Sunday, December 2, 2012
Best Dog Bed for a Large Dog or Multiple Dogs!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Homemade Dog Food
I used to make food for my Beagle back when she first came to live with us about 3 years ago, but then I got away from that. After spending so much money on store bought kibble for my Beagle, Jade, and our Bloodhound Mix pup, Sammy, I have decided to revisit homemade cooked dog food because it is inexpensive and so healthy!
Sammy has been with us since May 2012, and she was just 12 weeks old and a timid, bone-thin 16-lbs riddled with fleas and hookworms :( However, with a lot of love she is now nearing 11-months old and about 75-lbs! She is actually still thin looking because that is the way God made her, but she is so much more healthy :) She eats so much! Homemade food is a good way to spend less on food for the dogs, while giving them even better nutrition.
A good, quick recipe is ground beef, rice, and hard boiled eggs. Cook all ingredients separately, then mash all together in a bowl, and store in the fridge. I got about 5 days (2 meals a day for both dogs) with a 3-lb roll of ground beef, 3 cups rice (cooked it yields a larger volume), and 6 eggs hardboiled. You can use any cut of meat on sale at the grocery though, as well as, canned tuna in oil (about once per week), sweet potatoes, and easy-to-digest veggies like green beans and carrots cooked of course. White rice is best to use because it is easier for them to digest. Dogs have a very different digestive tract than we do. There are certain foods that can be toxic to dogs, including but not limited to, grapes, raisins, chocolate, garlic, cooked bones, etc.
Here is a picture of Sammy and Jade when we first "acquired" our sweet and feisty Sammy Pants. After that is a more current pic. . .big difference! Today they are eating fish, white rice, hard boiled eggs, and oatmeal.
Sammy has been with us since May 2012, and she was just 12 weeks old and a timid, bone-thin 16-lbs riddled with fleas and hookworms :( However, with a lot of love she is now nearing 11-months old and about 75-lbs! She is actually still thin looking because that is the way God made her, but she is so much more healthy :) She eats so much! Homemade food is a good way to spend less on food for the dogs, while giving them even better nutrition.
A good, quick recipe is ground beef, rice, and hard boiled eggs. Cook all ingredients separately, then mash all together in a bowl, and store in the fridge. I got about 5 days (2 meals a day for both dogs) with a 3-lb roll of ground beef, 3 cups rice (cooked it yields a larger volume), and 6 eggs hardboiled. You can use any cut of meat on sale at the grocery though, as well as, canned tuna in oil (about once per week), sweet potatoes, and easy-to-digest veggies like green beans and carrots cooked of course. White rice is best to use because it is easier for them to digest. Dogs have a very different digestive tract than we do. There are certain foods that can be toxic to dogs, including but not limited to, grapes, raisins, chocolate, garlic, cooked bones, etc.
Here is a picture of Sammy and Jade when we first "acquired" our sweet and feisty Sammy Pants. After that is a more current pic. . .big difference! Today they are eating fish, white rice, hard boiled eggs, and oatmeal.
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| Sammy & Jade April 29, 2012 |
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| Sammy, Boo, & Jade October 2012 |
Monday, April 23, 2012
Healthy Ginger Dog Cookies
Ingredients:
Steel-cut Oatmeal (ground to flour in blender)
Beef Broth, low-sodium
Ginger
Ground flax-seed
Baking Powder
Butter, unsalted
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, knead, roll out, cut shapes, bake at 375 F. until slightly hard. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
Steel-cut Oatmeal (ground to flour in blender)
Beef Broth, low-sodium
Ginger
Ground flax-seed
Baking Powder
Butter, unsalted
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, knead, roll out, cut shapes, bake at 375 F. until slightly hard. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Jade's 3rd B-day! Treats and Cake Oh My!
Jade turned 3 years old on March 22nd. She is having a joint B-day Paw-ty at a local doggie daycare! I have never done this before, so thank goodness the other b-day doggie's owner is taking care of a lot of the details. I wanted to share my recipe I created for Jade's B-day cake!
