Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Book Review: God's Wisdom for Mother by Jack Countryman


This is a wonderful little gift book for anyone who is a mother or who wants to be.  This book is completely compiled of encouraging scriptures for mothers.  The scriptures are separated into sections like, God Encourages Each Mother to... or God Walks with Mothers. The book is small enough to read quickly or to read a small section each day.  God's Wisdom for Mothers would make a great little devotional.

I found this book to be very encouraging.  As a mother myself, I understand how Christian mothers often strive for a Godly perspective on parenting.  This book is just that, only there is no personal perspective by an author, just God's perspective provided in KJV scriptures.  This book gives you the opportunity to explore God's Word for each verse related to parenting without searching and searching. 

I would highly recommend this little gift book to anyone who is or will be a mother.  God's Wisdom for Mothers would be a great gift for mom on Mother's Day!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. My review is my opinion and not influenced by the publisher or company that sent me the book.

Oreo Truffles a.k.a. Dookie Balls

Oreo Truffles
adapted from Kraft Foods
I got this recipe from The Capitol Baker
 
Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 package Oreo cookies*
16 oz. semi-sweet chocolate**

*You can use any type of Oreo cookies with this recipe- regular, chocolate, mint, or vanilla.  I used one package of vanilla and one package of mint.
**I coated the Vanilla Oreos with white chocolate and the Mint Oreos with semi-sweet chocolate.

Directions

Place the entire package of Oreos in a food processor or blender and pulse until crushed completely.  If you do not have a food processor or blender, you can also place the cookies in a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush the cookies.

Pour the crushed cookies into a bowl and mix with the cream cheese until well blended.  You should start by using a spoon, but may need to use your hands to ensure the cream cheese is evenly distributed.  Place the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

Shape the mixture into 48 (1 inch) balls and place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.  While rolling, if you feel the mixture is becoming too soft, simply place the bowl in the fridge or freezer until the mixture becomes more firm. 

Shortly before removing the balls from the freezer, melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave.  If using the microwave, heat in 30 second intervals and stir in between.  Do this until the chocolate is completely melted.  Take the melted chocolate and set aside for 1 minute.  Now you can dip each ball into the melted chocolate and place on a wax or parchment paper lined baking sheet.  You should have leftover chocolate.  

Place the baking sheet in the fridge for 30-60 minutesShortly before removing the baking sheet from the fridge, take the remaining melted chocolate and if it has hardened you can place it in the microwave for 5-20 seconds.  Wait a few minutes for it to cool and then place in a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in one corner.  Remove the balls from the fridge and pipe the chocolate on top of each ball.
 
Refrigerate for about 15 minutes and then you're ready to serve!

 My family and friends love these truffles!  They are so easy to make and look beautiful.  The only downside, my two year old calls them "dookie balls". Ha!

My Little Chef

My oldest son, Jackson, has been enjoying kindergarten this year.  He loves his school and his friends.  Recently, he was awarded the opportunity to be the star of the week in his class.  The star of the week gets to be in charge of all the classroom tasks, like being the calendar leader.  This could not make Jackson any happier, there are three things in life that Jackson LOVES:  competition, being in charge and his friends.  So of course he would not turn down the opportunity to combine two of those, being in charge over his friends!

During Jackson's stint as star or the week, he was asked to be the chef of the week.  The chef of the week cooks something fun for their friends.  Jackson chose to cook green eggs and ham for his friends, since this was also the week he was celebrating Dr. Seuss.   Here are a few pictures of my little chef.