Bloggers Blog Tour

Kudos to Frankie who made the banner & Tamara who put together this FABU blog tour!! (Visit their websites by clicking on their names.)

I am honored to be able to introduce you to 

Beth's blog entitled, Curling Up With a Good Book.

To start the name itself is wonderful because who doesn't love to curl up with a good book?!?! It only goes uphill from there. I love how soft the blog itself looks. The colors are nice on the eyes, her header is brilliantly developed. Her content is all choreographed beautifully and she has good visuals on her sidebars to pull readers into other areas of her blog.

She reviews books, features posts on covers and other subjects all revolving around books. She did a really fun post on villains and even though I always root for the good guy (woman), this was a fun perspective. And I completely agree on two of the choices of her top books of 2012 being Immortal Rules and Under the Never Sky!

If you hurry, you can get in on her giveaway for reaching 100 followers! And hey, while you are there, sign up to follow her awesome book blog.

Review: Special Issue - Meal Plans Made Easy

Title: Meal Plans Made Easy
Clean Eating Magazine Special Issue

In the Magazine Section
at your local Barnes and Noble
OR
Clean Eating Magazine.com

I picked this up because plain and simple, I am addicted to cookbooks and any cookbook that is smaller and handy, is awesome in my book. I really had no idea how much I was going to love this book and I don't just mean book porn or food porn!

I have been making these  meals and following the plans for a week now and I LOVE IT! Each recipe is so easy and so good. I literally went shopping one day and then each morning, I gather all my stuff together and either eat it then or take it with me to work. I LOVE IT!

I have been struggling with losing weight and I couldn't figure it out. I finally realized I wasn't getting enough protein in my diet. These meal plans have solved that. The majority of them have protein in 2 of the 3 meals.

It also tells exactly how much to serve - a bunch of grapes - about 15, just for those of us (ME!) that don't know what a bunch means. It has really awesome combinations I would never have put together myself.

I also learned how to make my own homemade dressings for salads. I am not a fan of salad dressing. Haven't been for awhile. They are too thick, too sweet or too syrupy. The ones I made at home were so easy and super light, but gave good flavor.

Also a favorite of mine was the occasional juice drink! YUM!!!!

There are two things I would change. ONE, I am dairy free and it includes a bunch of dairy products like cheeses, yogurt, cottage cheeses. I would prefer a back page with substitutions. TWO, I do not know how to broil or poach eggs nor some of the other cooking methods they simply state in here. A page of brief explanation would be good too!

Now, for the food porn -

This was MY FIRST TIME EVER making soup from scratch and it was AWESOME!! Asparagus Soup -
(PS I need to buy a blender bc this spilled over my puree machine)

Asparagus soup with the dressings - crab meat, toasted croutons (GF), red peppers and some cheese garnish (DF). 

This was the ever incredible steak salad with broiled (I think) steak - very rare (sorry for those who prefer well done) with arugula, romaine, mushrooms, carrots and other stuff I can't remember. OH and homemade dressing!!!

Breakfast one morning of a fried egg (bc I couldn't remember how to poach) over arugula, crab meat and toast.