As the days become shorter and the nights become chillier, my favorite evening (and sometimes daytime) activity is to curl up on the couch with my puppy, a big blanket and a good book. Wednesday’s favorite year-round activity? Eating treats. She is a champion taste-tester, meaning she likes everything she tastes. I wrestled two acorns out of her chipmunk mouth on a walk yesterday and a pine cone was her prime choice today…what a strange little canine she is.
These treats are inspired by my favorite fall dish, a hearty stew that cooks all day in the slow cooker. Maybe your refined pup will take the time to enjoy the plethora of tastes present in this recipe. As for Wednesday, they were down the hatch immediately in one (probably) tasteless gulp.
Crumbly Autumn Stew Pup Treats
1 cup cooked brown rice, slightly overcooked/very soft
1 carrot, sliced and boiled until very soft
1 small sweet potato, peeled, boiled and mashed
½ cup whole wheat flour OR quinoa flour
1 tbsp. peanut butter OR tahini
1 flax egg
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Place rice, carrots and water in food processor (or large blender) and blend until smooth (*Be careful handling the blender or food processor as the rice and carrots will make the whole apparatus hot.)
3. Place mashed sweet potato into food processor one tablespoon at a time and continue blending
4. Do the same with flour
5. Add peanut butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to the mix and blend until distributed throughout, mix should be orange…like Halloween orange.
6. Gently mix flax egg into mixture, do not blend again
7. Grease a 13×9 cake pan well with olive oil and empty food processor into pan, smooth into a thin layer and bake for 30 minutes, remove, let cool and slice into small bite-sized pieces
Enjoy watching your pup scarf down these healthy treats!
More in Wednesday Cafe: Lean Mean Green Machine Pup Treats
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Photo: Kate Coffey
