Recipe: Mini Peanut Butter Mousse Cakes

July 25, 2020

I found this recipe on Chewy Pet Central page and I couldn’t resist making these. I had all the ingredients at home and it sounded much yummier than just giving the pups a plain treat. They deserve a whole bunch of mini PB cakes!

What you’ll need:

1 bag peanut butter dog treats
½ cup oats
1 egg
1 tbsp water
¾ cup plain greek yogurt
¾ cup natural peanut butter
olive oil or coconut oil

mini muffin tin
ziplock bags
blender or food processor

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease your muffin tin with some olive oil or coconut oil. I used one of these silicone pans. You don’t have to oil it up but I spritzed it with some olive oil spray anyway. I just hateee when you bake and it sticks! The silicone molds make baking little bites like this so much easier–after baking, you just pop them out.

Add oats + 1/2 cup of treats to food processor or blender and pulse away.

In medium bowl, mix the ground oats + treats with 1 egg and 1 tbsp of water to create a dough.

Spoon 1/2 tbsp of dough into each cup.

Bake for 10 minutes and let cool.

For the icing, mix peanut butter + yogurt together. I used a hand mixer so it would be extra smooth + fluffy. Spoon filling into a ziplock bag, cut corner and squeeze onto mini cakes. I cut mine a little too big but if you cut your corner small, you can get it to look like piping.

Crush 3-4 treats in a ziplock bag and spriiinkle on top! These smell SO SO delicious. It probably took me about 15-20 minutes–including the baking time–to make these.

Enjoy!

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DIY: Homemade Nose + Paw Butter

July 19, 2020

Hi guys! How’s your summer going so far? It’s been a never-ending year of weird, so my moods change from good, bad, bored, busy in one day. But more importantly, how’s your pup’s nose and paws? Lol, A+ transition right?

Weston + Fira’s noses get pretty dry and cracked often. I think it must be common in most dogs, especially frenchies? It just looks so uncomfortable when there are cracks!

There are so many different brands out there, but if your pup is super sensitive, I’ve found homemade nose butter to be best and it is actually really easy to make. It’s fragrance-free, preservative-free and extra clean! You can even apply it on their paws too.

Ready? Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:

1/2 tbsp shea butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp beeswax pellets
2-3 drops of vitamin E oil

Supplies:

Large glass jar or Mason jar
2 oz small jar or tin
Spoon

First, place your large glass jar in a medium pot. Start filling the pot with water. Once the water is halfway up the jar, take jar away. This way helps you see how much water you need–if you put too much, the jar could float and tip over. Bring to boil.

While that’s heating up, add in all your ingredients to your jar (the Mason jar, in my case).

You can easily find all these items at your local beauty supply, health food store or arts & crafts store. I always like to support my local small businesses but if you prefer ordering (hashtag stay home), I’ve linked Amazon links to most of the products.

Side note: if you only find a block of beeswax at the store, it will work! Just grate it into small pieces so it’s easier to melt.

Once the water is boiling, you can set heat to simmer. Carefully place your mason jar in. This is called the “double boiler method” and it is perfect for slowly melting ingredients. The controlled heat prevents the contents from burning (don’t use the microwave—it could cause an explosion).

The shea butter and coconut oil melted right away but the beeswax pellets took around 8-10 minutes. I stirred the mixture vigorously with a spoon and it helped melt much faster.

Next, pour into your 2 oz jar/tin and allow to cool. I’m using a wide flat tin that used to be a lotion bar. It worked perfectly for this nose butter! You can easily empty a lip balm jar, moisturizer etc and use that.

You might be tempted to add some essential oils but I skipped that since dogs can react negatively to too much. If you’re sure your dog is okay with certain essential oils, feel free to add a few drops (less is more!).

Ta-da! Isn’t it gorgeous? It is sooo soft and creamy, yet stays a solid balm. You just need a teensy scoop and apply to your pup’s nose and paws. It’ll keep them super moisturized and best part is it’s completely natural, preservative-free and works.

If you’re looking for another DIY balm, check out this article I wrote for Chewy. We made a DIY Foot Treatment for Pawdicures. It uses all the ingredients that are in this nose butter!

