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.  

Grain Free Coconut Strawberry Cake

May is national strawberry month.  

The perfect month to make  a strawberry cake for a May birthday baby like Ping.

Grain Free Coconut Strawberry Cake

2 1/4 cups coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp honey
1 1/4 cup milk 
1 egg
1 cup diced strawberries, plus more for top
1 cup low fat plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and coconut in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl or large measuring cup whisk together the oil, honey, milk, and egg.  Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and fold in the strawberries.   Bake 30 minutes until cooked through (cake may be crumbly as that  is what I tend to get with coconut flour, but the dogs wont mind).  To frost the cake I drained the yogurt in a cheese cloth lined sieve for a few hours to make a thicker and then spooned it over the cake and topped with a few strawberries.

We had a little tea party for mother's day and Ping's birthday and I made some human friendly recipes too, they are on my new blog The Old Fashioned Way which is going to be about vintage things.

Black and White Sunday-Birthday Ping and a Give Away

Can you believe my little girl is almost ten?  We don't know her exact birthday but the guestimate is right around May 11.  She may be a bit grey in the face (well more then a bit) but little Ping is still a beauty

 Ms. Ping is not much for toys and never has been,  but she does love chews.   For her tenth birthday we will be giving away one of  her favorites, a Himalayan dog chew.   

 

Here is our Angel sister Dr. Z enjoying a chew, she loved them!

We reviewed them here.   They are an all natural treat made from yaks milk, salt, and lime and are very hard and long lasting.    When you buy these treats you also support the Farmers in Nepal, a very poor nation, who make them.  You can read about how the treats are made here.

We will send the winner their chew courtesy of Amazon and the winner can pick small, medium, or large based on their size.   All you have to do is enter our raffle copter give away below and we will announce the winner, next Sunday, May 12.  

 a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

National Cheese Day

Yesterday, January 20th, was National Cheese Day and it had us feeling French, so Ping put on her navy and white sweater from Pug Notes, her pearls, and her beret from All You Need is Pug.

 French Onion Soup from Cook's Illustrated

• 4 lbs onions, sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp
• 4 cups low salt chicken broth
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 1 baguette, sliced
• 8 ounces gruyerre, shredded
•  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  
This soup takes five hours to make so be prepared.  Place butter in pot and 1 tsp salt and onions.  Cook covered for one hour (onions should be slightly reduced).   Remove pot from oven and stir onions, scraping bottom and sides of pot.  Return pot to oven with lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until onions are soft and brown, 1 1/2 hours longer stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot every half hour.  

Carefully, remove pot from oven and place over medium high heat.  Cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, the onions should be very reduced and almost black in color.  Continue to cook 6 minutes more and 1/4 cup of water and then scrap bottom and sides of the pot and cook for about 6  minutes more until the water evaporates, and then add another 1/4 cup of water,  repeat this process three more times.   Stir in wine and balsamic vinegar and cook until evaporated 5 minutes.  

Stir in broths, 2 cups water, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley (tie the parsley and bay leaf together) add 1/2 tsp salt, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pot.  Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for thirty minutes.  Remove and discard herbs, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, toast baguette slices in 400 degree oven until golden brown.   Take soup out of pot and  place in a deep casserole dish or individual oven proof soup bowls.  Preheat the broiler.  Top the casserole dish or soup bowls with the bread and cheese and broil 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and very brown.  Serve with a green salad.

If you want something cheesy for your dog, check out our cheese day post from last year,  when we made mac and cheese for dogs.

Monday Mischief-BIG Weekend

This weekend was big, really BIG.  On Saturday mom and dad woke up super early to walk of us.  Then they took Weasley to Red Bank NJ for his photo shoot for 1000  pugs.  It was awesome we met the lovely ladies of Southern Fried Pugs and Weasley got to pose for his photo.  The photographer, Amanda, was super nice and Weasley loved his shoot.  Here are some pictures of him getting his picture taken

On Saturday night mom and dad abandoned us, Boo!, to go see Frankenweenie, which they said was pretty cute but a bit too anti-cat for their tastes  (we do have three camera shy feline siblings).

Then on Sunday after another early morning walk the pugs and mom and dad headed into Manhattan in the rain to meet up with some other pug bloggers.  We met Sid of Pug Slope and his mom and dad and his lovely girl friend Timothy Buttonsm,  and Payton of Pugnacious P's  mom and dad.  There were lots of other adorable pugs there and we were a bit sad we had to go home before Wilma the pug got there, but mom and dad didn't want to neglect the big guys at home.  It was rainy but fun!

 Mom is so happy that there are other people out there as crazy about their dogs as she and dad are!  We hope your weekend was equally awesome!

