Recipe for Dog Vomit Stew

This is a real recipe for a meal that was named by my step-children!

I was a new step-mom with picky eaters for new step-children (2 girls and a boy).  One thing they did like was noodles, macaroni and cheese, hamburger helper, etc.  I was working full time and wanted them to have a decent meal when I got home from work.  I needed fast, simple, something I could keep the ingredients on hand and something that would taste okay heated up as left overs…..

Voila!  I tried to call it mock hamburger helper but after they looked at it they unanimously voted to call it “Dog Vomit Stew”.  The only three good things were that 1) they would eat it as often as I made it, 2) they would love to request it screaming they wanted “Dog Vomit Stew” for dinner, and 3) it is really easy!  Here is the recipe:

• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• Rotini noodles, the tri-color are nice
• 1 to 1.5 lbs of ground turkey, beef or chicken
• Chopped onions
• Grated mild cheddar cheese, however cheesy you like it

Start some water boiling and cook about 4-5 servings of the noodles (less noodles if using more meat).  At the same time in a deep fry pan, saute the chopped onions in some oil, then add the ground meat and brown it, then add the cans of soup (not diluted) and stir and simmer.  Check the noodles and when they are slightly underdone add them to the mix and simmer a few more minutes until noodles are done.   Here you might need to add a bit of water and it has to look like, sigh, dog vomit consistency.  Add the grated cheese and simmer till cheese melted and incorporated and you have dinner!  Serve with a vegi of choice, these kids loved steamed broccoli and that goes well with this meal.

I often wanted to dress this up a bit with some spices, maybe some oregano or something but the picky eaters voted no!

 

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Home made parrot food recipe

I have four parrots, a Cockatoo, Red-Bellied, Senegal, and Jardine.

They get a warm breakfast in the morning and parrot kibble in the afternoon.   I rotate kibble and also mix 3 or 4 different types together to keep my parrots from getting too picky.

Please research toxic foods that your birds should not eat such as: chocolate, salt, sugar, avocados, onions, mushrooms and caffeine.

I start with a 15 bean soup mix discarding any flavor packet.  I sometimes use a Bob’s Red Mill soup mix.  Here I add other grains such a brown rice, buckwheat and barley.  Different grains each time. Soak the beans and grains in plenty of water over night or while at work.  Drain off soaking water and add the fruit and veggie mix below to cook, cook well on the stove or in a crockpot.

Fruit and veggie mix:  I put water, veggies and fruit in a blender, a total of 4 or five different things.  Whatever is in season is good.  No fruit seeds such as apples seeds or any pits.  Organic if possible skins are okay if organic.  If I am making dog food the same night I make a huge batch and use half for dog food, half for bird food.  Just remember dogs cannot have grapes but birds can.

(I know many people feed raw fruits and veggies but I mix and cook everything together for convenience.)

The beans need to be cooked long enough to be soft  for your birds to eat them and for them to be nutritious.  If when done cooking your mix is a little wet you can either pour off the extra liquid (wasting nutrients?) or add something like oatmeal to soak extra liquid.  I sometimes also use a small amount of dried fruit such as raisons to soak up some of the liquid. Usually I just cook gently until liquid absorbed. My birds won’t eat if soupy.

Last I add some herbs like a small amount of parsley or some cinnamon or some crushed hot peppers.  Birds can get picky if you don’t switch it up so every time I make it different.

I divide the mix up into containers and freeze, thawing a one or 2 day batch as needed.  They have this in the morning and at lunch time I give the kibble mix.

Heat in microwave but make sure there are no spots, should be just warm.  Here I add a very small amount of  coconut oil or Udi’s 3-6-9 oil blend.

Be creative the more variety the better.  As I mentioned in my dog food recipe, I read once to try to eat 40 different things each day for the best nutrition.

 

 

Homemade Pet Food!?!

Okay I admit it my pets eat better than I do!

I have dogs and parrots and I cook from scratch for them.

Parrots get a warm home cooked breakfast and bird kibble in the afternoon.

Dogs get three warm meals a day.  Half dog kibble and half home cooked.

I started cooking for my pets because a beloved veterinarian who is now retired told me that kibble was like eating cereal, it could sustain you but wouldn’t home cooked meals be better?

He suggested feeding healthy fresh food and guess what!  He was right….

At that time, I had a dog who had serious health issues and was going to a university teaching college veterinary clinic. I stopped taking him there after changing his care and diet.  They kept sending me letters asking if I wanted to donate money in his memory.  They thought he had passed away.  What they didn’t know was that he was still alive!  I attribute this (his improved  health) to feeding a better diet, a diet that included meals cooked from scratch.

Seriously my pets eat better than me.  Their food is a better quality and more nutritious, I put their meals before mine.  (They are my children…..)  If I get busy cooking their meals I’ll be eating fast food or nothing, sigh, which is tonight, I made a batch of dog food and at 11:30 pm I haven’t fed myself!

Okay, I’ll admit it, my step kids used to ask (really) “Is that dog food or people food?”

I really love these stinkers!  (Step kids and dogs!)

Coming soon how I cook for my pets!  (And a  recipe for people that my step kids fondly named “dog vomit stew”)