Feed Your Body Friday: Homemade Treats for Your Pets

You cook for yourself, you cook for your family and your friends, so why not cook for your pet! Yes, yes, this week’s Feed Your Body Friday features on a recipe for your dog, one for your cat, and one for your bird. All of which will be singing praise.

These treats are a great way to bond with your pet and ensure that the treats they are getting are all-natural. These are treats that are healthy enough that humans could eat them too, even though we might suggest not doing for the birdseed recipe.

Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

For your pup, we are going to prepare peanut butter cookies.

These cookies are easy to make and use ingredients that you probably already have at home. You could eat them yourself, but you will probably find them a little hard on the tooth! I don’t have a dog, but Dragon, the neighbor's dog, was very happy to take the role of taste-taster and he really seemed to enjoy the cookies!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 35 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
• 3/4 cup milk

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and baking powder.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the peanut butter and milk until smooth.
4. Make a hollow in the center of the flour and gradually pour in the peanut butter mixture. Stir so that everything is well combined.
5. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 2 minutes.
6. With a roller, lower your dough to a thickness of 1 cm.
7. Cut it out with a small cookie cutter of your choice.
8. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
9. Cook for 15 minutes and let cool before giving one to your pup!

Craving peanut butter? This one is for you, don’t let your dog have these yummy Peanut Butter Cups.

Chicken Bites

For your kitty, we are going to make small chicken bites. These small bites are easy to prepare and made with simple ingredients. This time the taster was my beloved cat, Merlin and I have to say that he loved them. Whenever I make them, he begs for them, but I must admit that he is a greedy cat!

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 80 bites

Ingredients

• 2 small cooked chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 2 cups whole wheat flour

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. In the food processor, add the chicken and water, mix until you obtained a homogenous paste.
3. Add the egg and the flour to the chicken paste and pulse until you have a dough. If the dough is too dry, add a little bit of water.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured to form little rolls.
5. Cut the rolls in little pieces (around ½ inch)
6. Place the treats on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 20 minutes. When they are slightly golden and crunchy, they are finished.
7. Let cool and serve at room temperature to your cat!

Homemade Bird Feeder

The latest recipe is really fun, it’s a bird feeder. The recipe is very simplistic, you just have to scoop out an apple and insert the seed mixture. The first one I did, I placed it directly on a branch of a tree. I was delighted because I had a cardinal couple that came to take advantage of it, but the squirrels found the pantry and they all ate it. Now I hang it on a branch where it’s difficult for the squirrels to access it.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 mini bird feeders

Ingredients

• 1 cup Birdseed
• 1/2 cup almond butter or natural Peanut butter
• 2 Apples
• Twine
• Wooden sticks

Preparation

1. In a bowl mix the birdseed with the almond butter.
2. Cut the apples in half lengthwise and remove the heart of the apple, make a cavity with a spoon.
3. Press birdseed mixture into the cavity of the apples.
4. Make a hole into the top of each apple and tie a piece of twine.
5. At the bottom of the apples insert wooden sticks.
6. Hang outside from trees!

Need a treat for you? Try these: Homemade Raspberry Oat Bars