Ping's Birthday Fiesta Re-Cap

Ping here-So my ninth birthday was mostly pretty good (though I did have to wear this stupid hat for a few minutes).   Sadly, in the morning the weather did not look so great so plans to take me to brunch where shelved, I'm telling mom and dad they have to re-schedule since I saw that post of Tubby scarfing down cheese fries at brunch and I want my turn!


Anyway, mom and dad gave me my first gifts early in the morning after my special breakfast treat, sardines with my kibble!  Sardines are my favorite.

I got a red initial t-shirt from Diva Dog Designs.  Don't forget to enter our Diva Dog Design t-shirt give away here, they can make shirts for any size pup and they are all adorable.   Plus you can shop with a 15% discount if you use my special discount code PINGBDAY. 


 Anyway, back to my gifts so I also got a very nice collar from Day Dog Designs, my collar is in the Vienna pattern.   Every collar needs a tag and mom got me a very special tag from Fetching Tags.

It says "Let's Go Ride a Bike" the perfect accessory for a bike riding pug like me.  Thanks to Tucker's mom for introducing us to Fetching Tags with this post.

After opening my presents I had to go get my birthday grooming and luckily by the time I finished, the sun had come out so mom and dad took me for a nice walk.

When we got home it was time for the best part-birthday cake.  Since May is National Strawberry Month I got a strawberry cake (mom will share the recipe on Tasty Tuesday).


My party guest brothers where eager for a taste

but it was my birthday so I got to eat first!

After cake Mom and Dad gave me even more presents!  I got too boxes of treats and a pink Spring Chicken Toy from Olive Green Dog.

Really I could take or leave the toy, I have never been much for toys but mom thought  he was super cute, she liked how he looks like a Muppet.  She even insisted on taking this picture of Tubby and me posing with Spring Chicken with her Muppet Book.

Since it was Cinco De Mayo mom made some tex-mex foodables for dinner, and can you believe it she and dad did not give any to me!  Something about the food being to rich and spicy for pugs and me having scarfed down a lot of cake and treats.     


Mom still wants to share the recipes for what she made so I will let her take over now.

Messy table laden with fattening foods

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork Tortillas (adapted from Pioneer Woman)


1 5 lb pork shoulder roast
2 to 3 cups Dr. Pepper
1 yellow onion sliced
2 7 ounce cans chipotle chiles in adobo 
2 tbsp brown sugar
flour tortillas
monterey jack cheese
diced tomatoes
cilantro


Slice the yellow onion and place it in the bottom of the slower cooker.   Season the pork shoulder generously with salt and pepper and place fat side up in the slow cooker on top of the onions.  Pour over the chipotle chiles and sprinkle on the brown sugar.   Add the Dr. Pepper enough so it comes up to about 2 inches from the top of the cooker.  Cook on low.


When its done take the meat out of the slow cooker and discard the fat from the top of the meat.  Shred the remaining meat.  Discard the liquid.  Serve on warmed tortillas (I warm the in the microwave between layers of damp paper towels for 45 seconds) with the tomatoes, cilantro, and cheese.




Chilies Rellenos Rice


2 cups cooked rice 
1 1/2 cups diced and seeded jalapeno or 14  ounces mild canned chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 cups grated monterey jack cheese
2 cups sour cream


Preheat the oven to 375
Stir all the ingredients together in a large  bowl and season with salt and pepper.  Bake 25 minutes.   (Note: you can assemble this several hours ahead of time and then bake).


Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos from Pioneer Woman
20 jalapenos halved length wise and seeded
1 package softened cream cheese
12 ounces bacon, sliced in thirds
tooth picks


Preheat oven to 375


Fill the jalapeno halves with the soft cream cheese and then write in the bacon and secure with a toothpick.  Bake 20 minutes and then if the bacon is not browned enough broil for a few minutes.


Usually for Cinco De Mayo I make Tres Leches cake the recipe is in this post.  But this year I decided something citrusy would help offset all the fatty, spicy stuff.


Ginger Lime Pie

Crust
1 1/2 cups ginger snap crumbs, ground up in the processor
1/3 cup sugar
6 tbsp melted butter


Filling
5 egg yolks
21 ounces sweetened condensed milk, about one and a half cans
2/3 cup of lime juice
zest of one lime


Crystalized ginger for garnish


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.


After crushing the ginger snaps in the processor, add the sugar and process again, pour the melted butter through the top opening and process until all the crumbs are moist.  Press into a glass pie pan and set aside while you make the filling.


In a bowl whisk the egg yolks, condensed milk, lime juice, and zest together until they are completely combined.  Pour into the prepared crust and bake for 15 minutes.  Cool to room temperature and then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve (can be made one day in advance).

Flash Back Friday-Ping's Greatest Hits

Some of my favorite photos of my soon to be nine year old girl.