One of our favourite reads, as you know, is My Dog’s Breakfast, the blog created by Fido & Wine producer extraordinaire Jen Mitchell. Jen’s constantly posting imaginative recipes for people who, like her, want to prepare nutritious, homemade meals for their dogs.

For the upcoming Canada Day long weekend (Yay!) Jen has come up with something extra special: red and white maple leaf cookies! (There’s no food colouring involved, by the way. To get the desired shade of patriotic red, Jen borrowed an idea from Fido & Wine colleague Melissa Auger and used beet juice.) Why not give these a try?

Don’t forget to check out Jen’s blog HERE. Here’s wishing you — and your furry friends – a very happy Canada Day.

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

- 5 1/2 cups of flour

- 1 cup no-sugar-added applesauce

- 1 cup chicken stock (with no onions, preferably no-salt added)

- 1/4 cup canola oil

- TSP baking powder

- TSP cinnamon

 - 1/3 cup of beet juice (My grocery store has it in the “natural” section. You could also make your own beet juice.)

Begin by fork-whisking together the canola oil, chicken stock and applesauce. Then, whisk in cinnamon, baking powder and flour and mix together until your dough “ball” forms. Gently knead to get it firmly together, wrap in parchment, and then put her in the fridge for at least an hour.

When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll out the dough to about a 1/4-1/2 thickness. Use your cookie cutter and start cutting away! (I bought myself a large leaf one at the bulk food store; they have small ones too.) Bake them on the parchment paper for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven, take them off the pan, and let them cool down. Here comes the fun part – get out your pastry brush and a small bowl (I like my silicone one because it washes well, although it’s harder to use) and paint as many as you want red with the beet juice. You don’t need much at all — just do the entire cookie and two-three coats should cover it.

Pretty cool, eh?

Remember to catch Fido & Wine every Tuesday and Saturday on The Pet Network at 8 pm ET/PT.

Phew! Hot enough for ya? Summer has arrived in full force — and if you think you’re sweltering, just imagine how it must feel to be sporting a fur coat. Fortunately, our Fido & Wine producer extraordinaire Jen Mitchell has come up with a cool ‘n’ creamy treat that will help your pooch to chill out a bit on the stickiest of summer’s afternoons. Jen’s “Berry Good Pupsicles” are made with plain yogurt, which is good for dogs in small doses, and can help you introduce some fruit into Fido’s diet.

Don’t forget to bookmark Jen’s blog, My Dog’s Breakfast. She posts a ton of great recipes and ideas for folks who want to prepare healthy and delicious meals for their canine companions.

Here’s her “Pupsicle” recipe:

INGREDIENTS (Makes three to four pupsicles)

- 1 cup of plain yogurt

- 2 TBS peanut butter (preferably natural)

- 1/4 cup blueberries

- 1/4 cup diced strawberries

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter and the yogurt. A spatula works well for this. Then, add in almost all of the blueberries and diced strawberries. Save a bit of each.

Take three plastic or styro cups and place the reserved berries at the bottom of each cup. Then, add the yogurt mixture on top, distributing evenly between the cups. The pupsicles in my picture appear larger than they actually are, by the way. I only filled small plastic cups about 2/3 of the way. This is a good size for a large dog. If you have a medium-sized dog, you might distribute between 4 cups. If you have a smaller dog, use ice cube trays.

Freeze the pupsicles. When you remove from freezer to serve, let them thaw enough upside down to “drop” them out of the cups — or, if you lack patience like me, run them under a bit of hot water to set them free.

If you’re really nice, like my friend Laura, you can make these in popsicle trays and hold them for your dog as he/she licks it like an ice cream cone …

Enjoy — and have yourself a cold treat too!

Remember to catch Fido & Wine every Tuesday and Saturday on The Pet Network at 8 pm ET/PT.