New Series Coming! Food, Naturally

I am finally getting around to posting about food which I stated as a topic when I first started writing again this year in May! The good thing is I have read more and know more about it now than I did when I mentioned it previously. This is going to be a short series about what I have learned regarding true nutrition and health. Like I mentioned previously, you might be shocked by what you find here, but I urge you to read and research for yourselves.

These are the books I have enjoyed reading thus far.

• Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck
• Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig

Other books that I would like to read on this topic include:

• The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics, and Science of Nature’s Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows by Ron Schmid
• Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol by Mary Enig
• Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon
• Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby’s First Foods by Nina Planck
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
• In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

Many of these books you may be able to find at your local library, but I would recommend buying Nourishing Traditions because of its depth of knowledge and recipes.

I have some topics that I am currently planning to write about, but I may add more as I go along, which is something I seem to do often with these series! Posts for the series are (currently):

• Introduction
• What is Real Food?
• Why Eat Real Food, Part I
• Why Eat Real Food, Part II
• Why You Will Feel Better Eating It
• Raw Milk* and Other Dairy
• Article I
• Meat, Eggs, and Good Fats
• Article II and More
• Vegetable Oils and Bad Fats
• Real Whole Wheat
• Article III and More
• Natural Sugars and Eating Less of Them!
• Eliminate Processed Foods
• Know Your Ingredients, Read Your Labels
• Article IV
• “Natural” Can Be Deceiving
• Why is Organic Better?
• Not all “Organic” is Good Food
• So What About Snacks and Dessert?!

* I previously wrote a post about raw milk, the first from my Back to Nature series, but I plan on writing another one to include the information I have read and learned since.

I wanted to add two links to my favorite blogs to read for nourishing, real food recipes: Heavenly Homemakers, and Kitchen Stewardship

Dressing with Dignity Review

I put my Chesterton book away for a while and have been reading a few other things. My latest read is called Dressing with Dignity by Colleen Hammond. I think the issue is so important that I will be writing a few posts about it. I will start here with a review of the book.

Hammond incorporates wonderful Catholic sources (popes, saints, scripture, and others) when giving the proper definitions of modesty and noting what the Church has said about fashions. She discusses the history of fashions: unchanged for about 6000 years until the 1900s. However, in the 1900s, things started going downhill rapidly! She also discusses what it means to be feminine. In addition, she uses a whole chapter to discuss proper outfit guidelines.

I think this book is important. It is vital to know what the Church teaches and how the Church has reacted to the changes in clothing in the past hundred years. Before I read this book, I did not know that the Church had made any statements regarding dress!

This book is greatly needed in our world today. I think it should be required reading for every woman and girl. I encourage you to buy the book for yourself and hope that it will change your life and perspective on how to dress like a woman.

Good Books I've Read Lately

These are some of the books that were on my "pregnancy reading list" from my yearly goals I've been posting about. Obviously the first one has nothing to do with pregnancy and I just started reading it this weekend, but I'm over half-way done with it and it's a must-read!

Theology of the Body for Beginners 2nd Edition
I have not finished this book yet, but just let me say one thing about it so far - "wow"! I love this book. If John Paul II's book seems intimidating to you, read this one. It's short and very well written. I'm sure it leaves a lot out (because of it's brevity) but you still get tons of wonderful information on sex, marriage, and the human body in general!

The Baby Book
There is so much information in this book. It's over 700 pages - and yes, I read it cover to cover! If you want a book that covers almost every topic, this one is the one to get. It's readable, has a great index, and lots of pictures. Another thing that makes this book so great is the fact that it has chapters on most of the other "Sears" books such as attachment parenting, breastfeeding, nighttime parenting, family nutrition, the fussy baby, and more. So you're getting multiple books in one.

Pushed: The Painful Truth
Okay, so I admit, reading this book got me a little stressed out about giving birth. But it's well researched and has some good (true) stories in it if you're looking for something "different".

The Official Lamaze Guide
I fell in love with this book while reading it. I love the Lamaze philosophy and the fact that they've changed over the years to something more than just "breathing" that you see in all the movies and TV shows.

Husband-Coached Childbirth
This was a wonderful book about natural childbirth. It is the "Bradley Method" if you're familiar with that, but the book is more than just "what to do when you're in labor". I loved this book and found it even more inspiring than the Lamaze book.

Breastfeeding and Catholic Motherhood
I really enjoyed reading this one. I've read all three of Sheila Kippley's breastfeeding books now and they are all equally wonderful, but I especially enjoyed the religious aspect of this book and how it pertains to breastfeeding.

The Vaccine Book
This will help you put vaccines into perspective. It's written by Dr. Robert Sears (Dr. William Sears' son) and is NOT a book about how scary vaccines are and why you shouldn't let your child get them. It has legitimate information about the make-up of each vaccine, why you should get it and reasons why some people don't. Everything in the book is very well researched and I definitely learned a lot reading it. It also helped me decide which vaccines to get for our children and which ones are unnecessary.

