A Doggie Recipe

My middle dog, Max, either hasn't been feeling well or hasn't been all that interested in his food. I figure it could be the latter. You know, eat the same thing every day for four years and you might get a tad bored.

I just started receiving Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine and love it (I tried some Parmesan Chicken Breasts the other day that were great; more on those later). My favorite part of the magazine is the pet recipes in the back. The April issue had a dog-friendly dish called Peas and Happiness that I changed a bit because I didn't have one of the ingredients, but that my three dogs all LOVED.

Brown Rice Peas and Happiness

2 bags Boil in Bag Brown Rice (Rachael had used orzo; not a staple in my house)

1 cup frozen peas

4 carrots, chopped

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a medium cup of water to a boil. Add the carrots, boil until tender, then puree with a half cup of the cooking water. Add the peas, cook for one minute, remove, then boil the rice. Mix with veggies, add cheese. Serve to pooches :-)

You can add salt and pepper to serve leftovers to humans (dogs shouldn't have the spices). My dogs LOVED it. I mixed in some of Max's dog food with this, which got him to eat his breakfast. He was a very happy, tail-wagging doggie the whole time he was having this.

May's dish is Chicken and Rice Cakes with Bacon. I'll have to try those, too. It looks like my dogs will be eating better than me pretty soon!

As for the Parmesan Chicken -- this was so easy, it was crazy! You dredge chicken breasts in a mixture of crushed cornflakes and grated parmesan (I used half fresh and half Kraft), then in beaten eggs with salt and pepper, then the flakes & parmesan again. Fry them in olive oil until brown on each side, then bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. They were VERY yummy.