Healthy, Homemade Dog Treats

My blogpost today is dedicated to my 2 pups, Momo (left) and Sadie Mae (right).

These little guys are the the light of my life and keep me from being super lazy. Nothing compares to the unconditional love that your furry friends can bring; so I decided to bake some snacks for them in the kitchen.  The first recipe I found on Pinterest is for a simple Peanut Butter Dog Treat by The Simple Life.  Click the link for the recipe. 

NOTE: I did just want to say that I had to use a bit more flour because I used an egg (which was optional) and I feel like that made the dough more wet so it would've been impossible to roll out on to the counter. In addition, I didn't have a cookie cutter so I just used something small and round (about 1.5in across) and cut out small circles. I ended up only having to bake the biscuits for about 10min at 350 degrees.

The second recipe I found on Pinterest was for Homemade Sweet Potato Chews by Pet Coupon Savings. Click the link for the recipe.

NOTE: Instead of olive oil, I used coconut oil. Read up about it and it's good for dogs and adds health benefits internally and externally. ALSO, I tried a piece and it was delicious. Might make some to snack on myself. Happy baking & thanks for reading!

Top 3 shows on Netflix that I couldn't stop binge watching.

I decided to just write a guilty pleasures kind of post today.  Not much needs to be said except #sorrynotsorry.

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1. Once Upon a Time Who doesn't like Disney, like honestly? If you say you don't, you're lying (yeah I said it). This show is coming up on it's 6th season and I couldn't be more excited (for Sept. 25th, 8PM EST). BOOM.

2. Hart of Dixie I was so against watching this show because I thought the concept was kind of stupid. All it took was for me to watch episode and that rolled right into 3 seasons and finding out it got cancelled. Well F*CK. Love you forever Wade Kinsella.

3. Vampire Diaries and The Originals Okay, so it's more like 4 shows, but I figured that these both tie in together so I counted it as one. Every time I thought that there could be NO more story for each show, they came up with something crazy that I just nodded my head to and said to myself, "Sounds legit."

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Not a very meaty or foodie kind of post, but hey, this needed to be said. Some other shows that I'm currently working on consist of Penny Dreadful, Witches of East End (kind of lost interest and taking a short break) and White Collar.
What shows are you currently binge watching? Any advice for my next Netflix adventure?
Thanks for reading, 

Paleo Egg Cups (Yummy breakfast! Or dinner.)

I decided to make the hubs and I breakfast this morning and had found this recipe a while back, but haven't tried it. No better time than the now, right? Let's eat!

Ingredients:

• coconut oil
• bacon (I used turkey bacon)
• eggs (1 per slice of bacon you use)
• asparagus
• salt & pepper for taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Use coconut oil to grease cupcake pan.
3. Lay each slice of bacon into it's own cupcake space pressing down on the center so it molds into the pan.
4. Crack 1 egg onto the top of each slice of bacon.
5. Cut up asparagus into small pieces and place on top of egg.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper (or with whatever you want for extra pizazz)
7. Fold left bacon flap over the right one. Honestly, this part wasn't in the recipe, but I just did it so my bacon wasn't hanging over the edges of the pan.
8. Bake for 15-17min for a harder egg and between 12-14 for a softer center.
9. Let cool and enjoy! :)

Recipe from A Healthy Life for Me
Thanks for reading,

Blackberry & Banana Spice Cake

Okay, so totally didn't want to over-blog and look like a fat ass yesterday, BUT I did make something else. 

I met a woman a few weeks ago at a get-together and she brought a delicious cake that tasted looked and tasted like it would be super difficult for me to even try making.  ALAS, it was the complete opposite. Super easy and I'm not baker by any means. As we talked, she let me know that the cake was super simple to make. 

She explained that she used blackberries, blueberries, and bananas that were kind of on their way out from being fresh, so she threw them into a spice cake mix (which I found at the Walmart baking aisle for $1). So here's what I did (yeah, I threw away the box so this is going to be from memory).

Ingredients:

• 1 container of blackberries
• 1 medium/large sized banana
• 1 box of spice cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 cup of water

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place blackberries and banana in a bowl and mush together, yes mush. It was my cake and my hands were clean, so I used my fingers.
3. Mix in cooking oil, water, and eggs. Stir together.
4. Mix in spice cake mix. Now this should look pretty watery so don't freak out because it's going to make the cake moist in the end.
5. Place in a pan. I say pan because you really can use whatever pan you want. The woman I met used a bundt cake pan and I used a loaf pan (the cheap disposable foil types).
6. Cook for 35min. Okay for this part you've got to use your best judgement on how mushy you want the center to be. If you want a firmer cake, you may need to cook it for longer. Again, I used a loaf pan so that meant the inside of the cake was a bit mushier.

Thanks for reading,

Paleo Steak Salad with Creamy Garlic Vinaigrette

In the spirit of eating healthier, I decided to post this AWESOME recipe I found on Pinterest. I wasn't so sure if it was going to taste good, but it did and I'm stuffed (and not feeling guilty one bit).
If you look at the pictures, you'll notice some of the ingredients that I didn't use (didn't want to wait to boil eggs and figured only having red tomatoes was okay, lol).
I pulled this straight from the website and the link for the page I got it from is down below :)

Ingredients 
SALAD 

• 1/2 lb sirloin steak, (grilled or pan-seared first, then sliced) 
• 4 cups greens – we used Romaine lettuce 
• 1/4 cup red cherry tomatoes 
• 1/4 yellow cherry tomatoes 
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced 
• 1 avocado, pitted and sliced 

DRESSING 

• 3 Tbsp of avocado oil or olive oil 
• 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar 
• 2 Tbsp paleo mayo 
• 1 small to medium garlic clove, pressed 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions 

1. Pat dry and season steak with your favorite prepackaged seasoning, or sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Cook on well-oiled grill or in a cast iron pan (along with 1 Tbsp of oil) over medium-high heat about 5 minutes per side for medium rare steak. Remove from heat, place on plate and tent with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes before slicing crosswise into thin strips. 
2. Arrange salad ingredients on plates as desired, or place in large bowl and toss.
3. Add dressing ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour over salad as desired. 

Tip I learned: If you don't have a garlic press, cut up a garlic clove finely, sprinkle with salt and press together with metal spoon or side of knife. 

Recipe from Paleo Newbie 

Happy eating!