Frozen Yogurt Treats

Frozen Yogurt Treats   

This has to be one of the simplest recipes to make for your four-legged friend. 

It’s just beginning to get hot here so I thought I’d give it a try and was a little shocked that I hadn’t made these before because of how easy they are.

I cut a recipe that I found online in half and it still made a fair amount of treats. 

I couldn't find a link to the actual recipe but there are a variety all over Pinterest.

This is also a great base recipe that you can add various fruits or vegetables to. 

Feel free to include your furbaby's favorite foods!

Makes: approximately 14 mini frozen treats

Ingredients: 

 

1 cup and 2 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt (I used vanilla Chobani Greek Yogurt)

¼ cup peanut butter

½ Tablespoon honey

6 baby carrots (peeled and finely chopped)

*You can also add in a mashed banana but I didn’t have any on hand.

Directions: 

 

Start by chopping the carrots. 

I find that it's a lot easier to peel the baby carrots first and then chop the thin slices very finely.

 

Next scoop the yogurt into a mixing bowl.

Add peanut butter,

honey,

and chopped carrots.

 Stir until they are all combined. 

Now, line a mini baking tray with mini cupcake liners or use a mini silicone mold if you have one.

Scoop the yogurt mixture evenly into each liner and smooth the tops down with a spoon.

Place the tray into the freezer.

Keep checking the tray and when they no longer feel sticky you can remove them. 

Keep them stored in a tray or plastic bag in the freezer for those hot summer days, late night cravings or simply whenever you want to reward your pooch with a frozen treat!

My boys loved them! 

Thanksgiving Day Dog Treat Cake

Thanksgiving Day Dog Treat Cake

(adapted from the Birthday Cake for Pups recipe on bullwrinkle.com)

Makes: 2 mini loaf cakes or 1 regular loaf cake

This Thanksgiving we couldn't forget those who we're most thankful for and my furry babies definitely make that list. 

I wanted something bland but with all the excitement and warm comfort of a full Thanksgiving meal so I decided to make them a cake that would combine all of our favorite flavors.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup butter (softened)

½ corn oil (I used vegetable)

8 ounces turkey gravy

4 eggs

plain mashed potatoes (no seasoning)

Directions:

Set your oven to 325 degrees.

Spray two mini loaf pans (or one regular sized loaf pan) with Pam. I used the baking one with flour to make it less greasy.

Microwave butter in a small bowl until soft.

In a large bowl, mix together the butter, oil, turkey gravy, and eggs until combined.

Add in flour and baking powder, mixing until a smooth batter forms.

Evenly distribute the batter into the loaf pans.

Place a large cookie sheet with raised sides on the rack underneath the cakes, this will catch any leaking or overflowing oils.

Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool completely and frost with mashed potatoes.

Store covered in refrigerator.

Slice as needed and microwave for 15 seconds to give your furry friend a warm holiday meal!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us!

Enjoy!

Halloween Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats

Halloween Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats

This Halloween I was looking for a festive and appropriate recipe, after all, with all the tricks my dogs play on me I guess they deserve a treat every so often. 

I found this recipe on http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-dog-treats/ that I loved because it had such a fall element to it by using pumpkin. Also I was just itching to use my Halloween cookie cutters and this gave me the perfect excuse. 

Ingredients:

15 ounces pumpkin puree

2 eggs

3 cups whole-wheat flour

3 tablespoons peanut butter

½ teaspoon cinnamon

*Note: This recipe makes a fair amount of treats. I decided to share them with a dog friend of ours since we were invited to a Halloween party the next day. These are wonderful for sharing and giving as gifts.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together the pumpkin, eggs and peanut butter until smooth. Add cinnamon and flour and stir until a sticky dough forms.

On a floured cutting board roll out the dough to about a 1/2 inch thick and using festive cookie cutters cut out shapes until all the dough is gone. 

Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove to cooling racks to cool completely. 

Store these in the refrigerator and don't forget to give one to your favorite trick or treater this year :)

Quick & Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Quick & Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is a good one to have on hand for those days when tummy troubles creep up on your poor furry friends. 

We've all been there and nothing helps warm the tummy like a nice bowl of homemade soup. 

Ingredients: 

2 cups boiling water

2 chicken broth bullion cubes

egg noodles

sliced carrots (chopped into small chunks)

Directions: 

First chop your carrots into small non-choking hazard pieces. 

Then throw them in a pot to boil with the noodles. Boil until tender.

Next drain the mixture and set aside to cool.

Boil water and add the bouillon cubes, stirring until they dissolve. 

Set aside until the broth cools enough to be just lukewarm.

