Choosing Sides by Tara Mataraza Desmond (Cookbook Review)

*Disclosure- I recieved an e-ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

Advanced praise for the book-

“Here’s a cookbook you’ll pull from the shelf every time you ask yourself, ‘What should I serve with this?’ Tara Mataraza Desmond has written an inspired and creative cookbook dedicated entirely to side dishes. Accessorizing the main element of the meal, whether for a weeknight dinner, family get-together, or holiday feast, needs to be artful, nourishing, and practical. Choosing Sides brings excitement to every meal with these innovative and contemporary side dishes.” 
–Diane Morgan, author of Roots: The Definitive Compendium

“Oh, to be an entrée surrounded by Tara Mataraza Desmond’s flavorful, colorful, vibrant sides! In Choosing Sides, Tara offers a modern spin on the humble, oft-neglected accompaniment. Her Chorizo Chard; Blood Orange Wild Rice; and Persimmon, Pomegranate, and Pistachio Salad are but three examples for how to turn supporting players into shining culinary stars. Tara can fill my plate any day.” 
-Cheryl Sternman Rule, author of Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables

My thoughts-

 When I talk to other moms that I know about cooking, the most common thing that seems to be a struggle is coming up with sides. Everyone has their go-to main dishes for breakfast. lunch and dinner and maybe even for dessert, but side dishes are often neglected. Many times, they are almost an afterthought. There are only so many times you can eat a simple salad or mashed potatoes. That is why I was beyond thrilled to discover Choosing Sides on NetGalley. I knew I needed to read it because I often struggle with coming up with side dishes and my husband and I and our kids enjoy having a variety of foods, so I was excited to find this book devoted to the lesser focused on side dish. I was even happier when I saw the vast array of recipes. Meals will never get boring with just this one book. Besides the fact that I have never seen another book devoted to side dishes on the market, Choosing Sides is probably the most well organized cookbook I have ever peaked into.  The side dishes are divided into sections by the type of meal they are meant to accompany and the coolest feature of the book is that at the end of each recipe there are suggestions for what kind of meals would best be suited to serve the particular side with. There are recipes for pretty much anything you can think of- flavored butters, zucchini melts, veggie pies, breads, salads, dressings, tarts, quiches and much more. There are sections for sides that you can make for backyard barbeques or intimate gatherings. There are easy recipes and recipes that are meant to impress. This book really covers everything you could possibly want to know about when it comes to side dishes. This is definitely a book that everyone should have in their cookbook collection, I guarantee you will be grabbing for it often!

Choosing Sides will be available for purchase September 2013. You can pre-order the book on Amazon.com

Magazines.com- Find The Perfect Mother's Day Gift + Win a FREE subscription

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I have always enjoyed magazines for as long as I can remember. There is just something about getting a new copy every month that is just tons of fun. I especially enjoy cooking magazines. I like that I can thumb through the pages and get many new ideas each month and even for each season and many holidays. It's neat to get a new perspective on something that really interests you in the mail each month. The cool thing about magazines is that there is truly something for everyone. Enter Magazines.com- the perfect place to search for just the right gift for your mom this Mother's Day. They have compiled a list of some of their selections that they think would make great Mother's Day gifts. If your mom loves to cook (like me!!!) you can buy her a gift subscription to Cooking with Paula Deen, Food Network Magazine Every Day with Rachel Ray. If she likes to craft there are several magazines she might like including Quilter's Newsletter or Creative Keepsakes. If she is a health nut you might consider Prevention or Fitness Magazine. There are also several women's interest magazines for the well rounded woman such as Redbook, Ladies Home Journal or Southern Living. The greatest thing about Magazines.com is that you will save a TON on these subscriptions (many are $10 or less) , yet you can send a gift that will keep on giving. In addition to the magazines mentioned above, there are even more listed on the website to choose from, all at great prices. Why not send mom something a little different this year?

Magazines.com wants to give on lucky reader the chance to receive a magazine subscription (up to $10) on them! Enter via the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win


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Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection, Classic Christmas Favorites or Dr. Seuss’s Deluxe Holiday Collection on Blu-ray Giveaway.

There is something about watching classic Christmas movies that just really gets me in the spirit of the season. Now that I have kids of my own,  I love that I can watch these great family movies with them as well. My favorite classic Christmas movie is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I can't get enough of the adorable Peanuts Characters! Warner Bros. will take care of all of your Christmas movie needs this holiday season with both classic and new movies on Blu Ray.

You can check out the Happy Holidays Blog app to see what movies are available, take a fun Christmas movies quiz (if you have any doubt about how much I truly love Christmas movies, I got a perfect score on the quiz!) and play the decode a scene game. You will have fun checking out the app below and maybe get some great last minute gift ideas as well.





Below is a holiday survival guide that can help you pick out which movies to buy for the people on your shopping list!





Warner Bros. wants to give one lucky Cristi's Reviews reader the chance to win one of the following Christmas collections on Blu Ray: Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection, Classic Christmas Collection or Dr. Suess's Deluxe Holiday Collection. The sponsor will send the winner the collection of their choosing. Enter below via the Rafflecopter for your chance to win!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Conscious Box Giveaway!

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Man, do I love a good Conscious Box giveaway! You, my lucky readers, are in for a treat. Conscious Box wants to give one of you the chance to win a December Conscious Box, packed full of tons of great eco-friendly products! I can say without a doubt that Conscious Box is my favorite Subscription box and I think you will really like it too!  I am going to make this a very simple giveaway, there are three options for entry:


1st entry (mandatory entry!) "Like" Conscious Box on Facebook. Leave a comment below telling me you did so!



