Home Cooking??

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by subro

I noticed today on the Food Network that Rachel Ray is having a special "Feeding Your Pets" on Saturday at 9 EST. I will have to check this out and the Pitcairn book since my little guy has decided he would rather die than eat kibble.

Ooooh I guess Im watching too then!! = )

[Go4HelloKitty]

Well, I think I am a little late responding to this post since my baby is recovering from her surgery.

Although I am a bit late, I still want to let you know that I switched my 6-month old girl from Wellness puppy formula to home cooking. She ate Wellness for about a week and stopped taking it - picky. I looked for many brands for her and she kept retiring from it after a few days. I have seen many posts about home cooking and finally decided to give it a try. Since the first meal, she did not skip one single meal after. She gained back 1/2 pound which she lost previously due to skipping meals (kibbles). Now she has been on home cooking for over a month and her weight gain is normally progressed.

I am also switching my 2 year old boy to home cook after he's finished all his kibbles.

The only thing to pay attention in home cooking is the supplement, I learned that from other YTers, calcium and phosphorus need to be added to home cooking. I am currently giving Solid Gold's Bonemeal with the home cooked food. I am no expert here, I am sure some other YTers can give you a more in depth advice.

[yellowmellie]

wow, thanks for this post! Great question as I was just wondering the same thing. I live overseas and i can't find any 4 star food here. the best i can find is science diet and thats what she has been eating but i hate her having all those by-products. I definitely want to do it, it just seems overwhelming. I plan on doing it once a week in a crockpot and freezing.

One thing to think about, ice cube trays. if your food is ground up (i dont know what most people do for doggie home cooking) you can put in ice cube trays and just pull cubes out for each day. just an idea.

[Go4HelloKitty]

Originally Posted by yellowmellie

wow, thanks for this post! Great question as I was just wondering the same thing. I live overseas and i can't find any 4 star food here. the best i can find is science diet and thats what she has been eating but i hate her having all those by-products. I definitely want to do it, it just seems overwhelming. I plan on doing it once a week in a crockpot and freezing.

One thing to think about, ice cube trays. if your food is ground up (i dont know what most people do for doggie home cooking) you can put in ice cube trays and just pull cubes out for each day. just an idea.

Wow, that's a good idea,too! I cook once every 3 to 4 weeks. I then divide the food and store into small containers, then keep in freezer. Each container has about a few days of food. I will take one container of food out from the freezer when the current one is almost done, so it will be ready when the current one is out.

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by yellowmellie

wow, thanks for this post! Great question as I was just wondering the same thing. I live overseas and i can't find any 4 star food here. the best i can find is science diet and thats what she has been eating but i hate her having all those by-products. I definitely want to do it, it just seems overwhelming. I plan on doing it once a week in a crockpot and freezing.

One thing to think about, ice cube trays. if your food is ground up (i dont know what most people do for doggie home cooking) you can put in ice cube trays and just pull cubes out for each day. just an idea.

Same here!! By-products and all the recalls... I just dont feel safe giving them this anymore.... Someone who replied to this thread said they took once a month and freeze.. hope that helps (i was thinking cooking every week, etc... LOL) Glad you are switching- mine had yogurt and cottage cheese with berries this morning.. I had some too = )

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by Go4HelloKitty

Wow, that's a good idea,too! I cook once every 3 to 4 weeks. I then divide the food and store into small containers, then keep in freezer. Each container has about a few days of food. I will take one container of food out from the freezer when the current one is almost done, so it will be ready when the current one is out.

I was wondering, when the food is frozen and the previous container is almost over, you get a new container out of the freezer, and... ? put it in the fridge to thaw?? or something else... microwave perhaps??

[Ellie May]

Ellie gets homecooked. I like to do it once a month but have been lazy lately and have been going day by day. When I do freeze ahead, the meat, veggies and carb are all cooked and measured out into sandwich bags. Then I add oil to each and freeze. I take out one sandwich bag a day. Then the supplement gets added.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

well congrats for making the leap! i switched from kibble to home cooking about a year ago now... the switch went GREAT.. Layla LOVES her food... i also started with Pitcairn's book and still use his Healthy Powder Suppliement. Layla used to be at the vet weekly for various issues and she has only been once in the past year for a blood panel (i get these done twice a year to make sure she isn't lacking in any vitamin or nutrient) THe book is SO helpful.. id on't do "receipes" i just feed a meat a veggies and sometimes a starch... but i know Suzy does do recipes and her pups LOVE THEM! so feel free to pm me or Suzy if you have any other questions!

There you go talking about me, Marci

I do use several different "Recipes" for my two, and they love it. I use the recipes by Dr. Pitcairn as a base, and then change out one ingredient at a time, making sure they can tolerate the new meat, veggie, or starch. I usually make 3-4 recipes at once, and freeze in 2 cup plastic containers, then take out each one every other day. I bought special tupperware for my dog food-that way, DH doesn't get it confused with other frozen food

I feed most of the meats raw in the recipes-like beef, lamb, ground turkey, & bison. I cook any fish I give them, and for the most part they don't get chicken. Pork is not good for yorkies, so I don't feed that at all. Occasionally I made a recipe with cottage cheese and eggs if I'm out of meat, and alternate that in once per week. It's still very high in protein, and they love it! It's important to freeze any meat you're feeding to your dogs for at least 48 hours prior to feeding. This will kill the majority of the harmful bacteria that might be on the meat.

