Authors: Paris Permenter,John Bigley
The Healthy Hound Cookbook: Over 125 Easy Recipes for Healthy, Homemade Dog Food--Including Grain-Free, Paleo, and Raw Recipes! (17 page)
Making your own kibble not only gives you total control over your dog’s diet, it can also be an economical alternative to pricey commercial kibble. You can buy chicken gizzards in the poultry section of the grocery store … and they’re cheap!
YIELDS: About 2 pounds of kibble
3 sweet potatoes, baked
1
1
⁄
2
cups water, divided
1 pound cooked chicken gizzards
1 (3.75-ounce) can sardines in water
9
1
⁄
2
cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
3 eggs
3
⁄
4
cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Lightly oil two cookie sheets.
- Peel sweet potatoes; discard peels. Purée sweet potatoes with
3
⁄
4
cup water in a blender or food processor. (This makes about 2
1
⁄
2
cups.) Set aside. - Finely chop gizzards with
3
⁄
4
cups water in a blender or food processor. Add sardines and blend until smooth. - In a large bowl, mix flour, milk powder, eggs, and olive oil. Add sweet potato purée and chopped gizzards and sardines. Mix well.
- Turn out dough on a floured surface. (The dough will be thick and sticky.) Add more flour as needed. Work dough to an even consistency, then roll out dough to
1
⁄
4
" –
1
⁄
2
" thick. - Cut strips with a pizza cutter and place on cookie sheets. Strips should be at least
1
⁄
2
" apart on the cookie sheets. - Bake for 45 minutes, then turn strips. Use pizza cutter to cut strips into
1
⁄
2
" squares (or smaller, depending on dog’s size). Return cookie sheets to the oven and bake for 45 more minutes. - Turn off the oven. Use a spatula to flip all squares and make sure squares aren’t touching. Return cookie sheet to the oven and leave to cool, or if you have another batch that needs to cook, move kibble to drying racks to cool.
- When kibble is cool, store 1 week’s worth in refrigerator and freeze the remaining kibble in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
If your dog has wheat allergies, it’s easy to swap out rice, buckwheat, quinoa, nut, and oat flour in your recipes. The gluten found in wheat flour gives baked goods their springy feel, so to compensate, you’ll need to add a thickening agent like guar gum (which is also used in many wet, commercial dog foods).
Buffalo has a lower fat content than beef and about half the cholesterol. If you don’t have ground buffalo on hand, though, you can substitute ground beef, chicken, or turkey in this easy recipe.
YIELDS: 7 cups
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground buffalo
2 eggs
2 cups frozen chopped vegetables (without onion)
2 cups cooked brown rice
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add ground buffalo, stirring and cooking until buffalo is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
- Drain off any excess fat, then add in eggs, chopped vegetables, and brown rice, reducing heat to medium. Continue stirring and cook until eggs are cooked. Cool before serving or refrigerating. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for 6 months.
For many diners, buffalo is a big draw because typically, buffalo do not require the antibiotics that beef cattle do. They are raised without growth hormones as well. Buffalo pretty much go to pasture and do their own thing!
Meatloaf is the very definition of comfort food, and it’s a favorite with many pet parents who feed a homemade diet. Meatloaves are easy to prepare and freeze; you can even double or triple the recipe to cook in bulk.
YIELDS: 8 cups
1
⁄
2
cup barley
4 cups Homemade Chicken Broth (see
Chapter 15
)
1
1
⁄
2
pounds ground chicken
1
⁄
2
cup low-fat cottage cheese
2 whole eggs
1
⁄
2
cup rolled oats
3
⁄
4
cup finely chopped carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil
- In a medium saucepan, bring barley and chicken broth to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9" × 13" baking dish.
- In a large bowl, mix ground chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, rolled oats, carrots, and olive oil. Mix well. Slowly add cooled barley and broth. Mix thoroughly.
- Place mixture in pan and bake for 1 hour.
- Cool before serving. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Change up this meatloaf by substituting other vegetables in place of the carrots: Try peas, zucchini, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, or your dog’s other favorites.
