Plain Jane Laundry Soap (Green Resolutions Giveaway) WINNER!

The winner for the Plain Jane Laundry Soap giveaway is entry 660 - Rebecca!

Congratulations!

Be sure to enter my other giveaway - Mountain Rose Herbs & to come back tomorrow for the From Our Hearts to Yours Giveaway Event! :-)

Sisters of the Quilt ~ The Complete Trilogy :: Book Review

Sisters of the Quilt ~ The Complete Trilogy

by Cindy Woodsmall

Can Hannah find refuge, redemption, and a fresh beginning after her world is shattered? 
When the Heart Cries
Her life among her Amish community brutally interrupted, seventeen-year-old Hannah Lapp faces questions neither family, nor fiancé, nor even faith can easily answer. The first book in the Sisters of the Quilt series, When the Heart Cries will ignite a broader understanding of others’ beliefs and a God-given strength to deal with pain we all experience.

When the Morning Comes
Rejected by those she loves, Hannah Lapp leaves her Amish community and seeks refuge in the world outside, leaving her family and friends to wrestle with the painful truths that emerge in the wake of her disappearance. As she struggles to find her place in the confusing Englischer world, her community deals with the turbulent aftermath of her departure.
 
When the Soul Mends
Hoping to help her sister, Hannah Lapp reluctantly returns to the Old Order Amish community she fled in disgrace more than two years earlier. When hidden truths are revealed about her former fiancé, she must choose whether to return to the Plain life or to the Englischer man who adores her in this captivating conclusion to the Sisters of the Quilt series.
 
This three-in-one collection includes the entirety of the best-selling Sisters of the Quilt trilogy now at a new low price! 

My Review:

I was a little disappointed with this book with some of the content being adult only (in my opinion).  Though a captivating and great read I wouldn't want a daughter of mine to read this book until she was older or married (I only have a 17 mo boy right now...).  It might just be because of my upbringing and the sheltering that I had when I was at home.  Every family and parent has different ideas of what is age appropriate for their children and I'm sure that would play a big role on who/what ages could read and benefit from this book.  For me, this was a neat adult book - really enjoyable!

It was a wonderful story though, heartache, healing and forgiveness were shared in a way that touches you.  The story was very well thought out and researched, it doesn't seem much like a fiction book, with very real life happenings in it.

Through all the heartache and bitterness reaped on Hannah (main character) one of the best things I found about the book what her devotion to God.  Though she left the Amish she didn't leave all faith.  She still trusted in God and waited on Him to bring healing to herself, her family, and Amish community.  She doesn't return to the Amish faith but she does forgive those who wrongly accused her.  In the end she marries a Plain Mennonite man, the man that she's (secretly) loved since the beginning of the series.  A huge thing that comes across in this series is the fact that forgiveness is everything - many wrong accusations and misunderstandings become nothing with true forgiveness. 

** I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review all opinions are honestly my own. 

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Go visit Lessons From Ivy and read her review and enter her giveaway for The Good Wife's Guide eBook! :)

Menu Plan 1/30

MONDAY – Potato Cheese Soup
TUESDAY – Taco Soup
WEDNESDAY – Burritos (rice, beans, veggies)
THURSDAY – Lasagna
FRIDAY - Pizza
SATURDAY – Burritos
SUNDAY – Leftovers or with Family

For more Monday menus go to: www.orgjunkie.com

Soaked Baked Oatmeal {Recipe}

After finding this recipe for Baked Oatmeal a few weeks ago I've been making soaked baked oatmeal for breakfast - we love it!  I searched for several recipes, mixed them up a bunch, removed ingredients and found which combination we like best.

I really like how soaking the oats before preparation makes them easier to digest and helps your body better absorb the oatmeal’s nutrients.

This is a super easy recipe.  I often mix all the dry ingredients together in a little container when I begin soaking the oats and then in the morning just add everything together.  Many times my husband has added the ingredients in the morning and baked it for me.

Normally 1 8x8 pan of this oatmeal will feed the three of us twice.

Soaked Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats, not instant
1 cup full-fat plain yogurt with live, active cultures
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup whole milk
1 – 2 cups fresh, frozen or dried fruit (we often do raisins or apples)

Instructions:

Mix oats, yogurt and water in an ungreased 8 x 8 baking dish. Cover with a clean towel and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Don’t worry, your yogurt won’t spoil. The live cultures keep it from going bad.

