Random Recipe: Penne a la vodka

So, a few months back, the food blog The Kitchn was looking for some writers. I applied, because why not, right? I'm a regular Kitchn reader, and figured I could manage one post a week that was cooking blog style. I'd mentioned penne a la vodka here before, and figured that was a good recipe to share. I guess not, because they didn't hire me, but now I'm sharing my recipe with you!

Look, I even took the requisite "most of the ingredients" (sans refrigerated stuff) picture:

Treat Review: Orijen Freeze-Dried Food

Courtesy of Chewy.com, we have sampled Orijen's new(ish) freeze-dried food offering and would like to tell you about it!

First of all, for a dog of Elka's size, the amount of Orijen's freeze-dried food would not be feasible to feed her regularly. She would need 6 or 7 (I think) of the little "food pucks", and there are only so many per bag. As a travel food, or something to keep in an emergency "go bag", it would be a great solution. However, since I wasn't planning to get Princess accustomed to food gravy of this quality, I confess I just broke it up and used it for treats.

Product Review: Halo Healthsome Biscuits

I've plugged FreeKibble for about as long as I've known about it. It requires almost zero effort, just a couple of clicks, and you help feed homeless pets Halo brand dog (and cat) food.

So, imagine my surprise and pleasure when I was offered the opportunity to review Halo Healthsome Biscuits (dog treats, don'tcha know), from Chewy.com.  I selected the "beef and liver" flavor (Elka has loved liver when she's gotten it) and we received the package very quickly.

Product Review: Frosty Paws

A ways back, we won the Frosty Paws giveaway from Life with Desmond. I cashed in one of the coupons awhile ago as well, but since it had been cold and rainy still, I didn't give any of it to Elka right away. Not that she really has the warm weather + ice cream correlation in her mind, but it's in my mind, and I'm the one who opens the freezer.

We had a (still rare!) warm day, and so I busted out the Frosty Paws for Elka to try.

Dog Treat Review: Orijen

I was recently contacted by a Chewy.com rep to sample and review Orijen dog treats. Well, given our previous experience with Chewy.com, our positive training methods (and Elka's limpid Disney eyes), we go through a lot of treats in this household, so I of course said yes. All of the treats were single protein, so really, it was just a matter (in my mind) of choosing something that would be something of a novelty for Elka, so we went with the Ranch Raised Lamb.

(image provided by Mr. Chewy)

Tasty Tuesday May 7 2013

Beef Souvlaki in flatbread with mixed greens, feta, and home made tzatziki sauce. I've thought about making my own pita, and have seen what looked like great and simpel recipes for it, but haven't gotten there yet. I used onion powder with the beef, so none for Elka. She got some feta. If you ever do get feta to use with stuff, I strongly recommend buying a block or square of it and cutting it up yourself; it tastes a lot better than buying it already crumbled.

Tasty Tuesday: Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry

Though I have a couple of Chinese food cook books, when I do stir fry, I typically just play it by ear. A few years ago, that would not have been the case; I don't know why it was post-college before I really knew how to cook. I did, however, benefit from a Chinese food cooking lesson before that time, from my aunt and uncle. We picked recipes, went shopping for the ingredients (in Philadelphia!), and made the meal. I think that was also the first time I'd encountered a rice cooker (I have my own now).

Tasty Tuesday: Beef Wellingtons

Oh college. There are times I really miss college. Strangely, some of the things I miss have to do with the cafeteria (which at my alma mater was "The Commons"). Everybody seems to have vehement complaints about the various cafeterias they've encountered in their lives; certainly my high school cafeteria wasn't anything special. They had good bagels, but those came from Outside. Fridays were Domino's day. But, I digress.

At college, in the week following a ham dinner night, there would be these magical things that appeared during a lunch time: ham and cheese Wellingtons. At the time, I wasn't culinarily knowledgeable in the least, so I couldn't tell what the flakey buttery golden dough was around the ham and cheese. I'd never encountered if before. Was it from the croissant dough (the croissants were also magical, by the way)? Was it filo? Gordon Ramsay's Wellington, I know now, uses puff pastry.