Let me know in the comments if you try out either of the recipes!

[ If you purchase from any links on this page, I will receive a small Amazon affiliate commission. ]

Recipe: Apple Tart for Dogs

May 30, 2020

Just a normal Saturday afternoon here and I noticed we had a bunch of apples lying around. I got a random craving for apple crumble so we’re gonna make an apple treat for the dogs! Why not? Could this be the new banana bread? lol

Can dogs eat apples?

Yes! They’re a good source of fiber, vitamin A + C. In fact, I regularly add apples into their homemade dog food. They’re cheap, a healthy filler and yummy.

Just make sure to take out the core and any seeds. Slice them thin and they’re a nice, healthy treat for pups. You can chop them too but I would just keep an eye out that they don’t choke on them. Weston + Fira don’t like apples as treats, weirdly enough. They just spit them right out—but they do love blueberries.

Ready to bake an apple tart?

I just kind of made up my own recipe and baked them a dog-friendly apple tart! I also tried to make a matching apple crumble for me but it didn’t really turn out so well… sooo, we’ll just skip that.

What you’ll need:

1/2 apple
1 tbsp peanut butter
sprinkle of cinnamon
coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and a grease a small ramekin with coconut oil. You can use a muffin tin if you don’t have ramekins.

Next, slice apple thinly!

Place sliced apples in a medium bowl of water. Microwave for 45 seconds (or more). The slices should be soft enough to bend. We’re going to make a cute rose shape!

Add peanut butter to random slices. You can add to every slice if you want but I just added wherever.

So cute, right? Sprinkle some cinnamon! Cinnamon is totally fine for your pup to have and actually helps improve brain function. (Nutmeg is not ok for dogs!)

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool.

Weston gobbled these up—yes!! Finally, they like apples! Now that they’ve tried apples baked, I would say this is the best way for dogs. Baking makes them softer and easier to chew. Just add peanut butter + cinnamon, stick in the oven and you have a perfect treat for your dog. 🙂

Recipe: Turkey Veggie Meatloaf for Dogs

May 21, 2020

Raise your hand if you love meatloaf. Why is this such a love or hate food? Lol. I guess it’s the texture? I personally love it—it always tastes homey and comforting, although funnily, my mom has never ever made meatloaf!

We like turkey meatloaf with tiny diced veggies inside, which is a grrreat way to hide your veg. Sooo, here’a dog-friendly version of meatloaf that is super easy, healthy and a cinch to serve. I love that you can pre-cut slices or cubes so you don’t need to measure it out for the pups later.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa, cooked
1/3 cup diced tomatoes (from the can, no sodium, keep some liquid)
1/2 cup green beans, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, grated
3-5 tablespoon dog supplement (I use Canine Complete)
4-6 capsules joint supplement (I use Just Food For Dogs Joint Care)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all ingredients in large bowl.
Spread mixture into a loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes.

Make sure you get a can of NO SODIUM diced tomatoes and don’t drain the liquid! That will add some moisture to the loaf and help meld the ingredients together.

I added green beans and carrot, but you can definitely add whatever your dog likes! Zucchini, broccoli, pumpkin, spinach…

Green bean benefits for dogs?

Vitamins B6, A, C + K, full of fiber and low in calories which helps your dog feel full! It’s also a good, healthy alternative as a treat (for those diets!).

Carrots also help with your pup’s digestion and are loaded with beta-carotene. Whenever I make homemade dog food for Weston + Fira, I always add carrots.

Now for the supplements…

My go-to is always Canine Complete–it is fullll of nutrients like kelp, flaxseed, fish protein powders, calcium, essential fatty acids and antioxidants. It’s a green powdery substance and totally smells like kelp!

I like to add Joint Care too but totally optional. You can add a small amount of coconut oil, prebiotics or other supplements your dog may regularly have.

By the way, I just found out Canine Complete even makes one with a joint supplement combined! So that is going to be my next purchase when I run out.

I lined my pan with parchment paper but you can grease it with some coconut oil too. After 45 minutes, you get such a satisfying loaf that’s easy to slice and chop!

