SWEET Potatoes!

One of the best side dishes I can think of are sweet potatoes-- Baked, roasted, mashed, fried, scalloped, and, if you are a dog, even dehydrated! This tasty vegetable is so versatile, so easy, and so healthy that it certainly deserves a highlight this March. I've long loved the sweet potato, and when I learned of its canine appeal, I immediately worked it into the dogs' regular diet.

Many of the sweet potato dishes I typically prepare include a delicious blend of roasted garlic, onions, or olive oil. While I'd happily share them with others, I wanted to offer up a recipe with fully dog-safe ingredients for this post. Garlic and onions are big doggie no-no's because they wreck havoc on the GI tract.

So to my Kitchen-Aid I went, and put together a recipe that omits the standard, heavier, non-dog approved ingredients, in favor of lighter, more healthy options. I found that chicken broth, honey, low-fat yogurt and pumpkin pie spices blend quite well with the soft sweet potato flavor, and most of the ingredients are kitchen staples, making the preparation realistic without excessive shopping.

Whenever preparing sweet potatoes, I always cut off a slice or two for the pups. This evening, as I was experimenting with this recipe, they both ate some of the potato skin, and were looking for more. I started sharing sweet potatoes with the dogs about a year ago, when I found a doggie treat company retailing dehydrated sweet potatoes. Bruschi and I both loved them. He got a treat that he could knaw and chew on for a while, and I found a product that I could feel good about giving him. And, as an added bonus, they didn't leave behind any messy residue on the furniture, or have an unpleasant odor, like some long-lasting chews. My mom recently purchased a food dehydrator and regularly supplies Bruschi and Kodi with volumes of dried sweet potatoes. Bruschi now treats these as potato chips, eating them in just one crunch, and putting his paw back in the bag for more.

Brian and I do not serve our dogs table scraps or left-overs, nor do we give them a portion of the meals that we eat, but I sure do enjoy sharing some of the ingredients during the preparation phase with them when they keep me company in the kitchen (and, i am sure that is why they keep me company in the kitchen).

Creamy Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Three to four sweet potatoes (Three large, or two large and two small)
1/2 cup, chicken broth
1/2 cup, low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup, honey (I used tupelo honey)
1/4 tsp, sea salt
Cinnamon
Cumin
Nutmeg
Ginger
Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend

Method:

Microwave sweet potatoes until soft, then spoon out potato into a bowl

Add chicken broth and yogurt and mix together, or blend. Adjust amount to achieve your desired consistency (chunky to smooth)

Add honey and continue to mix. Adjust amount to achieve your desired sweetness.

Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. of sea salt into mixture, and mix again

Sprinkle any mixture of cinnamon, cumin, ginger and nutmeg. I used about 1/2 tbsp of these ingredients, along with a shake of a pumpkin pie spice blend.

Mix together well, and taste. Adjust any ingredient to get your desired flavor

Place in microwavable container and heat when ready to eat.

If the batch made more than you can eat in one or two sittings, consider freezing a container.

Sweets as Doggie Treats:
-If a dehydrator is available, slice and dehydrate large sweet potatoes
-Without a dehydrator, slice up a potato and slow-bake in a metal pan at 100 degrees for several hours, until mostly dried. Let cool, and store in an air-tight container.
-Mash and add as dinner supplement

Enjoy! And please post your experience trying this recipe. I'd love to hear how you improved upon it!

That's a 'wuff' for now.