Tutorial Tuesday with DawnMTeasdale -- Homemade Dog Biscuits

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday! This week, we learn how to make homemade dog biscuits with WESTie DawnMTeasdale with a quick, easy, step-by-step guide packed with helpful illustrations.

This is Ella.

She’s a sweet little girl who has a lot of personality, and is always ready for a treat….

I’d like to share with you a recipe for one of Ella’s favorite homemade biscuits. They are tasty, super easy to make, and the recipe allows for variations, but one of the best things about it is that they can be whipped up in one hour – from start to finish. Once you’re done, you will have 400-500 grams of finished biscuits, about the same size as box of commercially prepared treats, and of course there is the added benefit of knowing that they contain nothing but wholesome ingredients because they're homemade.

Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and then assemble your ingredients -there are only four!

Ingredients

• 2 - 4oz jars of baby food (this time I used strained sweet potato and turkey, but you could use any variety of strained baby food)
• 2 – large eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 400g (approx. 3 cups) rice flour – brown or white

I normally use brown rice flour so that Ella can share them with her gluten free friends, but you could also use whole wheat flour.

Beat the baby food, eggs and salt together in a large bowl until blended. Then, stir in flour until the dough comes together - you want a soft, slightly sticky dough (you might need a bit more/less flour).

  

Roll dough into balls (about 1 inch in diameter) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Flatten each of the balls with back of a spoon; I then poke the flattened balls with a fork, otherwise the biscuits tend to puff up during baking and take up quite a bit more space to store once baked.

Because Ella is small, I cut each of the flattened dough balls into fours using a pizza cutter to make a finished biscuit that can easily be broken into two or four pieces - that way I can break off just the right size for her. If you want a larger finished treat you can skip this step.

The dough is easily rolled out as well, so if you want to get fancy, you can cut it out into fun shapes, or bars using the pizza cutter – just don’t forget to poke them with the fork.

Bake for 30-45 mins at 350°F (it depends on how hard and crunchy you want the cookies to be – Ella likes hers crunchy!) The bottoms should be slightly browned when they are ready.

Remove and cool thoroughly on wire racks before storing. I store these crunchy treats in a brown paper bag.

• Storage note: If you make a softer treat, you will want to store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Ella’s got a suggestion for variety she’d like to try:

CHEESE PLEASE – she suggests ¼ cup of finely grated cheddar (incorporate it into the flour before adding to the wet mix).

These also make great gifts - your doggy friends will love you for it! 

Foodie Friday with Caitlin / Real Swanky : Vegan vegetable vindaloo

Happy Friday! Let's see what's cookin' in Caitlin / RealSwanky's kitchen today.

Vegan vegetable vindaloo with homemade curry paste. All spices picked up from Bulk Barn, which is easy on the wallet, no doubt.

Ingredients I - Vindaloo Paste
1 small onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp ginger
1 tbsp hot pepper paste*
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dry mustard poweder
1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp white peppercorns**
1/4 tsp, salt (scrap if your pepper paste already has a heap of salt added)
1 tbsp loosely packed brown sugar
1 small dash of cinnamon 
Reserved 1/3 cup water

Ingredients II - Fresh produce
5 baby Indian eggplants, quartered
1 carrot, chopped into medallions
1 smal roma tomato, chopped
~10 green beans, roughly chopped
1 tbsp vegan butter

Don't Forget --
Rice, quinoa, couscous, etc to serve alongside your curry


* The hot pepper paste I used, was picked up at Sun Wah, an oriental grocery shop in The Exchange District, Winnipeg. This recipe calls for 1 tbsp and I find it's pretty crucial. A tub of this will set you back about two bucks. Be mindful, each brand yields a different flavour, pick a tub with minimal ingredients. I used:

** White peppercorns can be found at your local bulk store. You don't need heaps, and they're cheap as sin. 1/4 cup of these cost about $0.30 :

First off, get some rice/quinoa/couscous started.

Next, melt the butter in a pan. Add in your fresh produce, and place a lid on top. While that's cooking, make up your paste.

To make the paste, I used a Magic Bullet. Place all ingredients inside and add half of your reserved water. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides after pulsing. Add the remainder of the water, if needed.

The vegetables take about 10-12 minutes to cook through. Once they're done, pour in your curry paste, mix thoroughly, and serve alongside your grain of choice.

Find more of Caitlin's recipes on WWW.THEHARDCOREHERBIVORE.COM !

Foodie Friday : Sweet red curry, coconut basmati, & roasted squash.

Caitlin (realswanky)'s latest recipe is a sweet red curry. Everything here tastes deadly together, you'll just have to trust me. Serve with roasted acorn squash and jasmine-scented basmati rice with toasted slivered almonds.

Roasted squash
Quarter up 1 acorn squash, peel, and chop up. Place on a pan with parchment paper. Drizzle with oil and bake at 450F for 20 minutes. Ten minutes in, give'um a flip.

Rice
I used jasmine-scented basmati rice. The ratio for this is 2 1/2 cups water to 1 cup rice. Once your water is boiling, add in 1 tbsp coconut oil, then add in your rice. This'll take about 20 minutes, which works out okay as you're to get your 1/2 cup slivered almonds all toasty-like in a pan (over medium/medium-high) and cooled. This takes under five minutes, but get started on it ASAP. Once your almonds are toasted and cooled, stir into your fully-cooked rice.

Curry sauce
2 tsp coconut oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 sweet yellow onion
Red curry paste*
1/3 cup nut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 can premium coconut milk
Vegetables of choice -- I used broccoli, baby corn, and bamboo shoots

Start by melting your coconut oil in a large pan or wok on medium-high heat. Add in your garlic and onions. Next, stir in your curry paste, nut butter and brown sugar.

*I used Cock brand red curry paste. A big ole tub of this runs for $2 from Superstore. It's a bit hot, be mindful of how much curry paste you'll be using here. I used 3 tablespoons because I'm tough as nails. (If it gets to be a bit hot, adding in some lime juice, nut butter, or brown sugar will take care of that)

Add in your vegetables and coconut milk. Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes before serving.

See more of Caitlin's recipes over at her blog,

The Hardcore Herbivore!