calliecritturs
Posted : 8/26/2012 10:01:17 PM
I cook once a week (Sunday) and then portion it out meal by meal. I do it all in a tabletop roaster (it's almost like a slow cooker) - essentially I cook in stages. Hardest veg first, with the meat last. Never throw out the water you cook the veg in -- it just becomes "broth" and if there is any left by the time I cook the meat, I toss in a bit of oatmeal or barley to thicken that broth and stir in.
I would tell you to either talk to Monica Segal (http://www.monicasegal.com ) or go to her K9 Kitchen Yahoo Group (I think instructions for that are on her website). Or you can go to Mordana's (Sabine Contreras is her real name -- she knows some of the folks here because she used to hang out on here years ago). Both can start you off with a good balanced recipe so you can begin to figure out what you want to do.
I honestly don't use a recipe. Mine is typically about 35% meat, 45% veggies, 10% fat (or less), 10% grain & water. I vary the veggies as much as possible (and still keep my sanity) -- what color veggies are, how grown (root veg, vs. fruit of the vine, vs. above-ground, etc.) determines what vitamins/minerals veggies have. I have learned more about veggies since I've cooked for my dogs than *I* ever knew. Heck I didn't know what kale *was* until I started making it for the dogs!
I use ground meat simply because I work and I live in Florida with a sucky oven. I don't "bake" anything because it heats the house so terribly, so I've always cooked in water.
You will learn to haunt produce stands, bodegas, etc. to find inexpensive produce (my heart stopped when I had to pay $1.49 a pound for sweet potatos yesterday. urgh)
The very first dog I cooked for was a small pom/peke mix who developed pancreatitis. I cooked for her because I HAD to. And it was just ground beef and rice!! I'ce come a long way since then.
Watch the fat content of your meat -- dogs NEED fat in their diet -- but you don't want too much. It's not "cheaper" to use low grade hamburger and then have to cool it to get rid of excess fat and find out you don't have much meat left. White meat chicken is NOT better -- dark meat has more nutriiton in it than white meat does.
These are the things you'll learn hanging out on places like Monica's Yahoo group.
Good luck -- it's a good thing to do for your dogs!! Not necessarily cheaper than kibble. But you know what YOU have put into it is what is in there. No nasty preservatives you weren't counting on.
ALSO - you **will** need to supplement calcium. I use Animal Essentials Sea Calcium (1 teas. to 1 pound of meat) and other people use ground egg shells and some use food-grade bone meal. Bone meal gets tough to figure your proper ratio so I've gone back to the sea calcium But that's the only thing you MUST add as a supplement.
I also use 1-2 tins of sardines per dog per week for my omega 3's. So I don't supplement with "fish oil". sometimes I just plain use fish in my recipes.