When Clementine and Winston ran out of their latest tube of store bought toothpaste, I decided to try and make their next batch to save a little money. I used a simple recipe that called for only salt, baking soda, and vegetable glycerin. I’ll admit that I was a little worried they wouldn’t like it since I didn’t add any sort of meaty flavor to it, but they loved it just as much as their old expensive stuff! Maybe I’ll treat them next time and pick up some low sodium beef broth, like the recipe suggests. One thing’s for sure, though: my days of paying an arm and a leg for dog toothpaste are over.

Do you have a pet whose teeth you brush? If so, then maybe you should give this stuff a try as well!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the perfume giveaway!

We had some pumpkin left over, so we all decided to make pumpkin soup. I honestly didn’t have much to do with it (Kirby cooked it), but it was mega tasty so I figured I should share it with you guys. He used this recipe, but he replaced one 15 oz can’s worth of pure pumpkin with a can of pumpkin pie filling. He also left out the cream, sugar, and milk.

Those are pumpkin seeds garnishing the soup. This is a fancy household with fancy practices. Since Clementine and Winston never got their treats they were promised, I slipped them several seeds under the dinner table for the next couple of days. They seemed to enjoy them.

Speaking of those angels, you guys might find this article on dog food allergy myths interesting. I did.

Have a swell weekend!

My friend Hannah visited recently, and she left a big, beautiful pumpkin behind when she returned home. Since then, I’ve been brainstorming ways to put it to good use. Halloween’s over, so carving it seems kind of silly. I did just come across an article about the health benefits of pumpkins for dogs, though, so making pumpkin dog treats might be in order.

Below are a few pumpkin dog treat recipes I’ve found:

• Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats
• Halloween Pumpkin Dog Treats
• Pumpkin Dog Cookies
• Homemade Pumpkin Dog Treats

I noticed that all of these recipes call for canned pumpkin, but maybe I could just purée my own? That should work.

Maybe I’ll even toast my own pumpkin seeds, since dogs can apparently eat those as well.

Any tried and true dog treat recipes you’d like to share? Clementine and Winston would really appreciate it!

We recently picked several peppers, a few tomatoes, and a pretty eggplant from our garden.

Using an Ezra Pound Cake Recipe, homegrown basil/tomatoes, and farmer's market mozzarella, Danielle made a delicious tomato pie on Tuesday night.

• Guide to Cooking Oils- Who knew corn oil was linked to breast and prostate cancer? Jeez!
• 17 Cool Treats for Your Dog- I’d never even considered freezing chicken and beef broth in ice cube trays for my sweet dogs, but I’m definitely going to now!
• And here’s the Fresh Tomato Pie with Basil Garlic Crust recipe.

My dogs are basically like furry children to me, so taking care of them is something that comes pretty naturally. Still, sometimes baths are more trouble than they’re worth. If Clementine and Winston aren’t smelling their best and I don’t have a lot of time to spare, then dry shampoo is kind of a life saver.

Ingredients (provided at eco-me.com)- “Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda), Zea Mays (Corn Starch), Grapefruit, Clary Sage essential oils.”

I couldn’t locate this product in the Cosmetics Database, so I’ve linked to each ingredient individually above. I was pleased to discover that all of the ingredients have hazard scores of 0.

Some great things about this product:

1.  It’s free of parabens, dyes, chemical preservatives, synthetic fragrances, surfactants, and detergents.

2. It’s cruelty-free.

3. It comes in a #1 plastic container, which can easily be recycled in Lake Charles.

Product Description(provided at petco.com)- ”Natural formula is safe and gentle on your pet’s skin and coat. Eco-Me Grapefruit Sage Natural Dry Dog Shampoo will leave your pet’s fur smooth, soft and clean. Simply sprinkle the dry shampoo on your dog’s coat and wipe away residue with a damp towel. A great solution for keeping your dog’s fur clean and smooth between grooms. The grapefruit sage scent will keep your dog smelling fresh and clean. Our chemical free formula is made with natural, safe ingredients so you can feel good about using it on your pet.”

Price-around $9.99 for a 16 oz. tub, but I got mine from T.J. Maxx for $5!

