This week in books: Week 1
Many months ago, I tried to follow Catherine's example and start doing a "This Week in Books" series. With complications in my pregnancy and then having a newborn, I fell woefully behind on all reading so I abandoned my great intentions.
With none of the above excuses now, I am embarking again on this series of highlighting and posting short reviews of what books I read each week. I might also throw in some family-friendly movie reviews every now and then or children's books we've read, or any other types of media our family finds wholesome that week.
This week I read through two books - both which I'm excited to tell you about:
Deceptively Delicious
- This cookbook doesn't really count for much actual reading but I wanted to mention it anyway since I enjoyed it so much. Though I'm not fond of the name (deceiving anyone - even for the sake of getting them to consume vegetables - is not God-honoring) and there's some psycho-babble parenting stuff you'll need to wade through, this book is packed with great recipes and inspiration.
The premise of the book is to hide various vegetable purees in everyday foods that your children like and readily - muffins, pancakes, brownies, etc. - and thus boost their nutritional value. Most of the recipes looked not only appetizing, but also quite good for you. I'd probably adjust them somewhat since I'm more a believer in the full-fat, whole-foods approach (ala Nourishing Traditions), but the recipes would be very easy to adjust.
Most of all, this book provided inspiration to an already-experimental cook. I wouldn't have ever thought to put pureed beets in pancake batter and make pink pancakes but you bet I'll be trying that now. Or, pureed spinach in brownies? I'm also game.
And since I have a knack for finding produce markdowns, my brain is spinning at how I can buy them all up at rock-bottom prices, fill up my freezer with purees, and get way more nutrition into myself and my family than I ever thought about before!
The Busy Mom's Guide to Simple Living - I think I've been living under a rock or something, but I've never seen or heard of this excellent book until I stumbled across it at our local library. I snatched it up and was ever so glad I did! Brimming with wisdom, advice, ideas, and much food for thought, this homeschool mother of seven covers a whole lot of ground in this simple little volume.
I was inspired, challenged, convicted, and motivated. I appreciated Jackie's home organization ideas, her heart for ministering to others on a limited budget, her humility and realness, her sage advice to keep it simple and focus on the most important things in life, and her simplistic ideas for baby-stepping your way to better nutrition.
Like usual, I didn't agree 100% with everything she said and some of the financial information was outdated, but the overall message of this book is timeless. I especially enjoyed all of the resources and books the author recommended; I added a bunch of them to my ever-growing to-read list.
For any mother who feels like she wants to improve as a family nutritionist and home economist, who would like to be stretched in her thinking as far as necessities go, or who could just use some home management ideas, this book is definitely worth your time.
What have you been reading recently? Any must-read recommendations for me?
With none of the above excuses now, I am embarking again on this series of highlighting and posting short reviews of what books I read each week. I might also throw in some family-friendly movie reviews every now and then or children's books we've read, or any other types of media our family finds wholesome that week.
This week I read through two books - both which I'm excited to tell you about:
Deceptively Delicious - This cookbook doesn't really count for much actual reading but I wanted to mention it anyway since I enjoyed it so much. Though I'm not fond of the name (deceiving anyone - even for the sake of getting them to consume vegetables - is not God-honoring) and there's some psycho-babble parenting stuff you'll need to wade through, this book is packed with great recipes and inspiration.The premise of the book is to hide various vegetable purees in everyday foods that your children like and readily - muffins, pancakes, brownies, etc. - and thus boost their nutritional value. Most of the recipes looked not only appetizing, but also quite good for you. I'd probably adjust them somewhat since I'm more a believer in the full-fat, whole-foods approach (ala Nourishing Traditions
), but the recipes would be very easy to adjust.Most of all, this book provided inspiration to an already-experimental cook. I wouldn't have ever thought to put pureed beets in pancake batter and make pink pancakes but you bet I'll be trying that now. Or, pureed spinach in brownies? I'm also game.
And since I have a knack for finding produce markdowns, my brain is spinning at how I can buy them all up at rock-bottom prices, fill up my freezer with purees, and get way more nutrition into myself and my family than I ever thought about before!