But, I didn't know that then, or even just out of college, when I tried to recreate the Wellington experience. I used canned crescent rolls (you know, the "peel 'til it explodes" type?). They were all right, but not the same at all. Even knowing about the puff pastry, I haven't tried that yet. But, the other day, I made a big hunk o' beef in the crock pot, to have for the week, and the day after, I rolled out biscuits and made some "beef Wellingtons" with that.

Still not the same. But very, very tasty.

I promise, every last thing I cook isn't carby and cheesy. Those just seem to be the ones that I post here!

Tasty Tuesday: Vodka sauce

When I was little, I loved pasta. LOVED it. When we went to restaurants, I wanted spaghetti with butter on it. Sometimes cheese, but only American. I graduated to cheddar eventually. At home, I loved boxed macaroni and cheese. In fact, it's one of the first things I learned how to make on my own, on the stove.

I still don't much like red sauce. I am from the state of New Jersey, which means I must love tomatoes, and I do, but I pretty much can't/don't tolerate cooked tomatoes. Only in specific instances.

One of these instances? Penne a la vodka. Or rather, pasta with vodka sauce. I don't always use penne, though some kind of ridged tubular pasta is best, to catch the sauce most efficiently. I tried it at a restaurant once, when somebody else at the table had it, and went home and finagled my own formula, involving chipotle in addition to the regular crushed red pepper, and sometimes using bacon instead of the pancetta. I also use Asiago instead of regular parmesan, and some white cheddar (picky picky, right?), and add diced chicken breast.

Because of the alcohol (and because it's so darn good), this is one dish that doesn't typically get shared with Elka.

Taste of the Wild: review and giveaway!

I used to feed Elka Taste of the Wild. When the voluntary recall happened back in May, though, I jumped ship for the time being. My most recently purchased bag of food had fallen in the recall, and I was just squidged out, frankly. Well, as it turns out, no Taste of the Wild actually tested positive for the Salmonella. Which is a pretty rad thing.

Interestingly, when I was contacted by a rep to see if I wanted to sample Taste of the Wild's new flavor, Southwest Canyon, and do a (very generous, I feel) giveaway for my readers, it was exceedingly good timing. Elka, though she'd previously been happy with the Blue Buffalo switch, appears to have become disillusioned with it. Overall, Elka is not a picky eater. Back in November, I groused about how she only wanted to eat from puzzle toys, but after I'd put them away for awhile, she returned to the bowl well enough. Poking around in her mouth, she doesn't appear to have developed anything wrong in there which would make eating kibble aversive, either, so I wondered if it was time for a switch. And then I got the email.

Nature's Logic, Sardine oil and food review

So, waaaaay back in October, I won a giveaway from CindyLu's Muse for a 16 oz bottle of Nature's Logic Sardine Oil. I thought "Awesome!" because we give Elka olive oil or coconut oil on her kibble about once a day, especially in the winter, because she'll frequently end up with slightly dry and flaky skin.

Well, when the rep contacted me for my address, CindyLu's Muse had mentioned that I was a blogger as well. So, I was offered a bag of Nature's Logic kibble, my flavor choice (well, I had the choice of canned as well, but kibble works out better for us)! Good deal, right?

Elka was pretty excited when I told her...primed at the food bowl, in fact.

Thanksgiving is coming!

This happens to me every year, perhaps because of National Novel Writing Month, but Thanksgiving has snuck right up on me!

Last year I posted about this lovely holiday play set that Target had. I don't think Target has brought it back, unfortunately, but because I've carefully guarded it, we've still got it! But, I also talked about food safety, and things like that bear repeating.

