Cooking for My Dogs
When it comes to supper, everyone loves a delicious, healthy home-cooked meal - even the pets.
Sharing a home with any pet is a huge responsibility - one I never take lightly. It requires time, knowledge, and commitment to ensure every animal gets the best possible care. Once a month, I love to make my dogs a good supply of home-cooked food. Preparing my own dog food has many benefits - fewer preservatives and additives, more varied and potentially better ingredients and, of course, more of what I know my dogs will enjoy. I also know the food is from wholesome, organic, reputable sources - and that is very important to me.
Earlier this week, I spent one morning making a giant batch of dog food - filled with excellent quality meats, quinoa, rice, and lots of nutritious vegetables. Enjoy these photos.
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- Empress Qin is growing fast – she is such a beautiful, sweet, and curious puppy. And, she’s a very good eater. Here she is waiting patiently for dinner.
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- I have five dogs, so there’s a lot to prepare. For this batch I am cooking two pounds of brown rice, two big bags of carrots and about four heads of broccoli.
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- The carrots are cooked until they are fork tender. My dogs love carrots. They are low in calories and high in fiber and vitamins. Plus, crunching on raw carrots can also be good for their teeth.
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- This meat is from a friend of mine who owns a beef cattle farm. Here, I have beef chuck, beef shin, and a cow tongue. I also have a big chunk of tuna. The beef and tuna were cooked separately for about three and a half hours. The broth from the meat was then used to cook the carrots and broccoli.
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- Here I am boiling some peas – I am using four bags of frozen peas. My dogs love peas. Green peas are a good source of the B vitamin Thiamin, phosphorous, and potassium. Don’t overcook them – they only take a couple of minutes.
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- After the meat is cooked and cool to the touch, I chopped it all up into medium to large chunks.
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- The meats were cooked separately with the bones until soft, and then removed and chopped. Now it’s ready for the food processor.
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- Enma pulses small batches of meat at a time.
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- Meanwhile, I chopped up six large boiled sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are great for digestive health because they’re high in dietary fiber. They’re also low in fat and contain vitamin B6, vitamin C, and manganese, and they’re rich in the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene.
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- Bete Noire loves all foods. I think she’s hoping something will fall from the counter.
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- I do add some grains to my dogs’ diet, but I always use whole grains, such as brown rice. Brown rice is rich in antioxidants, and helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. Rice is ready when it’s tender – for brown rice, about 30-minutes. This needs a little more time.
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- I took out three large stainless steel bowls and began combining the cooked ingredients.
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- The rice is cooked, and ready to add to the bowls.
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- Are you hungry, my handsome and dear G.K.?
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- Here is one bowl filled with the rice, peas, sweet potatoes and a little basil I grabbed from my garden.
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- Enma distributes all the meat into the bowls – the beef in two bowls, and the tuna in the third. When preparing homemade diets, be sure it is well-balanced. Research what your pet needs.
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- Enma then mixes each batch thoroughly. It’s very important that dogs also get adequate amounts of calcium, and omega-three fatty acids – add supplements if needed. And, always talk to a veterinarian or canine nutrition expert before changing a dog’s diet.
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- The carrots and broccoli are done – They are chopped up and added to the bowls.
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- Peluche is still growing her lustrous coat back after having puppies – this happens to all dogs after giving birth, but it is coming back quickly. Peluche is is also waiting very patiently.
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- I also cooked quinoa. Quinoa is an amazing gluten free super food with high levels of essential amino acids. It is a high protein grain type food, so give it in small amounts.
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- And, I boiled pumpkin – without the hard skin, of course. Cooked pumpkin is good for stomach upset. It is loaded with fiber and beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.
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- G.K. is on a lower protein diet, so his food is prepared separately.
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- I put all the food into these quart-sized containers – each one properly labeled, so there is no confusion.
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- Just a few more minutes, Empress Qin.
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- All the food is distributed and left to cool.
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- In all, I made enough for 25-quarts of food.
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- These containers will be stored in the freezer and taken out as needed.
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- And look how beautiful their meal is – especially in their Martha Stewart Pets food dish.
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- It’s dinner time! For the Frenchies, that means every morsel is eaten – no leftovers. My dogs eat two meals a day – once in the morning and once in the evening. Splitting meal times is good for their digestion.
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- Peluche seems to love her food also. Home prepared diets can also be mixed with kibble if needed.
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- Empress Qin is eating all her food too.
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- My champion, G.K. is also happy. Cooking for your dogs is a personal choice, but if you have time, and are interested in giving it a try, I know your pets will love every meal.
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