Homemade Pet Treats

I will try my best to give you good directions, but my cooking is very experimental (meaning... I don't follow recipes very well! haha)  But here is a recipe (of sorts) for homemade pet treats that are good for cats, dogs, and even humans!

What You Need:
Oat Flour
Flax Seed Flour
Carrots
Low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
Sea Salt
Eggs
Oil
Skim milk
Shredded colby/jack cheese or cheddar cheese
Olive Oil cooking spray
Catnip (optional)

1. Put a small pot of water on the stove and add a tiny bit of sea salt.  Bring to a boil and boil carrots until slightly softer.  Turn off heat, let cool a bit.

2. Pre-heat oven to 350.

3. Mix 1 cup of oat flour and a 1/2 cup of flax seed flour in a large bowl.

4. Switch gears.  Go back to your carrots.  Put a little chicken broth(stock) into a blender.  Add carrots (no water).  Grate, then puree on high until you get a "baby food" consistency.

5. Go back to the flour bowl.  Add about a tablespoon of oil, 1 egg, about 1/3 a cup of milk, about a 1/2 a cup of chicken broth/stock, and a heaping handful of cheese.  Mix thoroughly.  Add some carrot puree and mix in evenly.  If the consistency of the dough is liquidy or super sticky, just add a little more oat flour to make it a little more stiff.

6.  Spray the olive oil spray on a cookie sheet.

7.  Beat an egg with a little of the chicken broth/stock in a separate bowl.  You will be using this to add a coating to the treats.

8.  Take your dough and put about a teaspoon size amount in the form of a ball on the tray. (You can fit about 15 on a tray)

9. Using a spoon, put a little of the egg/broth mix on each, flattening each ball of dough as you coat them.  Try not to let the egg mixture pool in the center.

10. Bake in the oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  Take them out and let them cool completely.

You can feed them to your pets right away or save them for up to 7 days in the fridge.
For cats, you can add a little catnip to the dough as well.  When they are cooked and cooled and a little crunchy break them into small crumbles for bite size kitty treats that are more cat-friendly in size as well as taste.

Humans can eat these treats too. (Without the catnip, please.)  They taste kind of like bland crackers.  If you added seasoning, they could be human treats.  But animals don't need seasoning, and some seasonings can have bad effects on animals.

On another note, you could probably also add little bits of meat to the dough for another variation to the recipe.

I hope your pets enjoy them! :)  By the way, I will post pictures soon!  Come back to see them!

Arts and crafts can be made from recyclable materials too!

I love making arts and crafts, and some of my favorite arts and crafts projects involve junk, trash, broken things, etc.  Why?  Well, for one, if you are using stuff you can easily find at home (jars, tin cans, newspaper, pop bottles, etc.) then that means that you don't have to spend money at the store to make your projects.  This is very important these days, as money is hard to come by.  Another reason I like this "turning trash into treasure" mentality when it comes to home arts and crafts projects is because I believe in "going green," promoting sustainability, and reducing, reusing, and recycling.  So since I love being creative and I love working to save the Earth, making crafts at home from old stuff is just one great way for me to combine those two loves into one awesome good time!

Now, since I DO love "recycled crafts" so much,  earlier today I was drawn into an article by GreenVerbs on List My 5 that I liked so much, I decided to share it!  Check it out here:

The Top Five Recycled Crafts Websites

I hope you check them out and get inspired!  Have fun!
Peace and Love,
Meagan

Basic Melt and Pour Soap

What You Need:

• Soap base
• Colorant (or food coloring)
• Essential oils or fragrance oils
• Soap molds
• Glass bowl
• Spoon
• Microwave
• Plastic wrap
• Spray bottle of rubbing alcohol

Directions:

1. Put your soap base in a glass dish and cover it with plastic wrap. Microwave (on high) for one minute to one minute and fifteen seconds. Remove the dish from the microwave and stir in any hard pieces to melt them.
2. If you add fragrance oils or essential oils, add it only after the base is fully melted. Mix the base and oils well so that the base doesn't get a cloudy appearance.
3. Add colorant, but remember, a little goes a long way. Mix well and continue to add small amounts of colorant until you have reached your desired shade.
4. Pour the finished base into your soap molds. Spray the top with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any bubbles.
5. Let the soaps set for a few hours. When they are hardened, remove them from the molds and you should have some lovely, homemade soap.

Making Soap for Fun and Profit

Natural Handmade Soaps and Gifts

Soap Making Supplies

Soap Making Recipes, Tips, Instructions, and More

Cottage Garden Therapies

Soap on Etsy

Sharpies and Art

All I can say is this... get some sharpies and something to draw on and start making art!  It's my new craze of the moment, and I can't wait to get pictures up to show you.  It's like Hippie/Graffiti/Pop Art.  I love it!
So like I said... go out and invest in a big pack of sharpies and get creative!  And keeping checking back for some Sharpie-Art of mine.  :)

Peace and Love,
Meagan