Pumpkin Doggie Treats

 

Here’s my next doggie treat recipe in the dog treat series.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Doggie Treats

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
  

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Put all of the ingredients into a bowl, and mix well. The dough is going to be really stiff, but work those ingredients together! Then, add water to moisten to a soft doughy consistency – not runny, but not stiff, rather like bread dough before it rises.

Next, sprinkle your work area with a healthy dose of flour. Turn the dough onto the floured surface, and knead for about 10 minutes to get the gluten in the flour to really hold it together. It should be soft and stretchy when you’re done, like elastic – so don’t add too much flour, just enough to ensure that it doesn’t stick.

Pat or roll your dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Then use a cup or cookie cutter to make pretty shapes, put them on a cookie sheet, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cool them off before you let Fido have a taste!

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I haven’t created any dog recipes of my own as of the date of this posting.  I’ve collected them from different sources.  If you recognize this recipe as one that you’ve created, and you want credit, please let me know and I will add your name and link to your website. 

Tax Freedom Day? Maybe Not.

For years we’ve been lead to believe in “Tax Freedom Day”; the day of the year when we stop paying our percentage of taxes owed to the government, and are able to “keep” the rest for ourselves.  Well, in this video Candice Malcolm from the Frasier Institute, gives everyone the ugly truth!  Watch this:

My Favorite Apps: aCalendar

by Carley Cooper

I’m starting a series about my favorite Android Apps because I’ve found so many that have become so helpful and useful to me that I want tell everyone about them. 

First, is one called aCalendar.  Here’s a list of my favorite features:

• it has an agenda view and a widget, so it’s available at my finger tips all the time
• it has views for monthly, weekly, daily, and yearly
• it syncs with Google Calendar.  My calendar on all my phone and my computer are in sync and kept up to date all the time.
• I can set it to sync with more than one Google Calendar.  For example, some of mine are: my personal calendar, anniversaries & birthdays, holidays, doctor’s appointments, Facebook events, church events, writing schedules, business appointments, etc.
• You can just tap the event title on your calendar to see the event details, including maps if you are travelling to your event
• it has reminder options, something I’ve found is not always available with convenient options in other calendar apps
• it has great options for planning reoccurring events, another feature I’ve found hard to find in other calendar apps
• it has 48 colours per calendar.  It has a couple of different options for app theme colors, and you can set events to have their own colours.  For example, doctors appointments are yellow, church commitments are purple, holidays are green, anniversaries & birthdays are blue, etc.
• it has flexible reoccurrence options
• it has options to connect with your contacts and have their birthdays show up on your calendar
• it has a moon phases option
• it has options for QR & NFC barcode sharing of events
• it’s available in 30 languages
• advertising is just an occasional occurrence, not an all the time thing

These features are all wonderful, and that’s just the free version.  The paid version has a few extra features but I found that for the average user they’re of no need, or there’s a way to get around them. 

Overall, I give this app 5 stars.  Click here to go to the Google Play Store and download it yourself. 

How Do You Know if Your Dog Loves You?

Here’s a great article I found that I thought all the doggie parents out there would love to see.

6 Signs Your Dog Loves You

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

 

Do you find yourself spending a lot of money on treats for your dog?  Are you concerned how healthy store-bought treats are?  I do. 

I’ve read so much lately about how bad some of the top brand name treats are for dogs, that I decided to start making homemade treats for my little Maggie.  I’ve collected** quite a recipes now, and I’ve decided to start sharing them. 

Here’s the first one:

 

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons dry milk
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 1/2 cups brown rice flour *
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley (optional)
  

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin to smooth. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and dried parsley (if using, optional). Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface (can use the brown rice flour) and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine.

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ – depending on your dog’s chew preferences, – and use biscuit or other shape cutter to punch shapes, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. If desired, press fork pattern on biscuits before baking, a quick up-and-down movement with fork, lightly pressing down halfway through dough. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to dog.

Makes up to 75 small (1″) biscuits or 50 medium biscuits

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* Brown rice flour gives the biscuits crunch and promotes better dog digestion. Many dogs have touchy stomachs or allergies, and do not, like many people I know, tolerate wheat.

** I haven’t created any dog recipes of my own as of the date of this posting.  I’ve collected them from different sources.  If you recognize this recipe as one that you’ve created, and you want credit, please let me know and I will add your name and link to your website.