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WILLOW'S KITCHEN - FOOD HEAVEN

Everything personally taste tested by Willow.

Welcome to Willow's Kitchen the food loving Springer's idea of heaven. Willow was the ideal candidate as the chief food taster in our house because unlike the boys, she will be picky and not eat everything. She loves her food but will not eat things like crisps, unlike Paddy and Bilbo who are dustbins, their food review wouldn't have made good reading - top marks to everything.

This section will pick out some training treats, and also explore the exciting world of bake your own dog rewards, which include some of Willow's all time favourites, including Liver Bread and Tuna Bread.

This page will continue to evolve over time, so please check back to see what else Willow has sampled, if I got her to taste everything all at once she would be the size of a house, so please be patient.

If you would like to contribute a recipe for Willow's consideration then e-mail her at willow@itsaspringthing.co.uk Have a look at some of the recipes sent in on the Friends of Willow's Kitchen page - here

Willow is also a Kong lover, so we will try and explore the world of Kong stuffing and give you some ideas to improve you stuffing technique.

 Food Processors are excellent for making your own dog treats, most of the following recipes involve putting it all in the processor, and the good thing about having a Springer is you save on the washing up afterwards.

Liver Bread

  • 350g liver (any amount will do, this just happens to be the size of an Asda packet of liver)   
  • 1 egg        
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 2 cloves of garlic, or a tsp of garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 150g of flour (plain or self-raising)

Put the liver, egg, garlic, oil and baking powder in a food processor, whizz until it is a smooth paste. Add the flour gradually until the mixture resembles a sponge cake mix, add more or less flour if needed (depends on the amount of liver), so long as it is a thick paste.

Pour out onto a baking tray lined with foil, and spread out over the tray.

Bake at 180oC in the oven for about 20 mins, test with a skewer and if it comes out clean, its ready, I leave it to finish cooling in the oven.

Slice into small cubes and then wrap in bits of tinfoil, freeze in training sized portions until needed.

Self raising flour makes it more bread like, which most Springer’s love, and it makes it go further too, which is handy if you hate the smell of this.

Willow says - this is my all time favourite, if your Springer does not like liver bread I will eat my hat, OK I don't have a hat, but I will find one of mummy's and eat it, oh hang on I think I already did when I was a puppy - oops. Anyway, liver bread is so yummy, and my little brother Paddy, who doesn't always do what he is told, will always listen to mummy when she has liver bread. Dad says it is stinky which is why mummy makes lots and puts it in the freezer.

Mum, is it ready yet????

Mum says another good tip is to add things that are good for you into your liver bread, like carrots and spinach, apparently they have vitamins that are good for us in them.

 

Turkey treats

  • 1lb. minced turkey
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1 egg
  • Parmesan (about ½ cup)
  • Garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together using hands and pat into a greased loaf pan. Bake at
350°F (180°C) for 30-35 minutes. Cool, then cut into thick strips
(these do not hold together when slicing into small squares); freeze unused portions
and keep the portions you're using refrigerated. Has the consistency of meatloaf.
 

Willow says - my mummy's friend Eleanor made me these, I would have given away my favourite squeeky toy for lots more of this, it is yummy and cheesy. Eleanor freezes this and brings it to the park for my pals Molly, Barney and Poppy, but she gives me some and it is sooooo yummy. If you like cheese then you will love this. It is like a flap jack and I give it a thumbs up.

Barney and Poppy getting some turkey treats from their mum

Quick as a flash Tuna Bread

  • 1 tin of tuna in oil (if you have brine, drain it and add some oil or water to the mix)
  • 80g plain flour
  • 1 egg
  • sprinkle of garlic powder

Put the tuna, garlic powder and egg in a bowl, mix with a spoon. Then add the flour gradually until it all binds together (add less or more flour as you need).

Pour onto a microwaveable plate and put in the microwave for 4 minutes, turn onto a wire rack to cool and cut into small training sized cubes.

