{ Cooking Thursday - April 28 }

 

Good Morning everyone, here we are on another Cooking Thursday edition.

I want to start by thanking you all for faithfully participating each week even if I don't get around to visiting all the recipes, I do try but life has been so crazy.   I'm sure you've noticed that I've been around here a lot more the past few days and that is because homeschooling is coming to a close for this year, matter of fact we will be done by the beginning of next week YAY.

So anyway, I wanted to run something by you all this morning, next week Thursday, we're not doing Cooking Thursday but we're going to have a special edition of SLOW COOKING THURSDAY.  Remember that is how my little Thursday feature began, with slow cooking recipes and then it started dwindling out with people running out of things to share so I switched to Cooking Thursday, but I tell you, I miss my Slow Cooking days.

Will you join me next week for a Slow Cooking Thursday????  It can be a recipe you love or a recipe you haven't tried yet but want to.  Won't you tell your friends too?  I'm hoping we can get a lot of participants next week so that we may all benefit from a huge stack of new slow cooker recipes.

Alright enough jabbering let's move on to the recipe for today.

Brown Sugar and Bacon Baked Beans

Credit:  Prudence Pennywise

1/2 to 1 lb bacon, chopped

1 large onion, minced

3 (15 ounce cans) pinto beans, drained

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons mustard (I've used yellow or dijon with good results)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet, fry bacon until almost crisp.

Pour off most of the fat. Add onion in with the bacon and continue to fry for five minutes.

Add in all ingredients and mix well.

Pour into 2 quart casserole or 9 by 13. Bake, covered with lid or foil for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 30 minutes longer.

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom on Facebook

I know, I know, tons of posts today but this is what happens when I've been kind of MIA and then frantically back and trying to catch up and update :)

You'll find lots of great book reviews today and in the next few days as I participate in TLC's Blog Tour for some of the best books out right now :)

You'll also find reviews for other products coming up and there may be a giveaway or two.  Stay tuned.

But for now, will you help me welcome Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to Facebook?

Yep, I finally did it, finally made a little home for this bloggy over at Facebook, this way you can stay updated on new posts, contests, recipes etc.  If you wish of course, I wouldn't dream of forcing it on anyone.

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom on Facebook
Full Bellies, Happy Kids on Facebook

Go forth and click the like buttons, it will make this girls smile!

God Bless!

Ice Pop Joy by Anni Daulter

If you're a fan of Anni Daulter's books then you're going to just LOVE this new one called Ice Pop Joy.

I love the way she approaches cooking, it's all about using organic fresh fruits and vegetables, natural sweeteners and getting your children involved in the cooking.  Big thumbs up from me just on that alone.

Let's face it, all kids (and plenty of grown ups)
love ice pops, but not all kids love healthy foods.
This collection of wholesome and heavenly
ice pop recipes are cutting-edge nutritious and
delicious for the whole family. 

So chill out! You can indulge in tasty sweet, and
juicy ice pops without consuming refined sugar and
fake sweeteners. Using fresh, seasonal fruits; sweet,
nutritious vegetables (yes! vegetables); protein packed
whole foods; and a multitude of other
exquisite ingredients, Ice Pop Joy contains a wide
variety of recipes for scrumptious frozen treats any time of the year. 

My kids sat with me as I looked through the book and all I could hear was "ohhh that one"...."mommy make this one"...."Ohhhhhh Oohhhhh I want that one".

I don't think there were any pops in this book that I didn't want to try, though I have to say that some of the ingredients I don't keep in that house and that stopped me from making a few but other than that, it's just easy quick and simple recipes using fresh fruits and veggies and I tell you, delicious.


We settled on Pure Sunshine using Strawberries and Honey.  Yum!

Just a handful of fresh ingredients, like lemons, strawberries....

Some honey, some ice and blend it all together

Fill up your ice pop molds and into the freezer it goes.  That's it.

These were SO refreshing, SO good.  We all really enjoyed them and I think would be just perfect on a hot summer afternoon.

Tastes yummy, it's definitely kid approved.

If you're looking for an amazing book filled with delicious ice pop recipes and using nothing but the best of freshest and organic ingredients for your family, then you have to get yourself a copy of Anni Daulter's latest "Ice Pop Joy".  You won't regret it, I promise.

You can get your own copy for only $18.95 and I really do recommend it, especially with Summer around the corner.

Thank you to the author Anni Daulter for sending me a copy of the book for review. 

Far to go by Alison Pick Book Review

When Czechoslovakia relinquishes the Sudetenland to Hitler, the powerful influence of Nazi propaganda sweeps through towns and villages like a sinister vanguard of the Reich’s advancing army. A fiercely patriotic secular Jew, Pavel Bauer is helpless to prevent his world from unraveling as first his government, then his business partners, then his neighbors turn their back on his affluent, once-beloved family. Only the Bauers’ adoring governess, Marta, sticks by Pavel, his wife, Anneliese, and their little son, Pepik, bound by her deep affection for her employers and friends. But when Marta learns of their impending betrayal at the hands of her lover, Ernst, Pavel’s best friend, she is paralyzed by her own fear of discovery—even as the endangered family for whom she cares so deeply struggles with the most difficult decision of their lives.
Interwoven with a present-day narrative that gradually reveals the fate of the Bauer family during and after the war, Far to Go is a riveting family epic, love story, and psychological drama.

