DIY Herbal Yogurt Bites

Herbal yogurt bites can be made from a variety of ingredients that most people have laying around their house already. You can use just yogurt for its feel good tummy benefits and you can add herbs, fruits and even vegetables if you desire! I love that these functional treats can be made each week with different add-ins which will give your dog a wide range of nutrients.

Let's take a look..

What you'll need:

• Yogurt
• Silicon mold or ice cube tray
• Spatula
• Measuring cup
• Tea of your choice (optional) - chaga / reishi / turkey tail mushroom, nettle leaf, oatstraw, lemon balm, alfalfa are some options
• Fruit of choice (optional) - blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloup

What you'll do:

1. You can simply pour yogurt into silicon molds or ice cube trays and place in freezer. Tada! They're done
2. OR if you want to add the herbal aspect mix together 1/2 C yogurt and about 1/4 C tea until its a thinner liquid
3. Pour this liquid into molds and freeze!
4. Other options: You can either blend the fruits in with the yogurt in a blender - some water or tea would be best to make it more of a liquid consistency OR you can cut melons and strawberries into smaller pieces and leave blueberries whole and place into molds and pour yogurt liquid over top then freeze

Benefits:

Yogurt contains beneficial bacteria that promotes healthy function of the digestive tract. Having proper digestive bacteria improves digestion, assimilation of nutrients, keeps the urinary tract healthy and strengthens the immune system.

Fruit contains vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants. We all know why vitamins and minerals are important, they are needed for a wide range of functions. Fiber supports healthy elimination. Antioxidants have the ability to scavenge free radicals that are known to accelerate aging and eventually promote cancer and other diseases.

Herbal teas can give your dogs body many different benefits depending on the type of herbs you use.

Chaga is known to help replicate DNA and repair damage done on a cellular level. This mushroom helps prevent cancer and has even been used to treat or slow down the progression of cancer.

Reishi and Turkey Tail mushroom are both immune balancers and can build your dogs immunity on a deep level. When your dogs immune system is strong they are able to more easily deal with bacteria, viruses, fungi, allergies and any other invading substances.

Nettle leaf is packed with vitamins and minerals and is like an herbal multi vitamin. It also is an antihistamine and can help reduce the symptoms and reaction from environmental allergens.

Oatstraw is a nervine that helps relax and works on your dogs nervous system. Something special about oatstraw is that it actually rebuilds and balances the nervous system over time. This could help balance an overly anxious, reactive dog's nervous system when taken daily for extended.

Lemon Balm is another nervine that your dog will be able to feel more immediately in the moment. Nervines reduce the electrical pulses within the nervous system which can be great helping anxiety induced behaviors like excessive barking, chewing, whining, etc.

There's a lot of variations of this recipe that will benefit your dogs health and provide them with a wide variety of nutrients. I love this recipe because you can add in ingredients that you have laying around the house, extra scraps and foods that might go bad soon. Once the food is frozen it will be good for along time!

Have fun with these, get creative and explore different options. You're dog will thank you because dogs eat real food too!