Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats

Dogs love peanut butter. We all know that. Peanut butter has a lot of fat. We know that too. So how about using banana for your "oil" to avoid adding more fat? We all need to do what we can to keep our buddies svelte and gorgeous while at the same time letting them know what good pals they are.

These treats are easy to make and received the Carlie seal of approval (in order to receive the Carlie seal of approval, Carlie must continue to look for more treats a full 30 seconds after it is eaten in an attempt to eat more. Quite scientific, I know. I rock that way.)

You will need:

2 cups of crunchy peanut butter
3 mashed bananas
2 eggs
1 cup water
3 cups flour

Here's how you make them:

1. Melt peanut butter in the microwave to make it more manageable.
2. Add bananas, water, and eggs and mix well.
3. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix well.
4. Turn out batter onto a well greased cookie sheet and spread evenly.
5. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cut into 1" x 1" squares.
7. Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes.
8. Turn off oven and leave treats in it for an additional hour and a half.
9. Take the dogs to peanut butter nirvana.

With my cookie sheet I ended up with 144 treats

Two Easy Peasy Dog Treat Recipes

We are in the process of crate training and house training Carly and Ellie. As any dog owner knows, training always goes better with treats. I was getting store bought treats, but at the rate we are going through them, we'd have been bankrupt by the end of the week. So I took matters into my own hands and baked up some treats for my sweets. The first uses sweet potatoes and beef base and the second ground meat, after that the recipes are basically the same with a few tweaks.

Cheesy Sweet Potato Treats

You'll Need:
2 cups mashed sweet potato
1 stick butter
2-3 cups of flour
1 cup water
1 TBSP beef base
1 egg
2 cups cheddar cheese

1. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl using your microwave.
2. Add sweet potato and egg and mix well.
3. Dissolve beef base in water then add to mixture.
4. Fold in flour one cup at a time until you form a non-sticky dough ball, similar in consistency to bread dough.
5. Fold in cheese.
6. On a well floured surface either pat or roll doug until it is approx. 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. My small dog likes them thin, my beagle, thick.
7. Using a knife, cut the dough into 1in x 2in strips.
8. Place on well greased cookie sheets. You can place them very close together.
9. Bake at 300F for 45 min to an hour. Treats should be firm to the touch.
10. Turn off the oven and keep treats in oven for another hour and a half.
11. Give Fido a homemade treat!

Cheeseburger Treats

You'll Need:
1 pound of ground meat, your choice
1 cup of hot water
1 stick butter
2 eggs
3-4 cups flour
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter as before
2. Add ground meat and hot water to a food processor and puree meat.
3. Add meat to butter, stir together.
4. Add eggs.
5. Add flour as before until you get a nice dough ball that feels like bread dough.
6. Add cheese
7. Roll, cut, and bake as before.
8. Show Fifi how much you love her!

These treats are really crunchy, so if your dog is smaller you'll want to roll them out thinner. Carly and Ellie love them, hope your best friends do, too.

Pictures are from We Heart It, but our dogs look just the same!

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The Marysville Zoo and Aquarium

So I think I'm going to start charging admission to everyone who walks through my front door because I am running a zoo. At this moment we have three cats (Quickie, Linus, and Foxy; for you long time readers, Henry ran away and Stanley went to a kitty retirement home), a hedgehog, four fish, two new dogs, and a Texas-sized cricket. Yes, a cricket. He's decided that our foyer is a nice home, and he doesn't bother anyone, so he can stay.

The two dogs. Ahem. I am a cat person but I love all animals. It's just that dogs are lots and lots of work. Ellie, a dachshund/cocker spaniel mix, came to us from a church friend, eldest child begged and pleaded and she would do all of the work, etc, etc. Then brother Collin put forth the fact that he has never had a pet of his own, his grades went up, he's been more responsible, could he please have a dog? And of course he'll take care of it. He got a sweet beagle from the pound named Carly.

Why do we believe our kids when they say these things? It's all well and good for the first few days until the novelty wears off and then guess who's taking care of the dogs? Mama, that's who. Ellie is the most resistant-to-housetraining dog I have ever known; I'm going to have to crate her all day and night if she doesn't get her act together. But she's cute and loves me like I am her god. Carly's a sweet girl who needs alot of attention as she came from a neglectful and abusive home. She's got 2 years of no love to catch up on and she laps up each second of it.

So there's my zoo, complete with insect exhibition. Haven't figured out admission, will let you all know when we officially open to the public. Jack Hanna, eat your heart out!

