both our danes have a pretty sensitive stomachs, one more than the other so we're constantly cooking chicken and rice for them.  i've wanted to add more ingredients to make it a bit more nutritious so i set out on a search for various homemade dog food recipes. yesterday i made 5 different types for them.


i tried two that i found, two i made up and our staple of chicken, rice and veggies. before you do this consult with your vet and please please please read the list of harmful foods for dog! a lot of these won't kill your furry friend right away, but it's definitely not good for them. also, take into account the size of your dog. bentley at 130lbs, has eaten half a chocolate bar he stole off the counter and been fine where as a 3lb yorkie may have to be rushed to the vet.

as i said before, we've been making chicken and rice whenever one of them got an upset stomach and it became an every day thing after kenzie was diagnosed with pneumonia. so...



 i'll start with what i bought and the prices i paid for this trip. it was sort of an experiment to see what was easy and what they liked - so i overspent a little. oops.

20 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast ($1.99/lb)
20 lbs ground beef ($25.93)
5 lbs ground turkey ($8.78) (could get away with half)
18ct eggs ($2.24)
4 boxes of instant rice ($3.64 ea) (i used 3)
2 big bags of frozen peas ($1.98 ea)
2 big bags of frozen green beans ($1.03)
1 bunch of kale ($1.18)
3 sweet potatoes ($1.28/lb)
4 apples ($0.98/lb)
5 lb carrots ($2.48/bundle) *

(just under $85 total)

* next time i will definitely buy the frozen bags of peas & carrots combo or just frozen carrots, because chopping them was dreadful! (i also had a couple bags of frozen veggies in the freezer already.)

when i mix everything i try and stay at a 40-50% protein, 25% rice, 25% veggies. and all in all between the rice needed for the loaves and to mix i made 48 cups of cooked rice.

one.
the first thing I tried was this crock pot recipe that i found here. its super easy and would work great if you have small dogs or want to do this every day or so, but for us this would last maybe one day so it's not feasible. but if it is for you..

1.2 lb      boneless skinless chicken
20 oz      ground turkey
2             apples (cored and deseeded)
1 lb         bag of carrots
1 lb         bag of frozen peas



put the chicken then ground turkey in the crock pot. 

 then dump in your apples & veggies.

 cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6. once it's done stir everything together and combine with rice.

SUPER EASY, but i would need a about 10 crockpots going at once to make it work.
















two.
Next i mixed all the stuff for the mini meatloaves found here. i doubled the recipe and used ground beef instead of turkey.

4 lbs     ground turkey
4           eggs (blended with shells - trust me)
6 C       cooked rice
16 oz.   peas
6           carrots, diced
2           apple, diced

preheat your oven to 375 degrees and combine all ingredients.

 i put a small handful in each cup and bake for 30 minutes.

i will say only 12 actually held together so for the ones that didn't i put into a bowl and combined it. these smell amazing and i'm trying to figure out a way to be able to just cook this all (maybe in a normal loaf pan?) and combine it and serve it as a rice/beef mixture, which would be better for our large dogs anyway.


three.
this next recipe i sort of made up..

3 lb     ground beef
14       eggs (blended with shells)
1         large bag frozen peas
1         large bag of green beans
3         carrots, chopped

 brown ground beef

 add in eggs

then, add in veggies until soft...

mix with rice & done!

four.

i don't have pictures of this one and it's another experiment. I browned the last 3(ish)lbs of ground beef and added in the kale and 2 sweat potatoes, chopped into small pieces. I added about a half a cup of chicken broth (from the chicken i had boiling), covered and let simmer until the potatoes were soft. then mixed with rice. 

five.

this is our staple chicken and rice recipe. 

chicken

rice, instant

frozen veggies

i boiled the remaining chicken breasts (2 breasts less than 20lbs) and shredded it. 

* note - if you have a mixer, especially a kitchen aid, you can shred chicken SUPER easy by 'mixing' the chicken like this..

after the chicken breast was done i used the broth to boil the remaining frozen veggies and left over carrots and potatoes. 

mix it with some rice and you have an easy fairly bland diet for your pooch. now if only they could learn how to do the dishes! 

we'll see how these work. I have a feeling i'll keep doing the chicken, rice & veggies and the ground beef, veggie and eggs.

this made us just under two weeks worth. 

enjoy!

