Pinterest Inspiration: Triple Berry and Banana Frozen Yogurt Dog Treats

Clearly I had a lot of time on my hands during spring break.  With the Baby Pickin' Game, Kibble Egg Hunt, a trip to the beach, and Easter, Athena was a very busy (and tired) girl last week.  Here I am again with another DIY project all for Athena.

On Monday I checked out the Easter section at Target to scope out any after-holiday clearance deals.  Mostly I was just looking for backup plastic eggs for kibble hunts (which I did find for 50% off), but I also came across a 50% off bunny silicone mold.  It was just the thing that I needed to finally make Athena a batch of frozen dog treats that I'd been eyeing on Pinterest.  After looking at a couple of different recipes, I flung some different ingredients together to create these Triple Berry & Banana Frozen Yogurt Treats with Flaxseed.

Here's the recipe:

• 8-10 oz plain non-fat greek yogurt (I used Fage Total 0%)
• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh berries (I used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
• 1 tsp flaxseed meal (a great source of omega-3's for doggies!)

Instructions:

• Blend all ingredients together in a blender (I used a Magic Bullet)
• Pour mixture into a silicone mold, ice cube tray, cupcake liners, paper cups, or anything that you'd like!
• Freeze for at least 2 hours
• Serve to your four-legged friend!

Pouring the mixture into a silicone mold

All ready for the freezer!

Once frozen, I popped the bunnies out the mold and stored them in a freezer bag

As much as Athena loves the store-bought frozen treats like Frosty Paws, they don't love her so much (if you know what I mean).  I love how easy it is to make her these cool berry treat and I love that I know exactly what's in them.

There are a ton of other great frozen treat recipes on Pinterest.  Here are a few that I found that I want to try out next:

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Peanut Butter

Breath Freshener

Does your dog love frozen treats?  Have you ever made your own at home?

Pinterest Inspiration: Sweet Potato Dog Chews

Yesterday was a perfect cloudy Portland day to stay inside and make homemade sweet potato dog chews for Athena.  I've been lusting over a few recipes for these on Pinterest, so it was about time that I made a batch.  Not to mention that I always contemplate buying a bag of store-bought sweet potato chews whenever I see them, but I end up passing them by because a) why spend money when I can make them for super cheap and b) if I make them myself, I will know 100% what's in them.

My recipe for these dog chews was inspired by a few pins on my Pinterest Dog Recipes board including this one, this one, and this one.

Here's what I did to make these tasty (and healthy!) treats:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Sweet Potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

How to Make Em':

1.  Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
2.  Prepare a cookie sheet by lightly coating it with olive oil
3.  Wash the potatoes and then thinly slice them into rounds (I tried to slice mine to be about 1/4-1/2 inch thick).  You could use a mandolin or food processor for this step to make the slices the same thickness, however I don't think that Athena minds that mine weren't perfect =)

4. Lay out your round potato slices onto the cookie sheet.  It's OK if the slices touch, but try not to overlap them.

5. Bake for 4-5 hours (depending on if you want chewy or crunchy chews).  Flip the potatoes every hour.  Because mine weren't perfectly sliced, I got the best of both worlds (chewy and crunchy).
6. Remove the chews from the oven and let cool.

7. Feed them to your dog as a delicious snack or tummy soother!

Staring at the deliciousness would be just too much to bear!

Athena thought these treats were DELICIOUS!  We plan to use the crunchy ones for special training treats that are low-calorie and healthy and the chewy ones will be great for an after-school snack ;)

Have you ever made any dehydrated dog chews (in a fancy dehydrator or in the oven)?  How did your dog like them?

Check out these Pinterest inspired Peanut Butter Dog Treats that I also made

Pinterest Inspiration: Homemade Dog Treats

This weekend not only did we attend the grand opening for Portland's new Unleashed by Petco store and test Athena's sniffer at a free K9 Nose Work class, but we also did some extra special dog treat baking.

Mom, can I have that?

