LED Lights

A couple of weeks ago Corey's parents found an AMAZING deal at Jewel on LED lights.  Yes, the grocery store.  It was a deal that made me think that it had to be too good to be true and that the lights must be junky.  But Corey looked them up on Amazon and they were being sold for $26 per bulb, but now the price went down to $14 per bulb.  

And Jewel was selling them on a buy 1 get 2 free deal!  And the 1 bulb only cost $6 for non-dimmable (and $8 for dimmable).  So that breaks down to $2 per bulb.  TWO DOLLARS FOR AN LED BULB. TWO.  I mean.......

All I can think of is that no one was buying them because they're a grocery store, so they put them on a big sale just to clear them out?????  It's too good of a deal to even question.

You may be wondering why we want LED bulbs so much.  Well, they last longer and use less power than even CFL bulbs.  Our LED bulbs are 9 watts, CFLs are about 13 and traditional bulbs are 60.  So there's a big difference in terms of power usage.  Supposedly these bulbs should last us 18 years before they burn out which is nuts.  One of our living room lights was 100 watts and now with all the living room lights replaced the entire living room doesn't even use 100 watts!

So Corey went to Jewel on his lunch break and bought a case.  Then he went back after work and bought another case for us and one for my brother.  In total he bought about 33 bulbs for us. 

And so far he has replaced 31 lights in our house.  I didn't even know we had 31 lights in our house!  Also if anyone wants a bunch of partially used CFLs, we can hook you up!

We immediately noticed the lighting change so Corey took a Before picture before he changed out the kitchen lights.

Before with our old CFL bulbs:

After with the new LED bulbs:

I can't get over how ORANGE the old lights were!

We bought some dimmable lights and some non so I don't know the full breakdown, but at a minimum we only spent $66 + tax for a houseful of LED lights.  Which is craaaaaazy.

The other upside to this is that now the house is so brightly lit that I am noticing how dreadfully bare our walls are and so now I am working on that.  In the coming weeks you should see lots of posts about art going up on the walls!

Crafty Homestead Garden Notebook

Today was a very good mail day because my two new journals came!  I used Christmas money to treat myself to expensive custom journals.  They are from Paper Source and could not be cuter or more awesome.  When I finish my current To Do List journal and my writing-thoughts-down journal I will replace them with Paper Source journals.

Things I Love About These Notebooks:

• my pens fit into the spiral
• pens don't bleed through to the other side of the page
• they are spiral so they lay flat and can be folded in half
• they are so pretty
• I got 10% off the order

One journal (pictured above) is for all things garden.  When we were house (originally land) hunting I had a notebook that I kept everything in.  As we saw properties & took notes on them and made various lists everything was all in one place.  It was so nice to grab that notebook and know that anything that I would want to reference was in there.  No lists or notes were lost along the way.  I also do that for my To Do lists now.  I love having them all in one place and I love buying cute notebooks!

So I customized the cover of the notebook with "Crafty Homestead Garden."  I didn't put 2015 because it has so many pages I am sure we get at least two years out of it.  I picked grid paper for the inside because I want to sketch out garden bed plans in it among other things.  This way as the summer goes on and I want to write myself notes to reference when I'm planning next year (too much zucchini, move pumpkins next year, etc) they will all go in one place.  And when I want to remember what exactly we planted in that corner over there, I can flip back to the beginning and see the plan that I sketched out in Spring.  

For now I have two pages used already.  One is a list of what we want to plant this year and one is a list of goals for 2015 (based on what I struggled with last summer).

In case you can't read my handwriting I typed them out.

