Cash's Birthday Treats

Russ and I adopted Cash over a year and a half ago. When we got him he was already a few months old. Based on the West Alabama Animal Rescue’s information and our fabulous vet’s opinion Cash was born during the month of June in 2006. We count June 1st as his birthday, but I told him he can really celebrate all month long since we don’t know the exact day! Today ended up being the perfect day to celebrate his birthday as Bernie (my parents’ dog) was staying with us and Hugo (Jess and Scott’s dog) had come to play for the a couple hours this afternoon. The dogs had a blast playing together and I decided to bake them a new treat recipe in honor of Cash’s 2nd birthday.

This is a new recipe that I found on a cooking blog that I check out periodically. I like his blog as he cooks lots of recipes from Cooking Light and he frequently makes homemade dog treats for his pups. When I saw his recipe for Crunchy Cheddar Oat Snacks I just knew Cash would love them. While we have done others that he has really enjoyed this new recipe has cheese in it which just so happens to be Cash’s favorite food.

To make these you start by softening the butter. Once it is soft put it in a bowl with the oats and hot water. Stir the ingredients together and then let it sit covered for about 10 minutes. Then add the cornmeal, sugar, bullion, milk, cheese, and egg and mix together. Then add the flour and mix it together until it is a firm ball of dough. Add some flour (as needed) if it the dough is sticky and put it out on a floured surface. Then knead the dough until it is smooth and no longer sticky. Then roll it out until it is about a quarter of an inch thick and cut out your shapes. I did dog bone shapes, circles, and Cs (for Cash). Let these bake for about 30 to 45 minutes at 325. Rotate pans halfway through.

All three dogs served as taste testers and these treats got six paws up! They loved them! Bernie who has not been a fan of my homemade treats in the past loved these and wanted more. I sent some home with both pups’ parents and Cash is planning to take some to share with Wagg and Chester when we watch the Bachelorette tomorrow night. I think Cash had a good birthday!

Holiday Treats for Cash and his Buddies

Russ and I knew we wanted a dog before we got married, but we decided to wait until after we were married and settled into our new house to start looking for one. After a couple months of settling in to married life and our new home we started looking through dog books. We looked up all sorts of pure breeds including some rather unusual ones where the closest breeder was in Wisconsin. While Russ and I agree on most things we couldn’t come to an agreement on a breed as they were either too small, too big, too much of a herder, too active, not active enough… After much deliberating we decided that what fit our family best would be for us to adopt a shelter or rescue dog. Since most shelter / rescue dogs are mixes and not much is known about their background we couldn’t be as picky, so our list of what we were looking for was much shorter – a sweet, male puppy that would grow to be a medium sized dog.

Like most of our searches we turned to the Internet to start our search and were pleased to find that all the local shelters and rescues have their pets listed online. We found a few puppies that fit what we were looking for and emailed for more information. The one we grew fondest of was a sweet looking little lab mix with black fur and little white paws. He was housed with a foster parent through the West Alabama Animal Rescue (WAAR) and was the last of his litter waiting for adoption. We emailed back and forth about his story, health, and temperament for a couple days with the WAAR contact. The more we learned the more we fell in love with this little guy. We finally set up a meeting time for us to pick him up. As it came closer to the time we were supposed to meet him I started to panic. We were about to adopt a puppy we had never met before, so I emailed her back and she calmed my nerves by saying that if after the weekend it wasn’t a match to let her know and they would relocate him. Well, as soon as we set eyes on him I knew that there was no way we would be returning him. Cash has been a part of our family since October 2006 and we have loved having him every minute… well except a few like when he dug up part of the new sod or chewed a chair leg….

Cash shows up on the blog fairly frequently and I have mentioned several times how he is my constant cooking companion. He just loves being in the kitchen while I cook and is usually either sprawled out on his bed, under my feet licking up anything that might have dropped, or playing tug of war with Russ. Since he is such a good little kitchen helper I decided to make him some holiday treats that he could also share with his buddies – Hugo, Wagg, Chester, and Kilkee. Based on Cash and his friends’ feedback I think these were a hit with two paws up!

