Animal Friends

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind."
-Job 12:7-10-

My family has a huge heart for animals. I have learned kindness, compassion and humility from my parents because of the way they treat both wild and domestic animals with such care. What a blessing! 

This page is dedicated to all kinds of information that would be helpful for advocacy, adoption, great organizations to donate to and even recipes! 

Groups I recommend supporting (click on each name to a new open tab to check them out)


Heifer International

My Granny gave a gift on both hers and my behalf each Christmas and Birthday; birthdays were the World Wildlife Fund and Christmas was usually a goat for a family through Heifer International. They are both great organizations with really good work. I still support Heifer in her memory of generosity, and when I can afford it, I will donate to WWF! 

Adopt a Gentle Giant

Teachers! Throughout my school years, my Mom worked with my teachers to adopt a class pet. Since we are in Florida, we always adopted a manatee. The great thing about this is that they are endangered. We got to learn about our manatee: lifestyle, habits and progress in either healing or recovery. 

If you are not a Florida teacher, look up endangered animals in your state. Then, look for an organization which would allow your class to either donate or adopt for one year. It's such a phenomenal tool for teaching children and youth about how to help out our animal friends! 

Families! Please also considering adopting a manatee or other animal to teach your children about the importance of care and compassion toward animals. Most organizations mail you once a quarter or monthly about an update on your chosen animal. 

Advocacy, Adoption, Volunteer for Service Dogs

My family and several friends serve in all branches of the military. While it so very important to support all that they do for us, it's also important to not forget the four-legged service heroes for what they risk their lives for as well. This organization provides information on volunteering, adoption and donations for our Dogs in Service. Praise!! 



Recipe #1: Healthy Homemade Dog Biscuits

Benefits: packed with fiber, potassium, iron and flea/tick repellant ingredients; can be used for weight loss. Good for three weeks in fridge or six months in freezer. Adapted and modified from www.dogtreatkitchen.com 

**I have four dogs to feed and several friends with dogs, so I made a larger batch. If you don't need 96-100 biscuits, cut this recipe in half. 

Ingredients: 

4 small ripe bananas
3 large carrots (2 cups shredded)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup water
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon parsley

Tools

1 Cutting board
1 Knife
1 Peeler
2 Bowls (1 medium sized and 1 large)
1 strip (about one foot long) of wax or parchment paper
1 rolling pin 
2 cookie sheets

Method:  **Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1) Break up the four bananas into a medium sized bowl. Then, mash them just as if you were mashing potatoes. 

2) Peel carrots onto a cutting board. Be sure to wash them first, but use the skin on top because it's loaded with nutrients. After you have one carrot peeled, make a condensed stack of the shavings onto the cutting board. Dice them into small pieces (no bigger than your pinky nail size). Repeat with other two carrots. This should give you about 2 cups or more of diced carrot shavings. Put into bowl with mashed bananas and stir. 

3) Add applesauce and water to banana/carrot mixture. Stir until a nice consistency occurs.

4) In a different larger bowl, mix the oats, whole wheat flour, parsley and garlic powder together. 

5) Make a "well" in the center of your dry ingredients. Slowly, add your "wet" mixture to your dry mixture. Keep adding and stirring until you get a doughy consistency. If your dough is cracking, add more applesauce to bind it. If it's too loose and sticking to your rolling pin, add more flour. 

6)  Knead dough until it's good to work with. You'll be able to tell because when you form a ball in your hands and lightly flatten the center, it shouldn't fall apart and it shouldn't stick to you - somewhere in the middle. 

7) Add flour to your rolling pin and to your wax/parchment paper. Put dough onto paper, roll it out until it's about 1/8 inch thick. Use whichever kind of cookie cutter you want the shapes in and make as many cutouts as possible. Place on oiled cookie sheet. 

***Using the round circles, I was able to get 35 biscuits on one sheet. Using the bone-shaped cutter, I was only able to get about 20. 

8) Repeat until all dough is used. 

