Where to Find Nature Remains:
Blog URL: http://natureremains.blogspot.com/
Category: Photoblogs, Outdoors

Nature Remains

When all else is said and done, at the end of the weary day, when things are going well or not-so-well, there is always nature remaining. It is a haven for blogger Nina, who shares her forays into her haven with the rest of us through her blog, Nature Remains.

Nature Remains – Why You Should Go

Nature Remains is a work of love for Nina. In fact, I’m not sure that it’s “work” so much as it is therapeutic, or simply living, but at any rate her passion for the natural world of Southwest Ohio, USA, is obvious. Nina steals every free moment she can to be out in nature, capturing the moments through her photos and poetic posts. You can find Nina

“…Grabbing every minute I can find to be outside–walking in it, sleeping in it … breathing it in. The natural world has so much beauty to uncover. It is my hope that by capturing my experiences with nature and by sharing the richness it adds to an ordinary life, others may discover the greatest gift waiting just outside their door.”

Summing Up Nature Remains

Nina’s blog is calming and inspiring. Her photos are fantastic, and the creatures and scenes she captures are nothing short of wonderful. Nina has an apparent eye and patience for the natural world uncommon among most, but that perhaps we can learn through her example. Be inspired by Nina and her natural world, and get out to enjoy your own!

Go here to check out Nature Remains.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Personal Fitness Coach:
Blog URL: http://personalfitcoach.blogspot.com/
Category: Health, Fitness

Personal Fitness Coach

Reading Coach Jenn‘s blog is like having….well, your own personal fitness coach—only one that is always “on” 24/7, bringing you excellent home fitness resources and great tips and tricks for living a fit and healthy lifestyle. Who couldn’t use that?

Personal Fitness Coach – Why You Should Go

Personal Fitness Coach is the work of Coach Jenn, a dedicated Beachbody Coach. On the blog, she offers up all sorts of posts relating to personal health and fitness. Many of these are reviews and guidance through the home fitness programs that she herself uses (primarily the Beachbody products systems) to maintain a high-level of fitness amongst the demands of a regular life.

What is most impressive about Jenn’s blog is that Jenn really is just a regular girl—a wife and mother of two in her early forties, committing to fitness to maximize her enjoyment of that life. Jenn utilizes at-home exercise programs that fit with her busy lifestyle, and then brings them and the results to her blog. She reviews these programs and helps readers decide which among them is best for them. In addition, she offers her own services as a personal fitness coach. The posts are not all strictly exercise, though; there are also a number of posts dealing with all aspects of health and fitness, including posts such as shopping healthy on a budget and understanding the ins and outs of willpower.

Summing Up Personal Fitness Coach

Coach Jenn is an energetic, inspiring personal fitness coach, bringing you the information, motivation, and support you need to achieve good health. Her active community of readers and commenters stand as testament to her dedication to both her blog and her community. If a boost to good health is what you need, this is a blog for you.

Go here to check out Personal Fitness Coach.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Biking Hiking With Kids:
Blog URL: http://www.bikinghikingwithkids.com/
Category: Outdoors, Children, Parenting

Biking Hiking With Kids

Biking Hiking with Kids is the shared experience of a father and his two young sons who are off enjoying the great outdoors of Northeast USA. This blog is both a resource for other parents and people who want to know more about sharing these activities with kids, and a chronicle of some quality times spent together between a father and his two children.

Biking Hiking With Kids – Why You Should Go

The author of this blog has been camping, hiking and mountain biking with his two sons for about four years now. They utilize many of the great trail systems and natural resources near their New Jersey, US home and are slowly expanding their outreach. Along the way, Dad is blogging about the trips and experiences and providing detailed trail reports so that readers and visitors can use the information to determine which points may be of interest to them, and which ones suit the skill-level, ability, and interest of them and their children.

This blog basically grew out of necessity when the author found that, although the US has many excellent trails prime for quality exploration with children, there is not a lot of good, detailed information on the web about most of them; and so, as he and his sons tackle a trail he also tackles the job of reviewing it and posting the information at his blog. Posts come complete with first-hand accounts, reviews, pictures, and trail maps. Additionally, the author offers up a variety of posts covering gear, preparation, and much more.

