Fix It! Grammar by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) Review

Grammar is an essential subject to master based on my experiences at college and my professional past life working at a pharmaceutical company. My father always taught me it's important to read and write properly to look professional and intelligent. Both my younger girls love to write, and they are constantly churning out story after story. My youngest is a bit finicky about learning and thinks she already knows all she needs to know about grammar and is usually a little resistant to anything new. This time, when I showed her the Fix It! Grammar book by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), she was excited so that made me eager to write my review of The Nose Tree (Book 1). There are six stories (books) to choose from and IEW provides a comparison chart:

For those starting out using IEW, there is a placement test which is available online to help aid in choosing where to start, or one can simply start with Book 1: The Nose Tree which is what we chose. Even though I chose Book 1: The Nose Tree without taking the placement test, I had my youngest take it test after the fact and here is a sample of what it looks like:

Starting Out:

We received physical copies of the spiral bound Teacher's Manual and Student Books. Within the Teacher's Manual, there are download links to include the ability to download the Student Book. IEW also provides a couple of different webinars including an introduction by Andrew Pudewa and an Introduction to Fix It! Grammar Webinar that are helpful if new to IEW. I have to note how annoying non-spiral bound books are since you have to constantly battle keeping your place. Spiral bound books make it so easy to keep the page open and to easily find where you were working from by just flipping the pages over. I cannot stress enough how wonderful that simple feature is that IEW provides spiral bounded books! 

Note:  If you purchase the Teacher's Manual, you can print a copy of the Student Book via a link provided with the Manual. This method will require a student to have a two-pocket notebook with three-hole fasteners to store the student pages and the Glossary pages.

The Fix It! Grammar program only requires four days a week for around 15 minutes making it very manageable even for the easily bored student like I have. It is intended to take 33 weeks to complete the instruction and practice. For our review, we were able to complete four weeks of lessons. The idea behind this is the student(s) hunt and correct errors in the daily passages that will cumulatively tell a complete story.

The concepts presented in Book 1: The Nose Tree include:

• Identifying parts of speech: nouns, articles, pronouns, verbs, helping verbs, adjectives, -ly adverbs, prepositions, coordinating conjunctions, clause starters.
• Using punctuation marks correctly.
• Choosing the correct homophone or usage.
• Understanding basic rules for capitalization and indentation.

We glued an envelope to the inside cover to hold the grammar cards to avoid losing them.

Both the Teacher's Manual and the Student's Book have a glossary that is designed to provide a refresher or a reference for specific rules.

Week 1:

Beginning was WAY easier than I had expected. Since IEW allows for reproductions of the pages, I was able to teach both of my girls even though it was review material somewhat for my older one. I love that it's so easy to use and since it's short in duration relative to the amount of time required, I get no resistance. The concepts taught are ones they will utilize throughout life and are really essential. 

Each week's assignment is broken up into Learn It and Fix It sections as well as by day. We proceeded by breaking up the lessons as suggested by IEW:

• Week 1 - Day 1: This lesson took a little longer since it was the introduction and organization of the material. We read through the Learn It section, cut out and reviewed the grammar cards that were in the back of the Student Book, and read the sentence. I also had them look up the words in bold in a dictionary. We then marked and fixed the first passage and errors resulted in an explanation as to why it was wrong followed by a rewrite. 
• Week 1 - Days 2 - 4 - my girls had to use the abbreviations at the top of the page to mark the passages. The grammar cards are helpful if they forget as well. I had them go through the grammar cards daily if they needed the practice.
• Every day, they had to also rewrite the passages in the correct way after we reviewed each one. The rewrite ensures they utilize proper indentation, punctuation and grammar.

Week 2:

Each week is a repeat of the first week relative to how to teach each week's passage assignment. The abbreviations (terms such as adverb, adjective, etc increase) and the vocabulary words change the basics of teaching the lesson stays the same. Below is our Week 2 Learn It and Fix It work:

Week 4:

Here is how we progressed to Week 4 and notice that the lessons start to get more robust with the marking of the passage and how each lesson also repeats the markings, so the students become more aware with how each word is used whether a noun, pronoun, verb, etc.