What To Plant This Year:

• tomatoes - grape, black krim
• basil
• cucumbers - regular, pickling
• carrots
• kale
• lettuce
• zucchini
• butternut squash
• pumpkins
• onions
• garlic
• green onions
• peppers
• brussel sprouts
• potatoes
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• sweet potatoes

2015 Garden Goals:

• stay on top of trimming & harvesting the basil
• make enough pesto for the year
• stay on top of weeding
• work on tomato bursting
• regular, deep watering
• try succession planting
• expand the garden dramatically
• check zucchini daily to avoid growing crazy monsters
• do fall planting again
• more than just garlic?
• keep track of how much we plant so we know how much more/less to plant in 2016
• do more from seeds than last year
• (which was zero) 

I want to get to the point where we are growing most of the vegetables that we need for the year.  So storing potatoes, onions, & garlic in the basement and freezing broccoli florets and canning tomatoes, etc.  I know it'll take several years to figure out how much we need to plant of each kind so that we have enough for the whole year, and documenting how much we plant this year is the first step.  Once we know how much to plant to feed ourselves the goal will change to planting enough to have some to sell.

My other notebook I personalized with my initials and used datebook pages on the inside.

 

This will be my planner.  A lot of my To Do Lists will move in to this notebook, along with meal plans for the week, and hopefully soon a work schedule.  It has lots of pages so it should be good for at least a year if not two.  I love that the Month spot is blank so you can start using this whenever you want in the year.  Plus if you miss a week you won't be wasting any pages.  The last column on the right is just a "Notes" column and I like having space that is not assigned to a specific day.  I used this week's blank spot for the grocery list :)

What's Been Sounding Yummy to Me Lately

Every time I find a recipe that looks good I keep it open in a tab on Chrome in my phone.  Recently I had over 30 tabs open and I thought I should gather them all up here.

Here are ones that I've made before and plan on making for dinner in this week:

These are so easy, yummy, and quick to put together for a week night dinner: 
Hearty Black Bean Quesadillas by Budget Bytes 

This is the greatest baked potato soup I've ever had.  However before I pureed the soup I scooped out about half of the broth and I'm glad I did because I like a creamier, thicker soup. I have made this in the crock pot and in a dutch oven on the stove. It's great either way:
Loaded Baked Potato Soup by food.com

I used the broth reserved from the Potato Soup as the broth in this amazing Tortilla Soup recipe.  I did one cup milk and 1 cup broth, added in a can of white northern beans instead of the chicken, and used an entire recipe of this delicious enchilada sauce.  And to actually get some tortillas into this soup I cut them up into little pieces and pan fried them in some olive oil as a crunchy soup topper.  I HIGHLY recommend doing this!


I haven't made these before, but they are coming up soon in one way or another:

Roasted Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese by Joy the Baker

Hasselback Potatoes with Spinach Cashew Pesto by Joy the Baker

How to Make A Simple Salad Worth Eating by Serious Eats

Moroccan Lentil Vegetable Stew by Budget Bytes

Irish Brown Bread by Irish American Mom

Cheese Puffs by Ina Garten 


I am in Christmas cookie mode right now, but I want to start working on these in January:

Desserts- 

Apple Pie Biscuits by Joy the Baker

Triple Berry Cinnamon Swirl Bread by Joy the Baker 

Smore Pie by Dinner A Love Story

Milky Way Cake by The Pioneer Woman 

Salted Caramel Apple Pie by the Cooking Channel 

I used these tips recently to finally have a successful homemade pie crust for the first time: 
Five Tips for the Best From Scratch Pie Crust by Joy the Baker

All the Weight References From Love Actually & My Musings

I love the movie Love Actually and I watch it every year at Christmas.  But, every time I watch it something very particular bothers me.  They talk about weight so often and it seems off and unnecessary to me.  So I googled trying to find a list of all the weight references in the movie.  I couldn't find one, but I did find an article critiquing the movie as a whole and two responding to that negative article.  So it got my thoughts rumbling around even more and I want to get them out.  But first, here's the list of all the weight references in Love Actually that I compiled from a script I found online.  17 in all:

• He said I was getting fat.
•  He said no one'd fancy a girl with thighs the size of tree trunks.
•  [refuses a doughnut] If you saw my sister, you'd understand why.
•  Just don't go eating it all yourself, you're getting chubbier every day
•  I'm lucky - I've got of those constitution where I never put on weight
•  The chubby girl?
• Ooh, would we call her chubby?
• I think there's a pretty sizeable arse there, yes, sir. Huge thighs.
• That was a good night. Though I felt fat.
•  Nowadays the only clothes I can get into were once owned by Pavarotti
•  my fat manager
•  a chubby employee
•  chubs... but you turn out to be the fucking love of my life
•  Well, perhaps you should come on later, Plumpy.
•  Shut up, Miss Dunkin' Donut 2003
•  Oh, God - say yes, you skinny moron
•   God, you weigh a lot.

