Penny Su's Birthday!... Corn Dog Casserole and Doggie Ice Cream!

Penny's birthday, or what we call her birthday, is March 12th.  Since we rescued her we don't know her real age or birthday, so we celebrate the day she came into our lives as her birthday.  This March 12th, we will have had her for three years.  The vets thought that she was about one year old when we rescued her so we are saying this is her fourth birthday.  She is growing up too fast!

Y'all know I love to find reasons to celebrate anything and everything and thus have a get together with good food, friends, and family.... so yes I have a birthday party for my dog!  Call me crazy if you want but it's super fun... you should try it!  It is even better being that it is so close to one of my favorite holidays... St. Patricks Day!  So we gather at the Red Roof Inn to celebrate the day that our lives changed for the better by saving another life.. and I absolutely love it!

Let's start with the Corn Dog Casserole... for the humans of course!  Very fitting huh?!

Corn Dog Casserole (from Taste of Home)

2 cups thinly sliced celery

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 cups sliced green onions

1-1/2 pounds hot dogs

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups extra creamy almond milk

2 teaspoons rubbed sage

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 packages (8-1/2 ounces each) corn bread/muffin mix*
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheese, divided**

In a small skillet, saute celery in butter for 5 minutes. Add onions; saute for 5 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. Place in a large bowl; set aside.   Cut hot dogs lengthwise into quarters, then cut into thirds. In the same skillet, saute hot dogs for 5 minutes or until lightly browned; add to vegetables. Set aside 1 cup.   In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sage and pepper. Add the remaining hot dog mixture. Stir in corn bread mixes. Add 1-1/2 cups of cheese. Spread into a shallow 3-qt. baking dish. Top with reserved hot dog mixture and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 12 servings.

*I have used Bob's Red Mill corn bread mix to make this, but it comes in larger packages than the standard 8.5 oz packs, and it is not my favorite.  This time I used my own cornbread mix that tastes just like Jiffy.  I'll share the recipe soon... I promise!

**I separated the casserole before I added the cheese.  This way I had one that was dairy free and one regular.  My husband tested them both and said they tasted pretty much the same... so I suppose the cheese isn't needed.

 Of course the birthday girl needs a special treat.... and she loves this Doggie Ice Cream!

Doggie Ice Cream

4 C plain yogurt

1 mashed ripe banana

2 T peanut butter

2 T honey

Mix all of the ingredients in a blender and freeze in ice cube trays... you can be fancy and choose shaped trays! When frozen, microwave for a few seconds, unmold, and place the treats in a plastic bag. Store in the freezer.

The humans definitely need dessert too....

Gluten Free Easy Grasshopper Bars (from Betty Crocker)

 Bars:

1 Box Betty Crocker GF Devil's Food Cake Mix

1/3 C Vegetable Oil

2 T Water

1 Egg

Frosting:

1 Container Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting*

1/4 t Mint Extract

4 Drops Green Food Coloring

Glaze:

1 oz Unsweetened Baking Chocolate

1 T DF Butter

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir bar ingredients until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan. Bake 15 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes.  In frosting container, stir in mint extract and food color. Spread over bars. In small microwavable bowl, microwave glaze ingredients uncovered on High 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Drizzle over frosting. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.   Makes 36 bars

* I don't use that frosting... I make my own DF frosting with the mint extract and green color!  It tastes just the same with out all the dairy or icky plastic ingredient list...

Homemade GF Puppy Treats

I just did a post on the importance of gluten free/grain free dog food for all doggies, regardless of whether or not they have issues with gluten.  I explained the reason why this food is so much better for your pet and gave different options for you to choose from if you wanted to jump on the bandwagon.  You can find all that info here.

One other option to improve the diet of your pet is of course to feed your pet real foods.   This is certainly more time consuming and expensive, but definitely worth it if you have the resources.   If I had all the time in the world I would do this more often for Penny Su.  But reality is that I am lucky to have enough time get a nutritous dinner on the table for Mr. Kat and I so that doesn't happen as much as I would like.  But I try.  On Sunday mornings she gets scrambled eggs.  She LOVES carrots, so If I can't do anything else I will at least throw some shredded carrots on top of her food in her dish when she has her dinner. 

Having said that, I need to stress that I wouldn't recommend having your pet survive solely on real foods, because it can be very difficult to ensure that they are getting exactly what they need from their diet.  If you want to go this route completely you have got to know what you are doing.  I cannot stress this enough!  Educate yourself, talk to your vet, read books, just make sure you are not doing more harm than good.  It is easy for dogs to develop nutritional deficiencies because of an improper diet.  Also, there are many foods that dogs can't tolerate that humans can.  Despite your best intentions you could cause a lot of problems. So make sure you have a very, very good understanding of exactly what to do if you plan on going in all the way or just incorporate SOME real meals/foods into their diet and rely on any of the great brands of gluten free/grain free dog foods out there to do the rest.

I like to incorporate real foods into Penny Su's diet my making homemade treats for her.  Her favorites are peanut butter banana, carrot, apple, or pumpkin.  They all smell so good (Mr. Kat may or may not have sampled some of the homemade dog treats)!  She absolutely loves them, and I love the fact that I know exactly what is in them.  I get to reward her with something she loves and I know it is healthy for her.  I found these recipes from various sources (some which I can't remember now... sorry :/)  and changed them around to make them all gf.  I'll share a few of my favorite recipes for her with you. 

Penny's Favorite Carrot Treats

 1 Medium Ripe Banana
1 C Shredded Carrots- Chopped
1/4 C Unsweetened Applesauce
1/8 C Water- more as needed

1 1/2 C GF Oat Flour- plus some for kneading

1 C GF Rolled Oats

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a pan with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl mash bananas with the carrots.  Add water and applesauce and stir.  Add flour and oats.  Stir and knead until dough forms.  Roll to 1/2 in thickness and cut out shapes.  Bake for approximately 25 minutes.  Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in the freezer for 6 months.

Pumpkin for my Pumpkin

1 egg

1/4 C canned pumpkin

1 T dry milk
1/8 t sea salt
1 1/4 C brown rice flour

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin until smooth. Stir in dry milk and sea salt.  Add brown rice flour gradually to form a stiff, dry dough. Roll onto a lightly floured surface. Knead more if necessary.  Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2″ thick and use a cookie cutter to cut out doggie bone shapes. Place bones on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to your doggie.

Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats

1 Banana

1 C GF Oat Flour

2/3 C GF Rolled Oats

3 T Peanut Butter

1 Egg- beaten

Preheat oven to 300.  Mash the banana in a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Set aside for 5 minutes.  Roll into small balls and flatten into coin shapes.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 45 minutes until the treats are golden brown and have a firm bottom.  Cool completely and store in the refrigerator.

I hope your furry friends enjoy these treats as much as my Penny Su! :)

Who can resist this face?!? :)

Of course I will give you a treat!