This is my oldest one also likes it because the lessons are short:

Week 33:

We have not made it to week 33 but I wanted to provide a glimpse into what it looks like. The markings increase and by this time, the student will really have a firm understanding what a preposition, adjective, noun, and so forth are.

I really liked the concept of having students edit their own work to learn. About 15 years ago when I was helping my daughter with her public-school writing assignments, I would review what she wrote and provided feedback to help her rewrite her papers. I found that having her eventually move into the practice of editing her own work, it created a more profound ability to remember mistakes while creating a very talented writer. Being able to teach them how to incorporate usage, punctuation mark placement and grammar is very critical to starting a firm foundation for future careers. This is a very good program in teaching what is normally boring or tedious. I recommend Fix It! Grammar by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) and will look forward to moving on to Book 2 when we complete Book 1.









Follow Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Instagram to stay up to date on the latest and more!



Check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine thought by clicking on the (photo) link below:

Keto Food Find Hurrah: Green Giant™ Cauliflower Pizza Crust is Pretty Good

I've been on and off various diets and more recently, the Ketogenic Diet. My daughter, son-in-law and I have all had great success on it but our problem is, we've treated it like a diet. The secret to any success with a diet to either lose weight or to feel better should be considered a life style change. Changing habits is really hard and if you have tried the Ketogenic way of eating, you know it can take some time to prepare since it involves fresh ingredients. My daughter and I have found some great recipes using that old stand by protein in the way of meat but also with items such as heavy cream, cream cheese, cauliflower, brocolli, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and much more. That's the beauty of this change in eating habits, you get vegetables and although you skip the fruit at first to see how many carbs your body can handle, it's not as unhealthy as many will make you believe.

Another component of the Ketogenic Diet is how it works for some with epilepsy. One of my other daughters and my grandchild have/had epilepsy so I've done a lot of research on it. From my experiences with various groups as well as our non-profit, I have read personal success stories on how well some manage to control seizures with the diet. There has even been stories about helping with cancer but I am unable to say one way or another. To me, anytime we can eliminate sugar and other processed foods, it has to be good. I know some people are vegetarians, which is fine as you can still find a lot of soy products and meat substitutes to make this diet work.

I've been wanting to try pizza crust made with cauliflower for some time as I love using it as a substitute for mashed potatoes. When I read how cumbersome it is to make, I really didn't want to go to the effort unless I knew I liked it which is where I finally broke down and bought Green Giant™ Cauliflower Pizza Crust. It's a serving that can feed two or you can save it for later. Basically, all you have to do is bake it around 16 minutes and you cannot let it thaw first as it will crumble. After I baked it, I completed it with my toppings, baked it another six minutes and after it cooled, it stayed together in one piece and it tasted pretty good. It does have a cauliflower aroma and if you were on the diet for a few days or more, you wouldn't even noticed it because at that point, anything with a bread type texture and taste is pretty darn good. 

I have a cousin who has lost quite a bit of weight changing his eating habits and switching to keto friendly foods. He also has seen tremendous results with his labs and is feeling so much better with less aches and more energy. I do know that when I'm on it for a longer time period, I have a great deal of energy and I feel great.  As he does, I'm sharing my foody find in hopes of helping someone else find new food products to try.

Keto Bars – Original Flavor & Peanut Butter Keto Bar Review

Disclaimer: I have received two complimentary boxes of Keto Watt Bars to which I voluntarily wrote this review.

Ketogenic Diets are diets that I've written about in the past and follow here and there as I am horrible with finding an excuse to fall off what I know should be a lifelong way of eating. It seems there is always a holiday, a birthday, or an illness that hits so I put off what I know is something I should do. One of the problems I have with staying on the diet is my immense sweet tooth coupled with finding a product that will satisfy that need with few carbs. I have found a couple of bars that I really like from Keto Watt. There are two flavors and my husband and I were able to sample both the Original Keto Watt and the Peanut Butter Keto Watt bars. 