Two pieces is about enough for one meal.

I never throw away what’s left in the tomato can, any extra green beans etc, so I can add pre-measured ingredients in a ziplock bag and add in the raw ingredients (egg + meat) when I’m ready to cook. Next time you have ground meat, you can easily pop your bag of ingredients out of your freezer or fridge and bake a loaf in no time!

Hope you enjoy making this and your pup loves! Let me know what you think. 🙂

The Dog Mom Army Camo Outfit!

May 19, 2020

Do you like camouflage?

I don’t really wear camo (but I do love the army green color!) but when I got these matching hoodies for Weston + Fira, I knew I had to get something camo print to twin with them. Blame it on the quarantine…

I think camouflage works best when it’s just one part of your outfit, so it’s not too overwhelming. You don’t want to wear it on the top and bottom—that’s overkill. But a small camo bandana scarf or a crop hoodie? Add to cart.

So, I got these super cool Adidas pantsss—and such a good price! They’re really lightweight and make a swishy sound when you walk. They run big so I would recommend getting one size smaller than your usual.

The pups’ hoodies are THE. BOMB. Look how perfect they fit?! Weston wears a sz L and Fira wears sz M. They’re even lined with a really soft, fleece-like material. Fancy. I threw on matching Saint Rue leash + laces and ta-da, ready to blend in and stay away from people. Lol. Hope you guys are all doing ok during this weird time. At least our dogs are happy 🙂

DIY: Tie Dye Your Tees At Home (and your pup’s tee)!

May 2, 2020

Hi quarantine life! How are you guys holding up? We’ve been doing okay here… it’s been a good time to catch up on some projects, update my sites and of course, extra self-care time.

I’ve already rearranged our living room furniture, learned how to bake perfect bread and repainted some furniture. Next up? Tie dyeee. Duh. I’m sure you guys have seen this tie dye trend everywhere by now but I wanted to try it out on one of my WTFrenchie tees and a little hoodie for Fira!

I’m not into bright bright colors for my wardrobe, so I used bleach instead to get that cool faded + burnt out look. It gives a more edgy but muted feel, I think.

It’s super easy and you don’t have to be precise with it, which is great. It turned out so adorable!

Here’s how you can do this tie dye at home:

You’ll need:

bleach
squeeze bottle
gloves
rubber bands
tray or plastic drop cloth
and a tee!

First things first; I was afraid the little frenchie face would get bleached out so I covered it with some masking tape. I didn’t do that to the hoodie and none of the letters faded, so you can probably skip this step.

1. To dilute or not?

I read a few different sites and there doesn’t seem like one proper way. One site said the shirt must be completely wet or the bleach won’t apply evenly. One site said to dilute the bleach in the bottle first. Another said to leave it on overnight and some said don’t leave it on more than an hour. SO… what I found best was to get the tee completely wet, squeeze out excess then apply bleach directly—no need to dilute the bleach in the squeeze bottle since the tee is already wet with water. (Honestly, I ended up pouring the bleach straight from the gallon because it took forever)

2. But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Crumple up your tee and tie with rubber bands. The more wrinkles, the more designs. You can also do the spiral method, if you prefer.

3. After your tee is secured with rubber bands, you can start pouring bleach randomly all over it. I left them out in the sun and kept an eye on it all afternoon. After 3 hours, there was hardly a difference!!! So weird right. I just kept adding more bleach. After a few more hours, my tee definitely looked ready but Fira’s black hoodie took FOREVER—THREE DAYS, TO BE EXACT.

4. When your shirt looks spotty and “bleached”, rinse thoroughly with cold water. You can throw it in the wash with a little detergent + dryer if you want but I just rinsed really well and let them dry in the sun.

Ta da!

I really love this bleached look and gonna do a few more like this. There was some trial and error here and there but a fun project if you have some extra time on your hands. 😉

I Reviewed 9 Dog Bowls To Find The Best for French Bulldogs

April 7, 2020

[ Updated August 11, 2020 ]

The Best Dog Bowl Ever?

