Quinoa? What is that?, I asked. Pronounced “Keen-wah”, not Kee-no-wah, quinoa is something I had never heard of until very recently and wanted to find out more. Friends were discussing a website called “Cooking Quinoa“, which has recipes for cooking with quinoa with lots of delicious looking pictures of foods made with it.

Based on everything I’ve read so far about quinoa, its numerous health benefits and the nutritional facts shown on bulk packages I found, adding quinoa to our diet is a smart choice. We’re not vegetarian or vegan by any means, we do enjoy eating lean meats for sure, but we have been reducing our consumption of fatty meats over the last few months.

So, my next question was, where can I buy quinoa? I happened to find some organic quinoa, made by the brand called Nature’s Earthly Choice, while browsing around in Costco yesterday. The package says quinoa is a 100% whole grain, gluten free, wheat free and an excellent choice of protein. Quoting from the back of the 4 lb resealable bag of quinoa, the nutritional benefits of quinoa are described as follows:

“Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a highly nutritious gluten free seed, originally from the Andean region of South America. It’s mild, slightly nutty flavor makes it a terrific substitute for rice or couscous. Quinoa, praised for its excellent nutritional profile, is an exceptional source of protein, containing all eight amino acids, making quinoa an excellent option for people looking to reduce their consumption of meat. Quinoa is also a good source of dietary fiber and contain B vitamins and iron.

More and more consumers are seeking great tasting and nutritious gluten-free options. Our organic Quinoa is one of the very best. Quinoa is extremely versatile and easy to prepare. Cooked quinoa makes a delicious side dish when mixed with vegetables and seasonings. You can use our quinoa for everything from breakfast cereals, to soups and salads, or add to your favorite chili recipe. Quinoa is also great as a filling for fun and healthy burritos or tacos. Our quinoa is pre-washed so you can simply cook and eat, no need to presoak or rinse.

Using two cups of liquid per cup of quinoa, combine liquid and quinoa in a sauce pan or rice cooker. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still chewy and white spiral-like threads appear around each grain, about 15 minutes. You can make a larger batch of quinoa and store it in your refrigerator. During the week as you need it, pull the desired amount of cooked quinoa from your refrigerator and add to your favorite recipes.”

Cooking quinoa ahead of time and refrigerating portions is a great idea for busy people like us who don’t have a lot of time for meal preparation, but actually prefer quick and easy recipes. Quinoa leaves are eaten like a leafy vegetable, which would make growing quinoa in a garden a great addition to all the other vegetables and fruits, if the soil and climate requirements are met.

Wikipedia has an extensive description of what quinoa is, including detailed explanations of the nutritional facts about quinoa in general, and the red and black quinoa varieties. Quinoa is incredibly versatile and there are so many different ways of using it on a daily basis. Considering how healthy and beneficial quinoa is for overall health and wellbeing, it just makes sense to buy quinoa in bulk and always have it in stock.

Quinoa can be prepared and used in many different recipe dishes, including breakfast meals. Use quinoa in cereals, yogurt, pudding, smoothies, juices, burgers, salads, soups, breads, muffins, pancakes, chicken recipes, and more. I found some quinoa flakes too, besides the seed variety, so we’re going to be buying both types.

I’m anxious to try quinoa seeds or flakes in a lean turkey meatloaf recipe I have, but I would imagine meatloaf made with lean beef and quinoa would be delicious too. The quinoa cooking website mentioned above has spectacular pictures and How-To instructions of meals prepared with quinoa, and there’s even a quinoa cookbook available for free download.

But, where do you find and buy quinoa? Not all stores carry it, but many health food stores do. I found the one brand of organic quinoa at Costco but I don’t want to be limited to just the one brand, and I want to buy quinoa in bulk vs smaller bags or boxes found in some grocery stores. Searching online for where to buy quinoa, including black and red quinoa in 10 or 25 lb bulk sizes, I found quinoa pasta, noodles, flour, flakes and seeds offered by different brands. Brand names like Ancient Harvest, Nature’s Path, Earthly Delights, Roland, Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, Eden Organic and others.

I don’t think you can ever have too many cookbooks, so when I heard about the quinoa cookbook called Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood and another cookbook called The Quinoa Cookbook: Over 70 Great Quinoa Recipes, I just had to have all three. The rice cooker/steamer is plugged in and ready for some major cooking and experimenting with quinoa recipes this week and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

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• Home Canning For Beginners – Canning Books, Equipment and Supplies

Home canning and preserving have been around forever, but I’ve only known a couple of people in my lifetime so far who know how to can. Learning how to can fruits and vegetables grown in our organic garden is a relatively new interest of mine, and it only makes sense to learn as much as possible about the basics of canning in order to can correctly the first time around, hopefully.

Being an avid reader with a thirst for knowledge on many different topics, acquiring books on home canning that explain exactly how home canning is done, the needed canning jars and supplies, and of course a variety of tasty recipes for the canned goods is a must-do for canning beginners like me. Fortunately, technology advances have improved the options available for people wanting to begin canning for the first time, where the “old fashioned” way of canning isn’t the only way anymore.

