Beef and Bulgur

I am a firm believer in the celebration of Valentine’s Day.  I’m not sure where that comes from.  I’m sure it stems from childhood parties at school.  Please understand that when I say celebrate I mean with baked goods.  I know what you’re thinking:  what does this have to do with beef and bulgur?  Stick with me, kid, I’ll take you places.  That’s what I tell my husband anyway.

As an adult I have always tried to bring treats to work for Valentine’s.  Back in the day it was cupcakes, and more recently I’ve made a seriously chocolate cake with Chambord.  A few years back when I adopted Phoebe the whole office was involved in the process.  Many of them were dog owners as well.  I brought her home in December and by February she had certainly had more than one visit from the girls at work.  I thought to myself, self, I should bring some Valentine treats for all the girls’ dogs.  If I recall correctly I made some heart-shaped biscuits with whole-wheat flour and parmesan.  I put them each in their own red or pink bag that closed with a heart and wrote each dog’s name on it.  The people treats went in the break room for the ladies to help themselves.  Each dog treat bag I delivered to the owner’s desk.  One of the girls, we’ll call her Beth, didn’t notice that the little bag said Leo on it, and bit right in.  In a small office of 18 court reporters word traveled fast and she never lived it down.

I’m going to see Beth next month in Philly and I am going to have to confess to her how I ate Phoebe’s dinner.

I know it doesn’t look like much, but I couldn’t stop eating it.  It did need a little salt, but, man, it was good.  It reminded me of something you would stuff into a cabbage roll.   I usually don’t taste her food, so I don’t know what prompted me this time.  Whatever the reason, I am not ashamed.  This is from my new favorite book by Rick Woodford.  It’s called Feed Your Best Friend Better and  he goes into great detail about the size of your dog and the calorie count they should consume, along with foods that are safe to share with your dog.  There’s even a diagram to help you determine if your dog is overweight.

I suppose I should tell you what’s in there.  It’s zucchini, red pepper, and a can of diced tomatoes.   That’s it.   I am — I mean Phoebe is definitely getting this for dinner again.

Eat Well and Savor.