We've been trying really hard lately (like most of you!) to be frugal. The economy has been hard on everyone in one way or another. So, I decided to solve two problems at once and create... Prairie Dog Jerky! 
I didn't have the heart to kill them but Gourmet Dad was happy to get out his pellet gun and do the skinning for me. And, I was happy to prepare the meat...what a team! 
If you do not own a dehydrator, you can use your oven on the lowest setting and leave the oven door slightly ajar for air circulation. Easy! Feel free to adjust the spices, you can get as creative as you want. Also, in many areas Prairie Dogs carry diseases, so please make sure you cook the meat thoroughly.
Prairie Dog Jerky Ingredients: • 1 Tablespoon liquid smoke • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce • 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or to taste • 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce • 1-1/2 teaspoons mesquite flavoring liquid • 2 teaspoons light brown sugar, packed • 1 Tablespoon onion powder • 2 teaspoons garlic powder • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1 pound prairie dog meat, sliced thin
Directions: Combine liquid smoke, soy sauce, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mesquite flavoring, onion powder, garlic powder, and kosher salt in a large zip-top bag. Add prairie dog strips to the marinade, seal, and squish to coat all the meat. Re-open the bag, squeeze out all the air, re-seal, and refrigerate 12 to 24 hours. Remove prairie dog strips from marinade and gently pat off excess moisture with a paper towel. Place strips in a single layer, with space in between, on dehydrator racks. Dehydrate until prairie dog jerky is leathery and chewy but not crisp enough to snap when bent. Store jerky in sealed bags in the refrigerator. NOTES: Please try to find single prairie dogs. They mate for life and it would be terrible to leave one of them without a spouse...
One more note...Happy April Fool’s Day!! Please do not eat Prairie Dogs! If you're looking for some fun April Fool's Day dinner ideas, go here!:)
40 comments:
OMG ~ I am so gullible! Good one ~ you got me!
My son is in LOVE with Prairie Dogs. Glad it is just a joke! lol
hilarious... i was like, ugh... i even had to skim some parts because i was grossed out... but it was awesome. congrats! my first april fooler :)
Oh my goodness Mandy! You are awesome! You really had me going! I love it! Thanks for the brilliant ideas ;) p.s. missed you at the game tonight. Our team rocked it out! Your husband did a great job!
I could have died reading that you really were going to eat it. shaking head... That was good.
OMG you totally got me. I almost unsubbed you from my google reader when I saw those cuddly prairie dogs and the jerky ... then I saw the bottom. Whew!
You almost made me cry dang it!
Wow...all I could think of was the hate mail you were going to get, and how different this post was from all your others! I hate April Fool's Day! :)
That was very cute, LOL!!
I was thinking, she can't be serious. Forgot it was April 1.
Good one!!!
I TOTALLY knew this was a joke until I saw the dead Prairie dog. It had me second guessing! Then, I immediately scrolled to the bottom to look for April Fools commentary. LOL!
Hahaha! I was hoping as I started reading this that it was a joke. Whew! lol!! Just remember...try to find the single ones so that their mates don't miss them! Hilarious!
Ha I wasn't ready for that! You had me fooled, good one :) I was a lil grossed out that you really were going to eat that... so I'm glad you were just foolin us!
Oh, wow! That was funny and gross at the same time.
You had me for a minute...
LOL, that was great. I was sure you couldn't be serious. So funny.
OMG you got me. LOL I was reading and reading and thinking no say it isn't so, Mandy has lost it. In fact just three days ago I saw a dog running around with one in his mouth and I am not sure he was even going to eat it. Too funny, I had big plans for a big April Fools post but fell behind. This is the best one yet that I have seen in blog land.
Darn! lol I was so ready to say "I found something to do with the over abundance of groundhogs we get every year. " Groundhogs are different from Prairie dogs but cause the same problems. Then I was reading the end of it .... and see "April fools" GRRR lol...
HA! I'm gullible too! I was like...ummm this is disgusting...then I saw April Fool's...second one of the day!
