Too Ripe Bananas & Amazing Dog Treats

Yin and Yang napping. We didn't name them that but we sure could have.

I've never knew what to do with too ripe bananas. I've heard freeze them. I could use them later for banana bread-I cannot eat wheat and my daughter only likes bananas by themselves. Recently 3 ingredient dog treats was recommended on Pinterest. (Pinterest has a pretty good algorithm). The original post is Homemade Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats at http://munchkinsandmilitary.com/2015/02/homemade-peanut-butter-banana-dog-treats.html

Ingredients I have on hand in my kitchen: an almost empty oatmeal box,
 an almost empty peanut butter jar and three very ripe bananas.

Simple enough the recipe called for: 1 1/2 cups uncooked Oatmeal, 1 large Banana, and 1/2 cup Peanut Butter. That didn't match my ingredients. I had 1 cups uncooked Oatmeal, 3 medium Bananas and 3/4 cup Peanut Butter. Also probably because of the change of ingredients, my treats could probably been cooked even longer than the 20 minutes at 350°F. Either way the pups love them. So don't be afraid of changing the proportions.

I made two big ones with my dog bone
cookie cutter and the rest about 2 inch rounds. 

Update 08/26/2017: both of the dogs loved these!!

Helping Mother-in-law Get Navy Veterans Benefits Part 2

I received a response from January 12, 2016 request with ezdd214.com for the DD 214 from the National Archives.  I just received a letter from the National Personnel Records Center at the National Archives on Friday March 4th. It's dated January 26th. They allow 30 days to receive payment ($25.00). Yikes, I have NEGATIVE 9 days to get them the money. There's a phone number  (314-801-0800). I called. Due to high call volume, they are not taking calls at this time. Ok. There's a number for making in person visits (314-801-0850), maybe they can help. Basically, the same response. Ok. I'm just going to send it in anyway. Maybe the beuracratic gods of red tape will have mercy on me.

Helping Mother-in-law Get Navy Veterans Benefits

Since my mother-in-law is quickly approaching 90, we have been evaluating her options. I'm helping her determine if her World War II (WWII) service was sufficient to entitle her for VA Benefits.

So we gathered documents. We found:

Birth Certificate

and a

NAVPERS 661

Veterans Administration Certificate of Eligibility

Everything online refers to the DD 214. That's the form that is NECESSARY to prove her Eligibility. So we decided to use a service ezdd214.com . It cost $9.95 but we're hoping that they ensure we have jumped through all the right hoops. The whole process is online.
In our confirmation email, they say National Personnel Records Center, (NPRC) is currently running 2-4 weeks.

What will we do next?

We wait.