The Busy Mom's Guide to Simple Living - I think I've been living under a rock or something, but I've never seen or heard of this excellent book until I stumbled across it at our local library. I snatched it up and was ever so glad I did! Brimming with wisdom, advice, ideas, and much food for thought, this homeschool mother of seven covers a whole lot of ground in this simple little volume.I was inspired, challenged, convicted, and motivated. I appreciated Jackie's home organization ideas, her heart for ministering to others on a limited budget, her humility and realness, her sage advice to keep it simple and focus on the most important things in life, and her simplistic ideas for baby-stepping your way to better nutrition.
Like usual, I didn't agree 100% with everything she said and some of the financial information was outdated, but the overall message of this book is timeless. I especially enjoyed all of the resources and books the author recommended; I added a bunch of them to my ever-growing to-read list.
For any mother who feels like she wants to improve as a family nutritionist and home economist, who would like to be stretched in her thinking as far as necessities go, or who could just use some home management ideas, this book is definitely worth your time.
What have you been reading recently? Any must-read recommendations for me?
Labels: Health and Nutrition, Homemaking, Mothering, Recipes, Reviews
posted by Crystal Paine at 12:47 PM
36 Comments:
My mom just bought "Deceptively Delicious" and she loves it...I can't wait until she's done with it, so I can borrow it!! I am reading "Beautiful in God's Eyes". It is taking me a long time to read it, because I'm TRYING to apply it as I go. I'm trying to read only a chapter a day so I can put into practice what I'm reading. The Proverbs 31 woman sometimes seems very unattainable, but this book breaks it down into bite-size pieces.
Christy
Thank you for sharing your book recommendations! They both look great. I will have to see if I can find them at our local library.
I firmly believe that all children can learn to like vegetables, and sneaking them in can be counterproductive to that. I used to be against it entirely, until I had two kids that had honest-to-goodness food/texture aversions. Not picky eaters because they were spoiled, picky eaters because they physically couldn't handle eating certain foods, including unfortunately most veggies :(
My older girl has learned to love various vegetables as is now, but when she was a toddler/young preschooler, UH-UH!!!! Doing this kind of thing was pretty much the only way I got vegetables into my kids for awhile.
Now I just do it to increase the nutritional value. Can't have too many veggies and fruits ;) I agree that deceiving anyone is a bad plan, and I was turned off at first by this book because of that. But now I want to check it out! Since I do it for extra nutrition (particularly for my younger girl who still has many aversions), not to sneak things by my kids, I would appreciate some new recipes. :D
I haven't heard of the second one either, but it sounds wonderful. Thanks for your review!
Thank you for the reviews. I read Busy Mom's Guide several years ago and remember enjoying it. I liked it enough to still have it on my shelf today for a future read.
Right now I'm reading Ten P's in a Pod to the boys. I am so inspired to read the Bible more as a family and as individuals.
Also reading Capture His Heart by Lysa Terkheurst (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!) It is a GREAT book for wives--I can't believe it is not more well known.
Crystal,
I just sent out an email to some other mommies about Deceptively Delicious!! I completely agree with your review. I too, didn't care for the title or the premise, but liked the idea of adding more nutrients to our meals. Besides, there is no hiding a puree of green foods used in the batter to fry chicken! My son took one bite and said "mommy why is it green?". The recipes we have tried thus far have been really good. I did replace the margarine with real butter. And like you, I skipped over the parenting advice sections. Overall, I like having this in my cookbook collection.
As for what I am currently reading:
1)Bible
2)Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges (very good!! He really demonstrates Gods grace toward us, and how we do nothing to merrit it)
3) Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel (don't agree w/ it totally but a good read. I agree with the idea that we should show our kids the same grace God shows us. Pairs well w/ Transforming Grace. That was purely accidental too. This book was given to me by a friend. She had no idea I was reading Transforming Grace!)
4)More than Enough by Dave Ramsey (a book/workbook combo. Great advice as usual from Mr. Ramsey. Funny I have read this and Total Money Makeover, but have yet to read Financial Peace...am I doing it backwards?)
Oh how fun. I'll have to look at the cookbook. I've been one to "hide" the good stuff in our foods, too, from time to time. I guess I thought I was the only one who did that (people have teased me about it). Thanks for sharing this book. I'm sure it will give me more ideas of what to hide.
