About the book:

A New York Times bestseller, I Quit Sugar is week-by-week guide to quitting sugar to lose weight; boost energy; and improve your looks, mood, and overall health, with 108 sugarfree recipes. 

Sarah Wilson thought of herself as a relatively healthy eater. She didn’t realize how much sugar was hidden in her diet, or how much it was affecting her well-being. When she learned that her sugar consumption could be the source of a lifetime of mood swings, fluctuating weight, sleep problems, and thyroid disease, she knew she had to make a change. 

What started as an experiment to eliminate sugar–both the obvious and the hidden kinds–soon became a way of life, and now Sarah shows you how you can quit sugar too:
* follow a flexible and very doable 8-week plan
* overcome cravings
* make food you’re excited to eat with these 108 recipes for detox meals, savory snacks, and sweet treats from Sarah Wilson and contributors including Gwyneth Paltrow, Curtis Stone, Dr. Robert Lustig (The Fat Chance Cookbook), Sarma Melngailis (Raw Food/ Real World), Joe “the Juicer” Cross, and Angela Liddon (Oh She Glows) 

I Quit Sugar makes it easy to kick the habit for good, lose weight, and feel better than ever before. When you are nourished with delicious meals and treats, you won’t miss the sugar for an instant.

“When I quit sugar I found wellness and the kind of energy and sparkle I had as a kid. I don’t believe in diets or in making eating miserable. This plan and the recipes are designed for lasting wellness.” — Sarah Wilson

I’ve been dabbling with not eating carbs and sugars over the past few months so when I saw this book up for review, I knew I wanted to read it.

One of the first paragraphs I read said this:

I was eating three pieces of fruit a day, a handful of dried fruit, a teaspoon or two of honey in my tea, a small bar of dark chocolate after lunch and after dinner, honey drizzled on yogurt or dessert.

This was her “too much, obviously addicted to sugar”.  Fruit and a teaspoon or two of honey?  Are you serious?  Right off the bat, I was irritated.

Firstly, I just can’t for the life of me deem fruit bad in my mind.  God created fruits and vegetables for a reason, for us to consume. For years and years we’ve been told the health benefits of fruits. They reduce risk for heart disease, protect against certain types of cancers, reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

Secondly, Wilson says all fruit MUST go.  But then a recipe of “Sweet Green Meal in a Tumbler” has grapefruit, lemon and green apple in it.  What in the world?  Talk about confusing people.

Overall, I wasn’t really impressed with this book.  It makes me sad to say that because I really really wanted to like it and to gain tons of knowledge from it.

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for this honest review as part of their Blogging for Books program.

The Loving Kitchen is a collection of comforting recipes straight from the kitchen of popular food blogger LeAnn Rice. 

You know the feeling you get when you’re an overnight guest in someone’s home, and you awaken to a hot-off-the-griddle breakfast? Or when a coworker brings in a pan of her famous brownies to celebrate your recent promotion? Doesn’t it feel great when dinner at the neighbors’ house includes multiple courses of scratch-made recipes and conversation that lingers beyond dessert and that last cup of coffee? 

For many of us, these are the moments in which we feel most loved. That’s the idea behind The Loving Kitchen. Get your family’s day started right with LeAnn’s fluffy Pumpkin Spice Pancakes, or a bowl of Almond Coconut Granola and yogurt. Keep your favorite sports fans fueled through the entire game with hearty servings of Hot Sausage and Spinach Dip, or toss together a Grilled Chicken and Berry Salad for lunch with your dearest girlfriends. 

Want a signature dinner you can serve on those special occasions? Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Orange Cranberry Glaze with Creamy Smashed Baby Potatoes is the perfect meal to celebrate a milestone. LeAnn’s sunny narrative and ideas for bringing people together will remind you that the best meal you’ll ever cook is the one you prepare as an act of love.

If there is one thing this Mama loves doing for her family, it’s cooking.  It’s one of the ways I show them love and just how much I care about them.  I have to admit though, I’ve worried on occasion that my way of showing them love is actually the wrong way.  Nonetheless, I sure do enjoy it!

Now if you know me, you know I love me some Paula Deen. Butter, mayonnaise, gooey cakes and fried chicken sounds right up my alley. So I’m deffo not going to hate on the unhealthier recipes in this book. These recipes are easy to follow and my fam loved them!

About the book:

We live in the age of low-rise jeans, belly-button rings, and backless shirts. Many girls and young women today could not even define the word modesty, let alone tell you how to live it out. Teen girls often ask:

Why can’t I wear what everyone else is wearing? My parents are hung up on their old sense of fashion. Times have changed, why can’t I? Isn’t is really the guy’s problem if he is tempted?

In a fresh and trusted voice, Dannah Gresh has a new message for them: modesty itself is a delicate yet formidable power. In Secret Keeper, she teaches that modesty not only issues a challenge for one man to romantically earn your virtue, but it also expresses your love for and obedience to God.

If you’ve read this blog for very long, you know I’m a promoter of modesty. I think modesty is not just an important trait to instill in our daughters, but to also reflect ourselves. God gave us, as women, the gift of softness, femininity and beauty. It’s our responsibility to convey those without conveying our sexuality. Allow your appearance to reflect your pure and virtuous heart. Know your worth and reflect it on the outside. Your body is a gift from God, honor it as such. I love this quote by Jessica Rey “Modesty isn’t about hiding ourselves, it’s about revealing our dignity”.

Our girls being exposed to Cosmo magazines in nearly every checkout line, this publication has steadily declined into a full-on pornographic ‘how to’ guide for teens and vulnerable young girls. Victoria’s Secret now targets 18-24 year-olds with the PINK line. Nearly every popular clothing line has low rise jeans, crop tops and plunging necklines. The need for a clear voice on modesty has never been greater. In this book, teen and twenty-something young women are given actual pictures and examples of modern clothing.

Dannah’s approach to explaining the critical nature of modest is both cool and relevant. The photos will also show the girls how to take the ‘Truth or Bare Fashion Tests.’ In essence, this will provide concrete, ‘how-to’ modest dressing skills. Secret Keeper is a great mother and daughter book.    

I was given this book by Moody Publishers for the purpose of this review.