dehydrated sweet potatoes

I promise we're not those people. We don't buy organic or vegan kibble and treats...we don't give them garbage either, but we're definitely not the people who spend more on the dogs than they do on themselves. I know it could look that way, especially since I've been posting treat recipes, but I wanted to clarify. Not those people.

But we are cheap, er thrifty. We're totally those people. One of Berger's favorite things is dehydrated sweet potatoes. You can buy thick cuts of them on a rope and they act as a self-dispensing treat because they are so chewy. You can also buy thinner slices that are more like a special treat because they take him a few minutes (as opposed to a few seconds) to eat them. The problem? They are crazy expensive. And by crazy expensive, I mean that the chews on a rope are about $20 and a bag of maybe 12 sweet potato treats is about $8. So he gets them, but not often.

Last month I had a brilliant idea - I could dehydrate my own! The more I researched it, the more reasonable it seemed. Before investing in a kitchen gadget that I may or may not use, I wanted to borrow one to test drive. Our friends Scott and Holly were kind enough to oblige and...




...the outcome was pretty fantastic. There are things I will do differently next time...like cut the slices thinner and more evenly. Overall, definitely worth the savings!

barkin' PB basil (dog) cookies

The beggin' fur basil bisuits were such a hit with the dogs that we decided to up the ante by adding basil to a peanut butter cookie. Did I need to put (dog) in the title for you to know this was for our furry friends? Certainly humans would never want this combo...

But the dogs really did seem to love it. And we have a serious abundance of basil, so I'll make sure to dry enough to get us through the winter and spring as well.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup water
1 cup oatmeal
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 tablespoons of dried basil

Combine the water, peanut butter and oil in a boil and whisk until well combined. Slowly add the flour into the mixture and then the oatmeal and basil. Kneed until well combined...as always, add a little water if you need to, but the dough shouldn't be wet.

Roll dough out to 1/4", cut into shapes and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes (or until the edges begin to brown). This is for an average size cookie cutter shape (~3"), we also do 3/4" stars for Puggie and those take more like 25 minutes.

The scooping of the peanut butter is always torture for Berger, so Jose let the pups lick the spatula while I worked on the dough. They have a tough life.

frozen peanut butter treats

If nothing else, Berger and I have one thing in common: a love of peanut butter. I think that given his choice of filet mignon or peanut butter, he would choose peanut butter. We've never given him that kind of choice, but maybe we should.

In any case, knowing that PB is his fav, I try to hook him up as much as possible. I haven't made this frosty treat for him in quite some time and since it's getting warmer out, it seemed like the appropriate time.

Making it is easy...
Melt a cup or so of peanut butter (I probably used 1.5 cups, because I really love my Berg).




Once melted, remove the pan from the eye, add 32 oz of plain or vanilla yogurt, mix well.

Fill cupcake pan to the brim (or to the serving size desired) and freeze. Once well frozen, use a knife and a little elbow grease to pry them out and store them in a freezer bag. Using cupcake cups would be easier, but why waste paper if it isn't necessary, right?