Month: January 2015

January 27, 2015

Start Fresh in 2015 with The Gluten Free Cookbook from DK Canada

Starting a gluten free diet can be extremely difficult and overwhelming. There is so much to learn, change and adapt to. This applies not only to yourself but to all the family members in your home. When I cook at home not only do the meals have to accommodate my gluten free status but still meet the likes of the family – no tough task there right?!

DK Canada presents The Gluten Free Cookbook with a collection of over 200 gluten free recipes. The recipes are broken down by meal and contains a full nutritional break down to help assist you with eating a well-balanced meal.

My favourite features of this book:

easy to follow recipes (directions are short, direct and to the point)
ingredients are all easily found in your home
wealth of information in the beginning of the book including: finding hidden gluten, a balanced gluten free diet, how to set up a gluten free kitchen and how to eliminate gluten
recipes broken down by meal (breakfast, appetizers, soups, pastas, meat,etc)
delicious variety of recipes (no getting bored here!)

I made the lasagna (mmmm yummy!) and British breakfast frittata – talk about delicious! Both recipes were simple, nutritious and satisfied every member of our house (bonus!).

Following a gluten free diet is no easy task but DK Canada makes it that much easier for their readers to adopt this lifestyle with a breakdown of recipes and helpful tools to follow a gluten free diet.

What have you struggled the greatest with since going gluten free?

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 27, 2015

Elizabeth Camden Beyond All Dreams Kindle Fire Giveaway & Author Chat Party #LitfuseReads

Travel back in time to the U.S. Capitol and the Library of Congress in Elizabeth Camden’s newest release, Beyond All Dreams. From the gilded halls of the Capitol where powerful men shape the future of the nation, to the scholarly archives of the nation’s finest library, Anna and Luke are soon embroiled in secrets much bigger and more perilous than they ever imagined. Is bringing the truth to light worth risking all they’ve ever dreamed for their futures?

Elizabeth is celebrating the release of Beyond All Dreams with a Kindle giveaway and Facebook party on February 17.

One grand prize winner will receive:

A Kindle Fire
One copy of Beyond All Dreams

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on 2/17. Winner will be announced at Elizabeth’s 2/17 Beyond All Dreams Facebook author chat party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Elizabeth and historical fiction fans, as well as for the opportunity to win some great prizes!

{NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.}

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or PINTEREST and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 17th!

January 27, 2015

I Choose You Today by Deb DeArmond #LitfuseReads

Marriage is a blessing between two people that we have to continuous work on every day. Marriage is a decision we make to love our spouse and to honour, respect and communicate openly with them. I Choose You Today by Deb DeArmond is an incredibly important read for all married couples and those soon to be married.

About I Choose You Today

Deb DeArmond has been married for thirty-eight years and knows a lot when it comes to marriage. Every day her and her husband make the spoke declaration, I Choose You Today. This declaration is a regular part of their constant communication. When we do not feel like saying these words that is when it is most important to remind ourselves that love is a choice not a feeling. I Choose You Today features thirty-one scriptural principles that work to support marriage and help couples to develop healthy bible based behaviour.

Built on an introductory anecdotal story, each chapter has an inspirational take away of not only what to do but how to apply these principles immediately. Thought provoking questions create talking points for couples to explore their own choices and experiences to generate open dialogue. I Choose You Today is not a book of “should do” but one of choices that each individual can make in their marriage and align it with God. Every chapter ends with an inspirational quote.

My Thoughts

My marriage and my husband are two of the most important things in my life. Every day we work towards building a stronger relationship and partnership. He knows me better than any one else I have ever met. He knows by just looking at me when I am hurt, sad or feeling down and always tries to make my day that much better. In the almost twelve years we have known each other we have had our own share of ups and downs. And the downs can hit hard. It is during these moments when our relationship is tested the most. I know I am guilty of occasionally not fighting fair.

I loved the openness of her book. She lets you into their marriage and relationship with complete honesty and uses their marriage to give guidance and understanding. She shares the struggles that others face and that many of us are currently facing right now. She breaks down each chapter by “I Choose You” to honour, love and so on. Sometimes it is hard to forget how to honour, love, respect our spouse. I love my husband with all my heart but with the daily struggles of getting by I can forget to tell him so. It is important to remember to make this part of our daily lives no matter how busy we become. She ends each chapter with a closing prayer and inspirational quote. The best part is you can read the chapters together or separately but they are all conversation starters for yourself and your spouse.

