Hello Quilty Friends! The last few days have been absolutely beautiful here in Podunk. Sunny and 70's! It's the perfect weather for walking the dog. Yesterday we got in our walk early in the day and then it was time to get in the kitchen to make my girl Khaleesi some doggy treats. (video of my girl Khaleesi at the bottom of this post)
If I don't make dog treats Mr. Podunk buys some of the worst dog treats. Treats filled full of things not fit for man nor beast. Khaleesi is a rescue dog and requires lots of TLC and constant training. She responds best to training and commands when she knows you have treats in your pocket. So yesterday I went to the pantry and pulled out some canned ground beef, pumpkin and quick oats. The ground beef may seem expensive for a dog but last year I purchased this burger for $1.27 a lb.
Dog's don't do well with high fat diets so I had to cook it down and strain out the grease.
As the beef cooled the oats were ground finer in the food processer. This will help bind all the ingredients together. I should mention, I don't have a recipe, I'm just flying by the seat of my pants with my years of cooking experience.
Once the beef was cooled, the rest of the ingredients were added and mixed well.
One can of pumpkin, three eggs and about one cup of ground oats.
Then the mixture was placed into the food processor and pureed into a thick paste. Looks pretty gross but I know my girl is going to love them better than the cruddy chemical treats.
The next step was very time consuming. I used a pastry bag to pipe out little blobs onto dehydrator trays.
This yielded 5 trays and it took about 7 hours to dehydrate them at 148 degrees.
I'll be making one or two more batches this week, whatever it takes to fill the jar. This should be enough to last 5 or 6 months. The best thing is they are healthier for my baby girl. Even if cost more I would make them for her. Nasty chemical treats are way over priced. Mr. Podunk was paying between $8 and $12 for a small bag of treats that would last maybe three weeks. My cost for todays batch was about $6.50.
While the treats were processing in the dehydrator I slipped off to the Studio for a little me time. First on my list of things to work on the backing for the pink gingham porch quilt. I thought I was going to have enough of the scraps from the quilt top to make the backing....NOPE.
No worries, anything will work. Remember this is a porch quilt that will be seeing a lot of weather so any fabric will do just fine. So some cheap Wal Mart fabric scraps will be added to finish the backing.
Next on my list was to start pulling together the fabrics for my last Lone Star Quilt. I need to get started on it this week. It needs to be completed by the second week of May. It will look just like my other Lone Star quilts made last year. You can see them by clicking here.
To finish off my day in the Studio it was time to square up 200 HST's. I'm proud of myself for sticking to this overwhelming task a little chunk at a time. I've been trying to get these done for years.
This makes 2500 done! Yippee! Only 1000 more to square up. Any guesses on how long it will take me to finish the last 1000? I'm pretty flighty so it could be this week or next month....or longer...HAHA!
Today's quilty plan...Get this girl off the quilt frame. I haven't worked on it in a week or two. It would be easy to finish in afternoon. Wish me luck!
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
Lea Anne, I thought my mama spoiled her rescue dog. You rank right up there with her! Khaleesi is gorgeous and I'd take her home in a heartbeat. I may give your recipe a try and bring the treats over to miss cinnamon girl. Your Lone Star quilts are beautiful. I've been debating on making a Lone Star or Log Cabin quilt for our bed. Everything takes priority over getting that one quilt done. I guess we're fortunate that I have throw and lap quilts for us! Over time I've received two of my quilts back that I've gifted people. Those people had died and the family members wanted me to get the quilts back instead of keeping them for themselves. I guess neither one wanted any fighting in the family as to who was going to get the quilt. Ok, you made my head spin with all of the HST!!! That is dedication, but then when I get on a role of doing something I put the blinders on and go to town, so to speak, ignoring everything else... including making supper for Mr. Mankus! Thank you for sending me your blog link! When I get a bit more free time, I'll take a look at some of your older posts. I see you have a few. Have a blessed day! Mickey / Out the Back Door
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