The Male Factor by Shaunti Feldhahn


When I read For Women Only, I was brought to several “ah ha” moments that made a difference for me.  The one thing that stands out for me in that book was that Shaunti pointed out that event the Bible says that husbands are to love their wives and wives are to RESPECT their husbands.  What Shaunti pointed out was that when interviewing 100 men and asking them if it was more important for them to feel loved or respected, 98% came back as saying respect was more important to them.  That blew me away.  And she was right, I tested it myself by showing more respect to Al and the business we own and the man….. blossomed.

All this I mention in prelude to The Male Factor.  I am not a fan of self-help books or advice books…. but Shaunti has won a hard-earned spot with me from the book mentioned above so to read The Male Factor was not ever of question.  And?  She delivers again.

In this book, Shaunti once again goes right to the source, this time interviewing 1,500 men.  She asks the questions and then gives us the answers.  Digging in to the minds of business men she brings back the difference between women being able to go to work and still keep playing in the background of our minds, where the kids are, what is the agenda for later as well as meal planning.  The men, according to Shaunti’s surveys have two different worlds – work world and personal world.  AT work world – it is all about work and their personal things are shut down to this.  Due to the brain function of men, they can become hyper focused on the job at hand and everything else is screened out.

Many topics are covered in this book that explain the differences of the internal wiring between men and women.  How mens brains work compared to women’s.  In this particular book by Felghahn I felt this would be an excellent read for women in the workplace who work alongside many men as this book is oriented towards men n the workplace.

Shaunti has a way with words and I find her book intelligent and well written.  I was engrossed in the learning of how men see things differently than women.  Arming yourself with this information could reallyc hange your work place environemt for the better.

Millions of women gained eye-opening insights about the inner lives of men through Shaunti Feldhahn’s best-selling book For Women Only. Now with The Male Factor, Feldhahn brings her pioneering research approach to the workplace to help women understand their male colleagues. Based on a nationwide survey and confidential interviews with thousands of men whose anonymity was guaranteed, her book reveals the private thoughts and attitudes that men rarely show but every woman needs to know.

Never before has an author gotten inside the hearts and minds of men in the workplace—from CEOs to nonprofit managers, from lawyers to factory workers—to discover what they commonly think about women on the job, what their expected “rules” of the workplace are, what “managing emotion” means, and what factors improve or harm a man’s respect for a female co-worker.

Among the little-known but critical insights The Male Factor reveals are:

o  how men, with rare exception, view almost any emotional display as a sign that the person can no longer think clearly (as well as what men perceive as emotion in the first place)
o  why certain types of trendy attire may actually sabotage a woman’s career
o  which little-known signals make sure that a man’s perception of a strong female colleague is positive (“assertive and competent”) instead of negative (“difficult”)

Even women who have navigated male-dominated work environments for years have expressed surprise at these and other revelations in the book. Some readers may find them challenging. Yet The Male Factor delivers a one-of-a-kind opportunity for women to understand how male bosses, colleagues, subordinates, and customers privately think, and why they react the way they do. These vital insights enable each woman to make informed decisions in her unique workplace situation.

Shaunti Feldhahn began her career as an analyst on Wall Street and today is a bestselling author, speaker, and nationally-syndicated newspaper columnist.  Her recent bestsellers have sold more than one million copies and have been translated into 18 different languages.  The books in her popular “Only” series, including For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men, and For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women, For Parents Only and For Young Women Only (both of which were co-authored with youth speaker Lisa Rice), and For Young Men Only (co-authored with husband Jeff Feldhahn and Eric Rice, husband to Lisa Rice) have led to great life-change—and plenty of fascinating conversation—for men, women, parents and teens around the country. She has also authored two true-to-life spiritual thrillers. Shaunti’s newest book in the works is for women in the workplace, to be released December 29, 2009.  This book is a startling exploration of what men privately think in the workplace but rarely share; perceptions that often fundamentally affect their female colleagues.  Shaunti is now speaking to corporate groups and sharing this new research, so that women in the workplace can avoid unintentional self-sabotage and be particularly effective and influential with male bosses, colleagues, clients or subordinates.

