Lighten Up, Ya'll, by Virginia Willis

Title: Lighten Up, Ya'll

Author: Virginia Willis

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Date: March 3, 2015

Hardcover: 232 pages







About the Book
Lighten Up, Y’all, is a soul-satisfying and deeply personal collection of Virginia’s new favorite recipes. All the classics are covered—from a comforting Southern Style Shepherd’s Pie with Grits to warm, melting Broccoli Mac and Cheese to Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie. Each dish is packed with real Southern flavor, but made with healthier, more wholesome ingredients and techniques. Wherever you are on your health and wellness journey, Lighten Up, Y’all has the recipes, tools, and inspiration you need to make the nourishing, down-home Southern food you love.

My Take
I love recipe books. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have a single clue what to make sometimes. But the most important, is finding a recipe book that has great tasting food, but not overly unhealthy. When I first saw this book, I was thinking if it is southern food, it probably is super fattening, but thought to give it a chance anyway.

What I like most about this book is how the author breaks down the different types of oils and fats. She lets you know who each of them stack up against each other. Not many books do that and it is helpful in deciding on which ones to have in your home. She then goes on to talk about 10 tips for lightening things up. For instance, drinking water (which we all know and do ~ hopefully), using spices in your food for flavour, choosing lean proteins, and measuring out your food vs eating straight out of the bag.

On to the recipes. There are 10 different chapters: Starters, salads, from the garden, grains, seafood, poultry, beef, soups, breads, and sweets. This was nice to see because most recipe books contain major meat recipes and I always have to figure out how to make it work for me ~ I'm a vegetarian. There are about 10 +/- recipes in each section. I don't think there isn't anything someone couldn't find. The pictures that went along with some of the recipes were amazing. So, if you are finding yourself wanting a new cookbook with tons of options, this would be the one.

About the Author

 
VIRGINIA WILLIS is the author of the acclaimed cookbooks Bon Appétit, Y’all; Basic to Brilliant, Y’all; Grits; and Okra. Willis is a columnist for FoodNetwork.com, a contributing editor to Southern Living, and was named one of “Seven Food Writers You Need to Know” by the Chicago Tribune. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

This complimentary book was given to me by Blogging For Books for my honest review.

The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen, and Mark Hyman

 Title: The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life

Series: The Daniel Plan

Author: Rick Warren D.MIN., Daniel Amen M.D., and Mark Hyman M.D.

Publisher: Zondervan

Date: December 3, 2013

Paperback: 352 pages






About the Book
Revolutionize Your Health … Once and for All
During an afternoon of baptizing over 800 people, Pastor Rick Warren realized it was time for change. He told his congregation he needed to lose weight and asked if anyone wanted to join him. He thought maybe 200 people would sign up, instead he witnessed a movement unfold as 15,000 people lost over 260,000 pounds in the first year. With assistance from medical and fitness experts, Pastor Rick and thousands of people began a journey to transform their lives.

Welcome to The Daniel Plan.

Here’s the secret sauce: The Daniel Plan is designed to be done in a supportive community relying on God’s instruction for living.

When it comes to getting healthy, two are always better than one. Our research has revealed that people getting healthy together lose twice as much weight as those who do it alone. God never meant for you to go through life alone and that includes the journey to health.

Unlike the thousands of other books on the market, this book is not about a new diet, guilt-driven gym sessions, or shame-driven fasts. The Daniel Plan shows you how the powerful combination of faith, fitness, food, focus, and friends will change your health forever, transforming you in the most head-turning way imaginably---from the inside out.

My Take
I  was really excited to get this book. I thought it was going to take us back to Bible times and show us how they ate back then. I wanted to change the way that I had been eating. Get rid of a lot of processed foods and start eating a more healthy balanced way. Not what the book was like at all. One thing it is, is like a lot of other "health weight loss books" except for the part about relying on God to get you through.

The book does have a recipe section. I don't really approve of some of the choices of foods to eat. I went on the Internet that goes along with the book and saw recipes including pork and sea food. This shocked me. Daniel would have never eaten these types of foods. So I personally think that they used the word "Daniel" to help sell the book or attract more people to buy the book.

This book does give you the option of a 10 day and a 40 day plan to choose from. There is also online support if you need it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't too happy with the book and that is a rare thing for me.

About the Author
Dr. Rick Warren is pastor, author, global strategist, theologian, and philanthropist.  His book The Purpose driven Life has been called the bestselling non-fiction hardback in publishing history by Publishers Weekly, having sold more than 32 million copies.  Warren founded Saddleback Church in 1980 with his wife, Kay.  In addition to a 120-acre campus in Lake Forest, CA, the church has ten satellite campuses in Southern California and three international campuses.


Dr. Daniel G. Amen is a physician, double-board certified psychiatrist, teacher and eight-time New York Times bestselling author. Widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts on applying brain imaging science to everyday clinical practice, Amen is the founder of Amen Clinics in Newport Beach and San Francisco, Calif.; Bellevue, Wash.; Reston, Va.; Atlanta, Ga.; and New York City. His work has been featured in numerous media outlets, including “The Dr. Oz Show,” “ABC World News,” “20/20,” Newsweek, TIME, The Huffington Post, BBC, London Telegraph, Parade Magazine, New York Times and Cosmopolitan. Additional information is available at http://www.danielplan.com.


