In the April/May 2011 issue of The Bark, we interview Barbara Laino about the nutritional benefits of feeding your dog home-cooked meals in addition to, or in lieu of, commercial dog food (see “Home Cooking with Barbara Laino” April/May ’11). Here are two more recipes cooked up at Laino’s Midsummer Farm in Warwick, N.Y., that are sure to please your pup’s taste buds and keep her healthy:

Homemade Dinner Recipe for Dogs

This recipe feeds 2-3 large dogs for 7-10 days.

Grind the following ingredients in a meat grinder. Alternate ingredients so the grinder does the mixing for you. For instance, grind six necks, one carrot, a handful of pumpkin seeds, then six more necks and so on. Mix with a large spoon as you grind.

Meat:
• 40 lbs of chicken neck without skins
• 10 lbs of chicken hearts
• 5-10 lbs of organic chicken livers
• 2 cans of pink salmon (optional)

Vegetables:
Can be interchanged with other vegetables and fruits (no grapes or onions). Dogs and cats usually do not like citrus.
• 2-5 lbs carrots
• 1/2 a bunch of red cabbage
• 1 beet
• 2 apples
• 1/2 a bunch of spinach or other dark greens

Other ingredients:
• 1 cup of raw pumpkin seeds

Add a couple of the following items. Have these ready on hand as you are grinding and add a sprinkle here and there of each so you can thoroughly mix the batch of food.
• 9-12 raw whole eggs (optional)
• 2,000 mg of vitamin C powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of Thorvin kelp powder
• 1/4 cup of tumeric powder
• 1/2 to 1 cup of dried parsley
• 1/2 to 1 cup of dried oregano
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup of tahini
• 1/4 cup of raw honey

After grinding and mixing all ingredients thoroughly, keep the food in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Midsummer Farm Homemade Fish-Based Dog Dinner

(The below recipe is for 1 medium dog for 3 days, about 10 1-cup-size meatballs) This recipe can be made in larger batches for efficiency sake. This raw food can easily be frozen in meatball shapes appropriate for the size animals you are feeding.

Serving Sizes of Raw Meatballs:
• For a large 50-100 pound dog – three to five 1-cup-size meatballs per day
• For a 20-40 pound dog - two or three 1-cup-size meatballs per day
• For a 1-10 pound dog – one to two 1/2-cup-size meatballs per day
*Remember – this is a concentrated and efficient food source and is power packed. You won’t have to feed as much bulk-wise as with a commercial food; most commercial foods have a lot of fillers.

Ingredients
• 2 pounds of Frozen Fish Fillets. I like to use an oily fish like Mackerel or Whiting.
• 1-2 cans of Alaskan Wild Pink Salmon
• 1/4 - 1/2 pound of Beef Liver
• 1-3 Eggs (optional)
• 2 cups of Chopped Veggies (can be any combination of carrots, cabbage, broccoli, cooked squash, green beans, cooked yams, apples, berries, kale, spinach). Do NOT use onions or grapes of any kind.
• 1/2 cup of Pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Dried Parsley
• 2 tbsp Dried Oregano
• 2 tbsp Tumeric Powder
• 2 tbsp Thorvin Kelp Powder
• Optional: 1 cup of cooked oatmeal, barley, or brown rice

Directions:
Alternate putting frozen (still frozen grind much easier), liver, vegetables, and seeds through a meat grinder. As you grind into a big bowl, add and mix in the canned salmon, eggs, honey, dried herbs, powdered kelp.

Keep in a well-sealed container in fridge. Scoop out appropriate amounts for your pet, or if you made a very large batch that is more than can be consumed in about 5 days, roll into meal-sized meatballs and freeze. Then you can just take out whatever number meatballs you need and defrost them a couple days before you need to feed them. Meatballs will last at least 3 months in the freezer.

To learn more about homemade dog food and its many benefits, see our interview with Barbara Laino.

Note: We've omitted the garlic originally in this recipe.

Every dog deserves the occasional cookie, but some treats can trigger allergies or tummy trouble. Dog Cookies comes to the rescue with 30 easy-to-follow recipes for healthy, allergen-free treats—including vegetarian and gluten-free treats—so you can find the perfect cookie no matter your dog’s diet.

hubbleandhattie.com

For the gluten-free Amaranth Waffles recipe, see the Summer 2011 issue of The Bark.

Fish Feasts

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups wholegrain spelt flour
5/8 cup potato flour
100g (4oz) fish
1/4 cup broth or water
A pinch of dried parsley
1 free-range egg

Baking time: 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven
Temperature: Fan-assisted oven 160°C, conventional oven 180°C
Makes approximately 350g (12oz) of Fish Feasts

Preparation:

Any type of fish can be used for this recipe, so use whichever your dog likes best.