This book is counted in the following Challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

My Amazon Review

I received my copy of this book fromWaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group


Live Longer by Jonny Bowden PHD


Author Jonny Bowden looks at what he calls “The Four Horsemen of Aging”—free radicals, inflammation, glycation, and stress—and shows how they can harm your health and shorten your life. Bowden then unveils an arsenal of anti-aging strategies culled from cutting edge research and lessons learned from the longest lived people on the planet. He examines how the major organs, such as the heart and the brain, age and how you can prevent damage to these vital parts of the body. In total, readers learn what they can eat, do, and take to feel great, avoid illness, and live a long life.

It is never to early to start putting healthy habits in place and this book is a wonderful example of just that.   Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., is a nationally known expert on weight loss and nutrition.  In The Most Effective Ways To Live Longer Jonny focuses on what he calls the four horseman of aging:

  • Oxidative Damage
  • Inflammation
  • Glycation
  • Stress

As the book says, the four horseman of aging is anything that’s happening to your body that you wish were not happening, from the beginning of disease to the breakdown of systems to the loss of functionality… all this is being driven by the engine of these four processes.

Yes the above paragraph is depressing.  This book is all about taking these four steps and through diet and exercise how to keep the horses at bay.  And this…. I love.

Foods like wild salmon (a perfect anti aging food) to blueberries (filled with antioxidants and cancer fighters)…. we are walked through delicious choices that keep you young and healthy – inside and out.  Exercises like crunches for the abdominal muscles, squats for legs and lower body, weight resistance and more.  This book is a wealth of knowledge.


The Blue Zone chapter was fascinating!  Every so often, a team of researchers will discover a little corner of the globe where- inexplicably- people routinely live to 100 or more. These areas have come to be known as “The Blue Zones” and scientists have spent hundreds of research hours trying to uncover their secrets.  Some of these secrets are reveealed within the pages of this book.

This book is a wonderful reference that with slight adjustments to our everyday lives we can apply. Through these steps we can slow even stop the aging process.  What is not to like about that?  Big bold pictures and written in an easy to follow, even funny tone… page by page you are going to eat up this knowledge and truly be better for it in the end.

Who Is Jonny Bowden?

He has been featured in The New York Times, The New York Post, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, Time, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Oxygen, Remedy, Family Circle, Self, Fitness, Allure, Essence, Men’s Health, Pilates Style, Prevention, Woman’s World, In Style, Fitness, Natural Health and Shape and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS as an expert on nutrition, weight loss, and health..

*My Amazon Review

I received this book from Pump Up Your Blog Promotion

What To Do When The Roof Caves In by Merilyn Meberg

This book opened my eyes to things I did not know were out there… what an eye opening tool for keeping the “roof” of your world intact..  Sheila

We all walk through life with nagging questions – questions that spring from fear, doubt, guilt, and pain.  And the harder we fight to ignore them, the faster they weaken our defenses.  Like hail on a weak roof, they pile up until the sky comes falling in.

Marilyn addressed some hard topics in this book.  In a gutsy format that is not only informative, shocking, and at times even funny…. Marilyn tackles the tough topics of addiction, adultery, pornography, divorce, and death.  In her book, What To Do When The Roof Caves In Marilyn gives hard facts of situations that are happening all over our world.  With stories of her own life incidences, such as when many years ago she discovered her 5 year old had a poster of the voluptuous Raquel Welch.  Once Jeff came home from kindergarten (KINDERGARTEN!),over two Mystic Mint cookies, their conversation went like this:

Marilyn:  “Why don’t you tell me about your Raquel poster.”


Jeff (5): ‘ I think she is really pretty.”


Marilyn:  “What is pretty about her?”


Jeff (5):  She beautiful eyes and a beautiful face.  I like to look at her.”


Marilyn:  “Do you think she should be wearing a blouse with a higher neckline?”


Jeff (5):  “Oh no.  Her blouse is perfect.  It goes with her eyes.”


Marilyn:  “Were you hiding the poster?  Is that why it was under your bed?”


Jeff (5):  I wasn’t sure you would like her eyes as much as I do.”


