This evening I finally made a couple of the items I had pinned on Pinterest. The first one was a treat for Chuck. These peanut butter dog bones were a snap to make. I found a dog bone shaped cookie cutter at JoAnn Fabrics and knew I had to try making some treats. They're made with human grade ingredients so I decided to taste one. They're awful......because they have no sugar. Chuck however, LOVED them. The recipe is below (with my notes in red) if you want to make some for your furry friend.
Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Ingredients:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 cup natural peanut butter (really? my dog thought the Great Value brand was just fine)
1 cup non-fat milk (I only had 2% and it was perfect - just ask Chuck)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.
Next, I made dinner for the family. With human grade ingredients - just in case you were wondering :) This baked spaghetti was E-A-S-Y and you know if I'm saying it's easy it really IS easy. The family loved it and fortunately, I decided in advance not to use a 9x13 dish, but instead, to divide it between two 8x8 dishes. I put one of the dishes in the freezer and we'll save that one for another night. Cook once, eat twice - YES! Bonus!!!
I've made baked spaghetti many times before and we always thought it was decent, but this recipe contains the magic ingredient.........cream cheese. It really improved the flavor, making it creamier, and it helps the spaghetti to stick together so after it's baked it cuts apart in nice, tidy little squares. You know I like tidy!!! I used the following recipe - my revisions are in red :) ENJOY!!!
Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole
Adapted from Food.com and salad-in-a-jar.com
12 oz spaghetti (I used 16 oz.)
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced (I left this out)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (It was pre-grated, in the little green can :)
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet. Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl. Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic. Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.
Lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish. Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
12 oz spaghetti (I used 16 oz.)
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced (I left this out)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated (It was pre-grated, in the little green can :)
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet. Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl. Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic. Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.
Lightly grease a 9x13" pan. Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish. Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
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So that's it! Dinner for us, treats for Chuck and the feeling of accomplishment for having actually used one of my Pinterest pins!!!
1 comment:
Cream cheese just makes everything better, doesn't it? I don't have any need for dog bones, but those looked cute. They would make good treats to add to gift bags for people with dogs.
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