80)
Mary Beth
Crystal, I have the 'other' book like that - The Sneaky Chef. I do like a lot of the recipes in there as I'm always trying to make sure I prepare healthy meals, but my thinking was: My Peanut is so little right now, if I always make things like this, and always put those 'secret' ingredients in but don't keep them a secret, he'll never know any difference. Mac and cheese will always be made with cauliflower (or whatever it was!)My hope is that when he's older he'll go to a friends house and wonder why they don't eat 'good' foods. :-)
Whole foods are better foods!
I love Deceptively Delicious! One of our playgroup moms show it to me, and I rushed right out to buy it! (Note: since it's so popular right now, most booksellers seem to have it 40% off.) My mom and sister are crazy about it too. In fact, my sister and I just had a "puree day" to stock her freezer. I lost track of the different purees we made! The recipes are all fairly quick and easy (as long as the purees are already made), and the idea is so basic that I'm applying the concept to lots of other recipes.
The idea is so basic in fact that I've read the Seinfelds are being sued for plagiarism by another cookbook author. True or not, I'm sure that will just make their book more popular.
Well...LOL...the two books I'm currently reading are on seemingly opposite spectrums: "Captivating" by John & Stasi Eldredge. This is an amazing book that delves into God's heart for us. I LOVE IT! And, I'm also doing my re-certification for my personal training cert., so I'm reading: "Functional Training: Breaking the bonds of Traditionalism". I love health and exercise books and God always shows me some sort of cook parallel to my relationship with Him, so it excites me. :)
Thanks for the book review on getting more nutritional value in the foods we cook. I'll have to check that book out as I'm always looking for ways to do that!
Debi
Oh Crystal, I had to laugh, because that book is sitting on my frugal bookshelf, along with my treasured Tightwad Gazettes (they used to be three separate books) and stuff by Jonni McCoy, Jill Bond, Karey Swan, and Kathy Bradford. They were part of the 15 (or more?) years ago pre-internet homeschool wave of frugality and simple living.
There IS a generation gap! I remember being thrilled as a young wife when I found books on frugality from the 60's & 70's in antique stores... It's great to know there have always been ladies trying to make do with less and help the next generation along!
:-D
Kim
I really loved Shopping For Time by Carolyn Mahaney. It has helped me to get my priorities in order and encouraged me wake up before my family and start my day in God's Word. It's a pretty short book and an easy read. I am wanting to read it again as a refresher.
Here's another good cookbook to get more veggies and such into your and your children's meals (but with a better title:)
"The Mom's Guide to Meal MakeOvers"
http://www.amazon.com/Moms-Guide-Meal-Makeovers-Improving/dp/0767914236/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200488678&sr=8-1
Many good recipes in this book.
Bon Appetit
Spiritual-perspective speaking I've been slowly on purpose reading Foundations of Grace: A Long Line of Godly Men and The Truth War. Have my sights on Spiritual Discernment, Lord willing.
Hello, Crystal! I don't know if you've read or not, but I'm in the middle of reading "Biblical Womanhood in the Home", which is edited by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, but contributed to by Carolyn Mahaney, Mary Kassian, and many other conservative women of faith. Each chapter is a different chapter on relevant topics to what the book title speaks to. So far, I have found it to be very convicting and inspiring! I just thought I'd tell you about it in case you haven't seen it yet. :)
I have seen the "Deceptively Delicious" book in the bookstores. It did look intriguing. Our family has also been on the road to eating healthier, but since my children are young adults, I do not think I will have to puree anything to add to their food.
I have not read the second book, but I was at a retreat this weekend where the speaker was Karen Ehman. She has several books on home organization, home-made gifts etc. I bought one of her newest books entitled, " A Life That Says Welcome". While I do tend to be organized by nature, I was still able to glean some new ideas. I would recommend the book!
Blessings,
Gina
P.S. I ordered the "Passionate Housewives Desperate for God" book from you and so did several of my friends. We will be starting a book discussion group this Friday and including the daughters age 18 and over. We are looking forward to it!
I have Deceptively Delicious checked out from the library. Most of the meals look good. I did try the grilled cheese with sweet potato, but it didn't go over well. My daughter and my husband both gagged when they took a bite. Oh well, maybe the other dishes will taste better.
I remember reading that Busy Mom's book when my girls were younger - boy was it helpful!