At other times Marilyn’s topics are much harder to grasp like her chapter on children having sex at unheard of young ages that would break your heart.  How school playground monitors have much more serious things to watch for then the petty fighting or name calling that went on in playgrounds when we were growing up.  This chapter alone left me with a sickening twist in my stomach…. I had no idea…

For anyone who is dealing with hard life opportunities…. or for anyone who wants to help keep the roof intact before these opportunities arise, Marilyn has a message for each of us.  Somewhere, something in this book will touch you or someone you know.

Each chapter ends with discussion questions to go over with your children, spouse, or your friend.  Marilyn arms us with tools, topics, and scriptures to refer to that will keep our roof in good working order through the unforeseen storms of life.


Marilyn Meberg is a speaker at the Women of Faith Conference that I have attended the past 4 years.  I honestly have to say the first time I seen this woman I felt she couldn’t possibly have anything to say that would be of value to me.  I was extremely wrong for judging this woman.  She is witty and funny and at the same time her message gets right to the heart of the matter.

Women of Faith is a Conference that I highly recommend.  I have gone for 4 years now when it comes to Minneapolis each October and it is a weekend event like you would not believe.  The speakers are humorous, outrageous, and at the same time they remind us of how important it is to have women friends and times like these weekends to get away and refill our spirits.    Every year I laugh with the crazy humor of Anita Renfroe, and love the wisdom that Sheila Walsh brings to the table.  Add Patsy Clairmont who will make you laugh until you cry and music by Steven Curtis Chapman…  well, it is a great time that I highly recommend.

This book is counted in the following Challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

My Amazon Review

I received my copy of this book from The Women Of Faith Conference, MPLS MN. Oct. 2009

The One Day Way by Chantel Hobbs w/ Giveaway

I’ve got great news for you: You are about to feel better and look better beginning today!   Today is truly a new opportunity for you to reach your weight loss goals. No, you won’t fit into your “skinny jeans” today, but I’m going to show you how each day will get you closer to that goal.

Yesterday’s mistakes are gone so let them go. You can’t control tomorrow, so stop worrying about it. Today is your opportunity to lose weight, get strong, and look great. It won’t happen overnight, but you can build a new life by changing your actions immediately and I’m here to show you how to make the changes that will create the new lifestyle you dream of: body, mind, and spirit. Best of all, you will start celebrating right away!

Come on, my friend. Let’s get started! By opening this book, I’ll show you how to unlock every tool you need to lose weight and get fit —and stay that way for the rest of your life. Success can be yours, what are you waiting for?

-Chantel

Chantel has written an incredible book.  I have read many books on healthy habits, good food choices, work outs…. you name it – I have probably read something about it. I find enjoyment in learning new and healthy habits and I take away a little bit from each book.  Chantel provided me with more thana little bit of food for thought.

Chantel takes on the role of personal coach to the reader.  An approach I found unique and inspiring.  In the begining of her books she asks that we trust her.  Put your guard down – and dig into this book and make the changes you have dreamed of for a healithier life style.  By “demolitioning” old habits.

I found this book to be wonderfully inspiring.  Chantel has been there, having lost 200 pounds herself.  her dreams of being fit and living a healthy life style have come true and I was impressed with her honest and down to earth writing.  The book is filled with lists of habits to apply and choices to make.  She has included recipes to give you the jump start you may need.  For a book I thought I would just be skimming through the details – I found myself deeply into Chantel’s story and the stories of others who struggled greatly with their weight.  If you are serious  about making a change this year – I would highly recommend you start by picking up a copy of this book.

Chantel Hobbs is a motivational speaker, life coach, personal trainer, marathon runner, wife, and mother of four whose story has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, the 700 Club, and the covers of People and First magazines. She appears weekly on two fitness-themed radio programs and promotes her One-Day Way Learning System on television. Visit Chantel at ChantelHobbs.com for fitness updates and coaching tips.

Oh and one more thing….. I have an extra copy of this book to give away!

To enter this giveaway leave a comment here and let me know what your kryptonite food is.  You know the food item that you just have trouble saying no to.  The item that like krytonite is to Super Man, makes you week in the  knees you must answer this to be entered.  (I will start, mine is pretty much anything chocolate)!

