The Okee Dokee Brothers Through The Woods An Appalachian Adventure Album Review

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The Okee Dokee Brothers, Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander, are wonderful outdoors men and Americana folk musicians. The duo are at it again with a new album and adventure. This new album is called Through The Woods, An Appalachian Adventure and it is their second Adventure Album. This album, just like the last one, has a DVD along with the CD and field journal that shares footage of their journey in the part of the USA they are trekking in.

In this album The Okee Dokee Brothers spent a month hiking, camping, backpacking, filming, and making music (This whole CD and DVD!) on location through the Appalachian Trail. They met some neat people along the way that shared their stories and music with them while they took a small breather from exploring the outdoors and creating their own songs. This album is a wonderful compilation of 15 original tracks from The Okee Dokee Brothers with songs that feature guest artists as well as emulating the traditional old-time Appalachian music with their sounds and styles. This album features an array of instruments such as fiddlesticks, pots, pans, auto-harp, bones, clogs, mouth bow, gut-string banjo, washboard, jaw harp, mountain dulcimer, fiddle, hambone, bass harmonica and whistling.

My favorite part of the DVD: The Okee Dokee Brothers with wild ponies :)

See the Trailer for the Through The Woods DVD here...



The Okee Dokee Brother's last album, Can You Canoe?, won a GRAMMY for best children's music album in the 55th GRAMMY Awards! It was well deserved because it is a fantastic album. I also believe Through The Woods is really good and deserves the highest of accolades.

Track Listing on the CD:

1. Through The Woods: The title track to this CD, a great song about going on an adventure with friends through the woods.
2. Big Rock Candy Mountain (with Hubby Jenkins-Carolina Chocolate Drops on bones and mandolin): A fun upbeat banjo/mandolin pickin' song about a made-up place called Candy Mountain.
3. Jamboree: A great dancing song about a jamboree. I love the lyrics to this one...so perfect!
4. Evergreen: I love this song about trees. It has sweet lyrical poetry and sings the beauty of the forest.
5. Walking With Spring (with Cathy Fink, on mountain dulcimer): This song is a perfect song to go hiking with and reminds us to slow down and enjoy the scenery and beauty around us.
6. Out of Tune: This is a fun song about how it is sometimes better to live life a little bit out of tune.
7. Black Bear Mama (with David Holt-Doc Watson/O Brother, Where Art Thou? on gut-string banjo and mouth bow): Great song about a Black Bear Mama and has a fun fast part in the middle.
8. Hillbilly Willy: One of my favorites on this CD about a hillbilly and his silly wife. Fun and upbeat too.
9. Riddle & Rhyme: This is a great rhyming song to slap your knee or clap to.
10. Tiny Little Life: Upbeat fiddle song about a life of simplicity.
11. Ruby Jane: A sweet love song about a farm girl sweetheart.
12. Fiddlestick Joe (with Marcy Marxer on cello banjo): A fun fiddling upbeat dancing song.
13. Lighten Your Load: This song reminds us that it is better to pack light.
14. Echo: A yodeling love song.
15. Baby Mine (with Rosie Newton on fiddle and vocals): This is a sweet lullaby, wonderful to put kids to bed to and a gorgeous end to the CD.

With their beards, flannel shirts, overalls and instruments The Okee Dokee Brothers are sure fun to watch perform on stage as well. You can see when their next show is here. They played at the Mountain Park Recreation Center on May 4th at 7pm in Lake Oswego, Oregon. I was pretty bummed when I couldn't make that performance with my family of 6 this year. Hopefully they'll make it around here again soon.

This album is great to take with you to listen to on a family road trip, around a campfire or even while hiking. It is a wonderful reminder to get outside to experience and explore nature with your family and friends. Through The Woods is wonderful kids music that resonates with adults as well. I love The Okee Dokee Brother's adventure albums because they bring back so many good memories of the great outdoors when I was a child and remembering helps me recreate wonderful memories with my own kids. The messages in all the songs are good and wholesome and The Okee Dokee Brothers feel like Kindred Spirits to me. I can't wait for the next adventure album in this series!

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Go HERE and you can buy The Okee Dokee Brothers merchandise.



DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Beth Blenz-Cluc​as of Sugar Mountain PR for sending me a free The Okee Dokee Brothers - Through The Woods An Appalachian Adventure Album CD/DVD to listen to and review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Around the Clubhouse World DVD Review

We received this product free from Disney to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy and the gang go on a trip of a lifetime in MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE: AROUND THE CLUBHOUSE WORLD on DVD May 20th! Explore France, Italy, China and Egypt in one of their greatest global adventures featuring over two hours of song-filled fun. The DVD is value packed with four additional episodes and a FREE passport activity book for any young explorer!

The DVD run time is is 126 minutes with a main feature and four other fun filled additional episodes:

1. Full-Length Feature: Around The Clubhouse World- A Global Adventure (25 minute adventure)
2. Donald and the Beanstalk
3. Goofy on Mars
4. Mickey's Handy Helpers
5. Pluto's Dinosaur Romp

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Around the Clubhouse World DVD is a wonderful DVD that will have your preschooler problem solving and learning right along with Mickey Mouse and his gang. With your child's help and the right Mouseketools the Clubhouse gang will help your preschooler learn many things like: patterns, counting, numbers, shapes, colors, simple directions and position, sounds, sequence, sorting, comparing, etc. These musical adventures are always great fun.

