Cleaning the Kitchen Sink Without Chemicals

Sink Scrubbing Solution:
I love my Scrubbing Bubbles for cleaning the bathroom, but I don't like using chemicals in the kitchen where I prep my food. If you are looking for a natural alternate all you need is Distilled White Vinegar and Baking Soda.

Coat the sink with the Baking Soda (I use an old Parmesan Cheese container to sprinkle with). Then in a cup or spray bottle mix 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water solution. When you spray the Baking Soda, it will foam up and do all your scrubbing for you!

Disposal Cleaner:
If you can't find a product that you like, or simply want a natural solution, put one cup ice and 1/4 cup Lemon Juice into the disposal and run it for 5 minutes, until all the ice is crushed and disposal is empty. Rinse with warm water for 1 minute.

Black Bean, Feta, and Corn Salsa

Not only is this Mediterranean Style salsa delicious and addictive, it is very quick and easy to make. It goes great with wraps or sandwiches, or as a snack by itself. I like to eat it with Low Fat Wheat Thins, but it goes great with any cracker or tortilla chip.

What You Need:

• 1 can White Corn
• 1 can Black Beans
• About 2-3 stalks Green Onion (chopped and white parts discarded)
• 1 block/package Feta (crumbled)
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 2 Tblsp Sugar (not pictured).

Simply drain the Corn and Black Beans as well as possible, and combine all ingredients in a bowl or container. Its ready to go, but you can chill it in the fridge if you prefer. Be sure to mix it well after it sits for any amount of time so your flavor remains consistent!

Make Dog Diapers from Child Diapers

OK, so either your dog is going into heat or has incontinence. Either way you need diapers and fast! So you may or may not save much money doing this, but you may save yourself from frustration and driving around to 5 different places looking for dog diapers. Also, I've found that once I get home, I am severely disappointed in the quality of the dog diapers. They often have a plastic tape that holds them in place, and once it comes undone the diapers is useless. The toddler diapers on the other hand have a Velcro type adhesive that means you can take the diaper off to let your dog potty and then put it back on a few times throughout the day before it gets worn out.

I used Pampers Cruisers since they are designed for a toddler about town :) and I figured the stretchy fit would be more comfortable for my pup.

My dog weighs about 40 pounds or less and has a slim frame, so I went with a smaller size so it wasn't baggy and constantly needing to be pulled up.

Get out your diaper and and locate the back. (Pampers have the size printed on the back so its easy). Fold it in half, be careful not to cut through the front and the back. I made the top of my tail hole about 1/2 inch below the start of the padding (which is the crease in the pictures).

Cut a little more than 1/2 inch slits approximately 2 inches apart.

Finish cutting out the square for the whole. Remember it doesn't need to be perfect.

Throw these away so your dog doesn't try to eat them like mine did :P

Now you are ready to wiggle your pup into it. Good Luck!

FINAL RESULT!

Photo-Bombed!

I like to go ahead and cut a whole pack of diapers, so I can just pull one out and its ready to go. Plus, my boyfriend cut himself pretty good while trying to cut out the tail whole so I saved him the trouble. But its all up to you!! I hope you found this tutorial helpful!

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

This is my recipe for Stuffed Peppers, that I hope you enjoy. This recipe is perfect for 2 or 3 people but you can always change the amounts to make more or less. At the bottom of the post you will find a summary of the recipe that you can copy and print.

First gather your ingredients:  4 Bell Peppers, 1 Cup Rice, 1 Lb Beef, Worcester Sauce, Can of Diced Tomatoes, Paprika, Taco Seasoning, Garlic Powder, 1 Onion, Shredded Cheese. Optional ingredients include:  Onion Powder and Tabasco Sauce. You should also preheat your oven to 400 Degrees.

Next you should prep your peppers. After you rinse them, cut off the tops and pull out the seeds. If there are some seeds that fall to the bottom just turn the pepper over and tap it on your cutting board, and they will fall out nice and easy. After you have done that you should cook your rice, brown your beef and saute the onions.

Once your ground beef has been browned and drained of fat, follow the directions on the back of your taco seasoning packet and simmer your meat, taco seasonings, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcester sauce and Tabasco.

Add the diced tomatoes and sauteed onions to the rice, and stir well. Once you have cooked your meat according to the taco seasonings packet and all of the excess water is cooked off, you can mix everything together to finish off your stuffing.

Now that your filling is complete, you can to stuff the bell peppers all the way to the top. I put the peppers in a pan lined with foil for easy cleanup, but that is optional.

Once your peppers are full, cover the top with shredded cheese. I had some leftover filling so I put it in a small baking dish and baked it with the peppers. It makes for a nice lunch the next day or even just some extra filling on the side. Bake the peppers for 30 minutes until the outsides look soft and sort of wrinkly, and your dinner is complete! Hope your enjoy.

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
- 4 or 5 Bell Peppers
- 1 Cup Rice
- 1 Pound Beef
- 2 Tablespoons Worcester Sauce
- 1 Can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Packet of Taco Seasoning
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Whole Chopped Onion
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheese
- Tabasco Sauce

Step One:
Prep your peppers, by cutting off the tops and removing the seeds. Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees. Brown the ground beef, saute the chopped onions and cook the rice.

Step Two:
Add the Worcester Sauce, Paprika, Garlic Powder, and Taco Seasonings to the ground beef. If the directions on the back of the taco packet ask for water added, go ahead and add it but be sure to simmer the meat long enough to cook off the excess water.

