3 Horsey Tools I'm Loving

Thank goodness winter is over!!  It can be a really trying time as a horse (or any livestock, for that matter) owner.  Whether you’re fighting frozen water tanks, blowing and drifting snow, or the desire to stay curled up under a blanket inside… We can’t simply ignore the animals we have chosen to have in our lives!  Now that it seems that spring is here to stay, I’ve been thinking about a few things that I couldn’t do without as a horse owner... 

For years, I’ve used a plastic tote to hold my grooming supplies, but this Christmas I received the Noble Outfitters Equissential Tote and honestly LOVE it!  There’s tons of pockets for storage and because of it’s height, spray bottles go in the middle and don’t fall over like they did in my old one.  The best part though?  The mesh bottom that let’s hair and dirt fall tight through.  I can’t tell you how gross my old one used to get because it just accumulated at the bottom.  Eww.  Oh, and it comes in purple and black!

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As we transition from winter to spring, the days get longer and horses start shedding.  Horse hair is literally flying all over the place.  A good rule of thumb; don’t want to wear polar fleece or chapstick in the barn from February to mid-May!  To help expedite the process, I rotate between three different shedding tools… Shedding blade, a Furminator and a Sleekez.  

For the last several years, I’ve used a slow feed hay bag at the trailer or in the stall overnight at horse shows.  The slow feed hay bags are nice because they keep Louie busy, he wastes very little hay compared to a traditional hay bag, I haul less hay and it mimics his natural grazing habits.  All positives in my book.  This winter at the barn we experimented with using them on a daily basis and they worked out really well!  The stalls were easier to clean because there wasn’t hay being stirred into shavings and there wasn't the worry we'd run out of hay.  A common concern.  In the mornings there was less rowdy, “I’m starving” banging of doors because they eat all through the night.  I’ve been won over by the Hay Chix brand of hay bag simply because they’re the easiest to fill!

What are some of your 'Must Haves' in the barn?  Please share!

Get In My Belly. Recipes That Didn't Disappoint.

Hey folks!! 

So last time I gushed about all the handmade and personal touches that went into the baby shower that I hosted for my sister-in-law.  I still swoon over the pictures!  This post is dedicated to all the amazing recipes (and their creators) that were created. 

I'm telling you, do yourself a favor and find a reason (any reason) and make some or ALL of these!  You won't be sorry.

With the shower being at 2pm, I knew that I wanted to make some lighter snacky options that were both savory and sweet.  I scoured Pinterest and started pinning away.  The menu was narrowed down to three savory options, fresh fruit and dip and 2 desserts.  Along with the food, guests could choose between iced tea or punch. 

The savory dishes included:

Corn Muffin Thumbprints.  I followed Cristen's recipe to the letter and opted to top these thumbprints with Matt's homemade strawberry jam that he cans every year.  These little gals were delicious!  The honey butter and little bits of corn, woo! 

Fresh Fruit and Orange Creamsicle Dip.  Deliciousness abounds!  I'm a BIG lover of all things creamsicle and this was spot on.  For this recipe I did substitute fresh OJ for concentrate.  

The two other recipes... Blogger Fail.  No pictures.  Alas.  You'll just have to trust me and make them without the pictures.  I'm a trustworthy gal, promise.

This Pickle Wrap Dip tastes JUST LIKE those old school, painstakingly created Pickle Wraps.  My mom is a champion Pickle Wrap maker and finding a shortcut recipe was right up my alley!  I've made this dip several times and always add a splash or two of pickle juice just before stirring.  Extra pickle flavor never hurt nobody!  

At each table setting, I set a small paper cup of this Snack Mix.  I added garlic powder in lieu of the infused olive oil and also added some chili powder.  Initially, I was a little worried this might be more spicy than most of the group could take, but they all ponied up and loved it!

On to the desserts.  Oh, the desserts!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake and Mini Apple Tarts, oh my!  They were as delicious as they look.  The cake was epic!  Seriously.  I'm a sucker for the salted caramel phase that's going around and it paired great with vanilla ice cream.  I did end up doubling the chocolate frosting recipe.  Because well, it's frosting!  

The Mini Apple Tarts were a variation of this recipe.  I opted to use store bought pie crust and went with apple filling because I'd canned some last fall... that was delicious!  Is there any interest in having my write up all my adaptations and post this recipe?  Lemme know!

To wash down all these tasty treats, I served good ol' Lipton raspberry ice tea and punch. 

 

The punch was super-duper good, but I didn't follow the recipe to the letter.  Based on several of the reviews I decided to use raspberry sherbert instead of strawberry ice cream.  And I did float some limes and lemons!  It tasted great and obviously the color was spot on too!

Brand Loyalty

I grew up with an extended family who did LOTS of canning and food preservation.  Both of my aunts and my grandma had huge gardens and eating everything fresh just wasn't feasible!  So they spent many days during the summer prepping and processing using both the hot water bath and pressure canner method to put fruits and veggies up to use all winter long.  I don't remember much about those days, other than I wasn't supposed to be in the kitchen!  Hot water.  Hot jars.  Hot food.  Not a place for little girls to be running amok! 