Bonus entry: Follow this blog via GFC (to the right hand side of the screen) and leave a comment below telling me you did so!

Bonus Entry #2: Have you tried a subscriptioon box yet? Which one? Or What is your favorite eco-friendly product? Leave a comment answering either question below.

This giveaway will end December 17th at midnight (central time). Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize. Giveaway open to US residents ages 18 and older. Void where prohibited. This giveaway is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Facebook.



Good luck!

KLUTCHclub Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday Holiday Specials!

Subscription boxes have been all of the rage this year and I don't seeing that trend changing any time soon. I personally really enjoy them. The idea is that you get abox full of various products from various companies to try for a discounted price. For me, it's like getting a fun box full of gifts every month!

One of my favorite boxes is KLUTCHclub. Now there are both KLUTCHwomen and KLUTCHmen boxes, making it even easier to get products that might appeal to you. KLUTCHclub is the only subscription box devoted to health and wellness!

Today on Small Business Saturday, consider supporting this unique company and treating yourself to an inovative way to try new things. KLUTCHclub is offering several deals this weekend:

Deal for Small Business Saturday (code good from today through Monday!)-

• 25% off the "Best of" KLUTCHclub box using code BB25 

Deals for Cyber Monday-

• 15% off month with discount code CYBER15
• 20% off 3 months with discount code CYBER20
• 25% off12 months with discount code CYBER25

Not only is KLUTCHclub a box full of goodies for yourself each month, they offer gift boxes as well, so you can share the fun with others! The "Best of" Box would make a fun and different Christmas gift!



*Disclosure- I am a KLUTCHclub ambassador and will receive a comission if you decide to use one of my above links to make a purchase. All opinions stated are 100% my own.

The Amish Family Cookbook by Jerry & Tina Eicher Book Review

I love to read, as evidenced by the fact that an overwhelming amount of my reviews here are book reviews. Something you may not know though is that I also love to make homemade meals for my family and I love to cook, so I love to come across a good cookbook!

I was excited to discover The Amish Family Cookbook! It was even more of a thrill when I saw that there were countless amounts of recipes in this book. And it wasn't like cookbooks where there is maybe one recipe in each category that I might cook, this book is full of wonderful recipe ideas, many of them pretty simple! Something else I really loved about this book is there are little bits of Amish humor and Amish proverbs sprinkled throughout.

The first recipe I tried out of this book were the hamburgers. I have recently become a vegetarian so I didn't eat them, but they did smell good. The other four people in my house are meat lovers and huge hamburger fans. I asked my husband on a scale of 1 to 10 where he would rate the hamburger recipe- his answer- "they were REALLY good, AT LEAST an 8!" He asked that they be added to our permanent rotation of recipes.

There are several recipes that I plan to make for the fall. There are just way too many great baking recipes in the book. Some favorites include- angel food cake, pumpkin cookies, Christmas buckeyes, Russian tea cakes and apple crisp! I know I will definitely be making the snack eggs, the easy chicken pot pie and the cheesy chicken and rice casserole.

I feel like many of the recipes in this book would work well for family dinners or for get togethers! I would highly recommend this book, especially to someone who likes good home cooking, but wants some simple recipes (with a couple of time consuming ones thrown in there for those days you really want to accomplish something!) I know that I plan to buy a few copies of this book to give away as Christmas gifts this year! THAT is how much I truly enjoyed it myself!

If I were to rate this book on a scale of 1-5 stars it would absolutely be 5 stars. It is a fantastic book filled to the brim with great recipes!

Here is a recipe for you to enjoy, just in time for Fall!

Hannah Byler's Pecan Pie-
Beat on low speed slightly or with hand beater:
3 eggs, 1/3 c. butter, 1 c. melted light corn syrup, 1/2 tsp. salt & 2/3 c. sugar.
Stir in 1 cup pecan halves.
Pour into one pie crust.
Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes.


The Amish Family Cookbook by Jerry & Tina Eicher will be available for purchase on October 1st!
In the meantime, check out some of Jerry's Amish Fiction!

*Disclaimer- I received a complimentary copy of The Amish Cookbook via Netgalley. I was not required to render a positive review. All opinions are 100% my own!

Sonos Father's Day Promotion at Target through June 16th!

Now through June 16th at Target, anyone who purchases a Play:3 Sonos HiFi System will receive a $30 Target gift card. A $40 Target gift card is being offered with the purchase of a Play:5 Sonos HiFi System. The Sonos systems would make a wonderful Father's day present for your dad or husband! Here are some more details on each system:






Play:3

Compact, all-in-one Sonos player with 3 integrated speakers and 3 digital amps for big HiFi sound. Available in Black or White ($299)

Play:5

Original, bigger room, all-in-one Sonos player with 5 integrated speakers and 5 digital amps for a powerhouse of HiFi sound. Available in Black or White ($399)

You can stream your music library, over 100,000 internet radio stations (and for free!) or use an online music service- without a computer. Sonos HiFi systems are sure to please the music lovers in your life!

Learn more about the Sonos Wireless HiFi System by watching the video below!

Disclaimer- I participated in this campaign as a member of the OnetoOneNetwork. The post makes me eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated in this post are 100% my own.