I only have a vague recollection of seeing someone in the process of canning in their kitchen when I was a very young girl, and if memory serves correctly, she was canning by boiling the dickens out of stuff the old fashioned way. Mason jars and lids were everywhere, as were a variety of prepared and seasoned vegetables and fruits, waiting to be put into the canning jars and added to the huge pot of boiling water on the stove.

Growing our own vegetables and some fruits in our garden is a lot of work and very time consuming, but the benefits of organic gardening far outweigh the so-called negatives of needing to spend so much time and getting dirty in the hot summer heat. The fruits of our labor are well worth the time and effort, and being able to preserve foods by canning some of what we grow to greatly increase the shelf-life is a great advantage.

Although we haven’t yet actually begun home canning quite yet, we are in the process of gathering the various supplies and cooking utensils recommended for people wanting to begin home canning. We’re looking into home canning kits and comparing prices and reading reviews on a variety of pressure cookers and boiling canners, in order to make an informed decision of the best way to start canning.

Stocking up on mason jars and lids for successful canning is of course necessary, and we’ve been on a hunt to find where to buy canning jars at the best prices, whether online or in a brick and mortar store. I’ve heard that home canning equipment and supplies can sometimes be found rather cheaply online, on eBay and other sites, so we’ll be checking those listings out soon for best prices and shipping costs.

We’ve been putting our power juicer to good use with some of the organic fruits and vegetables from our garden and others bought at local farmers markets that we aren’t growing ourselves, and starting home canning for the sometimes overabundance of foods grown just seems to be the next natural step. Home canned jams and jellies are absolutely delicious, without all of the added “junk” found in store-bought varieties, and having tasted a few samples of veggies preserved by home canning makes canning our own that much more enticing.

Having talked to a couple of people who do home canning regularly about what kinds of canning jars to buy and why, it seems most prefer the Ball brand, but one person mentioned liking the Kerr brand better. The wide mouth Ball mason jars get high recommendation, so we’ll be getting quite a few of those, along with the bands and lids that are necessary.

It’s only natural that there should be some sort of checklist of things to have on hand when beginning home canning, whether canning is done the old fashioned way or by using products like pressure canners/cookers etc. Checking off our list of things to buy is only a matter of time, once we’ve carefully considered and reviewed consumer reviews of home canning supplies and equipment, and of course compared prices.

Besides the items mentioned already, we already have some of the commonly used kitchen gadgets and utensils that are recommended for canning at home. Dutch oven or large kettle, colander, cooking spoons, heat proof rubber spatulas, measuring cups and mixing bowls, cutting board and knives and so on. We’ll need to get lid rims, a wide mouth funnel, food mill, sieve, waterproof labels and label maker, and maybe even a bakers cooling rack.

Having an extra refrigerator/freezer allows us to take home canning and freezing to whole new level, and I can hardly wait to get started. A friend told me to be sure to buy a good quality waterbath canner with rack included, which (to me) looks like a large stew pot my mom used to have, so that’s one more item to add to my home canning checklist.

I’m excited to try out some of the delicious sounding recipes I’ve seen online from canning “experts”, and once we’re confident that our efforts of learning how to can at home have been a success, we plan to share some of what we’ve made by giving some away as thoughtful gifts to others.

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There are many new and commonly known ways of recycling coffee grounds. Recycled coffee grounds is an effective way to become more eco-friendly by reducing landfill waste and lavish garden plants and vegetables with natural, nutrient-filled compost for gardens. It doesn’t matter what coffee brands you use, and I’ve even heard that using decaffeinated coffee grounds is okay for composting too.

Coffee drinkers who brew their own grounds know that a week’s worth of used grounds add up fast, and there is no better way to dispose of old coffee grounds than to recycle the grounds instead of simply throwing brewed grounds in the trash. We usually brew two pots of coffee each day, which adds up to a lot of used grounds in a weeks time, creating lots of waste.

Coffee grounds are rich with vitamins and minerals, containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and a slightly acidic pH level between 3.0 and 5.0. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with used coffee grounds from your filter coffee maker, here are some environmentally friendly ideas to consider.

It is not recommended to use coffee grounds in your kitchen or bathroom drains to unclog sinks, tubs or showers. Using coffee grounds to unclog kitchen sinks will only cause the grounds to adhere to grease in the drain and make the clogged sink worse.

How to Recycle Coffee Grounds

• Keep a small container of used coffee grounds by your kitchen sink. Use wet or dry grounds with soap to scrub greasy hands, pots and pans, grill grates and greasy surfaces alike. The coffee grounds act as a natural scrub and rinses off easily, with no leftover residue.

• Compost coffee grounds to enrich nutrient content, including coffee filters and tea bags, which break down quickly during composting. Dump used grounds into your existing compost pile or bin, or start a new one.

• Used grounds are an effective, natural way to fertilize roses. Simply sprinkle coffee grounds on the soil around the stem of the rose bush, but don’t allow the grounds to touch the plant itself.

• Old coffee grounds are great for a worm farm. If you raise earthworms for gardens or fish bait, feed the worms cool, used coffee grounds.

