When your good boy is a great boy and needs a special treat, regular store bought treats just won’t work. So, gather these ingredients and make your favorite pup some delicious homemade dog treats.
These treats contain only 5 ingredients and come together within minutes.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup flax seed
2/3 cup broth
1/4 cup peanut butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together. Add the broth and peanut butter, stirring until the mixture forms a ball of dough. If mixture is too dry, add more broth. Roll out the dough on a slightly floured surface, cut into desired shapes. Bake for 10 minutes, turn treats over, and bake an additional 10 minutes.
The best part about these treats is I always have the ingredients on hand. So grab a mixing bowl and your favorite dog shaped cookie cutters and treat your good boy – or girl – to these homemade dog treats.
What I lack in decorating skills, these treats made up for in taste. Rok (our husky) LOVES them.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Additionally, any information contained in this post is not intended as a substitute for a medical professional's advice.
Hashimoto’s and Dietary Changes
This blog seems to be turning into a journal of my health journey. My goal has always been to document it for my own personal reasons, but also to put it out there for anybody else who may be chronic Googlers(see #2) like myself. So, if you are one of those; keep reading…
So You’ve Got Hashimoto’s Disease
I was recently diagnosed with severe hypothyroidism/Hashimoto’s disease. I had a feeling for many years that I had something wrong with my thyroid, but for whatever reason didn’t get the testing done to verify it.
A few weeks ago that changed when I requested lab work from my doctor. My TSH levels were 38 times the normal level.
I was immediately put on a starter dose of synthetic thyroid hormones. I was amazed at how quickly they began to work and how much more energy I had. I actually felt rested after sleeping for a decent amount of time and wasn’t requiring 10+ hours of sleep each night and still feeling exhausted. My need for a nap everyday decreased too.
Levothyroxine – Thyroid Medication
And then my body adjusted to the medication. I began having a hard time sleeping at night and felt fatigued during the day. My symptoms seemed to have returned as if nothing was ever done in the first place.
And that’s where I am now. I’m pretty sure the dosage will need to be increased, but I haven’t had my labs drawn yet to check the levels.
Researching Alternative Treatments
In the meantime, I started researching the medication and treatment. Call me naive, but I was slightly surprised to find that most people who are put on medication are on it for their entire life.
Y’all, that’s a long time!
I don’t want to rely on medication my entire life so I have been researching alternative treatments. While there is no cure that I have found, I have come across many articles where people were able to get their Hashimoto’s in remission by making lifestyle and dietary changes.
This book, Hashimoto’s Protocol in particular helped me. It has an incredible amount of information to get you started on your own journey.
Lifestyle & Dietary Changes
My lifestyle isn’t the healthiest and I’ve known for a long time I needed to make some changes, but I’ve always felt overwhelmed when trying to make those changes and ultimately giving up.
So, here I am. Changing everything, starting with my diet. Saying “Goodbye!” to some of my favorite foods.
This is the first step into trying to treat this disease without medication.
For the record, I will continue taking the medication, until I have completed all of the steps needed in order to start weaning off to test my levels off of the medication.
Going Gluten Free
I’ve realized that in order to make it manageable and something I can stick with without getting overwhelmed, I need to take it slowly and begin with just 1 meal everyday. While there is a whole list of trigger foods, I am beginning with just one: gluten. I know I won’t see immediate results with this method, but it will help me get used to the new dietary changes over a period of time.
I am beginning with gluten as that is the biggest trigger for Hashimoto’s. For 1 week I will only eat breakfast foods that do not contain gluten. I typically just eat fruit for breakfast, but will sometimes have foods containing gluten like biscuits, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, toast, or cereal.
Dear Bread, I’m going to miss you…
After a week, I will begin eliminating gluten from snacks and other meals. I figure as time goes on, it will get easier.
Since this is my beginning, I’d love any “been there, done that” advice. What are some of your favorite gluten free breakfast foods?
How To Survive Any Illness: The Sickness Survival Kit
Y’all, I recently went through hell.
