RECIPE FOR HOMEMADE DOG FOOD
- Ground meat: chicken, turkey, beef or a mixture
- Frozen mixed veggies
- 1-2 eggs, depending on how many loafs you are making
- oatmeal, eyeball amount for the number of loafs you are making
- Spray your loaf pan with non stick spray, fill pans and bake for an hour.
Why make this for your dogs? Read on…
After adopting a one year old doxie, I had 2 dachshunds to feed! The person from whom we adopted the dog gave me a list of healthful dog foods. She also said that the dog food we were giving our dog was equivalent to McDonalds. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes everyone needs a good McDonald’s fix, but she was right, not every day.  We went to the local pet store and priced the canned food and kibble. It was so pricey! Granted, my dogs are small, but still, with the cost of raising a family going up every day, I knew I had to compromise with their food budget as well.
I was watching a commercial about dog food and the spokesman said, “My dog enjoys dog food made of fresh turkey, egg, vegetables and EVEN oatmeal!”  I thought to myself, that’s MEATLOAF! I make meatloaf for my family at least once a month. I often make two and freeze one for a later date. It is quick, easy, and economical.  Why not make meatloaf for the dogs. I have bought the dog food loaves ( in the refrigerated section) in the store and they set me back about $4.99 and that’s on sale. It is a loaf about as big as a refrigerated cookie dough roll.
I went to Smart and Final and found a 5 pound chub of ground turkey on sale for $3.99. I also bought the giant sized frozen mixed vegetables. I already had oatmeal and eggs at home. I stopped by the dollar store and bought loaf pans. I figured if I was going to make several loafs, I should make them at one time. Having only one loaf pan, it would take forever.
I mixed the ground turkey, veggies, egg and oatmeal into a bowl, sprayed my loaf pans and made 3 large loafs and 4 mini loafs. I cooked them all at once. It took less than an hour and half from start to finish. While I was at it, I made beef meatloaf for my family! Once they cooled completely, I wrapped them in heavy duty Reynolds wrap and froze them. One loaf feeds our dogs for a week. They eat twice a day with a small amount of kibble.
It was quick, easy and cost me around 5 dollars to make a month of food for them. They love it and unlike store bought dog food, it doesn’t smell so bad you have to sneak up on it to serve it!
Two weeks ago there was a peanut butter scare and many food products, including canned dog food, were pulled from the shelves. I felt safe knowing my dogs ate home made dog food and I knew every ingredient that went in it.
