Tag: dog treats

Going to the Dogs

If you build it, they will come. If you shake the treat bag within earshot, they will come with tails wagging and tongues panting, too.

The push for alternative proteins isn’t limited to just the human diet; behind the scenes, toiling away in laboratories and kitchens, the race is on to develop a more sustainable, ethical, and wholesome way to nourish man’s best friend. Wild Earth is growing their blend, and their business, from the ground up with koji, a type of fungus used in soy sauce and miso.

Higher in protein content than steak (24 percent protein by weight), these cultured mushrooms contain over 45 percent protein by contrast. Though the nutritional numbers are impressive, to say the least, what matters the most to my guy is the fact that these healthy spores impart a unique umami flavor to the treats.

Luka and I were early adopters of this innovative concept, well before the Berkeley-based company revamped their packages, added different flavors, and made a big splash on Shark Tank last week. Now pet parents nationwide can’t stop buzzing about the brand, which successfully secured a $550,000 investment on the show.

Treats are truly just the appetizer to kick things off. Coming soon, proper dog food will be made of the very same savory stuff, providing a completely vegan, fully vetted (AAFCO-compliant) main meal.  That may come as a surprise to those still wedded to the notion that dogs are obligate carnivores, but with more research supporting the possibility of raising healthy, happy canines without the need for meat, Wild Earth is making it not only feasible, but enjoyable for the pups in question.

Hannah (BitterSweet)3 Comments

Chow Down

Does anyone else get bummed out by Trader Joe’s cat cookies? It’s not that they’re disappointing in flavor- Far from it- But that they’re blatantly speciesist. Printed on every generous tub are the words “For People!” with no mention of our feline friends. They’re inspired by, shaped like, and named for cats, and yet these highly esteemed creatures are clearly excluded from indulging alongside us. It’s a slap in the face (or perhaps, paw to the snout) of the little lions among us. My modus operandi has always been to provide food for everyone to enjoy, regardless of tastes, dietary restrictions, or breeds, so it strikes me as terribly shortsighted of Trader Joe’s to classify such promising morsels in such an exclusive fashion.

The same can be said of “puppy chow.” Typically, this is a crowd-pleasing yet tooth-achingly sweet mix of melted chocolate, powdered sugar, and cereal squares, tossed together to approximate the appearance of dog food. Chocolate is at the top of the list of canine dangers when it comes to feeding, so I have to wonder who was the first person to dream up this combination. What a sadly misleading title!

Carob could make for an easy conversion, but not one that most humans would be particularly enthusiastic about. Besides, the added sugar really isn’t the best fuel for our furry friends. Savory flavors are what this reinvented blend is all about! Peanut butter with an umami kick of liquid aminos and nutritional yeast meet crunchy corn or rice cubes for a highly snack-able blend, no matter your breed. Feel free to spice things up for your own tastes with a generous dose of sriracha, smoked paprika, or chili powder, but keep it on the side for more sensitive puppy palates.

Although the temptation to immediately chow down straight from the bowl will be high, please mind your manners. There’s no reason to eat like an animal.

Yield: Makes About 4 1/2 Cups

Savory Puppy Chow (For People AND Puppies)

Savory Puppy Chow (For People AND Puppies)
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Place the peanut butter, coconut oil, liquid aminos, and vinegar in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth and slightly thickened. Toss with the cereal, coconut, and oat flour in a large bowl until the squares are evenly coated. Sprinkle in the tapioca starch and nutritional yeast last, stirring gently to cover the pieces without crushing them. Serve warm.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

9

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 229Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 160mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 6g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Starters and Snacks

Hannah (BitterSweet)9 Comments

Ay, Chihuahua!

Inspiration is often found in the most unusual places. In the case of my new favorite cornbread formula, it came in the form of a four-legged, two pound pup known throughout the entire bay area as Strummer. This darling little dog truly has a fan club, famous both for her size and sweet, loving nature that could melt even the iciest of hearts. When this pup speaks, the world listens. To deny her anything would constitute an act of unthinkable cruelty.

Thus, as a notoriously picky eater, the temptation to spoil the old gal with human foods is a constant temptation. While her dietetic, all-natural, “premium” canned slop sits in her bowl, slowly crusting over, the urge to push all remotely viable foods her way becomes absolutely maddening. I know very well what dogs should and should not eat, but ever since I learned that tortilla chips are one of her favorite treats, well… Let’s just say I always just happen to have a bag on hand when she comes to visit.

