Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Thanksgiving Treats

By

I don’t know about you but when I’m hosting a holiday at my house, it can get a bit hectic, especially with a dog like Delilah who absolutely LOVES food.

You can be sure at least once you will hear someone yell, “Delilah get off the table!” 

While we don’t willingly share our leftovers with the dogs (I say willingly because you can guarantee that Delilah will get something she shouldn’t) I still like to make a little something special for the pups.

I had to go gluten-free a couple of years ago and while I do fairly well without treats for most of the year, the holidays are hard.  Recently I discovered an awesome recipe for Gluten-free Apple Crisp.  I will share the human version first, then below it a way for you to make something special for your pups.

Filling mixture:
4 cups apples, peeled & sliced (such as Granny Smith)
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg
 
Crisp Mixture:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup gluten free quick oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons softened butter (I use salted) plus a smidge more for the dish
 
Preheat oven to 350.  Take a smear of butter and coat your pie pan.   In a large bowl, toss together the apples, sugar, water, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined.  Set aside.
 
Oatmeal topping:  In a large bowl gently combine: almond flour, oats, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and butter until crumbly.  I usually melt the butter a tiny bit in the microwave, so part of it is runny and part is super soft.  You can melt the whole bit of butter, it won’t matter at all.
 
Place the apple mixture in the pie pan.  Sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the apples are cooked through, the juices are bubbling and the topping is browned.  Serve hot, warm or room temperature.  For a little added treat, throw a dollop of ice cream on there.
 

When I was sharing this recipe with my sister, she said to double the crisp recipe because that is the bit that’s really good, so that’s what I plan on doing when I make this for our Thanksgiving table.  I’m also planning on incorporating some pecans into the topping mix.  I’ll let you know how THAT turns out.

Sadly I don’t have any pictures of the apple crisp because I didn’t think to take any, but I promise to take some on Thursday and I’ll share them in Friday’s post.

I will however share a sweet picture of Sampson.

Don't Mind Me Don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here waiting for a Thanksgiving treat.

So I told you there was an easy way to make a holiday treat for your pup. 

When you’re cutting and peeling your apples set a couple aside.  Once they’re peeled and sliced, take a set of small muffin tins or if you prefer use a a couple of ramekins.

Grab some coconut oil and a paper towel and using the coconut oil like shortening grease the tins or ramekins.

In a small bowl add your sliced (or if you prefer chopped) apples, a shake of cinnamon and a little bit of almond flour (a small handful) toss the apples until they are coated.  If need be add a bit of water just to help the process.

Pour the apple mixture into your ramekins or muffin tins and bake in 350 oven until apples are soft.

Cool and serve.

So will you make a special treat for your pets this holiday?  What are some of YOUR pet friendly traditions?

If you’re interested in some other recipes for your pups this is the Tasty Tuesday Blog hop hosted by Kol’s Notes and Sugar the Golden Retriever.

Cocobanana

By

Many moons ago I worked in a health food store called Natural Rythyms.  They sold vitamins and various other health aids.  There was a small sitting area where you could sit and enjoy a salad from the salad bar, or a sandwich from the limited menu.  They also sold baked goods.

It was a part-time job I took to help with the expense of my daughter’s wedding, so I only worked on Saturdays.  I didn’t wait a lot on customers, I was mostly in the back washing dishes, except for when I was baking muffins. Still I recall those days fondly because I got to spend time with one of my favorite people and I got to bake muffins.

Let me be clear.  I created my own muffins.  And it was all dependent upon what mood I was in and what ingredients were available.  But there was one thing you could be sure of, the muffins had chocolate chips in them.

It’s a wonderful feeling when a customer comes in and says, “Oh, I was hoping you had this muffin today, it’s my favorite.”  One of my muffin creations was Orange Chocolate Chip and it was very tasty.  I would think about it all week long, what type of muffin did I want to bake on Saturday?

So imagine my surprise yesterday as I was thinking of a treat for Tasty Tuesday when my mind began wandering back down the creative trail, but this time to dog treats.

Here’s what I came up with.  I’m calling it Cocobanana.

1 banana
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup cooked oatmeal
1 egg
2/3 cup oat flour
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
 

Before you start gather your ingredients.  The key point is to get the egg out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes, this will keep the cold egg from solidifying the coconut oil.

I’m not sure if you know this or not, but coconut oil is solid when the temperature is below 70°, you can buy coconut oil in the liquid form but it’s super pricey so I say, buy the solid and melt it.  My understanding is it’s not good to heat coconut oil in the microwave, so I put my coconut oil in a small glass dish and set that in another dish with hot water.  I changed the water a couple of times until the coconut oil was entirely melted.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

While the coconut oil is melting, break your banana up into about six pieces and add the egg, beat with an electric mixer until blended well.  My banana was a little too fresh so it wasn’t mixing well.  I mashed it with a potato masher and then worked it with the egg.  It’s okay to have small lumps of banana in this.  I then added the already cooked oatmeal and blended that as well, then the coconut oil.  Now mix in the oat flour.

