Homecooking help -- but can't cook now!
 

Hi all ... I'm new to this and need some help. My finace will be moving in next week with our new addition, Bebe. The previous owner had Bebe on a homecooked diet. Our problem, we're not big cookers! But, we will be sometime soon. :)

In the meantime, we would like to keep our Bebe on this type of diet, but need to keep it simple and healthy. Microwaveable foods are certianly OK ... what options do I have? Here are some foods I was considering:

Canned Tuna in water
Baby carrots (can be microwaved) - served raw of cooked?
Ground beef or turkey - can you feed it raw?
Cottage cheese - is dairy bad?
Plain yogurt - again, is dairy bad?
Cheerios
Applesauce

What else can I look for in the grocery store -- something that I can just simple open and feed to her? Any canned vegetables? Frozen dinners? What about fruits?

Thank you everyone! At some point, we'll buy Dr. Pitcairn's book and cook larger portions for freezing. But for now, we just need some simple foods/recipe's that can be "opened and served." :)

Thanks for the help and ideas! :)

Kind regards,
Bill

Tuna is ok-make sure it's in water if canned, or use the pouch. (I asked this same question tonight!)
Baby carrots are wonderful! Veggies are best served raw, so grate some of those up on top of his food, or chop really fine.
Cottage cheese is great-mine get 1 tsp. on top of kibble or fruit in the morning.
Both Ground Turkey and Ground Beef can be fed raw. I do it, and mine love it!
Cheerios are wonderful as treats for training!

Sorry, I just realized I didn't answer all your questions...

Personally I'd stay away from anything pre-made from the store, because usually convenience foods have lots fat, calories, and extra sodium in them.

To get something fast and easy, try oatmeal, frozen bags of veggies (no onion, or garlic), and whole-wheat pasta.

Chicken breast is easy to boil in water, and then just cut it up small.
Eggs are great-you can serve them hard-boiled, scrambled, or raw mixed up with something else. Here's a great microwave way to do an egg:

Put a small drop of olive oil in small bowl, smear around with finger or brush.
Crack egg in bowl, add 1 tsp milk and scramble egg.
Microwave 60-90 seconds. Break up egg into small pieces with fork. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and serve.

You'll be fairly safe mixing 1/3 protein 1/3 carbs and 1/3 veggies/fruit/dairy until you can get the book by Dr. P.

You could also cook brown rice in the microwave-not sure how long it takes, but I know it can be done! Rice usually sits well, is really healthy, and it's cheap too! If you made a bigger batch, you could just add different things to it to make it more interesting for your dog.

Try 1 C. cooked rice, 1 C firm tofu (in small chunks), 1/2 C. veggies with a little cheese on top.

Or, 1 C. cooked rice, 1 C. raw ground turkey, 1/4 cup carrots and 1/4 cup cottage cheese. Just mix and serve!

Hope that helps get you through for now!

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :yeahthat: :goodpost:

Quick eats
 

Thanks Suzy! Great advice! But, I do have a quick follow-up ...

You mention trying oatmeal, frozen bags of veggies (no onion, or garlic), and whole-wheat pasta. Do you cook the oatmal, or serve it dry? What about the veggies -- thawed and served raw, or cooked? Obviously, the pasta is boiled. :)

Thanks again ... any other suggestions are welcome (from anyone!)

- Willy

the oatmeal is cooked, you can also use brown rice, so far that has been my favorite!!! the veggies are best raw, but you can cook them... i also really suggest the book by Dr. Pitcairn. I cook once a month, and freeze. It works best for us!! nice quick snacks are yogurt (something like Activia with pro biotic cultures) cottage cheese, brown bread, veggie burgers- you can throw them in the toaster oven. eggs are great, boiled or scrambled, most things that you eat are great.. chicken, veggies, potatoes (baked or roasted) fish.... i often make the mixture in Dr P's book and then just add a bit of whatever we had for supper or lunch.. Layla gobbles it up and has honestly never been healthier! i'm so glad you are homecooking! once you start you'll realize how easy it is....

If you want 'prepared' food check out the baby section in your grocery store. My two love the baby meat sticks, fruits and veggies - the toddler foods:)

Dangerous?
 

Hey there! Pinned at the top of this forum is a list of dangerous foods -- baby food is on there! So, what type of baby food should be avoided?

