Sweet Puptato Bones - Sweet Potato Dog Treats

Hunter, my 60 lb Standard Poodle, has to put up with a lot of delicious smells coming from the kitchen that he never gets to sample.  Usually, he just lays by the back door and watches me cook and, subsequently, eat whatever it is that I am throwing together.  Occasionally, he will regale me with his interpretation of Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy (he's quite well read) while he's lounging by the door, but for the most part, he watches in silence.

There is one thing, though, that will bring on a litany of grunts, growls, barks and various other vocalizations that I didn't even know were possible by a canine.  Sweet Potatoes.  Anytime I am slicing, dicing, mincing, steaming, baking, boiling, mashing, or roasting them, Hunter goes absolutely berserk.  So, in answer to his apparent love affair with this tasty tuber, I have decided to load up some Gluten-Free dog treats with fresh Sweet Potato.  And use the tiny little dog bone cutter that I found at Kitchen Kaboodle on NW 23rd and Flanders, in Portland.

After all, who could possibly resist this sweet puppy face?

 I know I can't...  :)

 Sweet PupTato Bones

350g (3 cups) (12.3 oz) Oat Flour
215g (1 1/2 cups) (7.6 oz) Brown Rice Flour
3 TB Golden Flax Meal or 3 TB Almond Meal
1 tsp Salt
1 large Egg
118ml (1/2 cup) Olive Oil
236ml (1 cup) Whole Milk
72g (2.5 oz) finely grated Sweet Potato (about 1/2 of a medium sized one)  OR substitute finely shredded Carrot

I need to go on record as stating that I originally measured the ingredients by standard volume, then weighed these amounts to come up with the gram and ounce.  Upon triple checking on the King Aurthur site and Aqua Calc, I figured I had done something wrong.  My weights were significantly heavier than theirs. So I did it again.... And again.... And AGAIN.   I kept coming up with the same weights, give or take a couple of grams.  I was extremely frustrated, to say the least.

I do not know how the conversion amounts are figured on those sites for non-traditional flours. I spoon the flour into the cup and level it off with a knife, and this is what I come up with.  Maybe they are sifting (several times) first, before measuring which, to me, is something you only do with cake.  I'm just sayin'.  Because of this, I have written the recipe in grams, which is technically the most accurate.  

Combine Oat Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Flax Meal (or Almond Meal) and Salt in a bowl, whisking well.

Add the Egg, Olive Oil, and Milk to the bowl.

Grate the Sweet Potato (or Carrot) with a zester (the finer the better).

Throw in the grated sweet potato.

Stir until a soft dough forms.

Let sit for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 225F degrees.
Divide the dough in 1/2.

Roll 1 piece out to 3/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.

Cut small shapes with a well floured (rice flour) cutter. (the dough will still stick a little bit)

Place each bone on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Gather scraps together, re-roll and cut until you have filled at least 2 baking sheet. (they bake for a LONG time, so your gonna wanna bake as many as possible at one time)

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 90 minutes, turning and rotating the pans every 30 minutes to ensure they bake/dry out evenly.

Cool on the baking sheet for 15 minutes.

Store in an airtight container.

Mangia!!  (Yes, they are safe for human consumption)
~~

Ah, Puppy Breath - Parsley Pooch Pops

For anyone who has followed this blog over the last couple of years you probably have a pretty good insight into how my mind works and have been privy to my somewhat outspoken opinions on certain things.  (shout out to all my beeps out there - Sorry I have not been around in the forums that much)  Such concerns as nutrition and FDA labeling regulations, or lack there of, coupled with conflicting information regarding the health of certain foods.  Yes, I have lived through the scandal over the evils of the avocado, now they are touted as one of natures miracle foods. Oye Vey!   Or how the makers of NutraSweet finally admit that there are "side effects" from consumption (like seizures).  Or how Stevia had to be sold as a "supplement" instead of a sweetener due to NutraSweet lobbyists.  Blah Blah Blah... I could go on for hours, but I will stop there; at least where human food is concerned.