Bonus entries?  Ok…

Blog or Twitter about this giveaway and I will give you an extra chance to win (leave me your twitter or blog link here in a separate comment)

Become a subscriber or let me know you are a current subscriber of this blog on a separate comment  (upper right sidebar) and I will toss in 2 extra chances

Giveaway will end Jan. 26  Winners US or Canada only

That’s it!  Have fun!

My review copy came from Waterbrook Press

My Amazon Review


Monique And The Mango Rains by Kris Holloway

Monique and the Mango Rains is the compelling story of a rare friendship between a young Peace Corps volunteer and a midwife who became a legend . . .

Monique Dembele saved lives and dispensed hope in a place where childbirth is a life-and-death matter. This book tells of her unquenchable passion to better the lives of women and children in the face of poverty, unhappy marriages, and endless backbreaking work. Monique’s buoyant humor and willingness to defy tradition were uniquely hers. In the course of this deeply personal narrative, as readers immerse themselves in the rhythms of West African village life, they come to know Monique as friend, mother, and inspired woman.

From witnessing her first village birth to the night of Monique’s own tragic death, Kris Holloway draws on her first-person experiences in Mali, her graduate studies in maternal and child health, medical and clinic records, letters and journals, as well as conversations with Monique, her family, friends and colleagues, to give readers a unique view—and a friend in West Africa.


I really enjoy reading about other countries and other cultures.  Kris Holloway’s book was a book that fed this hunger for knowledge.  Following in Kris’ footsteps this book takes you through her two years she spent in the Peace Corps working with Monique, a midwife in Mali.

Monique's Home
The Birthing House in Mali

The friendship that you witness develop between Kris Halloway and Monique is worth reading the book alone.  Yet, there is so much more information to this book them the friendship.  This is an accurate account of what life in West Africa was like for this incredible woman.

Day to day Monique wakes early and works all day in the birthing house where she helps women with pregnancies, before the birth, during, and after.  Working for unheard of wages that are collected by her husband… this book is one that ripped at my heart.  Kris Holloway brings a voice to this remarkable women and brings her story that otherwise would be unknown… to us, the lucky readers.  What a privilege to share a part of Monique’s life.

From Kris’s words about Africa, to Monique’s time in America… you will want to experience this book.  And that is just what this book is… an experience not to be missed.

Kris Holloway served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, West Africa from 1989-1991, where she met her husband,

Kris and Monique

John Bidwell. She holds a MPH from the University of Michigan where she focused her research on maternal and child health. She has used her unique background in writing, public health, and development to further the mission of numerous non-profits and educational institutions including Planned Parenthood, the National Priorities Project, the University of Michigan, Springfield College, and the Greenbelt Movement International. She currently works as the Director of Institutional Relations at the Center for International Studies, a fabulous study/live/explore abroad organization. She is a confirmed Francophile, loves chocolate, and sits on a physio ball while at her computer. She lives in Northampton, MA with John and their two sons.

Mali Music Video

The incredible life of Monique

West African Peanut Stew — Tigadegena

(from Monique Dembele, Mali, West Africa, adapted for vegetarians)
Serves 6-8

  • 2c. chopped onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
  • 4 c. vegetable stock
  • 2 c. tomato juice
  • ½ tsp. cayenne (or to taste)
  • 1 -1 ½ c. smooth peanut butter
  • 2 c. chopped cabbage
  • 2 c. chopped sweet potato
  • 1 c. chopped okra (if available)
  • salt and pepper
  • chopped scallions
  • Rice or cous-cous (this sauce can be served over either)

  • Heat oil in large pot/skillet and fry onions, garlic, and ginger until soft. Add veg. stock, tomato juice, and cayenne. When hot, add peanut butter and mix well. Allow to boil for 10-20 minutes to thicken, then add remaining vegetables. Cook 20 minutes or so until vegetables are soft. Add water if the sauce is too thick, peanut butter if too thin. Serve over rice or cous-cous. Top with scallions. Is even better the next day.
  • Traditionally this is served communal-style. A large bowl filled with rice and sauce is placed on the ground. People gather around it and, after washing their hands in a small bowl of water, dig in (each person being careful to only nosh on the rice and sauce directly in front of him/her so as not to mix spit with the folks on either side). Another bowl of water is passed to rinse hands after eating.
  • Blessing for after the meal:
    Allah ka suma I kono. (May God cool the food in your belly.)
    Amina (Amen)

My Amazon Review

This books fits in the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

This book was given to me by Julie from My Own Little Corner Of The World

Thanks Julie – it was wonderful!

