Tina The Storyteller

I ran across this recipe on Pinterest the other day that was labeled " The Best Broccoli Of Your Life. " I normally either steam our broccoli in the microwave or saute it with olive oil and red pepper flakes on the stove top. I decided this would be something to try. I did the salt, pepper and olive oil part of the recipe. I didn't have the majority of the other ingredients. In fact, all I had was a little bit of Parmesan  It was wonderful. Not the best broccoli of my life, but honestly, it was pretty close. And if I had the lemon juice and all that jazz, it may very well be the best. What have you been eating lately?

One of my favorite foods is pizza. Going low carb has not stopped my search for the perfect pizza, it's just changed it. At first, I was making cauliflower crusts. It was good, but almost as labor intensive as making regular pizza crust and because it had to cook in the oven and then be put back in to melt the cheese, it was tough figuring out how to work that in to baking our traditional crust. When I found this recipe for coconut flour pizza crust , I decided to give it a try. Here are the things that I like about it: it's cheaper than cauliflower crust, it's easy, it cooks on the stove top and then put in the oven for cheese melting, and I can pick it up like traditional pizza. The one thing that I don't like it is, you have to put sauce and toppings all the way to the edge because the crust is a bit sweet if eaten by itself, but all the other positives more than make up for that one drawback. I made one for myself tonight, sour of the moment. I adore that aspect! Wh...

Zondervan has a great app called The Beginner's Bible . It contains for free six interactive Bible stories and three coloring pages, two puzzles and a very fun game with pomegranates. My daughter who is eight has listened to all of the stories several times and really enjoys the interactive pictures that go along with them. You can purchase more stories and games within the app, which if the free portion is any indicator, would be money well spent. Great bible app for the IPad. Personally, I like the narrations and sound effects that are added in each story, it helps bring the story to life. Overall, it's fun for the entire family. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Zondervan produces in the future. Disclaimer: Handlebar Marketing requested that I review this product. The opinions are my own.

The Sword of Six Worlds  is the latest novel from Matt Mikalatos. When he offered to let me read it, I jumped on the opportunity.  You may remember him from My Imaginary Jesus or Night of the Living Dead Christian. This novel is a break from those in that it's a children's novel. We chose to read it aloud as a family. I am so glad that we did. My daughter enjoyed it immensely and I just reveled in all the allegory for the Christian life. It was well written and just the right length for my little one. The story is about a young girl, Validus Smith, who discovers that she is a paladin and that her home isn't the only realm. She travels into a world of talking animals with her best friend. The discoveries that she makes about herself and the truths that Mikalatos proclaims through this story are well timed and aptly spoken. I am also glad to say that this is the first of Mikalatos's books that did not make me cry, though I was tempted at one point. Another great w...

Today, I'm most thankful that my husband does not go on a lot of trips. I'm thinking about limiting my trips after spending this week without him. I'm thankful that when I switched back to the choice of unschooling, things started to move forward again in ways that I can see and point to. Which I know is odd, because set lessons are supposed to give you goals to reach for and things to measure, but that's just not how it works in this school. I'm thankful that I have my sermon for this weekend into a very workable place. Just need to do some touch ups and it should be ready to fly. I'm thankful for a well behaved daughter this week. Though the cats have become a bit rambunctious in her place. What about you? What are you thankful for?

The Definitive-ish Guide for Using Social Media in the Church  is an e-book by Bruce Reyes-Chow. I first took notice of Bruce Reyes-Chow when he became the moderator for the PCUSA (2010-2012) and I started following his tweets. This guide for using social media opened my eyes to a couple of time savers on the net, as well as some ways to use things other than Twitter and Facebook to connect the church to itself and to the world at large. This is not a guide on how to use Twitter or a tutorial on posting to Facebook. There are links within the book for all of these things, but it isn't littered with the information. Instead, it's a concise guide on different social medias including blogging, Google Docs, and Yelp. If your church is interested in navigating the world of social media and don't know where to begin this is great place to start. It definitely opened my eyes to new ways to use some things that were on my peripheral and it encouraged me ...

Today, I'm thankful for silliness and family. What are you thankful for?