Summing Up Biking Hiking With Kids

Biking Hiking With Kids is an excellent first-line resource for anyone with an interest in sharing like outdoor activities with their children. The conversation is good, the trail reviews detailed and useful, and the example set by this father-son team is one definitely worth taking in.

Go here to check out Biking Hiking With Kids.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Hiking With My Brother:
Blog URL: http://www.hikingwithmybrother.com/
Category: Outdoors, Hobbies, Lifestyles

Hiking With My Brother

J Barnes is out hiking with his brother, and enjoying some of the best scenery and outdoor experiences that Northwest America has to offer. Not to mention the companionship and experience of sharing meaningful living with one of the most important people in his life, his brother.

Hiking With My Brother – Why You Should Go

I’ll be honest, I like this blog simply for its concept—two brothers, sharing a common interest, enjoying the outdoors, living a healthy lifestyle, and sharing quality time together. That was enough to get me to visit the blog from BlogCatalog. It’s almost enough of a reason to review the blog, but then we have that nagging question of content to consider. It didn’t nag for long, however, as the content of this a blog was top-notch, too.

The two brothers blogging share each of their Northwest (USA) hiking adventures with us. They take us virtually to some beautiful and interesting locations, and then back it up with all the best online media tools. For starters, each hike description (which is detailed, compelling, and thorough) is accompanied by a Google Map and trailguru map that shows the location and the trails that were explored (now if I could find some snowmobiling trails tracked on there, I’d be a happy snowmobile blogger for sure!). Even better, the posts include pictures from the hike, and cool virtual features like Photosynth experiences.

Summing Up Hiking With My Brother

Hiking With My Brother has everything you’d want to see in a hiking blog—it’s got the stories from the trail, the media and information to replicate great hikes, reviews of locations and trails, and the virtual experience to go along with it all. If you have any interest in exploring the trails of the Northwest U.S., or even in just living a bit through the adventures of others, this blog is a definite destination for you.

Go here to check out Hiking With My Brother.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

There are very few bloggers out there who have not heard how powerful social networking can be, and how important it is to those who are looking to grow their blog readership and capitalize n their blogging efforts. This post can be logged as something of a case in point.

Best Of Intentions

My intention in writing this post was to bring to light some of the strategies that I use for finding good blogs to review. Of course regulars know by now that one of my favorite ways is to hear from you, our readers, and to follow your leads and suggestions. All readers are always welcome to leave a comment on any blog review here at Digg It and point us to blogs worthy of reviewing. It would please me no end to have an overflow of reader submissions!

Alas, often times I do not, and I am left to my own devices. What to do then?

Finding Good Blogs On The ‘Net

In the past the first thing I would do would be to Google some random blog topic and dig through the results. That usually gets me somewhere, but it often takes a lot of time and searching through a few blog results before I come up with something worthwhile (which also means I have to sort the blog results from other random returns).

A bit more reliable strategy is to follow links to other blogs through blog rolls and blog posts. This usually gets me better results, because most bloggers have some standard of their own before they will post a link backed by their good name.

Most recently I have been using blog directories, most specifically BlogCatalog, to find good blogs. I still have to sift through and search for results, but the format makes that task much easier. For one, it seems that bloggers who bother with a service like BlogCatalog tend to be more serious and dedicated. Of course, this is not always the case, but the odds seem to be in my favor.

Secondly, the organization makes it simple to do that searching. All of the results actually are blogs, and they are all arranged conveniently by category and interest. You get a quick summary before you ever leave the site, so you have an idea of what you will find. I like to go direct to the BlogCatalog Directory page, and pick an avenue of interest, then proceed from there.

How Will Your Blog Be Found?

For bloggers, this is an important question to consider. Think about the power that these sites have over your blog, and what you can do to get in the eye of potential readers and subscribers. Think like a potential reader, and put yourself in the pathways that they might be using to find you.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

This week turned out to be all about food.  Hey, when you’re on a great roll, why spoil it?  And with so many diverse food-related blogs out there, how could we go wrong?

Week In Review, March 14, 2009

• The week started with a review of Clara’s Depression Cooking blog.  It’s a place to learn some history from the best source–one who lived through it! As well as some great recipes and food-saving tips.
• In keeping with the theme of low-cost cooking, we rounded up to a more modern take on budgeting in the kitchen at Erin Chase’s $5 Dinners blog.  Save some cash and learn some excellent recipes.
• Next we caught up with Stephanie “the Crockpot Lady,”  who turned a year-long self-imposed challenge into a mainstream media interest and book deal.  She succeeded with A Year of Crockpotting, and has the blog and recipes to prove it.
• To finish up the week of reviews we took our blog reviews on the road, stopping in on Krista in London.  Krista is deep into her “market research” and posting up great reviews of restaurants in London and in her sideline travels.

This should give you more than enough to do this weekend, trying out all these great recipes and more.  Catch up on last week’s blog reviews while you’re at it!  Recap Review, March 7 Edition is here!

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Londonelicious:
Blog URL: http://kristainlondon.typepad.com/
Category: Food, Travel

Londonelicious

American girl Krista is in London (well, last we checked in Amsterdam, but she’ll be back in London soon!), a city she loves as much as she loves food. The problem for Krista is she doesn’t like to cook it. Actually that hasn’t turned out to be much of a problem for Krista at all, and has been a definite advantage to the rest of us.

Londonelicious – Why You Should Go

Krista‘s lack of cooking inclination is a definite benefit to us because her alternative is to eat out much of the time. And that means that she is exploring some of the best eateries along the way. And since she blogs about all her experiences, we get to read about them.

Krista’s eatery adventures started out in the U.S., but when she started criss-crossing the globe to work, she took her show on the road. Now, Krista resides in London where she is seeking out the best “off-the-beaten-path” places, and ranking each with a witty and insightful, honest review.

“My goal in creating this blog is to motivate myself to explore London, eat in restaurants that normal people eat in, and give myself something to do in my spare time. Oh yes, and to reassure my parents that I am still alive.”

Summing Up Londonelicious

Krista’s blog is turning out to be an excellent resource for those travelling within the same circles. While the blog primarily focuses on eats and treats in and around London, there are posts from other cities and locations that Krista visits, too. Most definitely, if you plan to be in London, you’ll want to check put this blog to find the best and less well-known places. Even if you’re not planning a skip Londonside, you’ll appreciate just learning about the experience abroad, and all the potential meets and eats along the way.

Go here to check out Londonelicious.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find A Year Of Crock Potting:
Blog URL: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
Category: Food, Personal interests, Lifestyles

A Year Of Crock Potting

Resolving to cook with your crock pot (or slow cooker, as you might call it) every day for an entire year is quite an undertaking. As is blogging about it. Stephanie the “Crockpot Lady” has done both, and succeeded at both admirably. And she has the blog to prove it.

A Year Of Crock Potting – Why You Should Go

A Year of Crock Potting started with Stephanie O’Dea‘s 2008 New Year’s Resolution to cook something every day in her slow cooker, or crock pot. It was a simple resolution:

“I will use my crockpot everyday in 2008.

And I will post the recipes and pictures.

Everyday.

seriously.

stop laughing.”

But she did it! Stephanie cooked in her faithful pot every day of 2008, and shared all the recipes, pictures, and preparations on her blog. Not only that, but her blogging led her to some great successes—namely, spots on national TV shows, and a couple of books (of course, an upcoming cookbook), and of course, a huge blog following.

The original challenge is over now, but the blog and the information lives on. What we are left with is an entertaining and practical time- and money-saving cooking blog that is in essence a virtual cookbook (only much more interesting to read), which is still maintained and updated a few times each week.

Of even more interest is the fact that Stephanie’s youngest child has Celiac Disease, which is an inability to process the gluten that is found in many food products. Therefore, the family eats mainly gluten-free (but you don’t have to—all recipes are simple to tweak). That makes this blog a prime resource for families who are dealing with the disease and with the challenge of eating well despite it.

Summing Up A Year Of Crock Potting

If you’ve ever cooked with a Crock Pot or slow cooker, you know how easy and convenient that can be. If you haven’t, this blog might just inspire you to dust off that wedding gift and give it a try. Stephanie is living proof that Crock Potting is really all it’s cracked up to be. Learn some simple stand-by methods and some innovative recipes and you, too, can eat well with the slow-cooker method all year long (or on a less regular basis for those of us not quite so devoted )

Go here to check out A Year of Crock Potting.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find $5 Dinners:
Blog URL: http://www.5dollardinners.com/
Category: Food, Personal Interests

$5 Dinners

Following along in the footsteps of Clara’s economically-inspired cooking blog, I’ve come across a more modern, but equally tasty, take on budget cooking. You can find it, too, at Erin Chase’s $5 Dinner blog, where she’s cooking up great eats on a budget, and giving you every last tool to follow along and save some dough on some dough (sorry for the pun, couldn’t resist ).

$5 Dinners – Why You Should Go

Why should you go? Very simple. I think I’ve already told you. But it does bear repeating, and detail.

Erin Chase is a Mom living in the real world, who has risen to her self-imposed challenge of minimizing her household food budget and coming up with great meals on a budget. Every dinner that Erin prepares really is managed on a budget of $5 (set of course, in her home region), and no, it’s not dinner for one—Erin is married and has two young children, and is feeding her family nightly on $35 or less each week. Need proof? Erin’s got it. She puts her money where her mouth is and outlines the cost of all prepared foods, along with the recipe and shopping strategies. She also offers up a pre-planned menu and shopping list for the week, among many great discussions, tutorials, a full recipe index, and much, much more.

Summing Up $5 Dinners

What started as an exercise and budgeting challenge for Erin has grown into an addiction. Visit her blog and you’ll be hooked, too—and you’ll never want to pay full price to eat well again.

Go here to check out $5 Dinners.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012

Where to Find Depression Cooking With Clara:
Blog URL: http://depressioncooking.blogspot.com/
Category: Food, Personal Interests

Depression Cooking With Clara

Some of the best things to hit it big on the ‘net have happened almost by accident; Depression Cooking With Clara is one of those beautiful happenstance events. On this blog you’ll be able to follow along with the very impressive 93 year old Clara Cannucciari as she relates events from an historic and stoic age in U.S. and World History.

Depression Cooking With Clara – Why You Should Go

This blog started out as a way for Clara’s great-grandson, Chris Cannucciari, to record and preserve memories of his great-grandmother Clara’s cooking and stories of her life during the Great Depression. Chris began filming a series of YouTube videos wherein Clara would cook up a recipe or two from the Depression era, and share her memories of life in those times as she cooked in her kitchen. The videos came to be a great fan-favorite, particularly as the economy started to turn for the worse. The family project grew into a website, an upcoming DVD of collected videos and stories, features on national media and news shows, and the blog, which is one of the vehicles set up for Clara’s fans to keep track of her and her doings.

Explaining the growth of the project, Chris Cannucciari has this to say on the website:

“Nearly two years ago I filmed the first episode of what was to become “Great Depression Cooking with Clara”. At the time the episode was intended to help me remember how Clara created the meals I had enjoyed eating over the years. I wasn’t sure if I could capture the magic of her storytelling and the details of the cooking at the same time (there are no second takes with Clara, if she did it once she doesn’t feel the need to do it again).

When I began editing I found that Clara’s exuberance and wit continued to shine. I put a little extra polish on her authentic personality and the episodes retained a feeling of a laid back afternoon in your favorite relative’s kitchen. I hope you enjoy watching Clara as much as I have enjoyed bringing her to you.”

Summing Up Depression Cooking With Clara

Almost every adult American, and no doubt people in nations all over the world, have memories of someone who lived through the Depression era, and what a profound effect the experience had on that person’s life. This period in time continues to be one of great interest. This blog, and moreover the website and videos, are one way for us to get a realistic view of what life in those times really meant. It’s a gift of preservation and enlightenment with the added benefit of entertaining as you learn some very valuable—and too often lost—recipes and arts.

Go here to check Depression Cooking With Clara.

Mary Ward
Do You Digg It!
Blog Review Team
Do You Digg It! © 2012