Making It Yourself : Dog Food, Stir Fry Sauce

More and more foods these days are being recalled.  Just recently, romaine lettuce was pulled off the shelves, followed by beef, then baby medicine.  If you visit www.foodsafety.gov there are lists of recalls of dog food, baby foods, milk, cheese, meats, veggies, eggs, etc.  It's extensive.

Even if food isn't recalled, the list of ingredients is crazy in so many products.  MSG, artificial sweeteners, BHA, food dyes, trans fats, nitrates; all man-made chemicals that our bodies do not need and may even cause harm to us.

It makes sense to make your own foods.  Not only will you avoid chemicals that aren't necessary, it will save money, create less waste, portion size can be controlled, allergy causing or food sensitive ingredients can be removed and the highest quality of ingredients can be used.

If you think about it, anything can be made at home that is in a box, can, jar or freezer section of a store.  Yes, it takes time, but you can make more than one serving and freeze or store the rest for another meal.  I make many sauces and foods this way and am always on the lookout for more that pass the "just as good, if not better" test. 

This past week I doubled the stir fry sauce recipe I got from www.familywok.com and froze the remainder.  Easy and clean ingredients, plus ready in a jiffy when I need it.  I tend to stay away from leaching plastic as much as possible, so generally freeze my sauces and foods in canning jars, leaving about an inch of head space at the top to leave room for expansion.  Don't forget to label, because once frozen, so many things look identical! 

I will be sharing with you my homemade recipes as I make them.  These are tried and true recipes that passed my taste test.

Basic Stir Fry Sauce

1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. minced ginger

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce (I omit)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 tsp. lemon or lime juice

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar or sherry

Heat sesame oil in a small sauce pan. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry 15-30 second over medium heat to bring out the flavor. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, Tabasco, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Bring just to a boil, stirring. Dissolve the cornstarch in the wine and whisk into the sauce. Heat until sauce thickens and reaches a full boil. Simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside.

I generally make my stir fry with chicken and veggies and add the sauce at the very end.

I also make our dog's dog food.  The last time I was at the grocery store, there was a sale for 10 lbs of thighs and drumsticks for $3.30.  33 cents a pound!!!  I do feed the dogs dry food, but use this as a supplement.  I don't worry too much about the exact vitamin and mineral content because they do eat the dry food with it  It can be tweaked to include vitamins and minerals that dogs need and used as their primary food.   

DOG FOOD

10 lb bag of chicken thighs and drumsticks

Water to cover

Place chicken parts in a very large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour, remove from pot, de-bone, return skin and meat to pot.  

This is where it gets very versatile.  Throw in anything a dog can eat.  lol  I generally put in left over veggies, processed sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, green beans, peas, squash, kale, any fruit that is getting past it's prime, (not grapes), a little oatmeal or rice to thicken it up, sometimes I include garlic and lemon juice to help resist fleas and I let the whole thing simmer for a while. I divide into two cup portions and keep in my frig.  It's good for 2 weeks.  It can also be frozen for up to six months.  My dogs love it! 

I do not put in onions, grapes, corn, bread of any kind or anything spicy.  No chocolate either.  Like that would be left-over. 

We generally spend $1.80 per can of dog food per day split between our three dogs.  This recipe makes approximately two weeks worth of food.  At $3.30 for the 10 pounds of meat, approximately $3.00 or so in fruits, veggies and oats, we are spending approximately .50 cents a day on homemade food and I know exactly what I put in it.   

The possibilities are endless of all the different foods that can be made more nutritiously, cleaner, cheaper, better for our environment and a lot of the time, better tasting!