Deal of the Week: Homemade Dog Toys

Author: Tina | Posted: 21-05-2010 22

Ok, I’ll admit it. My dog, Murphy, is spoiled. He’s so adorable, it’s tough not to give in to his shenanigans and spoil him rotten. Let’s just say that he lives a very comfortable pug life.

For instance… Murphy makes himself comfortable whenever he pleases.

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He enjoys tastes of peanut butter straight from the jar.

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And has 20+ toys that he can play with whenever he wants.

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He’s definitely spoiled. Good thing he’s cute! ;)

Murphy loves to chew his toys. In fact, I find myself throwing away a destroyed dog toy at lease once a week. So, instead of buying him new toys, I’ve made him a couple of homemade ones that he really loves.

Dishtowel Dog Toy

From Real Simple

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What you need: Three laundered dish towels and scissors.

What you do:
1. Cut an inch-wide strip from one short end each of two towels.
2. Bunch together the three towels and firmly tie one strip around an end to join them. Tightly braid the towels, then tie the other end with the second strip.

Also works with: Napkins and orphan socks, for smaller pooches.

Sock Dog Toy

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What you need: 4 old socks

What you do:
1. Roll up 3 of the socks into balls and put them inside one of the socks.
2. Tie the top of the sock into a tight knot.

Bonus:
The sock dog toy also makes a great pillow for a tired dog.

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Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered yesterday’s giveaway! Here’s your winner: 9

9. Courtney, on May 20th, 2010 at 8:10 am Said:

In the summer, I love adding fresh sliced strawberries & blueberries with a little feta cheese, pecans, and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. YUMM! Homemade croutons are awesome too.

Congrats, Courtney! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize.

I <3 Salads

Author: Tina | Posted: 20-05-2010 134

Salads are a great way to trade-up the nutrition of your meals. Even adding a small side salad to what you normally eat is an easy way to get more nutrients into your diet.

Here are some of my favorite salad ingredients and their NuVal scores:

  • Romaine hearts (NuVal score: 100)
  • Onion (NuVal score: 93)
  • Tomatoes (NuVal score: 96)
  • Red bell pepper (NuVal score: 96)
  • Chopped walnuts (NuVal score: 82)
  • Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
  • Strawberries (NuVal score: 100)
  • Hard-boiled Eggland’s Best eggs (NuVal score: 44)
  • Avocados (NuVal score: 89)
  • Sweet potato (NuVal score: 96)
  • Cucumber (NuVal score: 93)
  • Carrots (NuVal score: 99)
  • Shrimp (NuVal score: 75)
  • Zucchini (NuVal score: 99)

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Lots of high-scoring goodies, right? Aren’t salads the best? :)

My new favorite salad addition (besides avocado) is homemade croutons! They are delicious, SO easy to make, and a great addition to a regular ol’ salad. Plus, you don’t have to waste old bread! ;)

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Homemade Croutons

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 loaf of day-old French bread
  • 1/8 cup olive oil
  • Garlic powder

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 400*F
  • Cut loaf into “crouton-size” pieces
  • Add bread and olive oil to a large bowl; coat bread with oil
  • Add garlic powder (or your choice of seasoning)
  • Spread croutons on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes
  • Allow to cool before serving

Makes 2-3 cups

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Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Don’t salad + croutons just scream salad bowl!? :)

This week’s Trading Up Downtown giveaway is a brand new palm tree-lined salad bowl with bamboo serving utensils. Wouldn’t this be perfect for a summer meal?

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To enter: Leave a comment on this post about your favorite salad ingredients. If you include NuVal scores with your comment and win the giveaway, I’ll add a NuVal t-shirt to your prize! A bunch of NuVal scores are listed on the NuVal website and even more are on the NuVal blogs, so make sure you include some!

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I’ll randomly pick a winner tomorrow morning. Good luck! :)

Shop, Trade, Save: Week of May 16

Author: Tina | Posted: 19-05-2010 14

I really try not to make more than one trip to the grocery store each week, but sometimes it just happens. Usually, I’m out of a key ingredient or there is something that I just can’t live without. I swear I always end up spending way more money when my grocery shopping is split into two trips instead of one.

This week, to be completely honest, I didn’t do a great job with meal planning. So, inevitably, I ended up at the grocery store on two different occasions and brought quite a bit both times. The weird thing, however, is that my husband and I are only eating at home three days this week. Why the heck did I buy so much food then?! I guess we were out of the “necessities” and they all added up?

This week’s meal plan:

Shopping Cart #1:

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  • Arnold Bread Oat Bran (NuVal score: 24)
  • Arnold Bread Grains & More Whole Wheat (NuVal score: 42)
  • Pitted dates (NuVal score: 91)
  • Bertolli Tomato & Basil sauce (NuVal score: 50)
  • Cooking spray
  • Romaine hearts (NuVal score: 100)
  • Chopped walnuts (NuVal score: 82)
  • Rienzi Arborio Rice

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  • Bananas (NuVal score: 91)
  • Onion (NuVal score: 93)
  • Tomatoes (NuVal score: 96)
  • Red bell pepper (NuVal score: 96)
  • Chicken broth (NuVal score: 2)
  • Wheat Thins Original (NuVal score: 24)
  • Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (NuVal score: 14)
  • Wheat Thins Vermont White Cheddar (NuVal score: 23)
  • Tinfoil

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Shopping Cart #2:

  • Broccoli (NuVal score: 100)
  • Strawberries (NuVal score: 100)
  • Eggland’s Best eggs (NuVal score: 44)
  • Brown Cow maple yogurt
  • Avocados (NuVal score: 89)
  • All Whites Liquid Egg Whites (NuVal score: 26)
  • Nature’s Promise extra firm tofu
  • Sweet potato (NuVal score: 96)
  • Wise Onion & Garlic potato chips (NuVal score: 5)
  • Edensoy Soymilk Original (NuVal score: 82)
  • Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted 100% Whole Grain Bread (NuVal score: 42)
  • Sargento Italian Pasta Cheese

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Trade

Hormel Original Pepperoni (NuVal score: 5) for Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (NuVal score: 14)

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Save

The Arnold Bread was Buy One, Get One FREE, so I bought two loaves, and threw on in the freezer for later. Bread never seems to go to waste in our house!

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What are the “necessities” that you always buy at the grocery store?

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