DINNERTIME FAVORITES

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Put your dinner recipies here.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

DINNER: From The Three Dog Bakery Cookbook
Labradoodle Lasagna

10 cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup frozen chapped spinach, thaw and drain
1 ½ c skim milk
2 tbs white flour
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
½ tsp minced garlic
¼ tsp oregano
¼ tsp parsley

Preheat oven to 350
In a bowl, combine cottage cheese and spinach. Take each lasagna noodle and spread 2 tbls of the cottage cheese mixture along the inside of the noodle, then roll each one up. Place in a 9x13-inch greased baking dish and set aside.
Mix flour and milk in a covered container and shake until blended. Place in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until slightly thickened. Add tomato and spices.
Pour sauce over noodles and bake for 20 minutes. Cool before serving. Store in fridge.

(I have also made this with ground beef and ground turkey and the doods liked it tons. I used 2.5 lbs of cooked ground meat and added it to the cottage cheese and spinach mixture, rolled inside the lasagna. I also did 12 noodles as I have three dogs and had 4 meals from this. When I make it I freeze the remaining and give one time a week for 4 weeks.)

[Mona Haight]

fyi in my "Complete Healthy Dog Handbook" by Betsy Brevitz, DVM it says not to feed garlic, onion or tomato along with the raisins and grapes we used to give our dogs fresh tomato we grew and now we don't at all

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Actually it's right on the onion, raisins and grapes but unripe tomatoes and the tomato green part is what's bad. Red ripe tomatoes and some garlic is just fine. My Jack eats the tomatoes right out of the garden. A bit of garlic is good for them also. It is a natural bug repellent and they like the flavor. In fact, at onlynaturalpet.com, they sell garlic tablets for dogs. I always add some garlic to my homecooking and I have not used flea/tick for a few years, now.

[Elise/Toby, Rusty & Kirby]

I also use garlic in some recipes. A friend gave me a home cooking recipe that she got from her holistic vet and it has garlic. To every batch that weighs about 7-8 lbs, you add 2 teaspoons of garlic.

One of the things that gives me a pause about home cooking is the conflict of ideas in some of the books. In Dr. Karen Becker's book, "Real Food for Healthy Dogs & Cats", she has a almost cocktail of minerals and vitamins that you grind up and add to her recipes. She says that they need this partly because we don't feed all the mineral and vitamin rich organs and blood and partly because our farming methods have depleted the soil of minerals, therefore some minterals and vitamins must be added to their food.

In "Raw Dog Food" by Carina Beth MacDonald, she says, "Most dogs love garlic. That alone is a good enough reason to feed it - it's also supposed to be good for controlling parasites and fungus". She also states that she uses supplements in moderation and to just know that you do not have to give your dog 59 vitamins a day. Many raw feeders use none at all.

Dr Pitcairn's "Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats" says "Garlic helps to eliminate worms, strengthen digestion and beneficially stimulate the intestinal tract. He claims it helps animals that tend to be overweight or suffer hip pain from arthritis or dyplasia. He has a short list of ingredients for a "healthy powder" mix to add to meals.

Lew Olson's book "Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs" says not to give garlic to toy breeds of dogs or cats but fresh garlic is dynamite for killing bacteria, fungus and parasites. For supplements, he suggests using Berte's products.

So instead of just filling a bowl with kibble and hoping for the best, nutrition-wise, some of them tend to confuse me on "what's best". So, I approach the home cooking idea slowly but do home cook one of their two meals a day. With three dogs that collectively weigh over 200 lbs, I would probably be hard pressed to home cook everything - but the kibble and (canned) that I use is the best I can find and that they enjoy. Personally, I just can't feel comfortable with "raw" food yet.

Saturday, I spent hours home cooking individual meatloafs for the boys. I used ground turkey, beef and chicken. I used 26 lbs of meat and spent a good portion of the day doing it and boy oh boy, they love it!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Great info, Elise. I used the Pitcairn book to help me get started, too. The Healthy Powder was never something I could get into so I crush a daily supplement into their dinner and add Bone Meal Powder to a couple meals a week. They get a high quality kibble left out for grazing and I have been doing this for over three years now.

Many of the articles I have read over the three+ years I have been HC'ing talk about "Balance over Time" rather than "Complete and Balanced" as pushed by the dog food companies. If you follow that as your goal (and it is closer to how dogs ate before dogfood and how they would eat in the wild), it is easier to make sure they get all they need. I make my basic meat, rice, veggies everyday, but will add different things, everyday. Yogurt, Cottage cheese, an egg, different fruits & veggies, fish all change it up and add different nutrients. A marrow bone here and there and they get it all.

