Another Big Batch of Homemade Dog Food

December 13, 2023

Everyone loves a delicious, healthy home-cooked meal - even our pets.

Every few weeks, I set aside time to make my dogs, Crème Brûlée, Bête Noire, Empress Qin, and Emperor Han, a good supply of food. Preparing my own dog food has many benefits - fewer preservatives and additives, more varied and better ingredients and, of course, more of what I know my dogs will enjoy. I also know the food is from wholesome, organic, reputable, and local sources - that is very important to me. Last weekend, along with the help of my housekeeper, Elvira Rojas, and my longtime driver, Carlos "Uno" Villamil, we made a giant batch - filled with quality meats, quinoa, lots of nutritious vegetables, and even some delicious yogurt I made too.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: Are you hungry, Empress Qin? My dogs can smell all the delicious food being prepared just for them. I enjoy cooking for my dogs because I know exactly what they’re getting.

: First, I cut up heads of broccoli and boil them until tender.

: Look at these bright orange carrots. My dogs love carrots. They are low in calories and high in fiber and vitamins. Occasionally, crunching on raw carrots can also be good for their teeth.

: I used about four bags of frozen peas. Green peas are a good source of the B vitamin Thiamin, phosphorous, and potassium. Don’t overcook them – they only take a couple of minutes. Here, they are mixed in with the broccoli and chunks of the last pumpkin we grew this season.

: This is the cooked salmon. And watch out for bones. While some of the bones will be ground in a processor, it is a good idea to always carefully check for potentially dangerous bones.

: As each food is prepared, it is placed into one of several stainless steel bowls.

: Look how much we’ve prepared. I vary the food every time I make it based on what I can use from the gardens and what I already have on hand. I also added venison here, which is deer meat.

: Sweet potatoes are also great for digestive health because they’re high in dietary fiber. They’re low in fat and contain vitamin B6, vitamin C, and manganese, and they’re rich in the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene.

: Quinoa is an amazing gluten-free superfood with high levels of essential amino acids. It is a high protein grain type food, so give it in small amounts. When preparing homemade diets, be sure it is well-balanced. Research what your pet needs.

: Everything is well mixed. It looks good already!

: All the food is also run through a food processor. Here is Elvira mixing the processed food before it is put into containers. This step of running it through the food processor may seem extraneous; however, I have found that my dogs prefer their food ground rather than in big chunks.

: For my dog food, I use quart-sized containers. This step of filling the containers is done in a production line process, so it can be completed quickly and efficiently. Can you guess how many containers we filled? I always do a mental calculation to determine how many containers we need to put out on the counter. Here, the quarts of food are also left to cool a bit before securing the lids.

: I estimated 44-plastic containers, and we filled just under 44-quarts in all! Each lid is marked with the contents and the date it was prepared. If planning to freeze, only fill up to the first line around the container so it has room to expand.

: Here is one container of food ready to serve.

: Enma starts with a scoop of high quality kibble – the blue is Emperor Han’s bowl.

: I also recently made a big bowl of yogurt. This is the saved whey. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is very nutritious. Enma added just enough to each bowl to moisten the hard kibble.

: And then she adds a couple heaping spoonfuls of delicious home cooked food.

: Everything is mixed equally into the bowls along with any added supplements.

: And if I have any at the time, each dog gets a spoonful of my homemade yogurt. Many dogs are actually lactose intolerant, but yogurt is much easier to digest and my canine foursome loves it.

: It’s meal time! My dogs eat two meals a day – one in the morning and one in the evening. Splitting meal times is good for their digestion. Cooking for one’s dogs is a personal choice, but if you have time, and are interested in giving it a try, I know your pets will love every meal. Here’s Crème Brûlée starting her dinner.