Weight comes up so often in the movie and it always stands out to me.  It's nice to have them all gathered up.  What is writer & director Richard Curtis's issue with weight and why is he so obsessed???

Moving on to my musings on the movie, here is the negative article I read written by Christopher Orr.

Orr starts off saying that it is "utterly insane" for people to consider this movie a holiday classic and watch it every year.  He claims it is not a Christmas movie because it is "not a movie about peace on Earth and good will toward men (or, for that matter, about what toys Santa will be placing under the tree)."  I agree it's not similar to a A Christmas Story or It's A Wonderful Life, but it's a message of love set around the Christmas season which to me definitely qualifies it as a holiday movie.  Many of the characters are motivated to act because it is Christmas, there are scenes with people Christmas shopping, decorations are up everywhere, there's a work holiday party, a pivotal scene involves opening a Christmas present, and a huge scene is set around the Christmas Eve nativity play.  One of the reasons that I love to watch Love Actually every year is it's a bit different than the rest of the classic movies that I love to watch this time of year and it's refreshing. 

Now the author's three main points revolve around him saying the movie is not a romantic comedy, but is an anti-romantic movie.  

I know that this movie is classified as a romantic comedy everywhere (even on the poster), because out of all the movie genres it fits best in that one.  But to me this is not meant to be a romantic comedy and I don't understand why this movie critic is so adamant that it completely fit into that umbrella.  Yes, it is funny.  Yes, there is romance.  However, to me it is a movie about love, all the different kinds of love there are: romantic, familial, self, unrequited, and lust. Each of the 9 relationships fit into one of those types of love.  

Romantic: David & Natalie, Jamie & Aurelia, Jack & Judy

Familial: Sarah & her brother, Daniel & Sam, Billy & Joe

Self: Karen & Harry

Unrequited: Mark & Juliet

Lust: Colin & the American girls

The author seems to have a big problem with the storyline on Karen & Harry, the married couple where the husband emotionally cheats on his wife.  He does not like that in the movie they don't show the couple working through the problem and recovering as a couple.  One of his main points in critiquing the movie is "any actual obstacle to romantic fulfillment, however surmountable, is not worth the effort it would require to overcome." But to me that story line is about learning to love yourself.  It is clear throughout the movie that Karen does not feel confident about herself anymore and devotes most of her time to her family.  In the last scene at Heathrow airport you see that Karen has gotten her hair done, is wearing make up, has earrings on, and has put on a nice outfit.  It is not clear in that scene if they have separated or are together, but to me it's about Karen and how she has shown herself love.  The focus is not supposed to be on their marriage at that point.

Orr sees the storyline for Sarah & Karl as a failure as well,  He feels that Sarah's brother is an obstacle in the way of their love that they can't overcome and they just give up on love, another reason he sees it as an "anti-romance" movie.  But to me, she chooses the love for her brother over the love of a lover.  That storyline focuses on a different type of love.  Yes, it's still heart breaking to watch her give up on romance with Karl, but she makes a choice and still chooses love.

In the voiceover intro to the movie it states "love is everywhere. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends"  They are setting you up for a movie about LOVE, not romance.  So the fact that this author keeps going on and on about romance makes me mad.  That is not the point of the movie and they go back to that point during the ending scene as they show people greeting each other in the airport again.  It's all different sorts of loving relationships, not just couples.

Another main point in the article is "love is overwhelmingly a product of physical attraction and requires virtually no verbal communication."  It's a two hour movie with 9 storylines, they have to hit the high points!  He specifically points out how Sarah & Karl don't talk before their love scene.  However, they've been working together for two years, spent the Christmas party together, and he took her home that evening.  I'm sure there were many conversations had in all that time, if only in the cab ride to her apartment.  