Dr. Mark Hyman is a practicing family physician, a six-time No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator and advocate in his field of Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post and a regular medical contributor on Katie Couric’s TV show, “Katie.” For more information, visit http://www.danielplan.com/.

Garden Safari: Vegetable Soup, by Eluka Moore, Larry Puzniak and Marianne Walsh

Title: Garden Safari: Vegetable Soup

Series: Kitchen Club Kids

Author: Eluka Moore, Larry Puzniak and Marianne Walsh

Publisher: Bread & Butter Publishing

Date: May 6, 2014

Hardcover: 38 pages





About the Book
Explore numbers, colors and vegetables as you learn how to create a tasty soup in ten easy steps. Join the Kitchen Club Kids as they visit the garden to find fresh vegetables to eat. They search and count. They cut, dice and stir until the meal is complete. This rhymey-good-timey recipe adventure story offers basic cooking lessons and promotes healthy eating. The colorful illustrations and layered learning opportunities on each page will keep your child's interest from beginning to end. Kitchen Club Kids books are also real, hands-on cooking activities that help teach 2-6 year olds how to follow recipes. But, you don't have to be a chef to enjoy these books. Whether you're reading with your child before mealtime or before bedtime, Kitchen Club Kids books turn story time into a culinary, learning adventure. Gold Medal Winner - Mom's Choice Awards 2014 Book of the Year Award - Creative Child Awards - Creative Child Magazine

My Take
Every time I review a children's book, I seem to think that I am not going to find one to top it. I have to say, this one is at the top of my list right now. What an awesome idea for a book. Not only do your children get to hear a lovely story, but they also get to learn how to count (the ingredients are numbered in the book), learn their colors (each color "word" is in its particular color) and cook soup in the process. Now, this book is for children 2 - 6 years old, but I have to say, when my daughter saw the book, she was just as excited and she is 11 years old. I believe the whole "interactive" part of it and the fact that it rhymes, is what is going to draw a lot of young readers to it. And the fact that the soup had vegetables in it, made it so much better. At the end of the book you will find the soup in an actual recipe form (I am guessing this is for the parents) with cooking directions. There is also extra ways to make it taste even better.

The illustrations in this book are amazing! I love how they have kids of different races. It will allow the children looking at the book to feel a part of it because they can see "themselves" in the book. The colors are bright and vibrant. Even though it is in "cartoon" form, every thing is pretty realistic looking.

Garden Safari: Vegetable Soup (along with End of the Rainbow: Fruit Salad) is an amazing book in the Kitchen Club Series. I definitely will be getting the first one (End of the Rainbow: Fruit Salad) and purchasing the third one (Feed Your Senses: Homemade Bread) when it comes out.

About the Author

Eluka Moore
For over twelve years I worked as a marketing professional, developing campaign strategies for a variety of well-known consumer brands. Today, Kitchen Club Kids allows me to bridge my professional experience with my love for cooking and education. My hope is that our books give parents a reason to start cooking with their children and experience all the wonderful learning opportunities it has to offer.

Larry Puzniak
For me, the Kitchen Club Kids storybooks are an opportunity to apply count-and-identify lessons, making the learning real … real tasty. So, don’t be surprised if a “grill creations” adventure shows up in the collection at some point.

My favorite part of this venture is that it gives me the chance to bring the best of my professional career and personal life together, utilizing my brand savvy and communications skills to create ways to “dad” smarter.

Marianne Walsh
Currently working in the advertising industry, Kitchen Club Kids has allowed me to tap into my roots in education. My first job as a kindergarten teacher and later as a child behavior therapist continue to fuel my passion for children’s books.

Kosher by Design Teens and 20-Somethings, by Susie Fishbein

How many of you love to cook? How many of you started out at a young age? Well, I have been given the opportunity to review a really great cookbook geared for teens and people in their twenties. I am referring to Susie Fishbein's latest cookbook, Kosher by Design Teens and 20-Somethings. This is her latest in the Kosher by Design series.

The beginning of the cookbook has a couple of different sections. The first one talks about what you need to do to get started cooking. The second one gives you different healthy eating tips along with the right equipment to use. The third one tells you about the different labels and how to read them. Beside every recipe is a label to let you know what type of recipe it is. For instance, there is V for vegetarian, GF for gluten-free, DF for dairy-free, and NF for nut-free. So as you can see, this cookbook isn't just for regular diets, it also accommodates those that have health issues, which in this day in age is a great inclusion.

Just like most cookbooks, the recipes are broken down into different sections. I will break them down for you along with one of the recipes that I liked from each section.

1) Starters - Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings
2) Munchies - Scones
3) Soups and Salads - Lox and Avocado Salad
4) Poultry and Meat - Teriyaki Mushroom Chicken
5) Fish, Pasta, and Dairy - Pesto Salmon
6) Side Dishes - Banana Pumpkin Cornbread
7) Desserts - Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sticks
8) Parties - Gives you ideas of party themes you can have

The recipes themselves are well written and very simple. One thing that I really loved is that there is a picture for every single recipe in the book. I love this because I like to see what it is going to look like before I make it. I need some kind of idea how it is going to turn out. They are very colorful also. Great presentation!

All in all I have to say that I really love this cookbook. I think that everyone should go out and purchase it. It will make a great addition to the ones they have or a great starter if they don't have one yet. I know this one has convinced me to go out and get her other ones and try them out.

I thank Marcus Wynn Goup Public Relations for giving me this book for an honest review.