Adventures in Dog Food Land

With the recent (and increasing) recalls of dog and cat food, my sister S and I decided to abandon commercial dog food altogether and make our own. This way, we control the quality of ingredients, and know that there is nothing in their food that we would not eat (except for the meat, of course). After scouring the Internet for information, tips and recipes for Make-Your-Own dog food, the winner is......(drum roll, please).......Mable's Meat Loaf. Really, the dogs will tell us if it is a winner, but it seems to be a well thought out recipe which includes all of the essential vitamins, etc. that a dog needs. We are still going to give them doggie vitamins - no sense in taking any chances, right?

Anyway, I went to various grocery & bulk food stores, assembled the ingredients, and here it is:

Eeeeew, what a mess, right? Ground beef, pureed veggies, cooked rice, oatmeal, pureed black beans, masa harina corn flour, eggs, wheat germ, and some seasonings & supplements. Here it is before being baked in the oven. Still not too tempting.

But oh the smell of the loaves baking. Just like Mom's meatloaf. Here they are out of the oven and cooling so I can wrap them up.

After going vegetarian, the only thing I have missed, until now, is tuna. Mmmmm... a can of tuna, mix in some Miracle Whip, and spread it on the whitest of white bread you can find...so fresh that the tuna smooshes down the bread while you are spreading it. After smelling Mable's Meat Loaf baking this afternoon, I'm going to have to add Mom's meat loaf to the list. Piping hot slices of meat loaf, covered in ketchup, with mashed potatoes and corn on the side. You put the potatoes on your plate first, and make a "well" in the center of them, and put the corn right on top of the potatoes and mix the two together with your fork.

What am I saying???? [SLAP SLAP SLAP] Thanks, I needed that.

Oh well, off to Mom & Dad's pretty soon. We're taking a ham (I know, Babe!), macaroni & cheese (S makes THE BEST mac & cheese in the world), green bean casserole, and asparagus. Mom is making her famous potato salad. Yummy.