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Friday, November 30, 2012

Dog Treats

DIY Dog Treats



 Have you ever looked at the ingredients of most dog treats?  

My new puppy has become a big part of my family and I like to feed my family healthy food.  There are a lot of treats you can buy without all the extra ingredients, but they are more money then I want to pay.  Is there a way to have cheap and healthy dog treats?  YES!

Here are two great recipes to make for "mans best friend".

Sweet Potato Chews



Only 1 ingredient- SWEET POTATO

I used three sweet potatoes I got from the farmers market.  Tell them you are making dog treats and see if they have any sweet potatoes that aren't "pretty" enough to sell. You can usually get them a lot cheaper. 

 1.  Set oven to 250*

2.  Peel you SP

3.   Slice your SP.  I used my food processor to slice the SP about 1/3 inch thick.  It was VERY fast this way, but if you don't have a food processor then just use a knife. 

3.  Put SP slices on baking sheet covered with parchment paper





4. Bake for 3 hours.  Turning once.

5.  Let cool and then put in refrigerator for up to three weeks or freezer for up to 4 months

Recipe from:  http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/sweet-potato-dog-chew.html



Sweet Potato and Apple Dog Treats

Ingredients:

-  1 sweet potato
-  2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
-  1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce ( I just used a peeled apple that I put in the blender)
-  2 Eggs

1. Cook your sweet potatoes.  Prick with a fork and Microwave until tender, about 6 mins or cook in oven at 350* for about 45 min.

2.  Scoop out about 1 cup of sweet potato and put in bowl and mash.  You can feed the skin to your dog as a treat while your cooking.  

3.   Mix the applesauce, flour, and eggs in with your sweet potato.  I just put the applesauce, sweet potato and eggs in my blender and then added it to the flour. 



4.  Form a ball and roll out 1/2-inch thick on a floured surface.  (I have mats that I used instead of the floured surface)



5. Cut out shapes using cooking cutters.  Arrange cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.






6. Bake until crisp, ~35 to 45 minutes. 

recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/super-simple-sweet-potato-dog-treats/


These are even safe for your kids to eat!
My older boys thought they were gross, but the youngest liked them.




Lets see if Posey likes them................... 
















Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Goat Cheese Spread

This really is the easiest and most yummiest cheese spread EVER! My sister in law and I make it for just about every get together bc we love it so much. It was down to the last bit on Thanksgiving, and I was like, "I have to share this recipe with the WORLD!!" So I took a quick photo of the last lil bit before I devoured it. LOL.





Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cooking Beans



I have always been a bean fan, but it wasn't until I became a vegetarian that I started to make a large batch weekly and using them almost every day. This is a basic recipe that Heather and I use that isn't over powering so you can use in many different dishes, but has enough flavor to eat on its own.

WHY make & eat BEANS? You might ask. Well why not??? Here are some benefits of the mighty bean:

Monday, November 26, 2012

DIY Banners

I love making banners for just about every occasion. Sometimes it takes me a really long time that could be spent doing other things. Until, I found a great Blog called Shanty-2-Chic that provides you with any letter, number or symbol that you may need to make your own banner! Its really is super cheap, easy and doesn't take much time at all.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

DIY All Purpose Cleaner

 Why waste your $ with buying a store bought, chemical spray when you can make your own for Pennies and its safe for your family?!! Have you ever read the back of a store bought all purpose spray?????

Precautionary Statement:rHazards to Humans and Domestic Animals

Are you serious?? Spraying it on counters where our families eat??? Why would anyone want that in their house!! Time to make a change, stat! This is the reason why I started making my own.

 This stuff works on everything! I use it on windows, counters, mirrors, bathrooms, and any other hard, non-porous surface.





Saturday, November 24, 2012

DIY Canopy Curtains

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Easy DIY Dishwasher detergent


 I know that dish washer detergent isn't really all that expensive, but what if you can make it yourself and cost you even less??? You can, and I do! Using the ingredients I make my laundry detergent (previous post), I can make my dish detergent too!




                                              

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

2 Weeks of Lunches in Under 30 Minutes


 First off, let me say that my husband has to be one of the pickiest eaters EVER!  He doesn't like sandwiches from home, beans, mushrooms, lentils, gravy, eggs, soup, shredded chicken, yogurt, potato salad, pasta salad, most salads, eggplant, tuna, roast beef, and the list goes on and on and on!  He would be happy with a hot pocket or corn dog but I would really love to keep him around for awhile so I had to come up with something healthy that he would actually eat.