• Coffee grounds make an excellent wood stain for craft projects. Re-brew a sizable amount of used coffee grounds, allowing the water to steep with grounds for several hours, until cool. Pour the grounds through a coffee filter to remove grounds for a homemade wood stain for crafts. The amount of water used determines how dark the stain will be.

• Rub a handful of coffee grounds over hands after handling or cooking fish, chopping onions or garlic, to remove strong food odors.

• Coffee grounds also exfoliates skin during hand washing, leaving your hands soft and supple with a slight coffee fragrance.

• Deodorize your refrigerator and freezer with used coffee grounds in place of baking soda. Place wet coffee grounds in a small open container in the back of the refrigerator until dried.

• Reuse grounds to make fresh pots of brewed coffee. Dry coffee grounds (don’t roast them) on a cookie sheet in the oven at 150 degrees for an hour. Mix old grounds with an equal amount of fresh grounds for your next few pots of coffee.

• Coffee grounds can be used for stuffing inside pin cushions, keeping the pins and needles rust-free.

• Reduce or eliminate odors by filling cheesecloth or nylon knee-high pantyhose with used, dried coffee grounds and use in closets, cars, kitchen cupboards, bathrooms etc.

• Use coffee grounds as an inexpensive sink, tub or shower scrub that won’t scratch. Use steeped grounds and a cotton swab to touch up furniture scratches.

• Used grounds make a very cheap skin facial pack – similar to a mud pack. Mix ¼ grinds with one egg white and gently massage onto your face. Grounds are also good for skin dermabrasion.

• Coffee and henna mixed together are sometimes used to create homemade, temporary tattoos. Tattoo fans sometimes use this method to make dye for permanent tattoos as well, but the safety of this idea is questionable.

• Coffee grounds work well as a natural pest control for trees, cutworms and ants. Ants will not cross rings of coffee grounds. Create a ring of coffee grounds near entryways, doorframes, windows and window sills (anywhere you may have an ant problem) to keeps the pests out.

• Coffee grounds sprinkled around your yard appears to work well to deter cats from doing their business in your yard or ruin your garden. Cats hate the smell of coffee and citrus smells. Mix coffee grounds well with used orange peels and spread the mixture around your yard and the surrounding area of your garden as a natural cat repellant.

• Reuse coffee grounds as a natural, organic plant fertilizer. Sprinkle coffee grounds around the base of indoor potted houseplants, outdoor plants, flowers and gardens, then dig them in a little.

• Grounds can also be sprinkled directly on your lawn. Sprinkle on “bald spots” in your yard. After a few days, you will notice the grass is growing and spreading into a lush green lawn.

• Apply coffee grounds directly to acid-loving plants and bushes (such as azaleas, rhododendrons, ferns, roses, palm trees, laurels, gardenias, blueberries, cranberries, oaks, and spruces) as an organic coffee-ground mulch.

• As a pest control agent, it has been found that slugs and snails (common garden pests in cooler climates) don’t like caffeine. Studies have shown that using a spray solution with high levels of caffeine, such as 1 or 2 percent, kills off 60 to 95 percent of slugs. A 1% solution kills 60% of slugs while a 2% solution kills 95% of all slugs. The 2% solution has been found to be more effective than the chemical normally used in slug control, known as metaldehyde.

• Reuse grounds to dye clothing brown, tie dye t-shirts, paper and even Easter eggs. Coffee grounds can also be used to make homemade crafting dough for kids projects instead of plain flour and water.

• Make natural, chemical-free, liquid fertilizer from old coffee grounds by mixing one half pound can of coffee grounds into a 5-gallon container of water. Allow the grounds/water mixture to sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature. Diluting coffee grounds with water creates an excellent, cheap liquid fertilizer for indoor and outdoor plants, trees, shrubs and bushes.

• Make your fireplace go green. Fireplace logs made from used coffee grounds emits less carbon dioxide than manufactured logs, while also helping to reduce landfill waste. Java-Log is an eco-friendly fire log made from coffee grounds and recycled materials (instead of timber) and these fire logs burn cleaner than traditional wood logs or store-bought fireplace logs.

• Throw old grounds on the ashes in your fireplace before cleaning it out, which helps reduce fireplace dust from spreading.

• Use spent grounds as an organic flea dip for dogs by rubbing coffee grounds mixed with water on your pet.

Even if you don’t brew coffee at home, you can still reap the benefits by visiting your local coffee shop and ask for their spent coffee grounds. Starbucks coffee shops are active in contributing used coffee grounds to customers for personal gardening use through its free “Grounds For Your Garden” program.

Many Starbucks locations have bags filled with coffee grounds at or near the front door in a basket for people to take at no cost. The Starbucks website says used coffee grounds are also available for city parks and playgrounds.

You can find many more alternative tricks and unique tips on recycling coffee grounds and other household items from magazines, DVD movies, books on recycling and living green HERE, at your local book store or the library.

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The Gooseberry Patch cookbook for kids called Kids in the Kitchen includes recipes that kids of all ages, including preschoolers, toddlers and older kids can enjoy the fun of cooking in the kitchen with mom or dad, or even Grandma and Grandpa.

