Sun-Dried Tomatoes= Pizza Dog Treats

Homemade pizza dog treats. What more can a dog ask for? For these treats, you can use store bought sun-dried tomatoes OR you can use sun-dried tomatoes that you have made from your garden tomatoes. I prefer to make my own, because honestly, I always feel like store bought sun-dried tomatoes have a funky taste for my human taste buds. I have no idea if my dog feels the same way. Plus, I always have a ton of tomatoes by the end of the summer from my garden. If you are not the gardening type, and also think store bought sun-dried tomatoes taste funky, you can always buy tomatoes from the store.

Before I move onto the actual pizza dog treats, I will first walk you through sun-drying your tomatoes in the oven. It is a relatively simple process that has a lot of wait time. You will need: tomatoes, basil and salt for the drying process:

Preheat the oven to 200-degrees, cut up your tomatoes and de-seed them by gently pressing the seeds out of the pockets with your thumb. Then, sprinkle with a little salt, add a bit of cut up fresh basil and bake...for about 8-hours. The result....

 

Sun-dried tomatoes that don't have that weird funky taste like some store bought! It's been about three-weeks since I made mine. I put them in a jar and they are still looking good! 

Now that you have your sun-dried tomatoes, here is your pizza dog treat recipe:

Pizza Dog treats 

Preheat your oven to 375.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 egg
• 1 3/4- 2 cups water
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs parsleyw
• 1 tsp basil (fresh chopped or dried)
  
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup grated cheese (anything that suits your fancy)

Once you have gathered your ingredients, mix them all into a big bowl minus the water. Next, you will want to slowly add the water to get the right consistency. You will want to make sure your dough is not too dry or too sticky, because we are going to roll it out! After you get your dough to a good consistency, flour a surface and then start rolling out your dough. You will want it to be about 1/2" thick. Now, take your favorite cookie cutter and start cutting out your shapes! Lay each shape onto a greased baking sheet to bake for 40-minutes. After 40-minutes, brush the treats with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny bit of cheese (for delicious decoration). Then, bake for 10 more minutes. Take treats out of oven and cool! Now you have an ample amount of treats for your dog. But, please remember that treats are treats and should not be over used. 

**NOTE to parents of two-legged children-- This is good activity for your children. My two-legged children had a lot of fun cutting out all the shapes for the dog treats. Plus, it's enjoyable for them to see their furry family members eat the treats they helped make!**