Making "Dog Food"
I've been making soft dog food for my mom's dogs for a while now. The little one is getting up there in age and can't handle kibble any more. Since he's supposed to be on a wheat-free diet, the canned stuff gets mighty expensive. So, I thought I'd give a go at making my own.
Looking at the labels on some of the canned stuff, and my own nutritional knowledge (those nutrition classes in college finally came in handy), I managed to cobble together a recipe. Refining it after each batch, I've managed to make something that's quite good. Yesterday, I made a batch and since I was hungry, I served up a heaping bowl for myself too. I added some ketchup (what doesn't go better with ketchup) and hot sauce along with a little salt and black pepper. It was DAMNED tasty, even though it looked like (and was technically) dog food.
Anyway, the recipe...
Soft "People" Food for Dogs
Recipe By :Michael Bennett
Makes 40 - 1/2 cup servings
Cooking Time: Approx. 1 hour
Amount Measure Ingredient
------------ ------------ --------------
3 cups lentils
3 cups brown rice
12 cups water
1/4 cup beef soup base
2 pounds ground beef (73% lean)
3 cups V-8® vegetable juice
1/4 cup parsley, freeze-dried
16 ounces mixed vegetables, frozen
2 cups water
5 TBSP cornstarch
PREPARATION
In a large dutch oven combine the lentils, brown rice, water and soup base. Bring to a boil. Cover. Lower to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Rice and lentils will be soupy. They will continue to absorb liquid upon standing.
Return the pot to the stove and use it to brown the ground beef. DO NOT drain the fat. Add the V-8 juice, parsley and the mixed veggies. Stir. Bring to a boil.
Combine the water and cornstarch. Stir well. Add to the ground beef mixture. Continue cooking, stirring often until thickened.
Add to the lentils and rice. Mix well to combine.
Portion into storage containers. Allow to cool and freeze. Can also be canned using a pressure canner.
NUTRITION
Per Serving: 187 Calories; 7g Fat (31.8% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 19mg Cholesterol; 351mg Sodium.