Ever since starting my Pitlandia Pinterest boards months ago, I have wanted to use one of my 'Dog Recipes' pins to bake a batch of dog treats.  This weekend I finally gave it a shot after realizing that most of the treat recipes call for ingredients that I already have at home (I've also been looking for an excuse to use my new bone shaped cookie cutters).

I ended up baking a batch of Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats using this recipe found on Pinterest:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour oat flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh
3 Tbsps peanut butter

"Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about a minute, or until the dough looks like a bunch of little dough balls. If you pinch a piece and it crumbles, add a little water. If it’s really sticky, it’s too wet and you’ll need to add a little flour. Gather the dough together and form into a ball. Place on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness. You can either use a cookie cutter to cut out cute shapes, or use a knife to cut squares or strips.  Place the cookies on a baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes for softer treats or 30 minutes for hard treats."-Recipe provided by userealbutter.com

The recipe made 100+ little crunchy treats in bone, heart, and flower shapes!

Athena thought that these treats were absolutely delicious!  I will admit that I tasted one and found it to be just like an unsweetened peanut butter cookie.  Athena doesn't seem to mind the flavor because she's been gobbling them up like crazy (I would say that she seems to like them even better than packaged dog treats)!

'Waiting' for her 'OK' to eat her treat

Substituting Oat Flour for Wheat Flour in Dog Treat Recipes:

The treat recipe above is not grain-free, but I substituted wheat flour for oat flour to make it so.  I made my own oat flour by putting dried rolled oats in the food processor and pulsing to chop the oats into a fine powder (1 1/4 cups of oats yields 1 cup of oat flour).

Making Dog Treats Grain Free:

One reason that I've been discouraged from making any dog treats found on Pinterest is because most are not grain-free.  We try to feed Athena a grain-free diet as much as possible.  To make the above treats grain-free, you could substitute the wheat flour for potato flour, almond flour, or any other grain-free flour substitute.

Grain Free Dog Treat Recipes:

Peanut Butter & Carrot Treats (also gluten, dairy, and sugar-free)

Dehydrated Liver Treats

Sweet Potato Chews

Dog Treat Recipes (substitute flour for a wheat-free or grain-free treat):

Peanut, Banana, & Bacon Treats

Veggie Treats

Carrot & Banana Treats

Cheesy Treats

Excuse me, but when can I eat that?

For even more homemade dog treat recipes visit my 'Dog Recipes' Pinterest board

Have you ever tried your hand at baking homemade dog treats?  What are some of your favorite recipes ?

Pinterest Inspiration: Halloween Costumes

Even though I have been preparing for Halloween since early September, I can now publicly admit my major excitement for the holiday since it's October 1st (you may have thought that I was just a liiiiiittle bit obsessed if I made too many Halloween posts prior to October).  I did manage to sneak in my DIY dog tutu tutorial though!

As an avid pinner on Pinterest, I have been searching the site for Halloween costume inspiration.  Seeing as this is Athena's first Halloween with us, I am determined to dress her in the fanciest costume in town!  Thanks to Pinterest, I have been able to pull together some ideas to create a DIY dog friendly Wonder Woman costume for Athena.

Here is the progress that I have made so far on her costume (cape & tutu):

Pinterest Inspiration: Wonder Woman Costumes

It can be tough to find inspiring pet costumes on the web, so I looked at kid costumes for my DIY inspiration.  If you couldn't tell already, I am all about adding a tutu to spice up a costume!  Here are some images snagged from my Halloween Costume Inspiration Pinterest board to help you get started on planning your dog's costume:

Pinterest Inspiration: Super Hero Costumes

Robin, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman

Spiderman, Batman

Pinterest Inspiration: Book & Movie Character Costumes

Thing 1 & 2, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland

Bamm-Bamm, Pebbles

Peter Pan, Max from Where The Wild Things Are

Pinterest Inspiration: Spooky Costumes

Pumpkin, Pirate, Scarecrow

For even more Halloween costume inspiration check out my Pinterest board.  What are you planning for your dog's costume this Halloween and what was your inspiration?