At this point I added the shredded coconut but I used a spatula.  It was a fairly stiff dough, but not unworkable.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I dropped by 1/2 spoonful onto my baking stone and cooked at 350° for about 25 minutes. I peeked in on them at about the 15 minute marker and they hadn’t moved at all so I pressed them down a bit with a fork.

My original intent was to add Carob chips to them which would have been perfect for both dogs and humans, but since my local grocery store didn’t have the chips, I used M&M’s in four of them.

Thoughts:  The cookies were browned on the bottom and the edges, but the inside was still moist.  Not raw but moist.  Jodi Chick thought the cooked oatmeal might have been too much or the banana might have been too fresh.  I’m going to try this recipe again, with dry oatmeal and an older banana.

Let’s see what Sampson and Delilah think.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Ooops, she was too fast and my finger got in the way of the camera. I’ll say that means the cookie is good.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Dammit!  He was too fast too!

Sampson and Delilah give these cookies a four paws up.  I’m not kidding, these suckers are tasty.  Anywhere I moved with that container of cookies, there were two dogs right on my tail!

So when I named the cookies naturally I got the tune of Copacabana stuck in my head.  I tried to work with that.

Her name was ‘Lilah, she is a labby
A purple collar on her neck and she doesn’t give a heck
She’ll work for kibbles, or any nibbles
But while she tries not to be a pest, she puts her Mama to the test
When Mama bakes there is a fest
These treats are sure the best
We call them coco, coco bananas!
 

You’re welcome for the recipe and the ear worm too.

This post is a tad bit long but tell me, have you tried baking for your pets yet?  How do you feel about it?

I Have a Crap-load of Pumpkin

By

Sampson and Delilah are fed a raw diet.  To help keep their tummies full I give them a scoop of pumpkin every morning.  I also use it to frost their treat bones.  Typically we go through a large can of pumpkin about every 5 or 6 days.

I don’t know how much pumpkin is where you live, but here in CT the large can of plain pumpkin is close to $4.  Luckily for me, the local warehouses carry the large cans of pumpkin in a three pack, which saves me over a dollar a can.

The bad news is the pumpkin is only in the warehouses at this time of year.  So I’ve been buying a case (or two) every weekend.

I have a crap-load of pumpkin.

Don’t believe me?  Take a look.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I knew when I went looking for a recipe for today’s Tasty Tuesday, I wanted to use pumpkin, but I also wanted to use some coconut flour because it’s just so darn tasty!

I searched and searched, but I had trouble finding a decent recipe.  I finally found one that called for two cups of oatmeal and 8 ounces of baby food.  I decided it was something I could work with.  Here’s where it gets impressive.

I invented my own recipe!!  Someone pick Jodi Chick up off the floor please.

Here’s what I used.

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup oat flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
 

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the dry ingredients together just to incorporate them.  Then add the eggs and pumpkin, bring your muscles cause this dough is stiff.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Once it was mixed together, I just took small handfuls and formed balls with my hands, pressing them down onto a baking stone.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Bake in a pre-heated 350° oven.  Mine took about 22 minutes, but yours could take a little less or a little longer.

Cool and store.

So let’s see how the dogs liked the cookies.

Hey Sampson, how did you like the cookies I made for you last night?

Nom, nom Mama, this cookie is pawsome! Nom, nom Mama, this cookie is pawsome!!

Delilah, what did you think of the cookies that The Mama made last night?

WOOOOOOOSHHHH. Cookie? What cookie? Did you give me a cookie? IN…….HALE.   Cookie?  What Cookie?  Did you give me a cookie?  If you did, I didn’t taste it. You may want to give me another a cookie, just to try it like.

I’d say that’s a four paw rating.

So you know my rule right?  It has to be a treat that I can make that I will be able to eat as well.  Since there is no sugar involved, it’s not a sweet treat.  Here’s what I did.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I added a few M&M’s and a small amount of chopped walnuts to the tops of each cookie.  Still a little on the bland side, but not too bad.  I think this is a recipe I can play with and find the right combination, that will satisfy both the dogs and the humans in our house.

I can’t believe I’m actually typing this right now, but what I love about baking for my dogs is I know exactly what ingredients, as well as the quality of the ingredients in their treats.

Besides, my dogs love them and that makes me happy.  Have you tried baking for your pups yet? If you haven’t, what’s stopping you?

 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...