From doing the Keto Diet in the past, I know I have more energy and I feel better. Gone are the spikes of sugar rushes with hard crashes. My oldest daughter even attests to this but alas, we have low will power. I am back on the wagon attempting to change my life and feel better. There are misconceptions, in my opinion, that the Keto Diet is bad and I do not follow that train of thought. Mostly due to the fact that this is not the Atkin's Diet nor some other derivative of that way of eating. The Keto Diet incorporates many vegetables into the diet and if one is in maintenance mode, a fruit on occasion is permissible once it's learned how many carbs are allowed for one's body before regaining weight. With that said, I'm always on the hunt for a keto friendly food item and now I have found two that I do like. I confess that the Original Keto Watt is not my first choice and I preferred the Peanut Butter Keto Watt. My husband likes both and agreed with the taste being better with the Peanut Butter Keto Watt bar. 

The Peanut Butter Bar Information:

• It is keto-friendly made with healthy fats from peanuts, coconut oil and cacao butter. These healthy fats are what helps to maintain the healthy level of ketosis.
• It has 14 grams of fat, 10 grams of protein and 4 grams net carbs.
• It is not only keto-friendly but is also  Paleo and Vegan friendly as well as GMO free and Gluten Free.

The Original Bar Information:

• It is keto-friendly made with healthy fats from almonds, coconut oil and cacao butter. These healthy fats are what helps to maintain the healthy level of ketosis.
• It has 17 grams of fat, 8 grams of protein and 4 grams net carbs.
• It is not only keto-friendly but is also  Paleo friendly as well as GMO free and Gluten Free.

The Review:

My husband and I prefer this bar over the Original due to taste. Both bars provided an energy spike that didn't involve a crashing down period. It was a nice boost to keep going especially for my husband who is a nurse on the go. They are very good in taste and don't have that fake sugar taste like some other keto-friendly bars have. The texture of the Original Bar is a little oily which didn't prevent me from eating them but that is why I preferred the Peanut Butter Bar. My husband is now hooked and wants them daily for his work and non-work days. He was really impressed with the energy boost he had without any downfalls. They are also comparable in costs to other keto-friendly products. They have samples available to order in case you want to try them out first yourself. Overall, we would recommend them.

The Keto Watt website provides a wealth of information as well if starting or are already on the Keto Diet.

Check them out on Twitter also!

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is on Digital 5/7 & 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ & DVD 5/21 Activity Sheets

The long awaited movie How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is on Digital 5/7 & 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ & DVD 5/21!  My girls and grandchildren LOVE How to Train Your Dragon and have been looking forward to watching this one since I neglected to take them to the theater to see it. While you wait for the release, here are some fun activity sheets to share with your little ones:

Live Action Movie with Sophia Lillis: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase Blu-ray Giveaway Ends 04/09/2019

**“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.”**

Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase is heading home on Digital March 26, 2019 and on Blu-ray™ Combo Pack & DVD on April 2, 2019 and you can win a copy! 

First, a  little about the movie as many will know, it's based on the Bestselling Book about Nancy Drew.

The iconic mystery solving teenager from the classic Nancy Drew books is back with an all-new feature length film that will keep you guessing until the very end! Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase on Digital starting March 26, 2019 and Blu-ray™ Combo Pack & DVD on April 2, 2019. Executive Produced by Ellen DeGeneres, the film stars Sophia Lillis (IT and “Sharp Objects”), Sam Trammell (“True Blood” and “This is Us”), and Linda Lavin (“The Good Wife” and“Alice”) and follows Nancy Drew in her new town, making new friends and on a mission to solve the case! The film carries a suggested retail price of $19.99 for the Digital, $19.98 for the DVD and $28.98 for the Blu-ray Combo Pack. 

