Monday, September 22, 2014

Seventh Generation Natural Hand Wash - Review


As a member of Smiley360 I recently received this Seventh Generation Natural Hand Wash to review. It was great to get a full sized bottle so we could use it several times and get a good idea of how much we like it. This particular bottle is the Mandarin Orange & Grapefruit scent.

First of all, I love the clean and fresh look of the bottle. I like that I can see through the bottle. The design on the bottle is great too. Very simple but eye catching. I have had this bottle sitting in our main bathroom for us and company to use. It is gentle on my hands and smells nice. I do wish the scent was a little stronger. It seems a tad weak to me. I like it to linger a bit more but that's just my opinion.

This hand wash is made with plant- based ingredients. It is free of triclosan, dyes, and phthalates and also is a hypoallergenic formula.

If you'd like more info on this Seventh Generation Hand Wash or their other products you can find them here.

I received this product for free from Smiley360 in exchange for my review. Opinions are my own.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Down South- Book Review



This cookbook has a great variety of recipes. The photos are beautiful and I enjoyed learning more about the South in general. Each recipe has a background story or a tidbit of info about it. I really like the layout of the book and how easy to read it is.

I was a little disappointed as most of the recipes are a bit fancier than I was expecting for Southern food. Maybe fancy is not the word I want but maybe a bit more sophisticated like restaurant feel than home cooking. I did find a few recipes I will be trying like the smoked chicken thighs, yeast rolls, and chocolate chunk monster cookies. Of course I had to tell my boys there is a recipe included for frog legs. The frogs in our yard though are teeny tiny so they won't have to worry about ending up in my kitchen.

I think this would be a great cookbook for someone who likes to have dinner parties or even leave out on the coffee table for company to look through since it contains more than just recipes and photos of food.

If you'd like more info on this cookbook by Donald Link you can find it here. If you'd like a sneak peak of it you can look here.

* I received this book from Blogging For Books for this review. Opinions are my own.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Homesick Texan's Family Table - Book Review



I just have to start out by saying this cookbook was even more than I was hoping for. The photo on the front really caught my attention and I was so happy to get to do a review for it.

The photos are just beautiful and I have so many of the recipes marked already for my "want to make" list. I love that they all seem to have easy to access ingredients. A majority of them I know my family will love. I don't cook as much in summer trying to keep the house cool but I can't wait to get started making some of these. We have cooler weather coming over the weekend and I plan to make the plum cobbler and oatmeal bread first.

The background stories for each of the recipes are a great addition. I really like it when an author inclueds the background of how or where the recipe came about. There is also a resource guide at the end in case you have trouble finding any of the Mexican ingredients needed for a few of the recipes. This cookbook is just a dream to read and I can't wait to share with my family. As I was glancing through the book when I first got it I actually called my mom right away to tell her about the divinity recipe included. I'm going to make it for her when she comes up to visit us next month.

If you'd like to find out more Lisa Fain and this book you can go here.  I definitely recommend this book. Cooking with or for your family from this cookbook is sure to make for some happy tummies!

* I received this book from Blogging For Books for this review.  Opinions are my own.

***Update*** Sept 12th

I finally got a chance to make the plum cobbler on page 229. It is so good & very easy to make.