Halloween is coming!!!

My favorite holiday is Halloween. I love dressing up and decorating the house. I know it's a little bit early for the holiday, but I want you to get the deals before they go away! I'm a little sad because this year we won't be dressing the house up in spooky items. Bummer, I know. We have decided to sell our "starter house" and get a grown up home. This is great news, I know! What's not great, is that we are on a tight budget now, saving every penny for the move. It's fine though, because I can be a little thrifty chick when needed.  One of my favorite thrifty places is the dollar section at Target. They have some really cute things! One of the things that I get sucked in to is the dollar socks.  These caught my eye as I walked in today, just in time for Halloween!

As I headed back deeper into the store, this little number jumped out at me. I like to dress the dog up. I don't however, buy expensive things to put him in because he just chews them up.  This little pj outfit was only 7 bucks!

 Here is my little man rocking his new pjs.

 He actually was excited when I pulled it back out to take a picture, so I put it back on him!

 Trick or treat, smell my feet!

Give me something good to eat!!!

 

Steak and Cheese Kong

Steiner has separation anxiety.  It used to be really bad, but with a few tricks and treats, it has become a little less of an issue.  If your dog hates going into a crate, this will make it a little better. This is the one and only treat that will get Steiner to go into his crate, and not have an attitude about it. Trust me, I would love to let him roam the house and have his little freedom, but he is very untrustworthy! Here is what you need to make your friend smile!

Steak (Stir fry steak)
Cheese (mix of Monterey Jack and Colby/and or cheddar)
Kongs
Frying pan
Strainer
Cutting Board

First get your steak, and a cutting board.

 Cut your steak strips in half. Then, if possible, cut them in half again.

Cut little square pieces from your strips. This step is kind of a pain in the tushy. I give my husband full credit for his patience with this task.

 Put all of your little pieces in the pan. You don't need to add any cooking spray. It will be oily and greasy on it's own.

 Cook until all of your pieces are cooked all the way through, no pink!

 Put all of your pieces in the strainer, and really mix it around.

 I take an extra step here. I take 2 paper towels, and place them in the pan. I let it soak up all of the extra grease that's on them, that the strainer didn't get out.

 Okay, so at this time, you can put them in a tupperware and store them for when you need them. If you're ready to use them, here is what we do. Take enough steak to fill up about 3/4 of the kong. Sprinkle the meat and a little cheese on a plate. Put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

 Make sure the meat isn't hot, because it will stay hot in the kong. It should be a nice room temp. Next, take all of your fixings and shove them in your kong.

 Last step, give to your pup, let him eat it up, yum!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Einstein!

This week was a huge birthday week for us. I guess not really so much with the human birthdays, but with the animal birthdays. We had two human and 4 pets to celebrate. I know half of you that are reading this probably think I'm a little nutso, but you have to understand something. I am around animals all the time. I work with animals. I grew up with animals. There wasn't a time where we didn't have at least two pets in the house. At one point we had 3 dogs, 6 cats, two birds, 4 guinea pigs (two females, so the store said, but two more showed up in the cage weeks later) 2 firebelly newts and a fish. We never actually had a Pear tree though. Anywho, we never actually had birthday parties for the pets. It was always just a verbal, "Hey (pet's name here) Happy Birthday." As always, they looked up at us with the little confused faces wondering what we were saying. Then looking at each other, with what I like to call the "I don't know what they are saying... lets just stand there and hope they go away..or feed us," face. So cute they are. So, when my little Steiner turned one, I decided it was time for me to learn how to make doggie cakes. His first B-day cake was peanut butter and bananas. It had yogurt and carrots for a topping. He loved it. I threw a little Spiderman candle on top to make it official. This years cake was named "Peanut Butter delight." I used most of the same ingredients as the first cake, because there are only so many things that you can give to dogs. Here is what you need to make your pooch a cake.

1 cup white or whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
12 oz cream cheese
cinnamon (to taste)
carob chips/or chocolate yogurt drops

Start by heating your oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together your flour and baking soda.

 Add all of your remaining ingredients and mix well.

Pour your mix into a well sprayed nonstick pan. The instructions say 40 minutes. I used a 9x9 pan. This recipe is a small batch, so it was very shallow in the pan. I ended up cooking it for 20 minutes, not 40.

 He always sits underneath my feet while I cook. I have almost crushed him on numerous occasions.

 "Mom, is it done yet!?"

 I made a different topping this year. I decided to go with a cream cheese frosting.

"Mom, is that my cake?"

 I didn't have any carob chips, so instead, I used some Chocolate flavored yogurt drops. You can get these at any Petsmart or Petsupermarket. I put them in my processor and made them dusty.

 Ready to cool now...

 "Mom, pleaaasseee, can I have a taste!!!"

 "It's so close I can taste it!"

 Ready to decorate...

Here is the mixed up cream cheese, cinnamon, and vanilla.

Spread it evenly over your cake.

 I had a bone shaped cookie cutter, so I cut up a bunch of carrots and filled the shape.

 Then I filled in the open spots with the Chocolate drops.

 Happy Birthday little man!!

Recipe courtesy of Dog Treat Recipe Exchange
Enjoy!

The Dog Days of Summer!

I know that I have posted this before, but I wanted to add in some new recipes for your Kong. It is starting to get hot again here in Florida, so keep your little friends cool all summer with this treat.

Frozen Kongs

One Kong (your dog size of course.)

Bananas (we use about 4)
Yogurt (whatever flavor you choose, we use plain or vanilla)
Peanut Butter
Wheat Germ

Coffee cup (or cup large enough to fit kong)

Blender

First, place your bananas in the blender. You can cut them in smaller pieces to make the blending process easier. They are better when they are a little bit softer.

Blend until smooth. Then add your Yogurt, use a small container full.

Add your Peanut Butter. About two spoonfuls should be fine. We use Jif.

This is our dog Einstein, patiently waiting for his treat!

Then add some Wheat Germ, about 2 scoops will do.

Pour contents into a freezer bag. Work all contents to one side and make a small hole in the corner of one of the bottoms. You are going to fill the top of the Kongs this way.

Fill Kongs to the top, then place in cups.

Make sure you give your pup a little surprise treat while he waits!

Place the Kong filled cups in the freezer. Freeze for a few hours.

You can also use a mix of the following;

Bananas

Strawberry yogurt

Peanut Butter

Chicken broth (alone, just freeze. Place a small treat in the end of kong to hold broth in place.)

Steak and Shredded Cheese. (You do not have to freeze these, these you actually can microwave to melt the cheese.)

Enjoy!

Winter Gear

We took Steiner up to Illinois with us a few weeks ago. It was his first vacation with us, and the first time he was going to be in the snow. I was a little worried that he was going to be freezing. Sometimes he shivers even when it's cold here, so I didn't know how well he would do in 10 degree weather. I looked on-line to check out the cold weather gear that they have for dogs. He hates to wear clothes, but I figured he would leave a jacket alone if he was outside, and running free in a snowy backyard. I ended up buying two jackets for him. The first one is the one he wore while he was up there. It was made by Zack and Zoey. It was blue, with a black belly cover, and lined with fleece.

Zack and Zoey
The other jacket that I bought was a find at PetSupermarket. It has a shiny reflective outside, but fleece on the inside.

It is also reversible.

Pet Smart Jackets
Stay warm my four legged friends!