Kids need to be in the kitchen rather than being shooed away, so children can learn the basics of nutrition, healthy food choices, correct portion sizes and much more. Gooseberry Patch cookbooks are not just for adults, and as a Grandma who raised 6 kids and now has two grandchildren, I love the great ideas found in these cookbooks for kids.

Cooking with kids in the kitchen is a fun activity that should be encouraged rather than discouraged. The Kids in the Kitchen: Recipes for Fun cookbook was designed exclusively with little kids in mind, and the list of recipes found in this cookbook will help little chefs want to learn how to cook lots of good food!

Kids in the Kitchen Cookbook for Kids

This delightful Kids in the Kitchen cookbook is loaded with recipes and goodies kids can make themselves, like “breakfast banana split” and “easy-as-pie spaghetti bake” plus crafty recipes like “homemade face paint”. This children’s cookbook includes thoughtful safety reminders, fun facts and charming full-color artwork too. The wipeable cover and 80 durable pages is kid-friendly and makes a great gift for kids.

The recipes and fun ideas in this cookbook are all easy and quick for kids to prepare and make. A review of the cookbook says, “This cookbook is filled with a lot of wonderful recipes that the kids can really make and they taste great. There is also craft recipes; play clay, face paint, bubble mix, dog biscuits and Goopy goo. Our family has really had a lot of fun with this book—a must have!”

Another reviewer says, “I noticed the cookbook because of the cover and bought it and the monkey measuring spoons for my 8-year old granddaughter. The recipes are kid friendly. My favorite is the breakfast banana split. We love the recipes in the back for bubbles, goop, etc.”

The list of recipes in this kids cookbook goes on and on. Besides those already mentioned, other breakfast meal recipes include things like “toad in the hole”, “jam surprise muffins” and more. Snack recipes include “bagel pizza”, “ham & cheese roll-ups”, “baked French fries” and delectable dessert treats like “crispy monkey pops” that even little kids can make.

Dinner type meals include recipes like “Texas straw hats”, “baked mac & cheese”, “easy cheesy quesadillas”, “easy-as-pie spaghetti bake” and much more. Sections include Breakfast, Anytime Snack, Dinnertime, Desserts and Just For Fun. Little kids will be thrilled to use their imaginations to create new ideas, and there are also adorable kid sized small kitchen utensils like the monkey measuring spoons and the kids apron set that are just the right size for kids.

Kids in the Kitchen Year’round Fun Cookbook is another fun cookbook by Gooseberry Patch with kid-friendly recipes for celebrating year ’round holidays…Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. You’ll even be ready for fun holidays like Friendship Day and Ice Cream Day. Kids will love the recipes for “funny-face pizzas”, “jungle malts”, “twistin’ tomato pasta” and “howlin’ good snack mix”…while parents and grandparents appreciate the safety tips to keep kids safe while cooking in the kitchen.

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What are the best brand new children’s books and hot new releases of children’s books for kids? Time will tell if the children’s books listed below will make it on the list of top children’s books of all time or not, but kids love books regardless of whether they are new books or “old” classic books.

USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE NATIONAL “BEST BOOKS 2009″ AWARDS (NBBA) on October 20, 2009. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in 130 categories covering print and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2009 and late 2008.

Below are the winners and finalists of some of the best new releases of children’s books that are expected to be amongst the most popular children’s books in 2010.

Children’s Activity Book

Winner:
The More We Get Together: Nurturing Relationships Through Music, Play, Books and Art by Gari Stein

Children’s Educational

Winner:
My Choices Make Me Who I Am by David and Mutiya Vision, illustrations by Ignacio Alcantara

6 Finalists:
Jacob Has Cancer: His Friends Want to Help by Heather Cooper, RN, Heather Paschal, RN, Melanie Williams, RN and illustrated by Lindsey McMillion

Davy Brown Discovers His Roots by Keely Alexander & Velani Mynhardt Witthöft, illustrated by Manuela Pentangelo

Jaspa’s Journey: The Great Migration by Rich Meyrick

The Moose with Loose Poops (Dr. Hippo) by Charlotte Cowan, M.D., illustrated by Penelope Neal

Fraidy Cat by Melinda Chambers, illustrated by Sue Ann Maxwell Spiker

Kyle’s Colorful Life by Drema McNeal, illustrated by Kasey Short

Children’s Fiction

Winner:
Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink by MAC

7 Finalists:
Why Do I Have To? by B. Annye Rothenberg, Ph.D., illustrated David T. Wenzel

Forest Secrets: A Fairy Houses Mystery by Tracy Kane & Kelly Sanders, illustrations by Tracy Kane

Running Home by Jennifer Charron Ward

The Grey Ghost (Wolf’s Apprentice) by Julie Hahnke, illustrated by Marcia Christensen

The Idea Miners: The Lost Lake Dig by P.W. Cross

The Last Fairy by Augustine Campana

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab by Fiona Ingram

Little Wolf’s Adventure: A Medicine Dream and Warrior Ghosts by Nona Burroughs Babcock

Children’s Mind/Body/Spirit

Winner:
Another Sad Mad Glad Book – The Anatomy of Your Attitude by Chuck Stump & Jim Strawn