Physical attraction IS a huge part of romantic love, though.  Being attracted to each other is what makes it romantic love instead of friendly love.  So to me it seems normal that each character is attracted to the other the first time they meet.  That first attraction is what makes you pursue the relationship and have more interactions with that person to see what happen between the two of you.  The author does not like that David likes Natalie "the first time he speaks with her—“Get a grip,” he chides himself moments afterward—when essentially the only thing he knows about her is that she accidentally uses profanity a lot" and he claims that that is the moment David fell in love with her.  David never says he loves Natalie in the movie, though she says she loves him.  I think it is very normal for there to be a spark the first time you meet someone and I don't understand why Orr has such an issue physical attraction in the movie. I know that some relationships develop over time and there isn't always an initial ooooooooo moment, but I don't think it's weird to walk away from meeting someone and have butterflies in your stomach. 

Orr even makes the point about there not being enough verbal communication with Joanna & Sam, the kids!  What 9 year old kid talks to their crush?  When you're a kid your crush is based on looks and a few other details and you try to gather as much information on them as you can.  That is just so normal to me that I can't believe he even discusses it in his article, "they’ve never spoken before: All she knows about him is that he plays the drums (poorly) and that he has very little respect for airport security."

By the end of this article I was convinced that this movie critic wanted a mini-series and not a movie. His closing point is the "fundamental problem with Love Actually is that it presents romance as either absurdly easy—something that strikes you like a thunderclap and requires only a single grand gesture in order to be fulfilled—or all but impossible."    IT IS A MOVIE AND NOT REAL LIFE!  Plus most romantic movies are about one couple so the movie is about their ups and downs and finding each other.  Love Actually covers 9 couples and so there isn't time to go into the details and nuances and show every conversation in each relationship.  And the romantic love in this movie is all in the beginning stages, they're about the falling in love part.  You don't know if all the relationships will stand the test of time, but you do know that they've met and fallen in love.  All of the characters spend time together and have multiple scenes together in the movie before any grand gestures are made.  

I see so much romance in this supposed "anti-romance" movie.  How adorable are Jack and Judy?  They're shy, but they talk and have a great rapport with each other.  She says "all I want for Christmas, is, YOU!" and Jack jumps off her steps with a happy shout after their first real date.  Even before Jamie & Aurelia learn each other's languages they are so in tune with each other, unknowingly having great conversation in two different languages.  Then he proposes with a big romantic gesture (admitting that it's crazy).  David & Natalie flirt back and forth, she writes him a romantic Christmas card, and he goes off on a romantic quest to find her on Christmas Eve.  The author of the article does not seem to like that they kiss before going out on a real date, which to me just makes the author a real prude.  The other storylines aren't romantic, but they're not meant to be.  Those other characters are exploring love beyond romantic love.

Puppy Food, Training Treats, Health Care Stuff, & General Dog Supplies

Basil when he was tiny and still had fluffy fur!

Continuing with this week's doggy theme, here is a list of what I feed Basil (and why) and what I use to keep up with his health care needs.

-Food-

Fromm Gold Puppy: I feed Basil Fromm food.  When he's too old for puppy food I'll give him Fromm Gold Adult Food.  That's the brand his shelter (Wright-Way Rescue) uses and it is really good quality so I continued giving it to him.  It's made in Wisconsin so it's pretty local to me.  The first three ingredients are meat and there's no filler or grain in it.  Plus they put in veggies, flax seed, brewers yeast (helps repel biting insects), and probiotics.  This is what I put in his two Busy Buddy toys.

Fromm Gold Wet Food: For each meal I mix in a spoonful of wet food to make the dry food a bit more interesting.  I also use spoonfuls of the wet food in his Kong toy that I talked about on Tuesday.  I've given Basil the duck & chicken one and the just chicken one and he likes both.  The wet food is pretty expensive, but in a week he only goes through two cans.