I wanna talk about your dog's food, of which the FDA regulations are pretty much nil.  Yeah, that's right.  The FDA allows for pretty much ANYTHING to be placed in dog food.  I can tell you horror stories, but there is enough of that all over the net.  And while some of the information is fanatical propaganda, sadly, most of it is true.  Then you have the constant recalls of this food or that food because some by-product shipment from China was contaminated with this or that. Top that off with the preservatives that are used which are deemed to dangerous for human consumption. It's a recipe for health disaster.

I lost my last companion to Diabetes due to a veterinarian prescribed special dog food, that upon closer inspection of the ingredients, was nothing but a steady diet of junk.

Brewers Rice, Corn Starch, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Dried Egg Product, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Citrate, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Calcium Carbonate, L-Lysine, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Beet Pulp, L-Threonine, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid, L-Tryptophan, L-Carnitine, Beta- Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

If you read this ingredient list, you will see that the only protein is this formulation is "dried egg product" and maybe the Chicken Liver "flavor", everything else is just carbs and fat...  Corn starch speaks for itself, but Brewer's rice?  It might as well say, converted white rice.  And the Soybean oil is preserved with BHA - a carcinogen.  A perfect recipe for diabetes in not only humans, but canines....  Which is what happened.

It only stands to rights that I am a little more sensitive to the nutritional needs of my new canine companion.  While I have done a ton of research and have finally found several "dog food" formulas that I am OK with.  I still refuse to buy any of the dog treats available at either the mega-mart or the pet-mart.  If you read the ingredients, they are still full of "junk"; even the ones that claim to be organic or holistic...

In my personal experience there are 3 big bad no no's in canine food and treats...  Gluten (from wheat), Corn (in any form) and Soy.  There are to many chances for intolerance.  Another is preservatives like BHA, BHT, TBHQ, propyl gallate (a xenoestrogen) and Ethoxyquin (which is a pesticide and a hardener used in synthetic rubber manufacturing) ... I figure, if I am not eating preservatives, then neither should canine pal.  Don't get me wrong, I am not going to jump on the BARF wagon or anything (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food).  Simply because part of the reason that Otto had Calcium Oxalate stones in his bladder to begin with was because he was getting TOO much protein, so I don't necessarily agree with that particular diet either.  It's all about balance and stopping the over exposure to harmful chemicals.

Thus I present my formulation for a healthy homemade dog treat that, as a bonus, will help freshen your pets breath as well as promote urinary tract health.  Parsley is a wonder herb.  I don't mean that curly stuff either, I mean good old Italian Flat leaf parsley. Barley, though a grain and technically a carb, is low in gluten.  Flax and Olive oil are good for the skin and coat (though I would not feed more that 1 or 2 a day as flax has other abilities in the "fiber-lax" department, if you catch my drift)  The egg white helps to bind the whole thing together without the extra fat from the yolk and the Applesauce, just makes it taste good.  LOL

Parsley Pooch Pops 

1/4 cup (7 g) (.25 oz) Fresh Italian Parsley leaves (try to keep the stems to a minimum)
1/4 cup (60 ml) (2 oz) Water
1 Egg White
2 TB Olive oil
1/4 cup (75 g) (2.5 oz) Applesauce, unsweetened
2 cups (250 g) (8.8 oz) Barley flour
1/2 cup (85 g) (3 oz) Golden Flax Seeds, ground (or Flax Meal)

Puree the Parsley with the water in the food processor.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white and olive oil together with a fork.

Add the applesauce and Parsley puree, stirring to combine.

In a large bowl, whisk together the Barley flour and ground Flax seed.

Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the Egg/Applesauce/Parsley mixture.

Stir with a fork until well combined. (Just like makin' pasta)

Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes (this allows for even dispersion of the moisture in the dough)

Line a baking sheet with parchment and begin preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

Begin breaking down the dough into .5 oz (13 g) pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball and load them up on the baking sheet (cause they won't spread or anything)

Bake for 20 minutes.

Turn off the oven and let the "cookies" cool in the oven for 1 hour, if you want a softer center;

or you can let them sit in the oven for 2 hours to dry them all the way through.

And when your puppy is done defending the lawn from wayward leaves,

reward him/her for a job well done.

There is nothing quite like a smile on a dog.

