Macaroni, cheese, and apples bake for the pups

In my continuing endeavor to not waste food and to make yummy, healthy snacks for my dogs, tonight I "created" the macaroni, cheese, and apples bake. I had leftover homemade macaroni and cheese in the freezer. When I say homemade, I mean I cooked the noodles, shredded the cheese, added an egg and milk and baked it. No preservatives, no extra junk in it. I also had some other leftover pasta in the freezer saved from a night when we made too much. The small Fuji apples on the counter were a bit past their prime and not really something a human would want to crunch into but not spoiled.
Cut the apples, skins on, into small pieces, the smaller the better.
Defrost any pasta or macaroni and cheese in the microwave. Cut the pasta into small pieces if it is a larger type.
Mix the pasta, mac and cheese, and apples in a large bowl. The ratio is somewhere around 4 small apples to 2 cups mac and cheese and 1 cup cut up pasta.
Add 2-3 tablespoons honey and mix.
Add 3-5 heaping tablespoons flour.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. This will help everything stick together, adds a bit of good oil for healthy skin and coat, and is heart friendly.
If available, you may add an egg as binder. I didn't have any so I didn't add one.
"Grease" a glass baking dish with a good swipe of extra virgin olive oil.
Add the mix to the dish.
Put ~4 tablespoons peanut butter into a cup and microwave for ~30 sec to liquify.
Use a knife to drizzle the peanut butter over the top of the mix in the dish.
Bake at 300F for ~45 mins, until the apples appear largely cooked.
Let cool well. Serve by scooping out spoonfuls. (most dogs can and will eat off a spoon, reserve one for the dog's use if you don't like them eating off people utensils) This may be served as a treat or as an extra in their dinner. Just remember to cut their kibble a bit to compensate for the calories.

Broccoli Loaf to feed the pups

Cooking for your dogs, like cooking for yourself, can be a joyous expression of creativity and love for those you are feeding. When there are 5 dogs in the house and two humans who really dislike waste, especially wasted food, there is a wonderful opportunity for making up new dishes. A friend suggested to me once that using leftover vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy that may be just a little passed what you would want to eat but by no means spoiled (or even if you're just tired of eating that dish) in doggie dishes would be a great way to not waste food but to also feed your pups a special treat. I decided to give this a go by putting leftover food that wasn't spoiled but maybe a little wilted or just no longer desired by me into the freezer until I had enough to make a dish for the dogs. This first started with the bag of broccoli slaw (shredded broccoli) that I purchased when initially pregnant. Pregnancy food aversions strike very quickly and without seeming rhyme or reason and this one so happened to strike just after I bought the broccoli. I couldn't stand the sight of it so I put the whole bag in the freezer. We then made a turkey and had leftover hearts and livers that I boiled for the dogs, putting the broth and bits in a freezer bag along with the leftover green beans. When my baguette went stale and hard but not molded, I decided that would be a good base for a doggie treat. Here is my made up recipe that has been very much enjoyed by the 5 dogs here.




1 hard baguette
1 bag broccoli slaw--thaw in microwave if needed
1 pint - 1 quart meat broth with meaty bits--thaw in microwave if needed
any other veggies, such as green beans or peas
1 egg
cheese

Use a blender to beat the baguette into bread crumbs. Put bread crumbs in a bowl.
Add the broccoli and meat broth.
Grate cheese (my dogs like cheddar) into the bowl, as much as you think the dogs will like but not so much as to be greasy or gooey. They mostly just want a taste.
Add a whole egg (the shells are good for them too) and bust with a spoon.
Mix well with a spoon.
If the mix is not coherent enough, add flour. Two to four heaping tablespoons should be sufficient. You don't want it to be dry but some cohesion is necessary.
Put mix into a glass baking dish and bake at 300-350 F until brown on the outside and "done" on the inside. For a drier dish, cook on a lower heat for longer.
A light butter coating will allow the loaf to flip out onto a plate.
Cut and serve, letting cool enough to not burn a pup's mouth.
Store in refrigerator and serve with meals.

Hope you try it and your pups enjoy!