Mexican Vegan Diet for Beginners by Sam Kuma

Rating: 9 out of 10

Affiliate Link: Vegan: Mexican Vegan Diet for Beginners: Delicious, Soul-Satisfying Vegan Recipes (from Tamales to Tostadas) that supplements a Raw Vegan Lifestyle ... Vegan and Vegetarian Beginners) (Volume 1)

Another excellent cookbook by Sam Kuma! Since giving up dairy, I have had a lot of difficulty with transforming my Mexican recipes. Also, I used to eat out at Mexican restaurants quite often and haven't been able to do that, either! Vegetarian Mexican recipes tend to use cheese, and usually quite a bit of it!

The recipes in this cookbook are quite simple and easy to follow. There is even a recipe for vegan elote! I have always loved elote and look forward to trying that one.

Black Bean Guacamole

For my first recipe, I made Black Bean Guacamole. It is a very simple recipe, with avocado, black beans, a tomato, scallions, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. (It also calls for a jalapeno, which I didn't use.) The avocado and black beans are smashed with a fork, which was a bit of an ordeal (there has to be an easier way!) but other than that, it was quite easy. Just mix everything together.

Super close up!

It was delicious, although I did feel that the recipe called for too much lime juice and that will need to be adjusted. It doesn't look very appetizing, but definitely tastes better than it looks!

I received this product for free in return for my honest and unbiased review. 

Naturalico Waterproof Electric Callus Remover

Rating: 9 out of 10

Affiliate Link: Naturalico Waterproof Electric Callus Remover / The Best Rechargeable, Cordless Personal Foot Pedicure File Tool & Shaver| Remove Dead/Hard/Cracked Skin Effortlessly| Your Spa At Home

To be honest, I was not sure how much I needed an electric callus remover. However, I do have calluses on my feet, and nothing has ever helped them. I've used a foot grater, soaked them, and used all kinds of lotions. I've had professional pedicures and they haven't budged at all.

I am very impressed with how much of a difference this electric callus remover has made in such a short period of time. I have used it 3 times. One of my calluses, on my left foot bottom near the pinky toe, has been there for over 10 years. (Maybe over 20! A long time, anyway!) It is nearly gone after only 3 uses. Not completely gone, but I think it will. It is so much smaller and softer.

The handle is very soft and easy to hold. I was surprised by how well-shaped the handle is; it really fits into my hand and makes it easier to maneuver.

I'm very pleased with the performance of the Naturalico Waterproof Electric Callus Remover.


I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Suavecito Pomade

Rating: 9 out of 10

Affiliate Link: Suavecito Premium Blends Hair Pomade, 4 oz 

This pomade is fantastic. It gives great hold without being crunchy or looking too wet, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a hair product. 

During the day, my hair has a tendency to "change." What I mean by this is that somehow when I am standing in front of my mirror in the morning, my hair looks exactly as I plan. As the day goes on, factors outside of my control change my hair. For example, I may blow dry and style my hair just perfectly, and then put on a sweatshirt. So, of course, my hair doesn't *like* that I would dare to wear a sweatshirt! My hair then decides somehow to change and curl up in a weird way. However, if I use some pomade on the ends and tips of my hair, it doesn't curl up in a weird way. It just stays the same.

Another thing that my hair likes to do is go in my face. Right now, I have bangs, and they are exactly the length that they will go straight in my eyes. My hair even curls around my glasses to get into my eye, somehow. It's quite annoying, and hair spray doesn't quite cut it. (Well, it works, but doesn't last long enough.) When I use pomade, my hair behaves in a somewhat more reliable fashion. I still wish I didn't have bangs, but they blend in more, and there are no eye surprises. 

I had planned on giving this to my son, who likes to wear his hair short, and use a pomade or cream. There are two reasons that he did not receive this as a gift: first, I decided I needed a hair product for myself, and second, the tin was dented. Now, my dear son would not have minded that the tin was dented, but I felt a little weird about giving it to him that way. He has tried the pomade, however, and he loves it as well! So, there may be a second (hopefully non-dented) tin in our future. 

I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Aunt Jenny's Got It All Shop, Wisconsin Dells, WI

Rating: 9 out of 10

Aunt Jenny's Got It All Shop is a really nice gift store in the Wisconsin Dells. I stop in there every time I'm in town. They have good prices on gifts, a lot of really unique gifts, and they have a lot of gifts that are personalized with names. My son had a lot of fun, when we were here on spring break, picking out personalized gifts for his friends!

They also have gifts that are mystery gifts. For anywhere between $1 and $4, you can purchase a wrapped box that has a mystery gift inside! You never know what you'll get, but they are generally a good deal. (The last two times we've been in, a week apart, there haven't been any mystery gifts! The owner said it is the first time since she was 8 years old that this has happened, but I don't know when they'll be back...)