One thing that we've noticed at holiday time with Elka is that sometimes, when somebody *coughnotmecough* feeds her things like turkey skin, she has the runs after. I guess this is a good indicator that she has just enough fat in her diet, and doesn't need more of it in "lump sum" quantities. We've never given her what seems to be a massive amount of turkey skin, but we won't be doing any of that this year. Pancreatitis is one of those things you have to watch out for, and I've seen other blogs and web sites caution against loading your dog up on high fat things at any time. There are other ways to give them treats, they don't need to be greasy and fatty!

I've discovered this year that Elka really loves sweet potatoes. Mostly because every time I have sweet potato, she sings at my plate until I give her some. I tend to just bake them, with some butter or some olive oil, and find they don't really need much more than that. I didn't used to like sweet potatoes; add it to the list, I guess.

So, safe and happy holidays, folks!

Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky

After all of the problems with Chicken Jerky that's made in China, I was ready to say that no chicken jerky in the world could possibly be safe. Then I got an email from a representative at Chewy.com, asking me if I'd like to do a review of Blue Buffalo dog treats. I rushed to say yes before my brain caught up and said "Wait, chicken jerky? Nooooo!"

Blue Buffalo's Wilderness Trail Treats Chicken Jerky has two very, very big things (in my eyes) going for it, however:

1. It's made in the USA
2. It is not treated with irradiation.

Tasty Tuesday: Lickety Stick product review

Like many people, I took advantage of the Free Lickety Stick promotion that was on Facebook a couple of months back. I received mine in the mail about two weeks back, but didn't really give it to Elka much. I think I was keeping it in mind as a treat to use on walks in the winter, when it was cold and I wouldn't necessarily want a handful of cutup hotdogs, but rather something I could handle while wearing gloves. It's even made in the USA!

Well, I'm glad that we tried it out earlier.

Tasty Tuesday September 4 2012

Sometimes I get a little classy. Pork tenderloin wrapped with prosciutto, served with brown rice and broccoli. All of it Elka-friendly....but I confess, I didn't share much. Some of the broccoli!

Would you like some cheese?

Sigh.

So, after I wrote A small rant the other day, I didn't anticipate having another such story to share with y'all.

This story is a bit more uplifting, anyway.

Tasty Tuesday July 24 2012

So, as it turns out, Elka likes watermelon.

I do too, really, as one might expect. But when the watermelon came out, Elka was very, very interested. And insistent. And duped one of our friends into holding it for her!

QR Codes on Bananas?

Welcome to the world of tomorrow, right guys?

Elka likes bananas just as much as I do.

I once listened to a story (or part of one) on NPR about banana republics in Central America. Not the overpriced clothing store, but areas of land controlled by, I guess, banana lords rather than drug lords. Truth be told, I don't remember much of it. I was giggling too much at the serious NPR voices saying 'banana' over and over again, with frankness.

I've heard that bananas are endangered. I hope that science overcomes that particular glitch, as I doubt environmentalism is. Of course, now that's making me think of Logan's Run, with bananas. And QR codes. Once they're not green anymore, they go renew....I mean, to the grocery store.

The Gross Things We Give Our Dogs To Eat

It occurs to me once in awhile how very odd some things are. Things that "dog people" think are normal, and that non dog people look at askance.

For instance: the dried up gross things that we give our dogs to eat. Pig ears. Bully sticks. And now, beef trachea. Tracheas? Trachea. Or, in this case, fetchingly called "Toobles", because baby talk makes everything better. You'll also note that this bad boys are labeled "Made in USA". Hope it's true!

Tast Tuesday March 27 2012

A couple of weeks ago, I had a Not So Tasty Tuesday, to make sure people who read and followed me knew about the chicken jerky dangers. As I mentioned, Chicken Jerky always seemed like a good, safe way to go. After all, the ingredients were simple: chicken. It was those pesky environmental hazards that seemed to get the best of a good thing.

So, what to use as a treat instead? If you're like me, you haven't made your own jerky  yet. You probably also have a dog that you like throwing a treat to once in awhile, if not having actual training sessions in which treats are currency.

Enter Pure Bites, which I found while looking for something to add in my Mr. Chewy order so that I got free shipping.