Recent Reads

My "classic" fiction (but not christian this time):
The Murder of King Tut
by James Patterson
This is the first book I've ever read about Egypt. And I really enjoyed it. It made me want to seek out other books on the topic to read.

The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff
I enjoyed reading this book about polygamy and the LDS church. It was interesting. I paged through some of the history (because I really wasn't that interested) but the story line was good.

Sundays at Tiffany's
by James Patterson
I'm still in the process of reading this book. But it's interesting so far. I've been going a little slow on it since I started reading the pregnancy books.

And some pregnancy "staples":
Your Pregnancy: Week by Week
by Dr. Glade Curtis
I like this book for the format - weeks instead of months. It has good information and it's written by a doctor.

What to Expect When Your Expecting
by Heidi Murkoff
I like this book for the layout - Q&A and lots of "side boxes" with bits of info. It also has more about exercise during pregnancy, L&D, post-pregnancy, and specific information about special pregnancy conditions and multiples (not that I need that info but it's there to browse through).

My Library List 9/12

I finally went to the library Saturday. I only got two books this time. If I finish these two books and the one I'm currently reading, I will be up to four completed. My goal this month is to read five books.

Christian Fiction
-Blackstock, Terri
--Last Light
The first book in the Restoration series. I've been waiting for it (on hold) for almost three weeks now. I'm really enjoying reading Terri Blackstock so I'm sure I will enjoy this book as well.

--Blind Trust
This is from her Second Chances series (book 3). I just read book one last week - Never Again Goodbye, and liked it. So I'm sure this one will be just as good.

We also got some movies to watch:
Shakespeare in Love
Sophie's Choice

So it should be a good week!

My Library List 8/22 - 9/5

I've been a little slow on the reading this week. I got about 5 books at the library but one I didn't care for so I just flipped through it; another I decided to wait on because I didn't realize it was from a series (#3) so I want to read the first and second books first. Then, I started back up with reading the Bible every day, so I don't have as much time to read my library books. Also, (see ... lots of reasons!) I've been trying to "soak up" my TV time, because (if you'll remember) I'm getting rid of cable next month. So here's my list of reads:

Non-Fiction
Financial
-Ramsey, Dave
--More Than Enough
I just started this one so I don't have much to say about it. But everything I've read by Dave Ramsey so far was excellent! So I'm sure this book will be too ... I'll review it next week.

-Bach, David
--The Automatic Millionaire
This is the book I didn't really care for. He doesn't agree with budgeting. He thinks credit cards are okay. And he thinks that people can become rich just by automatically putting a specific amount of money into savings (or investing) every month. Now I could've missed something else because, like I said earlier, I didn't finish the book. But I think that's just stupid -- I guess I've been listening to Dave Ramsey too long!!

-Burkett, Larry
--Debt-Free Living
This book was okay. Some things I had to overlook (another Dave Ramsey thing) - like the "credit cards are okay", etc. I enjoyed reading the stories about people - how they got into debt and how they got out, which was intertwined with his teachings. He had a lot of scripture throughout the book, plus an index of scriptures about money at the end that I really liked. He also has a book that solely dedicated to what the Bible says about money (The Word on Finances).

Government
-Levin, Mark
--Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America
I have not finished this book yet either, but so far - it's eye-opening! I think everyone should read this book. Some of it is a little dry (my opinion, I've never been excited about history), but I've learned some things about our history and government that I would have never known without this book.

Fiction, Christian
Suspense
-Blackstock, Terri
--Never Again Goodbye
I have not started this book, but it looks really good. And I've enjoyed the Blackstock books I've read so far. It's about a woman who gave up her child for adoption and later comes back into her life.
--True Light
This is book 3 in a series - Restoration. It's kind of a sci-fi series about how this star caused all electricity and computers to stop working, and how people are living in this new world. What I read of this book so far was good. I just decided that I should start from the beginning instead of the middle!

My Library List 8/8 - 8/21

The library is definitely being utilized by a lot of people - all the books I want are checked out! So I haven't been able to pick up any more financial books. Here's what I have read in the past two weeks:

Fiction, Christian
Unsure of the category ...
-Beverly Lewis
--The Secret
This book wasn't that great to me. It took me a week to finish it. I found the plot going way too slow! The book is over 300 pages long and it's just book one in a series. I think the whole series could have fit into this book if she would've cut out all the "filler". But I did enjoy reading about Amish family life. It's very interesting and enlightening.

Thriller
-Terri Blackstock
--Ulterior Motives
This book was great. I read it in two days. It's older (1996) but I was looking on the shelf for a different one (that wasn't there) and thought I'd pick this one up. I really love the Christian element of the book. It makes for a wonderful aspect to the plot.

Romance
-Christine Lynxwiler
--The Reluctant Cowgirl
I've only really read two romance novels in my life (this being the third). I guess I thought they weren't really "my cup of tea", so I had a bias against this book going in. But the book completely turned me around. I really enjoyed it. And will be looking forward to more romance novels in the future.

My Library List 8/1 - 8/7

I have started getting back into reading. Lots of reading! Remember when I said the library was a great resource for books? Well, we've been utilizing the library quite a bit lately and saved TONS of money over what it would've cost to buy all these books - plus it keeps our home "clutter-free".

