Sorry for the Hiatus!

I have been so busy lately, and awfully neglectful of this blog! Here is what we had for dinner tonight:
(recipe coming soon!)

Dinner Tonight!

Tonight for dinner we (our family and the dogs), had meatloaf, baked potatoes, and beets! The meatloaf was from Sprouts it's called the Turkey Basil Meatloaf. Then we baked potatoes, and cooked up some beets ( I don't remember what kind of beets they are, they are from one of the local farmer's at our farmer's market hence the different colors).

"Dog Food" What's the harm? (part 1)

Many people do not believe there is anything "wrong" with dry dog food.
Consider this:

According to "The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog" by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown, D.V.M,
"Raw foods [or homemade cooking] are the most easily digested by a dog. They pass through the dog's stomach and into the intestinal tract in 4 1/2 hours. So, after that time span, dogs are already receiving the energy from that food."

Then they go on to say:

"Dry food takes up to 16 hours. So if you choose to feed your dog any kind of processed dog food, it will be in his stomach morning, noon, and night. So what's the point?"

This next paragraph is what really got me thinking....

"Enzymes make the body tick. They are either already contained in the body, or made through what we feed our dogs. When that dry dog food sits in the stomach of a dog, it does so because there are not enough enzymes in the stomach to break it down. Remember, a dog's stomach is designed to deal with [whole foods]. So the stomach sends a message to the brain, "Hey, brain, we need some more enzymes down here." And the brain comes back, "Okay, okay, but I need some time." It then gathers enzymes from the heart, the liver, the kidneys, and other parts of the body to be transported to the stomach. In the meantime, the food sits there until enough enzymes are collected for digestion. This process is called enzyme robbing. Robbing various organs of the body of the enzymes that they themselves need to function correctly can have a detrimental effect on these organs. This situation can give a dog a predisposition for problems in those organs, can hasten disease, and reduce the life span of the dog."

Convinced yet?

(note: while this book contains valuable information, it is written on the premises of feeding raw, and like I said before I do not recommend the raw diet the way our food industry is)

Crustless Spinach Ricotta Pie

This is what our dogs had for breakfast today!

Crust less Spinach Ricotta Pie

Ingredients:

1 container (15 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese (we made our own with goat's milk)
6 large eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated mozzarella cheese (again we made the goat milk version because of our Sweet Sophie's cow milk intolerance)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 c milk
1/2 c (loosely packed)    fresh basil leaves (chopped)
1/2 c (loosely packed)    fresh mint leaves (chopped)
1 lb frozen spinach

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk ricotta, eggs, salt, and pepper until blended.

2) Whisk milk into ricotta mixture. Stir in basil and mint.

3) Pour mixture into a 10-12 in greased pie pan. Top with mozzarella. Bake pie 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned and set around edge and center is puffed. Let stand at least 5 min before serving.
(note: this recipe fed all 6 (5 big, 1 small) of our dogs. We did not eat this with them).

(We cooked it in our 12in electric skillet at 300 degrees F, so it did not brown on top, yours will look slightly different)

List of toxic foods

Before you embark on your own journey of feeding Fido, you must know the foods that are toxic to dogs. Here is a list:

Onions and onion powder
Avocados
Raisins
Nuts (they are hard to digest, and Macadamia nuts are toxic!)
Chocolate
Mushrooms
Alcoholic Beverages
Apple Seeds
Apricot Pits
Cherry Pits
Candy containing the sweetener Xylitol
Coffee
Grapes
Hops
Moldy Foods
Mustard Seeds
Peach Pits
Potato Leaves and Stems (also avoid feeding green potatoes ie: those exposed to sunlight as these are toxic)
Rhubarb Leaves
Large quantities of Salt
Tea
Tomato Leaves and Stems
Yeast Dough (uncooked)
Some places say garlic is not good, others say it is good for you pet. I say use your gut, or in moderation.

What we had for breakfast and dinner!

My goal is to update this blog everyday so that you will have lots of recipes and information to cook for your four legged friend!
So...here are your first recipes! :)

Sophie waiting patiently:

Breakfast:

For breakfast this morning, I made the dogs scrambled eggs and buttered toast. Just in case you've never made scrambled eggs before, I'll explain. First you figure out how many eggs you need. I used about (2) eggs  per dog. Then you add some milk (just a little), some pepper and salt (just a couple shakes), and whisk it all together until all the yolks are beaten. Then you pour contents into a buttered skillet that is preheated to about medium. Stir constantly (I like to use a butter knife for this in case I get some that stick). Once the eggs are cooked and fluffy, remove from heat. Then I toast some bread, butter it, and break it into bite size pieces. Next to the bread I put a a couple spoon fulls of eggs and top it all with grated cheese and some slices of lunch meat (not pictured). Voila! Breakfast is done! Here is a picture:

Note: Eggs are a Super food! They are almost a complete food, and only lack Vitamin C and sugars. Plus they fill you up longer!

Dinner

Sausage Jambalaya

( recipe serves 4. If you have a big dog 50lbs or over count them as a serving/person. For a small dog, feed them the same amount as you would reg. dry dog food. For my family of 4 people and 6 dogs, we tripled the recipe).

Ingredients:

8 oz chicken sausage (sliced 1/4 in thick)

1 can(s) (14 1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 cup uncooked rice (regular is better than instant, prepare as you normally would)

8 oz chicken tenders or chicken breast cut up into bite size pieces

Directions:

In a medium skillet, add sausage, tomatoes with their juice, chicken, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 tsp. salt; heat to boiling on high. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Remove skillet from heat; let cool and serve on top of rice.

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog! Through this blog, I will be documenting my trials and tribulations of cooking for Man's Best Friend. First off, I'd like to say I am not a licensed vet. Nor, am I an "expert" in canine nutrition. What I am is a fed up, frustrated, and a determined dog lover/parent. I currently have six dogs; (1) Chihuahua, (1) Poodle, (1) Lab, (2) Labradoodles, and (1) Goldendoodle. All my life I have had at least two dogs, and recently we lost our senior Rottweiler to old age. She was 14 years old, which is really old for a breed with a life expectancy of 10-12 years. However, I believe wholeheartedly that if we had started cooking for her when she was younger, she would have easily surpassed that age. I have started this blog to inform and help people that are looking for an alternative to processed dog food. The web is a vast place, and I myself have become frustrated with the lack of information and contradicting opinions. That said, I am setting out on a path that feels right to me. If you do not agree with some of the things I recommend or say, then so be it. All I ask is that you have an open mind, and comment respectfully :)