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An Animal's Soul

Do you believe that animals are capable of compassion? Do they have a soul? One of the many pastors in my life told me that there will be no animals in heaven because they were soulless and this distressed me to no end. My idea of heaven includes every cat I every loved curled up around me. Yesterday I read an interesting article in the Shambhala Sun called Creature Comforts in which the the author talked about animals in her life that had comforted her and others, and I started thinking about two of my favorite cats.

source

Matthew was a lover. He had a purr as big as a lion, and all 18 pounds of him was muscle - he was a BIG cat. He used to eat yogurt with me in the morning and greet me at the door when I came home - some of my friends said he was a puppy-kitty because he acted so much like a dog. I am a frequent migraine sufferer as many of you know, and the first time I had a migraine after adopting Matthew he did something that no cat had done before or since. He carefully positioned all 18 pounds of himself around the top of my head and started purring. It was a softer purring than he usually did. Occasionally, seemingly right after a surge of pain, he'd lick my cheek. Every time I had a migraine he was there, even if he had been missing all day. And you know, I think he helped me; my headaches always seemed to go away faster with less medication. I miss that sweet cat.

If any animal ever had a soul, it was Ollie. He was a scruffy mix of every sort of cat imaginable and not the prettiest cat you'd ever see, but the first time I opened his cage at the Humane Society he jumped right into my arms, looked in my eyes, and became one of the great loves of my life. He would frequently sit with me and respond to me with chirps and meows when I was talking to myself, joined in the conversations that I had with my friends, and liked to put his paw on your hand and just sit, quiet and contemplative. He slept on my chest every night and unlike Matthew, he weighed nothing, so I barely even noticed he was there. However, the day that I had the auto accident that bruised all of my ribs and left me limping from a severely sprained hip joint he found the one spot on my body that didn't hurt to snuggle up against, my right shoulder. When the pain meds made me have nightmares and I woke disoriented, he put his paw on my forehead and chirped and talked until I was aware again. He made it his job to watch over me, even walking beside me as I carefully hobbled about, meowing if it seemed I would lose my footing. And the day that my chest felt better, he resumed his normal position, head by mine, softly purring through the night.

What are your animal compassion stories? I know that there are hundreds, if not millions, out there; please share them!

The World's Ugliest Dog

Are you one of those people that the uglier the dog, the more you love them? I am. I don't know what it is, but if a dog is ugly, I want to love them and hold them and kiss them all over.

(photo Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Meet Yoda, 2011's World's Ugliest Dog. This 19-year-old chihuahua/Chinese crested mix was found in an alleyway by his owners. He gets a huge trophy and $1000 for being the ugliest (and thus cutest) dog in all of the world. I wanna give him a big, slobbery kiss.

Frankie, who is called Quickie

Say hello to Frankie, who joined our household 3 months ago. Kendall found him in the park across from our house (a well known stray cat haunt), brought him home, and Swore she would find him a new home. Well, that was three months ago. So I guess he's here to stay.

William can't say "Frankie" and calls him Quickie. I think his name is slowly morphing to Quickie because William talks about him all of the time. And devils him by picking him up and walking around with him in that sack-of-potatoes sort of way.

I love him. He lays on my chest and purrs like a motorboat. He is gorgeous. What you can't see in the photo is that his stripes aren't dark and light grey, but dark grey and a sort of light peachy-tan. He has a perfect M on his forehead, dots on his belly, and his eyes are lined in that pretty tan. He follows me around constantly, gives me the look of love, and talks to me when he has something important to say. All of the other cats are Huge, but he's a nice little compact size. And he's a lap cat sweetheart.

He is also completely smitten with Tim. Now Tim, being a manly dog person has never encountered this and is alternately tickled and annoyed with Frankie. One of his favorite spots in nestled in Tim's legs.

So that's Quickie, or Frankie, our newest addition to the zoo.

Simple Things

The crisis in Haiti is bringing out rare character in people. Christina of Soul Aperture is sending $1 to Doctors Without Borders for each blog that writes about The Simple Things in life. Write your post, comment on her blog, and participate in this worthy cause.

Simple Things

The beautiful blue of a robin's egg

An old chenille robe

The iridescence of a dragonflies wing

A fresh peach, just off of the tree

Fading Mail Pouch Tobacco signs on old barns

cmpbarns, photobucket

A house wren, small and plain, with the most brilliant song

A stand of wild tiger lilies

Peeling bark on a birch tree

eliahd24, photobucket

A fresh box of crayons

The contented purr of a cat

Hot apple pie

Red, white, and blue

A dog lying on its back, waiting to have its belly scratched

Mason jars full of flowers

erinfrichtl, photobucket

Warm towels

That patch of sun on the ground, and the cat lying in it

Origami swans

Children's laughter

A red door

cosmonaut1959, photobucket