Mass Casualties by SPC Michael Anthony

I wound up on the battle field right alongside Michael.  ~ Sheila

Mass Casualties

“Look around,” the drill sergeant said. “In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can’t stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there.”

It was Week 7 of basic training . . . eighteen years old and I was preparing myself to die.

They say the Army makes a man out of you, but for eighteen-year-old SPC Michael Anthony, this fabled rite of passage is instead a dark and dangerous journey. After obtaining his parents’ approval to enlist at seventeen, Anthony begins this journey with an unshakeable faith in the military based on his family’s long tradition of service. But when he finds himself in a medical unit of misfits as lost as he is, Anthony not only witnesses firsthand the unspeakable horror of war, he experiences the undeniable misconduct of the military. Everything he’s ever believed in dissolves, forcing Anthony to rethink his ideals and ultimately risk his career—and his freedom—to challenge the military that once commanded his loyalty.

This searing memoir chronicles the experiences that change one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faces the truth about the war—and himself—in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.

If this book comes as surprise review out of my “genre” comfort zone to you…. you would be right.  I do not enjoy books about war.  Yet when this book was offered to me for review I had to look at Michael’s story a little closer and came to the conclusion that I didn’t know how I could not read it.

Michael takes us as readers right into his own personal war zone.  Month by month he journals life in the Army as a medic.  A real close up look from the friends he has made… the ones he has not, from sleep or lack there of and grueling work shifts.  Sometimes funny, sometimes horrifying, Michael puts it all in this book.

This was a side to to serving our country I had never deeply thought about.  Michael brought this to life in this book and gave me a close up of what it is like on the inside.

An Iraqi Man is staring at us; I see him; he wears a black and white turban, which I know means he’s been to Mecca. I’m not sure if I’ve seen skin tone like this before; it’s golden auburn.  I notice that it is the same color as the buildings, and the buildings are the same color as the sand blowing in my face.They’re the same color as the sky.  I think that if I were fifty feet away and there was a pile of sand, a building, and a naked Iraqi man, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them.  They all looked like they belonged together: the tiny buildings, the man with the face that’s tired, the sand, the sky, and the sun.

Biography

Michael Anthony (MA) seemed destined to serve from the day he was born.  The youngest of seven children, Michael has four brothers and two sisters, all but one of whom joined the military. His father and two grandfathers were also in the Military.

After graduating high school, he joined the Army Reserves, went through basic training, and then went through job training to become an Operating Room Medic. One year later he returned home and enrolled in college to begin his first semester. Almost immediately upon finishing his first semester he was shipped off to Wisconsin to train for four months before he would leave and spend his next year in Iraq. Michael is now back in the States and working toward a Bachelor’s Degree in creative writing.

*Note:  This book contains some strong language and some sexual references.

My Amazon review


This book fits into the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

I received my copy from Pump Up My Blog Tour

hush hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Holy hot list Batman!  Step aside and watch out for Patch!  ~ Sheila

Exactly what is a girl to do?  Here we have Nora – she does ok for herself.  Keeps her nose clean, does her school work fair enough, and spends a lot of time alone while her mom travels for work.  Then along comes Patch and I have to say if you enjoyed the Twilight series… he has an “Ewardesque” quality to him.  He is dark, brooding, secretive, smoldering good looks – and well…. did Nora really have a chance?

This is our story line to Becca Fitzpatrick’s debut book and ever since I seen the rumblings on blogs and on twitter I couldn’t wait to put my hands and my eyes on this book.   Becca comes through in all aspects of this read and as a YA read this is a must. Wherever Nora goes Patch mysteriously seems to turn up… and at first what seems odd and annoying turns into something more for Nora as there are other forces working around her and she discovers that Patch is really the least of her worries…

Wonderfully dangerous characters mixed in with the high school group… did we all have them?  I think back and can think of one guy from high school that reminds me of Patch.  Hmmmm…. I wonder….

