Something Unexpected from Me

A post for animals owners. Race ahead to your StumbleUpon button if you're not.

Anyone who's known me for more than a minute knows there are two things in this world that make me happiest: cooking, and a sale! So in rifling through the supermarket circular that starts tomorrow I discovered that the majority of my “normal” purchases are scheduled for discount. Fantastic!

Sadly, the pantry and fridge are bare today… so… how to bridge the gap?

Can I live on popcorn and dry Rice Chex? Check!

Is there enough coffee? Check!

Totally thought I was in the clear until I reached for the puppy treats. Four dogs, two treats, and it was only 8AM. Cripes…

Then it occurred to me why the hell I had four jars of baby food in my pantry! I’d read a recipe on the online for homemade dog treats that used baby food. Clearly after purchasing said supplies, I decided it was entirely too much effort. Today however, the idea of marketing this afternoon AND tomorrow morning seemed like a challenge I was not up for – ever – unless they started selling wine in the market and it was sample weekend.

I found the recipe on the online again. Don’t bother. It’s everywhere and, if you follow the much-publicized directions, the outcome is disastrous. Here’s my revised version, just in case you find yourself in a treat emergency before the state transition to wine in the market.

4 oz baby food

1 cup regular flour

1 cup rolled oats (think this through if your dog scratches for no apparent reason, in which case, use 2 cups of flour – but NOT whole wheat!)

Preheat your oven to 350.

Put the wet food in the bowl first. This is actually really important I would discover. Add the flour/oats a bit at a time mixing really, really well. In the end, we’re looking for cookie dough consistency. Remember though, the more flour, the less flavor.

LIGHTLY flour a cutting board and a rolling pin, then turn out your dough. Roll to about a quarter inch. I suppose if you’re fancy you could use cookie cutters for shapes, but frankly, if I had that kind of time, I’d go do Mr. Man’s laundry. I used a pizza cutter and, since my dogs are small, made half-inch by half-inch bits.

Put the bits on parchment paper atop a cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. If you got all “look at me!” with your shapes, or the treats are bigger, I imagine you’ll need about 30-35 minutes. Keep an eye on them either way.

Pull them out and let them cool. Stuff a few into a brown paper wine bag (What? That’s the only kind I had.) and the rest into freezer bags – which, do I need to tell you, go into the freezer?

The taste test across four flavors ranked thusly:

Banana

Carrot

Turkey and gravy

Beef

Civic duty for today: Check!