Peanut Butter Dog Treats

This past weekend I made these dog cookies for Stretch's brother, Tank. He just turned 1 year old and I thought it would be cute to bring Tank some birthday treats. Plus, I hadn't used my dog bone cookie cutters yet, so why not bake something for our dogs. ;) I knew the recipe would be simple because it only has 4 ingredients.

While making the cookies, Stretch sat at my feet begging for a taste of peanut butter. When the first batch came out of the oven, she sat under the table where they were cooling and stared up at them with anticipation.

The dog treats were a huge hit. I assume the best part of them was the peanut butter since the recipe has an entire cup in it. Because the cookies don't have any perservatives, they don't last nearly as long as the boxed treats you would normally buy at the store. If your dog can't eat all of them within two weeks, you can freeze them in a ziplock bag.

Some people were laughing at me when I told them I made my dog homemade treats. I quickly thought to myself that dogs don't ask for much and they love us unconditionally. They deserve a lot more than homemade cookies. Plus, they're a lot easier to live with than most people.

I found this dog treat recipe online at:
http://www.sugarlaws.com/dog-treats


INGREDIENTS:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk. Add wet mixture to dry, and mix well.

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 20-30 dog treats.

Yukon Gold French Fries

These french fries are easy and healthy! We've eaten them four times in the past couple of weeks with different entrees. Here's how easy they are:

Preheat oven to 425
Spray a cookie sheet witih Pam & set aside

*Cut Yukon Gold Potatoes into finger-sized fries and put in bowl
*Add olive oil to bowl & mix with hands
*Spread fries onto cookie sheet

Fries cook best when placed peel side down

Bake 20 min or so, depending on how crispy you like your fries

Right out of the oven, sprinkle with salt to taste

Note: If fries stick to cookie sheet, they're not done

Out of Commission Lately

I've been on "baking and cooking leave" lately due to a broken finger. It's been hard to not do much, especially cooking. Despite this, it's amazing what all I can do with a hurt finger. I had surgery to repair the break a few weeks ago and now have six screws and a plate in my pinky. The finger is doing a lot better now but it's still supposed to be in a splint most of the day.

Last week, I decided to make homemade french fries with Yukon Gold Potatoes. I was tired of not cooking and decided my hand was ready to handle it. A coworker had told me how easy and good they were. Plus, Juan wanted to BBQ hamburgers so it was perfect. Just as I started cutting the potatoes, I cut a finger on my left hand. I immediately grabbed a papertowel and put pressure on the bleeding fingertip. I looked down and saw that I had taken a huge chunk out of my index finger. Crap! Juan wasn't home from work yet and I knew I'd better get it looked at. I drove to the medical center and the papertowel was now stuck in the wound. Even moving it a centimeter hurt like crazy. This was hurting way more than my broken finger. Weird! The finger was filled with gelfoam to stop the bleeding and wrapped.

Now, I had a badly cut finger on my left hand and a swollen and sore post-surgery pinky on my right hand. I started to think I was a walking accident. So much for using knvies to cut potatoes. ;(

I knew I couldn't not bake or cook for long. Juan helped me make carrot pineapple muffins today and I'm slowly ready to start making food again. I'm just going to be extra careful with the knives...