Hello! My title is mainly because of the sun shining so nicely today and it makes you feel good. However, the Superman part is an allusion to something from my past. Anyone my age should remember. If you do please leave a comment!
Before I get started I wanted to explain the timing of my blog posts. First off, I aim for once a week and try for Saturday or Sunday. However, sometimes life gets in the way (more often than I would like) and I am too busy. The second factor is that I aim for approximately 1000 words and this can be difficult to do since it takes some time to collect enough material. I set that as a goal because I feel it allows me to share some varied content that, although all of it might not appeal to you, there will be enough that does. The object for me is to make it worth your while to read. Consequently, I have a hard time sticking to the “once a week on a weekend day” plan. This bothers me because I want to be dependable and there on a regular basis for those of you who tell me you look forward to the posts. I am still working on this and am considering doing twice a month instead. I welcome any thoughts you might have.
I do have some hack to pass on to you today and a couple of recipes. Hope some of the information is of use to you!
Recipes
I have recently started making my own dog food. For those of you who have dogs or know people who do I thought it would be worth sharing. (You can make your own cat food also.)
Making my own dog food came about at the urging of my daughter, Sara, and the desire to give my dogs a better diet that would, hopefully, allow them to be healthier and live longer. After Sara make the suggestion to me I did a lot of research online as to vet approved homemade food. I combined a couple of recipes which overlapped a little as far as ingredients and my dogs seem to really like it. They are small dogs so I give them approximately 1/2 cup twice a day.
Homemade Dog Food
2 pounds ground chicken, turkey or beef
8 ounces broth ( I use vegetable, chicken or beef depending on the meat I use)
8 ounces of water
1 can of low sodium peas and carrots (drained)
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
3 eggs (beaten)
2 medium apples (peeled and diced)
1 cup rice (uncooked) or 2 slices of bread broken into small pieces
I put everything in the Crock Pot and cook on low until the rice and meat are cooked thoroughly. The apples and bread completely dissolve in the mixture. You may have to add a little more broth and water if the mixture becomes too thick. In the dog food I have used drained mixed vegetables which is nice because they do like the green beans but I always pull out the potatoes. The dogs don’t like them and they don’t need that starch. I never use corn. It only adds starch and is not easily digested. In place of the kidney beans I have used cannellini beans and the dogs like them just as well.
Now, on to human delights!
Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (from Sprinkle Some Sugar)
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the butter and both sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. To this mixture add the vanilla and molasses. Now, add the eggs and thoroughly combine. With the mixer on low add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Once they are incorporated add your raisins. Chill your dough for 30 to 60 minutes.
Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When dough is chilled using your hands roll balls of approximately 2 Tablespoons of dough. ( I probably used more. I make everything bigger!) Place them on the prepared pans at least 2 inches a part. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
* Notes: I was out of cornstarch and I looked up what to substitute. You can sub flour or instant mashed potatoes. I chose the flour.
I divided my dough in half and used raisins in one half and Craisins in the other. I loved them both but must say that the Craisins edged out the raisins just a little bit!
As I have said in the past, I always check my baking items early at least the first time I make them. I set my timer for 8 minutes. They were not done so I let them bake for 2 more minutes and they were perfect. At least in my oven, 12 minutes would have been way too long.
Before 
After
Hacks
- My niece, Nicole, uses a natural fruit wash that she wanted to share. Fill your sink with water, add 1 cup of vinegar and stir well. Add all of your fruit and soak or 10 minutes. You can even use this for berries. The water will be dirty but your fruit will sparkle. This helps your fruit last longer as well. Thanks, Nicole!
- When you have a meal outside sometimes (for me, often) you struggle with keeping any table covering from blowing around which is super annoying. I have discovered that if you use a twin bed fitted sheet on your table the fitted corners keep that from happening. This works for most tables.
- You know how you can get those pesky weeds growing up between sidewalks? You can use apple cider vinegar on them and they turn brown and die! I put my vinegar in a spray bottle (of which I always keep one or two under my sink for use with various hacks) and spray those little buggers!
- One spring/summer I had a little mama garter snake that lived under my porch and nurtured her babies there. I know everything is just struggling to live and get by in this world but snakes give me the creeps and I just wanted her to go live her life somewhere else. Besides, my dog, Rudy, wanted to play with them! I kept trying to picture how I would get one of them out of his mouth if I had to. I never came up with a plan so the snakes really had to go! So, here I go with a spray bottle again (I told you they come in handy) but this time it is filled with ammonia. Turns out that ammonia is a cheap and easy snake repellent. They find elsewhere to live because they don’t like the smell. No one gets hurt and I lose the snakes! WIN
- Recently, I have been making fruit infused water in my never ending quest to add more water to my days. I have tried grapes (cut them first), cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumber, and strawberries. The strawberries are by far the best in adding flavor to the water. I have it today and it is only lunch time and I have almost fulfilled my water quota!
Have a great week! Hope you enjoyed this post.