A book that keeps you turning the pages and thinking about it after it is done.  This is one that will stick with me and I am hopeful that Becca Fitzpatrick is wielding her pen and tapping that keyboard now creating another read – because she has indeed created a fan.

Author Becca Fitzpatrick grew up reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden with a flashlight under the covers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she’s most likely prowling sale racks for reject shoes, running, or watching crime dramas on TV. Her first novel, the YA thriller Hush, Hush, was published in 2009.

THE STORY: CRESCENDO

The sequel to HUSH, HUSH. Coming fall 2010.

My Amazon review is here


This book fits into the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

2010 YA Reading Challenge

This book is from my personal collection -I purchased at The Mother Ship Barnes and Noble in St Cloud, MN


The Mayo Clinic Diet and Journal

Its time for good healthy resolutions again…. this book is timely and appreciated!  ~ Sheila

I am always trying to find ways to stay healthy…  stay fit… and I admit… I constantly find the pitfalls… (what?  Am I the only one that hides good chocolate behind the Harlan Coben section of their book shelf?) When this book came my way I was excited to take a look at it.  We have a Mayo Clinic in Minnesota so this also peaked my interest in knowing more.  I was not disappointed!

The Mayo Clinic Diet Book starts out with a 2 week period of ADDING 5 Habits – BREAKING 5 Habits and ADOPTING 5 Habits.  What I love about this method is that it is doable.  That’s right… it is simple steps that the journal (I love the journal!) helps you calculate and keep up on day to day.
The Journal has a Habit Tracker within it so you can put in your starting weight… and check off the habits you are applying each day.  This is great for someone wired like me as I have to have the visual in front of me…. plus, I like goals…  and challenges…
With great habits to remember like eating a healthy breakfast, fruits and vegies daily, eating whole grains, healthy fats – and my favorite habit:  MOVE!  That’s right – get out there and well, MOVE!  🙂
In the two week period you will also be encouraged to break 5 habits and this is good to doccument as well – like no eating while watching TV (guilty!), No sugar, no snacks, only moderate meat and dairy, and no eating at restaurants.
Now this is just part of the journal habits to break.  In the two week period if we focus on breaking these habits we are on our way to new and healthier ways to enjoy life…  The back of the book has a break down of good carbs and healthy choices as well as recipes.  This book will be one I can refer to again and again!

The book talks about what motivates us… find what will give you an ongoing, burning desire to succeed.  For me – I love being fit.  I feel better about myself, I have more energy and I am just better.  I dont know any other way to describe it.  In September of this past year I fell a little off my routine and have yet to get back into where I was.  I started not eating as healthy and skipping some of my workouts.  My time management became cluttered and now in January I find myself 7 pounds heaver than my usual 125 pounds.
So – in light of this review – a new year, a great read…  I am starting this two week program today.  I will probably do a recap at the end of the two weeks on how I did.  This book has motivated me to do what I need to do to get back on track.  Using the journal as a guide and the book to help me with those pitfalls I am looking forward to and expecting success.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book and cant say enough about the journal.  Having a workbook that I need to keep track of what I am doing daily is a great motivator for me.


Healthy Cooking
By the weight-loss experts at Mayo Clinic and Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H.
Authors of The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat well. Enjoy life. Lose weight.

Healthy cooking doesn’t mean you have to become a gourmet chef or invest in special cookware. Simply use standard cooking methods to prepare foods in healthy ways. You can also adapt familiar recipes by substituting other ingredients for fat, sugar and salt.

Use these methods

These methods best capture the flavor and retain the nutrients in your food without adding too much fat or salt.

Baking. Besides breads and desserts, you can bake seafood, poultry, lean meat, and vegetable and fruit pieces of the same size. Place food in a pan or dish (covered or uncovered) and bake. You may need to baste the food with broth, low-fat marinade or juice to keep the food from drying out.

