Dogs Love Cake Too

Each year for my dogs Maggie Magz and Bruce's birthday I bake them their very own cakes. All of the ingredients that I use are safe for dogs. Let me warn you that I'm not the greatest when it comes to decorating the cakes but the dogs don't seem to mind at all. They just love when their birthdays roll around and they know what's coming.

Bruce's 7th Birthday Cake

Ingredients You Will Need to Make This Cake

• 1 1/2 cups of rice flour (brown or white)
• 1 Tsp. of baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin (I used canned)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter
• 2 Tbs. of honey
• 3 Tbs. of E.V.O. (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Ingredients for the Frosting

• 1/4 cup of carob chips melted
• 1/4 cup of peanut butter
• I decorated the cake with peanut dog cookies I picked up at the bulk food store

Instructions for the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 
2. Grease and flour a square 9" x 5" pound cake pan
3. In a medium size mixing bowl combine the rice flour and baking powder
4. Stir in the pumpkin and then beat in the eggs
5. Next add and stir in the peanut butter, honey, and the oil
6. Make sure to stir everything really well and then add the mixture to your baking pan
7. Pop into the oven for 40 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick into the cake and have it come out clean
8. Remove from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes
9. Carefully remove the cake from the pan and cool it on a rack completely before frosting
10. Please note that you don't have to frost this cake
11. Once cooled frost and decorate

Instructions for the Frosting

1. Melt the carob chips in the microwave
2. Stir in the peanut butter and apply to the cake
3. Decorate with small biscuits or any other way you'd like to.
4. Cut into small pieces and serve to your dog or dogs and see how much they enjoy their cake

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cake ready to slice and serve

For more of my Dog Cakes or Cookie Recipes that you might like to see I've added pictures and where you can find all the recipes.

Wheat Free Healthy Birthday Cake for Dogs

Carrot Apple Peanut Butter Cake

Banana Oatmeal Dog Biscuits 

Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

As you can see I do enjoy baking for my two Newfoundland dogs that can be found waiting in the kitchen by the stove when they know that I'm making them a special treat. 

Maggie Magz & Bruce

Easy Pork Shoulder Crock Pot Recipe

Inexpensive, easy, delicious pork roast meal, complete with veggies and a side dish of mashed potatoes. 

The following recipe cooks all day  in your crock pot or slow cooker while you are doing other things. That is one of the many reasons I like this way of cooking as well as:

• It frees up my time
• The house smells wonderful while it is cooking
• It uses less energy, so therefore saves money
• Keeps the kitchen cool during the summer months
• I've never had a bad result come out of a crock-pot

Pork shoulder roast meal

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 pound pork shoulder roast
• 2-3 large carrots peeled and cut into large pieces
• 1 large cooking onion cut into 1/8's  
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup of water

---------------------------------

Side dishes: 

• Steamed broccoli 
• Mashed Potatoes

Instructions

1. When cooking in my crock pot I usually start by spraying it with cooking oil to make clean up easier.
2. In the bottom of the crock add one of the carrots, and then place on top of them the pork shoulder. 
3. Add the rest of the carrots along with the onion placing them around the pork.
4. In a measuring cup or bowl mix and whisk the cream of chicken soup together with the water, and pour over the pork.
5. Place the cover on the crock pot, set the temperature on low, and cook for 6-8 hours.
6. When you are ready to eat remove the pork roast that will more than like fall into several pieces. Remove the carrots and onions placing them either in a bowl on onto serving plates.
7. Before the pork was ready I made mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. 
8. On each plate I spooned out the mashed potatoes making a well. I then spooned a bit of the soup mixture onto the potatoes. Normally I wouldn't do this but the pork shoulder I used had very little fat on it. The soup mixture made the perfect gravy.
9. Serve and ENJOY!

Do you use your crock-pot or slow cooker very often?

I've had a crock-pot since I was 18 and still have my original one that I'm saving for one of my sons. I have since bought a new one because the crock was not removable making it a little more difficult to clean.

The features I like on my new crock pot include : 

• Several temperature options 
• Removable crock 
• Larger capacity 
• Stainless exterior

Penne Pasta With Meatballs

Please note that the pasta used in this is Rigatoni but is best with Penne

This pasta and meatball dish is easy to make and is great if you are feeding a large crowd. The following recipe fed my husband twin sons, all three have big appetites, and my myself. Leftovers can always be easily re-heated for lunch or dinner the following day.

Ingredients

• 1 box or bag of frozen meatballs of your choice. I used a pork and beef kind, or you can always make your own.
• Cooking, Canola, or olive oil
• 2 medium cooking onions peeled and chopped
• 3 ribs of celery chopped
• 2-3 large cloves of garlic minced
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 yellow, red, orange, or green bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow)
• 1 tsp. of dried thyme
• 1 tsp. of dried oregano
• 1 tsp. of dried basil
• 1 Tbs. of dried hot red peppers
• 5 shakes of Tabasco sauce
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 3/4 of a large bag of penne pasta
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve on the side

Notes:
Usually I make my own meatballs but we happened onto a huge sale at Christmastime and I bought a few bags to have on hand. This came in handy and saved me quite a bit of time while preparing dinner. 
Mushrooms can be added to this if you happen to have them on hand.

Instructions

1. Follow the directions on the meatballs and cook while preparing all the ingredients for your pasta meal.
2. Prepare all your veggies.
3. In the bottom of a large pot (I used a 6 quart pot) or a Dutch oven add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pot, and heat on medium.
4. Once meatballs are cooked remove from oven, drain and set aside.
5. Add the onions and celery to the pot on the stove and cook for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir.
6. Add and stir in the diced tomatoes, and add the bell peppers.
7. Next add all your spices and Tabasco or hot sauce of your choice. 
8. Stir in the tomato sauce along with the cooked meatballs.
9. Bring everything to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer, cover and let everything mingle for at least 45 minutes.
10. Before you're ready to eat cook your pasta according the package directions.
11. Drain and place the pasta back into the pot. Toss with a bit of olive oil (This keeps the pasta from clumping together)
12. Now you can either mix the sauce with the pasta or serve the meatball sauce over the pasta.
13. Serve and ENJOY!
14. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, or serve the cheese on the side.

Thanks for stopping by today and please say hi to let me know that you were here. Have a great day!