This is a definite must read for all married couples and those soon to be married. Deb explores each topic and reminds us that our marriage is one of the most important choices we will make in our life.

Rating: 5/5

Marriage Challenges!

Valentine’s Day Challenge: February 1-28

The ‘I Choose You’ Challenge: March 1 – December 31, 2015

Each challenge is slightly different and you will receive emails from Deb. Each challenge looks at building the relationship between your spouse and yourself.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

January 23, 2015

Let’s Get Crafty with DIY Valentine’s Day Centre Pieces! #Ad

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

Craft time is one of the best ways to fit in quality family time. A time to be silly and to experiment with new ideas and let the kids just be themselves. The holiday’s are a perfect time to get in some extra crafts and Valentine’s Day is no exception in our home. Each year we try to design a new craft – something different and unique for our family.

Since dinner time is important in our family (nothing beats that kind of bonding time!) and we have just recently started eating out in the dining room with our wedding dishes we thought a craft for our table would fit our family the best. Our table, while looking pretty with all the good dishes on it, was just looking plain:

Boring right?

So we thought, what better way to spice up our table than with Valentine’s Day themed centre pieces! We envisioned candles, candy, vases and with this in mind we headed out to Walmart to find some key pieces for our centre piece.

While I was checking out vases and supplies, our youngest son had the time of his life in the children’s crafting aisle – he would have fully stocked our cart if he was allowed to!

For our Valentine’s Day centre piece craft we purchased (and you will need to purchase to replicate!):

two medium-sized candles and one large candle
two small square vases
fabric in a colour of your choosing
cinnamon hearts
glue gun and sticks
white rectangular candle holder (we actually used a white appetizer tray for our craft!)
heart stickers
Valentine’s Day themed ribbon
clear wrapping paper

Start first with the small glass vases (since this was our kid’s favourite part!). Choose which stickers you want to apply on to the glass and apply the stickers directly onto the glass. Fill your glasses with the cinnamon hearts. Wrap them up with the clear wrapping paper and tie off in a bow with the ribbon.

Cut the fabric into rectangular pieces. The length should be enough so that the fabric will stretch around the candle once and just slightly overlap.

Using the glue gun, glue the under side of the left side of the fabric onto the top part of the right side of the fabric. Make sure that you are pulling the fabric tightly to ensure that it does not slip off the candle. Word of advice – don’t apply the glue from the glue gun directly onto the candle (yes, I can admit it – I made this mistake and completely blame the lack of coffee and pure exhaustion). Also be careful with those fingers! I managed to apply the glue directly onto my fingers – ouch!

Now comes the best part – arrangement!

Place the three candles onto the white candle holder (or in our case the app tray). Place hearts around the candles.

Voila! A beautifully Valentine’s Day themed decorated centre piece. The best part is that it can be changed and updated when the season changes.

Because the children in our life play such an important role in our life and it is important to us to let them know we love them, we decided to use the vases as a place setting. We put each vase on the children’s plate and it was a wonderful companion to our centre piece and the kids loved their extra surprise.

How do you update your home decor to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Do you have a special craft that you like to make each year?

January 21, 2015

New from Quilts of Love | A Stitch in Crime Kindle Fire Giveaway!

Don’t miss the newest Quilts of Love book, A Stitch in Crime by Cathy Elliott. Thea’s first quilt show begins to fall apart at the seams. Will she be able to piece the mystery together and save the town’s investment in the quilt show before another attack happens . . . with far worse results.

Enter to win a Kindle HDX!

One winner will receive:

A Kindle HDX
A Stitch in Crime by Cathy Elliott
Masterpiece Marriage by Gina Welborn
Swept Away by Laura V. Hilton and Cindy Loven

Enter today by clicking the button below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 8th. Winner will be announced on the Quilts of Love blog February 9th.

NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.

Enter today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Coming next week will be my review of, A Stitch in Crime!