Homemade Dog Food

I am mainly posting this here for my own reference but if anyone else is interested in making their own dog food, Awesome!

My dog has pretty bad allergies, and I recently saw a holistic vet because our regular vet was out of ideas and wanted to put our little Penny on a daily drug forever. The holistic vet said to feed her mustard greens, kale and beet green to sooth her hot spots and cantaloupe and watermelon to cool her insides. I am skeptical, but am also willing to try anything to relive my little pooch.

I decided rather than just feeding her some kale with every meal I would try making her fresh food from scratch. Penny is 15lbs and needs 550kcal per day (I weighed it on my scale after I prepared it and it was around 749g of this food per day), so this recipe makes enough for 7 days (2 meals per day). You can substitute the protein for whatever you dog likes, but Penny has food allergies, so I went with bison and all organic veggies.

Organic Whole Food Dog Food
770g Lean Ground Bison
2 cups Quinoa
6 Broccoli Stalks
1 1/2 cups Carrots
2 large Yams
1 bag Frozen Peas, Corn & Carrots
2 bunch chopped Kale
2 bunch chopped Mustard Greens

Cook Quinoa. You can cook it ahead of time as well and just leave it refrigerated until you are ready for it.

Steam kale for 5 minutes and set aside.

In a food processor add chopped broccoli, carrots, and yams and process until all big chunks are gone. Add to a boiling pot of water with frozen bag of veggies and boil for 15 minutes. Strain the water out and put it into a large bowl. Add the quinoa, kale, and mustard greens.

In a frying pan, saute bison until cooked. Add to large bowl and mix all the ingredients together. Cover and put in the fridge to cool off.

Food will last 3 days refrigerated, so freeze the rest into meal sized portions. To thaw, I just add a little hot water to the food and stir, or you can microwave.

Sidenote: I am going to add some multi vitamins into the next batch as well for added nutrients.

Spicy Moroccan Tomato Tagine

I had the most amazing breakfast at the Medina Cafe a few weeks ago in Vancouver. I have never made any moroccan dishes before but immediately I thought “I have to make this”. It’s a super simple, healthy and delicious meal! I’ve made this a few times since discovering this recipe and it makes a really great dinner. You can also add moroccan (Kefta) meatballs if you aren’t veggie (I made some for my boyfriend) and just cooked them on the side with some of the sauce from the tagine.

Serves 2

Sauce Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh, ripe roma tomatoes
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 can chickpeas
spinach or other greens

Topping:
4 eggs
1 avocado

Preparation:

Cut the tomatoes in half, seed and chop them.

Mix the tomatoes, onions and the rest of the sauce ingredients in the base of a tagine or in a large, deep skillet. Cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat (about 10 minutes).

Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low, just enough heat to maintain the simmer but low enough to avoid scorching. Allow the tomatoes to cook for about 50 minutes, or until the sauce is thick.

Break the eggs over the top of the sauce, and cover. Cook for an additional 7 to 10 minutes, until the egg whites are solid and the yolks are partially set. Top with avocado and serve immediately with fresh bread.