Homemade Dog Biscuits (with rice flour)

                              

Last night I really wanted to bake something, but I also don't want to eat any sweets right now, so I decided to make something for Cookie.

I did a search for dog biscuits and this recipe I found was one of the simplest and I also knew I had all ingredients on hand.


The only thing i did differently was use Rice Flour instead of whole wheat.

I only used 3/4 of the dough last night (that filled up my baking sheet), and I just stored the rest in the fridge. I'll probably make up the rest tomorrow.

Recipe from Dog Treat Kitchen.com

Skillet Chili

I have saved several emails from Allrecipes.com for months now, so now I'm finally going to start making them.

This was tonight's dinner...it was good!!

The only thing I did differently was add cumin...you just can't have chili without cumin.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, drained
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat, and crumble. Stir in onion, green pepper, tomato sauce, tomato paste and chili beans. Season with chili powder, hot sauce, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper and garlic powder.
2. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency (at least 1 hour for best flavor).

DIY Cucumber Mint Spa Water

I love the idea of making your own fancy water, so tonight I'm going to try this. I found this recipe at for the love of beauty.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

2 liters water (about 8 1/2 cups)

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 medium cucumber peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium lemon thinly sliced

12 small spearmint leaves

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a pitcher.

Refrigerate overnight. Strain water & enjoy over ice cubes. Add mint sprig for garnish (optional)

If anyone has any recipes like this, please do share!!

Pancakes for Paul

My husband loves to keep his diet as Carb & Sugar free as possible, so I started making him homemade protein bars that are the closet you're gonna get to meeting that requirement. We were talking about pancakes & Paul asked me to try using some of the same ingredients to make him pancakes...so I did.

6 scoops of Chocolate Protein Powder

3 scoops of Oat Fiber

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 cup Splenda

1 1/2 cups Water

2 tbsp Oil

These are not for those of us who truly want to enjoy something as bad for you as pancakes, but they actually turned out OK. Even though I wont be eating them myself, I know that Paul really likes them, and that makes me happy.

Penny Pizzas

Had some left-over cheese and pepperoni from my brother-in-law Sean and came up with the idea of making mini-pizzas. We call them "penny pizzas", so-called because the cheese and the pepperoni were free, so all we had to do was pay for the Triscuits.

The cheese we used for the pizzas was a smoked mozzarella, and to some of the pizzas we added green olives. It was really yummy!! Some may say they can't be called pizzas 'cos there's no sauce, but we didn't have any, so that's why it's not there.

Just put everything in the oven at 425 for 8-10 minutes & they're ready to enjoy!

Dinner!

Bobobli thin crust pizza, pizza sauce, red and green bell peppers, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, red onion, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, Mexican blend & mozzarella cheese, served with a simple salad. It was yummy & easy!!

4-Alarm Chili

I got this recipe from LowCarbConfidential.com and I believe it was adapted from Atkins.com, which is my favorite new website. I had never looked at the Atkins diet before, but I've come to realize that the recipes are perfect for us since Paul's daily eating habits involve a VERY low-carb diet. But, I'm not that crazy about the amount of fat allowed in the diet, so I do plan on adapting these recipes so the fat content isn't an issue. I made this chili recipe last week and we both loved it. Blue type are my changes.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
4 finely chopped jalapeño chiles 2 chiles are plenty
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Green Bell or Red Bell, chopped
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pounds ground beef, I used 4% fat...with slow-cook method & all added flavor, you can't tell a difference.
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese, serve with chili

In a large pot , drizzle olive oil over the sides and bottom and put on Med to Med-Hi heat. Then throw in everything in the following order: onions, meat, tomatoes (add tomatoes last), garlic, jalapeños, red pepper, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon (YUCK!! No Cinnamon) and salt. Once boiling, turn to a simmer and let cook for an hour. I used a dutch oven, cooked everything together on the stove to get started, then cooked in the oven at 325 degrees for 3 hours. You can also cook in crock-pot.

Dinner Tonight

Salad

2 cups Spring Mix

1 cup Broccoli, chopped

1 cup Carrots, chopped

1 tbsp Sesame Seeds

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Salmon

1 Salmon Fillet

1 tsp Salmon Seasoning

a few sprays of I can't believe it's not butter Spray

Broil 3 mins in med heat...Bake at 350 for 6 mins, and it's perfectly cooked!

Update on Meal Plan

I'm sure you wont be shocked to know that I didn't complete my detox diet plan, and it's not just because I couldn't handle it--though I really should have tasted that drink before deciding to go for it.

I've decided to just force myself to eat healthy & exercise at least every other day. I'm sure I'll get the best results that way.

Today I went out for breakfast (already planned), so I wont count that meal, but for lunch I had a really nice spinach salad, and for dinner I'm going to broil some salmon fillets and have a salad with a spring mix. As I'm posting this I am on the treadmill (thanks Honey for the set up) walking at a fast pace and semi-high incline, it my second day doing cardio.

I really think this will work for me. I will post my before and after numbers at the end of 3 weeks.

Spinach Salad
2 cups Baby Spinach
1/4 Raw Pecans, chopped
1 Pear, chopped
1/4 cup Feta Cheese
1 tablespoon Light Raspberry Vinaigrette