Tasty Tuesday - fish and chips of love

Forget romantic candlelit restaurants - the Lady Of The House tells me that when you're young and in love (though how she can remember that far back I DON'T KNOW) the good old British 'chippy' is the place where love often blossoms over the fish and chips.

So this Valentine's Day she got up early to try out a recipe for dog-friendly fish and chips on me!

You may recognise that the 'chips' are carrot batons drizzled with cod liver oil and baked in the oven.

The 'fish' is a pattie made from mixing together the following ingredients:

• Cooked fish
• Cooked quinoa
• 1 beaten egg
• About a couple of tablespoons of plain flour.

The recipe we were following came from the More Than pet insurance website where they are currently promoting dog AND cat-friendly version of takeaway favourites. Apart from fish and chips they also have recipes for healthy chicken burgers, chicken tikka masala, pizza, a fry-up and a Sunday roast conjured up by animal nutritionist Stephanie Mehanna.

Their fish and chip version also included blackstrap molasses - but we didn't include that because we couldn't find it and it didn't seem to matter.

We also didn't follow their quantities. We didn't want to use tinned fish (not even in spring water) so the LOTH bought some lovely, boneless (VERY important) white fish which she cooked and then she just added one egg and enough cooked quinoa and flour to make firm patties that she could mould into fish shapes.

Here is the fishy mixture as she was stirring it up. Notice there is still a LOT of cooked quinoa in the saucepan behind.... not sure what she's going to do with all that......

Here are the 'fish' and 'chips' waiting to go in the oven.

Now, while this was going on I was pacing the kitchen and in and out of the utility room (where I take my meals) and 'roo-ing' a bit.

"Do you want your breakfast, Win?" asks the LOTH.

"NO!! I answered. "I want some of that fishy stuff that smells LOVELY."

She didn't understand. She said: "Well the fish and chips has to be cooked and cooled, so you have your breakfast and you can have this for tea."

WHAT!??!

So she dishes out my usual breakfast and then wonders why I am standing there staring at her and saying (quite clearly, I thought) "You ARE kidding me?"

I went and lay on my bed in disgust.

I did go and nibble a bit.... but when the 'fish' and 'chips' started to cook the smell was even nicer and I took up position next to the oven to make it clear exactly what I was waiting for.

The 'chips' cooked first, so they started cooling while we waited for the 'fish'. They looked all golden and lovely when they came out of the oven.

So once they were cooled I got the smallest 'fish' (the one on the left that looks as if he's got a little eye) and some 'chips' chopped up and mixed in with my breakfast.

THAT was better.

Hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day. I hope another little 'fishy' is lined up to go with my tea later.

I am joining the Tasty Tuesday blog hop celebrating good food and hosted by Kol's Notes & Sugar the Golden Retriever.

If you would like to join in, just write a food-related blog post, follow your two hosts, grab this Tasty Tuesday badge and add the linky code and link in your post too.

Have fun in the kitchen.

Tasty Tuesday - Food for the more mature dog

A big brown package that smelled divine was delivered to the house a while back.

It had to be for me – didn’t it?

Yes! It was. 

Lathams - who make natural, hypo-allergenic dog food - thought I might like to try some of their veterinarian approved food for mature dogs.

Well, I can tell you it smelled lovely and it looked lovely.

But the LOTH told me I had to be patient because with my sensitive greyhound tummy we had to introduce a new food gradually to prevent me getting stomach ache. The same is true of lots of dogs, so it is always advisable to mix a new complete food with the existing food and then gradually over a period of five day or so gradually replace more of the old food with the new food until you have switched over.

Retired greyhounds should not have food with more than 19% protein either – and this Lathams Mature (for dogs aged over 7) contains exactly that.

The LOTH was really impressed by all the extra nutrients it contains to support an older dogs’ digestion, joints, coat, thyroid and cells throughout the body. I just loved the turkey and rice I could smell.

A well-known vet worked with Lathams to come up with this special formula. He is David Helliwell and he certainly knows his stuff so we were now really keen to learn more.

David says: "Owners of older dogs frequently report problems with weight, metabolism and immunity and Lathams Mature targets these specific needs through correct balanced nutrition."

I just loved it when the LOTH started to gradually add it in to my meals.

So, here’s the science-y bit about what’s in it – it doesn’t mean anything to me, but the LOTH says there’s lots of stuff there that will help keep my joints moving smoothly and good fatty acids which will help keep my coat shiny and healthy:

Composition: Rice (26%), Oats, Turkey Meat Meal (17%), Peas, Linseed (5%), Barley, Chicken Fat, Sugar Beet Pulp (2.5%), Digest, Seaweed (1.25%), Alfalfa (0.5%), Potassium Chloride, Chicory (0.1%), Calcium Carbonate, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, Yucca Schidigera Extract (0.1%).

Additives: Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Calcium Iodate Anhydrous, Sodium Selenite, Copper Sulphate, Pentahydrate, Ferrous Sulphate Monohydrate, Manganese Oxide and Zinc Oxide

You can buy Lathams dog food in Tesco stores now in the UK, but it is also available through the Lathams website.

