Preparing freshly made meals with the best quality ingredients is important to Ralph and I. Not only for the taste and enjoyment in preparing meals, but for health reasons too.
One day it dawned on me—why not do the same for our dog Mogly? In researching options, I learned a new definition of BARF—Biologically Appropriate Raw Food diet. I had no idea how popular this diet was among dog (and cat) owners.
We opted to cook Mogly’s food vs. serving a raw diet. I found these recipes in Dogs Naturally that we used as a guideline for our below recipe.
Instead of adding the suggested vegetable options or fresh eggs when preparing the recipe, we add a variation of extras to Mogly’s dish with every meal including cooked eggs, vegetables, fruit, and bone broth. With his supper feeding, he gets half a clove of pressed garlic to help boost his immune system.
For the eggshell powder, we save the shells from our breakfast eggs in the freezer and bake them up at once. You can also use eggshell powder in the garden and other beneficial ways – here’s how to prepare and use them.
Before you switch to homemade meals, I suggest meeting with your doggy’s care provider to discuss your plans to ensure you have the right ingredient mix and feeding amount. I met with Mogly’s holistic Veterinarian who gave me a list of recommended vegetables, fruits, herbs, and oils to supplement his diet with.
We buy cow heart and liver from our local butcher Hoose Landschlachterei which Ralph grinds up using our KitchenAid appliance. There’s a video below showing how he does it, but if you’re squeamish about blood, don’t hit play!
Once made, you can freeze the food in portions of a few days worth of meals. Or, if you’re comfortable with canning, it can save you freezer space (but it’s a lot of extra work). The jars we bought pictured below are 500ml and stack nicely in the cupboard and fridge.
Mogly loves the homemade dog food, and goes back several times to lick his dish after every meal to make sure he didn’t miss a crumb. Whenever we’re preparing another batch, he sits outside our kitchen door licking his lips with a look of eager anticipation in his cute doggy eyes.
Like this:
Ingredients:
Note: the protein ingredients are approximate based on what the size of the heart is. Portion is about 2/1/3 heart/liver/ground beef.
None of the amounts need to be perfect as your not going for flavour here—just nutrition. We guarantee your dog won’t turn up their nose if there’s too much liver!
- 2kg cow heart
- 1kg beef liver
- 3kg ground beef and/or pork
- 2 Tbsp eggshell powder
- 4 Tbsp ground sesame seeds
- 2 Tbsp hemp seed
- 2 tsp wheat germ oil
- 2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp Kelp powder
Instructions:
- Grind heart and liver and add to a large roasting pan
- Add remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix
- Place in heated BBQ (all burners turned to low) and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until cooked through (or bake it in the oven at 300° F/ 150° C for 45-60 minutes. Ralph used the BBQ the last time because our oven is too small for our biggest roaster and it cooked in a fraction of the time compared to the stovetop or oven.
- Freeze or can the cooked food