Willow says - this stuff is yummy and is great because if mummy has forgotten to get us some training treats, or has nothing in the freezer then she can make this half an hour before training or a walk and its ready to go. I love this stuff and mummy says it is good for us because it has fish which is good for our brains, I reckon she should feed Paddy alot more of this because he isn't as clever as me. We love playing "find it" with this, mummy throws some onto the grass and we have to use our noses to look for it, its easy as this stuff smells great.

Frozen Yoghurt Kong

This makes about 4 medium Kong's

  • 1 large tub of Natural Yoghurt
  • 1 tin of tuna, drained
  • 2 slices of brown bread

Put ingredients in a food processor until a smooth paste is created, if you have any other interesting things like ham or cheese in your fridge add some. Sit the Kong in a glass, put a small square of bread in the bottom to block the hole and pour in the paste, wrap in tinfoil so that the Kong is completely sealed. Freeze overnight. Take out Kong about 20-30 mins before needed - but make sure it is right out of reach or certain spaniels (Bilbo and Paddy) will take them off the counter. If you are going to feed these, make sure that the dog is outside, or if you are going out for a long time then shut in the kitchen is ideal.

Willow says - I thought I was a Kong expert, nothing mummy put in the Kong could get past me, but this yummy ice-cream kept me amused for ages, it was really tasty and cold. I love my Kong's and the boys love them too, when we see mummy making Kong's we can't wait for her to go out and leave us in peace with our Kong's. If you have never made your Springer a Kong ice-cream then your Springer is really deprived, they will love you forever and it will stop them from eating your house instead - not that I ever did anything naughty when I was little!!!

Liver Training Bits and a tasty supper

  • 1 pack of liver
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 crushed garlic cloves
  • boiling water

Put your liver slices into a casserole dish, add diced carrot, crushed garlic and cover with boiling water. Bake in the oven, about 160-170 for about 1 hour. Remove the liver slices, and turn the oven down to about 140. Slice into small cubes and put onto a clean baking tray and put back in the oven on a low setting for a couple of hours until they are completely dried easy for you to use for training, remember small cubes about the size of your little finger nail are perfect, then these last for ages. Use the cooking juices with the carrot pieces and garlic to soak your dogs dinner, therefore making a really tasty dinner. (garlic and carrot optional)
This can be done with heart also but if using lamb hearts they are quite fatty so let it cool and then the fat sets on top, use the liquid for their dinner and then slice the hearts and dry them out

Willow says - This is one of my favourites because I get all the yummy liver flavour in my dinner, and then we have liver for training which is great. It stays dry so mummy doesn't get yucky fingers when she feeds it to us, and it lasts for ages so we get lots of liver if we are good. Bilbo loves this and does lots of stupid tricks to get a bit - you wouldn't catch me making a fool of myself like he does.

Garlic Biscuits

  • 1 cup flour
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/8 cup seeds (pumpkin seeds are ideal)
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 egg

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor then add the water, enough to bring it into a ball (if you don't have food processor crush the garlic and break up the seeds) , you need a nice firm dough. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface and cut out biscuits with a cookie cutter (as you can see from the pictures the only small one I have is a small ghost, I may invest in a bone shaped one)

Place on a non stick baking sheet and bake at about 170oC for about 20mins (until they are lightly toasted and hard), then turn the oven off and let them cool and harden in the oven.

Willow says - These are really good, and mummy says they have garlic in them to stop fleas and vampires from biting me. I didn't think I would like them because there is no meat in them, but all that garlic and the funny green seed things tasted really nice, mummy also said the green seed things are good for my coat and will make me even more pretty.

UPDATE - well thanks to one of the forum members, apparently the best cookie cutter is a bottle top, makes them the perfect size for titbits and training. I have since invested in a bone shaped cutter and a pussy cat. Also if you add cheese if makes them extra tasty

 We are not allowed to put our feet on the work surface but we were awfully curious about these funny looking biscuits.

Page 2 - more recipes

Recipes from my Friends - loads more tried and tested titbits