Tasty Tuesday - Treats that cheer

Do any of you have owners who give you a little treat when they've had to do something to you like put in eye drops or something not too nice? I think it's a guilt thing - but guilt is good in my books if it gets me something tasty.

At the moment I've got a problem with my left eye. It started to get a bit red and then a lump came up and three trips to the vets in the village, and two lots of eye drops and a set of tablets haven't helped (in fact although the swelling went down the red lumpy bit on the white of my eye seemed bigger). So this week I've had to go to a big new state-of-the-art dog hospital in Derby. 

The Lady Of The House thought that because it was a big and light and airy building that looked more like a big shopping place than a vets I wouldn't know where I was. Huh!!! I'm not THAT daft.

There was a happy little Shih Tzu dog bouncing about in the waiting area. His folks told the LOTH that he hadn't realised it was a vets or he'd have been shaking like I was. I think he got the message as before I got called in to see the special eye doctor he was lying very quietly and glumly under his chair.

The eye doctor was very nice and did lots and lots of tests and she thinks I've got an eye disease that she says is quite common in sighthounds and it should respond to steroids.

Anyway (finally) we get on to the Tasty Tuesday bit.

The Man Of The House decided to reward me for being SO good about having my eye drops in when I was on three a day. Since my trip to the hospital I am now on six lots of eye drops a day PLUS two applications of ointment. The LOTH thinks that as a result my treats have to be rationalised. She says eight treats a day is a bit too much.

But I am STILL being good abut my eye drops. The LOTH has a list to remind her when to do them throughout the day. And I only have very small healthy treats of just a little bit of chicken or cheese - so don't worry Kol and Kelly, and Sugar. I'm still eating my two balanced meals a day (even though my nose is a bit long for my bowl sometimes in my eagerness to eat) lots of good walks and garden playtime and just small snacks....some of the time.

Bespoke biscuitry (if that's a phrase)

If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen me (and the Lady of the House) swapping banter with Sarah and Vicky from a new business local to me called The Bespoke Dog Bakery.

Before I go any further I must assure you they have NOT paid me for my celebrity endorsement - but I did win their competition to name the dog on their company logo.

I chose the name Biscuit because I have a friend called Biscuit who lives nearby and he's very smiley like the dog in the logo (See pictures below - can you tell which is which?). And of course Biscuit is a nice name for a bakery dog. It was a public vote between ALL the names that people voted for, and then a final vote-off between the three names that got the most votes in round one. Maybe I asked a few Facebook friends to back my choice.....but to be honest some of them voted for other names anyway because they are awkward independent-minded.

Anyway, before the naming competition was held online, the LOTH went to a school fair where Sarah and Vicky had a stall and bought me FOUR bags of their home-baked dog biscuits for me to taste test. She warned them I could not be bought and I would tell it how it is. We did this taste test a while back but the LOTH's been too lazy busy to sort the pictures out for me. It's a good job I'm patient as you can tell by these images.

So here is my verdict:

1. My Mate biscuits (Firstly if you're not local you need to know that Burton-on-Trent is the home of Marmite, a yeast extract that is a by-product of the brewing industry. You either love it or hate it - the saying goes).

I loved these biscuits. They contain wholemeal flour, self-raising flour, CHEESE, organic rapeseed oil, yeast extract and an egg glaze.

They were yummy.

2. Turkey and Rosemary biscuits (grain-free if your doggy diet requires it)

These may look like the My Mate biscuits, but they contain turkey and rosemary and egg glaze and organic rapeseed oil and Gram Flour.

These were also yummy. It's a good job the LOTH took her pictures quickly and gave me my taste - I tell you. That's a determined look in my eye. But I was very good and patient because I do have good table hand-to-floor manners.

3. Pork and Sage nibbles

These are GORGEOUS, I tell you.

They contain wholemeal flour, plain flour, pork mince, porridge oats, organic rapeseed oil and sage.

4. Apple and Mint biscuits

Made from wholemeal flour, rice flour, stewed apples, egg, mint and parsley.

They are supposed to make my breath smell nice? What are you saying? Can you tell I look a bit hurt in this picture?

However, I did like these biscuits too especially the pretty heart shape.


The good news is the biscuits last for up to three weeks in an air-tight container......but they didn't get chance to last any longer anyway.

The postman calls three times

I'm the kind of dog that loves postmen, mainly because just recently they've been bringing me some lovely goodies.

First of all came a surprise package all the way from Scotland which contained the items the Lady Of The House bid for in an online auction in aid of RoyalHeart Greyhound Rescue and run by the lovely people at the Living with Pet Bereavement forums.

It wasn't just paper,like it looks in this picture, honestly. In fact there were two parcels. Once had some boring stuff for the LOTH but the other had two collars for me, a big bag of rawhide chips and a special chewy shoe from my great friend King Presley.

Then there were some packages of posters and a big banner from the Retired Greyhound Trust for the event the LOTH and her friend Alyson are doing in April (of which more on another day).

