What aisle can I find Manganous Oxide in?

Have you ever looked at the packaged food we consume?  The chances are that you probably don’t recognize quite a few items on the label unless you’re a food chemist.  It’s one of the reasons why we avoid just about everything in the grocery store, except for produce and meats.

One day I’m passing out dog biscuits to “The Angry Wolfpack, ” and I notice the label.

Milk Bone Ingredients

Wheat flour, wheat bran, meat and bone meal, interesting.  I know what bone meal is, but what is meat meal?  Poultry by-product, my mind is racing now.  Is that beaks and claws or just claws? I keep reading.  Brewers Yeast? Manganous oxide?  I know what that is!  It’s one of the main components of fertilizer.

I promptly threw the box away.

We headed out later that day for some help, and we found it at the Three Dog Bakery.  Their main thing is natural treats, and here’s one of their cookbooks.

One of many Three Dog Bakery Cookbooks

Now we’ve tried numerous recipes, but I’ve struck gold on this one – Pumpkin, Oats, and Bacon.  Quick to make, and I have four immediate “friends “when the biscuits are coming out of the oven.

Here are the ingredients – 4 slices of bacon, 1 cup of pumpkin puree, 2 eggs, 1 cup of old fashion oats, and 2.5 cups of whole wheat flour.  You know what’s missing?  Yep, you guessed it, Manganous oxide.

Ingredients - PB Optional

Since we’re not a fan of nitrates, we use nitrate free bacon.  Thankfully, it’s available at Costco!  To cut down on the mess of cooking bacon, we bake it in the oven @ 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, it comes out perfect.  Remember to leave the oven on, we’ll need it again about 5 minutes.

Nitrate Free Bacon

First thing, combine the pumpkin and eggs in a bowl and mix it well for two minutes.  You can use a hand mixer or a whisk, whatever works for you.

Pumpkin puree and eggs

Next, we’ll add the wheat flour, bacon, and oats to the pumpkin and eggs mixture.  Add the dry good slowly and use a low speed for mixing.  The mixture is going thicken up quickly.  The time for this varies on how fast you add the dry goods and the quality of your mixer.  I suggest a standing mixer for this.  It should look like this when you're done.

The biscuit dough

We’re in the homestretch!  You’ll need to use a rolling pin to flatten the dough out to about ¼ of an inch thick.  Remember to flour your surface and your rolling pin.  Once you’ve rolled out your dough, use your favorite cookie cutter and start cutting out the desired shapes.

Ready to go in the oven

Place the treat in the over and bake until the edges are golden brown, which is about 20 to 25 minutes.

Finished product

Let cool and share with your best friends!

I smell BACON!

Just to give you an idea of how commercially made dog chew are made, check out this video from Darin Machinery (www.darin.cn).  They make the machines to make dog biscuits, food and chews.

- The Angry Wolfpack