October 2016 ~ Amanda's Books and More

Friday, October 28, 2016

Yogurt-Curry Chicken and More with #Linky

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -

Make My Saturday Sweet #195!

I rarely post recipes, but this is my second one in a row on my weekend blog hop. My gift of three bookmarks by Donna at Writer Side Up inspired today's one. Her bookmarks encourage creativity, both in writing and in cooking. That makes them perfect for me, because I enjoy doing both!

When it comes to cooking, I usually don't follow a recipe, but I had extra yogurt and skinless chicken portions and needed an idea. I found this recipe, Yogurt-Curry Marinated Chicken, on Eating Well. You can click on their link to get the ingredients and preparation. I took photos of the steps that you can follow below. The only step that I adjusted was the red peppers. I didn't have any on hand, so I used my chilly paste instead. The yogurt tones down the heat of the curry. It's a healthy and flavorful dish. The best part is that it's super easy!

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Click on the images to see them at their best.

For a bit of humor, I thought to include a photo of my old oven gloves and my brand new ones. I was planning to replace my old pair, because they were no longer protecting my hands like they used to, but I was putting it off. Then recently I set them down absentmindedly on a stove that was off, but still hot, thereby scorching them and making it impossible for me to wait any longer.

Yogurt-Curry Marinated Chicken

Recipe at EatingWell.Com

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My Latest Book Reviews:

The SockKids Stop a Bully

Elphie Goes Trick or Treating

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Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to

link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest

Twitter

Facebook
Instagram

Here are the easy rules:

Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.

Blog Button Code:

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!

Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link-ups I take part in.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Going Out More Often with #Linky

Welcome to my Picture Perfect

Party Linky #214!

Eventbrite is rallying people together to promote #GOMO (Going Out More Often). They asked me if I would spread the word to my readers to think of ways to get out of the house without needing to spend any money. The photos I chose to share today will hopefully inspire you and your family to go out more often too!

This blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.

Click on my photos to see them at their best!

Walk the Dog!

Grab Your Camera and Photograph Nature!

These flowers were outside of Amanda's school.

Have a Picnic!

Go Swimming or

Do Another Sport!

And a poem that will hopefully inspire you -

"Dust if You Must"

Eventbrite is a global marketplace that supports ticket sales and a variety of other features, including discounted options for non-profits. They make it possible for people to find and create events in 190 countries (you can check it out here).

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. I did it for the fun of it.

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Below is my latest post

on 1camera1mom:

With Samantha's 16th birthday earlier this month, she planned a family outing to Cape Town. Be sure to check out the photos, which I'll be posting in three parts over three weeks.

A Day in Cape Town - Part 2

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My Latest Book Reviews:

The SockKids Stop a Bully

Elphie Goes Trick or Treating

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Now on to my blog hop...

Come link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest

Twitter

Facebook
Instagram

and

Here are the easy rules:

Follow me on one or more links above or via email.
Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
If possible, copy the button code below and add it on your linked post or blog's side-bar.
Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Visit my Blog Hops page to see the hops that I often link up to.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Birthday Cake with Weekend #LinkyParty

Welcome to my weekend blog hop -

Make My Saturday Sweet #194!

As many of you already know, Samantha turned 16 this month. My mom-in-law brought ice-cream, strawberries, and brownies through for the occasion. Amanda and I had baked a chocolate cake that we hadn't yet decorated, so we left it for the following day when we weren't all so full of good food and dessert.

I'm a fuss free kind of person, so here's a cake that tastes great and makes a statement without too much effort!

The cake we baked was a Devil's food cake and my favorite chocolate cake recipe from my New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book that my mom gave me years ago. Since I don't have permission to use their recipe on my blog, I found a similar one that looks just as good on Epicurious. You're welcome to click on the links and these are not affiliate links.

This blog is best viewed in Google Chrome.

Click on the images to see them at their best.

We iced the cake with chocolate whipping cream and spreadable caramel that we bought from the grocery store (it's the same thing as dulce de leche). Ours was a bit stiff, so I carefully warmed it in the microwave just enough to soften it. Alternatively, you can even skip the caramel and just use the whipping cream.

With one cup of whipping cream, we added roughly three tablespoons of icing sugar (powdered sugar) and three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and then we beat it with an electric mixer. You can add more of each as you like, but I didn't want the topping to overpower the other flavors and we don't like things too sweet.

