And its gone to the dogs and Kong

Figures I couldn't keep the blog completely human now that I've figured out a great way to stuff a Kong. I was disappointed that many Kong recipes aren't really healthy by the time you add tons of cheese and peanut butter for binder. (If you don't know what a Kong is see the amazon link below)

Kong Stuffing
Carrots, roughly chopped
1 small peanut butter smear (I really do mean just a tiny bit)
Dry dog food
1/2 handful of softened dog food (Soak overnight in just enough water to cover, or for a few hours in hot water)

Place carrots in the bottom of kong, 1/4 full. Place dog food in 1/4 of the way full. Smear with peanut butter. Pack down and fill almost to the top with dog food. Pack in the softened dog food until the kong is capped. Place in sandwich bag capped end up freeze overnight.

Sandwiches Over the Top

My latest goal is to revamp my boring sandwiches into something more fun... pictures to follow.
Here's the general idea:

Sesame Seed bun
Honey Ham
Hard Salami
Provel or Havarti cheese
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp ranch
italian seasoning
Spinach

Place meat and cheese on bun broil until cheese is melted. Toast the top half of the bun until the seeds are browned. Swirl ranch and mustard on, sprinkle with italian seasoning. Top with handful of spinach and bun.

Teriyaki Chicken

1/4 C olive oil
1/3 C tamari (low sodium soy sauce)
1/3 C honey
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 chicken breasts

Combine all ingredients in a ziploc bag marinate for 12-24 hours. Remove chicken and cook boil marinade and add constarch if you want a sauce.

Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
ketchup
mustard
brown sugar
a few dashes Worcestershire sauce
1tsp. grill seasoning
1 tsp. horseradish


Saute onions and garlic. Add meat, grill seasoning brown and drain. Add ketchup mustard and brown sugar to taste (if you like it extra runny add more ketchup). Simmer until slightly thickened. Add Worcestershire and horseradish. Serve on a toasted sesame bun.

Funky Chicken Noodle Soup

This soup is a spinoff of traditional chicken noodle and is great for cleaning out the pantry. This recipe makes a bunch so get ready to share...
If you don't have all the ingredients or have other favorite veggies feel free to use them.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
2 large cartons chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 slice bacon
1 small bag baby carrots, chopped
1/2 bunch celery, chopped
1 bag dehydrated cheese tortellini (check the dry pasta aisle)
1 bag frozen corn
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 can water chestnuts
1 T black pepper
1 T italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
2 spoonfuls hot horseradish
large pinch of salt

In a large soup pot: Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. Add 1 carton of chicken broth. Add chicken and bacon. Add 1/3 of carrots and celery. Add more of the chicken broth. Bring to boil add tortellini. Add black pepper, italian seasoning, 1 spoonful of horseradish. Reduce to simmer cover and simmer for several hours stirring occasionally at least until the tortellini break apart. Add remaining carrots and celery, cook until tender. Add water chestnuts and corn simmer for 15 minutes. Add peas don't stir cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in remaining horseradish and salt, remove slice of bacon and bay leaves. Serve.

Apple Pie

Apple pie in the making

It's that time of the year apples are in here's the first apple pie recipe.... It's simple and delicious. In keeping with the simple nature for this pie I used a store bought pie crust. In later post we'll explore several different homemade crusts.

Simple Apple Pie

2 pie crusts

3/4 Cup sugar

2 T flour

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 T lemon juice
3 pats butter

6 medium apples, peeled and sliced thin (granny smith or combination of apples)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Place bottom pie dough in 9 inch pie pan. Combine all other ingredients except apples and lemon juice. Gently toss in apples and lemon juice. Dot with butter. Top with second crust and bake at 425 for 40-45 minutes.

TIP: Use an apple peeler to make the peeling fast and fun & if you want to be adventurous try fresh nutmeg it really make a difference just grate some in.