7 Finalists:
Where Do We Go? by James F. Weinsier, illustrated by Cliff Beaman

Sarah’s Waterfall: A Healing Story by Ellery Akers, illustrated by Angelique Benicio

The 4Fairy Scents: 4Fairy Tales: Book 1 by Tina Marie Mayr

What Are You Thinking? by Valerie Ackley, illustrated by Lori Nawyn

Fraidy Cat by Melinda Chambers, illustrated by Sue Ann Maxwell Spiker

Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! by Grandma Sue

Make Your Dreams Come True by Karen Reed Hadalski

Children’s Non-Fiction

Winner :
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Seeing Is Believing! by Geoff Tibballs

3 Finalists:
Nana, What’s Cancer? by Beverlye Hyman Fead and Tessa Mae Hamermesh, illustrated by Shennen Bersani

Soil: More Than Just Dirt by Jerry Wermund

Tween You & Me: A Preteen Guide to Becoming Your Best Self by Deb Dunham

Children’s Novelty & Gift Book

Winner:
Elephant, Elephant Come Alive! by Steven P. Winkle, illustrated by Christie Mealo

2 Finalists:
Meet President Obama America’s 44th President by Angi Ma Wong

Tressi’s Magical Chest Series – Samantha and the Legend of the Whispering Trees by J.A. Kundert

Children’s Picture Book – Hardcover Fiction

Winner:
Darryl and the Mountain by Lynne Emily Ozgur, illustrated by Ismail Abay

8 Finalists:
Circus Fever by Alva Sachs, illustrated by Patricia Krebs

Beautiful Moon by Dawn Jeffers, illustrated by Bonnie Leick

Can’t Catch a Butterfly by Michelle Zimmerman

Kid Canine – Superhero! By P.T. Custard, illustrations by P.T. Custard & David Pearson

Nicholas, that’s Ridiculous! A Story About Being a Boy by Christa Carpenter, illustrated by Mark Wayne Adams

Nico & Lola: Kindness Shared Between a Boy and a Dog by Meggan Hill, photography by Susan M. Graunke

The Little Green Pea by Alison Barber, illustrated by Paige Keiser

Too Tall Alice by Barbara Worton, illustrated by Dom Rodi

Children’s Picture Book – Hardcover Fiction w/ Audio CD

Winner:
Tino Turtle Travels to Kenya – The Great Safari by Carolyn L. Ahern, illustrated by Neallia Burt-Sullivan

2 Finalists:
The Ugly Caterpillar / La Oruga Fea by Carl Sommer, illustrated by Greg Budwine

The Belly Button Fairy by Bobbie Hinman, illustrated by Mark Wayne Adams

Children’s Picture Book – Hardcover Non-Fiction

Winner:
What Does It Mean to Be Global? by Rana DiOrio, illustrated by Chris Hill

8 Finalists:
Let My Colors Out by Courtney Filigenzi, illustrated by Shennen Bersani

A Is for Anaconda: A Rainforest Alphabet by Anthony D. Fredericks, illustrated by Laura Regan

Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize by Kathy-Jo Wargin and illustrated by Zachary Pullen

S Is for Save the Planet: A How-to-be Green Alphabet by Brad Herzog and illustrated by Linda Holt Ayriss

Raising Lucy – The True Story of Raising an Orphaned Wild Goose written and illustrated by Carol Muzik

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Twist Series: Human Body by Camilla de la Bedoyere

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Twist Series: Space by Dr. Mike Goldsmith

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Twist Series: Wild Animals by Camilla de la Bedoyere

Children’s Picture Book – Softcover Fiction

Winner:
Four Pals at the Park by Angel Tucker and Robert A. Rohm, Ph.D.

6 Finalists:
Claire Bear Presents the Pilot Alphabet by Sue Hughes, illustrated by Wang DaiYu

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy by Tina Turbin, illustrated by Aija Jasuna

Mabel Takes a Paddle by Emily Chetkowski, illustrations by Susan Spellman

Spitz A Cat With Attitude by Carolyn Garriott, illustrations by Jason Weibel

What Can We Do Next? The Adventures of Lexie and Lolly by Toula Magi

Hooray for the Circus: A Story of Sam the Lamb by Ginger DeVine, illustrations by MikeMotz.com

Children’s Picture Book – Softcover Non-Fiction

Winner :
Be A Thinker Not a Stinker: A story for kids and the big people they love by Sammie & Tudie

8 Finalists:
A Child’s View of a Prairie by Susan C. McDermott

Amazing Creatures, photography by Deborah Oelrich

AUTISM ABC by Dr. Sherry L. Meinberg, illustrations by Rachael Mahaffey

Daddy Loves You: Whispers of Wisdom from a Father’s Heart by Michael J. Hervey, II, M.D.

Gene the Pumpkin Man: 50th Year of the Pumpkin Farm by Carol Rhodes

Herman The Jester and The ABC’s of Art by Rafael Filion

I’m Not Weird, I Have SPD by Chynna T. Laird

Nettie Does the NCT: North Country Trail by Lorana A. Jinkerson, illustrated by Toby Mikle

Jeff Keen, President and CEO of USABookNews.com, says of the awards, now in their seventh year, “The 2009 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States. With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of NBBA, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”

A complete list of the winners and finalists of the USA Book News’ “Best Books 2009″ Awards in other popular categories are available online at USABookNews.com.