Ok, so those of you with flat-nosed breeds know how hard it can be finding just the right dog bowl. They’re either too short, too deep, not elevated, not cute, etc etc.

Not only does Fira have a non-existant snout, she also is the MESSIEST eater. Half of her food ends up on the floor. So, I wanted to look for something with a tray or something that catches the fall-out food. Her bowl would also be tipped over on its side after she was finished eating. She is wild.

My criteria for the bowls this time was mainly for Fira. Weston is the quietest, most gentle, delicate eater—he doesn’t spill a drop! Fira is the complicated one. Weston also has a longer snout than Fira, making it easier for him to reach his food.

So, Fira needed a bowl that would be suitable for her non-existant snout, easy for clean-up, something that would stay put on the floor and match our house decor.

Here are the bowls I picked up:

Ono The Good Bowl: When I opened the box for this, I was ooo-ing and ah-ing over the way it was sleekly packaged and just super clean/modern. The bowls are really shallow and wide, so it helps smaller-snouted dogs get into the bowl better.

The removable silver bowls stay snug in the mat and the best feature of these bowls are that the entire silicone mat stays gripped to the floor so it didn’t go anywhere.

These are perfect for a neat eater (aka- Weston!), but the bowls were too shallow for Fira. The tray around the bowl was littered with fallen food right away.

Modern Elevated Feeder: The design of this one is uber modern with nice clean lines. I could see this really being a nice accent piece in a contemporary kitchen. It has a solid weight so it doesn’t feel cheap. It’s about 5.5 inches high which isn’t bad but a liiiittle high for Fira. She kept spilling a bunch of the food on the floor.

Elevated Bowls with No-Spill Resin: this one I wasn’t expecting to like so much but it WORKS. Fira ate her entire dinner and there was not a speck on the floor–woohoo! It definitely slid out of the bowl but it slid into those raised sides and she ate every last bit.

It does move around a little on the floor since it doesn’t have grips on the bottom and is extra-light plastic. It’s the lightest of the bunch in terms of weight but it’s an excellent option because it catches any food fall-out. This one is the cheapest of the bunch and I’ll definitely keep it. Wish it came in a more neutral color though.

Slow Feeder Bowl: if your dog eats super fast, like Fira does, a dog bowl for fast eaters is a smart option. A slow bowl is great as it forces them to work around the bowl and gives them time to chew + digest etc. Sometimes it feels like some dogs don’t even chew their food! This one did not work for them at ALL. Fira couldn’t get her little face in and just stared at it confused and frustrated, lol. Fira needs something sturdy so it doesn’t move around + high around the edges so it didn’t spill over the sides but not too high where she couldn’t reach. So, I tried a few more…

Ok, love the slant on this stainless steel bowl! The only thing you would need is a silicone mat on the bottom so it stays put and doesn’t move around. This one is also the least expensive on the list—less than 10 bucks!

When I was posting about bowls on Instagram, I got sooo many messages raving about this Enhanced Pet Bowl. It’s made for french bulldog problems like this. Sturdy grip on the bottom, large area for their face to move around and at an angle. Some food still spilled over the top—Fira tends to push up the food to the back of the bowl causing it to go over. It still wasn’t the winner though.

I originally got this Duo Collapsible Dog Bowl for traveling but ended up using it as Fira’s dog bowl for awhile! What I love about it is its size (pretty roomy), grip (silicone stays on the floor + doesn’t move around), easy to clean and has that tray for fall-out. Not sure how but it ended up ripping, so we had to throw it out.

Fluff Trough. This is my most recent find! We gave this a try months ago and I finally got around to sharing it now. This has been our go-to! Obviously, you can tell by its unique shape, it’s designed for short snout dogs (and regular!)–just like a pig trough, lol. I really like how it’s elevated and the wide size of it. It makes eating meals a bit slower for Fira. She would still push food up the sides and couldn’t really reach the top of it (ie: if we put the bowl against the wall), so my solution is putting a wide bowl behind it to catch all fall-out. It’s like she gets 2 bowls of food! 🙂

And of course a silicone mat. So far, this has been the best combo for Fira!

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Where's The Frenchie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and incorporates affiliate links.