When you’re single on Valentine’s Day, but you have a dog or two, you’re not going to experience a shortage of love, far from it.
My favorite part of being in a relationship is having someone to spoil with homemade , kisses, and compliments. Dogs are happy to be on the receiving end of all of those things, and they have so much love to give in return.
Of course, I do wonder if they’ll ever have a new dad. I don’t expect to call that person their step-dad, because they’re not biological to begin with. We’re a package deal, the three of us. The kindest thing anyone can ever do for me is to be patient with these girls, because they’re very wary of strangers, and take weeks for them to warm up to new people. But once they do, it’s easy to why I adore them so much.
For now, there’s no openings in our nighttime snuggle arrangement. I simply don’t know where I would PUT a human man. Perhaps one day we’ll make room in our puppy pile. For now, our circle of love is complete.
This week, I made some tasty Valentine’s Day treats for my little loves to enjoy.
I used a recipe very similar to my Christmas Turkey Trees.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Frozen Blueberries
- 1 teaspoon spirulina
- 3 shakes garlic powder
- Generous amount of dried parsley, basil and oregano
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs
- 1.5 cups oat flour, plus extra for dusting (made by grinding oatmeal in a food processor)
- 3 Pounds Lean Ground Turkey Meat
- Blend berries, spirulina, seasonings, honey and eggs in bullet blender.
- Mix with turkey meat, then add oat flour until you can form a ball of “dough.”
- Dust surface with oat flour and pat down meat dough to even thickness. You can use a rolling pin, but I find it’s easier to use wet hands.
- Use cookie cutters to create shapes, and carefully lift shapes onto dehydrator tray.
- Dehydrate on highest setting (mine goes up to 650 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 hours, or until completely dry and crumbly.
- Store in a paper bag for up to two weeks, shaking the bag and changing it if it appears greasy. The paper absorbs moisture to help keep the treats fresh.
Be careful about where you leave your suspicious-looking brown bag of undecorated treats!
You may want to decorate your treats to make them even more special.
To make icing, I mixed 1 cup of plain greek yogurt with 4 tablespoons of cornstarch. Then I mashed a few strawberries and strained for the juice to color some of the icing pink, though beets would work too. For brown tint, I added cinnamon and peanut butter, which created a firmer icing.
Yogurt icing will dry if left out, though you should freeze refrigerate decorated treats to keep them from going bad.
Finished product:
The seasonings are all safe for dogs in reasonable amounts, and have antibacterial properties to help naturally preserve their freshness. Oat flour is not grain free, but fine for dogs that are not known to have an intolerance to it. Regular white flour can also be used.
You can other types of flour to make grain-free treats. Bob’s Red Mill flours – tapioca flour, almond flour, coconut flour or paleo baking flour are all fine options.
She also uses her pet copywriting business to make sure the best pet products and services get found online through catchy copy and fun, informative blog posts. She also provides product description writing services for ecommerce companies.
As a dog mom to Matilda and Cow, she spends most of her days taking long walks and practicing new tricks, and most nights trying to make the best of a very modest portion of her bed.
You'll also find her baking bread and making homemade pizza, laughing, painting and shopping.