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One of the best activities grandparents can do with their grandchildren is to read children’s books to them. Of course, as children get older and are able to read books on their own, Grandma and Grandpa can still help teach the importance of reading by having some of the best children’s books of all time available for kids to read.

The New York Times has released a list of what it believes to be the top ten children’s books of 2009, and there are a couple kids books listed here that even I had never heard of, but will definitely take a close look at adding some of these children’s books to our library.

Here is the top 10 children’s books list from the NY Times:

Top Ten Children’s Books

#1 – Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

#2 -Guess Again! by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Adam Rex

#3 – Dogs Don’t Brush Their Teeth! by Diane deGroat and Shelley Rotner

#4 – Crow Call by Lois Lowry; illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

#5 – Elephants Cannot Dance! By Mo Willems

#6 – Creature ABC by Andrew Zuckerman

#7 – How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? By Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

#8 – Pick a Pumpkin, Mrs. Millie! by Judy Cox, illustrated by Joe Mathieu

#9 – The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket; illustrated by Carson Ellis; music (included CD) by Nathaniel Stookey

#10 – The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

Reading kids books to grandchildren is just as much fun as when we read children’s books to our kids when they were young, starting when they were babies and as the children got older. You’re never too young or too old to enjoy reading books, and reading children’s books to grandchildren is a favorite thing to do for many grandparents.

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Grandpa and I have been working hard on getting out of debt, or more specifically, getting out of credit card debt, on our own. Like many other Americans who are dealing with debt from credit cards and/or loans etc, working hard to reduce or eliminate debt from credit cards became our New Year’s Resolution after Christmas last year.

Of course, there is such a thing as good debt, such as paying for a mortgage that creates home equity – which after a period of time allows homeowners to sell their house at a nice profit if the housing market is right for homeowners to sell their home. Right now, the housing market sucks due to the economy, so there’s no way we’d be able to sell our house even if we wanted to, at least not for the kind of money we’d want and need to get for it.

Anyway, in order to help us meet our goals of getting out of debt completely, we made the tough decision to really tighten our financial “belt” so to speak and focus our time and energies on paying off all credit cards and loans as quickly as possible. One debt-inducing expense each year has been the amount of money that is often spent buying Christmas presents for everyone on our xmas list. We are generous gift givers, to a fault.

As the Christmas season rolls around each year, it seems there have been more and more names needing to be added to our Christmas gift list, and something has to give. Between family, friends, adult children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, bosses, co-workers, etc – the gift giving list and available monies has its limits, especially considering our efforts to get out of debt rather than increase our debt.

As much as we’d like to be able to continue buying everyone gifts for Christmas, as well as gifts for those we haven’t bought for in awhile, getting out of debt has to be given first priority. We’re not getting any younger either. Call it selfish if you wish, but we’re focusing on ourselves and our needs, for a change.

Getting out of debt once and for all means creating and sticking to a tight budget and not creating new debt, so that any and all remaining income from our jobs and money made from being a freelance writer and blogger goes to paying down debt until there is a zero balance on any and all credit cards.

“Getting out of debt on your own” means we are doing this on our own, rather than trusting our money and credit history to possible debt consolidation scams and schemes we hear so much about it on the news and online. A friend of mine was kind enough to buy Dave Ramsey’s book called The Total Money Makeover along with the accompanying Total Money Makeover Workbook as a gift for Grandpa and I to help us in our efforts to get out of debt the smart way.

Getting Out Of Debt Blogs

I’ve been reading many of the top personal finance blogs found online for quite some time now and will continue to do so. There are hundreds of “get out of debt” blogs online, with helpful tips about easy ways to reduce debt quickly, written by knowledgeable and experienced financial experts. Many of my favorite personal finance blogs are authored by people paying off debt just like you and I, who are “blogging away debt” and explaining their journey to a debt-free life on their personal finance blogs, for free.

We don’t need consumer credit counseling help either, and there are a lot of scams regarding those too, so thanks but no thanks. Creating a budget that we can and will stick to isn’t rocket science. Coming up with some easy and simple ways to pay down credit card bills isn’t hard either.

We’re eating out less. We’re watching rented movies at home instead of spending money at the movie theater and on expensive snacks. I quit smoking and the money saved by not buying cigarettes goes towards paying down credit card debt. Brown bagging lunches, instead of eating lunch at restaurants, creates a sizable savings each week that goes towards paying off debt.

We’re also creating a grocery budget, which will help to eliminate needless spending at the grocery store on things we really don’t need to be eating. The fact that we’ve set a goal of losing some weight over the next few months will also help reduce our grocery bill too, since we won’t be spending nearly as much money on snacks and junk foods. We’re well on our way towards getting out of debt, having already paid off a couple credit cards so far, and there’s no stopping us now.

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The Great American Smokeout was held yesterday, November 19, 2009, wherein smokers join together to quit smoking or using tobacco products of any kind at least for the one day. Funny thing is, I already quit smoking and didn’t even know about the “smokeout” until this morning when I heard about it online.