After the death of his wife, Carson Drew decides to leave Chicago behind and make a fresh start with his daughter in River Heights. But for 16-year-old Nancy Drew, life in a small town is mighty dull. She longs for excitement, adventure, and the chance to make a difference. Nancy gets that opportunity when she is asked to help solve the ghostly activity at the Twin Elms mansion. Can she help explain the creaking footsteps, exploding lightbulbs and the ominous creature? Is it the handiwork of high-school bully Derek Barnes? Or is it possible that the ghost of original owner Malcolm Colfax is back for revenge? Recruiting her best friends George and Bess, along with local “mean girl” Helen, Nancy Drew is on the case! 

Play along and see if you can crack the code:

To enter, complete the Rafflecopter form below:

A winner will be randomly chosen at 10 pm (CST) on 04/09/2019.

Good luck and thanks for entering!

US only please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Latina Christiana: Complete Set by Memoria Press Review

I'm an advocate for learning Latin and the importance of all school children to learn it. I wished I had the opportunity and since I didn't, I couldn't wait to start and provide a review of Latina Christiana: Complete set by Memoria Press. I never think it's too late to learn and by taking the course with my children, I feel I provide them with further motivation in succeeding. One of the options Memoria Press provides is the option to purchase online instructional videos (streaming) instead of the DVDs. Some people have a preference in how they like to take courses. This is the second course I have had the opportunity to utilize with my children and I honestly can say that I think it's a terrific program. The course has a Teacher's Manual, a Student book, a pronunciation CD, an instructional CD, and a large set of flashcards. There are also Review Worksheets and lesson plans that can be purchased separately as well as a couple of downloads that I printed and used from Memoria Press' website:

1. Classical Pronunciation Guide is for anyone that might be interested in learning how they might have talked in the late Republic. This program utilizes Christian pronunciation.
2. Conjugations and Declensions - this one was a bit more difficult to teach as with any language, one learns new terms and meanings. Declensions organize nouns and conjugations organize verbs. With only five declensions and four conjugations to learn, it's not overly cumbersome. This is one area that I probably took a bit longer to understand with my student. I wanted to clearly understand as I've always heard how learning other languages are so difficult compared to the English language. Once I was positive that my student understood the declension cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative and ablative, I proceeded with ensuring she understood 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons ability to be either singular or plural and the sixth tenses such as future, past, present, and so forth. 

In your account with Memoria Press under downloads, are also some printables such as Quizzes and Tests and Latina Christiana Reproducible Vocubulary & Grammar Drills. These were also helpful in ensuring they were retaining the knowledge they just learned from the DVD and worksheets in the Student Guide. Here is an example of two quizzes from Lessons 1 and 2:

Starting the Course:

To begin, the Teacher's Manual has a very thorough comprehensive beginning from Pronunciation Rules, Grammar Overview, Student Goals for First Year Latin, General Teaching Guidelines, Vocabulary Drill Sheets, and Grammar Drill Sheets such as this:

Next are the lessons that are also comprehensive and provide enough direction to start teaching your student(s). I highly recommend reviewing the Teacher's Manual a couple of times especially if you are new to Latin, along with the Student Book. Watching the video ahead of the lesson will also help to teach the course. Since I wanted to learn Latin as well, I found that the best way for me to provide them with instruction was to thoroughly understand the content first, although it's not a requirement as Memoria Press does an excellent job with providing a lesson plan point by point in the Manual. An example page follows and additional pages can be found by clicking this link: Latina Christiana: Complete set.  

My first student enjoyed the beginning so much that it prompted my other student to join in. Initially, I started this review with just one of my children and immediately had to purchase an additional Student Book so they both could learn together. 

Back to the Teacher's Manual, another aspect that I liked were the overlaid answers of each page from the Student's Book within each lesson. I didn't have to stop and ask to see one of their books rather everything was provided in the Manual. 

