Canine Cuisine

For pet’s sake: doesn’t your dog deserve to eat organic too?

By Christina Vecchiato

News reports from The Canadian Press have shown that commercial dog food can contain additives, chemicals, and other unhealthy ingredients that may negatively affect your pet’s health. Preparing homemade dog food ensures that you know what is going into your pet’s food. It’s also relatively inexpensive and fun to make. Try this recipe and you’ll be convinced.

Ingredients
4 cups of rice (brown or white)
4 cups of chicken broth
4 cups of water
1 large bunch of parsley
8 large carrots
1/4 head of cabbage
1 head of broccoli
2 celery stalks
1 pound each of cranberries and
blueberries
1 zucchini (if in season)
2 large apples (you can add more — more is good)
1/2 cup of green beans (fresh or frozen)
2 large yams
6 eggs
8–12 egg shells (Keep the egg shells you use during the week in a separate container. If you don’t have 8–12, then use what you have)
1 cup of peanut butter OR 1 cup of boiled lentils
2/3 cup of nutritional yeast
1 cup of flaxseed
5 cups of cooked rolled oats
1/2 cup of olive oil

SUPPLEMENTS
4 tablespoons of bone meal powder
1/3 cup of kelp powder
1 cup of lecithin
1 cup of brewer’s yeast

Instructions
1. Cook rice in broth and water until done; let cool. Steam or bake the yams. Poach the eggs; let cool.
Puree the yams and eggs together in a food processor; include yam skin.
2. Finely chop or grind the following in a food processor: parsley, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, celery, zucchini, apples, and green beans. You can prepare one ingredient at a time in your food processor. Since all the ingredients get mixed together you don’t need to wash the food processor in between.
3. Put all of the ingredients above into a vary large mixing bowl.
4. Add the following and stir well (use your hands): eggshells (baked until edges turn slightly brown, then ground in a coffee grinder), peanut butter or boiled lentils (used to bind all the ingredients and for added protein), nutritional yeast, flaxseed (partially ground in food processor), rolled oats, and olive oil.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together: bone meal powder, kelp powder, lecithin, and brewer’s yeast. Add 3/4 of a cup of this mixture to the large bowl of ingredients, and save the rest for the next batch.
6. Add a few pieces of raw red meat (calf or beef liver, and kidney are appropriate) when serving, for added protein:
1-3 ounces for dogs that weigh less than 30 pounds
2-3 ounces for dogs between 30 and 35 pounds
3-4 ounces for dogs between 35 and 60 pounds
4-6 ounces for dogs between 60 and 70 pound

Determine how much to feed your dog based on its weight. Average about 1 cup per serving (2 servings per day) for every 20 pounds your dog weighs. You can freeze individual portions, and defrost what you will need for the day.

Nota bene: Do not add any raw or cooked poultry to this recipe.