I’ve lost track of how many times I have tried to quit smoking, but nothing seemed to stick. The various stop smoking aids like Chantix pills scare the beejeebers out of me, and the nicotine patch was never something I wanted to try either. Why? Because trying to quit smoking with the “help” of products that have nicotine in them doesn’t make any sense to me. Nicotine addiction is what keeps smokers smoking, so it makes no sense to me to attempt to quit smoking and rid myself of nicodine addiction by continuing to take nicotine into my body.

What surprised me most when I finally did quit smoking was that it was not hard to quit smoking at all. Really, it wasn’t hard at all. Quitting smoking was easy, for me. No patches, no nicotine gum, no so-called quit smoking aids were used to help me quit. All it took for me to stop smoking once and for all was reading a book. Yeah, I know, how in the heck can reading a book help someone quit smoking?

I was nervous and scared about the reported side effects smokers talk about experiencing when they finally put out that last cigarette. The withdrawal symptoms are scary enough to keep a smoker smoking for life, just to avoid having to deal with the “pangs” and stress about quitting. I didn’t experience any withdrawal symptoms at all. None. Zip, zero, nada. No feelings of “I gotta have a cigarette right now or I’m going to kill someone”. Nope.

“Weaning” myself off of nicotine with stop smoking aids sounds more like torture to me. Cutting back on the number of cigarettes smoked each day didn’t cause me to stop smoking either, although it did help reduce the expense of buying cigarettes to some degree. Quitting smoking “cold turkey” as they say really scared me. Cold turkey methods sound like torture too, as if a smoker trying to quit is going to experience so many crazy symptoms as they try to quit, that family and friends would be wise to stay far, far away…until the homocidal tendencies diminish or disappear.

All it took for me to quit smoking was to read Allen Carr’s book called The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Yes, really. Funny thing about the book was Allen strongly recommends in the book that smoker’s continue smoking until they have finished reading the book. I just couldn’t manage that. Halfway through the book, I put out my last cigarette and I know for a certainty that I will never again light up another cigarette for as long as I live. No withdrawal symptoms, no crazy mood swings, no “pangs” for a cigarette. Nothing at all.

Allen Carr explains in the book the easy way method to quit smoking, and considering the fact that Carr smoked no less than 100 cigarettes a day (WOW!!!) and his method worked for him without any negative side effects or withdrawal symptoms etc. Allen Carr smoked 5 packs a day! If he could quit smoking “just like that” after being such a heavy, chain-smoking chimney, I knew I could quit my habit of smoking less than a pack a day. Quitting smoking was easy, and I’m very proud of me for doing it. Next on my To-Do list is continuing my efforts to get my weight back to where it was a few years ago, and I’m headed in the right direction. Yeah me!

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Christmas will be here before you know it, and if you like Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbooks loaded with great country recipes as much as I do, you will love the new Gooseberry Patch cookbook. As a mother and grandma, cooking is not just a necessity but is also one of many fun activities or hobbies to be enjoyed. When I discovered the Gooseberry Patch company a few years ago, I was immediately hooked on the delicious recipes found in all the cookbooks I could find to buy.

Needless to say, I’ve been starting my own collection of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks that I will have a great time experimenting with when the kids and grandkids come over. Since I’m an avid reader of books of all kinds, especially cookbooks with great recipes and stories, I was thrilled to receive my very first cookbook by Gooseberry Patch.

I have so many recipe cards filling recipe boxes in what I jokingly refer to as “Grandma’s Kitchen”, I really need to take the time to use the organizer I bought from Gooseberry Patch, and then choose a couple of my best recipes to send to Gooseberry Patch for possible inclusion in their next cookbook.

Seriously, if you haven’t heard of GooseberryPatch, you are missing out on some of the best cookbooks and recipes available thus far. Even kids get in on the cooking action with the Gooseberry Patch series called Kids in the Kitchen, and if you haven’t yet seen the Kids in the Kitchen Kit with book included, now that makes a great Christmas gift for kids who enjoy cooking. (making mental note right now)

I’ve also been meaning to buy some of the cookware, serving bowls and dishes, and the braided baskets and placemats the Gooseberry Patch company makes are already on my Christmas list. I’ve already ordered the new Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbooks11 and 12, and they should be arriving sometime next week.

Gooseberry Patch Cookbooks

Even if I don’t receive any of the Gooseberry Patch gift items from my Christmas list for Christmas this year, you can bet I’ll go right out and order them for myself. I’m sure I’m not the only one who ever buys Christmas gifts for themselves, right? Considering the fact that I’ve been gathering recipes and doing some initial cooking/freezing in preparation for Thanksgiving and even Christmas, the brand new Recipes for Kindness Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch will come in very handy.

Gooseberry Patch is donating a dollar from each purchase of their new cookbook called Recipes for Kindness to the Feeding America charity, and I’m happy to do my part to help needy families in America. Gooseberry Patch will even send you a free catalog!

Recipes for Kindness is the first book in a new series of cookbooks, with lots of good ideas for little acts of kindness we can all do to be kind to others, plus some of the best holiday inspiration and recipes Gooseberry Patch customers will enjoy.

