Healthy Frozen Treat Recipes

Yes, we are in the Dog Days of Summer but that does not mean that your Snow Dog can’t stay cool and eat healthy too. These frozen treats are easy to make, yummy good in your dog’s tummy, and contain only healthy ingredients because you make them right in your own kitchen. You will want to print these out and make these scrumptious and super healthy treats for your Snow Dog.

Serving Suggestion

Because these treats are served frozen I suggest that you serve these treats to your dog outside. To help contain the melting mess place the frozen treats onto a shallow cookie sheet but there is no guarantee that your dog does not spread the mess around. Keep serving sizes reasonable so the icy goodness does not just end up as a melted puddle on the ground.

Extra Nutrition

To add extra nutrition and goodness to these first 4 frozen treats, you can add a ½ cup of raw ground pumpkin seeds or ¼ cup of ground chia seeds. Mill them in a grinder or chop them in a blender or food processor.

Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Doggie Icy Creamy Treats

This uses only a few ingredients and is fast to make. You can freeze this into smaller individual portions in a pan that makes large muffins (silicon works best) or you can freeze the whole amount in a freezer safe container and scoop out what you need for a serving. Either way, this is sure to please the palate of your hot doggy.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of crunchy peanut butter (find natural peanut butter without extra sugar or additives)
• 1 large (29 oz) can of 100% pumpkin puree (do not use pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup of plain yogurt (a stiff 2% Greek yogurt works well)

Yields about 4 to 5 cups of ice cream

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together well.
• Portion out into individual portions or all into one large tub.
• Allow it to set up in the freezer.
• Then serve it to your dog.
• Store covered in the freezer.

Nutritional information:

Peanut butter – contains protein, good source of health fats, and fibre rich. Contains potassium, antioxidants, magnesium and zinc.

Yogurt – a natural source of a calcium, protein, potassium, and magnesium. Contains Lactobacillus acidophilus for maintaining good intestinal flora.

Pumpkin– loaded with fibre, vitamins A, C and E, potassium, iron, and contains beta carotene which helps to calm inflammation and supports good eye health.

Coconut Butter Strawberry Icy Creamy Treat

This recipe uses coconut butter. You can find this at any place that sells natural foods. Coconut butter is made from the flesh of the coconut. In a pinch you can make coconut butter yourself by taking about 4 cups of coconut flakes and pureeing it in a blender or food processor for 15 – 20 minutes until it has been rendered into a paste.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of fresh strawberries, washed and hulled *
• ½ cup of coconut butter
• 32 oz tub of 2% Greek yogurt

Makes 4 to 5 cups of product.

Note: To make variations of this recipe, you can substitute the same amount of any fresh berries that your dog may like. Try adding blueberries, black berries, acai berries, or raspberries. Berries are rich source of antioxidants.

Directions:

• Add all the ingredients into a blender or a food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth.
• Pour the mixture into individual silicone moulds, a tray that makes large ice cube, or into one large freezer safe container.
• Allow to freeze up solid before serving.
• Store covered in freezer.

Makes 4 to 5 cups of product.

Nutritional information:

Coconut butter – a great source of lauric acid which helps boost immunity and helps destroy harmful bacteria, viruses, and fungus. A great source of healthy fats, essential amino acids, calcium and magnesium.

Strawberries – are high in fibre and known to lower the C-reactive protein know to cause inflammation. Contains antioxidant rich flavonoids. A good source of potassium, vitamin K, and magnesium needed to keep good bone health.

Apple, Banana, and Peanut Butter Creamy Frozen Treats

This frozen treat is fast to make and is sure to make a yummy snack for your dog. Use organic apples and bananas and natural crunchy peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 1 medium apple (peeled, cored, and cut into chunks)
• ½ cup of crunchy natural peanut butter (no sugar added)
• ½ cup of 2% Greek yogurt

Yields about 3 ½ cups of product.

Directions:

• Add all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
• Pour mixture into individual silicone muffin moulds OR add mixture into one freezer safe container.
• Allow mixture to freeze solid.
• Store frozen in a covered container until you are ready to use.

Nutritional Information:

Banana – High in fibre and protein. Contains vitamins B6 and C, manganese, potassium, folate, biotin, and copper.

Apples – High in fibre and in polyphenols. Contains Vitamin C and B. High in minerals and essential amino acids.

Banana, Strawberry, Pumpkin Frozen Kong Filling

This yummy mixture can be made, loaded, and frozen into Kongs. Make sure that you seal the small hole at the bottom end of the Kong with a smear of thick peanut butter so the filling does not run out before it freezes. And find a deep container to stand and hold the Kong upright while it freezes.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium ripe bananas (mashed with a fork)
• 6 strawberries (washed, hulled, and crushed with a fork)
• ½ cup of pure Pumpkin Puree ( do not use pumpkin pie filling)
• A smear of natural peanut butter to seal the end of the Kong.