Caution: Ensure all of the bones are removed from the fish.

• Use a food processor or immersion blender to shred the fish into very small pieces. You can also use tinned tuna (preferably in brine rather than oil) for this recipe.
• Mix the pureed fish with the wholegrain spelt flour, potato flour, broth and parsley, and work into a smooth dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave for 30 minutes.
• Roll out the dough to a thickness of 3mm (1/10in), and cut into small heart shapes, or any shape you like.
• Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper and place the hearts on the try. Use a fork to prick holes in them.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the door and leave the biscuits to cool for one hour.

Treat tip

Regardless of which fish you use, these biscuits should not be stored for too long. Salmon, for example is quite high in fat, so there is a risk it may go rancid. Store the biscuits in an airtight container, and do not keep them for any longer than two weeks.

Fennel cookies

Ingredients:
1 5/8 cups rice flour
3 cups rye flour
5/8 cup wholegrain spelt flakes
1 1/4 cups milk
2 free-range eggs
1-2 teaspoons of ground fennel seeds

Baking time: 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven
Temperature: Fan-assisted oven 160°C, conventional oven 180°C
Makes approximately 420g (15oz) Fennel Cookies

Preparation:

• Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or hand mixer with dough hooks and process into smooth dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave for 30 minutes.
• After rolling out to a thickness of approximately 3mm (1/2in), cut shapes out of the dough and prick with a fork.
• Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper, put the cookies on the tray and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, then allow the cookies to harden for an hour in the oven with the door slightly ajar.

Summertime means picnics and cookouts … and burgers and watermelon for everybody, even our dogs! Next time you gather around the picnic table plan on packing something special for the pups. Bark contributor Natalya Zahn shares her recipe for a dog-delicious burger/bun combo, sweet potato chips and watermelon pops …

BIG DOG BURGER

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 c fresh chopped parsley
• 1 whole egg
• 1 c rolled oats
• 1/4 c fine-shredded carrot

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl (mix with hands). Form into “burgers” and space 1" apart in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes. Cool before serving and store in refrigerator.
 

PB & JAM THUMBPRINTS

• 1 c rolled oats
• 2 c flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c peanut butter
• 2 very ripe mashed bananas
• 1/2 c water
• 1/4 c sugar-free jam

Combine all dry ingredients, then mix in peanut butter, bananas and water. Mix until dough forms. Shape dough into 1" rounds, place on baking sheet and press thumb into centers. Bake at 350˚ for about 15 minutes. Let cool. Heat jam in a saucepan or microwave until liquid in consistency. With a spoon, drip the jam into the center of each cookie. Let stand 1 hour for jam to set. Store in an airtight container.

LIVER CRACKER “BUN”

• 1/2 c raw liver
• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/3 c wheat germ
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 2 Tbsp veg oil
• 1/2 c water
• egg white (for glazing)
• sesame seeds

In a bowl, combine flour, wheat germ and parsley — set aside. Briefly blend liver in a food processor. Add liver to dry ingredients, then mix in oil and water until a sticky dough forms. On a greased cookie sheet, shape bun rounds — about 3" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Brush with egg white and sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Bake at 400˚ for 15-20 minutes. Buns should be slightly soft in the center when pressed. Cool before assembling burger and serving.

WATERMELON FREEZE CUBES

• watermelon
• cookie cutters

Cut melon into roughly 3/8" slices. Using cookie cutters, cut shapes out of the flesh of the melon and place on a freezer-safe plate. Chill for 4 hours. Remove from freezer, transfer treats from plate to Ziploc freezer bag and store frozen until ready to eat.

SWEET POTATO CHIPS

• 6 large sweet potatoes

Slice whole potatoes into rounds: a 1/4" slice will create a crispier chip, a 1/2" slice will create a chewier chip. Place on a foil-lined sheet. Bake at 250˚ for 2 hours, turning over once. Allow to cool on sheet. Chips should be stored in an airtight container.

Anything that makes cooking and baking easier is welcome in my world, and that applies to products and ideas that help in preparing food for dogs as well as for people. So, I was pleased to see a new appliance for making dog treats.

The Nostalgia Electrics DBM200 Dog Biscuit Treat Maker Kit allows canine chefs to create dog treats quickly and easily. This countertop appliance bakes up treats in five minutes, and using the cookie cutters that are included, those treats can be shaped like a small bone, a large bone, a cat, a dog house, a fire hydrant or a dog. It comes with a decorating kit and a recipe booklet. I especially like the storage container that comes with the set, as it is stylish enough to stay on the counter all the time.

I know that many people choose to have only those kitchen gadgets that do more than one thing, so let me point out that this item allows you to save time, make charming homemade treats, make your dog happy AND add something chic to your home décor.