Braising. Braising involves browning the meat or poultry first in a pan on top of the stove, and then slowly cooking it covered with a small amount of liquid, such as water or broth. In some recipes, the cooking liquid is used afterward to form a flavorful, nutrient-rich sauce.

Grilling and broiling. Both grilling and broiling expose fairly thin pieces of food to direct heat and allow fat to drip away from the food. If you’re grilling outdoors, place smaller items, such as chopped vegetables, in a long-handled grill basket or on foil to prevent pieces from slipping through the rack. To broil indoors place food on a broiler rack below a heat element.

Poaching. To poach foods, in a covered pan gently simmer ingredients in water or a flavorful liquid, such as broth, vinegar or juice, until cooked through and tender. For stove-top poaching, choose an appropriate-sized covered pan and use a minimum amount of liquid.

Roasting. Roasting uses an oven’s dry heat at high temperatures to cook the food on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan. For poultry, seafood and meat, place a rack inside the roasting pan so that the fat can drip away during cooking.

Sautéing. Sautéing quickly cooks small or thin pieces of food. If you choose a good-quality nonstick pan, you can cook food without using fat. Depending on the recipe, use low-sodium broth, cooking spray, water or wine in place of oil or butter.

Steaming. One of the simplest cooking techniques to master is steaming food in a perforated basket suspended above simmering liquid. If you use a flavorful liquid or add herbs to the water, you’ll flavor the food as it cooks.

Stir-frying. Stir-frying quickly cooks small, uniform-sized pieces of food while they’re rapidly stirred in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. You need only a small amount of oil or cooking spray for this cooking method.

Find new ways to add flavor

Instead of salt or butter, you can enhance foods with a variety of herbs, spices and low-fat condiments. Be creative.

Poach fish in low-fat broth or wine and fresh herbs. Top a broiled chicken breast with fresh salsa. Make meats more flavorful with low-fat marinades or spices — bay leaf, chili powder, dry mustard, garlic, ginger, green pepper, sage, marjoram, onion, oregano, pepper or thyme.

To bring out the sweetness in baked goods, use a bit more vanilla, cinnamon or nutmeg.









The above is an excerpt from the book The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat well. Enjoy life. Lose weight., by the weight-loss experts at Mayo Clinic and Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print.

Reprinted from The Mayo Clinic Diet, © 2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

About Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., is chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine and a consultant in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. He is also an associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at the College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic. A specialist in nutrition and weight management, Dr. Hensrud advises individuals on how to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. He conducts research in weight management, and he writes and lectures widely on nutrition-related topics. He helped publish two award-winning Mayo Clinic cookbooks.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy that the needs of the patient come first. Over 3,600 physicians and scientists and 50,000 allied staff work at Mayo, which has sites in Rochester, Minn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Collectively, Mayo Clinic treats more than 500,000 patients a year.

For more than 100 years, millions of people from all walks of life have found answers at Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic works with many insurance companies, does not require a physician referral in most cases and is an in-network provider for millions of people.

What did I learn by reading this book? I learned again the importance of balance and how really eating healthy has to do with going back to the basics.  Drop the artificial processed foods – exercise and use moderation and in no time you will drop the bad habits and get on the right track.

For more information, please visit www.goodbooks.com/mayoclinicdiet and www.mayoclinic.com/diet.

See my reviews on Amazon here:

Mayo Clinic Diet Book Mayo Clinic Diet Journal


This book fits into the following challenges:

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

I received my review copy of these books from FSB Media

Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone by J K Rowling

There are a few books that are like old and dear friends… we cant wait to spend time with them again.  This book – as well as the 6 that followed… are such a friend to me.  ~  Sheila

You dont need me to tell you the story… I would think if you have not read it (oh!  Banish the thought!) or have not seen the movie (horrors at the level of a bad Ear Wax flavored Bertie Bott’s Jelly Bean!) then you have at least heard about Harry Potter.

Yes, my name is Sheila.  I am 42 years old and I am a Harry Potter fan.

