Spent Grain Dog Biscuits

Yup - you read that right! I wasn't sure whether I should post this recipe or not. And I'm still not sure if I will count it towards my 365, but for now, here it is on the blog. I made these biscuits today, following a day of brewing at our house. M made an all grain (versus malt extract) batch, so we needed to find a use for the leftovers. Spent grain is a "byproduct of beer brewing consisting of the residue of malt and grain which remains in the mash-kettle after the mashing and lautering process". It is a good protein source for animals, and we recently heard it can be (happlily) consumed by dogs (For those who don't know, we have 2 golden retrievers). We found this recipe on a homebrew website. Believe it or not, we all tried these after they were baked and they are actually pretty good! I wouldn't eat them as a cookie myself, but the girls have no troubles gobbling them up. We all have to eat, animals included, so here's my healthy take on dog treats (don't even get me started on how to feed your pet in a more healthy fashion....trust me, you don't want to hear THAT rant ;). Enjoy?!

Spent Grain Dog Biscuits

• 4 cups spent grains
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup peanut butter (I think I might add 1.5 cups next time)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients until well combined. Take a small handful of the mixture and form into a rectangle, roughly 1" x 2" x 1/4", and place on parchment paper. Do this about 40 times, or until all mixture is used up.
3. Bake in preheated over for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn oven temp down to 225 degrees (F). Bake an additional 2 hours, or until biscuits are hard and dry.
4. Store in air-tight bag, serve to your canine friends and watch them ENJOY!

Pictures

I try my best to get a picture of everything I make. I sometimes forget, but for the most part remember. I just uploaded a bunch of old pictures I found on the camera. Between that and 2 extra recipes yesterday, I am quite pleased with myself. ha! :)

It's the last day of the final long week-end of the summer. Go ahead and indulge. And enjoy every second of it! Happy Eating! Enjoy!

Hamburger Tacos

Made these "tacos" tonight and they were great. All the yumminess of a burger, but the added goodness of lots of fresh veggies. Plus, the soft taco shell is more diet friendly than a hamburger bun. I will definitely make these again! Enjoy!

Hamburgery Tacos

• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• s&p
• 10 small tortilla shells
• 1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese
• shredded lettuce
• 2 cups tomato relish (see recipe)
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Spicy Mayo (see recipe)

1. Fire up the BBQ. Divide beef into 15 pieces, forming each into a hamburger patty. Sprinkle with s&p, then grill until meat is cooked to desired doneness.
2. Lay tortilla shell flat, then (in the middle of the shell) top with cheese, lettuce, tomato relish and avocado. Place 1.5 patties, broken into pcs, on top, then finally dollop meat with mayo.
3. Form into a taco, serve and ENJOY!

Spicy Mayo

Watch for an upcoming recipe for homemade mayo. It's on my list of things to attempt to make myself (as you can tell recently, I have a slight love for it!). Anyway, this spicy mayo was made with plain old Hellman's. It was a GREAT topping for our Hamburger Tacos (see recipe). Enjoy!

Chipotle Mayo

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice

1. Place all indregients in a small bowl and stir well. Serve and ENJOY!

Fresh Tomato Relish

Right now we have tons and tons of tomatoes ready for picking and eating. I wouldn't be lying by saying that there are a good 100 tomatoes outside right now ready, or close to it. We have been enjoying them with every meal, so it's always nice to mix things up. Today I decided to make Hamburger Tacos (recipe to follow), but instead of traditional salsa, I wanted to make a tomato relish to top them with. Here is the recipe I came up with. It's quick to make and VERY fresh tasting! Enjoy!

Fresh Tomato Relish

• 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (I used a variety of roma, yellow taxi and cherry)
• 2 tbsp diced onion
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• s&p
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)
• splash white wine vinegar (I think my splash was about 1 - 1 1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro (too much will give it a pico de gallo taste....you just want a little to add to the fresh taste of the tomatoes...you could use parsley here instead)

1. In a med size bowl, place chopped tomatoes and let sit 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir gently, then drain liquid, wait another 5 minutes, and repeat.
2. Gently stir in remaining ingredients. Taste and season according to personal taste buds. Serve and ENJOY!

Cranberry and Seed Bars

It's almost back to school time. I am having a hard time believing my baby boy will be starting SK in less than a week. He is growing up so fast. Fortunately for us, I don't have to worry about packing a lunch for him this year (he will be going everyday, half days). But I know many of you will be packing lunches and snacks for your kiddos, so here's a recipe you can use to make your own VERY healthy granola bars. The recipe came from Canadian Family magazine and originally called for goji berries, but we only had cranberries on hand - and they worked! Enjoy!

Cranberry Granola Bars

• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ground flax
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup cranberries (or goji berries)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 free range egg
• 1/2 cup canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x9-inch pan. (Original recipe called for 9x4-inch loaf pan, but I am not sure how that would work, since this recipe makes a lot! My 9x9 pan was pretty full!)
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, sugar, flax, sesame seeds, cranberries, cinnamon, flour and salt. In another bowl, whisk together honey, egg and oil.
3. Pour wet ingredients over dry and mix well. Pat the mixture evenly into greased pan.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes, then cut into bars. ENJOY!

**I'll be honest about this recipe.....I can't say I love these. They are "okay". I made these AS printed in the recipe/magazine. My slight distaste for them could be from the fact that I don't really like honey. Perhaps maple syrup would be a better taste for me?! I also think toasting the sesame seeds might make them taste a bit better. However, one of the boys really enjoys them (the other not as much). After a few, I know I won't want any more of them for a long time.....**

The Halfway Point...

Well, here we are - 6 months into this blog, which means the halfway mark. I meant to blog about this yesterday, but I was out of town for a few days. As of right now, I am about a dozen recipes behind. Not bad (not good, either). Those will hopefully be easy to make up soon.

I am still enjoying doing this. And I'd love to know if any/all of you still enjoy reading these recipes!? If you are out there, please make this the time you post a comment. Let me know your thoughts, request and/or share a recipe, or just say hello! I'd love to hear from any followers! (Even if you comment annonymously!)

Until my next recipe, Happy Cooking and Even Happier Eating!