Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook

I love cookbooks. I'm growing quite a collection. (And as soon as I figure out how to upload pics from my phone to my blog, I'll illustrate a post with photos. But for now, be a dear and use your imagination.)

So I jumped at the chance to review a cookbook for Thomas Nelson. Especially one with Fast & Frugal in the title.

There's a lot to like about this Dawn Hill's Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook. There are slightly over 300 pages with a solid 294 pages of recipes. The book is laid out well and I think this is it's strongest point. Categories are well represented. Recipes are simple with clear instructions. A sidebar lists supplies and grocery list needed for the recipe. Also listed in the sidebar is a suggestion drawing from another recipe in the book for a total meal. The grocery list ingredients are divided into categories. Dietary information is listed at the end of the recipe with all of the recipes being low-fat and low calorie. Sodium is high in only a few of the recipes.

The cover photos and each photo dividing the sections of the book look professionally done. The food looks appetizing and the lighting is well done. The good news is that there is a photo to accompany many of the recipes. The bad news is that these photos look amateurish with unflattering angles and poor lighting which makes the food look plain and unappetizing. Also, some of the recipes seem as if the author is grasping at culinary straws just to have a recipe.

Now that I've griped about the things that irked me, know that there are some decent, basic recipes in there. Unfussy, filling and balanced meals abound in Busy People's Fast & Frugal Cookbook.

A Man of His Word by Kathleen Fuller

Moriah married the man of her dreams.

Levi Miller, unfortunately, had other dreams. Dreams that didn't include Moriah. Or the Amish life he had grown up in.

Members of a closeknit Amish community, Moriah was looking forward to her life with Levi. Her wedding is picture perfect and soon after she finds, to her delight, that her dreams are fulfilled when she discovers she is pregnant.

But Levi leaves Moriah and the Amish before she can tell him of the good news.

Gabe Miller, Levi's twin, has loved Moriah since they were children. His heart breaks as he sees Moriah pregnant and abandonded.

But what can he do? The Amish Ordnung does not permit divorce. Even if Levi never returns, Moriah can never be his. Must he be content to love her from afar?

Hurt and betrayed, Moriah struggles to trust a God who also seems to have abandoned her.

For some reason, I'm drawn to books with Amish settings. Maybe I'm drawn to the portrayal of a simpler life. The Amish seem to live such quiet, orderly lives.

I love Kathleen Fuller's characters. She presents a very human side of the Amish showing deep emotional struggles. She also places real life scenarios into the story. Unrequited love, betrayal, hurt and bitterness are not glossed over in A Man of His Word. The parallel story line of Tobias and Rachel provided a bit of lightness to all the heavier drama the main character, Moriah, was facing.

I look forward to Kathleen Fuller's next Hearts of Middlefield book, An Honest Love.

Fearless by Max Lucado

What is your greatest fear?

Is there really a way to live fearlessly?

Our lives are filled with fears. Fear assails us from every side. It robs us of joy, relationships and many times people take their life because fear swallowed them alive.

Max Lucado's book, Fearless, exposes fear as a powerless ploy Satan uses to cripple a person's walk with Christ. Max reminds us in his imitable style that faith is the key to disabling fear.

Each chapter identifies fears we struggle with on a daily basis and dismantles each with reminders of who God is. Far from a dusty, hard to swallow lesson in theology, Mr. Lucado weaves his words in such a melodious fashion, you find yourself drinking in more and more hope with each turn of the page.

After reading Fearless, you too will be encouraged and hopeful to live and fear less.

Are You?

Are you fearless?

I'm not either.

But based on what I know, I should be.

This book is a reminder of those things.

Stay tuned for what's up next in the next Thomas Nelson review....

The X and Y of Buy by Elizabeth Pace

The X and Y of Buy is chock full of information to guide you on how to customize your sales presentation based on the differences in how men and women think.

I have never been part of the corporate world, so I wondered if I would gain much benefit from The X and Y of Buy.

Most of my selling is aimed at trying to sell my husband on the fact that I need (another) new hairstyle.

Using scientific evidence, the X and Y of Buy shows that men and women think differently. But you knew that. But did you know that those differences also affect their approach to buying?

Although this book is technical in nature, it's format is easy to read and understand. I found myself underlining gems of information.

You'll find this book valuable as you discover the secrets of why men and women think so differently.

Especially if you want to sell your husband on your latest hairstyle idea.