Mangia!!  (after all, you can eat them too, if you want)  LOL
~~

Morel of The Story - Mother Knows Best

This is, in essence, a guest post, by proxy. I guess that would be the proper term. Let's see if I can explain.

My aunt Delores is down from the Seattle area and we all had breakfast together this morning. Granted, I don't usually eat breakfast, other than a cup of coffee and maybe a piece of toast. Though I am fond of breakfast foods for evening meals. :) But it was a special occasion, and there were a lot of Half-Free Morels.

Which reminds me, I need to insert a tangential paragraph here. I have corrected the previous post, but I am going to apologize for feeding everyone a bit of misinformation. I referred to the mushrooms my Dad and I collected a couple of days ago as "False-Morels". This was incorrect. There are 2 kinds of Morel mushrooms. One is the prestigious fully attached cap, which includes the Black & Yellow Morels. (Of which we found only a few) Then there are the Half-Free Morels. Which includes the lion's share of the mushrooms we collected the other day.

The False Morel is NOT edible. OK, even that is somewhat misinformative, but they ARE dangerous to consume. They are somewhat popular in Scandinavian countries; but are usually boiled twice before cooking. Thus rendering their carcinogens inert. But they are still dangerous, as some people are more sensitive than others. So it's kind of like a crap shoot.

So to sum it all up......

• False Morels = Bad
• True Morels = Good Eatin
• Half-Free Morels = Good Eatin
• Shane not doing his proper research before posting = Bad (I have sent myself to my room to think about what I have done) ;)

Tangent over...... Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

So we had all these lovely Half-Free Morels that were just BEGGING to become breakfast fodder. I was in the mood for something like Mushroom Gravy over Buttermilk biscuits or a Morel Omelet or even a Fritatta. These ideas didn't go over to well. In the end they were simply floured lightly and pan fried to be served along with my mom's "Nutty Diane's Waffles".

Yeah, I pretty much got booted out of the kitchen this morning. I was a little dazed and confused at first, then I remembered that I had my camera, so I snapped photos while mom made her infamous Waffles and my aunt Delores fried up the Morels.

My only contribution to breakfast was the final assembly, though I was the only one who ate my Morels ON my Waffle. Everyone else covered their waffles with Whipped Cream and Huckleberries, then consumed their Morels on the side. I always gotta be different... LOL

Nutty Diane's Waffles (with Greens and Morels)

1 Cup Spelt Flour (you can use White Whole Wheat too)
1/2 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 TB Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
2 Large Eggs, separated
1 1/4 cup Buttermilk
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Flax Meal
1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

In a medium bowl, whisk the Spelt, AP Flour, Baking Soda, Granulated Sugar and Salt together.

Measure the buttermilk and add the vanilla.

Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks with the buttermilk.

Add the Olive oil to the buttermilk as well.

Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks, then set aside.

Whisk the Flax Meal into the Flour mixture.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Then Fold in the Walnuts......

Finally, Fold in the Egg Whites.

Bake in either an American or Danish Waffle iron until the steam subsides. (I tried this a long time ago, in a Belgian waffle iron and it doesn't work very well.)

Place on a cooling rack in the oven at 175 degrees to keep warm while baking the remaining batter. (Unless someone walks by and steals your waffle while your trying to photograph it)

Normally, these are serves with Whipped Cream and Huckleberries or Maple Syrup, but today was a special day.

Fried Half-Free Morels

A bunch of Half-Free Morels
Flour
Kosher Salt and Pepper
Butter... Lot's and lots of buttah
Micro Greens

Wash and dry the Morels.

Mix a pinch of salt and pepper into some flour (yeah, this is pretty free form here) then simply roll each mushroom in the flour so you get a really light coating.
Fry in melted butter until golden.

Now, take a warm waffle and butter it well. (Yes, more butter)

Place a small bunch of Microgreens on top. (That's to kind of offset the butter)

Top that all off with a small bunch of those precious fried morel mushrooms.

Totally Delish. Very much along the venue of Chicken & Waffles. Only even more awesome! Crunchy, Nutty, Earthy yet Fresh tasting, thanks to the little bit of greens, all finished off with an elusive hint of sweetness.

Mangia!!
~~