About six months ago, my husband, Mitch, ran across a recipe for making our own dog food. It included kale, which he had a lot of from our garden last fall, so he gave it a try. With three dogs, we can really go through the dog food. Of course our dogs don’t like straight dry dog food, they like people food or some canned dog food added for flavor.
So the result? They love it! It also makes our dry dog food last a lot longer. So here it is:
4lbs. chicken livers
3 cups of brown rice (he uses the cheapest brand)
8 cups of water
3 big carrots
1 lb. of kale (veggies can vary).
- Simmer the chicken livers in the water for an hour or more.
- While the chicken livers are cooking chop or puree the veggies in a food processor.
- Remove the chicken livers from the water with a slotted spoon.
- Bring the water back to a boil, add the rice and chopped or pureed vegetables and allow to return to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to simmer.
- While the rice and vegetables are simmering grate the chicken livers in the food processor and return them to the pot with the rice and veggies.
- Continue to simmer until the rice is cooked. The mixture will be soupy but will thicken to the consistency of canned dog food as it cools. Freeze in portions that can’t be used within a week.
When I feed my dogs, I use half dry dog food (Canidae Platinum) and half home-made dog food mixed with a bit of canned food. Cassie devours her dinner in about 30 seconds.