It's a great location, and easy to find. Right at the intersection of Hwy 12 and Hwy 13 (the main drag through downtown). There is ample parking, and there are several other shops in the same building. Also next door to mini golf!

I highly recommend a stop in to Aunt Jenny's Got It All Shop. You'll probably find the perfect souvenir gift that you didn't even know you were looking for!

http://www.auntjennysgotitall.com/

Mediterranean Diet for Vegans by Sam Kuma

Rating: 8 out of 10

 Mediterranean Diet for Vegans is a really great, basic cookbook. This cookbook is great for anyone starting out with vegan cooking, who is interested in adding healthy mediterranean recipes to their diet, or who would just like some simple delicious recipes.

There is a good variety of recipes in this book. Some are made from prepared ingredients and some are from scratch. (I prefer scratch but often need the quickness of using some prepared food!) For example, the basic hummus recipe just calls for 2 cups of cooked garbanzo beans, so you could cook your own or use canned. (and I believe a can has about 2 cups in it!) I like that versatility.

Also, there is a good variety of simple recipes and recipes that are a little more different. For example, there is a basic hummus recipe which is very good. There is also a recipe for Cilantro Garlic Hummus, which sounds amazing (unfortunately I haven't been able to try it yet!).

 I really am looking forward to making more recipes from this collection. I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Five Seasons in the Kitchen by Avital Sebbag

Rating: 3 out of 10

I love cookbooks. I have shelves and shelves of them -- in fact, I have an entire bookcase that I use just for cookbooks. It used to be in my kitchen, but now it is in our guest room, because our kitchen is too small to put an entire bookcase in there. I have a computer program to track recipes. Nearly all of my cookbooks are vegan, and they are all vegetarian. None of this is even counting ebooks, because why would I? They take up no space. (Or maybe they take up imaginary space?) I love to get new ecookbooks, because I don't have to worry about where to keep them!

I am just trying to impress upon you how much I love vegan cookbooks, and how often I read them. Because neither of those things are the issue with this book.

There are several problems with this book. The first is that it uses ingredients that I have never heard of, and have no idea where to find! When I read a cookbook, the first thing I look for is a simple recipe that I can make to get an idea of the author's taste. That was very difficult to find in this book. I don't have any idea what "hijiki" is or where to find it. In fact, the "simple" recipe I ended up making took 2 days to make! I had to sprout the lentils in advance. It was a very good recipe, though. It was delicious but plain, and tasted much better left over, which is good because it took 2 hours to cook, so it was ready well after dinner time (and in fact closer to bed time!).

And that leads me to another problem. Reading through this book could make you think that vegan recipes require lots of advance preparation, exotic ingredients that are difficult to find, and lots of cooking time. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Measurements were only in grams, which is a problem because I have no way of measuring that. I don't have a kitchen scale handy because I use volume measurements and not by weight. I have seen quite a few cookbooks where the author used grams, but put in volume equivalents, such as cups. It is also a problem with tofu. The amounts they called for seem to be about a third of a package here. I don't think we have that size and I have no idea how to get the equivalent amount of tofu, so I just skipped the tofu recipes. (I was able to just google "how many lentils in 500 grams" and then measure it in cups.)

In an ebook, you want to link to other recipes that you call for. For example, in the Three Way Toastini recipe, it calls for 3 separate spreads found elsewhere in the book, but there is no link to them. How am I supposed to find the recipe "on page 98?" I'm not sure if this is a problem from taking this cookbook from print to ebook, but it is a significant problem for me.

I will probably explore this cookbook further, especially if I find some hijiki, but it is just unlikely to become one of my favorites. I have a distinct preference for simple recipes with easy preparation, and this book is much too complicated for me. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Tea Tree Oil from New York Biology

I was really excited to get this product. I have heard great things about tea tree oil and about how beneficial it is for you. I ordered this product and when it was delivered, about half of the tea tree oil had leaked out somehow. Luckily, it was separately packed in a bubble wrap bag, but frankly, it's still in there. It made such a mess. It also has a very strong smell, so it would be wonderful to NOT have it spilled all over the place. I really can't tell how it leaked; the bottle doesn't seem to have a break in it, and it hasn't leaked any more since it arrived. But there is oil all over the bag and the bottle and the dropper, so I haven't put it together. I did use the oil for a bath, as it is supposed to have a really good benefit for your skin.

The return process worked very well; I notified amazon, and because this product wasn't available, they issued a refund to me so that I can repurchase it when it becomes available. Since it is now available, I will purchase it again. I received this product for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.