Naughty Dog Peanut Butter Pumpkin Treats (Grain Free)

I made Ruby some dog treats today.

After she ate Bubba's crayons.

Egad.  Nice.

The dog treats weren't a reward.  Certainly not.  But I already had the ingredients, E had the day off school due to snow (or no snow, as the case may be), and I wasn't going anywhere because I'm sick. Hacking up a lung, in fact.  And I felt like baking something, and no human in their right mind is going to eat baked goods made by a coughing sick person (i.e., me).  Sooo, dog treats for a naughty dog.  Right-o.

The whole reason I wanted to make Ruby some treats in the first place is because she's sort of been through a lot in the past month.  She had major surgery (which I shall refrain from describing on this, a food/family blog) and unexpectedly spent about three weeks at the puppy hospital recuperating.  We're really happy she's well enough to be home.  Not so happy about the crayon eating, but I digress.  Plus, she's almost out of kennel treats (which she gets when she goes "in in" to her kennel on her own), so the timing was good.  Anyhow, I made her some reward biscuits.  And she likes them.  Quite a lot.  She even seemed to know when I was mixing them up that they were for her.  She stalks me whenever I'm in the kitchen anyway, because apparently a lot of stuff ends up on the floor.  I know, because when she wasn't here, I had to get the vacuum out.  A lot.  She's a smarty, that one!

  
Naughty Dog Peanut Butter Pumpkin Treats (Grain Free)
from A Cozy Kitchen
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2 1/2 cups garbanzo-fava flour (plus additional, as needed)
2 eggs
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, eggs, pumpkin, and peanut butter. Turn out dough onto a floured surface (it is sticky, so use additional flour as necessary). With a rolling pin, roll the dough to a thickness about 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter of your choosing, cut the dough into shapes and transfer onto a Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Alternatively, use a medium-size cookie scoop to shape the dough and flatten slightly with a fork.  Bake for 30-40 minutes and allow to cool completely before serving to your pooch.  Store in a sealed container.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Peanut butter and white chocolate are two things I just cannot seem to get enough of.  I've been wanting to make these cookies for some time, but I didn't want a whole batch of them sitting on the countertop calling my name.  Because I'd answer.  So when the opportunity arose to take some cookies to someone who is doing us a ginormous favor, I totally jumped on it with these.  I hope our favorer likes them.  I certainly do!  If you make them, let me know what you think!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Jif

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Ingredients:

¾ cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup butter flavor vegetable shortening

1¼ cups light brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup bread flour

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt

1 12-ounce bag white baking chips, or 12 ounces white chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla.  With a hand or stand mixer, cream together on medium speed until very well blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add egg and beat briefly, just until blended.  Add flours, baking soda and salt and mix to combine at low speed; do not overmix.  Add in the baking chips or white chocolate, again just until blended.  Using a medium cookie scoop, place batter on baking sheets lined with a Silpat mat or parchment paper two inches apart.  Flatten slightly with the tines of a fork.  Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown.  Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in a sealed container.

Quotes Worth Remembering

A couple of the bloggers I follow regularly on Pinterest often pin inspirational or memorable sayings and quotes.  My mom always used to tell me, "Tomorrow is a new day," so I went on a Google search to see if that was actually a quote.  Turns out, it's from L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.  How perfect is that?

Using one of my Photo A Day reject photos, I created my own inspirational quote photo.  I kind of like it and thought it would be fun to share:

I made another in October that I posted on my Facebook page.  Curiously enough, it's also an L.M. Montgomery quote:

There are lots of Bible verses that would be great in this format, too.  Good thing I have a lot of reject photos!

What are your favorite quotes and Bible verses?

2013 Christmas Playlist

Last year, I shared with you one of my favorite (and longest running) holiday traditions - an annual music CD.  With the advent of iPods and music-playing phones, it has morphed into more of a playlist, but it's still just as fun.  It's also interesting to see how my musical tastes have varied over the years.  We recently attended A Madison Symphony Christmas and a few of this year's songs were those we heard played at the event.  I always try to include new and modern songs along with standard, traditional favorites.  It's a nice mix to have playing while you bake cookies or when opening gifts.

And so I give you my 2013 Christmas music playlist:

1. Angels We Have Heard On High - For King & Country
2. Little Drummer Boy - Pentatonix
3. Carol of the Bells/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - The Piano Guys
4. He Is Born - Bradley Joseph
5. Star of Bethlehem - John Williams (from Home Alone)
6. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Jolene Kearns
7. Candy Cane Lane - Point Of Grace
8. Here We Come A-Caroling - Ray Conniff Singers
9. Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney - Ella Fitzgerald
10. Sleigh Ride - Freddy Martin & His Orchestra
11. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming - The Cathedral Singers
12. O Come All Ye Faithful - Jeremy Camp
13. All Is Well - Michael W. Smith
14. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jewel
15. Christmas Is Coming - Knightsong
16. Joy To The World - Crouch End Festival Chorus
17. Pachabel Meets U2 - Jon Schmidt
18. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Perry Como with The Ray Charles Singers
19. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
20. All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) - Spike Jones & His City Slickers
21. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (from The Nutcracker) - Quartetto Gelato
22. Into The Silent Night - For King & Country
23. Christmas Day - Michael W. Smith

Wishing you and yours the very best this holiday and throughout 2014!

Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups

If you know me at all, you know I have a sweet tooth.  Like, bad.  Ice cream, cookies, cupcakes, chocolate.  I'm up for it all!  And because of that, I have to watch what I eat for meals and really contain my calories.

That's where these babies come in.  Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups.  At around 150 calories each, they're great for my "short workout" (i.e., 30 minutes) days, when I don't earn a lot of extra calories.  Paired with a Greek yogurt, they have lots of protein to keep me going until my next meal.  I bake up a batch and can reheat and eat them all week long.

On another note, I usually try to buy a dozen farm-fresh eggs from a friend, but in a pinch, I'll get cage-free eggs from the store.  I ran out midway through this batch of cups, so some are farm-fresh and some are store bought.  Check out the color difference...it's quite noticable!


Cheesy Egg and Hashbrown Cups
Adapted from http://simplegirlathome.blogspot.com
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Serves 6


Ingredients:
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) frozen hash browns
2 Tbsp. light butter, melted
1/2 c. 2% colby jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. Penzey's 4S seasoned salt
6 Tbsp. (or 6 slices, cooked) crumbled bacon
6 large cage-free eggs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray jumbo muffin tin (with 6 cups) generously with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine hash browns, melted light butter, cheese, seasoned salt, and bacon. Stir with a silicone spatula until mixed well. Divide mixture evenly among the 6 cups of the muffin tin. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crispy and golden brown. Remove from oven. Crack one egg into each muffin tin. Return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, depending upon how solid you like your egg yolks. Remove from muffin tins and season with salt and pepper, as desired. Serve or cover and refrigerate.

Calories:  150 calories (approximately, depending on brands and/or specific varieties of ingredients)