Chicken Burrito Bowls

I found this recipe over at Budget Bytes (she calls them taco bowls) and just like she describes it's "slow cooker 101". I threw this together when I came home from work one morning last week and it was ready by the time I woke up for my next shift!

 

Prep it:

 

1½ lbs. chicken breasts (I used three of the frozen ones from the bag)

1 (16 oz.) jar salsa

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained

½ lb. (8 oz.) frozen corn

1 Tbsp chili powder (I left this out)

½ Tbsp cumin (And I left this out)

½ Tbsp minced garlic (I used double this)

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (Again, just shook some in there)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups dry rice

8 oz. shredded cheddar (I just used a Mexican blend)

½ bunch cilantro (optional - but I definitely recommend it)

[You can tell I follow recipes super well] 

 

Make it:

(Directly from Budget Bytes)

1. Add everything except the rice, cheese, and cilantro to the slow cooker along with ¼ cup of water (for good measure). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture.
2. Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
3. Near the end of the cooking time, cook the two cups of rice according to the package directions (I definitely used instant)
4. After 8 hours of cooking, carefully remove the lid of the slow cooker. Stir with a fork to shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro.

Cheese Ravioli Bake - Recipe

 

One of the meals I posted last week was a picture tutorial of a ravioli bake. Well I made it, and it was really good! Definitely enough for a family of 4 or 5. Prep is super easy, cook time is a little longer than I prefer.

  

Prep it:

• Bag of frozen cheese ravioli
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Marinara sauce (1 jar) 



 

Make it:

 

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

 

Spread a layer of sauce on the bottom of square pan.

 

Layer raviolios' on top of sauce.

 

 

Add another layer of sauce then a layer of cheese.

Repeat one more time then cover and back for 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking for 15 minutes. After pulling out of the oven, sprinkle parmesan cheese and serve.

  

 

One Pot Pasta Dinner - Receipe

I'm always on the hunt for something new to make for dinner (preferably quick and without tons of off the wall ingredients). I've found quite a few recipes on Pinterest. Some have been amazing, while some have left us ordering Chinese take-out.

Side Note: The first year of our marriage, I made so much spaghetti that my husband as officially boycotted it. At that time we were on a TIGHT budget (if you could even call it that) and truthfully Taco Bell was cheaper than cooking at home. We literally survived off Taco Bell, frozen pizzas and the infamous spaghetti. Yum.  

While he's not exactly picky he is one of those people that has to have some sort of meat, whether it be chicken, beef, pork - whatever in every meal. So when I found this one pot spaghetti dish that had sausage in it plus many ingredients that I already had - I was stoked!

I found this on Damn Delicious from Pinterest. (I'm now obsessed with her blog)

I did change a few things, but here is her recipe:

Took about 5 minutes to prep and 12 minutes to cook. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti
• *1 (12.8-ounce) package smoked andouille sausage, thinly sliced
• *1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cups halved grape tomatoes
• 2 cups basil leaves
• *4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmesan

Instructions

• In a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat, combine spaghetti, sausage, onion, tomatoes, basil, garlic and 4 1/2 cups water; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until pasta is cooked through and liquid has reduced, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in Parmesan.
• Serve immediately.

*NOTES: I'm not a huge pork fan, so I used beef sausage. Also, I don't cut onions. I just don't. So I bought the pre-chopped ones (picture below) from the grocery store and also used the pre-chopped jar of garlic I had on hand, which again I think actually worked better. I let mine simmer for about 12 minutes. For softer noodles I would suggest about 15 minutes. I used one container of grape tomatoes (cut in half), but next time I'll use two.

(This last picture is it still simmering - maybe another 3-4 minutes. I forgot to take a final picture because I was so hungry!)

Cake in a Jar?!

I'm sure you're thinking of those cute little homemade gifts people give that have all the ingredients layered in a jar to make a cake, or cookies or muffins. Good idea right? Awesome idea unless you're sending cake in a jar to a deployed loved one. How would they bake it? With the sun? HA! Anyway, Cake in a Jar is actually a cake baked in a mason jar that you seal and send with their favorite frosting! I made it and I tasted it after they came out and they were good! We'll see if they last all the way over there! Linky-poo