Instructional DVDs

1. The video from the Instructional DVDs for Latina Christiana contained three discs averaging about 15 minutes per lesson so it's not too long for the students to lose focus. During times when my daughters might be feeling a bit overwhelmed, the lesson came to a conclusion which allowed me to press upon them that the lessons aren't long and are very manageable which quickly calmed them and gave them the motivation for the next day of instruction.
2. The instructor, Jessica Watson, speaks in a manner in which you can understand and is pleasant. I think she does a great job trying to bring relevance to how Latin is like English so the students can understand the relationships better such as noun endings and how order is different between the two.
3. The additional recitation and review really helps to reinforce what the students are learning and it helps to ensure everyone is pronouncing each word correctly. This was invaluable to me! 
4. Vocabulary practice, illustrations and notes were also essential.

Flashcards

As I noted with the Pronunciation CD, repetition is the best way to learn for us so having convenient flashcards were ideal for furthering this teaching philosophy. They contain vocabulary with derivatives, Latin sayings and conjugations & declensions. 

Both girls don't mind practicing the flashcards since there are only a handful per week. My younger one noted how there were more after the first week but I walked her through how she already knows the meaning of some of them thanks to our English language using a lot of Latin roots already. She really loves to show me how well she retains the words right off from the start of week 1:

Pronunciation CD

This CD was also instrumental in teaching the course as it had complete verbal pronunciation for every lesson. For myself, I best learn through repetition and I do believe my girls are the same so this was key. The prayers and songs were a nice treat to hear!

Student Book

The Student Book contains lessons at the right length without bogging students down. It provides instruction that repeats previous words as well as looks ahead and requires the students to look for answers. I have them write out the different new words to help them reinforce it in a separate notebook. The video also provides a repeat practice of the previous words which also provides the reinforcement factor while building their vocabulary. We liked how it's set up and how it's easy to follow along each week. Each day after watching the video, I encourage them to relook at the work they completed in the Student Book to help retain the new information they are learning.

An example page follows and additional pages can be found by clicking this link: Latina Christiana: Complete set  

I was honestly quite pleased at how easy it was to get both girls interested in learning Latin and completely the lessons. 

Overall, even though some of the photos don't appear they are having a great time as it is education after all, they are enjoying the lessons. It's fun to watch them engage in the lessons and although sometimes a competitive nature hits my younger one and causes a bit of a rift, I think it still provides motivation to my middle one to keep pressing forward.  Last year, I reviewed the Memoria Press' First Form Latin Complete Set with one of my other children. I think the Latina Christina is a good starting place for my 11 year old and cannot wait to start with First Form Latin next year. Also, since beginning this course, I purchased a second Student Handbook and I also purchased a Latina Christiana Review Worksheets Set, Fourth Edition to further assist in our endeavors. The course in itself is very complete but I thought the additional review worksheets would be nice. From the instructional DVD to the Teacher's Guide, the Student's Guide, the flashcards and the Pronunciation CD, it's a very comprehensive learning experience that was put together to ensure success. Latina Christiana: Complete set by Memoria Press is a well rounded curriculum for teaching Latin and we highly recommend it. 

Find out more information by following Memoria Press on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube.

Check out what others on the Homeschool Review Crew a division of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine thought about the Latina Christiana: Complete set by Memoria Press or one of the many others by clicking on the photo link below:

Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" Review

I was introduced to Drive Thru History® last year and instantly fell in love the adventures featuring Dave Stotts. When we had the opportunity to review the new adventure series, I couldn't wait to watch and review Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation." This series was no disappointment and only carried forward my enthusiasm for such a remarkable account of all the Book of Acts to the Book of Revelations. The DVD series, 18 30-minute episodes, has a general age range of 6th grade to adult but I honestly think that younger students would be interested. For us, it wasn't just a time to sit and learn a lesson, we utilized it as family entertainment. It covers a broad range of subjects from art, history, geography, Biblical studies, of course, and so much more! It made us want to go see every location that Dave visited. He has a keen ability to present each topic with a combination of seriousness while livening it up with humor as he's a natural. As a bonus, the beautifully created DVD set includes an equally lovely study guide keeping everything in one area making it easy for using the study guide to teach or to peruse and learn for one's own entertainment.

