Cooking For Oliver 🐶

My Sweet Boy, Oliver, has some shoulder joint arthritis that causes him pain. Our Vet put him on prescription dry food that's supposed to help with that. I didn't notice much, if any, improvement. So, at over $6.00 a pound. . .I switched him back.

I've cooked for my dogs in the past and it seems it might be a good idea to try that again. Even if it doesn't help with his limping, it'll be a great healthy way to supplement his dry food. He gets a cup of dry food in the morning. In the evening I'll give him 3/4c to 1c of this mixed with a little bit of the dry. This recipe today breaks down to $1.40 a pound.

The 4 quart pot I used was too small, so, in a 5 quart pot, lightly sauté the rice, olive oil and the meat until the meat starts to brown and the rice is snapping.

1# ground meat - turkey, beef or chicken

1/3c single source extra virgin olive oil

2c brown rice

Add 4c of fresh cold water and simmer, covered, 15 minutes before adding the following vegetables to the pot.

8oz. frozen California Blend vegetables

- - well chopped

8oz. frozen peas

8oz. green cabbage

1 chopped sweet potato

2 additional cups of water

Simmer this another 5 minutes then stir in 1 finely chopped Romaine lettuce. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. 

You can put this in portion-size small bags and freeze until needed. Thaw on the counter an hour before feeding time. Add the dry food and a little hot water. Stir then stand back and watch them gobble it up. . .Lin

Chicken Rice Soup with Kale and Beans

1c golden rose brown rice
8oz. chicken thigh meat

Put rice in a strainer, rinse then stir it a little and put it on some wadded up paper towel to absorb the water. When that's drying, cut any fat off the chicken and chop the meat into bite size pieces. Put chicken and rice in a 6 quart pot with:

2-3T single source EVOO

3/4c chopped purple onion

fresh ground black pepper

Sauté over medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking and burning. When the rice and meat are browning, chop, slice or dice, then add the vegetables shown:

4 stalks celery

2-3 carrots

1 med. onion

1/2 green pepper

half bunch of dark green kale leaves

2 huge elephant garlic cloves

3 bay leaves
3T± chicken Better Than Bouillon

Sauté and stir everything, measure out 6c of water, adding about a cup now, along with the bay leaves and soup base. Cover and simmer on low, for a half hour, stirring occasionally and adding the water, a little at a time.

10oz. frozen -or- 1 can black eyed peas

1 can black beans - drained-rinsed

28oz. can diced tomatoes and juice

Add the peas, beans and tomatoes, bring back to a simmer for another 10 minutes before serving. 

This paired nicely with the Sweet Potato Biscuits. . .Lin