When you are ready to prepare your oatmeal, mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add to oatmeal mixture and stir until incorporated.

Bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Scoop servings into bowls and top, if desired with real maple syrup and milk.

Sometimes we don't put any fruit into the oatmeal and just add fresh cut apples or raisins to our bowls before eating.

Leftovers are great re-heated.

Linking with Comfy in the Kitchen, An Original Belle, The Purposed Heart, The Better Mom, Barn Hop,  Your Thriving Family & Mama Chocolate

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Ohh, Baby, Baby Giveaway Hop!

Ohh, Baby, Baby Giveaway Hop sponsored by The Shopping Duck is taking signups now. This blog hop event will take place from April 1, 2012 to April 15, 2012. Come join the fun!

This giveaway hop is for baby, maternity and related products. What new mother, or expecting mother wouldn’t love to win some great new prizes!

This should be fun! :)

Sponsor Spotlight :: Jenuinely Pure

I'm excited to share this product with you.  I was able to try out Jenuinely Pure's bar soaps and just love them!  You probably already know how much I love natural homemade soaps made with pure & natural ingredients.  Jenuinely Pure soaps are exactly that!

I tried both the vanilla bean and pink grapefruit scents & I love them both!  The scent isn't overly powerful but gentle & wonderful.  I've never been one to like strong scents and perfume-y smells, these soaps have just the perfect amount of scents!  My husband likes them too!

They lather really well and leave your hands feeling moisturized yet clean!  They don't leave your hands dried out and are made from pure ingredients.

Pink Grapefruit: Distilled water, saponified oils of olea europaea (olive), organic cocos nucifera (coconut) and organic elaeis guineensis (palm fruit),confectioner’s sugar, ground paprika, citrus paradise (grapefruit) essential oil

Vanilla Bean: Distilled water, saponified oils of olea europaea (olive), organic cocos nucifera (coconut) and organic elaeis guineensis(palm fruit), vanilla planifolia (vanilla bean) powder, natural vanilla oil

Jenuinely Pure makes much more than just bar soap.  They have Body Cream, Lip Balm, Facial Products, Home Cleaners, Baby Wash & other Baby Products, & lovely Gift Sets just to name a few. Check out their site to see everything they carry.

I love their commitment to pure products:

In our products, we promise to use...

• Only high-quality & pure ingredients
• Organic ingredients when available
• Nourishing handmade botanical extracts
• Absolutely NO:
  • harmful or questionable ingredients
  • artificial fragrances or perfumes. Our products are scented only with pure essential oils
  • parabens, phthalates or sulfates
  • Genetically Modified ingredients

 We keep our products simple. We believe God created everything we need for health and wellness in nature...there's no need for man-made stuff!

We believe in full disclosure...we make it easy for you to see every ingredient we put in our products.

We want you to buy with confidence. If you are unsatisfied in any way with a product, simply return it within 30 days for a full refund. 

BUY IT!
You can purchase Jenuinely Pure bar soaps (and any of their other products) directly from their website for $4.95 offered in Cinnamon Oatmeal, Pink Grapefruit, Orange Clove, or Vanilla Bean.  Now until January 31st use code ARESTFULPLACE to receive 15% off your order!

WIN IT!!
Want to try some Jenuinely Pure products?  Come back between February 1st & 14th to enter for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate during the From our Hearts to Yours valentines giveaway event!!

~ Modesty4Me.com Cami Review ~

Modesty4Me is a small online business providing women with modest camis, practical modest everyday t-shirts and dresses.

About Modesty4Me:

Hello, my name is Cindy Fowler, founder and CEO of Modesty 4 Me. I started Modesty 4 Me because I saw a need for a basic wardrobe component that would allow women to dress modestly. You can buy skirts, shirts and jackets most anywhere; but what do you do about the neck line? My daughter-in-law often wears regular camisoles and she tightens the straps so much to raise the front that it rubs under her arms. Also you lose the layering look because the center front is pulled up distorting the shape of the garment. She even wears some shirts backwards. One day she said to me, "Nana, can't you make me a camisole that is cut higher in the neckline?"
From that simple request, Modesty 4 Me was born. After months of research I am very happy to introduce my line of high neck camisoles. More colors and styles will be available in the future, but as everyone says "Ya gotta start somewhere."

