We all know that seasons dictate sales — chocolate in February, hot dogs in July, but cereal? Well, for many cereal manufacturers, the last three months of the year are the season of cereal party snacks. From late October until the end of the year, buying cereal — specifically Chex — is at its peak, and there hasn’t been anything rocking the boat for decades. The sugary holiday snack, Puppy Chow, graces the holiday times, but the name has always thrown me off. Why do we call this a hundred percent human food Puppy Chow?
Chex came out in 1937, created by Ralston Purina Company — yes, the company that makes actual Purina dog food. When the company launched Chex, it wanted to steer clear of the term chow, which was associated with Purina’s animal feed products. Chow did not have a positive connotation. The word chow is a term to describe something animals eat, and the slang word was used during World War I to describe the taste of soldier rations (you can guess the taste wasn’t so good).
With the division of the Ralston company in the late 1990s, General Mills acquired Chex, and with the acquisition came about a supposedly new recipe — Muddy Buddies. The hardest thing about this recipe is melting butter. After the butter, you add peanut butter, chocolate chips, and cereal. Once hom*ogenous, the concoction gets coated with a healthy geological layer of powdered sugar.
According to General Mills, Muddy Buddies (a.k.a. Puppy Chow) was developed in 2002, however, in reality, the same recipe, in some form or another, had been around way longer in the American home cook communities. Recipe tins and community cookbooks, specifically in the midwest, document Puppy Chow as a staple party appetizer and easy snack.
Before the advent of the microwave, party mix was something adults still made, but Puppy Chow caught on with children who could make the mix with minimal adult supervision — perfect for keeping them distracted during the holiday season. Its brown kibble-like appearance harkens back to the chow of the Purina company, and the name wasn’t subtle, people called it Puppy Chow, knowing well that the dog food company manufactured that cereal.
While party mix was a little more universally known for many decades, Puppy Chow was a neat quirk of the Midwest. Like candy salad and hot dishes, it was something made not to win a beauty pageant but something to comfort the soul. Yet, with the advent of social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest the sweet cereal mix has gotten a leg up in awareness and broken into other regions of the US.
If you haven’t already looked, there are many puppy chow recipes here.
How Puppy Chow Got Its Name. Chex cereal, originally made by the Ralston Purina Company, debuted in grocery stores in 1937. Because the company referred to their dog food as “dog chow” and cat food as “cat chow,” they jokingly called their new cereal line “human chow,” according to Taste.
Puppy chow is a party staple in the Midwest, but not everywhere else. Puppy chow — a snack mix made of Chex cereal covered in melted chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar — is often a fixture at parties. People outside of the Midwest have often never heard of it, and they don't know what they're missing.
Nutty, sweet, salty, and creamy, these nuggets of pure indulgence are paramount to all other flavor combinations. The inventor was probably a well-intentioned mother who would never sell the purity of puppy chow for personal gain, but it could have just as easily been invented in a government lab.
Puppies have different nutritional needs from adult dogs. Since they're using up a lot of energy to grow their little bodies, they need more calories and nutrients in every bite.
The word chow is an informal way to say "food" or "meal." Someone happily gobbling tacos might say, "I just love Mexican chow," or your dad might open up a pizza delivery box and yell, "Time for chow, everybody!" Chow is an American English word that originated in California around 1856, from the Chinese pidgin English ...
“Ciao”(chow) is an informal greeting meaning both “hello” and “goodbye”, usually directed to persons the speaker is familiar with. According to my Genoese cousin, the word grew out of the dialect of that city. In Italian the word “schiavo” (skee-ah vo) means servant or slave.
Some close definitions: Mud Buddy - A gritty, grimy hom*osexual man. Typically lives in a swampy area amongst the critters. Mud - Referring to the skin of a non-Caucasian minority.
Puppy food does have slightly higher levels of calcium and phosphorous when compared to most adult dog foods. Puppy food also has a higher fat and protein content, meaning there are more calories per bite than the adult version of the same brand.
Whether Puppy Chow is named for its Purina pet food connection is up for debate, but either way, it's still fun to know that a dog food company invented a central part of this delicious snack. In 2002 General Mills developed Muddy Buddies, the same recipe as Puppy Chow.
The name Chow Chow may derive from an English term used in the 19th century to refer to cargo from East Asia; however, some sources note that it may derive from the Chinese word for “edible.” The Chow Chow is built compactly, with a large head and a thick coat that forms a dense ruff about the neck.
Puppy food isn't necessarily bad, but it isn't formulated for their specific needs. Puppy food tends to be higher in calories and proteins, which could contribute to obesity in adult dogs if they continue to eat it as their calorie requirements drop as they age.
1. a thick-coated breed of the spitz type of dog with a curled tail and a characteristic blue-black tongue; it came originally from China. Often shortened to: chow. 2. a Chinese preserve of ginger, orange peel, etc in syrup.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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