9) Place in oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool for five minutes on pan before transferring to wire rack. Let cool 30 minutes before giving to your pup or dog to enjoy. Ours were spoiled with three each...just to make sure they liked them. Result? They loved them! Sort into baggies to put into fridge or freezer. 

***Be sure to date your bags for expiration dates! 3 weeks for the fridge, 6 months for the freezer!

Voila! Healthy, happy pups and dogs will enjoy this nutritious snack. 

Recipe #2: Healthy Homemade Cat Treats

Benefits: Tuna cleans cat's teeth and strengthens their gums. Garlic powder repels fleas and ticks. Yields about 100 pieces of cat treats. 

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cans tuna fish in olive oil 
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/8 cup applesauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Tools:

2 bowls (1 large, 1 small)
1 rolling pin 
1 foot of wax or parchment paper
1 cookie sheet

Method: **Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1) Add flour and garlic powder together in large bowl. 

2) Mix egg and milk together in small bowl. 

3) Make a well in the middle of the the dry mixture in large bowl. Add tuna and applesauce. Begin mixing. Pour egg and milk mixture from small bowl on top of other ingredients in large bowl. 

4) Knead until it becomes a dough-like mixture. 

5) Put a handful of flour onto wax or parchment paper. Also coat rolling pin with flour. 

6) This particular dough works better in small batches so only break off about a medium sized ball of dough at a time to roll out. 

7) Cut into strips about 1/8 inch thick by 1/4 inch wide. Place strips onto oiled cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. 

8) Place in oven for 15-20 minutes. 

***If anyone in your household is averse to fish or fish-like smells, warn them! Your kitchen will smell like tuna for about an hour after baking. 

9) Let cool on pan for 5 minutes. While still warm, cut strips into small bite-size pieces for your cat(s). Then, place on cooling rack for one hour. Serve your feline friends!

10) Place extras in a sealed-tight container. Good for 2 weeks. 



Autumn-Inspired Dog Treats: Pumpkin-Peanut Butter-Cinnamon

    When I was baking a batch of pumpkin-cinnamon-nutmeg cookies for us humans, I noticed the dogs all migrated to the kitchen. One is a coonhound, and with her sad eyes she stared at the oven. The other three are lab mixes, and well...if you have a Labrador or know a Labrador, you know they love their food. When I took our cookies out of the oven to cool, I laughed out loud with delight as I saw four noses raise straight in the air to inhale that delicious pumpkin smell. So, I had to figure out a batch for them. It's only fair...

Prep Time: 15 minues     Bake Time: 20 minutes  
**Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Benefits: Pumpkin is loaded with Vitamin A and also aids in dog's digestion. Cinnamon is good for the heart and peanut butter has protein. Garlic powder helps to repel fleas and ticks.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground Garlic powder

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups canned Pumpkin puree (I used Libby's)
2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter
1/4 cup water

Tools
1 large bowl
2 spoons (1 to measure out PB and Pumpkin puree, and 1 for mixing all ingredients in large bowl)
Wax or parchment paper
1 rolling pin
1 cookie cutter (or several, if you want different shapes)
1 cookie sheet

Directions:
1) Put all ingredients into large bowl
2) Stir and mix until a dough is formed (featured in picture above)
3) Add flour to wax or parchment paper. Add flour to rolling pin. Put flour on your hands so dough doesn't stick.
4) Roll out dough to about 1/4" thick. Use cookie cutter(s) to make shapes.
5) Place on greased cookie sheet
**To keep it health friendly, I lightly spray on Olive Oil rather than butter or Pam.
6) Place in oven.
7) Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool 2 minutes on pan before placing to cooling rack.

**Storage: 3 weeks in fridge or 6 months in freezer
Yields: about 60 cookies, depending how large or small you make them.

The best part about this recipe? As you're having tea or coffee or whatever you relax with in the evenings, your dogs or pups will be able to enjoy a nice, healthy treat with you. No more noses in the air until the next batch! Serve with love.

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