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My Recipe for Homemade Dog Food
One of the many hats I wear (on a regular basis) is that of
"That Old Weird Dog Lady", yup, that would be me! I am a lover of all
things canine! I've been so blessed to share my life with several wonderful
dogs over the years.
I'm always looking for
ways to give my canine companions a better, healthier and longer life. After
studying commercially manufactured dog foods and products I've come to realize
that even though these companies "say" their products are the best
for your dog, all you have to do is read the ingredient list to realize, they
are not!
If you can’t pronounce ingredients
listed, you probably don’t want your dog eating them! And things like “by-products”
and “meal”, well once you find out just what those are, the whole idea of commercially
manufactured dog food become to scary to even think about!
My journey began because
I wanted to find out just what is healthy food for dogs? And how do I make my
own nutritious dog food with pure ingredients and no preservatives?
There is really a plethora of information out
there to help you make good choices when it comes to diet for your precious
dog. I found that my Vet, the internet and books where filled with useful
information. Like with anything worth doing it takes time and effort. It's up
to you to decide to trust the dog food companies or to strike out on your own
and make your own dog food. Making homemade dog food is a labor of love
for the health and well being of your precious dog.
When making homemade dog
food keep in mind that each dog will have different needs when it comes to dog
food. For instance, some dogs may be allergic to grains or starches and some
may be able to tolerate just about anything. It's a game of trial and error
until you find just the right combination of foods that will meet your dogs
needs.
In upcoming blog posts I
will share lists of both safe and absolutely NOT safe foods for your dogs. For
now, I’m sharing with you the recipe tutorial for what I call Sammie Soup (or
doggy stew). It's the perfect mix of fresh wholesome food for my little Yorkie
and it might just be perfect for yours!
Sammie Soup
Begin by gathering ingredients.
Selecting fresh, wholesome (farmers markets are wonderful places to buy)
ingredients is a very important step!
There are LOTS of ingredients so get
ready!
When making Sammie Soup resist the urge to add salt or spices! They
are not good for doggies! And quite frankly, they could care less, they
like the natural flavors of food without any help. Let the goodness of the vetables, fruit and
meat flavor the soup!
Fresh vegetables like Yams, white sweet potatoes, Yukon Gold Potatoes,
yellow summer squash, zucchini squash. Large beautiful apples, a couple
verities of pears, all make a great nutritional starting place.
A can of pure pumpkin puree (NOT the pie
mix verity!) or you can cook up your own pumpkin. Same with the green beans,
choose either fresh or frozen or buy a can of NO SALT green beans. Also add
peas and carrots, once again, fresh or frozen. In the summer time I love
being able to source vegis from my garden.
Protein is a must! I like use a variety of meats, chicken, beef,
pork. I mix things up a bit from batch to batch to keep it interesting. In today’s
batch I'm using ground chicken (plain
chicken no spices added!) and beef.
Some awesome grains,
quick oats, white rice, and my secret weapon, baby cereal! Adding grains will help
to thicken up the soup and add an extra punch of nutritional value.
Now, get out a huge soup
pot and put your Ninja knife skills to work! I love to listen to music while I
chop chop chop away!
When chopping everything I try to keep everything cut about the same
size so everything will cook evenly and at about the same rate of time. All the
potatoes are chopped and in the pot.....
next the squash joins
the party......
Don't forget to add the green beans!
Last into the hot tub, the frozen peas & carrots, a cup of quick oats
and a cup of white rice.
Add enough water to cover (in my case
that was about 12 cups) stir and heat to boiling.
Don't just crank the burner up to high
or you'll have a yucky burned mess at the bottom of your soup pot, turn your
burner to medium and let it take its time! Stir often!
Cook until the vegetables smash easily
against the side of the pan when pressed with a wooden spoon.
While the vegetables are cooking get
started chopping the meat and fruit. I
chop the meat into very small pieces (I have a very small dog!) You can adjust
the size of the meat for your dog. I cut the apples and pears into small chunks
at the same time.
Yes, I cook the meat and the fruit
together! The meat flavors the fruit and the fruit flavors the meat and the
dogs love the results! Now that, is a win win situation!
Once the chicken is broken up and
cooking add the apple pieces and
continue cooking until done.
Go ahead and toss the
beef and pears together in another pan and cook until meat is done through and
the pan is full of juicy goodness.
Once the vegetables are
done, pull the pot of the heat and get
ready for a smashing good time!
I found this super cute
potato smasher at my local grocery store. I find a bit of whimsy makes the
smashing part of the process a lot more fun! So get smashing!
Keep on smashing! Now
this looks about right for my little girl. Just adjust the chunkiness for your
doggies own personal tastes.....
Now's when you add the can of pumpkin. Pumpkin is so important, who
knew that pumpkin is a doggie super food! It is so make sure not to forget to
add the pumpkin!
Time to add all of the wonderful cooked
meat and fruit.
Last but not least, thicken
the soup up by adding my secret ingredient, baby cereal! No need to measure
this, just dump and stir until it looks right!
Get those freezer
containers ready to fill!
Fill them up! Not to full, remember that food expands as it
freezes! Let them cool for a while longer before freezing. Your freezer will
thank you!
Pop them into your
freezer and there you have it! Fresh, homemade dog food! I great being able to
pop a container out of the freezer, thaw it out, stir it up a bit and know that
my little girl is getting wholesome homemade food full of fresh nutritious ingredients!
Okay, so now you ask,
how do I feed my dog with this?
My little one eats twice
a day. In the morning scramble an egg in a bowl and add a couple of heaping
tablespoons of Sammie Soup stir it up and fry it all up in a non-stick pan, let
it cool and feed her. She loves it!
In the late afternoon, I
dish up several large spoonfuls of Sammie Soup in a glass bowl add a dollop of
low fat cottage cheese, zap it for about 20 seconds in the microwave, stir and
feed. Once again, she LOVES it.
You can feed Sammie Soup
just as it is right out of the container, or you can fancy it up a bit like I
do. Do not however, add any salt or
spices! Leave it natural and pure!
I hope you'll give
making your own dog food a try! Your dog will love it and you'll feel so good
knowing exactly what your dog is eating!
Do you use the rice, oats and baby cereal all at the same time? Pumpkin is NOT a thing to be found in Ireland though :(((( I am trying !! I have googled alternatives.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time I have commented - the first time last week it didn't post. I love this idea. I will try to make for Elvis. Abbey is only allowed special allergy nuts though. LOVE YOU. You are away cruising right now. Jealoussss
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