I am cooking tonight for them-I will be making:
Tilapia & Sweet Potatoes
Ground Turkey & Oatmeal with Green Beans
Beef & Rice with peas
Salmon & whole-wheat pasta with Yellow Bell Peppers

For breakfast, I either feed one of the mixtures I make, or I feed each of them 1/2 hard boiled egg, 1 tablespoon plain yogurt or cottage cheese, and a few frozen berries or sliced banana. That way, I can feed them when I'm making my own breakfast I got this idea from Caren (Sims822257), and it was a great one!

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by blondiebabe54

I was wondering, when the food is frozen and the previous container is almost over, you get a new container out of the freezer, and... ? put it in the fridge to thaw?? or something else... microwave perhaps??

When I see there's one meal left in the tupperware, I take out another one 24 hours before I'll need it, and put it in the fridge. You can also defrost in the microwave, but some of it always ends up getting a little bit cooked, which in my case defeats the purpose of the raw veggies and meat, so I don't like doing it that way.

If I find that DH has forgotten to thaw more food, I will usually just make them dinner with leftovers in the fridge-like brown rice and steamed veggies with some leftover unseasoned chicken breast, or I make some whole wheat pasta, mix with some pouch tuna or salmon and top with some shredded cheddar cheese.

[Go4HelloKitty]

Originally Posted by blondiebabe54

I was wondering, when the food is frozen and the previous container is almost over, you get a new container out of the freezer, and... ? put it in the fridge to thaw?? or something else... microwave perhaps??

I leave the box of food in the fridge to thaw. Usually takes 1 day, the top part would be ready to use while the lower part take another half a day to thaw. I find this way works for me, hope it does for you, too.

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by Suzy

There you go talking about me, Marci

I do use several different "Recipes" for my two, and they love it. I use the recipes by Dr. Pitcairn as a base, and then change out one ingredient at a time, making sure they can tolerate the new meat, veggie, or starch. I usually make 3-4 recipes at once, and freeze in 2 cup plastic containers, then take out each one every other day. I bought special tupperware for my dog food-that way, DH doesn't get it confused with other frozen food

I feed most of the meats raw in the recipes-like beef, lamb, ground turkey, & bison. I cook any fish I give them, and for the most part they don't get chicken. Pork is not good for yorkies, so I don't feed that at all. Occasionally I made a recipe with cottage cheese and eggs if I'm out of meat, and alternate that in once per week. It's still very high in protein, and they love it! It's important to freeze any meat you're feeding to your dogs for at least 48 hours prior to feeding. This will kill the majority of the harmful bacteria that might be on the meat.

I am cooking tonight for them-I will be making:
Tilapia & Sweet Potatoes
Ground Turkey & Oatmeal with Green Beans
Beef & Rice with peas
Salmon & whole-wheat pasta with Yellow Bell Peppers

For breakfast, I either feed one of the mixtures I make, or I feed each of them 1/2 hard boiled egg, 1 tablespoon plain yogurt or cottage cheese, and a few frozen berries or sliced banana. That way, I can feed them when I'm making my own breakfast I got this idea from Caren (Sims822257), and it was a great one!

Wow!! That was so helpful and kind of opened my eyes to what they could possibly be eating!! I was not really aware that they could or should be eating all these different types of foods!! Thanks for the info!! Oh and, you feed them raw meat??

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by blondiebabe54

Wow!! That was so helpful and kind of opened my eyes to what they could possibly be eating!! I was not really aware that they could or should be eating all these different types of foods!! Thanks for the info!! Oh and, you feed them raw meat??

a lot of people feed raw... it's ideal... that's what dogs are made to eat...I tried with layla... she woudlnt' even look at it.. but i'mgoing to try again sthortly... you can do raw... or raw and cooked or just cooked... so it's up to you

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by Suzy

When I see there's one meal left in the tupperware, I take out another one 24 hours before I'll need it, and put it in the fridge. You can also defrost in the microwave, but some of it always ends up getting a little bit cooked, which in my case defeats the purpose of the raw veggies and meat, so I don't like doing it that way.

If I find that DH has forgotten to thaw more food, I will usually just make them dinner with leftovers in the fridge-like brown rice and steamed veggies with some leftover unseasoned chicken breast, or I make some whole wheat pasta, mix with some pouch tuna or salmon and top with some shredded cheddar cheese.

Where would one go about buying "pouch tuna or salmon"?? Oh and also, why do you feed them raw meat?? Is that better for them, or do you just prefer it that way??

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by blondiebabe54

Where would one go about buying "pouch tuna or salmon"?? Oh and also, why do you feed them raw meat?? Is that better for them, or do you just prefer it that way??

well in Canada tuna and salmon don't come in pouches.. they come in cans

[blondiebabe54]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

a lot of people feed raw... it's ideal... that's what dogs are made to eat...I tried with layla... she woudlnt' even look at it.. but i'mgoing to try again sthortly... you can do raw... or raw and cooked or just cooked... so it's up to you

Thank You!! Yea... for some reason I just cant imagine giving them anything raw just because I dont eat it raw (except beef tartar in europe) but then I understand the idea of them being animals that do eat that... Thanks for the info... and I guess I think Ill stick with the cooked stuff!!