Make Dinner and Dessert for Your Dog's Birthday

Whether you're having a birthday party for your dog or you just want to give your dog a fun birthday, you may want to consider some of the following fun recipes that are healthy and your dog will find them tastey.

You really don't have to make a full course meal for your dog, but a nice dinner and dessert won't hurt him. ;-) Then following the cake, it's time for presents! Make sure that you have a few fun gifts for your dog, he'll appreciate a new toy, bed, or shirt on his birthday.

If you are iffy about any of the below recipes, print them out and ask your vet about the ingredients before you start cooking.

The meatloaf recipe that's below is an eco-friendly recipe that comes from Eco Dog, and the cake recipes are from Dog Treat Recipe Exchange.

Usually, you get to choose your birthday dinner, but in the case of your pooch, he just gets what you feed him, so make it a yummy meatloaf.

This meatloaf is a basic recipe with meats, grains, and vegetables, to ensure that you're dog is truly getting a healthy meal for his birthday.

You can use turkey, beef, or lamb meat for this recipe; just avoid pork and veal. You can even substitute the oatmeal for brown rice or quinoa.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds- ground meat
• 1 cup- cooked organic oatmeal
• 3/4 cup- organic flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup- fresh organic parsley (finely chopped)
• 2 large organic eggs
• 1 Tbs- garlic (finely chopped)
• 2 cups- organic vegetables (fresh or frozen)- use a variety of veggies such as peas, corn, diced cooked potatoes, and grated carrots

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together with your hands.
3. Transfer the batter to a loaf pan or use a 13x9 inch backing dish and form a loaf in the center.
4. Bake for 1 hour.
5. Cut the meatloaf into sizes appropriate for your dog. (IE don't give your miniature poodle the whole meatloaf)

You can freeze any left overs.

Ok, since you've made the meatloaf, you want to prepare a cake. I mean what's a birthday without a cake? Since you can't grab a cake box from the closet, bake it, and add the chocolate icing, you want to find a recipe that you think you're dog will love.

Here are a few different recipes to choose from.

Peanut Butter Delight

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- white or whole wheat flour (whole wheat is healthier)
• 1 tsp- baking soda
• 1/4 cup- peanut butter
• 1/4 cup- vegetable oil
• 1 cup- shredded carrots
• 1 tsp- vanilla
• 1/3 cup- honey
• 1 egg
• low-fat cottage cheese (frosting)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
4. Spray a ring mold with a non-stick spray and pour the batter into the mold.
5. Put the cake in the oven for 40 minutes.
6. Frost the cake with a thin layer of low-fat cottage cheese and sprinkling carrot shavings over the icing.
7. Store the cake in the refrigerator.

Banana Carob Chip Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups- water
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/8 tsp- vanilla
• 3 cups- whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbs- baking powder
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs- honey
• 1/2 cup- carob chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine the water, bananas, vanilla, egg, and honey in a mixing bowl and mix well.
3. Add the whole wheat flour and baking powder and mix.
4. Spray an 8-inch cake pan with a non-stick spray and pour the batter into the pan.
5. Sprinkle carob chips on top.
6. Bake for 60 minutes to 75 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.

Decorating suggestion:

You may want to make both the Cinnamon and Carob frosting; use one as the frosting and the other as a decorative designs.

Cinnamon Frosting:

Combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly.

• 12 ounces nonfat cream cheese (room temperature)
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp honey

Carob Frosting:

Combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly.

• 12 ounces nonfat cream cheese at room temperature
• 3 tsp- carob
• 1 tsp- vanilla
• 1 tsp- honey

Banana Pecan Party Cake

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup- ripe mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup- softened safflower margarine
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup- Water
• 2 cups- unbleached white flour
• 2 tsp- baking powder
• 1 tsp- baking soda
• 2 tsp- cinnamon
• 1/2 cup- chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Beat the mashed banana and butter in a mixing bowl until creamy.
3. Add the eggs and water to the bowl and beat well.
4. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, except the nuts.
5. Beat the batter until smooth.
6. Add the nuts.
7. Oil and flour a bundt pan and spoon the batter evenly into the pan.
8. Bake for about 35 minutes.
9. Then cool the cake on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
10. Remove the cake from the pan and put it on the rack to cool.

Banana Carob Frosting:

Combine the following ingredients and blend thoroughly.

• 2 cups- ripe banana, mashed
• 1 Tbs- butter
• 6 Tbs- carob powder
• 2 tsp- vanilla
• 3 Tbs- Unbleached flour (consider a wheat flour)
• 1 tsp- cinnamon

After icing the cake, sprinkle with chopped pecans.