Mini Pumpkin Cheese Cakes for Pups

Pumpkins and pups are a natural combination.  As demonstrated above a pumpkin style hat as modeled by Tubby is a winning look, and pumpkin in a pups food is a healthy treat.  I wrote in this blog post about how I often add pumpkin to my dogs food.  While fresh pumpkin is the healthiest option canned pumpkins ease makes it a natural choice for treats.  With Thanks Giving just around the corner I decided to say thank you to my dogs with some Pumpkin Cheese Cake Treats.

Mini Pumpkin Cheese Cakes for Pups

1 can pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
8 ounces low fat cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp coconut flour
1 egg, beaten
1 package Pumpkin flavored dog cookies, such as Plato Turkey and Chicken Treats
cupcake tin liners

Preeheat the oven to 350.  Stir all the ingredients, except the cookies, together until smoothly combined.  You might want to use an electric mixer but I did it by hand.  Line a cup cake with paper liners and put one pumpkin cookie in the bottom of each liner.  Spoon the pumpkin cheese cake mixture over the cookies and bake 25 minutes, until slightly firmed but still jiggly.  Cool and serve.

If you are interested in a delicious Pumpkin Pie for peeps check out our Vintage Blog The Old Fashioned Way


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Oh and we have one announcement to make.  We sincerely hope we don't offend anyone and  mom absolutely loves all of blogville, she considers some blog ville friends better friends then non computer ones.   However, in an effort to save some cash and make Daddy happy, it was his request, we are opting out of sending cards this year.  As there are so many of us and we use shutterfly our cards are pretty pricey and it will be hard to swing the expense this year.   So please please don't feel you need to send us a card, we will feel bad if we get cards and can't reciprocate.  We hope no one is angry with us over this as we love you all. 

Pumkin Puree for Pups

"So this thing is going to become a treat for me?  That makes that hat almost bearable."

Most informed pet owners know about the powers of pumpkin as a gastrointestinal cure all, but did you know its also loaded with vitamins and anti-oxidants.   In fact pumpkin is one of the most goof proof kibble add-ons since nearly every tolerates it well.  I've added pumpkin to the dogs food for years, but I have never cooked fresh pumpkin.  I thought this would be a good year to try.

Pumpkin Puree for Pups
  
1 small baking pumpkin, 2 to 4 lbs
2 cups unsweetened apple juice, carrot juice, or apple-carrot juice blend
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional, but cinnamon has many health benefits including lowering blood sugar and boosting cognition)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice the pumpkin in half with a sharp knife, or what I used a jack o' lantern carving knife.

Scoop out the stringy bits and seeds (saving the seeds to roast later) and lay the halved pumpkin on a baking sheet.   Bake for 45 minutes.  By this time the pumpkin will be soft and the skin will come right off.   Cut it in chunks and put it in the blender, if you are lucky you will have a Vitamix, but any old blender will do.  Add the juice and cinnamon and blend on high until pureed.

 Top your dogs kibble with generous dollops.

Easy Apple Sauce Drop Cookies

Lately theres been a  cool crisp in the air during our walks, mom has been making us wear our Halloween ties, and there are piles of crunchy leaves to play in 

and all that means.........................................apple sauce cookies.

Apple Sauce Cookies

1 cup apple sauce
1 egg 
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 325.  Stir the egg, apple sauce, and oil together in a medium bowl.  Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop tsps of dough onto the baking sheet.  Bake 15 minutes.  The cookies will be browned on top but still soft.  Bake longer for a firmer cookie.

These cookies seemed to give Norbert and Weasley some energy because after they ate a few they  had a fun wrestling match.