It's just like anything else. We read and listen to all the different things and then we make up our own minds.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

DINNER From Leslie:
Thanksgiving Turkey Gobblers - from Three Dog Bakery Cookbook - makes 24 treats

1 cup ground turkey
2 cups white flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons tarragon

Preheat oven to 375
In a frying pan, cook ground turkey, crumble into small pieces and set aside on a paper towel.
Combine flour and cornmeal in a large bowl, then in a separate bowl, beat egg, oil and water, then add tarragon.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. fold in ground turkey and mix again.
Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until thoroughly mixed together. roll out dough to 1/2-inch thick and cut out shapes.
Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until firm. Cool and serve. KEEP ANY LEFTOVERS IN A SEALED CONTAINER IN THE REFRIGERATOR.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

By Adrianne Matzkin

Chicken En Pot

in pot add
1 chicken breast covered in water, boil app. 1/2 hour
when cooked, chop up into small pieces
Add:
diced up carrots, cooked
1/4 can green beans, cut up
1/2 cup brown rice or chopped macaroni
add any other veggies (ie: craisins, turnip, peas)
chicken broth
serve
can be made for the week in advance. Reheat in broth and serve

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

Everything but the kitchen sink... dog food

In a large pot:
add 10 cups of water
appx 4-5 tablespoons sodium free powdered chicken stock - more or less as desired
3# chicken breasts, diced. (they were on sale and cheaper than the thighs pkg) any chicken will do
1# beef liver, cubed
4 cups of carrots, cut smaller to cook faster
about 4- 5 potatoes, washed but unpeeled and cut up
a sweet potato - this I did peel and cut up
cut up green beans
1 cup craisins - chopped - good for urinary tract
boil this until the veggies were mostly done.
In the pot of broth add:
4 eggs, beat - pour in the hot broth slowly while stirring
2 cups raw brown rice
Simmer this until the rice is done - appx 1 hour, stirring occassionally
Turn burner off
Add 2 Tablespoon garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
I add 4 fish oil caplets (my suppliments)
If it is too soupy, I add minute rice or oatmeal to absorb up the extra moisture.
(I am going to add some broccoli next time)
Let it cool and bag it up in freezer bags or old plastic containers, and throw in the freezer.
It makes appx 24 - 28 cups.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

DOODLE-LOAF
If your dog is allergic to garlic OMIT it, or you can also cut back on the garlic if your not sure.
1/2 cup amaranth ***See Note***
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken -- or turkey
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 whole egg
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup carrot -- finely chopped
1/4 cup spinach -- finely chopped
1/4 cup zucchini -- finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add amaranth and chicken broth to sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large mixing bowl add meat, cottage cheese, veggies, and eggs. Mix thoroughly. Add wheat germ, cooled amaranth and olive oil mix well.
Add mixture to loaf pan, bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done.
***Note: Amaranth can be found in a health food store, if not use barley. Barley will need 4 cups of broth and 50 minutes to cook.***

[Tammy & Gracie]

SALMON BEET PATTIES

I made these last night and Gracie loved them. I think all the ingredients are very healthy.

1 7oz can salmon drained, inc any bones or skin
1/2 to 2/3 c steel ground oats (recipe called for bread crumbs but Gracie is not doing any wheat products)
1 or 2 eggs inc ground eggshell if desired
1/3 c fresh chopped parsley
1 fresh beet grated
1 stalk celery grated or chopped finely

Mix the ingredients and put back in refrigerator until cold. Make patties and saute in some olive oil 4-5 minutes per side. Or you could use a nonstick pan and no oil. Serve as meal, kibble supplement or special snack. My dogs all went wild for this! Made about 7 patties.

[Elise/Toby, Rusty & Kirby]

DINNER: From "The Honest Kitchen" (posted on Facebook)

CANINE QUICHE

Ingredients:
1 frozen pie crust
3 cups plain kefir
1 Tbls fresh basil (chopped)
1 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup shredded fresh spinach
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
A few grinds of black pepper
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup ground or diced beef or chicken, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Warm the basil and kefir in a small saucepan over low heat for about 10 minutes and set aside.
3. Heat oil gently in a medium skillet.
4. Add the spinach to the skillet and cook until it just begins to stick to the pan and then turn off the heat.
5. Whisk together the warmed kefir, eggs, salt, pepper and cheese.
6. Add all of these to the spinach, stirring gently so that everything is thoroughly combined.
7. Sprinkle the meat on the bottom of the pie crust and cover with the whisked mixture.
8. Bake on the bottom rack for 15 minutes.
9. Transfer the dish to the middle rack of the oven, turn down the heat and bake for another 30 minutes at 350 degrees or
until it feels firm on top.

My notes: I put the pie shell on a baking sheet that was lined with foil. The pie crust is pretty full, so moving it after 15 minutes has to be done carefully. I needed to let it cool for a good 30-45 minutes to be still warm but not too hot to eat.

I bought the kefir at Trader Joe's. It's in the refrigerated section by the milk and yogurt in stores.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Elise's Canine Quiche - YUM