Carrot-Apple Dog Treats

Hoppy Easter!

Target's seasonal section always drags me in when I do my grocery shopping. I usually try to stick to grocery stores so I stay focused on the food. Venturing into Target is just asking to buy things you all of the sudden "need" but is not on your grocery list such as a first aid kit, a razor, papermate pens, easter grass, and bunny shaped pans. They are so cute, how could I resist making treats that looked like Bugs Bunny?..... eh, what's up doc?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 C. of white whole wheat flour 
• 1 C. of grated carrots
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C. apple sauce
• 1/4 C. olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Wilton Wabbit Silicon Bunny Pan

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Mix flour, carrots, baking powder, egg, apple sauce, and olive oil together. Dough should have consistency of play doh.

3. Scoop about 1 tbsp of dough and squish into the Wilton Rabbit Silicon Bunny Pan.
4. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

STORAGE:

Store in an airtight container once on counter after thoroughly cooled for up to 1 week . Waiting until cooled is an important step; condensation can build and the moisture will cause treats to mold.

For longer shelf life: store in fridge for up to 2 months. Store in freezer for up to 8 months.
Tip: Write date on plastic bag to keep track of expiration date.

Be vewy vewy quiet... I'm hunting wabbits!

Mochi's Favorite Dog Toys

Mochi loves her toys. She will bring them to bed, cuddle with them, and cry for hours when they are stuck under the couch. There's a learning curve associated with finding Mochi the right toy though. Funny how dogs can have preferences. She couldn't care less for rubber toys. She loves her soft toys. Especially ones that are plushy and squeak. Unfortunately, I had to learn to get her toys without too much stuffing because she will rip their heads off in T-1 minute. I had just gotten her this all natural, organic toy that cost 3 times as much as her other toys and I kid you not, within 1 minute she tore it's head off and it's stuffing was scattered around my apartment. 

Did I do that?

So now, I pick toys that are fluffy or soft yet low in stuffing. See her top toys below!

1) She absolutely loves monkeys. I had gone through 3 monkeys (decapitated, stuffing everywhere) until I found these sweet things at PetCo. It's a monkey with minimal stuffing. The brown one has lasted months so I went and bought her a pink one as well. She loves both of these monkeys.

It's not listed on their website, but I got these from PetCo in their 2/$5 section.

2. Tennis ball. She loves her mini tennis ball because she will make it squeak forever. She's taught herself the art of self-fetch. She'll roll or throw this ball and go fetch it for herself. These come in many sizes and the x-small is perfect for her. (plus! No head to rip off or stuffing to scatter)

Air KONG Squeaker Tennis Ball
at PetCo.

 3. This cute little bear is also a fave. It's small and mochi-sized. She can fit the whole bear in her mouth. It also has minimal stuffing and a loud squeaker (love at first squeak for her). It also comes with a replacement squeaker as well!

KONG X-tra Small Plush Toy
at petsmart

What are your pup's favorite toys?

Simple Chicken Nuggets for dogs

Brown Chicken Brown Cow

What's the sexiest animals on the farm?

Brown chicken brown cow - ow ow!

I had left over chicken from dinner today and decided to give my pooch a little happy meal. I threw 3 ingredients together, tossed it in the oven, and diced the chicken into small pieces. Happiest day of her life. It reminded me of my happy meal days.... oh like 2 weeks ago. Yeah, I still get happy meals - shhhhhh.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 chicken breast
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried or chopped parsley

Would you like fries with that?

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Wash chicken and pat dry.
3. Toss in olive oil and parsley.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
5. Cut into smaller chunks.
6. Serve with toy (optional).

STORAGE:

Store in an airtight container in the fridge after thoroughly cooled for up to 3 days .
Tip: Write date on plastic bag to keep track of expiration date.

McMochi's Pot O' Gold

They're magically delicious!

You've followed the rainbow to McMochi's Pot O' Gold.... these homemade greenies. Don't know how she followed the rainbow since dogs are color blind and all but she's a gangsta and we don't question gangstas.