Hi Crystal,
A book I just finished reading is The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. It is the best vaccination book I have found... and I've read a LOT of books on the subject for sure!
I have really been praying and struggling through information on vaccinations for the last year or so and I haven't found a better resource than this one! It's a keeper for anyone facing questions on the subject of vaccinations!
I've heard of Deceptively Delicious, and while the idea seems to make sense, I was wondering if the author had any actual nutritional studies done on her recipes? I ask because I thought that the more you cooked your vegetables, the more nutrients were leached out of them during the cooking process. So if you're cooking them a couple of times, and there isn't much of value left, it seems at that point like a bit of a hassle.
I am reading "What is the What" by Dave Eggers - the story of a young Sudanese refuge that escaped the horror and persecution of his homeland to come to America. It is an absolutely heartbreaking book, and is making me ashamed at how little we as a country did to help the victims of this horrific genocide. Very, very thought provoking
Quinn: Yes, she had few different nutritionists review and evaluate all of the recipes and give input. I also appreciated how she encouraged you with creative ideas for getting your children to eat raw fruits and veggies.
Certain purees - like sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, spinach, etc. are still quite high in nutritional value when pureed - at least from the research I've done.
After the birth of my 2nd child I came upon the Jackie Wellwood book that you've mention in this blog.
It has radically changed the way I 'keep home'. I have implemented her ideas in so many areas of my homemaking. Her practical way of sharing her ideas and techniques is great.
Your blog reminds me to review my list of goals for this new year as well. Thank you!
She also published a book in 2000 titled One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms. It is an excellent book, too.
Peace,
Lynne in NC
I love this weekly addition of book reviews. I'll defintely be checking in to see what new books I need to add to my list. Thanks Crystal for your informative site!
I just found your blog about 2 weeks ago and I am totally enjoying it. I received the "Deceptively Delicious" for Christmas and have been successful with the recipes. My kids are actually good about eating veggies. But I like how you can even add veggies into baked goods. I made the blueberry oatmeal bars (with spinach) and my whole family loved them. They kinda tasted like a pop tart my kids said. WOW! I definitely didn't mention there was spinach in them:) I also made the meatloaf recipe with mashed potatoes with cauliflower and my husband and son thought they were the best. I even told them about the purees and they were pleased to have the added nutrition w/out changing the taste.
But I agree some of the parenting "advice" was worth skipping.
Hey Crystal, I've never heard of that book, but I found a web site with veggie purees to hide and have been using them for sometime. It is really fun! I add a spinach/blueberry puree to thebrownies and a cauliflower/zuchinni totheir pancakes. There are some more, but I made a lot of those and froze them so they are the ones I use the most often. It is great fun!
I've made the "deceptively delicious" brownies (w/spinach) several times and you truly can't tell the difference. They are SO good.
Hi Crystal - I really like your blog, and am generally 100% behind your food posts, but I wanted to comment on the Deceptively Delicious book. It's come under a lot of fire (both in the media and among parents) lately, for three reasons:
1) Jessica Seinfeld's being sued for plagiarism by Missy Chase Lapine, the author of "The Sneaky Chef." Though there's little-to-no copyright law when it comes to recipes, the evidence is pretty strong. In itself this isn't a reason to ignore the book, but it makes me uncomfortable.
2) The book is promoting subterfuge instead of vegetable acceptance. There's a fantastic article here, if you're interested: http://www.slate.com/id/
2176564/nav/navoa/
3) The nutritional aspects of the recipes are being debated, since such small amounts of puree are being split between so many servings. Some are considering it a waste of money that might be better spent on the whole veggies.
Before buying the book, I might check the Amazon reviews. There are good arguments both for purchasing it, and leaving it on the shelf.
Thanks again for your blog. It's an important resource for us frugal folks.
I too have bought the Deceptively Delicious book, but have had mixed feelings about it. The recipes look incredible and they are healthy (which is so hard to find in a kids cookbook), but I have had trouble actually getting the older people in the family to eat them. It seems that the "junk food junkies" won't touch the stuff, while the little ones (3 and 1) seem to think it's great. I tried the brownies, carrot cake muffins, and a few other "sweets", but so far the only thing the whole family will eat is the pancakes. I've tried different veggie and fruit combos including pumpkin pancakes,and apple cinnamon.
