Emilie Barnes (1938–2016)

1.5 stars

This book is a good 20 years old, so naturally, quite outdated. On the upside, I did come across a handful of good tips, but the downside is that they weren't amazing enough to justify the amount of time it took to read the book.

The format is somewhat awkward to read. The tips are bulleted, rather than written in a conversational tone, which is fine. But within each section (i.e., Laundry, Cleaning, Storage, Garage, etc.), the tips aren't really organized by topic.

My biggest beef with this book is that though written by a Christian, with a heavy Christian theme, much of the advice seems counter to the Bible. For example, under storage, "If all else fails, you can rent a storage shed near your home to store the excess". That sounds an awful lot like building bigger barns for hoarding grain, as warned against in the Bible.

The author is also very pro-debt. There are a lot of tips on managing credit cards, but not any advice on paying down or avoiding debt - there literally is no advice regarding creating a budget at all. The finance section includes lots of terrible counsel!

There is also a ton of overlap between the various sections. I imagine the book could have been cut in half if someone had bothered to edit it.

My conclusion for potential readers is: Don't waste your time! If you're looking for advice on any of these topics, there are far better resources. (Such as Pinterest, for household tips and Dave Ramsey for financial advice.)… (mer)

Before getting into the nitty gritty of this book, let me say that I did appreciate the authors dedicating a whole section to breaking down a biblical perspective of food. In a section talking about giving thanks for our meals, when we know that they aren’t nutritious and we can do better, they write:

“Everything God created is good. Our perversion of many of His good things is not cause for thanksgiving, but for repentance and change. Let us consecrate to His service food that reflects His creative purpose for it – our health and well-being for His honor and glory.” (pg. 221)

The authors go on to address the why and how of eating real, nutritious food, and for the most part, they are on the right track, but it’s necessary to keep in mind that this book was written 20 years ago.

There were some things that I cringed at. For example, they acknowledge that raw milk is best if you have access to it, that real butter is better than margarine, and that fat isn’t bad. Yet they still seem to be deathly afraid of fat, constantly recommending low-fat milk and dairy products, ground turkey instead of ground beef, and removing the skin from chicken and turkey before eating. (Eek! Please don’t – the fat and other nutrients in the skin helps our bodies properly digest the protein and nutrients in the meat. God knew what He was doing when He put the two together!)

They also used many soy products, and of course we now know that soy acts as an endocrine disruptor if it isn’t properly fermented (the majority of soy products are not).

I was more than a little surprised too that, while they mention homemade vegetable broth here and there, they never once mentioned bone broth! This is one of the most inexpensive and nutritious ways to stretch your budget, and it’s so easy! Instead, they included canned chicken and beef broth on the shopping list.

As far as their menu plans go, this was the least helpful section of the book (ironic, given the title). Mostly grains and fruit are recommend for breakfast, the recipes all sound either gross or so basic you can find a better recipe online, and there are *constant* references to their other cookbooks. I personally hate it when authors use a book simply as a plug for their other works! I want self-contained, complete items.

There are 59 chapters (yes, 59!), which are very short. This helps to break up the dry reading – and it was dry.

I found the personal stories of how Barnes and Gregg came to be involved in eating/preparing nutritious food, which is detailed in the beginning of the book, really interesting. That said, there aren’t many anecdotal stories in the rest of the book – it’s definitely written in an informational style. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just prefer real-life examples.

So, all in all, the book wasn’t terrible, but there are better books that suit the same purpose.

If you want a book on what to eat and why, read Nina Planck’s [b:Real Food: What to Eat and Why|75186|Real Food What to Eat and Why|Nina Planck|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1399482504s/75186.jpg|574182]. Note for the Christians: Planck does believe in evolution, and it is referenced here and there. The nutrition aspect is spot on, however, so just read with a discerning mind.

If you want a biblical perspective on food, the Bible is a great place to start. ;) (Aside from that, I’m sure there are more current books that focus on this subject, I just haven’t read them myself.)
… (mer)