Home made doggie "cookies"

What happened?  I want to know, and I want to know now:  where did February go?!?

Well, here's a quick review:
   -Feb 5th: celebrated my birthday a day early.  We went out to dinner at McGrath's (seafood) and went        to see The Green Hornet (worst movie I've ever seen!)
   -Feb 6th: superbowl!  Superbowl is Jeremy's favorite "holiday" so we hosted a party with some of our friends.  Oh, and my actual birthday, which we celebrated with a lemon ripple cheesecake at halftime.


Thanks Jeremy for being in charge of the candles and informing me I'm turning 52 and not 25.  Don't I look great for my age??

   -Feb 8th: left for Hawaii
   -Feb 15th: back from Hawaii (more details to follow)
   -Feb 17th: made the 4 hour trip to eastern Idaho to visit Jeremy's family
   -Feb 19th: returned from eastern Idaho.
   -Feb 20th: officially exhausted and unwilling to leave the house, open the laptop, cook or do anything besides lay in front of the tv.

....

I'm back and better than ever.

I've got over 500 pictures newly downloaded to my Mac so we'll take this day by day. ;)

You can bet I've got lots of Hawaii coming your way!!

If you're a dog owner like me, you think your pooch is the best in the whole world (sorry, mine is!) and tend to spoil him/her rotten.  Hunter has a food allergy (common in purebreds) so I have to be careful about the treats that I give him.  But dang!  Doggie treats are expensive!  I found this recipe two years in a christmas cookie magazine and hung on to it, promising myself I would try it out.  It's super simple, and kind of nice to know that only whole foods went into the making of these!

The ingredients are super simple:



You start with the peanut butter, apple sauce, honey, apple juice and oil in a pan:



Simmer, add oats then allow to cool:




Make sure it's approved by quality control.

Allow "dough" to cool then roll and cut out:






Peanut Butter Puppy Treats
(from Better Homes and Gardens)


1/4 c. honey
1/2 c. natural peanut butter (I get the freshly ground type)
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
1 natural apple juice
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 c. rolled oats (I used quick oats instead)
1 c. whole wheat flour

1. Preheat oven to 300F (which is when I discovered the lowest mine goes is 325F-- that works too, just bake for less time).  In a large saucepan, whisk together together honey, peanut butter, applesauce, apple juice and oil.  (Don't worry, it will look kind of weird, just go with it.)  Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to simmer and thicken.  Remove from hear and stir in oats.  Allow mixture to cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Stir in the whole wheat flour.  Divide dough in half.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of the dough at a time to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out dough using your cookie cutter and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  Flip treats (and kick yourself for using such a small cutter and cramming too many onto the pan) over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until both sides are golden brown.  When done baking all batches, turn off the oven and place the treats on one large sheet and leave in the oven for about 1 hour until the oven cools.  (This makes them nice and crunchy.)



In case you're wondering, I did try them.  They taste how you'd think: like apple juice, peanut butter and honey.  Make some for your pup today!