Growing up, we always had larger breed dogs, and small dogs weren't really my thing, UNTIL this yummy dog entered my life in 2008. She was homeless, dirty, filled with fleas, and yet, I was so in love; the connection was immediate. For the first time I would be taking a lot of responsibility for a dog. First thing I did was research on more natural and healthier approaches to taking care of a dog. I went to the library and I got a DVD by Gary Null about Holistic pet care. One of the things mentioned that really stuck, was the use of BHT, which you will see in some (namely larger "name brand") dog food. BHT is used as a preservative, but that same preservative is also used on tires. Can someone say, yuck? I also noticed one day while looking at a cereal box for humans that BHT was used for the box. No bueno. Gary cooks all the food for his pets, which is wonderful, however I tried it for a couple weeks and found it to be too time consuming to cook a small amount of food everyday. Since then I look for healthier dog food such as Newman's, Halo, etc. She gets a mix of dry and canned foods. Also, something I learned on the video was the benefit of flax oil for the dogs heart and coat.Recently it hit me that I can make a larger amount of food, pack it individually and freeze it. I came up with this recipe and she loves it. I take out one serving and thaw it out the night before so it can be ready the next morning. Also, once I serve it, I pour a good teaspoon of organic flax oil on top of it (she loves it on it's own, but doing this makes one step less.) By the way, cats are carnivores not dogs, which I thought them to be; still giving dogs meat is o.k. but not completely necessary if it's something you don't agree with.
Nana's homemade dog food
1 cup organic barley
Water (check barley package for amount)
2 organic carrots, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled, chopped into chunks
1 yam, peeled chopped into chunks
3-5 slices turkey bacon, cooked and cut into smaller pieces (I prefer Applegate Organic Turkey bacon)
In a pot I add the water and barley and cook for about 15 minutes before throwing in the carrots, sweet potato and yam. I cook everything for the remaining time together (see barley package instructions for length of time of cooking.) Once cooked, I mash all together till in small chunks. Lastly, I mix in the turkey bacon pieces. And voila!
I then divide the servings into BPA-free containers and put in the freezer until ready to use. If you will be using all of the food within a few days, it should stay good in the refrigerator, but freeze if it will be longer than that. You can also double this recipe easily.
