Children’s Book Review

January 29, 2013 By

Every night I read to my boys. They love to have me read a short story book first and then we read a chapter or two from one of our chapter book series. So when I was given a chance to review four new books available in March and April I jumped at the chance. Who doesn’t want to do a Children’s Book Review?

Moustachapillar

The first book is The Moustachapillar by Jonty Lees and is just an adorable, sweet book about a young boy who wants to grow a mustache. When he sees that he can’t grow one he tries all sorts of fake mustaches until one day he meets a caterpillar and they become friends. And the caterpillar pretends to be his mustache. I don’t want to give away the ending but I will say that it is a touching book about friendship, and a book that my boys ask me to read to them over again.

Hedgehog in the Fog

The second book, Hedgehog in the Fog, is based on sketches by Francesca Yarbusova to the award-winning animated film directed by Yuri Norstein. The book is truly lovely. It is heavy and well made, and beautifully illustrated. The story centers around Hedgehog and his nighttime trip to see his friend bear, but during that trip he encounters fog and many ethereal creatures in that fog. This is a dream-like book that allow your children to imagine.

Mishmash

This book, too, is illustrated by Francesca Yarbusova and I feel really shows her Russian background. The artwork evokes traditional Russian drawings while the story, by Korney Chukovsky, reminds me of Russian stories. The book starts off very playfully with animals that don’t want to make the noises they are supposed to make, but it takes a turn that I don’t think would typically appear in an American story. I think that is what I find so endearing with the story. It reminds me of the “old country” and it is an aspect of life that I think many Americans are yearning for.

The Fox and the Hare

The last book, The Fox and the Hare, is a Russian folk story told my Vladimir Dal. Again, it contains sketches by Francesca Yarbusova to the award-winning animated film directed by Yuri Norstein. This is a beautifully crafted book, but as the mother of 3 young boys I didn’t love some of the aggressiveness of this particular book. I think because it is based on a folktale, it uses some harsher words and concepts; harsher than maybe we are used to today. I do think it would be a great piece for someone that loves to collect folk stories and it is the kind of story to help open up discussions. The story follows a hare who has lost her home to a fox. Several animals try to get the fox to leave the hare’s home, but no one is successful until the Rooster comes to help.

These four books would make lovely additions to your library and may spur you to look for the Yuri Norstein films some of them are based on.

I was provided with free copies of the book to facilitate this review.

Post to Twitter

Hair Chalking

January 29, 2013 By

Hair Chalking

I wanted to have some fun with my grey hair, and I have been seeing all my friends sporting these awesome colors. So I decided since I won’t color my hair, how about doing some hair chalking. It is super simple and I really like the look.

UPDATE – you can chalk dark hair if you wet both your hair and the chalk! 

Hair Chalking Video Tutorial

Hair Chalking Supplies

  1. spray water bottle
  2. chalk pastel in color of your choice
  3. protective gloves

Hair Chalking Method

  1. Section off hair and spray with water bottle to dampen.
  2. With protective gloves on, use the chalk pastel to color the hair in a motion from root to tip.
  3. Once desired color is achieved allow hair to dry.
  4. Set color with heat from curling iron or flat iron.
  5. Wash to remove color.

Have you ever chalked your hair? Would you? Do you color your hair? Have you ever colored it a non-conventional color like pink or blue?

I think this is a great alternative to the chemicals in hair color and can really add a lot of fun, especially if you are like me and trying to grow your color out. I will be keeping Hair Chalking as an option whenever I want to do something a little fun. What do you all think?

Post to Twitter

Paleo Pot Roast Hash with Sweet Potatoes Recipe

January 28, 2013 By

Paleo Pot Roast Hash with Sweet Potatoes

Paleo Pot Roast Hash with Sweet Potatoes

Larry made the most wonderful pot roast the other day. It was peppery and sweet and just perfect. But it was also HUGE, so we had quite a bit of leftovers. No one in my family is big on leftovers and leftover pot roast just isn’t that great, no matter how well it was prepared. So I needed to come up with something to do with all that beef. Matthew loves corned beef hash so I thought about making a Paleo pot roast hash with sweet potatoes recipe. We served it with poached eggs and had breakfast for dinner. I actually had the last little bit of it this morning, it was that good.

The recipe we used to make the pot roast can be found here.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Print
Paleo Pot Roast Hash with Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 to 2 lbs pot roast, cooked and diced
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 3 tablespoons beef stock
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat pan.
  3. Add the onions, cook until they begin to caramelize.
  4. Add the sweet potatoes and cook until they soften and begin to caramelize, stirring frequently.
  5. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Once the sweet potatoes have caramelized add the pot roast.
  7. Season with salt and pepper again.
  8. Add beef stock to moisten, you may add more if necessary.
  9. Scrape the bottom of the pot to pick up the caramelized pieces.
  10. Add nutmeg and mix well.
  11. Server alone or with poached eggs.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Paleo Pot Roast Hash with Sweet Potatoes

 

Post to Twitter

Football Recipes White Queso Dip

January 27, 2013 By

If you are anything like my husband you love the Football! And that means I need to have wonderful Football Recipes on hand for him and his friends while they watch the big game. Larry has become the master of the smoked wing and I have gotten pretty good at making White Queso Dip. This has become one of my favorite go to Football Recipes of all time. I found this basic recipe on Homesick Texan

White Queso Dip

5.0 from 1 reviews
Print
Football Recipes White Queso Dip
Author: 
Recipe type: Dip
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
From HomesickTexan.blogspot.com
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3 jalapeno peppers, diced
  • 3 Serrano or other medium to hot peppers, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons of GF flour blend like King Arthur
  • 2 teaspoons cumin (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • ½ cup of cilantro
  • 2 cups of shredded Sonoma Jack Cheese or Monterrey Jack Cheese
  • 2 cups of shredded White Cheddar Cheese
  • 2 cups of Queso blanc, shredded
  • ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
  1. In a medium pot, melt the butter.
  2. Add the onions and peppers and cook over medium until the onions become translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer.
  4. Add the GF flour, cumin and chili powder (if using) and cook for one minute more.
  5. Add the milk and cook until mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Add the tomatoes and cilantro.
  7. Lower the heat and slowly add the cheeses, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next.
  8. Once the cheese has been fully incorporated and melted, add the sour cream and mix.
  9. Serve immediately.
Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

 

Post to Twitter