 

Tasty Tuesday-Ping's Healthy Liver Diet

If you have been following the blog you know that our Ping has been having problems with her liver.  Our vet is fairly sure that Ping's liver problems are chronic and related to her advancing years, as such he suggested diet changes.  Thanks to the wonder of the internet that led us to our friend Christy mom to Daisy, Donald, and Angel Payton we had excellent information about beginning the  Dr. Jean Dodd's Liver Diet.  Dr. Dodd's is a wholistic veterinarian who has done a lot of research on the risks of vaccines, natural medicine, and the importance of proper diet in overall health.  Her medical diets are healthy, highly palatable and are natural home made alternatives to the Hill's Prescription diets.  Of course before you start your dog on a home made diet, or begin any diet change, you need to speak to your vet.  I also contacted Dr. Dodd's through her hemopet site to make sure that she thought Ping was a good candidate for her diet.   Luckily she is and the diet is quick and easy to make.

 Ping's Dr. Jean Dodd's Liver Diet 

• 1 pound cod filets (poached)
  1/2 pound sweet potatoes (boiled and mashed)
  1/2 pound white potatoes (boiled and mashed)
  1pound green beans
  1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp curcumin or tumeric 

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until very well combined.   This batch makes enough to feed Ping for about four days.  She eats four times a day, 1/4 cup at each feeding, because multiple small meals are better for the liver.  I pre-measure the portions in zip lock bags and then freeze them.  Ping gets quite a few supplements: salmon oil, 200 IU of Vitamin E, Coenzyme Q10, Rainbow Light Nutri Start Multivitamin Powder (again thanks Krissy!), Denamarin, and Milk Thistle.  I just measure out the supplements and add them to her meals.  She is also on one medication, Ursodiol.    

So far Ping seems to be a big fan of the new regime.  

Pip and Puddles Come to Visit for a Cooking Lesson

Our good friend Pip hasn't been feeling too well, and he has decided to go on a Bucket Tour with his friend Puddles.   We were lucky he came to visit for a special cooking lesson, after all cooking is kind of our thing.  First we took Pip for a walk in our local park.  Please, take a rest on a bench Pip, us pugs like to take a break. 

Bob would like  to show you and Puddles some of the nice Brownstone houses in Down town Jersey City.  We warn you, our house is no were near this nice.   These brownstones cost lots of doggie bones.

 There are some amazing views of the NYC skyline in Jersey City, check them out:

Here we are at our humble home.  (Sure its an old picture with our angel sister Dr. Zira but she is always with us in spirit).

 Norbert would like to invite you to play in our back lot: warning its concrete but we still have a lot of fun back there.

Or you could hang out on the couch, we have two of them for maximum doggie comfort:

of course you are welcome to the upstairs bed too, we love to sit there with Dad:

If you want something to do we could get you a toy, we have lots to choose from:

While you and Puddles are chillaxing

Mom will start on our Turkey Cheese Burger Meat loaf Muffins, they'll go great with all that junk food and the recipe is super easy (and pretty healthy).

Pip's Turkey Cheese Burger Meatloaf Muffins

• 1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)
• 1 package frozen mixed vegetables (Mom likes Cascadian Farm's brand)
• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce (optional)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup small diced cheddar cheese or grated cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a 12 tin muffin pan with non-stick spray (don't forget this stuff like mom often does because your muffins will stick to the pan).  
Stir together all of the ingredients in a nice big bowl (really its that easy!)

Spoon into a muffin tin and bake for 30 minutes until cooked through.  Voila they smell tasty!

No need to get up guys.  We will deliver a muffin right to you:

Hope you like them!

We had a great time on your visit and hope you did too.

National Peanutbutter Day

We just had National Blondie Day, and National Cheese Day and today our waist lines get no rest with......National Peanut Butter Day.   Peanut butter is a big staple of the American diet, with apparently consuming about 350 millions pounds of the stuff a year. While peanut butter was originally popularized in this country as a health food by John Kellog, it does have a good amount of calories and in most of today's versions a lot of sugar.   If you stick to the no sugar added variety, which is closer to the healthy mashed peanut paste eaten by Africans and South Americans for thousands of year, then peanut butter is not really bad for you.  

