Tina The Storyteller

So I have a long story to share with you, that includes a video and hopefully, you'll see that I'm thankful for God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you read my blog or if you are friends with me you will know that I've been going through a lot of changes and some minor frustrations with life recently. And by frustration I mean dissatisfaction with the lot that I've been given in a couple of different aspects of my life. For the past two weeks, I've been craving Coca-Cola. Not Pepsi, not diet coke, not caffeine free diet Pepsi, not even Dr. Pepper, my all time favorite soda. I've been craving plain old Coca-Cola. Which should be a pretty easy fix, considering that there is an ice cold twelve pack in the fridge. But the problem is that it has the Mr. Yuk sticker on it. So I've been suffering through my desire, I even took a single sip of it on Sunday, but it wasn't what I was really looking for. For the past two weeks, I've also ...

We were going to have shepherd's pie in celebration of St. Patty's day a few weeks ago. Some how, my brain thought that was March 15th. It's not, just in case you were wondering. But I did end up making shepherd's pie close to St. Patrick's day and it was tasty and what I consider low carb. I used Rachel Ray's 30 minute shepherd's pie recipe for the base. I omitted the carrots and half the peas, but kept everything else pretty much the same. I figured 2 tablespoons of flour in an entire recipe is acceptable. Now, I used something amazing for the potato part at the top, I Breathe...I'm Hungry's "Better than Potatoes" Cheesy Cauliflower Puree . I cooked it up while the meat was browning and then through it in the food processor, I did add some cream cheese to her recipe. Once the filling was finished, I layered the cauliflower mash on top, sprinkled on some paprika and toasted it under the broiler. It was tasty and I ate way too much...

I have been a fan of Peretti’s since I was introduced to his works a few years ago. I was so very excited to see that he was releasing a new title. Illusion was everything I had come to expect from a Peretti novel and more.  This novel does a great job of giving you the shivers, but its themes are different from previous works. Without the overt use of spiritual forces, Peretti dives into head first metaphysics and a love story. And he does it well. Illusion is the story of Dane and Mandy. They are a couple that has been performing magic together for the past 40 years. But just when it appeared that they had done their last show, because of the death of Mandy, one last illusion is in the works.  I don’t want to tell you too much about the story itself, because most of the fun of Peretti books is discovering with the characters exactly what is going on.  Rest assured, you will be in the dark until the story begins to unfold in such a fascinating way t...

The Wedding Dress is the story of one dress that has touched the lives of four women. The dress is originally made for Emily in 1912. She is to be married to a gentleman in high society and expected to wear a dress made by the top designer in town, but instead seeks the skills of dressmaker who just happens to be a colored, making it against the law and culture of her time. The dress weaves itself into the life of not only Emily but two other brides before being found by a young lady, Charlotte, who is concerned about whether or not she is making the right decision in marrying a the young man who has captured her heart. Discovering the history of the dress helps Charlotte not only figure out who she is, but also what she desires for her future. Hauck does an excellent job of weaving in the idea of Gospel being something that fits each of us perfectly and never ages. She shows how each of the women struggle with different aspects of the gospel to only have them over co...

I'm exceptionally thankful that even on my painfully lazy days, I'm still able to get things done. I'm thankful for this new low-carb lifestyle. You would not believe how sweet ordinary things actually taste. I'm thankful for my amazingly beautiful husband, who always cares for me and laughs when I tell him silly things. I'm thankful for my very moody little girl, who feels so deeply that sometimes it just has to come out in a physical way. I'm thankful for God's faithfulness through it all. What are you thankful for?

Last night, I wanted a little something different for my bedtime snack. I've just been eating apples and peanut butter, but I had some plain yogurt in the fridge, so I mixed the PBCrave Choco Choco with the yogurt and it was tasty. It was the consistency of dip, slightly tangy and went great with the apples.  I will be having it again.

I had a terrible cold last week and took the rest of this week to get to normal. And by normal I mean no coughing, blowing, dripping and irritability. One good thing that became of all that resting was reading. I've read two novels in the past week, which is a lot, even for me. I read Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers and still really enjoy Lord Peter, he kind of reminds me of Qwilleran but without the luxurious mustache, though I think he did have one and just never talked about it as much as old Qwill does. I also read What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. Her name reminds me of Sherlock Holmes, I wonder why...Any way, I devoured this book and discovered once I was done on the Kindle that it was 432 pages in the printed edition. It was a very good read. And it has given me a lot to think about in regards to what would I think about my life if I happened to show up in it 10 years in the future. Good stuff, go out and get a copy and tell me what you think. Hard to believe but...

I like peanut butter. It's one of my favorite treats. So you can imagine my excitement when I find peanut butter companies that are doing something awesome with not only their product but with their funds as well. PB Crave is one of those excellent companies that does both! I was so excited when they gave me the opportunity to try their product so that I can tell you what I think about it.   First of all, it's all natural, sweetened with honey and there are four flavors to choose from, but honestly, how can you choose a favorite when they are all so tasty. Let me tell you what I like about each of them. Razzle Dazzle is a great blend of raspberry flavor with dark and white chocolate chips. It's like dessert on a spoon for me. I hide it from the others because I don't really want to share it. Cookie Nookie has a subtle cookie dough flavor, almost a rich vanilla. I used it in a recipe that I'll share at the end, it was good. Coco Bananas ...

We normally have homemade pizza every other week or so. We make our own crust from one of several recipes that we've collected over the years. I'd share them here, but I would need to get copyright permission first and I'm feeling kind of lazy about that as I type this up, so instead, you'll get the crust recipe that I got to use since I can't eat carbs anymore. I found this recipe for Cauliflower Crust Pizza from Eat.Drink.Smile via pinterest. I followed the directions almost exactly, my one alteration was how I riced the cauliflower, I used the grater on my food processor.  It worked great. Not only did it taste good, but I could pick it up like pizza, now I did let it rest a good long time before putting it under the broiler, because of the fact that there were other pizzas that needed to be cooked. It's unusual because not only does it work for pizza, it's close enough to the real thing that you eat it and think "There's something differ...

I read an article by Pamela Druckerman the other day and just loved what she had to say. I was most excited to see that she also had a book that expounded on the ideas in the article. I was even more pleased when Penguin Press gave me the opportunity to review it for them through NetGalley. Druckerman is an American living in Paris with her British husband and their three kids. Bringing Up Bebe  is the capturing of her experience as a mother in the midst of this culture. In my experience, the French are very mysterious, not prone to giving out the secrets of their lives or becoming best of friends with Americans. Druckerman makes this point several times within Bringing Up Bebe .  One of the reasons that I really enjoyed this book because it was such a great commentary of the reality of France and an in depth look at the ways that Americans differ in regards to parenting. The structure of French parenting is very tempting. The idea of how to encourage your chi...

I have to tell you, my daughter was sick yesterday. I am so thankful that does not happen very often. I am also thankful that she is much better today. I am thankful for my amazing husband, who is ever faithful and devoted. He's the best. I am thankful for a very successful Fab Ab February.  God was so faithful through all of it. I am thankful for the ability to know what is too much, now if I can figure out what is too little and just enough, I'll be set. I am thankful for friends and family that show up right when I need them. I am thankful for the courage to try new things and the ability to deal with the failures.