On her most recent sleepover, Strummer and her brother were having a raucous good time, play fighting with each other and rearranging all of the blankets and towels within their reach, when the tiny princess grew suddenly despondent. Hours passed while she hid beneath a tangle of pillows, that bowl of healthy food remaining completely untouched. There was nothing that could convince her to eat.

And so, I was forced to break out my secret weapon. I couldn’t let my beloved Strummer go hungry, after all! The trouble is that now in her golden years as a senior dog, her teeth aren’t quite what they used to be, nor as numerous, truth be told. Scheming up a way to feed my finicky house guest, it was that strange source of inspiration that led to the creation of tortilla chip cornbread.

No cornmeal need apply. The chips themselves provide a surprisingly full-flavored toasted corn taste throughout, making the formula perfect for those days when the pantry isn’t entirely accommodating. Designed for mass appeal, humans can enjoy these treats just as heartily as the canines we love, should they be so lucky to steal away a few bites. Such a simple formula may look suspect at first glance, but the results speak for themselves. Their soft, moist crumb can rival the very best baked goods, no matter the intended audience. Just try to share a few morsels with all of your friends- even those who can only woof quietly in approval.

Tortilla Chip Corn Muffins

4 Ounces Yellow Tortilla Chips, Finely Ground*
1 Cup White Whole Wheat or All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Cup Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
1/2 Cup Plain Vegan Yogurt
2 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar or Light Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
2 Teaspoons Coconut Oil, Melted
1 1/4 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar

*If you’re making these to share with your four-legged friends, I would recommend seeking out low- or no-salt chips. For humans, I happen to love the super-salty chips and think they really make these muffins pop!

Preheat you oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a medium muffin pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the ground tortilla chips, flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix well to distribute all of the dry ingredients throughout. Separately, whisk together the non-dairy milk, yogurt, sugar, melted coconut oil and vinegar until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the larger bowl of dry goods and stir gently, until just combined. Don’t worry if there are a few small lumps remaining.

Fill the prepared muffin tins with batter, about 3/4 of the way to the top, and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. They will be lightly golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the muffins should come out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature. The muffins can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.

Makes 8 – 10 Muffins

Printable Recipe

Hannah (BitterSweet)11 Comments

Pi Day, Gone to the Dogs

Pushed to the back of my recipe archives, this one has been a long time coming. Despite the fact that the results were well-received, immediately devoured with glee and appreciation, it didn’t seem worthy of sharing on this public platform. Why withhold this treat from others, designed for the four-legged friends among us, who truly don’t receive their fair share of culinary attention in the first place?

I was disappointed with the photos. Such a silly, shallow, and misconstrued excuse.

Now I treasure these images. There’s no “action shot” as I had envisioned, but who can argue with that trail of crumbs, the sign of a satisfied customer? That kind of approval is all I could ever hope for.

This post is dedicated to Isis.

Yield: Makes 12 Mini Pies

Carrot Custard Pup Pies

Carrot Custard Pup Pies

These little pies have gone to the dogs. Your pup will love such a special treat that humans can enjoy, too.

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 14 minutes
Total Time 39 minutes

Ingredients

No-Fuss Whole Wheat Crust:

  • 1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
  • 2 Tablespoons Wheat Germ
  • 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Carrot Custard:

  • 1/2 Cup 100% Carrot Juice
  • 1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
  • 2 Tablespoons Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Powdered Kudzu Starch

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a dozen mini muffin tins.
  2. Combine the flour and wheat germ in a medium bowl before slowly drizzling in both the oil and vinegar. Mix until the dough comes together without any pockets of dry ingredients remaining. Pinch off walnut-sized balls and press them into the bottom and up the sides of your prepared muffin tins. A wooden tart tamper could be especially helpful for this task, but lightly moistened fingers will certainly get the job done all the same.
  3. Bake the tiny crusts for 12 – 14 minutes, until dry and lightly golden brown all over. Let cool and begin to prepare the filling.
  4. Whisk together all of the components for the carrot custard in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Stir vigorously to break up any lumps of starch. Continue to whisk every couple of minutes, until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook for about a minute longer, until fully thickened, and turn off the heat.
  5. Divide the filling equally between the baked mini crusts and let cool completely before moving them into the fridge to set. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Notes

Please note: As written, these pies are intended for canine consumption only, which means there is no sugar added and they are not actually sweet. If you’d like to share them with your furry friends, add 2 – 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, to taste, in the filling.

