These doggy bagel treats are vegetarian, though you could easily substitute some beef or chicken broth for the water, and even add some shredded cheese for a little bit of extra flavor.

Veggie Dog Bagels

1 Teaspoon of Vegetable oil
1/2 cup of Wheat Flour
2½ cups of White Flour
1/4 Teaspoon of Baking soda
1/4 Teaspoon of Baking powder
1/2 cup of Chopped spinach
1/2 cup of Chopped carrots
1 Egg
3/4 Cup of Water

~ Preheat to 350 degrees.

~ Combine wet and dry ingredients separately and then mix together.

~ Knead by hand and form into ball shaped pieces (depending on your dog’s size, golf or tennis ball).

~ Flatten and poke a hole in the center and shape into a bagel.

~ Bake for 45-50 minutes.

~ Garnish cooled bagels with poppy seeds or sesame seeds by spraying lightly with water and then sprinkling seeds over top.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Veggie Dog Bagels

These “howliday” greeting cards are not only a nice little thought for your favorite four-legged friends, but they come with treats built right in that they’ll appreciate even more!

The Talk To Me Treats greeting cards come filled with 0.7 oz of Talk To Me Treats Fresh Breath and Dental Care treats (which are the perfect size to put inside the Talk To Me Treatball), and dog-lovers can choose between “Happy Howlidays,” “Merry Christmas,” or a brand new “Tis the Season” cards.

The greeting cards, together with the dog treats, are priced at around $3.99 each making them pretty cost-effective when you compare them to the cost of a regular card without dog treats! A list of retailers are available at the Talk to Me Treats website, and are available at stores like PetsMart, Petco, QVC, and Target.

[image: talk to me treats]

Post from: Blisstree

Howliday Greeting Cards for Pets

Halloween Smoothie:

• 1 cup organic canned pumpkin
• 1 cup organic milk (you can use soy, or another milk as well, it works fine)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup ice

To make your smoothies (makes about 4 servings):

Blend everything minus the ice until smooth. Add ice. Blend until thick and creamy. Garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon or chocolate sprinkles – the chocolate sounds odd, but pumpkin and chocolate actually go really well together. It looks best with Fair Trade chocolate shavings I think.

Pumpkin Seed Bars:

Mix 1 and 1/2 cups of organic pumpkin seeds with 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. In another bowl mix 4-5 tablespoons of organic honey along with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or orange extract. Mix the seeds and berries into the honey mix until well combined. Coat a basic loaf pan with organic butter (just a little) then press the seed mixture in.

Chill in the fridge overnight. Cut into pieces and serve. This treat is tasty and easily portable. You can also try it with other dried fruit instead of cranberries like apples or blueberries and even add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. My son liked these a lot and he doesn’t normally like seed-type stuff like trail mix.

You can serve both of these together at a Halloween party or as after-school snacks too.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Healthy Green Halloween Snacks

WHY MAKE HOMEMADE FRUIT SNACKS:

For health: Almost all store bought fruit snacks come with gross additives like high fructose corn syrup, fake chemical colors, and other icky stuff your kids don’t need. Homemade organic fruit snacks are chemical, pesticide, and preservative free. Plus, while fruit snacks aren’t exactly health-food, homemade fruit snacks have less sugar and are a healthier alternative to store bought.

For the planet: Store bought fruit snacks come in little plastic or foil wraps which are then packaged into bigger boxes. Such a waste! And don’t forget about all the manufacturing and transport energy used.

For fun and education: Cooking green with kids is the perfect intro to green. Green cooking is easy, fun, and you can work in topic discussions like creating less waste, health, organics, and more. These are also fun to make for a child’s birthday party activity.

INGREDIENTS FOR HOMEMADE ORGANIC FRUIT SNACKS:

• A pound of assorted dried fruit. Grab a reusable bag or container and hit your local co-op or the natural bulk food section at any grocery store. Look for unsweetened, organic, bulk dried fruit. Dried fruit we’ve tried at my house includes; blueberries, pineapple, papaya, apricots and more. we’ve never tried super crunchy dried fruit like bananas or strawberries – I’m not sure that would work. You can also build your own solar food dehydrator and make your own dried fruit.
• Organic orange juice. You can buy a tiny carton of organic or squeeze your own fresh. FYI: My son is allergic to oranges so we make our fruit snacks with mandarin or lemon juice which is a little more tart but it works.
• Citrus rind – about as much as you’d get from one medium to large sized fruit.
• Optional – Finely ground nuts of any flavor. We don’t like them with nuts at my house, but my pal’s household loves these fruit snacks with nuts. Experiment to see what your family enjoys.

