vagreys
11-09-2006, 05:17 PM
For those who are interested, here is the original homemade "canned" food recipe from which the one I posted was ultimately derived. My thanks to Jennifer B. of CBD Therapy Dogs for permission to post the recipe from her website, here.
Jennifer's recipe on her website has been refined since the one she shared with us several years ago was posted on that board. I'm going to try this version, exactly, and see how it differs from what I've been doing. I've been cooking it for 24 hours, and she appears to be cooking hers for closer to 36. I've been using rice (instead of wheat pasta) and estimating how much of that I need based on the remaining liquid. I think I start out with more water, since the recipe I've always worked from said to add water to cover. I do have to ladle off excess broth, but it didn't occur to me to spell that out. I use whatever frozen mixed vegetables I can find, cheap (but only one big bag not two), thaw them, put them through the blender, and I've been putting the puree into the broth with the rice to increase digestibility without losing nutrients. I expect some veggie nutrients are broken down by the heat. That would not be the case if I added the veggie puree (uncooked) directly to the cooked meat. I'll have to try that....
Home Made Canned Food
RECIPIE
Ingredients and tools needed to make recipie can be found at your local Walmart Super Center
Tools Needed
One 6qt Rival Crock Pot
One slotted cooking spoon
One metal potato masher
One five-gallon bucket
Several Gladware 1qt food containersIngredients
One ten-pound bag chicken leg quarters ($3.90)
Two large 32 oz boxes Great Value (Walmart brand) macaroni noodles ($1.29)
Two frozen bags Great Value frozen peas and carrots ($0.80 each)
One large bag Great Value frozen green beans ($1.09)
One jar Great Value minced Garlic ($1.15)Preperation
Open the bag of Chicken leg quarters and rinse chicken off in sink before putting them in the crock pot
Fill crock pot 1/4 full with water, sprinkle 1 large tablespoon minced garlic on top of chicken
Put lid on crock pot, turn on LOW, and let slow-cook for 24hrs. I start this early in the morning and leave on until the following evening
Scoop out chicken with slotted spoon and put into five-gallon mixing bucket
Pour macaroni into crock pot, mix with the remaining chicken broth, add more water if needed
Use metal potato masher to mash up chicken and chicken bones. If any bones are still not soft enough to mash up with the marrow, remove from bucket
Add frozen veggies to bucket. Once Macaroni is done cooking, add remaining pot ingredients to mixing bucket
Thoroughly mix meat, veggies, and pasta. Once thoroughly mixed, store in Gladware containers until needed
When needed, just place Gladware container in microwave and warm up! You can put some of the mix in mini muffin tins or cup cake tins, then freeze, and make individual servings to store in Ziplock bags, or just put individual servings in Ziplock Snack Bags. You can also put the mix in a Ziplock freezer bag, flatten it out, and make "stackable" bags in your freezer to save spaceNOTES
This recipie will freeze very easily. It does not "have" to be made with just pasta and the listed veggies, I have posted this because this is the recipie I am using during the testing of DocsBlend Hair of the Dog. Rice (white and/or brown), potatoes (regular or sweet), yams, barley, oatmeal, etc.. can be substituted for the carbs. Any veriety of fruit or veggie can be used. Ground beef or ground turkey can be added.
ONLY CHICKEN BONES WILL BREAK DOWN IN THE CROCK POT. You can add beef, turkey, lamb, etc... bones for added flavor, but they do not break down. They will have to be removed before feeding the 'canned food' to your hounds. Canned Salmon and canned mackeral will break down if you choose to add fish.
NOTICE ON CROCK POTS / SLOW COOKERS
Not all crock pots and slow cookers cook the exact same. Older crocks/cookers may have worn out and take longer to cook, others, like mine, are brand new and cook faster. If a few additional hours does not finish breaking the bones down, then discard those bones. Overfilling your crock pot also makes it cook slower, and "just a few chicken quarters" would make it cook faster. This is just one reason why I noted (above) that I normally *start my crock pot in the MORNING and don't take the chicken out until the FOLLOWING EVENING - because I pack the crock pot full. Don't expect to pull out "mush". You will pull out whole bones! Once you put the slightest amount of pressure, the bones will mush up! Hince the reason I use the metal potato masher to mash up the bones and meat. If this recipie has too much fat for your hound, then remove the skin from the chicken thighs.
Moisture Content (how to prevent messes)
One complaint I have heard is that "it boils over and makes a mess". Here are a few tips on how to prevent that from happening.
Everyone who makes this will be using different crock pots. I use a 6qt Rival oval Crock Pot. Normally I can fit all 10lbs of chicken in it, if I layer it just right. The fat from the chicken will create a _LOT_ of broth. I start the pot off with 1/2 full of water. As the chicken cooks, I make sure to use a ladle to scoop out the excess broth. I never let it get over 3/4 full or else it will bubble over. If you don't want to make extra broth, or you don't have time to ladle off the excess broth, then only add enough water to the pot to make it 1/4 full. If you do choose to make extra broth, it only takes up 10 minutes of your day (about 2 minutes every hour or so) to scoop out the excess broth, and you'll get at least a gallon (or more!) of home-made chicken broth. You can mix this in with the home-made food or save it for later to mix in with kibble (or even use it as a base for your own cooking!).
In general, I keep no less than 1/4 crock full of water, I try to keep it at 1/2 full, but I don't let it get over 3/4 full.