HAHAHAHAHHAHA Awesome April Fools Joke!!!
Good one! Glad you don't eat any animal with that ends in the word dog...except a hot dog of course.
Oh thank goodness! I was about ready to take you off my favorites list.
Ha! I keep forgetting it's April Fool's Day. All I could think as I read your post was that people are very different in other parts of the country. Nice one!
FYI- be careful with rodents like Prairie Dogs and Rabbits, if they have plague flees on them, they can jump off and bite you when you're skinning them. Case in point when I was a pediatric nurse, we had a high school student on our floor who nearly died from the Blubonic Plague. He got it from doing just the above. However, the pediatric doctors didn't know what was going on with him, high fevers, shaking, losing weight faster than you could shake a stick at. They finally had to bring in a Doctor epidemiologist from Denver and he figured it out. The shots that poor boy had to endure. He looked like a Holocaust victim by the time he was able to leave the hospital and then he still required home health care for about another three months and very expensive medication.
Did you know that Armadillo's in Texas sometimes carry Hanson's Disease flee biters, what's Hanson's Disease- it's Leprosy. So there used to be Armadillo Hunts in Texas so people could make those stupid Armadillo hats, well it is really discouraged now a days. Just be careful, very careful. It's not the animal, it's the flees that like to live on them, in their fur.
Oooooh you stinker. You got me good. I was like oooh how sad poor little prairie doggies. Lol
awww, Mandy, even this post made me sad, I truly thought you had caved to the ways of profit before beliefs and I was sad as prairie dogs are too darn cute. I am glad this was a joke but sad I fell for it :(
That was hilarious...I loved that...Thanks so much for sharing w/ all of us!
That was awesome, Mandy!!!!! I have to admit, I was reading your post and my jaw was wide open the whole time! Then I got to the end......Ha! (and might I add--Thank the Heavens you were joking!!!!!!).
wow -- that's all i can say -- I totally fell for that! Too funny :)
Ha ha!
Now send me some jerky... no really. I know you guys really did this.
You can send this recipe out with some PD jerky with your Christmas letters. Perfect!
Totally had me going:) Thanks for the jerky idea though. I do have a dehydrator and it's been a while since I've made some.
ok, you got me too. I was reading this thinking, MAN Mandy is going to get some big time hate mail for this one. And somehow I couldn't see you doing this AT ALL!!! ha ha ha
Good one! We have prarie dogs too, I would have to be awful hungry to try to eat one! I saw on the discovery channel the other night a show was saying prarie dogs are good for the grass and the environment. Obviously they weren't studying the prarie dogs that we have! Good joke!
Oh my goodness, my heart was THUNDERING in my chest as I read this; I TOTALLY believed it!!!! it was only a joke :)
This blog is bookmarked! I really love the stuff you have put here.
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Oh gosh, you're awesome. I was on your site reading about the cupcake pops thinking it was a superb/cute/doable idea and then I kept reading. I saw this title and thought "huh, interesting. she can't possibly mean jerky, jerky". I thought it was somehow a play on words. I nearly died as I read AND SAW the pictures. Very cool april fools day post. Two thumbs up!
Did you heard what Rob Matts said about that?
nolvadex
Interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.
Ana
Oh my GOSH. I just found your page and was reading old entries, so I didn't note the date. That's hysterical.
I was caught between wondering how many flames you got, and feeling sympathetic for both your yard and the little guys...too hypocritical for me to go OH NO, THAT'S AWFUL as some of my family hunts, but I can't do it and actually try to avoid meat at many meals because I'm starting to be turned off of eating it all together these days.
So I'm very glad this was a joke, good on ya xD
OOO Mandy lol I too was reading your old post and saw this one lol! so glad it was april fools becasue at first I was def grossed out lol
You had me going there! You are TOO darn funny!
For the record... I was on the side of the prairie dog the whole time!
Bravo, you - what a fun post!
oh, I skip some parts of the post and read about the end, then I realize it was a joke, :) congrats you make a nice job :)
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