Performance- This product can be a little messy, but it’s definitely worth the clean-up since sweeping up the leftover powder takes all of 30 seconds. The holes in the lid make shaking the shampoo onto your dog’s coat as easy as possible, and once their fur is coated you simply rub or comb it in and then wipe off the excess! Your dog/dogs will be smelling fresh for days!

Scent- Kirby says this shampoo smells like fruity pebbles. Danielle says it smells like hominy. I say it smells like a little of both.

Rating- 9/10. I subtracted 1 point since it isn’t exactly cheap at full price.

Image Source

While on vacation in June, I found the above dog biscuits at T.J. Maxx for only 4 dollars. The ingredients and price were too good to pass up, so I bought them and brought them home as a present for Clementine and Winston (Actually, I think my mom paid for them on the condition that I would tell the dogs they were a gift from their grandmother. She also bought them some natural dry shampoo I’ll be reviewing in the near future. She’s sweet like that). Anyway, when I opened the box of treats to let the dogs try one or two, I was initially disappointed by how small they were. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I definitely thought they’d be bigger than dime-sized. The size actually worked out for the best, though. I can give Clem and Winston three or four of these little guys in a row without spoiling their dinner, and I think they kind of love getting more than one treat at a time. And since the treats are free of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives, it’s not even like I’m giving them junk food! Quite the contrary, actually. Oats and flax, two ingredients found in these treats, are actually good for dogs!

They’re my favorites.

• I recently received a free sample of Arbonne’s Protein Shake Mix in Vanilla, and it tastes just like the the delicious vanilla frappes I used to buy at a coffee shop in Tupelo where an embarrassing amount of my teenage life was wasted. And with ingredients like Co Q10, alfalfa, ginseng, and flax seed, this shake mix makes those frappes seem like a joke.
• A few days ago, friend Jacqui sent me a link to an eye-opening blog post about the potentially dangerous female obsession with beauty products.  It’s called Why Cleopatra was a Hippie, and you should read it. Get ready for truth bombs like this: “I’m sure Cleopatra knew what she was doing when she lined her eyes and painted her lips.  The difference is her makeup was plant based, not synthesized and developed in laboratories by scientists wearing face masks.”

Enjoy your Tuesday, friends! If weather permits, a trip to the park might be in order. Is there anything dreamier than a Tuesday picnic with a cute boy and a couple of dogs?

Unrelated: If you’re into browsing vintage treasures, then you should probably check out my new Etsy shop, Feelin’ Fancy Vintage. You might find a little somethin’ somethin’.

1) My sad little cuticles could really use this hand salve, and I’m comforted by the short list of familiar ingredients.

2) A silk and organic cotton eye mask would make me feel extra fancy while I sleep.

3) This professional set of vegan makeup brushes would be a real upgrade from my current incomplete set.

4) I could fill these BPA-free, #2 recyclable spray bottles with my own homemade household cleaner & fruit and veggie wash!

5) Clementine and Winston are in serious need of some new collars, and these bamboo ones by Wagging Green are eco-friendly and especially stylish.

Sources: Hand Salve, Sleep Mask, Makeup Brushes, Spray Bottles, Dog Collars.

I was delighted to read that drinking 8 to 14 glasses of red wine per week might reduce a person’s risk of developing a cold.

I read this interesting and inspirational article about the Whooping Crane being reintroduced in Louisiana.

I learned what Clementine and Winston’s tails might be trying to tell me, and I loved that the hypothetical dog in the article is named Norton.

I came across some hot tips for reusing junk mail. I never even considered giving clothing catalogs second lives as shredded packing material; how neat!

This article about pet toxins was full of information that I’d already heard (and those who’ve had pets for a while might agree with me) , but it would certainly be helpful to a new pet owner or someone who is pet-sitting for a weekend. Still, xylitol being toxic to dogs was news to me, so even confident pet owners probably shouldn’t overlook the article completely.

I read an article that discussed 6 Foods That Weaken Bones, and I questioned the article’s credibility when it suggested drinking milk as an alternative to soft drinks.

To avoid having a text only post, here’s a sweet picture. Clementine is often willing to pose when she sees me with a camera, and I love that about her (even if I have to occasionally wag a stick to hold her attention).