and patterns while reading God's word?

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

The Legend of the Sand Dollar tells the story of Kerry, as her cousin Jack reveals to her the deeper meaning of Easter hidden within something as small as a sand dollar. This Easter tale reminds everyone everywhere that when Jesus died for us and was resurrected, he promised hope for all.

I loved the full-colored illustrations and the story itself about the legend of the sand dollar. I never knew it had such a deep meaning to it.

But all in all, the book felt rushed. When I was reading it, the story didn't flow as well as it could have flowed. I didn't understand where the cross was in the sand dollar, and there was little characterization.

It seemed that the author wanted to tell the story of the sand dollar, but didn't know where to put it in the story. It started in a nice way but ended abruptly.

Children will love the pictures, but probably won't understand the depth of the story as much.

When God Made You

When God made you, He knew the number of hair you would have and the achievements you may grow up to achieve.

Even adults in this day and age need to hear the above sentence from time to time. Because this society has become a 'me' society, many other people are feeling that no one cares about them.

Even more so, children nowadays need more encouragement than ever about growing up and knowing that someone cares about them all the time.

Through playful, charming rhyme and vivid, fantastical illustrations, When God Made You inspires young readers to learn about their own special gifts and how they fit into God’s divine plan as they grow, explore, and begin to create for themselves.

‘Cause when God made YOU, somehow God knew
That the world needed someone exactly like you!

The assurance that they are deeply loved and a unique creation in our big universe is certain to help them spread their wings and fly.

A Little Thing Called a Conscience

Have you ever heard of the angel and the devil? Those two little voices that make you choose wise choices or bad choices? Most of all, the devil wants to do things you want to do, but the angel holds you back from making unwise decisions.

It has been depicted in a variety of shows and movies. It's another little thing called your conscience. The thing that tells you not to do something even though you want to do it.

In the book called, Your Magnificent Chooser, John Ortberg addresses the ability to choose in a whimsical way by inviting children to use their “magnificent chooser” that God gave them to make right choices daily. It's a great teachable moment for children that is depicted in a very down-to-earth kind of way for visual illustrations.

 For kids, those choices can include whether to be obedient or disobedient, to share or be selfish, to have a good attitude or not, and more. This is not a one time read-aloud, but a book that can be revisited more than once as you point out real live examples in your child's life as a parent or an educator in your classroom.

Wit's End is Real!

The Story Traveler's Bible is what I think modern Bible stories would look like in real life. The pictures are more vibrant and more intune with today's illustrations for children. No more are their heads wrapped and the pictures seem old.

This new book has updated pictures to make it seem more of a graphic novel than a Bible, so others may pick it up, accidentally read it, and accept Jesus into their heart more readily than before.

I read that book and relished the illustrations as I knew all the stories already, but seeing the illustrations really put me into the Bible stories, more so than before.

The Story Travelers Bible teaches kids that the Bible is more than just a bunch of tales told by parents and Sunday school teachers, but the Bible documents God’s work in and for His people from the beginning of time. The Story Travelers Bible will take kids on a ride through 85 Bible stories.

Old McDonald Had a Farm...

Remember Old McDonald? That farmer had all those noisy animals making so many noises. They appeared in this book again, but with a new cute look. The animals are cute, so even if they are noisy, children learn that God made all these animals and we should love them for who they are!

I love that it's a nearly indestructible board book so my future children will be able to read them without the pages ripping when they are 6 months old. (You can tell I'll be a homeschool mom.)

Baa! Oink! Moo! God Made the Animals, written by award-winning author Rhonda Gowler Greene and illustrated by David Walker, is set on a farm like Mr. McDonald. I wonder why we call him old. My 3rd graders last year said that calling anyone old was rude.

In the end, children learn that God is responsible for creating sheep, cows, pigs, horses, goats––all the animals on the farm… including puppies! Together, parents and children will discover the wonder of God’s creation when they open Baa! Oink! Moo! God Made the Animals.

Dumpling Book

"This is the best book ever!" Those were the words I heard when I gave this book to a fellow co-worker. She loves making "Asian" food and fell in love with this book. She even willingly gave up her lunchtime so she could take her time to read it from cover to cover.

She could not fathom why anyone would part with such a book, once it had been received. But now, she is cooking up something for her hubby and planning to visit the author at her restaurant in New York City.

I myself scanned the book before passing it onto her and I don't remember being too amazed. Maybe it was because I am Chinese and my mom makes dumplings all the time. To my co-worker, maybe it was different and she now has a book of secrets to share with her family.

Here is a blurb that was found online with this book: From the restaurant where adventurous foodies get the freshest dumplings in New York City, comes the ultimate Chinese cookbook with 60 recipes for classic and unexpected dumplings and dim sum-like side dishes. 

Whatever the lure is, read this book to find out! 

Go Veggies!

Have you ever asked yourself if you could be a vegetarian for the rest of your life or how someone can go without a steak for life? I have def. thought about it and pondered on how someone can just stop eating meat.

Don't get me wrong. I love vegetables, but it's not the same without my meat: a nice juicy steak. When I reviewed this book, I was surprised.

The editors of Lucky Peach have colluded to bring you a portfolio of meat-free cooking that even carnivores can get behind. Designed to bring BIG-LEAGUE FLAVOR to your WEEKNIGHT COOKING, this collection of recipes, developed by the Lucky Peach test kitchen and chef friends, features trusted strategies for adding oomph to produce with flavors that will muscle meat out of the picture.