Of course I don’t mean that literally. But I felt like my entire body had betrayed me. It started, innocently enough, as a slight fever and a headache. I thought it would be one of those “here today, gone tomorrow” types of illnesses.
Oh boy was I wrong!
I had a non-stop fever for days.
Days, y’all!
I don’t have time to be sick. I’m a single mom and when I’m sick, my entire life stops.
This recent illness kicked my butt! I was too sick to even go to the doctor. Luckily, I have some family in town and they made sure I didn’t need anything and that the kids had plenty of food. They mostly survived off of Pop-Tarts and cereal amongst other forms of junk food. That’s when I started thinking about the things we should keep on hand when sick. I’m going to call it the Sickness Survival Kit. Here is what I would put in mine:
Pop-Tarts, Cereal, and other “Feed Yourself!” foods
If it weren’t for Pop-Tarts, Lucky Charms, and Doritos, my kids may have starved while I was sick. That’s only a slight exaggeration. They may not be the healthiest foods, but they worked.
Don’t Forget Chicken Nuggets
Kids cannot live off of breakfast/cold foods alone. Even kids get tired of their favorite foods. If they are old enough to cook, then have something hot they can make themselves. Chicken nuggets is a huge step up from cereal for the 7th time today.
Cash
Seriously, you will need this to pay the delivery person who comes to bring your kids dinner for the 5th night in a row.
Extra Tylenol / Ibuprofen
During one of the first days I realized I was allergic to the tylenol I had on hand and ended up running out of Ibuprofen. Here I am, days into the sickness, finally feeling well enough for a shower.
When I wasn’t sleeping, I was watching Netflix. I have never binged watched so much TV in my entire life. I watched so much that I ran out of things to watch. It’s good to keep your options open.
Rok, our husky, enjoyed breaking the rules and getting on the bed with me. He watched the chickens while I watched Netflix.
Amazing Family
Between my mom and the kids’ grandpa, we didn’t lack anything. They came over, made my kids clean up the mess that was masquerading as my house, and even brought the kids food.
I’m glad to say that I am finally feeling better, though still have a headache. I’m waiting to hear from my doctor to see if the labs they ran showed anything. They said it could be a couple weeks. In the meantime, my kids are enjoying some proper home cooked meals, but would probably rather not be cleaning.
Update July 15th, 2017: Turns out that sickness was pretty bad! I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, one of the most severe tick borne illnesses there is with approximately a 20% mortality rate which drops to 5% if treatment is started within the first few days of illness. Luckily I was put on the exact medication needed and didn’t need to be hospitalized.
Last week the boys and I got to experience Boy Scout Camp at Camp Rockefeller for the first time together. It was enjoyable, yet hard.
VERY HARD.
But also very fun.
We started out at a camp site half a mile away from the activities which meant hauling Losh in his chair down a bumpy, slightly hilly, gravel road (basically around this lake pictured above). The gravel wasn’t packed tight and it felt like pushing him through sand. If you guys have ever pushed a stroller through rough terrain like sand then you can only imagine what it felt like.
Repeat a couple times a day and by day two my body was physically exhausted. Not only that, but they decided to do a hike on day two!
Our first camp site at Camp Rockefeller – Typical camp site found on the reservation
The camp director and a few other people ended up feeling sorry for us and invited us to move to a handicap accessible site. Not only was it closer to the activities and we didn’t have to hike half a mile to get there, it was also paved and even had an electrical outlet.
Hello, phone charger!
Reminder: Tell them ahead of time next year we need to be placed in this site!
Camp Rockefeller – Handicap Accessible Site
While there, the boys participated in different activities to help them earn rank and merit badges. Kaia worked on the First Aid Merit Badge and also worked on Second Class and First Class rank requirements. He was supposed to do the Swimming Merit Badge, but had to work on passing the swim test first. He didn’t pass it until the final day.
Kaia – learning about First Aid
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get many pictures of Kaia because I stayed with Losh nearly the entire time as his helper. Kaia had a blast and is looking forward to camp next year. Since it was our first time at Boy Scout camp, we learned a lot and know how to make it more enjoyable for him next year – like bringing a bicycle to make travel across the reservation easier.