Distribute the carrot / noodle mixture into bowls and pour the warm chicken broth over top. 

Serve lukewarm and watch those tails go crazy.

Valentine's Day Honey Bun Bites

I found this recipe at http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/08/26/homemade-treats-national-dog-day/ and it looked so good I just had to give it a try. 

It’s not only humans who should celebrate love on Valentine’s Day, especially when our furry friends shower us with it year round :)

Valentine’s Day Cinnamon Honey Bun Bites with Peanut Butter Drizzle

(about 24 mini buns)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup water

¼ cup canola oil (I used vegetable because that’s all I had)

1 large egg

2 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. cinnamon

peanut butter

*Note: The original recipe calls for cinnamon, walnuts/pecans and cream cheese drizzle but I decided to make a few changes to fit the needs of my dogs and what I’m comfortable feeding my pups. I believe that if you’re in doubt or uncomfortable with an ingredient it’s always safer to make a substitution. (I do give my dogs cinnamon in some of their treats but I forgot this step and cut out the cinnamon completely by accident. Whoops)

Preheat your oven to 350^o F and cover two cookie trays with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the water, oil and egg and stir until combined. Using your hands knead the mix into a dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and roll out until you have a rectangular shape.

Drizzle the honey over the dough. 

(In the future I want to mix the cinnamon with the honey before drizzling to see if it makes a difference)

Okay this is the part I messed up on, had to redo and ended up with a sticky mess of honey covered everything. The dough should be laid out in front of you the two shorter sides should be on your left and right, while the two longer sides should be directly in front of you.

*Note: Due to the difficulty of rolling the dough I couldn't take any photos but here's some of me attempting to explain with a piece of paper.

Now take hold of the longer side closest to you and roll it tightly. I rolled about a centimeter of the dough then pinched it together to make that nice cinnamon bun center we all seem to love so much, then continued rolling.

When your dough is completely rolled and pressed together firmly so that it stays take a serrated knife and cut each bun about a half an inch thick.

Place buns on parchment paper covered cookie trays and in the oven for about 13- 15 minutes or until the bottoms begin to brown. Place buns on a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.

Fill a small Ziploc sandwich bag with a few scoops of peanut butter and microwave for 10 seconds or until it feels like liquid. Massage the peanut butter to one corner of the bag and snip the end of the corner off with scissors to make it easier to drizzle. Drizzle the melted peanut butter over each bun.

Place buns in the freezer for a few minutes to allow the peanut butter to set.

Remove and serve to the nearest furry friend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Don't be a chicken...eat one!

We've had a nice long break but now we're back and heating up the kitchen once again!

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Chef Lynn's move we decided to try a new recipe. Of course our furry companions couldn't be left out, they made the trip too after all! 

So we headed back to our basic standby dog treat idea center...a.k.a. Bullwrinkle.com 

(because BSDTIC is just too hard to remember, even though it rhymes) 

This website has just about everything a pet enthusiast could ask for including a vast amount of homemade dog treat recipes.

Chicken N Garlic Cheese Bites

(about 38 mini cookies)

*Note:* We chose to omit the garlic powder and added about 1/4 - 1/2 of a freshly boiled chicken breast

We also used more wheat flour and chicken broth than the original recipe called for to form a sturdier dough.

2 cups wheat flour

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (we used a four cheese blend)

1 tablespoon soft butter 

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 - 1/2 boiled chicken breast

Set oven to 350 degrees and line two cookie trays with parchment paper. 

Boil and cut or shred chicken breast into miniscule non-choking hazard pieces.

Mix flour and cheese together. Place butter in a small microwave safe dish and warm for 10 - 15 seconds. Add softened butter and chicken breast. Slowly add broth until you form a stiff dough. You may not need all of the broth. Knead for a few minutes. 

Tear teaspoon sized chunks of dough apart and roll in your hands to form small balls. Place them in rows on the lined cookie trays.

Pour additional wheat flour into a separate, small bowl. Using a glass with a flat bottom, dip the glass in water and then into the wheat flour. This will help the flour stick to the bottom of the glass. 

Lightly press the bottom of the glass onto each cookie to flatten into a mini circle. 

Bake for 5 minutes then flip each cookie and return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes to brown evenly on both sides. 

Remove and let cool on wire racks. 

*Caution!* The cheese will be HOT you will be able to hear it sizzling when you remove the cookies from the oven. To avoid pain and injury DO NOT allow your pet to have a taste until the cookies have cooled completely.

Refrigerate to keep fresh.

Enjoy!

For us? Aw, you shouldn't have. 

Just kidding, we all know you should.

Because we own you.