Menu Planning Monday....

Monday...Spaghetti with tofurky italian sausage, spinach salad and fruit
Tuesday...Cabbage Rolls stuffed with rice and lentils
Wednesday...Ribollita (Italian kale and bean soup) with spinach salad
Thursday...Mac and "Cheez" vegan style
Friday...Lentil and tofurky sausage soup, baking powder biscuits


And on a positive note, arugula is up and the first asparagus came out of the garden today!

Spring planting...

Today spinach, lettuces, arugula, turnips and kohlrabi were started in the peat pots under the grow lights. 

72 spinach, all peat
25 mixed lettuces, all peat
50 arugula, all peat
36 turnips, organic mix
36 kohlrabi, organic mix

I'm putting them on 12 hour grow light cycles starting today.  We'll see how long they take to germinate!

Book Review: Smack-dab in the Middle of God's Love

Brennan Manning and John Blase have created an adorable children's story in Smack-dab in the Middle of God's Love.  Set in the village of Hopi with the childless couple Willie Juan and Ana, the story talks about Abba, Willie Juan's name for God and the love he has for all.  The illustrations are well done and the children's questions and concerns hit home for little ones learning about God.  It got a big thumb's up from my toddler!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com

Book Review: JRR Tolkien, Christian Encounters Series

Mark Horne puts out a really interesting biography on the life and religion of JRR Tolkien in this edition of his Christian Encounters series.  Horne takes a look at the contributions of Tolkien's Roman Catholicism on his writing of the LOTR saga, as well as his relationship with the another prolific Catholic writer of the day, C.S. Lewis.  The book examines the life of Tolkien through a Christian lens, and while generalized in some ways, he does hit on important aspects of his religion's contributions to his work.  My biggest criticism truly is that he didn't dig deep enough to really allow the reader to come away with a very involved understanding of his motivations to write the books or his faith's contributions to the evolution of the work.  On the whole, the book is a good introduction to the world of Tolkien, although for a more indepth view, other books may provide more.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com

Book Review: Rumors of God, Whitehead and Tyson

Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson set out to examine the declining religious nature of the American public and attempt to enlighten the reader with a more thoughtful, insightful experience with their faith.  The premise is that the Christian of today is drastically removed in faith and devotion from the first believers in the church that we have lost our way.  They set down guidelines they believe will be both life-changing and motivational, but fall flat.  Perhaps it's simply that in this point in my Christian walk I'm not "in this place", so to speak, but I felt it generally oversimplified the faith of today.  As a Catholic, I feel that the rich tradition of the Church has continued though the Liturgy.  Maybe a Protestant viewpoint may differ, but I feel just as strongly that any believer of today can be just as passionate for the Lord as those in his time.  The idea of lukewarm Christianity being a new idea, unique to America and this time, is somewhat lacking and historically inaccurate to boot.  I think that this book seems to capitalize on the idea some have that the faith of those around them isn't as strong as their own.  It seems jaded at least.  I was looking for something less agenda-driven and something more personal, so this book, while having some interesting ideas, lacked any depth for me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com