DIY Dog Treats

We all know I love my dogs like they're my children.

This is partly because one of my dogs is extremely high maintenance.

Ripley the studly german shepherd you see below is highly allergic to...pretty much to life.

I'm not kidding...

He's allergic to cats, carrots, grass, sagebrush, birch, pecans, soy, wheat, corn, cow's milk, yeast, pork, beef,  mosquitos, 

house dust, about ten more different weeds,  potatoes, HUMAN skin cells (so our love), and numerous other things. 

It's kind of exhausting. 

But not as exhausting for him. The above picture doesn't really look like him anymore.

His fur has gotten dry and itchy, his nose is always running, and his bottom lip is extremely swollen.

So what are we to do?

Spend hundreds of dollars on allergy testing? Check!

Spend hundreds of dollars on immunotherapy? Check!

Spend even more money on grain free/gluten free dog food free of most things he's allergic to? Check!

I'm getting off topic. 

Needless to say Ripley cannot have a lot of things out on the doggie market today. 

I'm waiting on some new treats to come in but in the mean time decided to make my own. 

He's allergic to potatoes but not sweet potatoes... I don't get it but oh well...

I spent about $1 on one sweet potato and got a nice sized bag of doggie treats. 

All I did was slice them up into strips and bake them in the oven for about 5 hours. 

The oven temp was 225.

I checked on them every couple hours to make sure they were getting crispy but not burnt.

The dogs LOVED them. 

Baby Shower for Baby Austin

So excited to be participating in Tiffany's virtual baby shower to welcome her little man Elliott!

So many great things were made I wish we could've done this in real life so I could try them myself! 

My contribution is Little Man Iced Tea otherwise known as Blueberry Iced Tea.

It was super simple to make all you need is fresh blueberries, water, sugar, and tea bags.

This iced tea uses a simple syrup which is easily made. Seriously super easy.

Take about 3/4 of the package of blueberries, a cup of sugar, and a cup of water and bring it to a boil in a small pot. Once the sugar is dissolved and the blueberries are pretty cooked use whatever means necessary to smash the blueberries. I used a mashed potato thing...that's a technical term you know.

While your blueberry syrup was cooking you should've been brewing some tea. I like to use cold brew tea bags just because it's faster. I did about two quarts of water with 4 tea bags. 

After your tea is brewed and your blueberries are sufficiently mashed simply mix the two together. If you don't like pulp you can use a strainer to separate the liquid from the pulp.

Add some ice and some whole blueberries for garnish and you've got a great party drink that's pretty too.

Take a look at the other items that were made to celebrate Elliott and Tiffany!

Juicing...

So the boyfriend bought a juicer a couple months ago and since then he drinks juice about 4 times a week. He doesn't really like a lot of vegetables and definitely doesn't eat enough fruit. So we figured this was the best way to make sure both of us is getting what we need.

We have tried a bunch of different concoctions but I generally make the same one all the time. 

We'll call it the Lean Green Juice. 

This one doesn't have any of the green vegetables that make you think you're drinking a salad.

During our juicing experiment we have discovered the boyfriend is pretty allergic to Kale. Random. 

So I like to stick with this one.

It's just a couple handfuls of spinach, two carrots, and 3 small apples. 

For more of the green color throw in some more spinach. I swear you cannot taste the spinach at all. The apple really sweetens it up.

I have also tried apple and carrot together and it's really good. Or orange and carrot. The boyfriend is worried we're going to turn orange because I use carrot in everything!

Tuesday Topics: 5 Recipes!

Hello Hello! It's another week of Tuesday Topics and today it's 5 recipes.

These are all Pinterest recipes that I have SUCCESSFULLY made...I say successfully because every once in awhile there is that Pinterest fail.

1. Mini Chocolate Chip Puffins

via: Baker Girl

They're like chocolate chip pancakes but in muffin form. They even have maple syrup. I'm telling you these little things are amazing and addictive.

2. Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies

via: Lauren's Latest

These were really good. I used Andes mints because I couldn't find the Mint Truffle Hershey Kisses...they were a little too minty for the boyfriend so I might suggest cutting back a little bit if you have to make the same substitution.

3. Peanut Butter Cookies with Homemade Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

via: Kevin and Amanda

These were so good. I looove this blog she always has such amazing recipes and gets to travel all over the place...color me jealous...

4. Oreo Brownies

Picture via: Cup of Jo

There really isn't a recipe for this. I just made my favorite Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownies and just threw oreos in between two layers of batter. So good. Like seriously make these now if you haven't already.

5. Sopapilla Cheesecake

Via: My Yellow Umbrella

I made these when I was craving something super sweet and didn't have any cocoa powder or chocolate chips on hand. They did not disappoint my craving. They're so simple but taste awesome.

In other news...my Christmas tree is up! I also have lights outside...Yay for Christmas! Back with pictures tomorrow.

Oven Baked Salmon...and my newest favorite appliance.

It's another Monday here at One Crafty Cupcake! Last week the boyfriend watched the documentary, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, and now he's convinced that he's gonna die. Well maybe not that extreme. But he did go out and buy a juicer and is now drinking his daily dose of vegetables. I've been loving having the juicer. Fresh apple juice tastes so much better than what comes in the bottle. The only problem? The juicer is a (insert your chosen expletive here) to clean. I'm even considering doing a 3 day juice cleanse but haven't found the motivation yet.

But we are eating healthier here at the OCC household. Last night, we had oven baked salmon and sauteed zucchini and squash. 

I cook salmon the same way every time and it always comes out perfect. Moist and flaky. First I drizzle it with olive oil, then season with salt & pepper. I slice lemons and place them on top to infuse the lemon flavor while cooking. To cook it I place the salmon in a cold oven set for 400 degrees for 25 minutes. I suggest using foil over the pan for super easy clean up. Also if you really enjoy lemon on your fish, squeeze half a lemon over the top after cooking.

For the zucchini and squash I just salt/pepper it and saute it in olive oil for a few minutes.

The final product!

Yum yum yum

Did you know you're supposed to use white dishes to really show off the food? It allows you to focus on all the different colors. But here in the southwest white doesn't really fit in with the color scheme. I still think it looks pretty good. 

Be back tomorrow with the 10 Day You Challenge!

I'm linking this post up to 33 Shades of Green

Jambalaya! Or something close to it...

So this week I'm trying to cook better meals. More vegetables less processed food. I always try to meal plan and usually stick some comfort food in there a couple times. But this week it was all about fresh ingredients!

Yesterday was Jambalaya day! I got a paleo recipe off of pinterest and was going to use that but instead ended up doing my own thing.

Good thing it was pretty good. Next time I would add chicken or maybe shrimp (unfortunately the bf doesn't like seafood).

I made it in the crockpot so I kind of just threw mostly everything together and let it cook all day.

Crockpot Jambalaya

4 cups of chicken broth/stock
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
4 peppers of any color, diced
1 onion, diced
2 Tbsp Louisana hot sauce
1 Tbsp Creole seasoning
14 oz smoked sausage

Put everything except the sausage in the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. About 30 minutes to an hour before it's done add the sausage. I then cooked my rice separately and just mixed it in with everything when I was ready to serve.

I loved how pretty all my peppers looked

I had barely started adding the rice at this point...it smelled amazing

All done...it was a little soupy but the rice absorbed the excess.

The boyfriend really liked it and he is a SUPER picky eater so it's a winner for now! But like I said next time I'll either double the sausage or add chicken.