My husband is a PASTA lover! He could eat it everyday........ and he does!!!! Once every two weeks I cut, dice, and pack 10 lunches. It saves me money, time and a lot of stress doing it this way.

DIY Laundry Detergent

Did you know that you can make your own laundry detergent and its easy and sooooo cheap?
Well, ya can!!!
After trying a few different recipes, I have found the one that works best for me and my families clothes. I found every one of the ingredients at our local Walmart and made it in my kitchen in 10-15 minutes. Interested????



Monday, November 19, 2012

A Stress-Free Christmas


video by Heather
Christmas

I have always enjoyed the rush of black Friday and getting as many gifts as possible for a bargain. Waiting for the ads to come out and circling all the things that I wanted to buy and wrap for my family. Waking up at 5am and racing to get that “perfect gift”.
I think it might have stemmed from not having much as a kid. I remember calling my friends to see what Santa brought them, only to find that there list was way longer then mine. Did that mean I was bad that year???

Friday, November 16, 2012

Healthy Cheesy Popcorn recipe

video by Heather

 

Ok, so let me start off by saying that I LOVE me some popcorn!! Heather knows since we were kids that I am a huge cheese fan and when she said she was going to make me "Cheesy Pop" I was like heck yea, bring it on. Then she whipped out some flaky stuff that said nutritional yeast on it, I was like, "Hold up, wait! Uh uuh, I don't want that".  But she made it anyway and let me tell YOU, once you go Cheesy Pop, you NEVER go back!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Best Brown Rice Recipe

I have tried quite a few brown rice recipe, but once I made this one there was no turning back! It really is the best brown rice ever! I make a double batch at the beginning of each week and freeze half of it in a few different labeled baggies and use the rest for dinners or lunches during the week. I also make a big batch of beans (recipe soon to follow) at the same time to always have the ingredients for ready to eat burritos!




Ingredients:
this makes about 2-3 large servings. I always double it**

-1 tbsp butter
-1 C brown rice  (**I really like Ca brown Basmati-its a aromatic
                                  long grain rice)
-1 egg
-2 C veggie broth (you can use chxn broth)
-1tbsp olive oil

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Saute brown rice with the egg in the butter. You have to constantly stir it over medium heat until the rice is dry. Usually take about 5 minutes.






Then you add your broth and olive oil and pour the mixture into a deep baking dish. 








Bake for 30 minutes and then cover with tin foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Check it at the hour mark and if the liquid isn't absorbed, cook it longer and ck every 5 minutes. 
Make sure you don't mess with it while its cooking. You will be tempted to want to stir it, BUT DON'T!!



Best Brown Rice makes a great side or addition to any burrito. I love to eat mine mixed with fresh salsa, avocado, lettuce, black beans and a touch of sour cream and cheese ;) . Give it a try and let me know how you like it. My family LOVES it!


written by Brandi

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Pumpkin Puree for Everyday


Video By Heather




                                                                Smoothie Recipe 
2 bananas
1 Cup pumpkin puree
2 Cups Milk (your choice-vanilla almond milk is really good)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 
handful of ice
dash of vanilla
Blend it all together and Enjoy!!
**makes 2-3 servings

Monday, November 12, 2012

Egg Nog Ice Cream

The kids had the day off from school so we decided to fill our day up with fun activities using CLUB DAY (an earlier Sparkly Polliwog post). My oldest son chose "Cooking Club" and that's when we started to search the cabinets and recipe box for something to make. Being that it was a Monday and is my food shopping day, the cupboards were pretty bare. But we did have our "wait all year" Egg nog drink staring us in the face.



That's when we remembered one of our old family favorite recipe to make our own ice cream. Not only does it call for very few ingredients, its a natural and fun way to make your own treat.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Citrus Degreaser & Cleaner

Here at Sparkly Polliwog, we are always looking for ways to become more green. This recipe for a degreaser and cleaner is eco-friendly as well as easy and effective. We came across this all natural cleaner and its way cheaper to make then the toxic store bought products that may harm kids, pets, adults and the environment. Not only are the ingredients to this natural cleaner not poisonous or hazardous to your health they are completely safe if ingested!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Spot Cleaner


 

Do you Have a pet that has accidents on your carpet or rugs ? :( Or a Stain you just cant get up?Hopefully not, but if you do, I found a natural, make it yourself, Cheap, SPOT CLEANER!            
Don't let these lil faces fool you! They are pee accidents just waiting to happen!  ;)



Posey the Puppy

Penny the old lady


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