Dog Birthday Cake Recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 C. powdered kibble
1/4 C. wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. olive oil
1/4 C. beef broth
2 eggs
2 strips turkey bacon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use your dog's kibble they eat every day and "powder" it in the blender. Pour into a bowl and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, and mix well. Cook the turkey bacon in the microwave until crispy (about 2 minutes). Take the bacon off the plate to cool then rip into small pieces. Add the wet mixture and the turkey bacon to the dry mixture. Stir well with a spatula. Pour into a small (4" by 5") cake pan. MAKE SURE THE CAKE PAN IS GREASED WELL! I did not grease the cake pan the first time and had to re-do the cake! I happened to have a small heart-shaped pan I found at Goodwill years ago, but any pan will do. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until it looks done and you can stick a tooth-pick in the middle and nothing comes off of it. The cake will pop right out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for an hour (you don't want the icing melting off).
Icing Directions:
Mix together about a 1/2 C. of Greek non-fat yogurt and 1/4 C. strawberry cream cheese. You can add a small amount of red food color if you want it to be extra pink. Using Greek yogurt is important because it is much thicker and easier to work with than regular yogurt. Store this in the fridge until you are ready to ice the cake.
You can decorate the cake however you please. Put it in the fridge until you are ready to give it to your dog, so the icing hardens.
Dog Birthday Cake Recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 C. powdered kibble
1/4 C. wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 C. olive oil
1/4 C. beef broth
2 eggs
2 strips turkey bacon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use your dog's kibble they eat every day and "powder" it in the blender. Pour into a bowl and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, and mix well. Cook the turkey bacon in the microwave until crispy (about 2 minutes). Take the bacon off the plate to cool then rip into small pieces. Add the wet mixture and the turkey bacon to the dry mixture. Stir well with a spatula. Pour into a small (4" by 5") cake pan. MAKE SURE THE CAKE PAN IS GREASED WELL! I did not grease the cake pan the first time and had to re-do the cake! I happened to have a small heart-shaped pan I found at Goodwill years ago, but any pan will do. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until it looks done and you can stick a tooth-pick in the middle and nothing comes off of it. The cake will pop right out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for an hour (you don't want the icing melting off).
Icing Directions:
Mix together about a 1/2 C. of Greek non-fat yogurt and 1/4 C. strawberry cream cheese. You can add a small amount of red food color if you want it to be extra pink. Using Greek yogurt is important because it is much thicker and easier to work with than regular yogurt. Store this in the fridge until you are ready to ice the cake.
You can decorate the cake however you please. Put it in the fridge until you are ready to give it to your dog, so the icing hardens.
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| Before Baking |
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| After Baking |
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| Finished Cake! |
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| Another shot of the finished cake! |
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Black Rice Treats
Ingredients:
Black Sweet Rice, ground to a flour in blender
Dog Kibble, ground to a flour in blender
Baking Powder
Water
Egg
Directions:
Add dry ingredients together. Add egg and water. Mix thoroughly with a spatula. Chill if needed to give time to allow the mixture to mix well together. Bake at 375 F. for 20-30 minutes. Turn oven off, and let them harden more in the oven.
*I used about a cup or two of kibble from this free sample pouch I got of Rachael Ray's Just 6 dog food.
*The sweet rice I decided to use because I had it for awhile and wasn't going to eat it. The best recipes occur when you get creative and use whatever is in your pantry!
Black Sweet Rice, ground to a flour in blender
Dog Kibble, ground to a flour in blender
Baking Powder
Water
Egg
Directions:
Add dry ingredients together. Add egg and water. Mix thoroughly with a spatula. Chill if needed to give time to allow the mixture to mix well together. Bake at 375 F. for 20-30 minutes. Turn oven off, and let them harden more in the oven.
*I used about a cup or two of kibble from this free sample pouch I got of Rachael Ray's Just 6 dog food.
*The sweet rice I decided to use because I had it for awhile and wasn't going to eat it. The best recipes occur when you get creative and use whatever is in your pantry!
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| Dry Mix |
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| Treats! |
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| Jade enjoying a winter walk |
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