In an effort to reduce costs and bolster my hounds diet I’ve recently begun making my own dog food. By the show of their tails wagging and the eager look of anticipation they give me while it’s cooling down, tells me that they love this new life.
Hahahahaha look at them here waiting by me while I’m busy dishing it up and letting it cool.
Look there are a few important things to remember about cooking up a lovely and nutritious meal for your beloved pet. Research your ingredients and be sure to avoid adding any salt while cooking. You can add all sorts of lovely additional herbs and supplements but for a start I kept it very basic. The idea is to build on it over time and adjust as and when my hounds require it.
My old girls obsessive scratching has been driving me nuts. Miss Peppa has always had a sensitive skin and as she’s getting on in the years it is becoming worse. So instead of buying the healthy food prepared at R40 per serving, I got into this new habit of making it myself.
The basic mix that I came up with contains a healthy mix of protein, fat, fiber and vegetables to meet the nutritional needs of my three very loved and spoilt hounds.
1kg Frozen Chicken Necks
1kg Rice
Ten Eggshells
1 Big Bowl of Carrots (Or any other fresh vegetables)
1kg Bag Mixed Frozen Vegetables
1 Cup of Chia Seeds
As a first step I start with boiling up the chicken necks in my electric pressure cooker for 2 hours. I do this as I want them to basically be falling apart and for the bones to be soft so as not to cause any digestive issues. You can really use any kind of protein source, just be aware of the fat content.
When I get to the last half an hour, I put the big bowel of carrots on the stove with a little bit of water to start cooking. At this point I also take eggshells that I’ve been saving up and stick them in the oven. The eggshells have all the wonderful minerals needed for your furbaby.
Once the carrots are a bit softer, I throw in the bag of frozen vegetables. Once this has happily all cooked up together, I mash it up. I mash it up as apparently my hounds can digest it better that way.
Who knows, makes sense to me and this way I can use up the water the vegetables cook in so I’m not losing any of the leached nutrients.
When I’m finally happy with the consistency of my cooked chicken necks I throw in enough rice and water and fill the rest of the pressure cooker pot. I then cook this for another 30 minutes.
Remember the eggshells? Well, those have cooled down and are now ready to be grinded down into a powder. This is where my assistant chef, Katalina comes in to assist.
Once everything is done, @therneau helps me to combine everything and I get stalked by my beloved hounds while they wait eagerly for their food to cool down. With this batch I got out 27 x 200g bags of food at a cost of around R3.50. Which is much cheaper than what I would have had to pay in the store for the fancier one.
The only negative is that my kids are not very happy with me when I open that pressure cooker valve, “Sheesh what is that smell?” they scream. To which I reply, “It’s not about you for a change, it’s about them.” Hahahahaha.
Thank you for Reading 😀
With Love Always, Justine.
All Photos Are My Own, Unless Sourced Otherwise lol 😂
Photo's taken with my Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Best meals prepared at home where you know what the dogs require, something I have done over decades of having pets in the home.
Big pot cooked slowly with fresh everything, normally change meat or possibly cook two together, chicken, livers, giblets, fresh veg in season, brown rice. Ox lungs minced when available makes a good change, to dampen smell cut a lemon in half and throw it in remove after cooking.
Raw black tripe frozen (cannot handle the smell otherwise) cut into cubes 4x4cm approx., jiffy wrap place all pieces in a plastic bag for easy retrieval. Hot day excellent ice pops to eat outdoors, black dirty tripe excellent for dogs system.
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Thank you very much for the suggestions, and I will definitely build on that. The frozen tripe cubes are an amazing idea, and I will definitely put that to use.
Older I got (lazier) I have not cooked chicken feet, neck or similar in some time, now 4 chicken breasts without bone to cook. Tips of raw chicken wings for doggo, he loves a bit of raw too.
Yes, it is a lot of work, so I totally get where you're coming from. I don't know if I'll be willing to part with my chicken wing tips, hahahaha. Thanks again for your feedback 😊
Saves a fortune in the long run, also healthier.
I hear you xxx
Thank you very much ❤️
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