Apple Peanut Butter Biscuits (recipe found online source unknown)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together flours. In a medium bowl, whisk together applesauce, peanut butter, water, oil and honey until smooth. Add the dry ingredients, one cup at a time, into the wet and stir until combined. Scoop the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until it completely comes together and is smooth, adding enough additional whole wheat flour to keep it from sticking. Roll the dough about 1/4" thick - cut out as many shapes as you can and place them on parchment lined baking sheets. Repeat rolling and cutting until you have used up all of the dough. Bake until the biscuits are golden, about 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway though. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Depending on your biscuit cutter size, the recipe can make a couple to several dozen biscuits.

Baking for my Boys

Russ and I were pretty excited to have no plans for today, so we could just relax and hang out. I decided to do some baking too. The other day I bought a waffle maker, so I decided to try it this morning. Later in the afternoon I decided to make special treat for my constant kitchen companion, Cash.

Growing up my Dad would frequently make waffles for us on Saturday mornings. It was one of his specialties. He always made thin waffles and not the thicker Belgium style waffles. So, when I went to purchase a waffle maker I wanted one that was for thin waffles. Out of all the waffle makers there only one was for thin waffles, so I took it. I had planned on getting Dad's recipe and making his waffles, but I forgot to ask him for it so I looked for another recipe. I found an older CL recipe for Chocolate Chip Waffles. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I decided to go for it.

The recipe is fairly simple although I did end up using three different mixing bowls to make it. (In hindsight I realized if I had planned better I could have reused one bowl and only made a mess of two.) You mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl - egg yolk, milk, vanilla, and melted butter. In another bowl you mix the dry ingredients together - flour, salt, and baking powder. You then mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Then you mix with a mixer the egg white and sugar until stiff peaks form. This is gently folded into the batter. Lastly you fold the chocolate chips in and the batter is done. They cook on the waffle maker according to the manufacturer's directions. We served ours with a little butter and syrup.

Russ and I both really enjoyed the waffles. They were sweet and tasty and you definitely would not know they were lighter. Russ said that they reminded him of Eggo waffles. While for some this may be a little insulting, knowing Russ this is a big compliment! We both enjoyed them and Russ rates them a 9. Next time I make waffles I hope to try out Dad's recipe for Russ.

Just recently I found two different sizes of dog treat cookie cutters. So, this afternoon I decided to try something I have never done before and make homemade dog treats. Cash is my loyal companion in the kitchen when I cook and bake and I have yet to make anything for him. I looked online to find a recipe and there are tons of different ones out there. I narrowed it down to the treats flavored with peanut butter since I know Cash loves it. I found a fairly simple recipe for Peanut Butter Dog Treats.

To make the treats you mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl - water, oil, eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla. Then you mix the dry ingredients together in another bowl - flour (I used whole wheat), cornmeal, and oats. You then mix the two together and roll it out on a floured surface and cut the cookies out. The cookies bake at 400F for 20 minutes and then you turn the oven off and leave them in there for about 2 hours until they are hard. When I went to roll mine out the dough was way too sticky, so I added more flour (about 1 cup more). Next time I'll increase the flour in the dry ingredients. I also found it very important to roll it out on a well floured surface. I felt like it needed more flour than I typically use when rolling out cookies.

Cash sampled two treats last night and they received two paws up! The recipe yielded about 40 cookies which will last for a little while in an airtight container, but Cash wanted to share some. He will be passing some of the treats to his cousin, Hugo, tomorrow. (Edited to add: Wagg and Bernie's Moms stopped by on Sunday, so each were sent home with some treats for their pup!)

On a totally non-food related note a big congratulations to Julie, Brian, and big sister Emily on the birth of Drew!

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
adapted from Bullwinkle.com

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3 tablespoons peanut butter (I used creamy)
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour (the original recipe called for 2 cups, but it needed at least 1 cup more, I used whole wheat)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oats

Blend wet ingredients together. Whisk dry ingredients together and mix into wet mixture to form a ball of dough. Roll out (on a floured surface) and shape. Put onto a non-stick cookie try or lightly greased one. Cook 20 minutes at 400F. Turn off oven and allow the biscuits to cool in the oven until crisp and hard. Store in an airtight container.