I was sent a white basic cami for review and love it!  I wear it all the time (it even stretches nicely to go over my baby bump.:-)).  It's nice and long unlike most cami's and tank tops nowadays - but not too long.  The high neck is perfect and very modest.  All of their products are made in the US and not China.

If you've been looking for a modest cami for under those shirts that are too low cut but still nice, this is the perfect option and it's just perfect timing too!  Modesty4Me is having an Inventory Clearance Sale right now.  Cindy (the owner) is going to be modifying/redesigning her camis and dresses to become even more modest.  Right now you can purchase the Basic Camis for $11.99 - $12.99, Layered Camis $9.99 - $12.99 & Lace Camis for $14.99 (sale prices).  They also sell t-shirts and dresses.

** Disclaimer: I was sent 1 cami from Modesy4Me for review purposes only.  All opinions express here are 100% honestly my own.  Thank you!

Menu Plan 1/23

I didn't end up making everything on my plan last week as our schedule had some changes I wasn't anticipating.  With a few new additions this week and some from last weeks menu here's my plan.

MONDAY - Beef Stroganoff
TUESDAY - Taco Soup
WEDNESDAY - Spaghetti
THURSDAY - Left overs
FRIDAY - Left overs
SATURDAY - Pizza
SUNDAY - Lasagna

For more monday menus: orgjunkie.com


What's for dinner at your house?

Mountain Rose Herbs Review & Giveaway! {Ends 2/6}

Keep your immune system strong this winter with Mountain Rose Herbs!

Mountain Rose Herbs est. 1987 is a great place to purchase your everyday herbal/natural products.  They sell all sorts of herbs in many different sizes, tincture extracts, teas, spices, essential oils, books, & so much more!  They have great product standards that you can rely on too:

We will never stock a non-organic item if an organic one is available, nor will we offer our customers material which has been conventionally grown using synthetic substances. In the event that certified organic material is not available, we opt for material which was cultivated without chemicals or harvested in the wild, thus liberating ourselves from commercial farming dependencies, and all of these materials have been meticulously analyzed in the lab for both chemical and pesticide residues.

I'm impressed with their loyalty to organic and natural wild harvested products!

I was sent a sample of their Immune Care Extract and their Echinacea & Roots tea.  Both are great!  The tea is good with a little honey.  The Immune Care Extract is easy to take by adding the recommended dosage to water or juice and drinking.  Both of these are great at immune building! :)  With the arrival of our baby drawing close keeping our immune systems strong and staying healthy are on the top of my list!

Immune Care Extract:
Formulated with herbs traditionally used to strengthen and support the immune system and immune function. Ideal for weakened conditions due to stress, viruses, and infections. Contains: Organic and Wildharvested Eleuthero, Astragalus, Ashwagandha, Reishi, Spilanthes, Myrrh and Organic Grain Alcohol. Alcohol content: 50%

Echinacea and Roots Tea:
Full flavored with a rich, rooty, yet smooth and mellow taste. Good medicine that tastes great! and it will help strengthen and support your natural resistance. A very popular decoction blend; we drink it at the first signs of colds and flu symptoms. Contains: Organic Pau d' Arco bark, organic Echinacea purpurea root, organic Dandelion root (raw and roasted), Sarsaparilla root, organic Cinnamon bark, organic Burdock root, Sassafras bark, organic Ginger root, and a pinch of organic Stevia.

Check out Mountain Rose Herbs' blog for lots or recipes and suggestions! :)

BUY IT!
You can purchase these products directly from Mountain Rose Herbs easily online. Echinacea and Roots Tea sells for 3oz $5.95 or 1lb $25.00.  Immune Care Extract sells for 1 oz $9.75 and 4 oz for $33.00

WIN IT!
Mountain Rose Herbs has kindly offered to giveaway this package to 1 A Restful Place reader!  To enter this giveaway simply follow the directions in the easy Rafflecopter form below! (If you don't see the form click "Read more >>"

Purposing to Spend time with your Work-At-Home Husband

Today I'm guest posting at Lessons from Ivy!  Go over to her blog to read how I spend time with my husband!  If you don't read Kasey's blog already, you should, she has so many wonderful posts!

Thank you Kasey!

Getting Ready for Baby - Crochet Baby Hats {Pink & White}

I'm so excited about having our second baby in March!  In preparation to having a new little one soon I've been making baby hats.  I love to crochet and these are so easy and fast!  They will be perfect for keeping our little one's head nice and warm during these chilly wintery days

As we don't know our baby's gender I'm going to be making both girl and boy ones. :-)  I know several other women pregnant and due after me so I can give the extra hats away or keep them for a future baby (Lord willing)!