Unless your homemade diet includes raw meaty bones, you’ll need to add a calcium supplement. Eggshell calcium is a great way to use those shells you’d otherwise discard.
YIELDS: About 12 teaspoons
12 eggshells
- Collect washed eggshells in the refrigerator until you have 1 dozen or enough to fill a cookie sheet. Eggshells will begin to dry while in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 200°F.
- Spread the eggshells on a cookie sheet and bake for 10–15 minutes. They should be completely dry. (If you washed the eggshells shortly before baking, allow extra baking time. Eggshells must be completely dry before grinding.)
- Grind the eggshells in a clean coffee grinder or a blender until all large pieces are ground to a powder. A mortar and pestle is also a great way to grind to a powder.
- Store in a lidded jar. Store in a dry place for up to 2 months.
If you’re feeding a homemade diet, you’ll want to add about
1
⁄
2
teaspoon ground eggshell per pound of fresh food. If you feed both fresh food and commercial food, just add the eggshell to the fresh portion of the meal.
Quick and easy to prepare, this whole meal can be made ahead of time to offer several days of breakfasts and dinners for your dog.
YIELDS: 16 cups
4 pounds lean ground turkey
1
⁄
2
pound organic beef liver or chicken liver, rinsed and diced
4 eggs
2 cups puréed carrots, steamed
2 cups puréed potatoes, steamed
2 cups puréed green beans, steamed
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine all ingredients and divide into four 8" × 4" × 2
1
⁄
2
" loaf pans. Each should be about
3
⁄
4
full. Bake for 1 hour. Drain off any grease. - Cool and refrigerate 1 week’s worth of food. Double-wrap remaining meatloaf in foil or place in a zip-top plastic bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
Ground chicken, ground lamb, or ground beef can be substituted in this recipe. Other substitutions include broccoli (with stems), asparagus, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, peas, squash, zucchini, and more.
This template for an easy-to-prepare raw loaf can serve as the framework for the meat and vegetables that are on sale at your local market. An excellent way to take advantage of seasonal produce, the meatloaf provides enough variety for your dog to never grow bored of his meals.
YIELDS: 6 cups
1 pound raw ground beef, bison, lamb, turkey, or chicken
2 cups puréed vegetables
1
⁄
4
cup liver, gizzards, or kidneys, rinsed
1
⁄
2
cup organic apple cider vinegar
1
⁄
2
cup low-fat plain yogurt
3 eggs with shells, finely broken
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Australian veterinarian Dr. Ian Billinghurst, author of
Give Your Dog a Bone
, is the founder of the BARF, or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, movement. Designed using raw meat, finely ground bones, offal, fruits, and vegetables, the BARF diet mimics the evolutionary diet of dogs.
Popeye’s favorite muscle food is also beneficial for dogs when fed in moderate quantities. Spinach is full of vitamins and is a good source of lutein, which promotes ocular health.
YIELDS: 6 cups
2 jumbo eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cooked brown rice, chilled
2 loose cups fresh spinach, chopped
1 (8.5-ounce) can sprats, drained and chopped
- Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray. Break eggs into a small bowl and whip with a fork. Pour eggs into skillet and cook over medium heat until firm. Remove from heat.
- Remove eggs from skillet and cut into strips.
- Return skillet to stove over medium heat and add olive oil. Add rice to skillet, stirring continuously until warmed, then add spinach. Cook until spinach wilts. Add sprats and eggs, stirring until mixed.
- Cool before serving. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
We’ve all heard of Jack Sprat, but what, exactly, are sprats? These tiny fish resemble sardines and sometimes pass for their maritime cousins in the grocery store. Like sardines, canned sprats are oily and fragrant, sure to appeal to the dog palate. They are a high-protein fish and are considered to be a good source of vitamin B
12
.
Breakfast Dishes
Our dogs like to get up early and head outside to patrol the yard before returning indoors for their breakfast. Of course, that means we are up early, too. It’s nice that most of these doggie breakfasts can be prepared ahead of time and served in a jiffy. In fact, we sometimes use the same plan for our own breakfasts by making breakfast quiches that can be quickly reheated. Start your dog’s day with healthy choices—and a great bonding experience—by cooking for the two of you!
