GRANDMA’S KITCHEN

Grandma’s

Kitchen

Sylvia Hughes with her grandmother, Bertie Dameron.

I’ve been doing a little different kind of cooking lately.

I have a West Highland Terrier named Cricket. She has always been a very picky eater. She would stick up her nose and go hungry rather than eat something she seemed to like the day before. She is almost 13 years old now.

For some time she had been getting harder to feed. A recommendation came to my kindle for a dog cookbook. The recipes were easy and I looked through several books to get ideas.

She is eating better than she has ever eaten before since I started cooking for her and I know it is healthy.

Since many people have dogs, I thought you might be interested in these recipes. They are simple and quick.

You start with a pound of meat. Ground beef, ground turkey, chicken breasts or thighs and beef cut in small pieces are some of the meats I have used.

Vegetables that are good for dogs include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, green beans, sweet peas, carrots and winter squash. One winter squash diced will make a large bag you can freeze and use as needed.

I add rice into the mix also. I do not use as much rice as the recipes I have seen. It ends up being the biggest part of the food if you go by those recipes.

That didn’t seem very healthy to me. So I have come up with my own recipes using vegetables that are safe for dogs.

There are fruits that are good for them if you want to add them. Blueberries, apples and applesauce being among them. There are articles on the Internet by veterinarians if you want to do a little research. I also occasionally add a chicken or beef bouillon cube.

It takes me about 30 minutes to prepare a pot of food for Cricket and it makes about a week of food for her. If you want to try it, you might want to check how much food is recommended for your pet for a day.

I brown the meat in a little olive oil in a five quart dutch oven. I add ½ cup of three different kinds of vegetables and about a fourth cup of rice, white or brown. Add just enough water to cover and cook around 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. All the water should be absorbed.

Let cool. Add correct portions for your dog to freezer bags. Freeze and take out one bag each day to thaw in refrigerator. That means fresh food for your pet.

Here are a few combinations I use:

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Sylvia Hughes is a retired newspaper editor and columnist residing in Windsor. In addition to three sons, she has a gaggle of grandchildren, many of whom love cooking with her just as she did with her mother and grandmother.