 It is also a healthy choice for dogs, its high and protein and most dogs love the taste, plus very few dogs suffer from peanut allergies.   Its easy spreadibility makes it an obvious chose for stuffing Kongs and hollow bones.  However, peanut butter does have a lot of calories and fat, so you need to be careful with your pups waist line particularly if you have a small dog.   All of the dogs in our house LOVE peanut butter and its our go to for hiding pills, its also what we usually stuff our Kongs with.   In an effort to make it lest calorific I mix the peanut butter with something with less calories and fat, like low fat yogurt.

Puppy's Peanut Butter Parfait

 1 scant tbsp all natural creamy peanut butter, no sugar added
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt
1 ripe banana if you have it on hand, I didn't
A few organic dog biscuits for crumbling (optional)

Mash the banana (if using) and add the yogurt and peanut butter and mix well. Crumble over the cookies and again and stir.   Spoon a small amount into a Kong type toy (I used the Planet Dog Strawberry available from Olive Green Dog and an old hollow bone from I don't no where).  Freeze overnight if you have the time, and then give to a dog that needs something to occupy them. 



Or just serve them on a spoon which is how Tubby and Ping enjoyed the mixture.

If you want something a bit sweeter for the humans here is a recipe I have made in the past, its very easy and good choice for kids (I made it with the students at my school).   

Peanut Butter Dream Bars (Adapted From Buttercup Bakes at Home)

2 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, crush in a plastic baggie or grind in a food processor
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups pecans (chopped)
1 cup peanut butter chips
2 1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 325.
Crust: In a bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs and the melted butter and then press into an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
Spread the pecans over the crust, then the chips, and then the coconut.  Pour over the condensed milk, being careful to pour evenly.  Spread with a spatula so it completely covers the coconut.   Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until lightly golden.   Allow to cool to room temperature or overnight before cutting in small bars and serving.

Tasty Tuesday-National Blondie Day

Blonde or brunette?  

Its a question that applies to hair color, pugs, and also bar cookies.

The origin of the brownie is shrouded in myth, but it is believed to be an American discovery of the early twentieth century.   It is likely the creation of Fannie Farmer who published a recipe for chocolate bar cookies in 1905.  Others tell the story of a housewife who forgot to add baking powder to a chocolate cake and thus inadvertently invented the brownie.  Regardless of the source once the brownie was out in the world countless variations began to appear, one of which, the Blondie, substitutes brown sugar for the cocoa powder.     Today January 22, is national Blondie day and a perfect day to try the brownies fairer cousin.

Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars for People

• 1 1/3 sticks unsalted butter melted, and cooled slightly
• 1 1lb light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur brand is best)
• 12 ounces chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the butter, sugars, salt, and vinegar (you can do it right in the pan you melted the butter in).  Cool to luke warm and add the eggs, espresso, vanilla, and baking powder.  Stir in the flour, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and pour in the batter and smooth. Bake for 38 minutes until the top is golden and shiny and the center is just baked through.  The brownies will be very moist so cool completely and then cut in bars.

Glutten Free  Coconut Flour Blondies  with Carob Chips for Dogs

1 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
4 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup carob chips
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and four the baking pan.

Stir the vegetable oil and molasses together and then add the coconut flours.   Add the beaten eggs and mix very well and stir in the carob chips.  Spread into an 8x8 inch square pan and sprinkle with coconut flakes  Bake 30 minutes until  cooked through.

Ernie Update: The news was pretty mixed.  Ernie's heart looked pretty good on the ultrasound so the vets are still a little confused about the murmur.  His blood work showed slightly elevated calcium levels so  he needs to have it rechecked in a month.

Bouchon Bakery Cookies

Bouchon bakery is a fancy pants French patisserie with outposts in Manhattan Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.  A thoughtful friend gave mom the Bouchon bakery cookbook for Christmas

Its full of yummy recipes for cake, cookies, and bread.... and it even has a dog treat recipe!  

"These look good mom, make 'em!"