Wow!

Again, huge fan of Historical fiction so this one was a joy to read.  This book is set in the days leading up to and during the Holocaust, I think one of the darkest moments in the world's history.  But what I love about books like these, as I've said before, is that I'm not only enjoying the story but I'm learning as I go and I love that. 

For instance I had no clue about Kindertransport and this book certainly taught me the intricate details of it. 
Kindertransport managed to rescue nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia.   The way they went about rescuing these children is heartbreaking, it's just hard to imagine having to be in this situation but I think for a child you do anything you can and this just shows the huge hearts these people had......children and babies were stuffed into dresser drawers, or sent alone on trains to the United Kingdom, where unknown people raised them during the war.   The sweet part of it all is that not only were these children saved but most survived but very few managed to be reunited with their parents after the war. 

The author loosely based this book on her own family's experience, mainly her grandparents who escaped Czechoslovakia to Canada.

This book was thrilling, it was brilliantly written and I found myself unable to put it down, I don't think I've read a book as fast as this one, it literally went with me everywhere I did.  Kudos to Alison Pick.

Tuesday, April 19th: Acting Balanced
Wednesday, April 20th: Reading on a Rainy Day
Thursday, April 21st: The House of the Seven Tails
Tuesday, April 26th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom
Thursday, April 28th: Iwriteinbooks’s blog
Wednesday, May 4th: Books Like Breathing
Thursday, May 5th: Diary of an Eccentric
Monday, May 9th: In the Next Room
Wednesday, May 11th: Rundpinne
Thursday, May 12th: Library of Clean Reads

 TLC Book Tours provided a proof copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are mine alone.

Island of Lost Girls Book Review

Rhonda Farr pulls into her local Mini Mart for gas before a job interview. She is struck speechless by the sight of a giant bunny rabbit coaxing a young girl out of her car and into the rabbit's car. It happens in the blink of an eye and as they drive away, Rhonda realizes that she has just witnessed an abduction and is horrified that she did nothing to stop it.

The little town is galvanized into action. A small command post is set up by Pat, the owner of the Mini Mart. We get to know Rhonda and her childhood friends, Lizzy and Peter. Their families were inseparable as children. The present day story is just as much about the hunt for missing Ernestine as it is about the relationships and lives of the now grown children.

The story flips from present to past, about 15 years ago. The childhood days of Lizzy, Peter and Rhonda are exposed in alternate chapters. Although their childhood appeared idyllic, there were unsettling undercurrents.

I read this book while I was sick last week, hence why my review is late.

I have to start by saying that I'm not a mystery genre fan, I just prefer Historical Romance and such but there have been a few good mysteries here and there that I thoroughly enjoyed and this one has to go into that category.

It deals with something that definitely touches all of our hearts, it's not easy to hear about a child being abducted and especially when you throw in a huge bunny costume which just makes it that much more scary. 

I think the author did a good job of going back and forth between past and present, it did get a little confusing at times, again this back and forth is important for storytelling purposes but I'm not a huge fan of it and that may be why I didn't enjoy those parts that much.

All in all, if you like a good mystery thriller suspense, I think this book will do it for you.

Monday, April 18th: Sara’s Organized Chaos (Promise Not to Tell)
Tuesday, April 19th: Jenn’s Bookshelves (Promise Not to Tell)
Tuesday, April 19th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom (Island of Lost Girls)
Wednesday, April 20th: Life In Review (Promise Not to Tell)
Tuesday, May 3rd: Book Journey (Promise Not to Tell)
Wednesday, May 4th: Rundpinne (Promise Not to Tell)
Friday, May 6th: In the Next Room (Promise Not to Tell)
Monday, May 9th: Reading Through Life (Promise Not to Tell)
Tuesday, May 10th: Tina’s Book Reviews (Promise Not to Tell)
Wednesday, May 11th: In the Next Room (Island of Lost Girls)
Thursday, May 12th: Book Journey (Island of Lost Girls)
Monday, May 16th: Sara’s Organized Chaos (Island of Lost Girls)
Monday, May 16th: Stephanie’s Written Word (Promise Not to Tell)
Wednesday, May 18th: Rundpinne (Island of Lost Girls)
Thursday, May 19th: Iwriteinbooks’s blog (Promise Not to Tell)
Friday, May 20th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books (Island of Lost Girls)
Monday, May 23rd: Stephanie’s Written Word (Island of Lost Girls)

 TLC Book Tours provided a proof copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are mine alone.