Homemade Frosty Dog Treats

A few weeks back I mentioned that I bought some plain Greek yogurt for dog treats and I received an overwhelming amount of email asking me how I was turning the yogurt into dog treats. So here ya go! This is basically my version of those fancy frozen dog treats that you can buy at the grocery store. My pup loves those, but they are expensive and cost about $5 for 4 frozen treats. This homemade version ensures that no additional sugar/additives in the treats, and makes about a dozen that you can keep in your freezer.

This recipe is also very versatile, and you can swap in different ingredients that you might have on hand. For example, pumpkin would be great option instead of the banana. My dog also loves broccoli, I might try that one day and see if he eats it.

 

Homemade Frosty Dog Treats

16oz Plain Greek Yogurt

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

1 banana (or 1/2 cup pumpkin, etc)

The steps are super simple. You’re just going to add everything to a bowl, and mash to combine. 

Don’t worry about getting the mixture completely smooth. It’s perfectly fine to have some banana chunks in it.

You will likely draw a small crowd at this point of fur children begging to lick the bowl. I cave every time and let him lick the bowl when I’m done, he loves it.

To make the treats easy to serve, I use cupcake cups. These are the sturdy cups, not the liners. I bought two different sizes in the baking section at Joann’s for a couple of bucks. I use the bigger, standard cupcake size for my Lab, and the smaller size if I know the beagles will be stopping by. 

Fill each cup about 1/2 way full, and then freeze several hours or overnight to set.

You don’t need cups, you can freeze these in the cupcake pan, but I find that the cupcake cups make it very easy to serve once frozen. If you’re concerned about  your dog eating the cup, then you can rip the cup open and just serve the treat. My dog will tear apart the cup, but he doesn’t eat it, so i just hand him the whole thing to snack on. 

 

Easy, right? These are great cold snacks for your pup and particularly great during the summer when they need a little refreshment.

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My Favorite Moment of the Week & Grocery Challenge

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday already! I hope everyone’s week is going well.

I need to catch up a bit. So my favorite moment of last week was on Sunday. We had beautiful weather and my little pup and I took a long walk down a local trail.

For both my sanity and his mini waistline, we’ve started taking longer walks during my lunch hour (as often as possible). I usually have to work through my lunch so I’m trying to sneak away when I can, and zone out during a walk. It also gives me a chance to listen to a podcast or audio book. I’m really loving Jillian Michaels free podcast on iTunes right now, lots of great health/nutrition info. This past Sunday, Bubba went for his longest walk in a long time. Since I’m writing this on Wednesday morning, I can say he actually went even further on Monday. He was like a little energizer bunny.

We saw some beautiful scenery. I had no idea there was a large horse ranch behind the trail near my house, it was gorgeous.

On to the food. Last week I totally forgot about the Super Bowl [I don’t have cable, so I obviously wasn’t going to watch it], and went grocery shopping on Saturday with the rest of the world. BIG MISTAKE. The lines were crazy.  

The Budget: $40

I Spent: $38.82 (Henry’s, Trader Joe’s)

Leftover for the Piggy Bank: $1.18

 

The Goods:

• Rotisserie Sliced Chicken
• Broccoli Florets
• Shredded Mozzarella
• Frozen Turkey Meatballs
• Fat Free Sour Cream
• Cage Free Eggs [1 Dozen]
• Chobani Plain Yogurt
• Flank Steak [1lb]
• Mushrooms
• Organic Fuji Apples
• Carrots [5lb] – dog treats
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

I still had spinach, kale, and romaine leftover from last week so I skipped those in this trip, and instead focused on meat/dairy which cost more overall. I won’t need most of the above next week, so I’ll replenish the veggie stash on the next trip.

 

Tentative Meal Plan:

Monday: Quick Beef Stroganoff 

Tuesday: Ricotta Broccoli Stuffed Shells & Kale Salad

Wednesday: Honey Mustard Chicken & Veggie

Thursday: Leftover Ricotta Broccoli Stuffed Shells

Friday: Feta Chicken Burger & Veggie

Saturday: Sausage Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash [?]

Sunday: Tomato Soup Leftovers

 

Reader Question:

A couple of people pointed out that I seem to cook most meals, and asked if I’m making full size recipes or adjusting for just one person. Truth is, I cook 99.9% of my meals. I don’t eat out often, maybe 2-3 times a month. I love cooking, so it’s enjoyable for me to make food at home. To answer the size question, most of the time I make the whole recipe so that I can freeze the additional servings for future ‘freezer meals’. For example, The ‘Quick Beef Stroganoff’ recipe made 4 servings. I ate one on Monday night, I have one in the fridge for lunch this week, and froze the other 2 servings for future meals. I do the same for most recipes and love having premade ‘freezer meals’ ready to go throughout the week. Right now I have Chili, Tomato Soup, and Beef Stroganoff all ready to be heated in the freezer. The Feta chicken burger recipe will make 4 patties, so I’ll eat one on Friday and freeze the rest. You get the point.

I also do this with cookie dough. I like baking cookies…I do not like having 3+ dozen cookies in the house. So I will make a half/full batch, bake a few (like 5), then freeze the rest. For basic dough, like chocolate chip, you can scoop the batter into cookie size scoops onto a plate or cookie sheet and put in the freezer to set. Once frozen, you can put the frozen cookie dough balls in a bag and bake as needed in the future.

I mean, really…can you ever have enough cookie dough in your freezer?