Our introduction to Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" began with understanding the events that started the gospel to spread in the first century. The Book of Acts is Dave's roadmap, so to speak, to follow the path of the early Christians. Each episode covers just the right material to understand how each event and series of events set up the next. For those not as familiar with the Bible, it's a great introduction and for those that are, it reinforces what we know. In addition, it provides such amazing views of the places that it feels as if you are there with Dave. The maps, the drawings, artwork and other props utilized to share the knowledge are top notch and is better than any Hollywood movie. The 18 episodes are broken into 18 and include:

1. The Gospel Shared at Pentecost
2. The Church Grows in Jerusalem
3. The Gospel Spreads to the Gentiles
4. Saul of Taurus & the Road to Damascus 
5. Paul's First Missionary Journey: The Island of Cyprus
6. The Journey Continues: Pamphylia, Galatia, & Asia Minor
7. The Jerusalem Council & Paul's Second Missionary Journey
8. The Second Journey Continues: Philippi and Thessalonica
9. A Road Trip to Athens
10. Ancient Corinth
11. Paul's Third Missionary Journey: Ephesus
12. Paul's Final Trip to Jerusalem & Caesarea
13. Adventures at Sea: The Island of Malta
14. A Final Journey to Rome
15. The Martyrdom of Paul & Peter
16. John and the Island of Patmos
17. The Seven Churches of Revelation
18. The Book Closes on the New Testament Period

The Study Guide is concise, colorful and done in a manner that provides a challenge to the students while reinforcing what they learned. After each episode, I would utilize the
Study Guide to ensure my children were following and understanding the key points. The Study Guide is not cumbersome and does not create a level of panic or dread because it's not too long. Each section includes:

• A Summary that provides the summary of the episode.
• A Discussion section that comprises a small series of questions that will test and reinforce what the student has learned. For example, discussion 11 only had five questions. 
• Side Roads provided additional information about the episodes person, places or time period.
• Answers to each episode's discussions can be found towards the end.
• Beautiful photographs are mixed into every page making it a must see and definite asset to the program.

As we continued to watch each episode, I remained in awe over how each one was made in such a beautiful way. The re-enactments were extremely professional and each episode that covers the roadmap of the path early Christians took, was chalk full of facts of pertinent events, locations and the time period. I think this is a series worthy of watching over and over due to the amount of knowledge to be learned. Dave has a mannerism of speaking at just the right speed to fully absorb all the details he's presenting while not being dull or boring. He's very engaging and entertaining and reminds me of one of my best professors I had in college. 

Additional thoughts I observed from my children watching the series:

• The parts where Dave shows what cities might have looked like in the specific time period was fascinating.
• Dave references where in the Bible the specific details come from was an asset to help reinforce readings from the Bible.
• If you are a fan of Dave and Drive Thru History®, you will know how he likes to drive cool vehicles as he begins his journey. In one of the episodes, he has a beautiful horse and carriage much to the delight of my children. It's always interesting to see what he will end up in next!
• Dave does another great job in linking events from the Bible to archaeological and historical events that help prove Biblical accounts.
• He also touches on a lot of Latin words which is timely since we are learning Latin now.
• Each episode begins with a general statement and completes it by stating, "But there is no substitute for reading the Scripture yourself."

My 11 year old's thoughts:

"I like that he's funny and the episodes were short. I liked that I was able to learn more about the Bible and how they suggested which part of the Bible I should read."

Overall, we loved Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" and recommend it to anyone homeschooling or wanting to learn more themselves. I also think it would be a great asset to public and private schools given the breadth of subjects covered and how captivating the entire series is. It's yet another win!

Follow Drive Thru History® on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

It's really an engaging series to purchase for yourself, your children or even as a gift. Check out what others on the Crew thought by clicking on the photo link below:

Walt Disney Studios Mary Poppins Returns Activity Sheets

Many of you, if not all, have heard of Mary Poppins. It's a classic that we have watched a time or two. Walt Disney Studios previously release Mary Poppins Returns and now it's available on Digital 4K Ultra HD™ March 12th and on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-Ray™ on March 19th. We already purchased our's digitally from Amazon and plan to have a Mary Poppins Returns family movie night. After watching the trailer and seeing how fantastic Emily Blunt looks portraying Mary Poppins and of course, bringing back Dick Van Dyke, I had to have this for my video collection! Colin Firth as a cast member was the icing on the cake!

