Copycat Frosty Paws Recipe

We are excited to be part of the 2nd Annual Summer Celebration Giveaway Hop, hosted by Happy Mothering and The Vagabond Studio along with the Green Moms Network! We are excited to bring you eco-friendly prizes to help you celebrate the start of Summer! After entering my giveaway, be sure to visit the other blogs listed under the Rafflecopter form for your chance to win more great giveaways. 

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If you are looking for a way to help your Dog to beat the heat then try this recipe from 'The Dog Food Dude'. Our Basset Hound loved them! This recipe has been reproduced thanks to the kind Permission of Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC. They have also give us a copy to giveaway!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice 'cream' (makes 12 cubes)

Author note: The Molasses is included not only to sweeten the Ice 'Cream' a bit but also to provide important nutrients like Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Potassium. Be Sure to buy Blackstrap Molasses to ensure that it contains the most important Vitamins and Mineral; other forms of Molasses are mostly just sugars. The Peanut Butter in this Ice Cream increases the fat content, so it is higher in calories. Please note the reduced feeding amounts. For older dogs with sensitive months, allow the frozen cubes to thaw for a few minutes before feeding.

Ingredients:

1/2 Ripe Banana

1 Cup plain Low fat Yogurt.
2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter (Natural style Preferred)
2 Tablespoons Blackstrap Molasses

Mash the Banana well in a medium bowl. Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. Spoon into an ice cube tray and freeze 4 - 6 hours. Allowance Per Day (by dog weight): 10-20lb -1 cube, 40lb -2 Cubes, 60lb -3 cubes, 80lb -4 cubes.

Now onto the Giveaway!

One Lucky winner will receive a copy of Feed Your Best Friend Better: Easy, Nutritious Meals and Treats for Dogs and an Eco friendly Dog travel pack including a H204K9 Stainless Steel Dog Water bottle and an Earth Rated Poop Bag dispenser. The retail value of this prize is $40.

For more recipes and our review of this book:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This contest will run through June 30, 2013 at 9:00 pm PST (July 1, 2013 at 12:00 am EST). The winner will be chosen the following day and announced on Learning and Growing the Piwi Way. No purchase necessary. US entries only. Must be 18 years or older to win. The Publisher provided me with a Free copy of this book to Giveaway.  I  had already purchased a copy and was under no obligation to review it. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to Learning and Growing the Piwi Way and not to Facebook. Please note that Learning and Growing the Piwi Way, Happy Mothering, the Green Moms Network and the Summer Celebration event bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. We will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 4-6 weeks for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.

Feeding your Best Friend Better: Book review and Recipe samples

I really want to share a book we discovered in our efforts to raise a Healthy Puppy. Our Siamese cat eats a grain-free brand of food for his allergies and we wanted to make sure our Puppy eat well too.  Unfortunately Butter the Basset Hound had different ideas.

 He was not a fan of kibble unless it was the  multi-colored chemical filled stuff  that he had been weaned onto. If the new brand was mixed with the 'Rainbow kibble' he would just bark at it! If we cooked him chicken, brown rice and veggies, it would vanish in seconds! All of this drama this led us to a guide by  'Dog Food Dude',Rick Woodford.

Feed Your Best Friend Better: Easy, Nutritious Meals and Treats for Dogs is the product of a journey the author began when his dog, Jackson was diagnosed with Cancer. He set out to help his best friend by studying Canine nutrition and cooking him healthy meals. After years of helping many ailing dogs feel better, including his buddy Jackson, Rick Woodford is now sharing all his research and 85 vet approved recipes. These recipes are for complete meals, dishes you can share, Treats and Cookies. Other sections in the book are:

• A Balancing act: Nutrients in a Dog's Diet explains Canine Nutrition  to 'the rest of us'
• Warm nosed Meals for Ailing Dogs are recipes are for specific conditions such as allergies, Weight loss and Arthritis.
• Choosing a commercial dry dog food opens your eyes to all the things that should (and shouldn't be) in the food you are purchasing (if you aren't going to be feeding 100% home cooked)
• A more meaningful Mealtime is a helpful chapter which address behavioral issues associated with food.
• Determining Portion size
• Feeding Growing Puppies.

The Piwi Family's Review:

The thought of cooking an extra meal for Butter seemed a bit crazy. Thankfully of the recipes in this book require little preparation and cooked in a casserole dish or the slow cooker. The treats and cookies are no more difficult than an average cookie recipe and our kids had a blast making them. Only human grade ingredients are used so there is no real ick factor about using your regular cooking utensils etc. The only thing I was 'grossed out' by were a few recipes that call for Organ meat I am not sure this Plant eating Mama will ever get her head around cooking up hearts and kidneys. Sorry Butter!

Currently we are feeding 50% Homemade 50 % Store bought. Butter is content to eat the better quality dry kibble when we mix it with the Rick's Puppy stew recipe. We are spending less than we would be on the expensive kibble because he is eating less of it. The ingredients are generally already in the pantry except for the meat which we purchase in bulk specifically for butter. Overall we are spending less on his food but he is eating better. From an eco friendly perspective I really like the idea that we are creating less waste are not feeding our dog the fillers and chemicals that we wouldn't touch ourselves.

Butter's favorite recipes (so far) are the Blue Moon Cookies and Peanut Butter Banana 'Ice cream' treats. The list of Kong stuffing ideas are also proving extremely useful.

We would recommend this book to all Dog Parents, It would also make a great gift!. The easy to understand information on Canine nutrition alone made it worth the purchase. The Dog and owner approved recipes are the icing on the Pup-Cake!

Sample recipes from the book:

We were kindly given permission by Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC to reproduce some of the recipes we have tried...

Piwi Kids make Blue Moon Dog Cookies .

Peanut butter ice 'Cream' treats

 You may also like our Giveaway which runs from June 21-June 30 as part of the #Celebrate Summer Giveaway hop!