Friday, July 29, 2011

beggin' fur basil


Berger loves homemade treats. I mean, Berger loves ALL treats, but I think the fresh ones that we make at home must be really flavorful, because he freaks out for them (or maybe he can taste the love in each one...d'awwww). Puggie is a food hound in general and will eat anything you give her, but since she moved in with us, we've noticed that she loveloveLOVES the basil we're growing. You can frequently find her outside laying in the sun amongst the many pots of basil we have. That is, if she's not standing and sniffing each leaf like it's the most amazing thing she's ever smelled. I once saw her take a timid chomp at one of the leaves, but she looked around like the super guilty dog that she was and dropped her score.


I confirmed that basil is safe for dogs to eat and vowed to come up with a recipe for the pups. I took bits and pieces from a number of recipes and I think they turned out well (not that I can/would try them, but the dogs seem pretty excited about them).

Ingredients:
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/3 cup oatmeal
2-3 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 cups water*
4 teaspoons vegetable oil

*You may find that you need a touch more water than this, just be careful not to make the dough too wet.

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and blend well. Add the water and oil and kneed for several minutes, until the ingredients are well distributed and the dough is a nice firm mixture.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4" and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes (or until edges are browned). NOTE: 30 minutes is for a medium ~3" cookie shape. I make smaller 3/4" stars for Puggie and those were ready in about 20 minutes.

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