This book… is book one.  The begining.  And even reading it now, like I did all those years ago it truly was like hanging out with an old friend.  I had forgotten how richly detailed, and dare I say brilliant J K Rowling was from the very first!  It was interesting to read those first pages and know now where these seeds that were innocently planted in the first book… would come to fruit books later – into a story that became way more amazing then even she could have realized.

I chuckled knowingly through moments like the first mail trying to get through to Harry while he was living ay the Dursley’s.  Remember the address?

“To Harry Potter, In the cupboard under the stairs”  and soon after…. “To Harry Potter, in the smallest bedroom”

The Hogwart’s characters all come to life and spring off the pages…. you can feel Dumbledore’s power through the pages… and sense that Snape is someone not to be forgotten…. even now…. so early on…

I marvel at how lucky we as readers are – those of us who were there as the books came out, as we waited in lines at

Hogwarts School

midnight to get our copies, or anxiously at doors to have them delivered…. some of us (no names mentioned) planning our day around the books release…. think about it.  How lucky we were to be there to experience first hand as the story came to life.  The next generations will read as the classics they will become…  and as that generation reads these books – those of us – in the know – will have a distant twinkle in our eye…. a memory, of our first steps into the world created by J K Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people’s decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books’ popularity.

What did I learn by reading this book? That Quidich would be a wonderful sport to watch!   Of course, this book deals with great friendships too and I think it teaches kids to really embrace differences in others.

(I started reading this book a couple weeks ago in a mood that nothing I read was filling me…. this book did the trick and I intentionally stopped reading it so I could finish it today and make it my first completed read of 2010)

My Amazon review

This book fits into the following challenges:

The Gilmore Girls reading Challenge

2010 YA Reading Challenge

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Harry Potter Reading Challenge

This book is from my own personal collection – my original copy that I read in 1998.

The Murder Of King Tut by James Patterson (audio)


Thrust onto Egypt’s most powerful throne at the age of nine, King Tut’s reign was fiercely debated from the outset. Behind the palace’s veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousy flourished among the Boy King’s most trusted advisors, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy.

The keys to an unsolved mystery

Enchanted by the ruler’s tragic story and hoping to unlock the answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard

King Tut

Carter made it his life’s mission to uncover the pharaoh’s hidden tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered countless setbacks and dead-ends before he finally, uncovered the long-lost crypt.

The clues point to murder

Now, in The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence–X-rays, Carter’s files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages–to arrive at their own account of King Tut’s life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.

I listened to this audio over the past week.  At first I found it a bit hard to follow the back and forth of Tut’s time (1300 BC) to Howard Carter’s time (1920) … to the occasional James Patterson time (current) where he fills us in on his progress and thoughts on the book.

Once I was able to pick up this flow…. I really started to enjoy the audio.  The historical value of the story of Tutankhamen was fascinating to me.  I had flashbacks to my experience when I first seen the movie Titanic and suddenly I couldnt get enough of Titanic related facts.  Now here I am again in that place except now it is King Tut.

I have always been fascinated with movies the likes of  Tomb Raider, National Treasure, and Raiders Of The Lost Ark.  Being an archeologist would be an incredible job and the adventures of searching and finding the treasures of the past makes my heart beat a little faster.

I really enjoyed learning more about King Tut in this non fiction dig back into the days of Egyptian tombs, pyramids, and Pharoahs ruling the land.  While I knew King Tut had been a young Pharoah – I had not realized how young or that he had married his sister!  (oops – have I said too much?)

The excavation of Tut's Tomb

The sections on Howard Carter (the man who in November 26, 1922, discovered King Tut’s tomb) were equally as interesting.  I even enjoyed the take directly from James Patterson himself on how this book came to be and his onw exensive research into the history and the mystery that surrounds Tut.   James also shares some of his personal rules in writing that to me, were note  worthy.

If you enjoy historical fiction/non fiction I think you will find a lot of value in this audio.  For me the adventure had just begun as I am now following up on more information on Howard Carter and his amazing discovery of the boy King.  James Patterson takes this piece of history and breathes life into it.  I recommend taking it in.

Thanks to Hachette Audio, I have three copies of this audio to use for a giveaway!  Enter here!

I received my review audio from Hachette Audio Group