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.

[Tammy & Gracie]

I have all successes sincwe my dood eats anything. Gracie's favorite was a jambalaya I made. Used leftover crab and shrimp shells from a dinner at Red Lobster (Yeah, that was fun asking the waiter to bag up my garbage!) Made a seafood broth then added salmon, rice, etc. She literally licked the bowl for hours when I served that. She likes all cooked veggies. Right now my favorite is collard greens. I recently read that they have all sorts of vitamins and they are cheap too!

Have you posted a recipe for the sweet potato chips?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Collard greens (and all greens- mustard, dandelion, chard, etc.) are superfoods in nutritional terms. Loaded with vitamin A, iron, and tons of phytochemicals.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I am cooking as I write this. I too have found than Murphy will eat just about anything, However, I haven't had a lot of luck with melons, either cantelope or water. I only cook twice a month and it's a big batch of a meat, or poultry, legumes, veggies, and brown rice with added leftovers from the fridge. I love the sweet potatoe idea, but when it's 115 degrees outside, I am not firing up the oven unless I am making several other things at once. I do not buy specifically organic, however, when it;s on sale and at a good or better price than regular I will buy it. Planning my fall garden with my doodle in mind though, does that count as organic? :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Absolutely!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

We use a chicken wire fence on all four sides, high enough to keep all creatures, including doodles out of the garden. Next years will be much bigger, but will do the same, as I will be hosting doodle romps in my yard probably this winter. (Arizona, no snow)
The garden veggies have been a great addition to Murphys foods. Just like right now, i have tons of tomatoes and they have to be eaten soon. What I don't give away or cook, I will add to his foods. Same with squash.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't homecook, but I do add fresh cooked foods to Jack's dinner kibble most of the time. Any kind of animal protein is a hit with him: chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, and any kind of cooked fish. He also loves scrambled or hard-boiled eggs.
Jack won't eat most carbohydrate foods, but the one thing he is absolutely crazy for is lima beans! Crazy doodle! They agree with him, too!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

The sweet potato chips look delicious....I'll definitely be trying them!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have no "failures" to report either. Guinness has never seen a home cooked meal that he didn't love! I do find though that he does better with poultry than with red meats. Even though I'm using very lean cuts, he will sometimes have a loose stool if he's had beef or lamb, where this will never happen with poultry. I still do include red meats in his diet, but not often. Karen, like JD he also LOVES lima beans!

[Diane Marra]

My dogs love all the combinations I have made, so no failures.
I boil ground beef, or chicken ( whatever cuts are the cheapest) and then put more water into the leftover water and rice. They love the flavor of the rice. I add canned carrots, canned green beans, cottage cheese, applesauce. They love it. My vet who supports homecooking, said no pork. She also told me to boil the chicken or beef, so that all the possible contaminents are destroyed. I occasionally use canned tuna fish and canned sardines, which the dogs love.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm wondering why your vet thinks the chicken & beef need to be boiled to destroy "contaminants". After all, we eat broiled, sauted & baked chicken & beef, and we are supposedly more susceptible to bacterias than dogs are. It's wonderful to find a vet who supports homecooking, maybe you could ask her about that. And why no pork?
My concern with boiling ground beef and then using the same water would be the fat content. I usually cook the hamburger very thoroughly in a frying pan and then drain the grease very well.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am absolutely amazed by the delicious and nutritious meals you all cook!

[Vicky & Cassidy]

Hi, we are new here ~ I am Vicky and this is my almost-4-year-old GD, Jamaica.
We have acutally just started feeding raw and so far so good ~ I have bought more red meat in the last week than in the last 5 years! Jamaica gets brussel sprouts (what are brocco sprouts?!?) and I micro-wave them and then chop up and mix in with her raw ground round. So far, she also gets raw eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, black beans, jack mackeral, green beans; we are still working out the details.
I am curious about the quantity of vegetables ~ and I know this is debatable. My understanding was there should be a greater emphasis on protein.
I LOVE the sweet potato crisps!

This is a wonderful group ~ thanks so much! Vicky & Jamaica