MAKING YOUR HOMEMADE ORGANIC FRUIT SNACKS:

1. Grind up dried fruit in a blender on chop, then grind. A food processor might do the job better, but I refuse to buy an extra appliance for fruit snacks, so we use the blender.
2. Add the citrus rind and grind until nicely combined.
3. Slowly add the citrus juice. You want the mixture to be a sort of sticky mass that will hold together but you don’t want it watery.
4. Have your kids grab a nice spoonful of the sticky mixture. Roll with hands into small balls. Alternatively you can roll the mixture out with a rolling pin and cut into bite sized squares or other fun shapes with a cookie cutter.
5. If you made sticky ball shapes and are using nuts roll the balls in the nuts.
6. You can munch these right away or store them in an airtight container.

Safety Note: These are chewier than store bought fruit snacks and could pose a sticky choking hazard for little ones under the age of three to five years. Use your best judgment and your child’s chewing ability as a guide when it comes to offering sticky treats and never leave your tot alone with food.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Homemade Organic Fruit Snacks

I’ve found that they love anything with a strong tuna smell and flavor. These fishball snacks are perfect for them, and the added bonus of some catnip makes it that much more appealing to them!

Feline Fishballs
from Carol P.

8 oz. can tuna in oil – drained
2 oz. cooked herring or other fatty fish – skin removed
3 baby carrots – boiled until tender, mashed
1 egg – beaten
3 T. grated cheese
2 T. whole grain bread crumbs OR rolled oats
2 T. tomato paste
2 tsp. brewer’s yeast
1/4 tsp. catnip

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place balls 1″ apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and firm. Allow to cool on wire racks.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Blisstree

Recipe: Feline Fishballs

When I told the husband and son not to grab another box of donuts a couple of weeks ago because I planned on making some their “really???” reactions were priceless. Talk about a challenge.

How To Make Donut Holes (© Dexie Wharton)

INGREDIENTS :

• a tube of buttermilk biscuits
• oil for frying
• sugar
• ground cinnamon

Heat up oil in a deep pan.

Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 tbsp of ground cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, add 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside as well.

How To Make Donut Holes (© Dexie Wharton)

Pop the tube of biscuits. Cut 1 biscuit in 4 quarters. Roll each quarter to form a ball.

How To Make Donut Holes (© Dexie Wharton)

Fry up the donut holes in the hot oil until golden brown. About 6-8 minutes or so. You’ll probably have to do this in batches. Drain the excess oil.

Divide the donut holes in half. Add some in the sugar and cinnamon mixture, cover the container, then shake shake shake. Do the same thing with the other half using the sugar mixture.

You can use powdered sugar too if you want. I ran out because I made cupcakes for my son’s school days prior. But yes, that’s an option too.

How To Make Donut Holes (© Dexie Wharton)

I actually got this idea from watching Cooking for Real on Food TV. I made this from memory so my version is a little modified. The host added orange zest in her sugar & cinnamon mixture.

These donut holes are better if served immediately. If you have leftovers, just warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds before serving again.

There you go, I hope you get to make them and enjoy these donut holes/mini donuts with your family. Don’t you just love how easy it is?

(Images © Dexie Wharton)

Post from: Blisstree

An Easy Way to Make Donut Holes

White Chocolate Chip Cookies (© Dexie Wharton)

On the 3rd hour, I decided to make cookies. Who wouldn’t eat cookies? Especially white chocolate chip cookies.

INGREDIENTS

• 2  1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 package of Nestle Tool House Premier White Morsels

In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt then set aside.

Cream the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Beat until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Stir in the white chocolate morsels.

Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheets; bake 10-12 minutes, 365F

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

There you go. If all else fails, bring cookies, right? The cookies are ready to go and I even had time to blog about it .

(Image : FeistyCook/Blisstree)

Post from: Blisstree

White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Post from: Blisstree

Snack on this- hearty treats