Matt's Homemade Raised dog food stand

Well, last week my amazing husband, Matt finished a project he had been planning to make - a raised dog feeder that could serve two dogs of similar height - so here it is!

Now they both can eat and drink from the same stand and it is much healthier for them to eat this way. After he assembled the pieces, I opted not to stain the piece with polyeurethane or stain because that can chip, and still mold with water if it seeps in. Instead, we chose to coat it with several coats of Butcher Block/Salad bowl finish which seeps into the wood and makes it impossible for mold to appear.

It also creates a food-safe surface and has been ok'd by the FDA to eat from. (This Butcher block finish is also used for kids toys such as puzzles, blocks, etc. because they put them in their mouths so much) It is virtually unscented and to clean up the surface of the table, all you need is a little soapy water or white vinegar.

Every month or so, it's also good to rub on a little mineral oil, much like you do to a butcher block to maintain it!

They love it!

Also, Matt's waiting on a special tool that will help him with the circular holes for the bowls, and .... We will begin to sell them on etsy.com in different sizes and small ones for kitties too! :) Look for them in the next coming months!!! He is so talented - thanks Matt!

-Bre

Mocha and Humphrey - doggy update!

For those of you who know (and those who don't), we have 2 shelter dogs that we adopted when they were just tiny pups, and they are so special to us! Mocha is our 1.5 year old Plott Hound/Lab mix and Humphrey is our 8 month old Plott Hound/German Shorthaired Pointer/Beagle(?) mix. They keep us very busy, and keep each other busy too!

Here is Mocha - she is such a sweet, smart, and FAST dog. No other dog can catch up to her when we take her to the dog park. She is also a great running companion for me, and is extremely smart. She loves swimming, and when we take her to the bay or to our hike near the river, she doesn't want to come in out of the water.

Here is Humphrey Bogert, our 8 month old Plott Hound/German Shorthaired Pointer/Beagle mix. He is incredibly laid back, a good learner, loves hiking, and is VERY loud. In fact, his hound bay is so loud, you can hear him even when he's outside down at the dog park. He is DEFINITELY a hound!

We have such a great time with them!!!

(Humphrey can't EVER catch up to Mocha!)

Have a good one!

Bre, Matt, Humphrey and Mocha Beans!

What's for dinner when it's 95 degrees out....?

Well, we can't rememeber an early April when we have had a run of 95 degree days...but, it seems to be this year! The year of "snowmageddon" here in Northern VA and now the 90 degree April!

Matt loves his grill, and we use it mostly every night when Spring starts to cook up some fresh grilled chicken and fresh vegetables, and even recently started making our own rustic pizza flatbreads on it...but it's just TOO hot to grill this week..so what's for dinner when it's 95 degrees out?

...We saw this salad and made it (thanks Paula Deen!) for our dinner tonight! It's really filling if you add some grilled chicken or salmon to it! Here's the recipe!

Dressing Ingredients:

3 tbs Rice Wine Vinegar

1 tbs Dijon Mustard

1/3 Cup Olive Oil

1/2 tsp salt

Salad Ingredients:

3 Peaches, pits removed & cut into wedges

1 tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp salt

5 cups mesclun greens mix

1/2 cup chopped pecans (see my tip below - I candied them first)

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Dressing:

Combine Rice Wine Vinegar and Dijon in small bowl

Slowly pour the Olive Oil into the bowl whisking constantly to emulsify

Season with salt

(We added a couple pinches of sugar too to the dressing!)

Salad:

Preheat a grill pan to medium-high heat

Place peach wedges in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil

Season them with sald and toss well until coated

Place on the grill pan and cook for 1-2 mins per side (to heat and get grill marks)

Place mesclun mix a large salad bowl

Add Chopped pecans, Feta, and cooked peaches

Drizzle salad with prepared dressing

Toss well

ENJOY!

Tips from us:

- If the dressing tastes too bitter for you, add some pinches of sugar to dressing and whisk well

- Mix the peaches into the salad bowl when they are still warm, so it melts some of the feta and makes contrasts in the salad - it's a warm/cold salad!
-I candied the pecans in a tsp. of butter and a 1tsp of light brown sugar melted in a saucepan, then cooled, so great!

...and THAT'S what's for dinner on a 95 degree day!

- The Bogerts

New cookie Recipe!

I found this cookie recipe today and made them - they are delicious! And low fat/cholesterol as well!

(Low Fat) Rice Krispies Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes : 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c All-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c Butter; softened

1/4 c Nonfat cream cheese; softened

1 c sugar

1/4 c Egg beaters(TM) 99% egg substitute

1 tsp vanilla

2 c Rice Krispies(TM)

4 oz Chocolate chips, reduced fat

Vegetable cooking spray

Preparation:

1. In small mixing bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and sugar

until light and fluffy. Add egg substitute and vanilla. Beat well. Add

flour mixture, mixing until combined. Stir in Rice Krispies cereal and

chocolate morsels. Drop by level measuring-tablespoon onto baking sheets

coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 350F about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove

immediately from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

ENJOY!!!!

-Bre :)

(thanks to Diet & Fitness today for the recipe)

Cherry Blossom Festival - Washington D.C.!

It's hard to believe we have lived here for almost four years, and I spent my childhood coming to this area several times a year and neither of us has been to the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC!

Well, I am lucky enough to work in the nation's capital and after work, decided to take advantage of the beautiful 80 degree weather and take a walk, several miles down the road to the tidal basin in DC to check out the blooms! It was what the arborists and horticuluralists called the "peak bloom day", the day in which about 70% of all blooms are out, and after that day begin to lose their petals.

(I personally love when they lose their petals because it looks like a snow flurry! Oh yeah, and also that summer is just around the corner!)

Our weather here in the DC region has felt unseasonably warm...I can not remember an Easter where we set the outside table on the porch for the ham dinner! We are loving this!

Here is a little history of the Cherry Blossoms in DC for those who might not know about it:

"The National Cherry Blossom Festival® annually commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, honoring the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrating the continued close relationship between our two cultures.

In a simple ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees from Japan on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. In 1915, the United States Government reciprocated with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. A group of American school children reenacted the initial planting in 1927 and the first "festival” was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the Nation’s Capital.

First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted 3,800 more trees in 1965. In 1981, the cycle of giving came full circle. Japanese horticulturists were given cuttings from our trees to replace some cherry trees in Japan which had been destroyed in a flood.

The Festival was expanded to two weeks in 1994 to accommodate a diverse activity schedule during the trees’ blooming. Today, more than a million people visit Washington, DC each year to admire the blossoming cherry trees and attend events that herald the beginning of spring in the Nation’s Capital." (From the NCBF website)

Here are some pictures of the Cherry Blossom Festival that I took (with my camera phone)

Happy Easter Weekend, everyone!

-Bre