Hot weather has arrived again at Irena Farm! Here's my recipe for a snack to recharge your dog after a hot day outside. I like these better than "Frosty Paws" as I feel they are more nutritious, and replenish energy, protein, electrolytes, and antioxidants.
Frozen Meat Muffins
This is for supplemental feeding only. Do not feed a dog immediately after heavy exercise - wait until he or she is no longer breathing heavily.
- 3 pounds ground meat, any variety - higher fat for active dogs, leaner for dogs who are "easy keepers"
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 pound berries, any kind (hint, if these are not in season, you can find frozen which work just as well)
- 2 cups whole grain - rolled oats, or I prefer to use barley as it's a "cooler" grain
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1/2 pound any type of veggies, steamed
Throw eggs, complete with shells, into blender and process until shells are ground. Throw in berries (thaw frozen berries), molasses, and veggies (if there's no room, divide the eggs and do it half at a time - I actually do all this in the meat grinder 
). Pour into a large bowl and add meat. Mix meat and egg mixture thoroughly. Fold in grain.
Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or grease thoroughly. I actually use silicone pans that I can turn inside out when they are frozen. I have dogs that range around the 40 pound mark, so I put 1/4 cup of the mixture in each tin. This makes a nice snack that doesn't interfere with their regular meals. For smaller dogs, one might want to put less in, or roll into balls and freeze on a cookie sheet. Freeze solid, then bag up and store in freezer. I feed them right out of the freezer, just like Frosty Paws, but you can thaw them and feed them "soft serve" or however you prefer.
For my dog who can't have grain, I steam sweet potatoes and mix them in instead of the grain. It makes a softer mixture, however, that might be difficult to roll into balls for smaller dogs.