Recommended Products

Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. I have experience with all of these companies and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something through my links.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 33mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Pies and Tarts

Hannah (BitterSweet)20 Comments

Dog Years

The passage of time has confounded me yet again. Sure, I remembered to mark today’s date as something out of the ordinary and had sufficient time in which to prepare for it, but it doesn’t feel like enough time has passed for us to have arrived at this day yet. You see, my puppy, my innocent little baby, is celebrating her birthday today, and I couldn’t be more incredulous. Wasn’t it just a month ago that we drove down the coast and plucked her out that tiny pen holding her brothers and sisters, curious eyes fearful of the uncertain future before her? Although it’s easy to to forget how long Isis has been keeping all of us company, it’s becoming harder to deny that she is slowly but surely shedding her hyperactive youthfulness in exchange for the more mature, calm disposition of a full-fledged adult – Turning 10 years old (Or 70, depending on who you’re talking to) will do that, I suppose.

Long gone are the simpler days, when peeing in as many new rooms as possible was practically a competitive sport, never mind the fact that she was the only competitor. Less often do we return home to discover horrific scenes of destruction as well… But fluffy balls of yarn still prove to be too great a temptation when left within reach, no matter her increasing age. Still, her tastes have become greatly refined since puppy-hood, especially in earlier days when anything even borderline edible [And many things completely inedible, too] would end up in her mouth before we would ever see her approach. Deftly stalking her prey, many rotten vegetables, insects, plastic toys, any so on would meet a swift end via her sharp teeth and tumultuous digestive processes. I remember that milk cartons were a particular delicacy that Isis delighted in, and even after we stopped them, they would still mysterious appear in our yard, carried in by the joyful pup herself. It took us months to figure out that she was in fact stealing them from the neighbors’ recycling bins as if they were her personal all-you-can-eat buffets!

In her advancing age though, she has grown increasingly picky about her food. Only grudgingly eating her own food, it’s real meals that she craves these days. Crumbs of meat scraped from my father’s plate are the ultimate indulgence, just barely out-ranking pizza crusts. Unbelievably, not even all human food is pleasing to her refined palate now; Pretzel crumbs or lettuce leaves? Forget it. What about chunks of apple? Once a real treat that she would snap up and devour with such gusto that neither core nor seeds would remain when she had finished, but now something that she leaves on the floor, untouched. I simply can’t understand her behaviors sometimes.

For this very special birthday of hers, coming up with some sort of desirable treat was not as easy as it used to be. Afraid of a potential rejection and the shame of making something that not even a dog would eat, I almost didn’t venture to even try. Still, it’s not everyday that your darling puppy turns 10, so I sucked it up for her sake and made my best effort. It’s the thought that counts anyways, and there was no way I could sit idly by when she deserved so much more.

Ultimately, I decided that homemade biscuits should sufficiently satisfy my choosy pup. Adhering to her standard criteria for acceptable foods, I developed these snacks to be similar to pizza crusts in texture, giving her a solid crunch and dog-friendly flavor with every bite. Additional protein joins the mix by using soy flour in order to make it a more nutritionally rich treat, because who wouldn’t want their loved ones to stay healthy and happy for as long as possible? Aromatic and tempting even to me when the emerged from the oven, I was reluctant to give them all away when the time came. They are perfectly decent for humans to enjoy as well… But I don’t know if Isis would be so willing to share with me!

Yield: Makes 24 - 30 Biscuits

Dog Biscuits

Dog Biscuits

Protein-rich soy flour makes these a healthy treat for dogs of all ages, but you can also use chickpea flour or fava bean flour instead.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup Soybean Flour (or Chickpea Flour, or Fava Bean Flour)
  • 1 3/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 Cup Coarse Yellow Cornmeal
  • 1/4 Cup Dried Parsley
  • 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
  • 1 Cup Vegetable Stock

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Stir together the bean flour, cornmeal, 1 cup of the all-purpose flour, and parsley together in a medium bowl. Add in the oil and veggie stock, stirring well. Once fully combined, add in the remaining amount of flour, and keep on stirring it until all of the dry ingredients have absorbed – It may take quite a bit of mixing, agitating, and kneading, but it will all come together eventually!
  3. When your dough is completely homogeneous and only slightly sticky, use a rolling pin to flatten it out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use cookie cutters to make the shapes that you want and lay them out on a silpat-lined baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove biscuits from the oven and let air-dry overnight, or for at least 8 hours before storing in an airtight container.
  5. Keep in mind that homemade biscuits go bad much faster than store bought, so use this as an excuse to spoil your furry friend even more than usual!

Notes

Store your biscuits in the freezer for up to 6 months, if you won't go through them as quickly.

Recommended Products

Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. I have experience with all of these companies and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something through my links.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 61Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 25mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 2g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Other

 

Hannah (BitterSweet)14 Comments