Step Three:
Add your diced tomatoes and onions to the rice and heat up. If you want to you can add your Tabasco sauce at this point to your own preferences. Once you have fully cooked your ground beef and seasonings, mix it in with your rice and your pepper filling is complete.

Step Four:
Fill the peppers with the meat and rice mixture, then top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 minutes until the bell peppers are nice and tender.

Melted Chocolate Cookie Cutter Shapes

Here is a great idea for theme birthday party treats or even cake decorating. Its very simple but can make a big impact!

4th of July Cake

These chocolate shapes are really easy to make but can take a cake to the next level. All you need is your favorite type of chocolate chips or bar and a few baking supplies.

You will need a microwave safe bowl, spatula, cookie cutters and a bakers sheet. The food coloring is optional, and only effective if you are using white chocolate.

Chocolate chips will only take about a minute to melt in the microwave, just be careful not to burn them. The chips will retain their shape but as soon as you begin to stir them they will have an even consistency.

After you grease your cookie pan place your cookie cutters on the pan. Scoop a layer of chocolate out into the cutters and just shake the shapes a bit to even them out. This part needs to be done quickly before the chocolate hardens. It is very difficult to remelt the chips without burning them.

At this point I had attempted to add some icing coloring to the mixture, it ended up ruining the entire batch so I would advise against doing that. This is what happened.

After the chocolate has re-hardened you can paint on the icing coloring. If you need to speed things up you can pop them in the freezer and they will be hardened in about 5 minutes or less.

I used some cling wrap to create the marbled effect since I was not a fan of the streaks.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial, and maybe it will inspire some creativity of your own!

Peanut Butter and Carrot Dog Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

In honor of my Dog Penny's first birthday I decided to make her a cake. It was surprisingly easy and used a lot of ingredients I had on hand. Obviously you don't have to use the biscuits around the edge, your pup will gobble it up just fine, but I wanted it to be cute. The tutorial for the Homemade Biscuits are here. At the bottom of this tutorial I have a condensed version of the cake recipe for easy copy paste. Enjoy!!

Start by preheating the oven to 350 Degrees and gathering your ingredients.

Flour, Baking Soda, Peanut Butter, Vegetable Oil, Carrots, Honey , 1 Egg and  Cream Cheese.

Combine all of your ingredients and mix well until you form a batter. I used a 9" pan which gave me about a 1 1/2 inch thick cake.

Bake at 350 Degrees for 30 Minutes on the lowest rack. For icing you can use Peanut Butter, yogurt or Cream Cheese like me. I wanted a purple cake so I added a bit of food coloring. Now you have a tasty cake for your Doggy Celebration. If you want the biscuits around the outside keep reading for instructions.

After you cut your biscuit dough from the recipe here into whatever shape you want to use, take a same size greased cake pan and press your raw biscuits along the outside to get the rounded biscuits. Since the oven is at 350 Degrees your biscuits will only take around 25-30 mins.

Now all you have to do is decorate! But trust me your dog won't care what it looks like, it will be reduced to crumbs in no time.

Peanut Butter and Carrot Dog Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Cup Shredded Carrots
- 2 Generous Spoonfuls of Honey
- 1 Egg

Combine all your ingredients and mix well into a batter. Bake in a greased pan at 350 Degrees for 30 Minutes. Frost with room temperature Cream Cheese once the cake has completely cooled.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

This recipe is very simple and most of the ingredients are things you probably have in your pantry right now. My dogs can't seem to get enough of them either. There is a condensed version of the recipe and instructions at the bottom of the post.

First gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 325 Degrees:

Rolled Oats, Butter, 1 Cup Water, Corn Meal, Sugar, Milk, Cheese, Egg and Flour

Melt the 3 Tblsp of butter and combine with 1 Egg, 1 Cup Hot Water, and 1/2 Cup Milk, then whisk together. Measure out 1 Cup Rolled Oats, 3/4 Cup Corn Meal (I used corn muffin mix), 2 Tsp Sugar, 1 Cup Shredded Cheese and 3 Cups AP Flour.

After you form a loose ball of dough, prep your cutting board or pastry board to roll out the dough. Sprinkle a bit of flour over the surface to prevent sticking as well as some extra flour on the top of the dough ball. Roll out until your desired thickness, I kept mine around 1/2 inch since I have a medium sized dog and a puppy. For larger dogs you could make them thicker or vice versa for smaller dogs. 

(Hint:  If you don't have a Rolling Pin, you can cover the dough with cling wrap or wax paper and use a can or jar to roll out the dough.)

I found some dog shaped cookie cutters at Wal-Mart for less than $3, so I cut the biscuits into your typical bone shape, but you could just use a Pizza Cutter and make bars/strips. Once you have prepped your cookie sheet with cooking spray, bake at 325 Degrees for at least 30 Minutes. If you're biscuits are thicker than 1/2 inch they will need up to 45 Minutes.

You could add dissolved beef or chicken bouillon cubes, or even chopped up beef jerky bits for some different flavor ideas. I hope your puppies enjoy them as much as mine did.

Homemade Cheese Flavored Dog Biscuits


Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Rolled Oats
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Cup Hot Water
- 3/4 Cup Corn Meal
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 3 Cups Flour

Step One:
Combine 3 Tblsp melted butter, 1 Cup Hot Water, 1/2 Cup Milk, and 1 Egg, then whisk together. Then add your dry ingredients and shape them into a loose ball.

Step Two:
Roll out your dough to around 1/2 inch thick. After cutting into shape or bars, place on greased baking pan and bake at 325 Degrees for 35-45 minuted until browned and crisp.