Makes enough to fill 2 large Kongs OR 3 medium Kongs ¾ of the way full.

Directions:

• Mix all ingredients together into a bowl.
• Use a chopstick or a butter knife to arrange the blob of peanut butter in the bottom of the Kong to seal the small hole.
• Now, using the butter knife, spoon, or spatula start adding the food mixture through the large whole in the Kong.
• When the Kong is full, set the Kong upright into a narrow high sided container and place into the freezer.
• Allow several hours for the Kong and filling to freeze.
• Then give the frozen filled Kong to your dog to enjoy.
• Place unused Kongs into a zippered freezer bag and store in the freezer.

Note: You can freeze any left over pumpkin puree in a freezer bag. Lay the sealed bag flat and distribute contents evenly throughout the bag. Freeze flat. Now you can easily break or cut off as much frozen pumpkin as you need to make more treats.

Frozen Broth Treats

You can fill your dog’s tummy with nutrition while keeping him cool this summer by making a nutritious broth for him and freezing it into serving sizes. Add all kinds of great vegetables both raw and cooked and freeze into the serving. Give him the frozen broth portions to eat outside. If you don’t own a stock pot, you can also prepare this broth in a crock pot. Set the dial to medium heat and let it cook a few hours until the chicken is cooked.

Nutritional information:

When you cook bones, the broth will be filled with minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, collagen and gelatine, trace minerals, and amino acids like glycine, proline, and hyaluronic acid. It is also a naturally rich source of chondroitin and glucosamine necessary for the development of good bone and cartilage formation.

The vegetables that you add to the broth will provide a wide range of vitamins, minerals and an excellent source of fibre.

Unless you can buy natural chicken broth without additives commercially, you may want to consider making your own chicken broth. It is not hard to make.

Ingredients:

• A large whole raw chicken, bone in
• An assortment of fresh vegetables – about a cut handful of each (carrots, celery, zucchini, kale, broccoli, parsley, spinach, green beans etc.) BUT NO ONIONS
• A large stock pot filled about ½ full of cold water.

Directions:

• Place the whole chicken with the giblets into the stock pot.
• Add chunks of cut and cleaned vegetables.
• Make sure that chicken and vegetables are covered completely by water. Add an additional 4 or 5 inches of water in the pot.

The key to making a good chicken broth is to begin with cold water and bring the temperature up to a boil and then immediately turning the temperature down to a simmer. Do not let it continue cooking at a boil.

• Simmer the chicken broth for about an hour. You can tell when the chicken and vegetables are cooked because they will begin to float in the pot.
• When everything is cooked remove whole chicken and the vegetables and place into a large bowl.
• Place broth into fridge to cool.

Making Frozen Chicken Broth Cubes

There are many ways that you can choose to make these frozen broth cubes. You can freeze broth into serving sizes (use deli containers with lids or you can use any plastic storage containers that you have on hand.)

• You can add some cooked vegetables and some raw vegetables to each container before freezing the broth. You can add some of the cooked chicken also. To keep solid food from all settling to the bottom you can fill the container 1/3 of the way full, freeze, and then layer with vegetables and broth OR you can freeze only broth and when the liquid is not quite completely frozen ( the consistency of frozen slush) you can add the vegetables and chicken and mix thoroughly. The slush keeps the solids from sinking to the bottom.
• Freeze until hard.
• Serve to your dog outside on in a shallow pan.
• Keep portions in freezer until you are ready to use.

Yield depends on how much broth, vegetables and chicken you put into a serving size.

Frozen Bone Broth Cubes

For a variation of this recipe, follow the instructions that we provided for making Bone Broth found here.

• Cook the Bone Broth according the recipe.
• Cool broth before handling.
• Add cooled broth to freezer safe portion sized containers.
• Add cooked and raw vegetable to the broth or omit adding fresh veggies if your dog does not like them. The Bone Broth already has the nutrition from the cooked vegetables in it.
• Freeze the Bone Broth in sealed containers and feed frozen portions as needed.
• Store unused portions in freezer until needed.

Yield varies.

Keeping your Snow Dog cool is a breeze when you make this icy cold and health treats for your dog.

As always, we welcome your questions, comment, or stories regarding this topic. When we share our stories and our wisdom we may be helping someone who is struggling with their Snow Dog.

Helping ALL Snow Dogs … one owner at a time.