Making the Connection~Dog Food and Finding Better

Making the Connection~Dog Food and Finding Better

While reading Obligate Carnivore: Cats, Dogs, and What it Really Means to be Vegan by Jed Gillen, I learned about how most dog and cat food is ground up euthanized shelter cats and dogs. One will say "this doesn't really happen..." or "how can we allow this...". The truth is that as consumers, we don't ask questions and the corporations have a low bar set, and with an abundance of by-product we get this. We must start calling companies and asking questions. Use google as a tool and look up the ingredients as a starting point.



I already had my dogs on a vegan dog food, still buying out of convenience. After moving back to Texas and being short on funds, but not wanting to go back to buying a crap "animal based" dog food, I started cooking for my dogs. There is a reason why mother nature doesn't allow cannibalism. My dogs had never been that interested in their food, until I started cooking for them. Now they can't seem to get enough.

Starting off with grains:
Brown Rice
Quinoa
Pearl Barley
Steel Cut Oats
Oatmeal

Vegetables:
Cabbage
Spinach
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Carrots
Eggplant
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin
Bell Peppers
Kale
Peas
Tomatoes (NO LEAVES)
Sweet Potatoes
Red Potatoes


Fruit:
Blueberries
Peaches
Apples
Pears
Strawberries
Bananas

Added:
Coconut Yogurt
Peanut Butter
Tahini
Apple Sauce
Lentils

Oven Roasted Red Cabbage

Oven Roasted Red Cabbage
Vegan, Gluten Free

So humor me, Bruce did and he found this to be quite a satisfying meal. This was made with all of the left overs from the spring rolls, since I hate food going to waste.

1/2 a small head of red cabbage, sliced (they look like patties)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1-2 apple(s), skinned and chopped
2 teaspoons of minced fresh ginger (I zested)
2 teaspoons of cardamom
crushed red pepper to taste
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a shallow glass baking dish, place the cabbage, garlic and half of the balsamic vinegar. Add a pinch of salt to bring the flavors together. In a small bowl combine the apple, ginger, cardamom and crushed red pepper. Combine apple mixture to the tops of the cabbage and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls
Vegan; Raw (Almost); Gluten Free

I made these last week and the boys LOVED them. These are really easy to make, I will tell you right now that the rice paper doesn't keep too nicely. Mine have really become brittle, I guess the dry air in Colorado. Anyways, there are ideas listed below, so the sky is the limit!

1/3 head of red cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup Udon noodles (to make gluten free use a rice or gf noodles)
1/4 cup fresh herbs (use cilantro, basil or mint, your choice)
1 zucchini, julienned
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated (optional)
juice from 1/2 lime
soy sauce or dipping sauce of choice
I added slices of pan fried tofu to each roll (omit to make raw)
slices of seaweed

Other Ideas:
1/2 cup bean sprouts
5 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup carrots, grated or julienned

Preparation:

1. To make this easy, if you have a food processor use it. I used mine with the red cabbage, ginger and zucchini to shred evenly. Squirt with lime juice and set aside.

2. Pan fry tofu slices, or skip to make raw.

3. Submerge spring roll wrappers in hot water until pliable, about 15 seconds. Layer with noodles or rice, about 2 tablespoons of cabbage mixture, tofu, seaweed and I used mint on wrapper and wrap your spring rolls. Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!