I believe it's the ones with onion and other spices. I read all the ingredients first:)

Veggies
 

Hi Marcerella -- what veggies have you found do be most favorable with your Yorkie?

i woudln't rely on this too much, baby and toddler foods tend to be high in fat because babies and toddlers need fat.. lol.. but sounds like a great option when travelling! thanks for the suggestion

oh Miss Layla is a picky girl! what i do is buy a fresh veggie mixture from the grocery store. i ALWAYS use carrotts and you shuold because it is the easiest way for them to get vitamin A. i use peppers and broccoli and cauliflower. i put them in the blender and add them to the meat and rice.. however i'm considering excluding the rice or at least minimizing the amount i use significantly and just sticking to the meat and veggies. but for snacks carrotts are so great for their teeth... stay away from mushrooms, tomatoes. try anything and see what goes over best. but Layla tends to not eat anything straight up, she is so picky.. lol.. but fruit is good too.. apples and bananas peaches, pears, NO GRAPES, i stay away from citrus. i buy fruit that is frozen, berries, and thaw a small amount out and put them into her yogurt, she LOVES it!!!

Follow-up
 

When you talk about blending-up the veggies, do you use the "chop" setting? Also, with regards to the rice and oatmeal, can you cook these, then refrigerate them?

yesi use the chop option. just so they are small enough that she can't spit them out :p the oatmeal i find gets very sticky and thick so personaly i dont' use it, the rice i make up and freeze in small baggies. i take the baggies out and they tend to last for 2-3 days.... Layla eats like a bird so i think that is why it lasts us so long!!

Mine love the oatmeal-it mixes really well with raw ground turkey. I too usually use carrots for Vitamin A, but have subbed sweet potato lately. Those are easy-just poke with a fork and microwave on the baked potato setting, and serve! They're lower in carbs than potatoes, so you can use them with rice, oatmeal, etc. Brown rice is obviously better than white, as is regular rice rather than minute rice, but do what works best for you for the time being.

I thought of another easy fix for you-buy frozen fish fillets in the seafood section (the kind that are individually wrapped and frozen, they come in a bag of 4-6 fillets), and microwave the fish for your dog! I did this today-they had tilapia and sweet potato for dinner-they LOVED it! They have tilapia, perch, whitefish, cod, salmon, you name it! It's pretty cost competitive with other meat, and I think it's more convenient since you only have to prepare the one fillet at a time, rather than a whole pound of other meat.

Veggies should be raw if possible. Of course, you'll want to cook starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, etc. Corn is actually kind of tough on their tummies, so I'd avoid it.

I always keep frozen green peas in the fridge-Emma and Milli love those frozen as treats, or thawed in their food mixture.

I'd avoid the baby food-like Marcerella02 said, they can be high in fat, as well as sodium. Frozen veggies are great when you don't have fresh. Another option is canned-just make sure to buy the no salt added variety, and rinse before using. I have some green beans, but haven't tried them on my furgirls yet. I don't blend up my veggies-I try and mash them a bit-like the sweet potatoes-or chop/grate really small. Some people use grated zucchini-easy to grate, cost effective, and delicious even raw!

If you choose to use fruit, go easy on them at first. I too stay away from citrus, NO grapes, and be careful with anything with seeds/pits, as the seeds can be toxic. I feed my dogs bananas, apple pieces, melon, berries, peaches, and pears. I like to mix them in cottage cheese for breakfast or as a treat.

I have found too that my dogs can eat more food in one day, but spread out between several small meals (3-4) on this diet than they can on kibble, since the food is higher quality. Since it's wet, it has a higher moisture content, and fills them up quicker at each feeding. And, I like to give them snacks when we have snacks-they don't beg then! I think it's better for their metabolism to eat small meals often, with exercise. Emma begs less (she is a huge begger :) ), is more active, and I feel like they poop less on their new diet. You'll notice a change after a couple weeks-I sure have. At first they are kind of bogged down. Marcerella02 warned me about this, and it's true-when their little bodies are getting rid of the old type of food, they're really tired and inactive-but it only lasts a few days. My furgirls are so spunky and play harder than they did before, I honestly think they feel better!

Be sure and let us know if you have other questions-we're glad to help. Marcerella02 was a key player in my turning to homecooking-I'm so glad she was, because I think it's definitely the best diet for my dogs.