I guess what I was trying to say was that I feel that once the kids are older it's going to be hard to introduce healthier tastes (that's why it's so important for us to start when they are little!). I just feel bad wasting food if no one is going to eat it. So...I'm going slow with the idea, although my freezer is packed with purees!
Thanks for the review of Deceptively Delicious, Crystal! I read an article about Jessica Seinfeld and her work on this book months ago, and I've been wanting to read it ever since...I've thought about posting on her, and you beat me to it! Great review. I grew up with zucchini in chocolate birthday cake and flax seed oil in my smoothies, so I know I'll be a fan.
As for what I've been reading... unless you and your readers want to delve into some papal enyclicals on abortion and contraception :) I recommend the last chapter in C.S. Lewis' "The Problem of Pain," on Heaven. I've been listening to this on tape when I drive, and it's glorious. I am off to begin teaching a course on philosophy of religion to a class full of of undergrads today, so I'll be relying on Lewis to make things simple and beautiful for them.
I'm reading FEMININE APPEAL by Carolyn Mahaney and have found it to be the #1 book I would reccomend for all women everywhere to read! I plan to buy many, many copies to give away to friends. It's message is needed by women today to find out what Biblical Womanhood is.
I got both books from the library, both DD and Sneaky Chef because I had heard that one stole the idea from the other etc. I found them to be two totally different books. I liked DD because of the way it was set up much better the recipes looked better, she had better pictures etc. I did not like the Sneaky Chef one. Maybe they could both be sued by the old cookbook author Confessions of a sneaky organic cook from back in the 70's, whcih amazingly had most of the health info still right. You should check that one out!
I also read the second one a long time ago and really appreciated it.
Hi Crystal,
I noticed you said that you follow more of a nourishing traditions type of cooking. Can you tell me your thoughts on that? I am really interested in this type of cooking but I'm not sure if it's something more of hype or fad or if it's actually better for you to cook this way.
Thanks!
Keli
I'm so glad you reviewed Deceptively Delicious because I have been seeing that book every time I go to a bookstore. Saturday I was at Wal-Mart and while scanning through the cookbook, an ad came over the loudspeaker for it! I was bothered by the title because I am very against deceiving children - even if it is "just" about vegetables. I'm glad to know the recipes are tasty though! I have been reading Passionate Housewives Desperate for God and loving it! I have also been reading Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I believe God has used her portion on children (Lie #27) to change my heart in regards to birth control and family planning. As a result, I have purposed to allow God to have control over this area of my life. Thanks for all your book reviews!
Hi Crystal. I'll have to get my hands on a copy of Nourishing Traditions. I'm hearing too much about it. I'll also have to check out Busy Mom's guide.
Currently my nose is into
1) Time Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George. Some love it some hate it but I want to read it for myself before forming an opinion. So far there is useful information for one's spiritual life. I'll be posting a review once I'm done.
2) I'm also into Take Back Your Time by Jan Jasper. And I'll post a review when done with that also.
3) And last but not least I just received Simple Organized by Emilie Barnes. I'm an Emilie Barnes fan I have her Survival for Busy Women and enjoy it. Simply Organized was actually recommended by Elizabeth George.
You would think I'm hopelessly unorganized with this reading and I won't say "quite the contrary" but I just love reading up on my hobby.
Thanks for the great recommendations.
Just a note on Nourishing Traditions: Most all of the recipes in that book are not really "us" but the concepts behind the book - such as avoiding artificial, low-fat, eating real stuff as opposed to fake, whole grains, etc. are very much ones I agree with. Most of the recipes were not ones I was interested in making, though. Just a little too strange for our liking. Except some of the desserts looked good and I really want to try my hand at making sourdough bread and sprouted bread!
I LOVE The Busy Mom's Guide to Simple Living. I didn't know you hadn't read it or I would have recommended it a long time ago!
One other recommendation I have is not a book, but a newsletter. A lady named Helen Aardsma published a newsletter called The Mother's Companion from around 1995 to 2003. Mrs. Aardsma has 10 children and homeschools and is a true Proverbs 31 lady. Her newsletter is fabulous. Although she no longer publishes new issues, all back issues are available for download in PDF for 1.99 each at www.themotherscompanion.org. I have purchased several of them and keep them in a binder. You should definitely check it out.
Valerie
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