Recipe Corner: Green Monster Dog Cookies

Editor’s note: This recipe comes to us via the wonderful Jodi at Kol’s Notes, “One dog's blog about good food, good friends and the good life!” As always, thanks for your contributions, Jodi!

When you’ve got a dog that is a hot mess, you’ve got to get creative.

Take my Felix, for example. When we brought him home, he was all over the place: allergies, food intolerances, the itches and a butt like a stoplight, if you know what I mean.

I knew right off the bat that the regular crappy treats you get at the grocery store just weren’t going to do it for my new best buddy. This is something that seems to be happening more and more: whether your dog can’t eat store bought treats due to allergies or bladder stones or kidney and liver problems; tons of people have started making treats at home to keep spoiling their furry kids in style.

Felix has some crazy allergies, so we are always experimenting with alternative flours. A new favourite of ours is green pea flour. Adorable colour aside, this legume based flour is pretty good for you and your dogs. High in protein and fiber, green pea flour is gluten free, grain-allergy friendly and good to use in baked good for dogs with bladder stone’s like Love on a Leash’s own Finnigan. As an added bonus, these Green Monster Dog Cookies are SUPER easy to make.

Green Monster Dog Cookies

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups Green Pea Flour
2 cups Frozen Peas, defrosted
1 ½ cups ground chicken
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Over medium heat, sauté ground chicken until cooked, but not brown. In a food processor or blender, mix together defrosted peas, chicken and egg.

Stir green pea flour and parsley into the pea mixture. It should be thick, but not stiff. Pour mixture onto baking sheet and spread into a thin (1/4") layer. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven. Score treats into bite sizes pieces with a knife. Return to oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

For a soft treat, remove from oven and allow cookies to cool.

For a crunchy treat, flip cookies, reduce heat to 200F and bake for another 2 - 4 hours.

Store in refrigerator.

Animal Portraits by Emily Z

I was recently pleased to be introduced to the work of artist Emily Z. Being geared in the way I am, I was especially charmed by Emily’s pet portraits. Just look at them! Bright colours, beautiful form and what seems to me to be very real and charming expression.

On her web site, Emily points out that “custom pet portraits are a colourful and personal way to celebrate your pet.They make excellent presents for pet owners, people who have recently lost their pet, or anyone else who has a soft spot for a certain furry friend. I paint cats and dogs, as well as any other animal friend you may have. They are created with oil paints on 3/4″ profile stretched canvas. Each piece is created working closely with the client to insure that the pets expression, the color scheme, and end product meet their requirements.”

Emily Z can be reached by telephone at 778-227-5307 or via e-mail.

A Hand for Homeless, Street Involved and Low Income Pet Guardians

It always makes me sad and concerned when I see homeless and street involved people with their pets: sleeping in bus shelters or asking for money on the street, their faithful dog or cat by their side, sharing their thin existence.

While on the one hand there can be an element of the heart-warming around these connections, how can people who can’t afford to put a real shelter over their own heads possibly get the kind of care for their pets that most of us take us a matter of course?

With those kinds of questions in mind, Bosley’s will be offering Pet Care Day on Sunday, March 3rd, from 10 am to 6pm. Those visiting Bosley’s Columbia Square, New Westminster location will have basic vet care available by donation, including a vet check, vaccinations, flea and worming treatments and nail trimming and other minor grooming.

This is a wonderful idea and we support it completely. Not only will Bosley’s be making pet care available to those who normally might not be able to afford it, the funds raised by donation will go to benefit animals living in at risk situations through the Paws for Hope Foundation, “a non-profit society in Vancouver, British Columbia established in 2011 out of the recognition that the majority of existing animal welfare initiatives are set up to respond to the immediate and urgent needs of animals in crisis and that in order to significantly improve animal welfare, a holistic and sustainable approach is required.”

To take part in this incredible day, visit Bosley’s Columbia Square location on March 3rd, or contact kathy@pawsforhope.org or by phone at 604-657-4183.