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With the pet food recall I have received more than 200 emails and hits on my web site asking me to help with cooking for your pet. For those of you who do not know, I have written 4 cookbooks, 3 of them being doggie cookbooks, called, No Barking at the Table I & II. And the new revised No Barking at the Table III, due out this summer. It is very important to know that there are lots of types of food that dogs cannot have, for example, chocolate, onions, raisins, grapes, just to name a few. Look back to some of my other tips, I have a list of foods to not feed to your dog.
I stress in all my books and I want to stress it here, please consult with your vet first before cooking for your pet. I know the recent pet food recall scare has invoked fear in all of us, not knowing what to feed our pets. But going directly to a human food diet, can be stressful on your pet system and not necessarily a healthy alternative. I am a firm believer in kibble, as it offers a balanced diet for dogs and helps to clean their teeth in the action of a hard crunchy food. Once you have the ok from your vet, you can start to incorporate cooking for your pet, there are a few popular ideas out there. One of them is the RAW food diet. I am not myself a big fan of the raw food diet but, with that being said, I do know a lot of people that follow it and have great success with it. Again, with any other diet, the RAW food diet will take some research and working closely with your vet and your breeder. When creating a balanced diet for our dogs, we need to consider what’s important in their diet: Protein, Carborhydates, Vegetables, Vitamins, a small amount of salt, fat preferably the olive oil fat, let me break this down even easier. Normally, without this pet food recall, in my cookbooks I suggest that the food and treats that I offer, should not be more than 10 to 15% of your dog's daily diet. With this food recall, if you are considering totally cooking for your pet, you will have to work out with your vet the portions and the mineral supplements needed because each dog is different, considering the age, weight and how much exercise your pet gets.
For example, proteins can be Lamb, Ground Beef, Ground Turkey, Ground Chicken, Ground Pork, Fish (i.e. Salmon, Sardine). Carbohydrates: Brown Rice, White Rice, Potatoes, Pasta, Sweet Potatoes. Vegetables: Carrots, Green Beans, Broccoli, Sea Kelp, Pumpkin, Squash, just to name a few. One of the things I find so funny, is when you travel around the world you find that different cultures feed their dog different foods. For example, when I was in Japan, researching my new book, Your Pets Around the World, the dog's main food source is fish. In Italy, they sell 40 pounds bags of pasta in the pet store. I have come to find it is truly a cultural lifestyle.
Today’s recipe is one of my favorites, this is one that I make at least once a month, they freeze beautifully, and you can add everything but the kitchen sink to it. The name of the recipe is “Little Man’s Loaf”. Not only is this recipe have a little extra protein boost in it, when you slice it open it’s very pretty. Here’s what you will need.
“Little Man’s Loaf” (serves 12)
Silicone mini-loaf pan (you can find these at Target or any cooking supply store, these are great, my loaf pan has 12 mini loaves).
Large glass mixing bowl
12 hard boiled eggs (deshelled)
3 raw eggs
2 pounds of ground lamb
1/2 pound of ground beef
2 cups of cooked brown rice
1/4 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley
4 chopped carrots
1 cup chopped green beans
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
12 strips of raw bacon (for top)
1/2 cup of dry plain bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350°. In a mixing bowl, mix together everything except for your hard boiled eggs, your ketchup, and bacon.
Pre-spray your silicone pan with non-stick spray. Now here comes the fun part. I bet you were waiting for the hard boiled eggs? Take a small amount of your meat mixture place in the bottom of the pan, now set a hard boiled egg on top. Then cover the hard boiled egg with the rest of your meat mixture. Continue this with all 12 of your mini loaf pans, not to worry, if your mini loaf pan only has 6, then make six small loaves at a time, (meat, egg, meat), so what you are doing is placing the egg in the center of the meat, because when it is cooked, when you slice it, it’s beautiful.
Now it’s time for the ketchup and the bacon. When all your loaves are in your pan, before placing in the oven, spread some ketchup on the top of each loaf, and place one piece of bacon on top. This adds great flavor and some fat.
Bake for one hour and forty minutes. Take it out of the oven, cool for one hour, and now you're ready to serve “Little Man’s Loaf”. These freeze beautifully!
This is a fun easy recipe, from start to finish, it will take about 2 hours. Well worth it for the joy you will see in your Little Man’s life when he’s eating his loaf. With this recipe, if you're going down the road of totally cooking for your pet, this is where I would consult with a VET to find out what type of vitamin supplements you can add to this recipe, i.e., Calcium, Vitamin B12, and some other nutrients that dogs will need, if you are changing their diet. I hope you enjoy this as much as my three boys do.
Copyright 2007, 'THE WILD LIFE' RADIO SHOW. Are you looking to make healthy homemade dog food? Do you need to learn all the in's and out's? Then you have come to the right place. go to http://www.thewildliferadio.com and then on the home page go to COOKING WITH WENDY.
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