Sunday, July 9, 2017

When God Made You -- book review



I love a good children’s book, and I especially love one that has great illustrations. This book hits both of those things. When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner is such a beautifully written book for children. There is a ton of rhyme in the book which makes it fun for kids. I read this book several times to my daughter, who is just under a year and a half, and she enjoyed listening as I read because of the fun rhyme to the words. She may not have understood a lot of what I was saying, but she still liked the book. More importantly though, this book has a beautiful message and one that I believe is important for children to learn early on. The message of the book is God created each person for a special purpose and he knows every part of them and they are loved by Him just as they are. Kids need to know this deep inside of them (well, adults do too.)

I also want to point out that the illustrations, by David Catrow, in this book are absolutely wonderful. It is full of bright colors and great drawings. The pictures tell a story of their own. The story of the pictures goes right along with the words of the book, they flow beautifully together. I enjoyed looking at these illustrations just as much as reading the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has kids. I think this book would also make a great gift. I’m sure that I will read this book to my daughter many more times in the coming years.
     

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. 

Friday, July 7, 2017

Private Selection -- Product Review

*This post contains affiliated links. I received these products for free in exchange for my honest review.

Summer is upon us, and with that comes summer food. Cookouts, salads, watermelon, ice cream, and the list goes on. Kroger has a line of products under the label Private Selection. I have tried many of the Private Selection items before as I am a regular Kroger shopper. With their #MyMagazineSharing program I was able to try two more products. I received full sized samples of their Green Chile Ranch Seasoning Rub and their Texas Inspired BBQ Kettle Potato Chips.


First, lets talk about he potato chips for a quick minute. I generally do not pick BBQ flavored chips if I am buying chips. I do really like kettle style potato chips though. These Texas Inspired BBQ Kettle Potato Chips were very tasty. There was a bit of tang to them. I don't know if that is generally true of Texan BBQ as I am not a Texan, not even close. I did eat my share of these chips, but my husband was the one who was really into them. He finished off the bag. (Please see the above picture of the crumpled bag that I dug out of the trash in order to get a picture of it.) So, these chips passed the taste test at our house and I would purchase them again.

Second, the Green Chile Ranch Seasoning Rub. Ok, I do not usually cook with a lot of spice mixes. I just use my general spices most of the time. Their is some convenience to spice mixes or rubs though. I actually tried this out two different ways. I first tried the rub on some chicken breasted that I just roasted in the oven. That turned out just ok. The second time that I tried the spice rub it 1 used it in my Southwest Chicken Salad. The flavor went great with the salad and was really good. Here is what I put into my salad, which is a quick summer favorite around this house.

Southwest Chicken Salad

  • chopped romaine lettuce
  • 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans
  • 1 can of drained corn, can also use fresh of thawed frozen
  • 1 tomato sliced
  • 1 diced avocado
  •  2 chicken breasts grilled and sliced. Use whatever seasoning you would like. 
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • Southwest ranch dressing
  • Optional things that you can add to the salad are croutons, green pepper, onion, tortilla strips, cilantro, salsa, sour cream