Berry Oatmeal Dog Muffins

Look who turned 3????  I can’t believe my “puppy” is growing up!  Winston is 3 and it seems like only yesterday that we brought him home from the animal shelter.  (He’s not happy with me in this photo since I woke him up to take it!)

(This is when we first brought him home.)

About a month after we got married, the hubby and I visited the Alexandria Animal Shelter.  We knew we wanted a puppy and we were both adamant about getting a dog from an animal shelter.  Animal shelter dogs need homes!!!  The first time we visited the shelter we saw Winston.  He was actually named “Robot” (what an awful name to give a dog).  The shelter found Winston on the street when he was 3 months old.  They told us that it is very unusual for a puppy that young to run away from home, so they think that he was abandoned.  Unfortunately, this happens a lot; people get a puppy thinking it’s all fun and games and then realize it is a lot of work and will selfishly turn these little guys onto the streets to fend for themselves.  Because Winston’s awesome, he had a waiting list of people who wanted to adopt him.  We put our name on the list def not expecting to get him.  Low and behold, the hubby went back to the animal shelter about 2 weeks after our initial visit to look for another dog.  Winston was available and had been brought back to the shelter by the first family because it was too much work for them (no comment).  The hubby immediately called me, and I drove down there within minutes.  We were able to take Winston out of his crate and play with him outside.  He was so tiny and cute… we instantly fell in love.

(His reaction after I gave him his first Berry Oatmeal Dog Muffin.)

The people at the animal shelter told us that Winston was very aloof and would not be an affectionate dog.  They could not be more wrong (what do you expect when you name a dog Robot?).  Winston instantly took to my hubby and I.  He became our little shadow who followed us everywhere and yes, even climbed into bed with us.  I’m convinced that Winston didn’t receive enough love/attention during those first few months, so was making up for lost time.  He instantly became our “baby” and definitely taught us quite a few lessons about waking up at all hours of the night, cleaning up messes, etc.  Today, Winston still loves to cuddle and yes, he still sleeps at the foot of our bed.  He’s a 30 pound lap dog who thinks he’s a chihuahua.  He loves to cuddle and steal slippers for attention.  In other words, he’s the best!  That’s why I made him these Berry Oatmeal Dog Muffins.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned roll oats
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Combine all ingredients (except blueberries) together and beat until combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin tins to rim.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in a wire rack.  Store in an airtight container.

Yield:  16 mini dog muffins

*Adapted from Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook

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Whole Lotta Love Dog Biscuits

My aunt, uncle, and cousin recently came to visit my husband and I, and they gave us a wonderful dog biscuit cookbook by Bubba Rose entitled Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook along with a dog biscuit shaped cookie cutter! The cookbook has loads of wonderful dog biscuit recipes that would satisfy any canine sweet or savory tooth especially my 6-month old teething puppy’s. One section of the cookbook has monthly recipes depending on the season or holiday. The recipe I made was called Whole Lotta Love dog biscuits in honor of Valentine’s Day. The recipe is below and as far as I know, my puppy loves these (although he’s teething and will settle for anything right now including but not limited to leather boots, blinds, crown molding, carpet, etc…)

1 c. oat Flour *(See note)
1.24 c. brown rice flour *(See note)
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 6 0z. can tomato paste
1 Tb. Beet powder (optional)* (See note)
1 egg
2/3 c. water

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all the ingredients and mix until a dough forms. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Use the dog bone cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits and then place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire cookie rack and store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator.

* I did not use the oat flour or the brown rice flour since I did not haveI did not use the oat flour or the brown rice flour since I did not have either on hand. I used white flour and figured that my teething puppy wouldn’t mind that his dog biscuits weren’t organic. I also didn’t use the beet powder since I didn’t have any. But this merely turns the biscuits red. I found that the tomato paste turned my biscuits orange and for various college basketball reasons, this color turned out fine by me and my puppy!