-Treats-

Blue Buffalo Beef Training Treats: These are Basil's standard treats.  I use these for going through all his tricks (sit, lay, shake, stay) and back when he used to get a treat for "going" outside.  Now with the invisible fence I'll use them to reward him coming inside when I call him.  I break these in half since they're expensive.  Plus in a training session he'll get a bunch.  I tried a lot of treats with Basil that he didn't like and I learned that he doesn't like dry crunchy treats.  He likes ones like these that are a little "wet."  Training treats are great because they're small and easy to eat so you can go right into the next trick and not wait for them to finish their treat.  Plus these ones have good ingredients (flax seed & salmon oil) and no junk.  I used to get the chicken flavor of these, but I did a little puppy taste test and learned he likes the beef one better.

Costco Chicken Jerky Treats: These are a BIG TREAT.  He gets these whenever he's been super good.  He also gets one every night when he goes into his kennel by himself.  When it's late and he hears this bag crinkle he runs right to his kennel and lays down!  Sometimes I rip these into little pieces and use them for a training session (I am trying to get him to learn "drop it").  Obviously I buy these at Costco, but I'm sure similar ones can be found elsewhere.

Dried Liver Treats: These treats gross me out, but Basil loves them.  They are another BIG DEAL treat.  We bought this bag in July and he's still working on it.

-Health Care-

I need to be better at following through, but my goal is to brush Basil's fur & teeth and clean his ears once each week.  I have been good about giving him a bath every other month.  And he gets his heartworm & flea medicine each month.  

Brushing his fur helps keep his shedding down (he doesn't shed much, if your dog does you might want to do daily brushings), brushing his teeth keeps them healthy & white (here's an article about doggy dental health), and cleaning his ears helps keeps ear infections at bay.  Here's what I use:

Furminator Brush: This is a great brush!  It gets out so much of the undercoat which is what sheds the most.  There's no point in buying another brush in my opinion.

Toothbrush:  I like that this is double ended.  I used to use the tiny end on his puppy teeth, but now I use the big end on his adult teeth.  I like that if he has a particularly bad spot on a tooth I can focus on it with the tiny end.  Basil tries to eat the toothbrush the entire time I brush his teeth, but I am able to get them mostly clean.  Also sidenote, I am terrified to brush Banjo's teeth!

Toothpaste:  Chewy.com actually messed up my order and sent mint instead of poultry flavor.  I didn't care enough to have them exchange it.  Works well enough!  I'm pretty sure this tube will last forever.

Ear Cleaner:  I put a few drops of this onto a round cotton pad and wipe out his ears.  I use one cotton round per ear.  I just buy Target brand cotton rounds.  They're what I use to take my makeup off, too.  He hates me cleaning his ears, but it's gotta be done.  This bottle will last forever.  You can't hurt their ear, the actual ear drum is way inside and you're just cleaning out the canal.  As deep as you can get you're still not getting to a part where you could hurt their ear.  Here's a picture:

Shampoo: This smells good and Basil has never been itchy after a bath.  I'm pretty sure this bottle will last forever.

Conditioner: Same shampoo comments apply here.  This makes Basil fur nice and smooth for several days after his bath (day of it's fluffy though, which is weird).

After a few minutes Basil stops trying to escape the tub, gives in to the reality of the bath happening, and gives me this WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME look the entire time:

I'm leaving out nail care, because I don't feel confident in what we're doing right now!  Basil hates his paws being touched in any way and clipping his nails is torture for both of us.  When he got neutered they did his nails while he was out and I haven't done anything since....

-General Doggy Supplies-

Pooper Scooper: I avoid the plastic bag method whenever possible.

Doggy Leash Poop Bags: I use these when we're away from home.  I love that they're attached to the leash and can't be forgotten.  The little container has a hook to hold the poop bag for you for the rest of the walk and they're scented which are nice touches.  And they're super cheap!

Doggy Bed: This is what we have in Basil's kennel to make it cozy.  I've washed it a few times and it comes out well.  I recommend using a sticky roller to get the hair off before you put it in the washer, though.

