Grocery store items

    • Gold Top Dog

    Grocery store items

    Those of you that feed raw or home-cooked, what do you get at your local grocery store? I'm starting to add in more fresh toppings to the dogs' meals, but I'm not entirely sure where to start, especially with what kind of meats/bones are OK. I'm also trying to convince my SO that feeding three dogs home-cooked (or at least more home-cooked) won't break the bank if we buy meat/veggies that are on sale while we are out grocery shopping anyway. Anything and everything that you add that can be bought, go ahead and list it here. And if it happens to be economical as well, all the better. :)
    • Gold Top Dog

    I usually get whatever 'meat' is on sale - and if it's a GOOD sale I have the meat dept. wrap up 1lb servings for me so I can put them straight in the freezer.

    Veggies I usually get at a produce stand - they're cheaper but not as 'pretty' - I don't really care about pretty! I'm chopping it up, anyway. I've been a little tight in the budget lately so I've been using frozen. My Publix had Bird's Eye frozen veggies 50% off for a few weeks so I stocked up!

    • Gold Top Dog

    I prefer to go with seasonal items so I can buy local.  We are going to a greens gleaning in a few weeks!  Most of it will go to charity but there will be a lot of waste I can take home to the dogs.  I have a big freezer so I can freeze excess and use it for weeks.  Even without a lot of space you can steam and chop (process) stuff and store it in zippy bags.

    Carby veggies make cheap and yummy treats.  White potatoe and carrot stewed in leftover meat scraps from dinner make a treat comparable to the most expensive canned  foods.  Sweet potatoes are great dried or baked and mashed.  Baby carrots are loved by many dogs.  Apples are terrific cooked or fresh.  Berries (get the frozen packages) are a super food with huge doses of antioxidants, and dogs love the sweet taste.

    Ethnic markets are the best place to find produce around here.  I branch out into some of the exotics for a bit of variety and because it's rediculaously cheap.  Maca, jicama, tropical fruits.

    On meat, check the "offal" section of your market.  Lung and heart are both muscle meats and usually extremely cheap.  don't use huge amounts of other organ meats like liver and kidney but you can include about half an ounce (pre-cooked weight) in for a really tasty treat.  Sometimes if you shop late at night right before close, you'll see stuff marked down.  Or the second the doors close if you are a morning person.

    My dogs' regular diet is set.  I don't shop randomly for the bulk of their nutrition.  With my diet plans I know tht every week I will need X pounds of pork rib, X pounds of beef heart, X pounds of pork kidney, X pounds of chicken quarters, X pounds of boneless thigh meat.  Ditto on the veggies and carbs. 

    Because I know ahead of time what I'm going to need, I can take advantage of sales and stock up.  I'm generally two to three weeks ahead on my shopping and prep.  That really helps at times like this when I'm unable to do a lot of work.  and it saves a ton of money over hoping that something other than chicken quarters is on sale that week!

    • Gold Top Dog

    you can feed pretty much anything other than the usual "no onions no raisins no chocolate" list. I buy anything that is on sale, if it's a good sale I get lots and stock up the freezer. Usually the large cuts of meat, like whole birds and whole picnic shoulders are more economical, even without sales, than anything that's been processed and chopped up for you.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Walmart has 10# bags of leg quarters for .52/pound, it's great. I stocked up on 50-60# of the stuff for around $30, and our local locker plant has beef heart for a good price.

    I buy Honest Kitchen's Preference for a veggie/fruit premix that I just add my homecooked meats too, it's SO much easier then buying and cutting up all the veggies myself.

    I too have 3 dogs, one 55# puppy and 2 small 6-7# dogs, plus I'm feeding my sisters 5# dog as well, it's still cheaper then the $120-150 I was spending on good quality dry and canned foods each month.

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    Other than pork (which I'm saving as a potential elmination diet item in case Prancer develops food allergies) I feed whatever meat I'm making for the family.   I only buy meat for the humans if its on sale.     I just buy a cut thats a little larger than I normally would.

     In the freezer I always have chicken hearts (raw), beef heart slices (lightly boiled), "turkey balls" (ground turkey meat balls, cooked slightly then individually frozen) and chicken gizzards (to clean teeth).    I also always have a stock of sardines and canned salmon.  I use these, or eggs, on nights I either don't have enough leftovers or am eating something I wouldn't give her (pork or fatty meats are off the list).

     Veggies I use seasonal on sale (from produce stand) or frozen - whatever is cheaper.   The only expensive items I use in my veggie mush are blueberries (usually frozen) and shiittake mushrooms (I buy the dried ones).

     I feed 1/3rd homecooked but since she only weighs 13 lbs its not a noticeable expense.