First I made this one - I used this easy tutorial and added a little bow.

 This one I made with the same tutorial as above.

This one is preemie but it probably will fit as we're thinking this baby is going to by tiny like our first.  I used this tutorial.  This is the same yarn as the first one but looks different due to lighting. :)

 {Same hat as above just different view}

Now I'm planning on making some boy colored hats (brown, blue, green) after I can get into town and get some new yarn.  I already had these yarns on hand so I made them first. :)

I found several other really cute hat patterns that you can see here I hope to make someday! :)

Menu Plan - 1/16

Here's what I have planned for us this week!
 
MONDAY – Potato Cheese Soup
TUESDAY – Taco Soup
WEDNESDAY - Left Overs
THURSDAY – Sloppy Joes
FRIDAY – Beef Stroganoff
SATURDAY – Left Overs
SUNDAY – Waffles & Eggs

What do you have planned this week?

For more Monday Menus - orgjunkie.com

Green Resolutions Giveaway Hop! {Ends 1/30}

Welcome to the Green Resolutions Giveaway Hop, hosted by Happy Mothering, Mama Chocolate and Purposeful Homemaking! In addition to my green giveaway, there are 40 other blogs featuring eco-friendly prize packages. After you're done entering my giveaway, please visit the other blogs, which you'll find listed below the Rafflecopter form. Have fun!

 

The sponsor for my giveaway is Plain Jane Laundry Soap.

Plain Jane Laundry Soap has kindly offered 3 pounds of her Laundry Detergent (winner's choice for Hard or Soft water) and her Green Tea Sugar Scrub - a $25.00 value.  You can read all about these products in my review post here!

 

WIN! - To enter this giveaway simply follow the guidelines in the Rafflecopter form below. 

Homemade Pizza {Recipe}

My husband LOVES pizza and I love making it for him! :-)  Here's my favorite recipe for pizza dough (as promised on Monday in my Menu Plan post) - it turns out perfect every time and is so easy!  I'm planning on making this on Saturday - another plus for me with this recipe is that there's enough for several meals for us! :-)  This is actually half of the original recipe as I only need to make 1 pizza at this time for us. :-)

Ingredients:

1 1⁄2 cups warm water
1 1⁄2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 1⁄2 - 4 cups All Purpose Flour
Pizza Sauce
Desired Toppings

Directions:

Mix warm water, yeast, sugar, salt & oil. Start adding flour 1 cup at a time, until it forms a ball that comes away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be soft and tacky, but not enough to stick to your hands. If the dough is sticking to your hands, add a heaping tablespoon of flour one at a time until the dough is the right consistency.

Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and set in a warm place until doubled.

Place dough on an oiled pizza pan and roll or press out to size.

Top with approximately 1 1/2 cups of sauce, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese. Then add other desired toppings to taste.

Cook at 425 until the cheese is brown and bubbly and the bottom of the crust has browned.

Do you have pizza lovers in your home?  What's your favorite recipe for pizza?


Linking up with: Natural Little Cottage, Our Simple Country Life, Raising Mighty Arrows, Delicious Dish Tuesday Recipe & Homemakers Challenge

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Plain Jane Laundry Soap Review & Giveaway!

I am excited to share with you Plain Jane Laundry Soap!  I was sent 1 pound of this great laundry detergent to try on my own laundry.  My clothes turned out clean and fresh smelling every time.  I love how little detergent is needed in each load to get your clothes clean, only about 1TBS.  I even had great results with my cloth diapers (big plus!)!

Karen @ Plain Jane Soaps sent me 1 pound of her laundry detergent for hard water (we don't have a water softener so she recommends getting the one for hard water) and a sample of her Green Tea Sugar Scrub!

The laundry detergent has very pure ingredients and is safe for you and the environment.  Due to allergies and skin sensitivities I have to be sure to use only Natural and Non-Toxic cleaners and skin care products in our home.  Making sure our laundry is washed in natural detergent is very important here.

