Today, Jeanette and I are making gifts! It’s the perfect combination of frugality and thoughtfulness as it says, “I made this for YOU!”
My gift ideas below are for dogs with homemade Peanut Butter Banana Dog Biscuits. I created this recipe to use up leftover “about to go bad” ingredients. My dog seems to love them too!
I also made a Lemon Coconut Sugar Body Scrub that my middle daughter advised me on. She watches a ton of YouTube beauty bloggers so she had strong opinions on salt versus sugar scrubs and coconut oil versus olive oil. I’m gifting these to my mom friends but my daughters would love it too!
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Peanut Butter Banana Dog Biscuits
Because I freeze bananas that are about to go bad, I just happened to have three in the freezer. I decided to combine a peanut butter dog biscuit recipe with bananas. My dog loves bananas and I consulted my oldest about this flavor combination. She approved because she likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches so that’s how this dog biscuit came about!
I also added ground flax seed to add Omega-3 essential fatty acids because I had some lying around but it’s optional.
I’m using up leftovers in this recipe: chicken stock, peanut butter that no one has touched in 2 years, and bananas that were going bad.
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 over-ripe bananas (or less if that is what you have to use up)
- 1/4 cup chicken stock or water (if you need to moisten the dough)
- 1/2 cup ground flax seeds (optional)
Combine all the ingredients. I use my hands to mush it all up and mix it together. It’s messy but it’s fun!
Add flour as needed until it’s not sticky and knead on a floured board until it makes a smooth dough.
Roll out on a lightly floured board 1/2 inch thick. (Ours ended up thicker at 3/4 inch so it took longer to bake but thicker is fine too).
Cut out the dog biscuits and then make a ball with the cut-out remaining dough. Roll this out and cut away again. Keep doing this until you use up all the dough.
Use a dog bone cookie cutter if you have one.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Flip dog biscuits over and bake 5 minutes more until golden brown on the bottom as well. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container. I hope your dog enjoys them as much as ours does!
I like to think that my dog appreciates homemade dog biscuits, especially in this flavor combination. He eats them with great enthusiasm, but my middle daughter tells me that he just loves food in general. Thus far, I can’t get anyone besides my dog to try them, but my husband did say that, as they baked, they smelled delicious. This recipe made two baking sheets of dog biscuits.
Lemon Coconut Body Scrub
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 15 drops of lemon essential oil
- 15 drops of lavender essential oil
Step 1: Melt the coconut oil. I just removed the lid and put it in the microwave for 20 seconds.
Step 2: Combine all the ingredients.
Step 3: Put into containers.
Step 4: Add a pretty label and gift to friends!
Follow PragmaticMom’s board DIY Instead of Buy on Pinterest.
Follow PragmaticMom’s board DIY Instead of Buy: Kids on Pinterest.
My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
I should try that coconut scrub!
Hi MaryAnne,
My girls and I have big plans to make a huge batch for gifts. I’ll send you one when we pull this off.
The Lemon Coconut Body Scrub looks beautiful. Loved the idea
It smells great too!