The summer before Matt and I got married I received a GIANT basket of canning goodies from my Aunt Pat as a shower gift and I'll be honest it's been the most used of everything we got for the wedding!  Canning requires quite a bit of stuff from jars and lids to can lifters, funnels and other accessories.  Everything in our basket was from Ball.  This company has been around for 125 years and they've got it going on!  They have anything and everything you could think of to help you preserve food!!


I obviously use my jars for their intended purposes of canning and preserving food, but I also use them to store items in my pantry and throughout the house as decoration!  Some of my favorites are the old hinge top jars or the ones with the zinc lids that you may find at antique stores or you might also acquire them from the basement at your parents house... wink, wink. 

Have you noticed that these mason jar type products are everywhere these days?  Walk through just about any store and you'll see a shelf of drinking glasses or travel mugs molded to look like a mason jar.  I love these just as much as the next person, but here's the issue... I already have hundreds, not even kidding, hundreds of these jars at home.  I don't really need another one just for the sole purpose of taking it with me in the car or when I travel.  Last weekend when I was home to see my parents we stopped in at the local farm store and the heavens opened up and the angels sang as I walked past these puppies...

I knew that if I waited long enough, Ball would make something that allowed me to roll with the in crowd and use what I already have on hand!  Halleluiah! 

Here's where I wax poetically about their products!  FYI.  This is not a sponsored post, but I'd be delighted to have them send me some products to review!  These are bangin'!  I've used them on several occasions for my morning breakfast smoothies.  The best part is the straw!  It's made of hard plastic, wide enough nothing gets stuck and doesn't collapse when my smoothie is thick!  I bought the regular mouth lids, but they also sell ones that fit wide mouth jars too. After trying out several jars, I've found that my favorite is the 12 oz. Quilted Crystal Jelly Jar because it's narrow enough to fit in the cup holder in my car, but large enough to hold my entire smoothie.

Have y'all seen these in the stores where you live?  Am I late to the party or is this the first you're seeing Ball Mason Jar Sip and Straw Lids?

Feeling SPARK-y?

For a few months now I've been hearing and reading a lot about Advocare from other bloggers and a few friends of mine.  Are you familiar with Advocare? 

According to their website, Advocare is a premier health and wellness company offering world-class energy, weight-loss, nutrition, and sports performance products along with a rewarding business opportunity.

They offer a variety of products, but I find their Spark product the most intriguing!  Who couldn't use an extra energy boost?!?  It is also said to enhance mental focus, help fight occasional drowsiness, provide 20+ vitamins, minerals and nutrients and is sugar-free and only 45 calories!  You can read more about Spark here.

After going Paleo and completing a Whole30 challenge, I think I'm pretty well off in the diet and nutrition arena.  I'm also one of those people who for whatever reason is just a morning person.  It doesn't take much to get me up and going each day, but I really wanted to just give it a try and see if the hype was real....

Enter a Facebook giveaway from one of my friends who is a distributor.  She was going to give away a packet to the first five people who sent her a private message requesting a sample.  I was lucky number five!!

After the Spark arrived in the mail, I waited a few days to give it a try.  If it was that wonderfully magical I didn't want to just use it on some random day!   

I know, I'm weird.  

When I finally decided there was a day fitting of giving it a try, I whipped up a smoothie (keep scrolling for the recipe) that incorporated my Spark.  I had no idea what to expect flavor wise, but I was pleasantly surprised by the tart and sour zing, which I could only attribute to the Spark.  About twenty minutes after drinking my smoothie, I could definitely tell there was an extra something going on... 

I felt brighter eyed, the world was clearer and I noticed a little extra 'umph'!  It was all subtle though, which I appreciated.  I didn't want to be a wide-eyed, anxious ball of nerves!  The smoothie was also filling enough that it carried me through until lunch time.  Double bonus.

So, the question is: Would I actually pay for Spark?  Yes.  Although I don't think it's something that I need to incorporate into my daily routine, I did like that extra 'something' that it added to my day.  I'm not a slave to coffee, nor do I have kids to wrangle in the mornings, but I could definitely see myself drinking it prior to horse shows this summer! 

Have any of you tried any of the Advocare products?  Are you a Spark drinker?  Do you use it everyday?

Mango-Strawberry Spark Smootie
Serves 1

Ingredients:
5 frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana, previously peeled and sliced
1 clementine, peeled
1 handful of fresh spinach
1 packet Mango-Strawberry Spark
6 oz. water

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients and pulse until smooth. Scrape down the sides of blender as needed.

Recipe Review

On Sunday morning the hubs and I were up and at 'em pretty early.

I was up even before my alarm was set to go off at 7:30am.  I was headed out for a day of 'junkin' with the girls at the 3rd Sunday Market in Bloomington.

Since both of us were going to be busy all day I decided to try the Southwestern Steak and Cornbread Dressing from Eat at Home.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and I'm so glad I did!  You should definitely try it, it's really really good!

As Matt was busy preparing to make pizza sauce with the fresh tomatoes from our garden and I threw the FOUR ingredients in the slow cooker for supper.

Yep, four.

The only change I had to make was, instead of sirloin tip or round steak, I used an arm roast because that was what what I had in the freezer.  Any cut of meat that is used for slow roasting would be perfect in this recipe.

I got home that afternoon, unloaded my goodies, and had to have a sample of the deliciousness!  And oh boy was it awesome!

Source

For our supper, I served it with green beans, but next time I'll do a salad or something with some 'crunch'.