Book Review: Informative and Interesting

Occasionally, I am asked to review various cookbooks and most of the time I refuse, but when I was asked to review Skinny Spices: 50 Nifty Homemade Spice Blends That Can Turn Blah Healthy Eating Into Flavor-Rich Delicious Dining, I thought I would give it a go.SkinnySpicesFinalCover

The reason I agreed to review the book is on two fronts. 

  1. The author writes about the history of spices (something I am very interested in).
  2. Talks about the struggles with weight loss.  I’ve had personal experience with the weight loss failures and successes.  In 2010, I lost 60 lbs, but two years later I gained 40 of it back, and am fighting it again and have lost over 20 lbs of my 40 lb. goal. 

That being said, I really enjoyed reading Klein’s book.  Although fairly easy to read, it was educational and interesting.  I will probably keep my copy in my reference library to go back to for additional information as I prepare my own articles and presentations.

The spice blends are very diverse with international and domestic (U.S. influenced) flavors. The e-book creates a lot of links to recipes that any culinary enthusiasts would welcome.  Each recipe also contains the nutritional data and nutrient exchange that many are looking for when planning their meals and are very Weight Watcher/Nutrisystem/Medifast/Slimgenics friendly. 

As a cook, I am looking forward to trying many of the featured recipes and recommended spice blends.  If you have a chance, take a look at the book.  It’s worth the read! 

As a note, this review was not a paid review nor am I endorsing any weightloss plan.

First Promotional Video

After years of being asked what I do, I created a video from the photographs supplied by my fans.  They are each recognized for their kindness at the end of the video and I received written permission from the band, Misplaced, to use “Tell My Ma” for this video.  Please be kind with the comments, I am a cook and not a videographer. 

Thank you all for your continued support.  I look forward to seeing many of you in 2013.

A new cookbook & an older one

Well my fans, I’ve been rather busy working on a new cookbook.  I learned a lot from the last one and I wanted to improve what I had, offer friendlier prices, and provide quality cookbooks that I could be proud of producing. 

To view both cookbooks, click HERE.

As you can see, the cookbooks are offered in a soft-cover, hard-cover and an e-book format.  They are both being reviewed by iTunes and I should know in the next month or so if they will be accepted. 

If you like what I do, please consider purchasing a cookbook or two as it helps fund my research, my writing, and it validates what I do.  🙂

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me or ask me questions.  I love to hear from my fans.

Rosemary Health Benefits

In ancient times, Rosemary was used to relieve abdominal pain, gout, insomnia, and for the calming nerves. People would burn rosemary branches on the altars of the gods, considering it a sacred herb and the Egyptians placed the herb in pharaohs’ tombs. The custom of burning rosemary branches was practiced in hospitals in France until the 20th century – and used for cleaning the air. Also because of its antiseptic effect, the plant was appreciated and used for conserving meat, even in extremely hot weather – it was known that rosemary prevents and delays the decay of meat.

Rosemary in known as an analgesic, antiseptic, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, antiviral, aphrodisiac, and disinfectant while stimulating bile secretion and helping eliminate it in the intestines, destroying microorganisms, increasing the quantity of eliminated urine, improving the blood flow and refreshing and energizing the mind. Rosemary helps as a memory stimulant and has calming effects by working against fatigue, sadness, anxiety, calming muscle soreness, digestive pains and also, indigestion caused by stress.

Rosemary improves digestion, fights against obesity, liver diseases, gastritis, hyper or hypocholesterolemia, bronchic asthma, edemas, and adjusts fast heart beats caused especially by irritability, coffee or tobacco excess. Because of its antiseptic and tonic properties, rosemary is extremely beneficial in cases of fainting, influenza, hangovers, asthma, bronchitis, cramps, constipation, cystitis, headaches, polypus, colds, cough, sinusitis or muscular pains. The plant also has a good influence on the blood circulation and blood pressure.

SOURCES: Wikipedia.org, ehow.com, herbalmedicineguide.com, and liveandfeel.com

Coming Soon – Benefits of Spices

On my facebook page, fans have asked a lot of questions on spices and herbs. I’m going to begin adding some information on the historical uses of spices and herbs and share a recipe focused on that spice/herb. My goal is to do a weekly story/article. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while and just didn’t have the time for it. 

Stay tuned readers, fresh content will be on its way!