My husband is very sensitive to smells and he has really bad allergies, this detergent seems to bother him just a tiny bit when first opened but he hasn't been bothered yet by the clothes washed in it or anything.  He just stays out of the laundry room when I use it and has no problems! :)  Possibly this is due to him just not being used to our laundry detergent having a scent and not being used to the natural scent of this new detergent. :)  It hasn't bothered his skin at all so we're not worried about using it for his laundry.
 

The Green Tea Sugar Scrub is great! Softening and perfect for someone who's hands dry out from everyday work, working in the garden, sewing, etc!  It smells great too! :) It's just sugar, green tea, vitamin E, Sweet Almond Oil, along with just a little handmade soap.

You can purchase directly from Plain Jane on Etsy here.  Karen also has 2 other Etsy shops that I'm sure you'd enjoy browsing: Cotton Spice - selling PDF patterns of her own original embroidery patterns & Pretty Jane Dresses - selling little girls clothes, jewelry, and various things of interest to Mom's and Grandma's!  You can read Karen's blog here too!

Come back between January 16th - 30th to enter a giveaway for 3 pounds of Plain Jane Laundry Detergent and 1 jar of Green Tea Sugar Scrub during the Green Resolutions Giveaway Hop!!  Hope to see you there! :)

Menu Plan 1/9

One of my 'new year goals' is to be more diligent with meal planning. :)  So far it's gone really well!  I had last week all planned before hand and I already have the next 3 weeks planned out! Yay!  I've been doing our meal planning on Plan to Eat (I hope to share a review of this program soon!).  It's been so nice and very much so stress-free to know what I'm going to be making for dinner everyday!  At this point I've only gotten our dinners planned but I'm hoping to get our breakfasts planned as well.  Lunch is normally leftovers or sandwiches. :)  Here's whats on our menu this week:

MONDAY – Chicken Spaghetti
TUESDAY – Potato Cheese Soup
WEDNESDAY - Burritos with homemade refried beans
THURSDAY – Lasagna
FRIDAY – Taco Soup
SATURDAY - Homemade Pizza  (I hope to share this recipe this week)
SUNDAY – Chicken Spaghetti

For more menus and ideas for planning go here.

The Tanglewoods' Secret {Book Review}

Happy New Year 2012!  I hope you all have been enjoying your new year!  I have many posts I hope to share soon! :)  First I wanted to share this book review I just finished...

The Tanglewood's Secret
By Patricia M. St. John


In a struggle to learn to overcome her fiery temper and selfish spirit, Ruth is led to the discovery of a very important Shepherd who can and does teach her how to be good. The story contains beautiful and uplifting examples of what can happen when we let ourselves be found by Him.
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Ruth lives with her Aunt, Uncle & bother Phillip while her parents are away in India.  Ruth struggles with anger and laziness, this short story is about her overcoming her anger and laziness when she finds out about the "Good Shepherd".  A great read perfect for just about any age.  I love children's books and this is one that's been added to my 'favorites' list.

Ruth tries to get out of every chore possible and when she does actually get a chore done she only does it halfheartedly, half dried dishes, sweeping everything under the rug...

Ruth & her brother meet a young boy, Terry while playing out in the woods one day.  They grow to love the boy and they all become great friends & play together all the time.

One day in a rage Ruth 'runs away'.  She tires after 3 miles or so and ends up sleeping in a cold empty church.  In the morning she is found by the clergyman and he shares the gospel with her.  That the beginning of her journey of following the Good Shepherd.  She returns home and apologizes to her aunt for her behavior and for running away.  She diligently begins reading her Bible and starts to learn to heed the voice of the Shepherd when the temptation of laziness or anger came up.  With work she becomes a new girl and everyone notices the difference in her life.

An accident happens and the boy, Terry becomes very sick and will never be able to play again.  He is stuck in bed everyday living with his mother in a small, dark and stuffy cottage until one day Ruth's Aunt goes and visits him and invites Terry & his mother to come and live in her home.  Terry & his mother moves in with Ruth and the family.  Terry is cared for there by everyone and passes away.  Ruth struggles with understanding death and why the Lord didn't heal Terry but took him to heaven instead.  A local christian shepherd is able to explain to her the Terry's life here on earth was over and it was all part of the Lords plan.

Towards the end of the book Ruth's parents come home, just in time for Christmas.  It ends with a wonderful Christmas celebration inviting several injured children to come and celebrate with them.  This book was an easy and fun read that any child would love!  The gospel is taught throughout the book in a very child-friendly way.

* Disclaimer - I received this book free from Moody Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

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