By the way, the full-color watercolor artwork in this new collectible cookbook are beautiful. This soft cover cookbook has 48 pages of great recipes and is 5 ½ inches sq. Check out this brief video of Gooseberry Patch founders Jo Ann and Vickie talking about the Recipes for Kindness cookbook.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gooseberry Patch has a large variety of cookbooks for kids, and my grandchildren and I will have lots of fun incorporating cooking many of these recipes into our usual activities. Oh, I must not forget to tell you that the Gooseberry Patch 2010 Calendar is the coolest thing ever and I can’t wait for it to get here because I have special dates, parties and family occasions coming up that I must keep track of since we do a lot of entertaining.

I can’t possibly list all of my favorite things from Gooseberry Patch, but I can tell you that my Christmas list is growing by the day! These Gooseberry Patch Christmas ornaments are the cutest things ever, don’t you agree?! I’ve got my eye on a couple of the Gooseberry Patch quilts and throws, the 3-piece set of Cast Iron Cobbler Pots (plus the cobble mix), and the Christmas nightlights are very cute too.

There are so many Christmas-themed serving bowls, baskets and tablecloths for me to choose from, it’s hard to me to choose just one. I’m glad that Gooseberry Patch offers gift certificates too, since I admit to being one of those Grandma’s who has everything already and is hard to buy for. Not anymore!

Since I love to cook and try out new recipes, Gooseberry Patch cookbooks is probably one of the best Christmas gifts for grandparents my children or grandchildren could buy for this old grandma. This grandma’s kitchen is going to be smelling really good over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays especially with all the cooking I’ll be doing, and I bet my kids and grandkids won’t be able to stop eating once they have tried some of my newfound recipes from Gooseberry Patch.

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The Gooseberry Patch calendar is on the top of my list of favorite things from the Gooseberry Patch company, and now the 12-month 2010 wall calendar and appointment scheduling calendar are available. This year’s calendar is filled with tried and true (and delicious!) recipes, with unique recipe ideas surrounded by unforgettable watercolors throughout the calendar, with plenty of room to jot down special occasions and dates to remember.

Since I couldn’t decide between the 12-month Gooseberry Patch wall calendar and the appointment calendar, I ultimately decided to buy both calendars since I always carry a planner or appointment scheduler in my purse. Since Christmas is coming and a few people I know love to cook and have started a collection of cookbooks, I’ll be buying a few cookbooks from Gooseberry Patch as gifts for them as well.

Have you heard about the Gooseberry Patch company yet? Gooseberry Patch is a thriving mail-order company based in Delaware, Ohio. Neighbors Vickie Hutchins and Jo Ann Martin founded Gooseberry Patch in 1984 over the backyard fence even though neither had any business experience; Martin was a first-grade teacher and Hutchins was a flight attendant & legal secretary. Let that be a lesson to you: always follow your dreams, and don’t let anyone tell you your dreams aren’t worth chasing.

The Gooseberry Patch company is currently operated from a 52,000-square-foot building that includes retail Gooseberry Patch products, wholesale and web sale divisions. Gooseberry Patch has been allowing customers to submit recipes for inclusion in their Gooseberry Patch cookbooks since 1992, with over 6.8 million cookbooks sold to very satisfied cookbook-loving customers.

Gooseberry Patch Christmas

Christmas this year is of course going to be full of gift giving, and for my friends who love to cook, what better Christmas gift could I possibly give if not for Gooseberry Patch cookbooks and gift items? Did you know that Gooseberry Patch has over 100 recipe-filled cookbooks? I’ve heard great things about the slow cooking, crock pot recipes too, and I’ll be trying out those recipes now that autumn is in full swing.

Gooseberry Patch has grown to where they have over 500 items under $20.00, and with many families struggling to get by in this economy, being able to buy Gooseberry Patch products like nightlights, cookbooks, organizers, calendars, country crafts etc so cheap is a very good thing.

Jo Ann and Vickie, who shared a love of collecting antiques, gardening and country style decorating, decided to open a mail-order business right from their kitchen tables! I wish I had thought of that! Gooseberry Patch outgrew the kitchen table-style business and ended up moving to the country, where store shelves were stocked not only with their own line of cookbooks and calendars, but also kitchenware, enamelware, bowls and other wonderful items.

Gooseberry Patch has recently released their new cookbook called “Gooseberry Patch Christmas” book 11, and is described this way: “Every year Gooseberry Patch brings homespun charm to the holidays with its popular annual Christmas book, and the eleventh edition is no exception. Reflecting the latest trends in decorating and entertaining-while keeping a close eye on tradition-the pages brim with all-new ideas for handcrafted decorations and gifts, keepsakes, activities, and yummy recipes from Gooseberry Patch’s family of readers.

With beautiful photography, simple instructions for crafts and recipes, easy-to-use recipe and craft indexes, and beloved Country Friends® illustrations, this series helps make treasured memories and establish new holiday traditions.”

I don’t know about you and what kind of cookbooks or crafts you like, but I simply love Gooseberry Patch and everything the company offers. Trying new things and creating fond memories of cooking with my children and grandchildren is an activity I’ve always enjoyed, and I can only hope that others enjoy Gooseberry Patch as much as I do.

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