Then this week, the postman rang for a third time with a big box, and this is what happened next:

It turns out that the LOTH and I had won a competition we entered in the magazine that comes from our pet insurance people at PetPlan and we'd won a leather lead, a non-slip water bowl, a furry bed an a lot of dog food from Natural Instinct - who pride themselves on dog food as nature intended.

I am planning to share with food with my good friends Biscuit, Fender and Revel who live nearby but I've made myself at home on the bed already.

Hope you are lucky too in everything you do this weekend. Have a great time.

Me and my new friend Winnie

Happy November!!

We had a lovely day yesterday. The Boy Of The House and his big sister went to Westfield shopping centre in Derby to spend his birthday money - and they came back with a present for me!

The Girl Of The House has always felt I should have a Winnie the Pooh toy (as we share the same name) and now she's bought me one.

I am very gentle with him (honestly) and I carried him around the house with me, so please don't think I'm being rough with him in this picture because I'm not.

I love Winnie

Anway, it gave me something to play with while everyone else watched the American football which was live on television from Wembley Stadium. Everyone in our house was cheering for the San Francisco 49ers - so they were happy that they won.

To get in the mood they were eating hot dogs and salted popcorn and cheesy nachos and Key Lime Pie (and getting up and down to give little bags of sweets to the Trick or Treaters calling at the front door).

I loved trotting down the hall (with someone's hand on my grab collar just in case I saw a witch's cat outside) to have a look at the little ones in their super costumes.

But the family kept me well away from the hot dog onions and any chocolate as those are SOOOOOOO dangerous for us dogs.

Great Greyhound food

The Lady Of The House - and the Boy Of The House - are driving across the border in to South Derbyshire today to collect a bag of my special greyhound food.

I'm making it sound a bit of a major trip across border control...but it's OK really. The natives are very friendly...in fact the people who stock the greyhound food live a stone's throw from where the L O T H was born - the wonderfully-named Eureka Road!

My family decided it was best to keep me on the food I was used to from the Retired Greyhound Trust kennels at Crossing Cottage. It's low protein and very kind to sensitive Greyhound stomachs.

Lovely John from Crossing Cottage delivers the food to a few folks and the greyhound-loving family in Midway are the nearest to us.

Hurrah for dinnertime

I am quite partial to mine mixed with a bit of a good quality dog meat and gravy...or sometimes pilchards or grated cheese for a bit of a treat.

While I think of it - and I SHOULD have mentioned this before - congratulations to Crossing Cottage greyhound Lundhill Sarah who was named Best In Show at the Great Greyhound Gathering.

Food Glorious Food

I enjoy my food, but I do eat quite calmly and steadily and I'm good at not begging for food from the family. I let them eat in peace.

I do have my food dish raised up. Rather than buy a pet dish stand, my family got a good tip to use a plastic flower pot which is a good fit for my dish. It means it's a comfortable height for me - and it won't overbalance even if I push it round the floor to get the last bit of food.

Dinnertime!

I keep hearing this song called "Food Glorious Food" playing around the house. Apparently three of the family will be doing songs from a musical called "Oliver!" in tomorrow's fund-raising Playathon by Little Theatre Company which I mentioned earlier this week (See here)

I've not forgotten that teddy you've got in the tombola you know, people. Singing in my ear isn't going to distract me either.

Cheese please!

You know I've told you I have this problem with cats? Well, it led to my family keeping my muzzle on for the first three weeks when I went for my daily walks.

It gave them a bit of confidence I think when I strained at my lead, and barked. The cats that REALLY get my goat are the ones that sit there staring me out because they know I can't get to them.

Well, they've now decided to take my muzzle off because I am always wearing a special tight greyhound collar fastened high behind my ears - so I can't slip my head out of it - plus the 'grab' collar I always wear so they KNOW I can't get my lead out of their hands and make a run at the cat.

The Lady Of The House used to get a bit confused in the early days when I strained at my lead and barked at one particular house a few doors away from us where there were a pair of boots outside the front door.

"They are just BOOTS, Winnie. Don't be silly," she would say. It took her days to realise that there was usually a cat under the car next to the front door and THAT was what I was barking and pulling at.

I always remember where I've seen cats before, so even though we go on lots of different routes from our house. I always prick up my ears and use my super sight hound skills to check if there's a cat there again.

This morning we'd just left our house when there was a cat under a car so I ground to a halt, and really pulled and barked a couple of times, but the L O T H held me tightly by both collars so I couldn't rear up on my back legs and said "No Winnie" firmly and made me walk on.

At the end of our walk we went back the same way. I think the L O T H did it on purpose as a test because we could have come back to our house from the other direction. She was ready before I'd even remembered the cat-car-house was coming up and had a tight grip on both my collars. Then she walked me swiftly past the car (and the cat) talking to me all the time and when I walked past with only a long lingering glance of interest across the road. So then she told me how clever I was and called me a good girl in her nicest voice and I was quite pleased with myself....then we were in the front door and she gave me a little piece of cheese. MY FAVOURITE.

I'm not promising I'll always be so calm when we go past a cat - it depends what the cat says to me. But a bit of positive reinforcement - and a piece of cheese for being good - may just swing it.