Good books I've read from the library lately:

Non-Fiction, Financial
-Dave Ramsey
-- The Total Money Makeover
-- The Money Answer Book
-- Financial Peace Revisited


Fiction, Christian
-Paul Robertson
-- According to Their Deeds

Hopefully, I will be going back to the library soon as I have finished these books already (in about a week)!

The Total Money Makeover

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey was so wonderful and uplifting. I enjoyed reading the debt and money myths and the encouraging stories of others. Even though we have already started our "money makeover" without realizing that's what we were doing, I still learned a great deal about where to go from here.

Before reading this book, my favorite financial author was Mary Hunt, but I think, no I know, Dave Ramsey has surpassed my expectations, become my favorite, and his is one of the best books I've ever read.

Now that I have read this book, I'm looking forward to reading other books by Dave Ramsey. I also started listening to his radio show on the internet.

This was the first book I checked out of the library in a long time. And I'm certainly glad that I did. I definitely recommend this book to anyone with any kind of debt.

My Top 10 Books

Here they are in no particular order and of all different subjects/styles.

1. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
I really enjoyed reading this. I learned a lot about myself - why I feel certain things more than others (criticism can make me cry!) and why certain things hurt me more than others (Robert not spending enough time with me when he comes home from work). If you ever pick up the book, you'll immediately discover my "love languages"! I think it's definitely helping our relationship, because I am now able to verbalize why I feel a certain why instead just saying " 'xyz' hurts me".

2. Love and Respect by Dr. Emmerson Eggerichs
This bears a small resemblance to Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but with a more Christian outlook. This was also a good book about relationships. It teaches you "COUPLE" and "CHAIRS" - ways to spell love to your wife/husband respectively. I definitely learned quite a bit and recommend this (after The Five Love Languages) to any married couple.

3. Army Wives by Tanya Biank
I found this book interesting because it was based on truth. I enjoy reading military stories and have quite a few books to attest to that. It started out slow but once I got past the "this is going nowhere" chapter(s) I really started to enjoy the story and had to force myself to put the book down.

4. Married to the Military by Meredith Leyva
I have a few other books about the military (such as The Military Advantage and The Navy Spouse's Guide) but I liked this one the best. This book, I read when Robert was in A-school (the Navy equivalent of AIT). It taught me quite a bit about the military such as resources I can use, moving, health care, finances, etc. It really helped me understand the military (as it can be quite intimidating when you're new) and helped me feel empowered by giving me useful information - some things I even taught Robert!

5. To Sleep with the Angels by David Cowan
This was so sad; it made me cry, but it was an excellent book. It's about a fire in an elementary school back in 1958. It was a great tragedy (killing 95 people, 92 of which were students), but resulted in improvements in building codes and fire safety for schools around the country.

6. Desperate Passage by Ethan Rarick
This is the story of the Donner Party. I did not know anything about the event (other than the cannibalism - which is mentioned but not graphicly) before reading this book. It was insightful and riveting - I read it in about four days.

7. Complications by Atul Gawande
This was a very interesting book. It kind of grossed me out in one chapter (where it goes into detail about how to put a central line into a patient's chest), but it's quite a good book with a few interesting medical mysteries. I had to read it for a Bioethics class that I dropped when I quit nursing, but I'm glad I finished it (and have since read it a second time) - Yes, it's that good.

8. How to Debt-Proof You Marriage by Mary Hunt
I hold a high regard for Mary Hunt, not because she's a financial expert (she isn't, she doesn't even hold a financial degree), but because she's been there (in debt!). This book is divided into two sections - 1. what makes a good marriage (and why divorce is not as great an option as it's made out to be) and 2. how to get your finances in order. I greatly enjoyed both sections and use a lot of her tips (such as our Freedom Account and Contingency Fund).

9. Parenting by The Book by John Rosemond
The Book - as in The Bible. This book takes parenting back to what it used to be (before the 1960s and beyond when psychologists thought they knew how to raise "our" children better than our parents and grandparents). This is an excellent resource for parents. Although I'm not a parent, I have been "studying up" for many years now and I can say that I've gained a lot of insight into parenting with this book. I understand my faith better also, as it uses the Bible to teach proper parenting skills. (Thank you K.!)

Note: I read the reviews on Amazon.com. People either loved it (33- 5-star) or hated it (31- 1-star) and I have to say, I don't think very many of the 1-star reviewers actually read the book. They just "hate" John Rosemond because they think he advocates spanking, which he doesn't (read his position here). My opinion comes from the fact that many people quoted from his statement on the website, not from anything in the book. If you want reasonable reviews, read the 5-stars.

10. The Catholic Bible: Personal Study Edition (NAB)
I love the reading guides. It has one for each section (ex. Pentateuch, Historical Books, etc.), and also one for each book of the bible. It also includes full color maps, the daily readings, a glossary, and plenty of other information not found in a standard bible. I do have to say though, some of the wording in this translation is not to my liking, but that is a personal preference.