Amanda helped me with the layers of caramel and cream. For the garnish, I grated white and milk chocolate, because Samantha doesn't eat dark chocolate. The finished cake is pictured at the top of this post. You can see what it looks like once sliced open in the very last photo.

If you do try it this weekend, let me know in the comments how it turned out.

***************************

My Latest Book Reviews:

The SockKids Stop a Bully

Elphie Goes Trick or Treating

*********************

Make My Saturday Sweet is a weekend blog hop for all family friendly blogs. You are welcome to link your favorite post from the past week(s) and to visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment. It's a really easy and fun way to make new friends and to catch up on old acquaintances.

Now on to my blog hop...

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop!

Join me (your host) for this fun and easy hop.

All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free to

link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Pinterest

Twitter

Facebook
Instagram

Here are the easy rules:

Follow Tina (your host) on one or more links listed above.
Link up a post from your family friendly blog.
Please try to add my hop button on your post or side-bar.
Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
Visit the last link before yours and leave a sweet comment.

Blog Button Code:

Weekend Linky

This is a blog hop!

Visit my Blog Hops page to see
what link-ups I take part in.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

The SockKids Stop a Bully

The SockKids Stop a Bully

by Michael John Sullivan
and Shelley Larkin

About the Book:

Book Description: The SockKids focus on educating children and adults how bullying affects us all and what we can do about it.

Do you know where your socks go when they go missing in the washing machine? Well, the SockKids know! The SockKids are a mismatched family of socks that sometimes time travel through the spin cycle, teaching universal lessons of love and kindness, and focusing on creating a greater awareness of the many social issues that children are faced with today. The SockKids help to educate and encourage children from 2 to 92 to find solutions in helping to make this a better world.

In this story, Sudsy and Wooly discover their human is being bullied at school and team up against bullies with Ethan’s newest friend, Olivia. They discover bullying hurts everyone and staying silent is not an option.

More Inside! Children’s counselor and licensed therapist, Jamie Ross, gives adults and children guidelines on how to handle bullies.

Purchase on Amazon

Originally this book was called

The SockKids Say No to Bullying

Take a look inside the book...

Our Review:

Amanda with her new SockKids book,
SockKids socks, and SockKids T-shirt.

The SockKids are a variety of mismatched socks who go on adventures and sometimes even time travel. They not only teach us to accept people's differences, but also to celebrate them. In their latest book, The SockKids Stop a Bully, we learn that reading is cool and that bullying isn't. We also learn the value of working together and helping others.

The illustrations are bright and friendly. Amanda giggled when we got to the place where one of the socks was rolled into a ball to help distract a scared kitty stuck in a tree.

The story's message is clear and there are plenty of points that can be discussed further in a classroom environment or at home with your kids. At the end of the story are guidelines to help adults and children on how to handle bullies by a children's counselor and licensed therapist. There is even a quiz to test your child on the right responses in different situations. Amanda enjoyed taking the quiz with her big sister.

I highly recommend The SockKids Stop a Bully for boys and girls ages 7 - 11.

Quiz inside the book:

What Should I Do If I Get Bullied?

This is another SockKids adventure that I enjoyed reading with my daughter, Amanda. Our last review was in 2011 and you can read it at The SockKids Meet Lincoln.

About the Author:

Michael John Sullivan

Michael John Sullivan is the creator of the SockKids. Constantly searching for his socks, he wondered whether the missing foot comforters had found another pair of feet to warm. Before his interest in socks, Sullivan started writing his first novel while homeless, riding a NYC subway train at night. Sullivan returned to his subway notes in 2007 and began writing Necessary Heartbreak: A Novel of Faith and Forgiveness (Simon & Schuster, Gallery Books imprint). Library Journal named Necessary Heartbreak one of the year’s best in 2010. His second novel, Everybody’s Daughter (Fiction Studio Books, 2012) was named one of the best books of 2012 by TheExaminer.com. Sullivan has written articles about the plight of homelessness for CNN.com, The Washington Post.com, Beliefnet.com, the Huffington Post, and America Online’s Patch.com service.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Disclosure: We received a free copy of the book, a SockKids T-shirt, and SockKids socks. This is our honest review.