Welcome to My Homemade Dog Food Cooking Class!
I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I have for the past 16 years! There are a few important tips about home cooking that I would love for you to read up on. I will touch on them here, but please visit the other articles in this app for more information.
To start off, I always want everyone to think about longevity. We are in this for the long haul! It’s easy to find an overcomplicated recipe online, or worse, one that’s not balanced properly, and embark on this adventure. However, I want you to keep in mind that we want a recipe that is easy enough to keep up with the hustle and bustle of daily life. This is the recipe for you to print.
Firstly, the most important part of home cooking is making sure you have a proper mineral supplement. No matter what you are adding to your food—organs, fruits, vegetables, seeds—it is almost impossible to ensure that your dog is getting their daily required intake. For that reason, I always suggest sticking to a professionally designed, lab- and trial-tested mineral mix derived from all-natural sources. We don’t want an artificial mineral mix because it’s harder for your dog’s body to absorb, just like a compressed vitamin would be for you. We are trying to create optimal health! This calls for my Mineral Mix, which you can purchase here. It’s great for dogs of all life stages and activity levels.
Next, I want to talk about protein. I only ever recommend ground protein because it’s easiest to manage when it comes to measuring out daily meals, and it’s also the only way we are going to get a defined protein-to-fat ratio. I cannot express how important fats are to your dog. It is imperative that you do not skim the fat off of your recipe! It is not necessary to wash meats or remove any fat. The fat ratio has been accounted for in this recipe, and I recommend 85/15 for dogs, with the exception of those who need a lower-fat diet, like dogs with pancreatitis issues or senior dogs looking to shed some pounds. However, we are not going to go below 7% fat in our protein. There is going to be a 93/7 ratio. You can choose whatever protein you like. Check out the quiz for foods in the app to figure out which ones might be best for your dog. Just make sure you’re always doing the research to figure out what your ratio is if you are not using ground meat. If you are vegan, I hear you! I have modifications to the recipe for you here.
I want to talk briefly about vegetables before we get started. It is not a cop-out to use frozen vegetables! They are picked and frozen much quicker than vegetables on the shelf in your produce section; therefore, they are sometimes even more nutrient-dense than fresh veggies. You can make that decision on your own. If you decide to meal prep and freeze this, you need to make sure that you are blanching your fresh veggies per their directed blanching times, which you can easily find on Google. I also recommend pre-prepping your vegetable quota. The total vegetable amount of this recipe is one cup for a single batch and two cups for a double batch. It is much easier on you if you make a big batch of veggies with your food processor or blender. Puréeing them helps with picky eaters, and it also aids in digestion. Freeze them in one- or two-cup sections and then pull them out when you’re ready to make a meal.
Some tips and tricks when you are cooking your meal: For the initial ground meat, I love my tools on my Amazon shop, so check them out if you have any interest or need to stock up on your kitchen tools. You’re also going to want to make sure you have a pot that’s big enough. All of this can be done in a crockpot; just make sure that the total recipe yield will fit.
We are starting this recipe with our meat and water. The reason we’re adding water while cooking our meat is to make sure that it’s gently cooked. We never want to brown our meat because that creates carcinogens. You can turn up the heat higher to get started, but make sure you are constantly watching it if it is on anything above medium. Once your meat is mixed in with your water, you can add your egg and just stir, breaking the yolk.
We are adding eggs to this recipe. However, the way that we are adding them—by stirring them into the cooking meat—is going to make them a soft-boiled egg. This is not equivalent to scrambling eggs and feeding them to your dog, as those will not be digested well. The only way I promote serving an egg alone to your dog is in raw form or as a soft-boiled or poached egg. Eggs are fantastic and are 100% digestible protein. I do not recommend feeding the eggshells; see my article referencing that.
Once our meat is cooked through and we don’t see any more pink, we are going to turn the burner all the way down to low and add our vegetables. If our vegetables are frozen, we don’t have to cook them as long. However, we are going to make sure we are not pureeing them beforehand. Use a potato masher, avocado masher, or just a fork to crush them as they cook. Be careful not to burn yourself!
Once our veggies are all mixed in and crushed, we are going to add our oats to soak up the remaining water. They’re going to continue to soak up water over time. Oats are the only grain I recommend and make sure to get glyphosate free! All grains are sprayed with harmful pesticides and we don't want that in our food. Also, always rolled, never quick oats, they lack the nutritional value. You can use quinoa if you need to, but check out my info on substitutions here. Our grain quota is only 10%, but it is vital for their fiber, energy, and feeling sustained.
Next, we are going to add our coconut oil. Make sure you’re always getting organic, unrefined, and virgin. You can add this when it’s still hot, as it has a high cooking temperature.
Then we are going to add our herbs: rosemary and parsley. If you have questions about the myths surrounding rosemary, check out this article. I prefer to cut them up with kitchen scissors. I find it to be easier. Just make sure to measure it out beforehand.
We do add garlic to this recipe. The only reason it is on the bad food list is because of a study where they fed heads of garlic to dogs, and they got an upset stomach. No one died. It is perfectly fine, acceptable, and recommended to give garlic to your dog in certain proportions. Every holistic vet will recommend garlic for your dog. It’s nature’s antibiotic! We are just going to make sure that we crush it fully. I prefer to use a garlic press, but you can also mince it. We are going to wait 15 minutes before we add it to food that is hot, or we can wait until it cools and then add it. You can also add it at the time of feeding.
Lastly, we are going to add our mineral mix. My mineral mix is heat-tolerant, so it’s OK if the food is still warm. Picky dogs love the taste of this mineral mix, so even if you’re using your own recipe right now or just want to add a topper to some kibble, it’s absolutely fantastic and highly recommended. This is going to make sure we are balanced in our vitamins, nutrients, and calcium so that we don’t create any health issues while trying to cure them!
You can find a feeding calculator on my website here and the feeding recommendations here. Make sure to always keep an eye on your dog’s weight. There’s a great article here about maintaining a healthy weight and knowing where your dog is on the scale. Some dogs require more food than others, so use feeding guidelines as guidelines. Your dog may need more, but also if they are burning through food or not absorbing it, you might need to see your vet. Make sure you are measuring portions using a measuring cup and scraping off the top. We don’t want to mound our measuring cup when we are giving meals. This recipe will help dogs lose weight quickly and gain weight quickly, so we want to make sure we stick to our proportions unless otherwise advised or needed.
For meal prepping, I recommend putting your food into a muffin tin. It’s usually easiest if you do it in your dog’s meal portions, or just half-cup portions. Take them out and put them into a container or bag in the freezer to save space. I pull one down the night before to thaw for the next day. Food in this form thaws a lot faster than if it’s in a Tupperware container. You can keep your food in the freezer and in the fridge for up to three days.
As you can see, my dogs absolutely adore it. It is my secret weapon for healing dogs who are unwell, and I hope it brings happiness and health to your dog and your home. Bone appetit!