Doggy Bowls:  These are good.  You can put them in the dishwasher if you're lucky enough to have one.  They won't tip over.  However, if your dog is a weirdo who full-on PLAYS with his bowl, it will spill and slosh over the edges.

Dog Maze Slo-Bowl: If your dog is eating too fast this helps to slow them down (some dogs will throw up from eating too fast or get bloat which is very bad).  Once I started mixing in some wet food it got awkward to use this so I haven't been.  It's best for just dry food.

-Doggy Safety-

Lupine Pet Leash & Collar: Basil's shelter sells Lupine brand.  If your dog chews through their leash or collar they will replace it!  Just keep the tags.  Plus their designs are soooo cute.  Basil has "dapper dog."

Kurgo Seat Belt: In addition to keeping Basil safe in a crash or when I stop fast, it keeps him in place.  I have driven without it before and he tries to climb in my lap!  And this way I can put stuff in the backseat with him and he can't go investigate/chew it all.  It's nice to get him belted in and then load the car for trips.  Also it doubles as a regular harness that you can use on walks, just clip the leash to it instead of the seat belt loop.

Kyjen Outward Hound Backpack:  I got this because Basil was restless during walks.  This gives him a "job" (again he's a border collie mix) and honestly, tires him out faster!  Plus he has helped to carry in the tomato harvest and groceries!  When he can't actually be useful I just fill it with water bottles.

The Best Puppy Toys

I just sent my about-to-get-a-puppy cousin a big list of Basil's favorite toys and thought other people might want this info.  It's hard to know what toy your dog will love and you don't want to waste your money.  These are toys that Basil plays with pretty much every single day!  I know reviews always help me pick so here we go.

My biggest general tip is to keep toys in rotation.  I have two baskets of toys for Basil and I switch them up every few days.  When he hasn't seen a certain toy or bone for a few days when it reappears it is way more interesting than it usually is.  And usually when toys roll under the couch I let them stay there awhile for the same reason!

Fetch Toys-

Chuck It Sport Launcher:  We only use this outside because this chucks the ball crazy far. It's great for dog parks & beaches and backyards. It's the perfect way to run out their energy and a big plus is that you use it to pick the ball up which is super nice when the ball gets slobbery.  (Always bring this with to the dog park/beach in case no other dogs are there to play with!)








Chuck It Kick Fetch Ball:  We use this ball inside & outside.  It's a soccer ball sized ball and it's so funny to see Basil carry it!  He loves everything about this ball.  It has grooves in it to help him pick it up, plus it's not filled with air.  I looked for something like this after Basil popped a few soccer balls!

Kong Frisbee: We use this inside & outside.  Basil destroyed a regular frisbee so I went looking for another option.  This is from the Kong brand and is made of the same indestructible rubber as their classic toy.

Kong Squeaky Tennis Balls:  We use these mostly inside now (and the Chuck It outside).  These are great for getting a dog's attention. Basil can get very distracted from fetch outside and the squeak helps remind him what we're doing.  It can take puppies awhile to pick up on what fetch is and how to play so squeaking the ball helps a lot. Plus they have ping pong ball sized ones which I needed when Basil was a wee one. 

Treat Dispensing Toys-

Classic Kong: This toy is classic for a reason!  It's versatile and all dogs love it.  These are great to give a puppy when they're going to be in their kennel for awhile because they can't destroy this!  Fill it with peanut butter, wet food, canned pumpkin, etc. There are lots of "recipes" online for filling ideas to keep things interesting. They have a spray foam for it, but the ingredients weirded me out so I've never bought it. 

Busy Buddy Kibble Ball:  Basil loves toys that roll away from him and this ones dispenses food so he LOVES it!  I put his dry puppy food in this and not actual treats.  Basil is skinny so I don't have to worry about him getting fat yet, so he pretty much can access this toy whenever he wants.  I fill it every other day or so with a half cup of food.

Busy Buddy Tug A Jug:  It took Basil awhile to figure this out, he didn't really play with this until he was 6 months old.  He rediscovered it and now that he is older & smarter he's better at figuring out how to get the food out.  I also just put his dry food in this.  I don't know if adult sized kibble would dispense very well, so it might be worth it to buy a bag of puppy food just for these two toys.  It's cheaper than filling it with treats!

