Friday, March 26, 2010

A Good Cause

My friends over at Country Corgis have asked me to become part of the Hershey’s Blog Hop to benefit the Children's Miracle Network.
Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals (those are vets for kids!) Countless individuals, organizations and media partners unite with Children’s Miracle Network hospitals to help sick and injured kids in local communities. Donations to CMN create miracles by funding medical care, research and education that saves and improves the lives of 17 million children each year.

Hershey's will donate $10 to the Network for each blog post -- and they'll keep on donating as long as the blog-hopping continues, up to $5,000 to benefit kids.


HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

1. Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

2. Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.

3. Link back to the person who gave you an Easter Basket.

4. Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.

5. Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this Better Basket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.

6. Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).

7. Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.


Now, I need to pass this virtual Easter basket on to others. Happy Easter everyone! Here are your invitations if you wish to participate. All you have to do is copy and paste this post!

Kelly and Gibson over at Corgi Butts
Casey over at Left Root, Right Shoe
Betty and Koda over at a Corgi in Southern California

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Bath Time

Today was bath day for both dogs. Bender had begun to smell like a hamster cage. He's also having a bout of icky tummy so his bottom needed a washing anyway.

"What's that you say mom? Bath? I dislike that word."

"Please don't do this. I'll give lots of kisses."

I already dislike this!

Complaining as only a Corgi can.

Drying himself.





Thursday, March 18, 2010

Tired of Waiting


I'm currently on Spring Break and decided to catch up on some tv viewing. C and I watched almost all of Bones season one. When we finished the last disk, I looked up at the clock last night and realized it was 3a.m.

Usually I'm in bed with Bender by 11, he did not like that I was up so late. So last night at about 12:30 he decided to commandeer his brother's cage and tuck himself in.



Most adorable sleepers ever!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

After The Park


We took the boys to the park yesterday. It was beautiful out! 60 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.

We got home and Bender proceeded to lie on the floor superman style. So adorable.




I think tomorrow is bath day for one little stinky dog. I'll try to get some pictures.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Herding?


Bender isn't one to play fetch or chase toys. He'll tug on a rope if you hold it, but that's about it.

We were at Target the other day and they had a power outage. Odd, but nothing that bothered us. We went about our shopping when the lights came on and got into line to check out. Since the registers had to re-boot, customer service came around and handed out "Sorry for the inconvenience here's $3 off" coupons. We used this coupon to buy Bender a really large ball.

We gave Bender the ball when we got home that night, but it was really windy and all it did was scare him. Today we gave it another try, and he loved it! I've never seen him go after a toy so enthusiastically. He chased it all around the yard, barked at it, got it stuck under the deck multiple times, and pushed it against the fence so hard he got a hole in it. We patched it up with duct tape, not sure how long it'll hold. I see many more of these giant balls in our future this summer.
Thanks mom and dad!



Peanut Butter-Honey Roll Ups


Bender promised I would share another treat recipe. This is more time consuming than the last recipe I posted in my Sunday=Baking post, but the dogs seem to enjoy the finished product just as much. I got this recipe from Jen over at All-Natural-Dog-Treat. She made treats for her dog Baggins, who sadly passed about a month ago.


Recipe for Peanut Butter-Honey Roll Ups (modified from Jen's website)
*Note this recipe does take time to complete. You must have time to freeze finished dough!

For the Filling

  • 1/2 c - Oatmeal, powdered (crush it up in the food processor)
  • 2 tbsp - honey
  • 1 tbsp - peanut butter (chunky or creamy is fine, just make sure it's organic!)
  • 2 tbsp - Flax seeds, optional
  • 1 egg white
  • For the Filling:
    Use food processor to turn the oats into powder. Basically you’re making oat flour for the filling. Sift, then measure out ¼ c. of the most finely powdered oats.

    Dump this back in the food processor and add peanut butter, honey and egg white. Blend until thoroughly mixed. Add flax seeds then pulse a couple of times to mix but keep mostly whole (mix by hand if you prefer, I'm just lazy).

    Scrape out as much as possible into small bowl and set aside. Don't bother to clean out the food processor, you'll be using most of the same ingredients in the next step anyway.


