Homecooking Successes and Failures

[The Food Group]

I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread with homecooking successes and failures. I comb through the supermarkets, organic stores, and local farmers' markets looking for new and interesting foods to try for Sherlock and Noah.  I wanted to list some of the more unusual foods I have tried in case anyone is interested...  I would love to hear about your successes and failures too!  I was also wondering if anyone else buys organic meats and dairy products for their dogs?  I spend around $20 a week on their food.. is that normal?

Successes:

- kiwi

- yams

- brocco sprouts*

- quinoa

- bison

Failures:

- buckwheat

* I soaked the brocco sprouts in the juice from the pork that I cooked.  I personally think they taste good plain because I love sprouts and broccoli, but Noah and Sherlock wouldn't go near the sprouts.  Adding the pork juice helped a lot.  Brocco sprouts contain the antioxidant that broccoli does, but they're easier to hide in the food.  I think they are a great option for dogs like mine that don't like green veggies.

Attached is a photo of the meal for the next few days: (sorry for the poor quality, I only have my camera phone at the moment)

pork, carrots, sweet potato, brocco sprouts, pomegranate craisins

Sweet potato crisps that I baked and sprinkled a little bit of parm cheese and shredded cheese on top - these have been a huge hit!  I even like them a lot too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Most of our homecooks do use at least 60% protein in their meals. If you look through our discussions, you'll see some of our homecooking discussions with the actual menu plans with proportions.
I would be very careful about feeding raw eggs or fish. Unless you are sure of the source of the fish, dogs can die from "salmon poisoning" before you can get them to the vet. Raw eggs can be the source of salmonella. Most dogs do very well with cooked eggs, and there is very little loss of nutrients, particularly if you boil the eggs in the shell.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Now I'm absolutely sure these dogs are eating better than we are!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Looks yummy, Jane! I've never tried the black beans with my guys....let us know how Sherlock & Noah like them.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thanks, I'm going to give them a try. Can you reduce the cooking time by soaking them ahead?

[Vicky & Cassidy]

Jamaica loves black beans ~ and so do I. I am now reading Carina Beth MacDonald's Raw Dog Food, however, and she is not a big fan of beans ~ says they give her dogs gas (which, fortunately, they did not to Jamaica!), and that "they don't add anything important to the diet because dogs poorly utilize the protein in beans."

Any comments? Thanks.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Vicky, this particular discussion is about homecooking, so most of the people who are participating in it don't feed raw. We do have discussions here in TFG that are about raw feeding, and you may want to ask about the information in raw feeding books there
To answer the question about beans, it is absolutely untrue that dogs cannot utilize the protein in beans. Protein is protein...all proteins are broken down into individual amino acids in the body, and a particular amino acid is what it is, whether it comes from a bean or a chicken.
However, beans have to be cooked in order for them to be digestible, lol.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

To clarify the difference between plant and animal proteins:
Animal proteins are complete proteins. This means that they contain all of the amino acids, including the ones the body cannot make on its own (called essential amino acids) and which must be obtained from food. In humans, there are 8 essential amino acids out of 22 amino acids total. I don't know if the same aminos are essential for dogs as for humans, but we do know that animal proteins supply all the aminos that either a dog or a human needs.
Plant proteins are called incomplete proteins because one or more of the essential aminos is lacking in most plant foods. However, those that are lacking in beans and other legumes are contained in grains, and vice versa. This is why vegetarians can survive, lol.
If you think about it, it seems that people understand how to get what they need from food intuitively, since every culture has a dish composed of a combination of legumes and grains. Beans and rice, for example, or pasta fazool; these are examples of common ways incomplete plant proteins are combined to make a complete protein.
It was thought for many years that people needed to eat the complimentary plant foods together at the same meal to get all the proteins they needed. Now the thinking, as Adina and my other dietician friends have told me, is that as long as all the aminos are being consumed within a relatively close time frame (within a day or two), the plant proteins do not need to be eaten together at the same meal.