Sweet Potato Crisp / Chewies for furkids

This is another treat that we make for Shalom. Crisp or chewies coz the recipe allows for both.

But when making it as a crisp, I realise that its not a good treat when we go out. Simply coz its dry plus because it is crispy, it breaks into pieces:P Shalom prefers moist treats during her outing. The chewy version is OK anytime anywhere.

Ingredient is just sweet potatoes and nothing else.

Peel off the skin. Then slice it into 2-3mm for chewy versions. Or use a peeler for the crispy ones. lay them on the pan. Bake for 10-20 minutes for the crispy ones. Bake 30-45 minutes for the chewy ones. Temperature is 150C. Again this depends on your oven:D

You can use the 2-3mm ones to make the crispy ones. But I rather just cut the baking time and use the thinner ones for the crispy version.

Honestly, this is quite yummy, so I actually nibble on the crispy ones when I am making this. Healthy wholesome snacks for humans too. And they make great pressies for birthdays too:D

Shalom cakes

I make a fair bit of the treats that Shalom eats daily. Reason is its simply healthier. I know I don't use colouring, flavouring and preservatives. Well that means that I also have to bake almost every week. And its simply one of the lil girl fave moments that she'll sit before the oven while waiting for the oven to "ting". And then she sits again by the dining table of kitchen while waiting for the treats to cool down before I cut her a slice.

here you can see her reflection while waiting for the treats.

Its not a lot of work. But it is a little work. I do grumble when I have to wash up though:P But seeing her happy face is definitely so very worth it.

A simple one that I normally use:
• 500g meat (minced)
• 1 or 2 carrots (finely grated)

• Herbs (I normally use parsley and rosemary to overcome bad breath - though I am not sure how well it works since she does have some doggie breath on some days:P)

• 10-20g seaweed (optional)
• Protein powder (40-60g and mixed with water)
• 200g to 500g flour, rice flour or oats (your choice)
• 1-2 eggs (optional)

Meat - I change from week to week since Shalom is a super picky eater. I've used chicken, duck, fish, lamb, beef and even turkey. With turkey nothing goes to waste coz I'll debone the turkey thigh and use the bone to make stock for our meat stocks and porridges.

You may use other vegies or fruits in place of carrots. Shalom loves apples and strawberries.

On my hardworking days, I actually grind the rice to make my own rice flour. And when using oats and bran, I'll just use them as they are. If you use less flour, it becomes like a meatloaf. I normally use about 200g. A dog's diet is supposed to be protein based rather than carbo. I sometimes use quinoa or brown rice to get a different texture and flavour.

So with the ingredients above, simply mix them all together. If the consistency is too thick, then simply add more water. I do not use eggs when baking for Shalom's pals who have sensitive skin. So I use more water instead.

Then grease your baking pan and pour the mixture in.

Bake at 150-170C for 25-40 minutes (depending on your oven) or till a toothpick comes out clean.

When its cool, slice and keep in air tight container. It keeps in the refrigerator for 3-7 days. And stores really well in the freezer.

There's a few more that I also bake for Shalom. Will share them when we bake them soon:D

Artery Clogging Makan Outing

Eric organised this makan session in Klang. Good work bro:D And it took us from a breakfast of BKT, lunch of seafood and tea time of fried chicken. And that is all in the company of food loving fun tweeple (all of us are tweeples).

BKT is at the famous under the bridge shop named Kedai Makanan Seng Huat. I've heard about this shop and its thick herbal soup. It certainly did smell good. But having tasted it, we've tasted better ones elsewhere. It was quite a turn off that the intestines were bitter and the meat a wee rough. The rice was yummy though with a generous of fried shallots thrown in when it was cooked.

Done with BKT, we drove off to the jetty to take a boat / ferry to Pulau Ketam. And these were some of the random pics that I caught during our drive.

The fee is RM7 for adults and RM4 for kids. And if you opt for speedboat, the ongoing rate should be approximately RM150 for a load of 12 persons. Lesson learnt is to bring an umbrella along. It was freaking hot and I reckon the group was sweating lard during the almost 20 minutes wait.

The 30 minutes ride took us to Pulau Ketam which is a fishing village island. The place is much cleaner than my last visit last year but I reckon it still could be better. So while waiting for lunch we walked around the island a little. You could opt to rent a bicycle if you like. But I can't cycle (no sense of balance) so walked like the rest of our group. And in that hot weather, I was not surprised that I actually ate 2 fruit sherbet (the passion fruit is super refreshing) and 1 fried ice cream. Fried ice cream is quite interesting since the last I ate was in Cameron Highlands some 19 years ago!

Throughout the lil walk, you'll see ice cream for sale. Many stalls are also selling fried ohchien and fried lala. So which stall taste the best? We didn't know, so we randomly grabbed one (every stall had its oqn queue). Verdict? OKlah. We'll need to try the other stalls to figure out. Another 3 more stalls to try!

You'll also be seeing the locals sell dried shrimps, salted fish etc. And of course junk food too. Take your time to shop.

Jo and I bought this buoys at RM2.50 each for our year end holiday with our furkids and our Spyders in Cherating:D

Done with the walking, our hungry stomachs calls for food. Lunch at Kuai Lok Hian was RM160 for the following dishes that serves 10 and we had 12 persons with us then. Its a set lunch thingy that they have. The lala and the hot plate prawn were my faves there.

Our last point was for fried chicken at Yao Yao Ping in Pandamaran. Eric self poisoned himself and returned the next day for more! This fried chicken reminds me of what my granny used to make. Taste better than KFC anytime. Its crispy and the flesh is still juicy. And this place also boast of their own ice blended (think they just freeze everything and then use a blender to crush the frozen mix:D - will have to try this at home). The longan is sweet and easy on the palate after the pieces of chicken.

*Burp*

And the faces were part of this eating outing (and the priceless expressions):

This trip has a moment that money can't buy. On our return ferry trip to Klang, the maritime coppers stopped us and boarded our ferry. Those of us sitting at the deck were asked to return to our seats:-( And we were all subjected to our NRICs being checked. One office had a look at mine and said OK. His "silly colleague took out a pen scanner and started verifying whether our were fakes or otherwise. I don't mind that. But I got a tad irritated when he asked how come I look different now from my NRIC. Excuse me?I didn't know that I have to update my NRIC when I decide to chuck my short hair for long manes. Neither did I know that I must also update my document when I choose to be bespectacled. Such waste of time and manpower. And definitely prolonging our ferry journey that was to take us to our yummy fried chicken:D

* Patrick: thanx for the pic of the maritime officer jotting down notes:D