Kaia – learning how to use tools and make lashings
Losh worked on Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class requirements which included first aid. He tried swimming once, but didn’t enjoy it, and was really able to participate anyway. The night before we left for camp, he was in the ER and diagnosed with a UTI. Despite running fever those first couple of days and feeling miserable, he worked hard and didn’t want to sit out any other activities.
He ended up spending a lot of time going to the medic’s office because his Mickey button (feeding tube) started getting a yeast rash that spread down toward his waist band. The combination of heat, humidity, and antibiotics was not good for him.
Losh.. not feeling well but learning how to tie knots
Losh had a great camp counsellor who didn’t let on to how nervous he actually was. He had never worked with a child like Losh before and was a little panicky and doubting his own abilities to teach Losh. He was also concerned about offending Losh or myself. He did an excellent job and Losh loved having him as a teacher.
Losh and his amazing camp counsellor learning about orienteering.
This is the third time I have accompanied one of my children to an event like this. Sometimes I feel a little awkward in these situations. I was there solely to help Losh, and didn’t want his counselor to think I was doubting his abilities to teach or anything like that. I just know that Losh requires extra help with certain things like fine motor skills and help pushing himself across rough terrain or long distances.
The other children tried to help push him a couple of times, but ended up getting the wheelchair stuck after only a few feet each time. There really is a trick to doing it right and since I’ve had lots of practice it is just easier for me to do it.
One of the easy trails at camp. Many others are steep and rocky.
Losh also had a blast at Boy Scout camp and is already planning which activities and merit badges he wants to earn next year. As with Kaia, we learned a lot and know what to bring to camp next time to make it easier.
Overall, the scouting program does a great job of including people with disabilities and both of my boys enjoy being scouts. They are working their way to being Eagle Scouts. I highly recommend getting your boys involved in scouting, even if they have no desire to reach Eagle rank. The life skills and lessons they learn are worth it!
Due to the overwhelming popularity and positive messages I received regarding a video I posted on YouTube about my body hair, I wanted to share 5 Reasons I Have Body Hair.
Ewww! That’s gross!
If you are like most people, then those were probably your first thoughts when reading that I – a girl – have body hair.
Yes. That’s right.. I have hair on my body.. Hair that most girls shave off. And I am okay with it! Here are some reasons why:
Shaving is Uncomfortable
I am allergic to the lubricants in most razors and get a terrible rash when using them. The re-growth of hair is itchy and uncomfortable. And have you ever had an ingrown hair? They are no fun!
On top of all of the uncomfortable things associated with shaving, it’s time consuming. I don’t have time to shave every single day nor do I want to. I’d rather save my time (and money) and spend it elsewhere.
I Am Not Trying To Please People With My Body
It truly sickens me that we live in a world where women are told to keep their body a certain way or they won’t be attractive. What happened to being attractive because of your character? What are we teaching our daughters?
I remember when I started going through puberty and growing hair and being shamed because of it. I don’t want my daughter to feel like her body, in its natural state, is anything to be ashamed of.
I Am Okay With My Body Hair
I totally get that it isn’t for everybody, and just because I am okay with having body hair doesn’t mean that you have to be okay with it, or even want it for yourself.
I, like most females, shave certain areas of my body, but not as often as most girls. I tend to grow my arm pit hair out for 1-1.5 months before shaving it. I let my leg hair grow for 1-2 weeks before shaving it. My hair is thick, dark, and coarse over my entire body, so while 1-2 weeks of leg hair growth may not seem like much to some, it’s actually quite noticeable on me.
Not Shaving Is Empowering
I don’t view myself as a feminist and I’m not obsessed with all things natural, but leaving my body in its natural state is empowering. I think it takes a very confident person to wear clothes that reveal their body hair in public, but at the same time, it builds confidence in those who may be lacking it.
Being comfortable in your body – whether with or without hair is all that matters. And I am comfortable with mine.
Have you ever grown your body hair out? Or shaved something you don’t normally shave?
