Monday, November 24, 2008

What a Mess

Yesterday, I made a great recipe called Beefy Grain-Free Treats. You use:
  1. 1/2 pound ground beef--uncooked
  2. 1/4 cup chicken broth
  3. 1/3 cup black beans--drained and mashed
  4. 1/3 cup cottage cheese

Preheat oven to 375. (I also added about 1/4 cup frozen peas.) Mix ground meat and chicken broth in a bowl. Add black beans, peas, and cottage cheese. Mix all of the ingredients together. I made them like hamburger patties. Bake 45 minutes. Let cool.

However, the instructions were to use a cookie sheet. Don't, because all the liquid stuff runs off the cookie sheet and onto the oven door, bottom of the oven, and even into the storage area underneath. When I discovered that was happening, I transferred the doggy burgers to a baking sheet.

I didn't taste them, but of course Montana loves them.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Lunch with a Friend

I went to lunch with a friend yesterday, who happens to be Montana's foster mom. He stayed with Kim and her family for over a year while he was training to be a service dog. We had such a good time, talking and laughing.

We bought a travel crate to take on trips and it's the coolest thing, got it at Walmart. It's nylon with large mesh windows on each side, and a mesh door that zips closed. Folded, it's about 12" in diameter and maybe 1" high. You throw it on the floor, and it pops open. We got the XXL for dogs up to 100 lbs, and Montana has plenty of room. It took two days to get him used to it, though. He is crate trained but this one is a little shaky when he moves around, so I had to work with him until he trusted it enough to lay down and stay in it without being scared. Poor baby.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Montana in the Snow

We got our first snow of the season this morning. I bundled up because it was 30 degrees and windy, and went out to play with Montana. He loves cold weather and snow. Doesn't like rain or getting his fet wet, but he absolutely loves the snow. I love to watch him run like a maniac, then stop to sniff every little interesting spot in the yard. It makes me laugh and feel good to see him having such a wonderful time.

Yesterday I boiled two potatoes, and then added them to some leftover baked chicken I had. That made a nice breakfast. I have a few more recipes to try this week.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Delicious Dog Food

I cooked this afternoon, doing too much but I'm glad I did it. I made the oatmeal/egg/cottage cheese cookies, but either the recipe was incorrect or I did something wrong because the mixture wouldn't form into balls. So, I picked up a palm-full and just glopped it onto the cookie sheet. I made seven mounds, baked them, and they came out great. Like a crunchy oatmeal cookie. Montana taste-tested them also, and he agreed that they were tasty.

For the next meal, I concocted my own recipe of cooked brown rice, cooked carrots, cottage cheese, and apple sauce. Montana, of course, approved of this dish quite happily. I thought it was delicious, and we both had some for dinner. It was nice and sweet, for once I made rice that didn't come out like a soggy globby mess, and I used organic carrots.

With these two dishes I have enough to feed Montana for a week, plus one more bowl left over of the rice mixture for me.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I Love To Cook For My Dog

I've been making Montana's dog food and treats for the past couple of weeks. I'm having fun doing it, and he is thriving on food that's different from the kibble he's been on for 3 1/2 years. I started him on one cup of his kibble and 1/2 a cup of homemade dog food. I was told to wean him gradually, so I'm planning to have him on only homemade dog food in three months.

I made frozen yogurt/peanut butter treats, which are very easy and quite tasty. Tomorrow, I'm making him cottage cheese balls. I looked for the easiest recipes with, at most, a handful of ingredients.