My girls loved this new DVD! The first episode is great because they learn some culture from different places. They also learned briefly about a main landmark in each place. The DVD comes with a passport for your preschooler to learn interactively along with the DVD. It is filled with fun stickers and activities for them to do. My girls had fun filling this out and applying the stickers. They loved this hands-on activity. They also loved the songs and danced to their favorite, the"hotdog song", at the end of each episode. They also loved that they were asked to participate by the characters. As a parent of a preschooler I love the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because it teaches wonderful things and makes learning fun.

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Suggested Retail Prices: $19.99 U.S./$24.99 Canada. Right now you can save $6 here.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate my review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase.

Ritual Tea How the 9 Secrets of Tea Can Transform Your Life by Mario Zeleny Review

We received this product free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

I love tea. It soothes me and makes my day more enjoyable. Tea for me is an escape from the normal chaotic world. While drinking tea my body is in a meditative blissful state. I sip it while engaging in a quiet pastime, like listening to the birds sing or reading a good book. Tea is my medicine, not only when I am sick, but also when I need some relaxation or detox.

Ritual Tea by Mario Zeleny is a book that briefly touches on tea traditions, culture, rituals, history, uses, and benefits while telling us the 9 secrets of tea. These 9 secrets are insights that the author discovered himself while drinking in the wealth of tea information he compiled for this book. I believe that these secrets are truisms that we need to incorporate into our lives to make them fuller and more worthwhile. While some of these 9 secrets seem to me like an old friend, I have learned a lot in taking this journey in reading this book.

Some great bonuses are found in this book. My favorite gem is the tea and herb correspondence chart! This awesome cheat sheet of reference gives you a neat way of making up your own blends. It goes through and says what the intention is, colors, tea flavors, and spices and herbs to add. I also found it interesting to read about the similarities of tea to wine. Like wine, for example, the best way to know the quality of tea is through eyes, nose, and mouth.

This book was a thoroughly interesting read. I enjoyed learning more about tea very much. I recommend this book to tea lovers and enthusiasts or anyone wanting to know more about tea and the rituals surrounding it.

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received this product for free to facilitate my review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Culinary Grade Green Tea Powder Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. We received this product free from Kiss Me Organics to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha is a wonderful culinary grade green tea powder that can be mixed into lattes, smoothies, baking, and so much more! *It is a great natural energy booster, focus and memory enhancer, calorie burner, and is an antioxidant that promotes health and longevity. The recommended daily serving is 1/2-1 tsp and comes in a 4 oz (113g) bag that is resealable with a zipper top. This nutrient rich Matcha is free from chemicals and preservatives, the only ingredient is 100% pure Organic Matcha.

*HEALTH AND BEAUTY BENEFITS

• ALL DAY ENERGY WITH INCREASED FOCUS: Matcha provides 4 to 6 hours of mild steady slow release of energy as it acts as both a stimulant and a relaxant. This is ideal for focusing on whatever the day throws your way.
• METABOLISM BOOST: Consuming matcha green tea can increase thermogenesis (the body's own rate of burning calories) from a normal 8%-10% of daily energy expenditure, to between 35% and 43% of daily energy expenditure.
• IMPROVED SKIN HEALTH: Scientists have discovered that Matcha Green Tea helps protect the skin from harmful UV rays, while improving blood flow and oxygen levels lifting the overall quality of the skin.
• 137x THE ANTIOXIDANTS OF BREWED GREEN TEA: USDA Organic Matcha Green Tea can only be used in a powdered form because, unlike brewed green tea, it contains the entire tea leaf which dramatically increases the nutritional content. Antioxidants are essential as you age to boost your body's natural defenses against oxidation. Researchers have found that a high level of dietary antioxidants can prevent many age-related diseases.

The Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha has a wonderful grassy flavor that is not that sweet on its own. This product is best used mixed with other things, not as a stand alone tea. I love the flavor in all kinds of things. If you go searching Pinterest or Google search you will see there are a large number of ways to incorporate this product in your cooking and preparation of food and drink.

The Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha also comes with a downloadable and printable 70 page Organic Matcha Recipe Guide from Kiss Me Organics that is emailed to you upon purchase. This recipe booklet has 50+ recipes to get your creative juices flowing. I made up the following recipes of my own with the use of the Matcha and inspiration of the recipe booklet.

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Crystallized Greek Yogurt

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Crystallized Greek Yogurt

Ingredients 

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 heaping tsp Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha
• 2 tsp Sugar In The Raw

Instructions

1. Mix All ingredients together, first mixing the yogurt and Matcha then sprinkling in the Sugar In The Raw crystals. 
2. Enjoy!

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Coconut Milk Chai Latte

Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha Coconut Milk Chai Latte
This is awesome for those following a Paleo and dairy free diet.

Ingredients

• 1 Chai tea bag
• 1 cup boiling water
• Honey, maple syrup, or your sweetener of choice. To taste.
• 1 heaping tsp Kiss Me Organics Organic Matcha 
• 1/2-3/4 cup coconut milk

Instructions

1. Pour the hot water over the tea bag and steep for 4-6 minutes in a large mug. 
2. Remove the tea bag from the mug and stir in the Matcha.
3. Add sweetener to taste.
4. While your tea is steeping, heat your coconut milk in a small saucepan until it just begins to steam.
5. Once the coconut milk is warm, use a milk frother, hand blender, or immersion/stick blender to froth the milk. 
6. Once the coconut milk is frothed, slowly pour it over the tea.
7. Enjoy!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. *"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases." This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase.