Homemade Canine Treats!

Lately I have been feeling really bad, having to leave my pooch at home by herself a lot while I'm at work(or hubs-man is at school or work). So I decided I wanted to do something special for her, which sparked the idea of making her some homemade treats. They have now become the highlight of all her days :)! but I don't mind because they are easy to make, cost effective and good for her!

Natural Peanut Butter & Oat Canine Treats

For this tasty treat, you will need the following:

* 1 1/2 cups White Flour
* 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
* 1/2 cup Natural Peanut Butter
* Handful of Old Fashioned Oats
* 1 cup Water
* 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
* Cookie Cutter (I prefer a bone shape)
(Makes about 40 treats)


Preheat oven for 350. Mix the oil, natural peanut butter and water. Slowly add the flour to the mixture, creating a dough. Sprinkle desired amount of oats. Knead until you create a firm ball. Roll dough until you create about 1/4 inch in depth. Use chosen cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 min, depending on your oven.

Waiting patiently...

She can hardly take the anticipation!

If you want to do something EXTRA special, you can also add some yogurt frosting:
* 6 oz Plain Yogurt
* about 1/4 cup Corn Starch
* 1 tablespoon Stevia
Combine ingredients. Dip whole treat in the yogurt or just the ends of the treats. This mixture can be runny, so you may have to add a little more corn starch, if desired. Place on tray and refrigerate.



My girl is so in love with these treats, she sits under the kitchen counter for hours, waiting for another!....and I'm pretty sure I've never met a dog that doesn't drool at the sight of peanut butter, so I know yours will love these too!


*Please consult with your Vet to approve this recipe for your dog.

Logan Update!

Tonight, Nick and I went to go visit my sweetheart nephew Logan, at Valley Children's Hospital and wanted to share some photos and also give a little update... He thankfully seemed to be doing much better tonight and even gave us some smiles! My brother has been staying with Logan at the hospital since last Thursday and are hoping to get to go home soon. Please keep praying for a fast recovery, its sad to see him like this! but I know great things are ahead for him.

Stress Less & Enjoy the Seasons!

Okay so now that holiday time is officially here, I wanted to share some ideas that help keep me from totally stressing out during the holiday season and from having a serious meltdown.


1. Go through your mail daily. This time of year I get swamped with advertisement mail, so to prevent it from piling up and keep myself from getting overwhelmed, I just plan to take 5-10 minuets to go through it each day and toss what I don’t see useful. There are, however, sometimes great coupons that come with the advertisements, so I always check first to see if its something I’ll use.


2. Try to get your shopping as early as possible. If there is anyway, try to brace the stores during a midweek morning, when they are “semi-less” crowded. Or better yet, do your shopping online! There are TONS of discounts/coupons during the holidays. I never go shopping without checking to see if there are any coupons for anything I have on my list (this applies to anytime of the year).


3. Set a budget of what your family can spend during the holidays. This REALLY helps me from accumulating credit card debt and having to stress about it after the holiday is over. Set your limit and stick to it! Don’t let yourself get sucked into the disease of “I NEED it”.


4. Assemble as much food as you can ahead of time and freeze it. I know this won’t work for some things, but there are plenty of freezable dishes that would only need to be heated & served.


5. Make deadlines for yourself- like having all the wrapping or decorating done by so or so date…That way you can sit back and relax and truly enjoy the season with family and friends.

Irresistible Scents!

Being that I used to work at Bath and Body Works, I obviously have an irresistible passion for scents! I like to change up the aromas I use in my apartment with all the different changing seasons. During the holiday’s, I love to burn things that are dessert-themed. Some of my favorite scents right now are:

Bath and Body Works:





• Kitchen Spice
• Creamy Nutmeg (This one is my Honey buns favorite, he requests me to burn it often during fall time!)
• Marshmallow Fireside
• Hot Butter Rum
• Twisted Peppermint

Scentsy:

• Pumpkin Marshmallow
• Central Park Pralines
• Mochadoodle

Although I LOVE the smell of my newest Scentsy products- I don’t feel that the scents actually last as long as my Bath & Body Works Candles or oils. You also have to use electricity, which I know isn't much money…but 1- 14.5 oz candle, last me 45-60 hours of burn time and cost me nothing extra once I buy the product. The candles and oils seem to create a quicker and longer lasting scent also.

*A little trick when trying to find the perfect scent for your home or for someone else, is to ask an employee if they have sample coffee beans... That helps to clear your sniffer before you smell a new scent. Sometimes it can be overwhelming when you smell too many scents at a time- they all start smelling the same.

Stop calling me Stick!

For my entire life I have been skinny...and no, this is not a post about me bragging saying; “ha ha I’m skinny and better then you”. There are just some things I want to point out that I don’t think is talked about from “our” side. God has chosen to given me a very fast metabolism and throughout my life, I have dealt with issues of not being able to gain enough weight. For whatever reason my body just doesn’t want to receive extra weight. I do eat, a lot actually, and this really upsets some people. I understand that the majority of people deem “skinny” people as better or more beautiful, but I believe that we are all created equal, not matter what our weight. I think that most of us have self image issues; I would like to gain a little weight, but cant...some want to loose a little weight, but cant, the list goes on.

I get called names often. I want to write about this because I don’t think people realize they are insults. Stick. Skin & Bones. Skeleton. Beanpole. Twiggy. Anorexic. I don’t know about you, but these all sound like mean names to me. I have feelings too and don’t know how anyone can consider these names as flattering. Just as a person overweight would not want to be called Fat or Tubby, as they are insults. Being too skinny also comes with health problems, just as someone who is overweight might have health problems.I think that we all need to be a little more sensitive to what we say to one another. We ALL have feelings and should respect one another and should STOP with the name-calling! I am thankful for the way God made me and you should be thankful for the way he made you.

Awhile ago, I came across this website;http://operationbeautiful.com/.The editor of the movement, Caitlin, states "The mission of Operation Beautiful is to post anonymous notes in public places for other women to find. The point is that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. You are enough... just the way you are!"

Below is mine:

Why every girl needs cute kitchen gloves…

A couple of years ago, I spotted these pink cleaning gloves at, Sur La Table, and my cleaning life will never be the same! I thought they would be perfect for doing the dishes!... Even though we have a dishwasher, there are tons of “hand wash” things we received from our wedding, so my hands were still in the wet sink a lot. Anyways, my brother Patrick and sister-in-law Kimber, knew I wanted them and decided to get them for me for Christmas…I was overjoyed to say the least! I later ended up buying another similar pair for “other” household chores. The reason I love them so much is that they help make a much-dreaded task, seem not so bad.

Example One: They are obviously super cute, so it makes me feel “cute” while I’m doing an ugly task...
Example Two: They prevent my hands from becoming like prunes and super dry from being in the water…
Example Three: They keep my nail polish from chipping as fast. Ya’ll know how that happens when your nails are exposed excessively to water...

There you have it! Go ahead and try it- I'm telling you, you will never go back to being glove-less while doing the dishes or cleaning again.

Candy, Candy, Candy...overload!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 1st day of November today! I'm ready to move on from October & toss out our rotting pumpkin's(that are now covered in disgusting gnats)... but I do hope you all had a great Halloween! If you ended up with WAAAY to much candy but don't want to just toss it, here are easy some ways to preserve or use/rid of it faster:

Donate it to a worthy cause.
Bake with it.
Use it for doing crafts or decorating.
Freeze the chocolate candy, then pull it out at your discretion.
Simplest solution: Give it away!!!Charities, friends or neighbors, the office, etc... You could even put a "free" add on Craislist!