The Healthy Hound Cookbook: Over 125 Easy Recipes for Healthy, Homemade Dog Food--Including Grain-Free, Paleo, and Raw Recipes! (16 page)

Salmon is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, so get ready to see a shiny coat when you add salmon to your dog’s diet!

YIELDS: 12 (2") balls

1
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cups cooked salmon, chopped

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
   
2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients thoroughly. Use a spoon or melon baller to scoop mixture and roll into 12 balls. Place on cookie sheet.
   
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow treats to cool before serving or refrigerating. Refrigerate for 3–4 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
   

Because they are high in omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, sardines are a superfood according to some people. Your dog will just think they’re very tasty!

YIELDS: 6–9 (3") cakes (depending on the size of the sweet potatoes)

2 cooked sweet potatoes

2 (3.75-ounce) cans sardines in water, drained and chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1
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cups panko bread crumbs, divided

Olive oil, as needed

1. Peel sweet potato skins and mash potatoes in a large bowl. Add sardines, garlic (if using), egg, and flour; mix thoroughly. Stir in 1 cup of bread crumbs and mix completely.
   
2. Shape mixture into small 3" patties. Roll patties in remaining bread crumbs.
   
3. In a large skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Fry two or three sardine patties at a time for about 5–8 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden brown.
   
4. Drain on a paper towel and cool completely before serving to your dog. Cool before serving or refrigerating. Refrigerate for 3–4 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to six months.
   

You and your dog can share this recipe; add a little hot pepper sauce to your portion, leaving your dog’s portion a bit blander.

YIELDS: 6–7 cups

2 cups water

1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

2 eggs

1 pound lean ground beef

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cup sliced celery

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cup low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

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cup frozen chopped carrots and peas

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the rice and stir. Return the pot to a boil, then lower heat to low, cover, and simmer the rice until tender and all the water is absorbed, about 18–25 minutes. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
   
2. Spray large skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium heat.
   
3. Beat eggs in a small bowl, then pour into skillet and cook until firm.
   
4. Remove from heat and slice eggs into strips. Combine eggs with rice and set aside; return skillet to stove.
   
5. Spray skillet again if needed. Cook ground beef and celery over medium heat until beef is thoroughly cooked (about 10 minutes), stirring to prevent sticking and overbrowning.
   
6. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce and sesame oil, then pour over beef mixture. Add carrots and peas, cooked rice, and cooked egg strips, stirring constantly for 3–4 minutes to thoroughly combine and warm ingredients.
   
7. Cool dog’s portion before serving. Refrigerate for 3–4 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
   

Tuna makes a tasty meal to share with your dog; you might want to add mayonnaise to your portion.

YIELDS: 2 cups

1 (9-ounce) can tuna packed in water

1 cup cooked pasta, drained

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cup frozen peas, thawed

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cup chopped fresh parsley

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cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Drain tuna, reserving the tuna water to use in place of water in a treat recipe.
   
2. In a medium bowl, mix tuna, pasta, peas, parsley, and cheese. Serve.
   
3. Refrigerate unused portions. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
   

This easy-to-make meal is recommended for dogs with an upset stomach. Like mom’s chicken soup, this meal is easy on the tummy. Start with a small serving, perhaps just spoonfuls, until your dog’s appetite returns.

YIELDS: 6 cups

2 chicken breasts

2 quarts water

1 cup white rice

1. Remove and discard bones, fat, and skin from chicken breasts.
   
2. In a soup pot, bring the water to a boil. Add chicken breasts and cook thoroughly until there is no pink showing in the meat.
   
3. When chicken is done, remove it from the water; add rice to the water and reduce heat to medium. Cook until rice is tender and slightly overdone (at least 30 minutes). Remove from burner while it cools and absorbs additional water. After 30 minutes, pour off additional water but leave moist and slightly soupy.
   
4. While the rice is cooking, shred the chicken using two forks.
   
5. When the rice is cooked, return chicken to pot and cool completely before serving. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
   

Stuffed Pumpkin

This multimeal one-dish creation combines some of the healthiest fall foods for Fido in one easy-to-prepare creation.

YIELDS: 10 cups

1 (3-pound) cooking pumpkin

1 apple

1 cup green beans, cooked

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pound ground turkey or ground chicken

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Remove top of pumpkin; using a spoon, remove all seeds from the pumpkin. (Set seeds aside for a future recipe.)
   
3. Core apple; discard the core and seeds and finely chop. Chop green beans.
   
4. In a medium bowl, mix green beans, apple, turkey, and Parmesan cheese. Stuff into pumpkin cavity. Place pumpkin on a baking sheet on the middle rack and bake for 1 hour.
   
5. Drain any accumulating liquid from the top of the pumpkin during cooking.
   
6. Cool completely before serving. To serve, cut pumpkin in half. Scoop meal, including pumpkin flesh, from the pumpkin. Refrigerate unused portions for up to 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
   

Salmon and Spinach Hash

We love the ease of one-dish meals both for our dogs and ourselves. This meal may be simple, but it packs a big nutritional punch!

YIELDS: 4 cups

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 (7.5-ounce) can salmon, drained

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed

4 eggs

1. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon and spinach, stirring until completely heated.
   
2. Add eggs and scramble.
   
3. Cool before serving. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
   

Lamb is one of those ingredients that really perks up our dogs’ ears. (Yes, they know the word “lamb” !) This dish is easy to prepare and freezes well for later meals. Larger neighborhood groceries carry ground lamb regularly, and it’s a staple at many specialty groceries and at most organic food markets.

YIELDS: 7 cups

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound ground lamb

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables (without onions)

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cups cooked white rice

1 cup low-fat plain yogurt

1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook lamb until no longer pink, about 10 minutes, and drain off fat.
   
2. Add vegetables, stirring to defrost. Remove from heat.
   
3. In a large bowl, combine lamb mixture, rice, and yogurt. Mix thoroughly.
   
4. Cool before serving.
   
5. Refrigerate for 3 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
   

It’s always interesting to see how dogs respond to new taste sensations. When we first served bison meat instead of their regular beef, Irie and Tiki didn’t hesitate. They loved it!

YIELDS: About 30 (1") meatballs

2 slices whole-wheat bread, cut into
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" cubes

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cup milk

1 egg

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cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 pound ground bison

Olive oil, for frying

1. In a medium bowl, soak bread cubes in milk until soft (about 5 minutes). Remove bread from milk, squeeze out extra milk, and discard milk.
   
2. In a large bowl, combine bread, egg, cheese, parsley, and bison. Pinch off small pieces and roll into balls.
   
3. In a large skillet, heat
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   cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Fry each meatball until no longer pink in the center, approximately 8–10 minutes.
   
4. Remove from heat to cool completely before serving. Refrigerate for 3–4 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
   

Although kibble isn’t the first choice in most homemade diets, this is still a good recipe to have on hand. Kibble works well if you’re traveling and need to bring along some meals for your dog.

YIELDS: About 2 pounds of kibble

8
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cups whole-wheat flour

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

2 eggs

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cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound uncooked lean ground turkey

2 cups puréed, cooked sweet potato without skin (or substitute pumpkin, green beans, or a mix)

1. Preheat oven to 200°F. Lightly oil a cookie sheet and set aside.
   
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, dry milk powder, eggs, and olive oil. Add ground turkey and vegetable purée. Mix well.
   
3. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to
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   " –
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   " thickness. Transfer dough to cookie sheet.
   
4. Score dough with a pizza cutter to create size-appropriate kibble pieces.
   
5. Bake for 90 minutes. Turn off oven and allow kibble to cool and harden.
   
6. When cool, remove from oven and break along score lines into kibble. Bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days.