Thanks to Heidi Choquette for the orginal recipie of cooking chicken in a crock pot!
Jennifer's recipe on her website has been refined since the one she shared with us several years ago was posted on that board. I'm going to try this version, exactly, and see how it differs from what I've been doing. I've been cooking it for 24 hours, and she appears to be cooking hers for closer to 36. I've been using rice (instead of wheat pasta) and estimating how much of that I need based on the remaining liquid. I think I start out with more water, since the recipe I've always worked from said to add water to cover. I do have to ladle off excess broth, but it didn't occur to me to spell that out. I use whatever frozen mixed vegetables I can find, cheap (but only one big bag not two), thaw them, put them through the blender, and I've been putting the puree into the broth with the rice to increase digestibility without losing nutrients. I expect some veggie nutrients are broken down by the heat. That would not be the case if I added the veggie puree (uncooked) directly to the cooked meat. I'll have to try that....
Home Made Canned Food
RECIPIE
Ingredients and tools needed to make recipie can be found at your local Walmart Super Center
Tools Needed
One 6qt Rival Crock Pot
One slotted cooking spoon
One metal potato masher
One five-gallon bucket
Several Gladware 1qt food containersIngredients
One ten-pound bag chicken leg quarters ($3.90)
Two large 32 oz boxes Great Value (Walmart brand) macaroni noodles ($1.29)
Two frozen bags Great Value frozen peas and carrots ($0.80 each)
One large bag Great Value frozen green beans ($1.09)
One jar Great Value minced Garlic ($1.15)Preperation
Open the bag of Chicken leg quarters and rinse chicken off in sink before putting them in the crock pot
Fill crock pot 1/4 full with water, sprinkle 1 large tablespoon minced garlic on top of chicken
Put lid on crock pot, turn on LOW, and let slow-cook for 24hrs. I start this early in the morning and leave on until the following evening
Scoop out chicken with slotted spoon and put into five-gallon mixing bucket
Pour macaroni into crock pot, mix with the remaining chicken broth, add more water if needed
Use metal potato masher to mash up chicken and chicken bones. If any bones are still not soft enough to mash up with the marrow, remove from bucket
Add frozen veggies to bucket. Once Macaroni is done cooking, add remaining pot ingredients to mixing bucket
Thoroughly mix meat, veggies, and pasta. Once thoroughly mixed, store in Gladware containers until needed
When needed, just place Gladware container in microwave and warm up! You can put some of the mix in mini muffin tins or cup cake tins, then freeze, and make individual servings to store in Ziplock bags, or just put individual servings in Ziplock Snack Bags. You can also put the mix in a Ziplock freezer bag, flatten it out, and make "stackable" bags in your freezer to save spaceNOTES
This recipie will freeze very easily. It does not "have" to be made with just pasta and the listed veggies, I have posted this because this is the recipie I am using during the testing of DocsBlend Hair of the Dog. Rice (white and/or brown), potatoes (regular or sweet), yams, barley, oatmeal, etc.. can be substituted for the carbs. Any veriety of fruit or veggie can be used. Ground beef or ground turkey can be added.
ONLY CHICKEN BONES WILL BREAK DOWN IN THE CROCK POT. You can add beef, turkey, lamb, etc... bones for added flavor, but they do not break down. They will have to be removed before feeding the 'canned food' to your hounds. Canned Salmon and canned mackeral will break down if you choose to add fish.
NOTICE ON CROCK POTS / SLOW COOKERS
Not all crock pots and slow cookers cook the exact same. Older crocks/cookers may have worn out and take longer to cook, others, like mine, are brand new and cook faster. If a few additional hours does not finish breaking the bones down, then discard those bones. Overfilling your crock pot also makes it cook slower, and "just a few chicken quarters" would make it cook faster. This is just one reason why I noted (above) that I normally *start my crock pot in the MORNING and don't take the chicken out until the FOLLOWING EVENING - because I pack the crock pot full. Don't expect to pull out "mush". You will pull out whole bones! Once you put the slightest amount of pressure, the bones will mush up! Hince the reason I use the metal potato masher to mash up the bones and meat. If this recipie has too much fat for your hound, then remove the skin from the chicken thighs.
Moisture Content (how to prevent messes)
One complaint I have heard is that "it boils over and makes a mess". Here are a few tips on how to prevent that from happening.
Everyone who makes this will be using different crock pots. I use a 6qt Rival oval Crock Pot. Normally I can fit all 10lbs of chicken in it, if I layer it just right. The fat from the chicken will create a _LOT_ of broth. I start the pot off with 1/2 full of water. As the chicken cooks, I make sure to use a ladle to scoop out the excess broth. I never let it get over 3/4 full or else it will bubble over. If you don't want to make extra broth, or you don't have time to ladle off the excess broth, then only add enough water to the pot to make it 1/4 full. If you do choose to make extra broth, it only takes up 10 minutes of your day (about 2 minutes every hour or so) to scoop out the excess broth, and you'll get at least a gallon (or more!) of home-made chicken broth. You can mix this in with the home-made food or save it for later to mix in with kibble (or even use it as a base for your own cooking!).
In general, I keep no less than 1/4 crock full of water, I try to keep it at 1/2 full, but I don't let it get over 3/4 full.
Thanks to Heidi Choquette for the orginal recipie of cooking chicken in a crock pot!