Cooking Your Dog’s Food Adds Variety to His Life

Have you considered cooking for your dog?  Cooking your dog’s food adds variety to his life.  If dogs run wild, they eat meat, but they also eat grasses and other green items to help their digestion.  Ganny’s Kitchen on this site has more than a few delicious recipes for people but today, Fido is the lucky recipient of fresh, fab, healthy combos.

 

 

Meaty Muffins Enhance Your Dog’s Life

Guaranteed to please, whether your fur baby is large or small and they really do not take that long to prepare.  And unlike the rolls and other bread items we sometimes feed them, the muffins are good for your pup.

Oatmeal and rice are sources of vital nutrients for your dog.  When you make your best friend’s meals from scratch, you ensure she’s eating nutritious, quality food. Oatmeal and rice are wholesome ingredients to include in a dish of homemade food for your pup. They are both sources of carbs and contain important nutrients such as manganese, selenium and magnesium. Nutritious oatmeal also has phosphorus and zinc, and it’s a source of fiber.

Turn the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to preheat.

Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Combine chopped 1/2 c, carrots, 1/4 c. celery, 1/2 c. green beans, 1 lb. turkey and 2 eggs in a mixing bowl and stir with a spoon to combine all the ingredients well.

Add 1/2 cooked rice, 2 Tbsp. olive oil and 1/2 c. uncooked oatmeal to the mixture and stir well to incorporate it all together.

Divide the dog food mix evenly among the prepared muffin cups, pressing the tops down with the back of the spoon to pack the mixture firmly.

Place the filled muffin tins into the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the muffin tins from the oven and allow them to cool for 10 minutes before turning them over to release the meaty muffins onto the countertop or a plate

( I use the small muffin tins since my pups are all under fifteen pounds.  Use medium for your medium dog and, of course, for the giants of dogdom, the bigger, the better.) Daily Puppy offers more delightful recipes.

Oatmeal/Peanut Butter Cookies:  A Step Up in Cooking for Your Dog

1 c. Uncooked oatmeal

2 c. Whole wheat flour

1 c. All natural peanut butter

1 c. Water 1/4 c. Canola oil

1 Egg, beaten (or Egg Beaters, equiv. to 1 egg)

Mix all of the ingredients together but add the flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Knead 3 to 4 minutes and add more flour if necessary to make a very stiff dough. Pat or roll to 3/4 inch thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350. Cook first for 20 minutes on one side before flipping the treats over and cooking an additional 20 minutes. Remove to cooling racks and let dry out thoroughly. Biscuits are ready in about two hours.
Store in refrigerator.  More treats can be found here.

Little Bennie’s Chicken Stew Brightens Your Pup’s Day

I make this ahead for several days, feeding my little ones one heaping tablespoon of stew with 1/4 c. kibble.  They gobble it up and come up grinning.

10 lb bag chicken leg quarters

Small bag white rice (they did not do well with the brown rice, but larger dogs seem to thrive on it, so it can be substituted)

Large bag green beans/sliced carrots

Small bag frozen sweet potatoes

1 c. uncooked oatmeal

Boil chicken until tender but do not cook past tender stage.  Remove chicken from pot to an area where it can be cut into small cubes or pulled as though for barbeque.  For small dogs, make certain the pieces are not huge.  Big dogs, however, will LOVE chunks.  Pour  rice and veggies in broth.  Cook as directed on rice package, plus three minutes.  (This direction helps the digestion, especially for smaller or older dogs.)  When rice mixture is complete, mix into the chicken and add the oatmeal.  Mix well.  For my dogs, I package it in quart bags, flatten the packages to fit easier into the freezer and thaw quicker.   Each package feeds three small dogs for about four meals+.  Larger animals would require gallon bags.  Leave out enough in the refrigerator for a couple of days, freezing the balance until needed.

URGENT NOTES:

NOTE:  NEVER SEASON THE STEWS, MUFFINS, ETC. WITH HERBS AND SPICES, SALT OR PEPPER.  Fido systems are not equipped to use those items.

NOTE 2:  Once the chicken is deboned, run your hands through it to ensure no small bones are left.  Cooked chicken bones shatter.  If swallowed, they may puncture the stomach or intestine linings of your pet.  Round pieces may choke the pup.

The joy of cooking for your dog can also be found at a site that also provides much needed information about commercial dog foods.  Too often we pick our pet’s food with our pocketbooks instead of their health in mind.  I find myself searching the ingredients on pet food packages almost as intently as I do for my family, because they are part of this family.  The more real ingredients and the less fillers such as crude fiber (translation:  hooves and horns ground up), the better that food will be in the pet’s digestive tract.

Try a few of the recipes shown here and in Feeding Fido and Fluffy.  Your pet will be so glad you did.