    Dough Ingredients:

  • 1.5 c - whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c - all purpose flour
  • 1/2 c - dry oatmeal
  • 1/2 c - applesauce (puree a small apple as a substitute)
  • 1/4 c - milk
  • 1/4 c - peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp - honey
  • 1 egg + 1 yolk (XL)
  • For the Dough: Dump applesauce, milk, egg yolk, peanut butter, honey, and oats in food processor and pulse a few times.

    Ingredients should be well combined, the oats looking about a quarter of their usual size. Scrape this out into the larger (1.5qt) bowl then add all purpose and whole wheat flour. Mix thoroughly to form a stiff dough. If dough is too dry to stick together, add 1tbsp of water at a time (do not exceed 4tbsp) until moist enough to stick. Knead for about 5 minutes then let dough rest for 10 minutes.

    *Note:* Jen prefers to chop up a small apple rather than using applesauce. This leaving small chunks to give the dough more texture. I would have to agree with her.

    To Make the Roll Ups:
    Roll out dough between two sheets of wax or parchment paper, 1/4" to 1/2" thick, forming a rectangular shape about 8" wide, length will vary depending on thickness. Slightly taper both long ends. Now, get out the filling and evenly coat the whole top of the dough, avoiding the flattened edges. (I added a little extra honey and peanut butter for good measure!)

    CAREFULLY roll up the dough tightly enough to trap the filling inside (don't let it squeeze out the ends) starting from one flattened edge to the other. (If the end won't stay put, moisten the tapered edge a bit so it will stick.) Once rolled up, wrap the wax or parchment paper around the tube then put it in a plastic bag or wrap it with plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer until firm enough to cut easily (usually 2-3 hours).

    Even It Out

    If your roll is uneven, you can even it out after chilling by rolling it with your hands against a flat surface.

    You can also reduce the thickness in the same way, though I'd do this after chilling one hour then return the roll to the freezer. Using a slight sawing motion, cut slices 1/4" to 1/2" thick.


    Baking

    Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees (325 degrees if using dark cookie sheet), top rack for 30-45 minutes or until tops are slightly golden and bottoms are lightly browned. If you like, turn them for the last 10 minutes baking time so that the filling on the top browns and makes the swirl pattern more obvious. Let cool and then you can feed a healthy,delicious and PRETTY snack to your canine companion. Makes about 28 cookies, 2" wide, 1/2" thickness. (Rachel Note - again, with fresh treats I refrigerate them since they don't have preservatives.)


    *Note:* But, they don't have to be roll-ups.

    You could also roll out the dough to 1/4" thickness, cut into equal halves, coat the top of one half with the filling, top with second half of dough then cut into squares or strips. That would make more of a peanut butter dog treat sandwich.

    Saturday, March 13, 2010

    I Won! (By Bender)


    I won Miss Mercy’s Monday Mystery #3 over at Corgi Country!

    See, I'm official. I get a badge and all!

    Mom is jealous because she never wins anything, and this is my first contest and I won! They're real nice over there at Corgi Country. They gave us a great shout-out and Gimli wrote a very nice entry mentioning us. They have so many dogs! Dad won't let mom have more than 2, but mom says I give enough love for 2 dogs anyway.

    I also want to say "hi" to Betty and Koda! They're so nice and always leave comments that make my mom smile.

    Tomorrow mom said she's making more treats! I'll get her to post the recipe for all my doggie friends. Mommy treats are the best!

    Time to go beg for my dinner!

    Licks and Love - Bender

    Wednesday, March 10, 2010

    Begging

    Today I took away Bender's rope. He had pretty much destroyed it, but since I was working on homework I didn't want to get up to throw it away.

    He watched me put it on the coffee table and then spent 10 minutes begging for it until I finally threw it away. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for those beautiful brown-gold eyes and usually end up giving in to him.





    Sunday, March 7, 2010

    Sleepy Sunday


    I'm usually up early on the weekends, residual effects of a teaching job. C will sleep in until 1pm if he's allowed. Sunday mornings I can usually find Bender lying on my pillows snuggled up next to C. We're not fans of him being on the pillows, but how could I say no to that face?

    Saturday, March 6, 2010

    Studying


    Bender dislikes anything that takes my attention away from him. This seems to be especially true with books. If I have a book he'll find a way to wedge himself between me and it, or flip it closed, or lie on it.

    I'm taking an astronomy class and the homework usually takes quite some time to complete. He gets frustrated with this and finds ways to delay it even further.

    Mom. Mom. Mom. Pay attention to me. Mom.

    Are you done yet?