Mental Stimulation Puzzle toy: Basil is part border collie, so I have to keep him busy.  He is a bundle of energy and is so smart!  I pull this out when he is getting crazy and needs redirection.  I put homemade beef treats in this or pieces of liver treats or dried chicken breast.

Here's another puzzle he has.  He needs some new ones because he figures these out in two seconds now!  Sometimes I put his meal in a puzzle to keep him on his toes or I just dump it out all over the floor and he has to "hunt" for each piece.

Play With Me Toys-

Squeaky Ducky: This is a great tug of war toy because it is so long.  Plus it's a good hunting/chase toy- pull it along the floor and they have to be quick enough to grab it. 

Water Bottle Toys: Basil doesn't have these exact ones, but they're the same idea.  You stick an empty plastic water bottle in these and they LOVE the crinkle sound.  Basil will play with these by himself, but also likes to fetch/tug with them.  If you stuff the bottle with rags it stays plump longer and isn't destroyed as quickly (when you pull it out of the toy you won't believe how small it is when empty!).

Free Toys-

Big thick sticks:  Bigger ones last longer as actual chew toys before they're able to rip them into tiny pieces.  Basil doesn't eat the pieces, if your dog does this might not be an option for you.

Empty hard plastic bottles: Basil loves toys that roll away from him and these fit the bill.  He loves the variety from new toys as we finish off food.  Juice or Gatorade bottles are good and Orville Redenbacher popcorn kernel bottles are his favorite.  He likes thinner plastic ones too, like pop bottles or milk jugs, but he destroys them way faster and they only last few days before I have to throw them away.  I also let him lick out containers (yogurt, etc) and play with them.  But those literally last maybe a half hour tops before I have to take them away.

And here are the big kahunas that I like to call

'Happily Entertain Yourself While I Get Stuff Done' Toys-

Bully sticks & Braided bully sticks: These last awhile and are great kennel entertainment.  I always make sure there is some sort of chew toy (not anything fabric, plastic, or a stick) and a Kong in Basil's kennel so that he doesn't have to just sleep if he doesn't want to.

Rawhide Bones: Basil likes anything rawhide and they last awhile.  Again they're good kennel options.  He hasn't had this exact one, but rawhide is rawhide I think.

Big "Meaty" Raw Bones: I buy things like these every once in awhile and they are a Big Deal.  Basil doesn't have that exact one, but he has had similar ones.  I've gotten them from his shelter's store and a doggy food truck (at his shelter's 5k race!).  They have to made in the USA to be safe, so most grocery stores pet aisles don't fit the bill.  I keep these away from him so that they are extra special when I give him one.  Plus they're good for his teeth and raw bones are good for them.  Cooked bones are what break into teeny tiny dangerous pieces.  I haven't actually gotten any from a butcher yet, but I know Basil would LOVE that.

Toys I Do NOT Recommend:

Nylabone products: My dog I had growing up never really chewed his Nylabone that much, but I tried again with Basil since he was a puppy and I figured he'd chew on anything and not be picky.  But just like my other dog he is not very interested even though I bought chicken & bacon flavored ones.  Every once in awhile he will chew on one, but it's really rare.  Your money is better spent on rawhide, a bully stick, or a raw bone.

Cooked Bones: Cooked bones are dangerous because they will easily break into teeny tiny sharp pieces and can hurt your dogs digestive tract at any point along the way.  Raw bones are sturdier and not dangerous. Here's an article on the topic.

Any toy with stuffing: Stuffing is dangerous because as soon as a dog rips into the toy's fabric they can eat the stuffing.  There are lots of toys with no stuffing though, so they're not hard to find.  For example squeaky ducky has no stuffing.

Toys that look like things you don't want your dog to play with normally: Some dog toys look JUST like baby/kid toys!  Same with "homemade" toys out of socks or wash cloths.  How is your dog supposed to know what to play with and what not to?