Do you LOVE your Pet?

Don't forget Valentine's Day is coming up on Sunday! You may have plans for flowers, jewelry or a special dinner with your special someone...but what about those special pets at home?  They LOVE to be LOVED too!  This year our Employee Giving Committee has chosen the organization St Croix Animal Friends to donated funds too.  (Keep an eye out for our Meet our Pet blogs - so cute)  To kick off our fundraising campaign we hosted a delicious potato and salad bar lunch for employees yesterday.  We were able to raise $433 in employee donations - awesome!  In addition to lunch we also made and sold a few Valentine Pet treats for our furry friends at home.  I thought we'd "share the love" with you in case you were interested in baking a little this weekend...

Amanda worked on our Peanut Butter Dog Treats on her lunch hour! 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 large banana
1/2 cup peanut butter

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Using a blender or food processor grind your oats until they are powder.
3. In a bowl, beat together the banana and peanut butter until smooth. A few small chunks of banana are ok. The dough should stick together, but shouldn't be sticky.
4. Reserve about a tablespoon of ground oatmeal and pour the rest into the banana peanut butter mixture and mix until combined.
5. Dust your surface with the reserved ground oatmeal and roll your dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness.
6. Cut into desired shapes and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
7. Bake treats for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
8. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
Add additional peanut butter if the dough is too dry or additional oats if too sticky.

Bernie helped with a 3-ingredient Chicken Dog Biscuit on her lunch hour!

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup of flour (not white, but any other kind such as whole wheat)
3 tbs oil
1/3 cup chicken broth/stock

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  You may have to add a bit more stock to get a rollable consistency.
3. Turn out lightly floured surface and roll to 1/8-inch thickness.
4. Cut into desired shapes and place on prepared sheet
5. Bake 15-20 minutes

Notes
To dry out the biscuits for longer shelf life, turn off the oven but don't remove the sheet of biscuits. Keep them in there until the oven completely cools.

Happy Valentines Day to you and ALL of your loved ones!

Stay Connected - Kristin