Now usually mom tries to make pretty healthy recipes for us, but there is no denying it: these cookies are really indulgent.  Sometimes you have to live it up.  

Bouchon Bakery Bones (Slightly Adapted)

1 1lb bacon diced (yes that is a lot of bacon, this makes a lot of cookies)
1 1lb chicken livers (the recipe called for 13 oz but mom decided to use the whole container)
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp of corn meal
3 cups plus 3 tbsp all purpose flour (We like King Arthur Brand)
1 cup chicken broth or stock
Ketchup Glaze
3 tbsp ketchup 
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.   Cook the bacon in the skillet until brown but not really crispy, about five minutes on medium high.

Drain the bacon on paper towels and pour of all but a film of the bacon fat.  (Save your bacon fat, its delicious for cooking hash browns.  I like  Pioneer Woman's recipe).

Transfer the drained bacon to the food processor and process quickly with two or three pulses until it is very finely chopped.

In the same skillet in which you cooked the bacon (where the film of bacon fat is waiting) cook the chicken livers over medium high heat for five minutes until they are no longer pink.  Stir them around and break them up with the wooden spoon so they get mushy.

Put the chicken livers in the processor with the bacon and mix until you get a pate like paste (at the bakery these cookies are made with foie gras trimmings)
Add the corn meal and process again until you get a thick even paste.

Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer and add the flour and mix until totally combined.  

Then slowly pour in the chicken broth while continuing to mix

The dough should come together in a ball.   (At this point I divided the dough in half as I knew this was going to make a ton of rich cookies.  I wrapped one half and put it in the freezer for later use).

Take two big sheets of plastic wrap and line a wooden cutting board with one.   Take one half of the dough and cover it with the second sheet of the plastic wrap.  I just patted the dough until it was about 1/2 inch thick, but you could use a rolling pin.

Use a bone cookie cutter to make the cookies, gather any scraps and re-pat and cut them.

Put the cookies in the oven.  

The recipe said to bake for 3 hours at 250 until completely dry but I felt mine where getting to brown so I lowered the temperature to 200 and took them out after 2 and a half hours.

Take the cookies out of the oven and whisk together the egg white and ketchup and then brush this glaze over the cookies.

"Are they ready yet?"

Put back in the oven and bake until the glaze is hardened, about 25 minutes.

The Finished Product:

Taste testers approved:

Store at room temperature in a covered container.

(Mom Note: These cookies are not grain free.  We use grain free dog food, but none of the hounds are totally grain intolerant so I do allow some grains in the dog treats.  If your dog is grain intolerant substitute Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour for the all purpose flour and the corn meal).

Of course mom being a desert-a-holic had to make something for herself and Dad too.  So she made chocolate chip cookies and she said they were very good, maybe even better then her old favorite: Cowboy Cookies.

Bouchon Bakery Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbsp King Arthur brand all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp, packed, dark brown sugar
1 3/4 tsp molasses
1/2 cup plus 1 tsp granulated sugar
6 ounces, chocolate chunks 
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
1 egg

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.   Put the brown sugar and granulated sugar in a small bowl and stir in the molasses.   Combine the chocolate chunks and the chocolate chips in another small bowl.

Beat the butter at medium low speed for about 3 to 4 minutes until very light and creamy.   Add the brown sugar mixture and beat again for 3 to 4 minutes until fluffy.  Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl very well in order ot make sure no unmixed sugar or butter sticks to the bottom.  Add the egg and mix on low speed for 15 to 30 seconds (the book emphasizes that it is very important not to over mix the egg).  Add the flour mixture in two additions beating at low speed for 15 to 30 seconds each time and scraping the bowl well.  Add the chocolates and pulse on low speed ten times.   

The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least an hour before baking.  I wrapped mine in parchment paper in plastic wrap and stored it in the fridge for a day.

Preheat then oven to 325 and line a pan with parchment paper.  Roll generous scoops of dough into balls and place on the lined pan.   Bake 14 minutes, rotating once half way through.