The Chuck Wagon Trail

I have to tell you, my house smells pretty good right now. And I'm not even cooking anything that I'm going to consume - this is the dogs' dinner, actually dinner and breakfast for the next couple of days.

What's in it? This time I put in ground turkey, brown rice, oatmeal, beef broth, sweet potato, carrots, peas, eggs (plus shells), some wheat germ and some nutritional yeast. It's kind of like making turkey meatloaf.

Here are a couple of things I have learned so far:

- You can buy brown rice and cook it in the rice cooker, and add it to the cooked ground meat later. OR you can cheat and buy Trader Joe's cooked brown rice (in the rice aisle in these neat little packets) and just add it to the cooked meat and let them simmer together. A bit more expensive but saves a lot of time.

- Ground turkey is definitely preferable to ground beef. Ground beef is SO fatty that you have to drain it after cooking, and even then there is this gross fat film over everything. Ground turkey cooks up great and never needs draining, and it costs about the same as ground beef.

- Cook in broth. Doesn't really matter what kind, beef or chicken. It adds moisture so that when it's refrigerated and then microwaved at a later date, it isn't all dry and crumbly.

- Microwave for 30 seconds after it's been refrigerated. The dogs respond to a warm meal far more than to a cold one. If you microwave for too long, the food will be too hot, and there is nothing worse than the dogs knowing that there is food in their bowls but that you are not letting them eat it. They don't get "cooling down".

- Put 1 (or 2) servings in plastic containers, like fast food containers, that can be microwaved. That way, it's as easy as opening up a can of dog food at feeding time.

- You can eat what they eat! But add the "human" ingredients later, after they are fed, such as garlic and onions, spices, sugar, etc. Those things are not good for dogs, and will cause digestive problems. Plain, all-natural food with the basic food groups covered: meat, vegetable fiber, and whole grain starches tastes great to them, they don't need additional flavor enhancers.

Christmas with the Pups

A lot of the past 6 months of my life has been about my dogs. I am with them nearly 24 hours of every day and it's hard to imagine it any other way. Sadie, above, is now a year old, and Sophie, below, is almost two. Sometimes they drive me nuts, and sometimes I feel like the days are going much too quickly and the years that I have with them don't seem like enough!

One of the things that I think about a lot is their nutrition. I was away for a few days last week, and Sophie got some kind of food allergy that caused her to be very sick for about 24 hours. Having 2 dogs, I feel like I spend a lot of time and money at various pet stores, trying different foods and choosing what is best for them, but to be honest, they've never really liked anything that comes out of a can or out of a bag.

I decided to see what it would be like to make their food from scratch. I read a lot online and then started experimenting with different recipes. The most important thing to understand is that they need the right ratio of protein, starch, and fiber. I usually combine some kind of meat (beef or chicken or ground turkey) with some eggs including the egg shells (for calcium, which they would normally get from bones), and then make some brown rice in the rice cooker with some vegetables like sweet potato, carrots, celery and/or peas. I usually add in some oatmeal as well, to bind it all together a little. I was using some canned organic pumpkin when Sophie was really sick, as that is easy for them to digest.

So far, so good. I am still playing around with it, so I will publish some recipes once I have them down. The dogs love their new diet, and I feel much better about it than I did opening up a can of cold, gloppy dog food and dumping that in their bowl, especially since I read that most of the meat used is of terrible quality. My challenge right now is to get the cost down and the labor under control so I am not constantly making canine meals in lieu of human ones. :)

Next up, I will tackle the cats' diet. My cat Hugo has long suffered from crystals, and I know a lot of that has to do with his food. Wouldn't it be great if I could come up with one base recipe for all of them, that I could put together once a week and just slightly alter according to their needs?

Overall, we had a nice Christmas Day together, cleaning up the party aftermath, and opening gifts. Unfortunately the pups "helped" by eating many of the leftover cheeses that were still on the coffee table, which I am sure contributed to the poor digestion a few days later. However, one of the coolest things about dogs is that you can give them the cheapest toy from the bargain bin and they will act like you just gave them the keys to a brand-new Ferrari. Wheeee!

They looked great over the holiday season sporting their new collars from one of my favorite pet boutiques, George. These red wool plaid collars are so popular that they run out of stock almost as soon as they get them in, so I pre-ordered theirs in September and they got them in late November. I don't believe in dressing my pets in outfits of any kind, so collars are as close as I get. Definitely on the list for craft projects this spring: learning to make dog collars. If I can figure that out, I may even host a craft day with my group, who are all dog-lovers as well...stay tuned.

Doggone

Sorry for the unexpected break. My camera broke, and we got a new puppy (actually 2 new puppies) - so lately my food prep has mostly been in the canine category. 2 puppies = crazy times, but also a whole lot of fun.

My generous friend Kristina lent me her camera, so there will be some posts to follow.

Lately I have been enjoying some food on the cheap - Kingdom of Dumpling in the Sunset for Xiao Long Bao, Rosamunde Sausage Grill in the Mission for Pheasant/Pork/Cherry sausage, and Pica Pica for meat-stuffed arepas and empanadas. Dinner for $10-15 that I don't have to make myself? Bring it on.

I Knew It

Jude sent this to me this morning and it is spot on. Click on the picture to do the test for yourself. Be sure to click on the part that says "How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you" - hilarious. I'm sleeping with one eye open from now on, with some catnip mice stashed under my pillow (distraction tactic)!

Dogs are the New Kids

That what was written on the t-shirt of the lovely man who helped me at "Best in Show", the fabulous store for spoiled pets in the Castro.


Lucy was in dire need of a new collar (never mind that the last one cost me $65 at "Babies", the store for spoiled pets in Hayes Valley. I feel bad going there again after Lucy peed all over their floor). Not because her old collar was worn, because it was tired, girl! So we headed over to the mecca for all things bold and beautiful, the Castro. BIS carries my favorite brand of dog collars, Bella Bean Couture, so I wanted to check out the new offerings.

Of course, the first thing we had to have was a Buzy Bee (remember, the name of the store is "Best in Show", and I would never give up an opportunity to channel Parker Posey).


Of course, we found the perfect collar - I loved it so much I had to get the matching lead. It's not Bella Bean, but very similar in style - made by another local company called Unnecessary Essentials. The name of the style is called "The York", a very uptown pink and brown rep stripe grossgrain ribbon, with an easy buckle closure.

I took Lucy up to Twin Peaks afterwards so we could debut her new gear and look down at the world below us. Here is the pretty princess on her walk.


When we got home, she tried to rip off Buzy Bee's head and then went down for a long nap. Life is good for the 4-legged crowd in San Francisco.

Oh, and don't think that we are done. The cupcake collar from Bella Bean is on my, I mean Lucy's, wish list for fall.

Down For the Count

And...she's...out.

We Are From France

While Hugo is in recovery, I have been calling him Conehead Kitty. Really, he is more of a funnel-head, but Conehead Kitty is more fun to say.

It's amazing how animals adapt to situations. I can't imagine a human handling this contraption with such grace. Hugo has no pride - he does not feel self-conscious or embarassed. Think of the time we waste having these emotions. He just works around it and makes do without a second thought. And because he accepts himself, the other animals accept him, too. There is definitely a lesson to be learned there.