Since dogs can only see limited colors, I believe their red or green color blind it doesn't make much different what color their treats are. So I try to stay away from artificial food coloring as possible. I pureed boiled spinach to achieve a natural green color and used white whole wheat instead of regular whole wheat to not interfere with the coloring. Voila! Magically delicious all-natural green treats just in time for St. Patty's.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 C. of white whole wheat flour (use white to let the green color come through)
• 3 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. of soy milk
• 1/4 C. water from boiled spinach
• 1 C. of spinach puree (1 bag of spinach)

DIRECTIONS:

Spinach puree

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add 1 bag of spinach and boil for about 5 minutes.
3. Scoop out 1/4 cup of boiled spinach water and set aside.
4. Drain spinach. Put into food processor and puree.
5. Mix flour, olive oil, egg, soy milk, water from boiled spinach, and spinach puree together. Dough should have consistency of play doh.

3. Roll the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick roll. Use bone or floral cookie cutters.

4. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

STORAGE:

Store in an airtight container once on counter after thoroughly cooled for up to 1 week . Waiting until cooled is an important step; condensation can build and the moisture will cause treats to mold.

For longer shelf life: store in fridge for up to 2 months. Store in freezer for up to 8 months.
Tip: Write date on plastic bag to keep track of expiration date.

Beefy Sweet Potato Animal Crackers

Animal Cwackas in my soup

I have these Wilton Mini Noah's Ark cookie cutters that I absolutely love. What's not to love about mini things?

You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals so let's do it like they do it on discovery channel. [Insert disc scratch] It just got pg-13 in here. These animal crackers are doggy style so you can already expect it to get hot in here. Cue Nelly but dogs don't have clothes to take off (generally) and are always strutting in their birthday suit anyway. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 C. of whole wheat flour (regular or white)
• 3 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 jar of beef and gravy baby food
• 1 jar of sweet potato baby food
• 1/4 C. skim milk
• 1/4 C. water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Mix flour, egg, olive oil, baby food, skim milk, and water together. Dough should be stiff.

3. Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick roll. Using mini animal cookie cutters, cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

4. Bake for 20 minutes.

STORAGE:

Store in an airtight container once on counter after thoroughly cooled for up to 2 weeks . Waiting until cooled is an important step; condensation can build and the moisture will cause treats to mold.

For longer shelf life: store in fridge for up to 2 months. Store in freezer for up to 8 months.
Tip: Write date on plastic bag to keep track of expiration date.

Summer {puppy} Lovin'

Hello!

"oh. Hi"

For the Love of Pooch is back just in time for summer. Mochi and I moved back to Texas in February. It took time to get adjusted and back into the groove of things. When things finally settled, my parent's oven was out of commission. Now a new oven is in place and the treats are ready to be made again!

Houston summers are hot, hot, heat. It's already averaging the 90s in May. Look for many frozen treats coming soon! Uh oh, hot, hot, heat... time to break out in song!

How appropriate.... we owe YOU an IOU for being MIA for almost 6 months!

In the meantime, friend us on facebook, follow us on twitter and keep a lookout for fun new {and healthy!} recipes for pup!

Hibernating

Hi blog readers!

For the Love of Pooch is officially on hibernation.

Mochi is a Texan at heart and had a hard time dealing with the winter in Minnesota. All the snow made her shiver. Even with a hoodie, a parka, and dog boots she would shiver every time we went on a potty break. She would come in and shiver some more and looked so miserable. It broke my heart to see her skinny butt suffer.

On my recent trip back to Texas, I brought Mochi with me and she's now staying at home with lots of other doggies to play with in the nice, warm weather. The treat making will resume upon Mochi's return once it warms up in Minnesota.

Until then.... feel free to email me if you have any questions about this blog, dog treats, baking, food, or whatever! Anything goes. Ericachung88@gmail.com.