Home Cooked Dog Food for Organ Impaired Dogs

The following recipe is a good general use recipe that I developed for dogs with most kinds of organ impairment. This food has been used for dogs with liver disease, kidney impairment, heart problems, diabetic and pancreatic problems and food allergies.
I have utilized my degrees in agriculture and the animal nutrition courses I've taken and built this recipe from scratch. There are many years of revision and editing and thousands of hours of work in this particular recipe. It has been reviewed by our veterinarians and is backed by a 9 page spreadsheet containing nutrient requirements and contents for everything down to individual amino acids.  While I don't mind it being shared as needed please respect the effort that went into creating it and give proper credit to the author.

"Edgar Food"

2 pounds uncooked whole grain brown rice.
2 pounds ground turkey (85% lean)
5.5 ounces uncooked pearl barley
10 ounces old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup egg
1 cup rice bran oil
1 tbsp Alaskan Salmon Oil
2 "Ultra Minerals by Vitabase" tablets crushed (1 Women's Once Daily vitamin  can be substituted for short term use.)


Place all dry ingredients into a 16 quart stock pot. Add 1.5 gallons of water. Over medium heat, bring to a boil.

In a mixing bowl mix oils, egg, crushed mineral tablets, and thawed, raw turkey until mixture is a homogenous slurry. Add mixture to boiling pot. Stir thoroughly. Allow to return to a boil. Remove pot from the heat, cover and allow to stand until grains have absorbed most of the liquid. Refrigerate between feedings. Freeze what cannot be fed in 3 days.

(You may also cut the recipe in half and cook in a large crock pot, on low, until grains are cooked. This will be a much runnier food than the above cooking method.)

per cup fed nutrient unit amount kcal kcal/ME/day 171.4 protein g 5.8 fat g 11.2 carbohydrate g 3.9 dietary fiber g 0.36 calcium mg 525.9 sodium mg 27.2 iron mg 1.8 Rough daily energy requirement for average 10 pound dog: kcal kcal/ME/day 300

Honey Peanut Butter Treats

 No picture on these yet...

4 cups whole wheat flour **
2 cups peanut butter melted (chunky or smooth)
1 cup oatmeal
2 eggs or 1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup honey
1 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Resulting mixture should be firm and slightly sticky.

Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil (I like to use spray olive oil). Roll dough into a ball and place in the middle of the sheet. Using your hands flatten the dough to an even thickness across the baking sheet. (This doesn't always work the way it's supposed to... just do the best you can.)


Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges of the dough begin to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.


Using a large knife or a cleaver cut the dough into squares of appropriate size. I like 1/4 inch squares.
Store in an airtight container.

If you only have one dog, you can portion out about 1/4 of the resulting cookies and freeze the rest in a vacuum freezer bag.

** (whole grain rice flour can be substituted for wheat if your dog is sensitive, but you'll need to add 5 minutes to the cooking time.)

Mushrooms and Rice in Wine Sauce

This is a variation on my mother's Chicken and Wine Sauce that was my favorite dish as a kid.  However, this dish can be made with your choice of protein or as a vegetarian version. We have made this with chicken, pork, beef, or extra Portabella mushrooms (along with the regular mushrooms) for a meatless version.

1 lb of cubed chicken, pork, beef or 16 oz baby Portabella mushrooms.
8 oz of white mushrooms

1/2 cup of wine (red if using beef, white if using mushrooms, chicken or pork)
1 cup of sour cream (or vegan substitute)
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cups of cooking stock (chicken, beef or vegetable)
1/8 tsp of paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups Minute rice

Combine all ingredients except the rice in a Crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours. In the last 45 minutes add the rice and allow to continue cooking. Add more chicken stock if needed to properly cook the rice as it absorbs the liquid.

Lemon Basil Viniagrette

• 3 tablespoons fresh basil, sliced
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and ground white pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for up to a week after making.

Eggplant and Italian Sausage Casserole

This recipe uses the other half of the veggies from last week's recipe!

• 1 small container sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 medium eggplant - cubed
• 2 small zucchini - cubed
• 1/2 medium onion - chopped
• 1 red bell pepper - chopped
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
•  1 lb ground Italian Sausage
• 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cans spaghetti sauce, 24 oz
• sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Brown the Italian Sausage with the garlic and basil.
Coat a 9x12 casserole with non-stick cooking spray. Layer the vegetables, sausage, sauce and cheese in the casserole dish. Bake, covered, for 50 minutes. Uncover, top with more cheese, and bake uncovered until cheese is melted and slightly browned.  Serve with a fresh green salad, and lemon basil vinaigrette.

Eggplant and Butternut Squash Curry

• 1 small container sliced mushrooms
• 1/2 medium eggplant - cubed
• 2 small zucchini - cubed
• 1/2 medium onion - chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper - chopped
• 10 oz butternut squash cubed (we use frozen)
• 1 can of bamboo shoots
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• red curry paste to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a Crock-Pot and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve over brown rice.

This can also be prepped ahead and frozen or frozen once cooked. 

Not a blog for pretty food.

Before we get to the recipes, I'd like to give you all fair warning.... This is not a pretty food blog. There will be pictures but they won't be carefully coiffed, lovely food photography.

This blog is about simple, tasty, economical food that doesn't take a lot of work, and freezes well, home cooked dog food, and simple, wholesome treats for pets and people alike.

This is food that you can make or prep it on a weekend and pop it in the freezer. This is food that works for either pulling out entire and reheating for dinner, popping in the crock-pot or making into frozen grab and go lunches. 

So if you want a traditional food blog... you haven't found it here.  But if you want tasty food to make your life easier, and please your budget... Welcome. Pull up a chair and enjoy!