It was timely that I received this pack of Activity Sheets and if you purchase it or just love Mary Poppins, here is the link to print them off for your children:

Mary Poppins Returns Activity Sheet Link

Here are just a couple of examples you will be able to print:

New Film: Secular Scholars Challenge Mosaic Authorship in "The Moses Controversy"

Who really wrote the first five chapters of the Bible? That's the question tackled by Timothy P. Mahoney in his latest film 'The Moses Controversy.' If you're into Biblical archeology, you might want to check it out while it's still in theaters for two nights only on Saturday, March 16th and Tuesday, March 19th.

A little about the film:

THE MOSES CONTROVERSY

Is the Bible the inspired word of God? Or is it a book of fables and myths?

Award-winning investigative filmmaker Timothy Mahoney and his Patterns of Evidence team return with a brand-new examination into The Moses Controversy.

Mahoney was raised to believe the stories of the Bible were true. But mainstream scholars reject the Bible’s claim that Moses wrote the Exodus journey as an eyewitness account, they believe it is just an exaggerated tale. These scholars emphatically declare Moses didn’t even have a writing system like Hebrew to record it; instead, the writing of Exodus came more than one thousand years after the fact.

Since the Bible claims that Moses was the author of one of the greatest stories in the entire Bible—the Israelites’ Exodus out of Egypt and their journey to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God—Mahoney realizes that the question of Moses’ ability to write its first books impacts the credibility of the entire Bible.

Traveling throughout the Middle East to see where the patterns lead, Mahoney uncovers profound new scientific evidence you have to see to believe! The new documentary investigation Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Controversy will be in theaters for three days only: March 14, 16, and 19.

Visit their website for times and locations

How the Ketogenic Diet Can Be Healthy

I keep reading all these news reports and opinions about how the Ketogenic (Keto) Diet is unhealthy and shouldn't be followed. From my experiences with the diet, along with other family members, I'm confused how it's not healthy. I wonder if the Keto Diet is being confused with hardline diets that eliminate nearly all carbs versus one that restricts carbs by eliminating most processed foods and sugars. With the Keto Diets we follow, you still eat meat as that is low carb of course but by adding the other food choices, it can be a completely healthy diet to follow. A regular day with us is using items such as cauliflower instead of potatoes and homemade ranch instead of honey mustard or low carb tortilla shells instead of bread. My oldest and I have this conversation quite often while cooking as to us, how can eliminating processed foods ever be a bad thing? 

A normal meal for us might include a salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and onion with ranch dressing. We can either make this a meal by adding baked or grilled chicken or steak.  We also like to make mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes as it's really good. Some days we might have brocolli or cabbage or one of the other low carb meals. I think if you are one that wants to lose weight fast and adhere to a strict Keto type diet, it can be unhealthy but when one chooses a diet that reduces carbs by a healthy elimination of sugars and processed foods, it's a win-win. By choosing the Ketogenic Diet, we also prepare food from scratch instead of popping something in the oven or microwave or even going to a fast food restaurant. We have found so many resources in making great tasking food that reduces our carb intake and we still lose weight.

Some of our favorite dinner meals include:

• Mississippi Pot Roast made in a crock pot with onions and pepperoncinis. 
• Greens beans with turkey sausage
• Meatloaf with mashed cauliflower
• Fathead Pizza
• Steak Salad
• Modified Cottage Pie
• Fajitas 
• Smothered Pork Chops with broccoli 

We have found an array of recipes online and have created some of our own. It's a diet that requires dedication and if you can prepare food ahead of time, it does make food preparation faster. Overall, I think the Keto Diet is a good life change diet to make and we have found not only do we lose weight on it but we feel so much better and have more energy on it. With the abundance of items on the market that are low carb, it makes it easy to just start switching out carb-laden foods out for healthy versions.