SMOOTHIES!!!

Posted on by TayBham
Berry smoothie for dogs

You too can make your HOL dog a smoothie that he will LOVE.

Basically, any fruit will do, and the recipe is largely the same except for the fruit. You could drink it yourself, except that the Answers raw, fermented goats milk I use in all of them is not for human consumption b/c it’s not pasteurized. So, here’s you some options to get you started. All recipes are for a 50lb dog. Adjust according to your dog’s size.

SMOOTH AWAY!

Straw-Monkey

  • 1 whole banana, peeled (duh) and broken into pieces
  • 5 strawberries, topped
  • 1 kiwi, peeled
  • small bunch of fresh mint leaves without the stems
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon or turmeric
  • 1 heaping Tbsp raw, local honey
  • 1/2 cup raw, fermented goats milk.

WHIRRRRR in the blender till smooth. Makes 8 oz.

Berry Blitz

  • 2 oz Blueberries
  • 2 oz Raspberries
  • 2 oz Strawberries
  • small bunch of fresh basil leaves
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon or turmeric
  • 1 heaping Tbsp raw, local honey
  • 1/2 cup raw, fermented goats milk.

WHIRRRR in the blender till smooth. Makes 8 oz.

Orange Crush

  • 3-4 small carrots, chopped
  • 1 banana, peeled
  • 1/8 tsp turmeric or cinnamon
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 heaping Tbsp raw, local honey
  • 1/2 cup raw, fermented goats milk.

WHIRRRR in the blender till smooth. Makes 8 oz.

Green Goblin

  • 1 small avocado, pitted and peeled
  • small bunch of mint and basil, stems removed
  • 1 tsp dried kelp
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 heaping Tbsp raw, local honey
  • 1/2 cup raw, fermented goats milk

WHIRRRR in the blender till smooth. Makes 8oz.

I make an 8oz smoothie every morning and divide it between Pearl and Truman. That is their breakfast. They get their meat meal at night.

The goats milk provides them with protein, as well as probiotics to start their day. The cinnamon or turmeric act as natural anti-inflammatories, as well as digestive aids (among other things–enough to fill their own blog post). The garlic is for flea & tick avoidance. Such a small amount should not bother your dog, but some dogs may be hyper-sensitive to garlic. So try a little and see how your dog reacts. If he doesn’t have a reaction, go with it. If he does, please use your brain and quit giving it to him. The raw, local honey is an antimicrobial, contains wonderful phytonutrients, and helps keep seasonal allergies in check.

Give them a try! Simple as pie!

pugs & kisses,

Warm Winter Veggies

Posted on by TayBham

My weekends are as busy as my weekdays.

I spend Saturday and Sunday shopping, planning, and often cooking for my dogs so that I don’t have to think about it during the week.

As I’ve mentioned before, even in a RAW, wHOLe food diet, some things have to be cooked. Dogs don’t do too much chewing with their semi-molars, so we need to help them break down the cellulose in vegetables by gently cooking them.

I’ve developed a recipe that admittedly takes some prep time, but yields a large quantity, freezes well, and is loaded with winter veggie goodness to supplement the protein sources I give my dogs. It’s also an easy way to add some coconut oil and sea salt to their diets.

Here’s a recipe I call Warm Winter Veggie Mash:

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium to large Butternut Squash, peeled & cubed
  • 6 large carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 4-6 sweet potatoes
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 4 oz organic chicken stock

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 375. Toss your squash & carrot chunks in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.
  • Rinse and pierce your sweet potatoes several times with a fork. Place them on another parchment-lined baking sheet, and put them in the oven beside your squash & carrots. Bake for 1 hour or until the skin puckers and the sugar starts oozing out of the fork holes.
  • Let the veggies cool before combining them in a blender or food processor with the salt and chicken stock. The stock is really just to get things moving in the blender. You can use purified water or another flavored stock. Use more or less depending on how thick you want your mixture. Depending on the size of your vegetables and your blender, you may have to puree in batches.
  • Spoon the mixture into 6oz plastic containers, and freeze. One container will defrost over night in the fridge.

Now you have several days of delicious, fresh, wHOLe food nutrition to add to raw chicken wings, thighs, or beef!

WOO-HOO!

These warm root vegetables are so nourishing during the cold winter months and POWER PACKED. Rich in vitamins and minerals that are naturally present — not added back in artificially– including:

Vitamins A, C, E, B6, and K, Niacin, Thiamin, Folate, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, Dietary Fiber, Iron, Copper, and Pantothenic Acid, but low in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol.

Check your bag of dog food for THAT list of goodies, then ask yourself who really loves your dog. Them or you?

This is a good mixture to have on hand if your dog develops an upset stomach, btw. You can add it to cooked ground turkey meat as a gentle, flavorful fiber to settle a runny bowel.

As with any cooked food, always add a digestive enzyme when you serve it to help your dog absorb the nutrients.

Give it a shot. Even if your dog doesn’t like it, you can put it in a pot, add some heavy cream, and presto! You’ve got yourself a delicious butternut squash/carrot/sweet potato soup!

pugs & kisses,

Recalls. Not on My Worry Wheel!

Posted on by TayBham

In August, Pedigree issued a recall of some of its dog foods because of the presence of metal pieces.

Metal.

They expanded that recall in September.

Also in September, Bravo! issued a recall for its products because of salmonella.

In October, PetSmart recalled certain lots of Simply Nourish dog treats.

Want to see a list? Go here: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recalls/

Dog Food Advisor has got them back to 2009. Look for frequent flyers. That should tell you a little something about quality control.

People give me funny looks when I tell them about feeding my dogs a raw diet. I think they’re scared of it. Some are nearly irreversibly brainwashed by manufacturers of convenience dog foods. And why wouldn’t they be? Pet food commercials permeate cable TV. 

And each makes bold claims of “healthy”, “all natural”, “no fillers”, “no by-products”, “meat as the first ingredient.”

Whoopdy-do! Meat is the first ingredient! What’s in the rest of it?

You know what? They are more concerned about the bottom line than they are about your dog. Hello! They will tell you anything to get you to buy their product. ANYTHING.

…Like how much the love dogs…

Do you really think that the nutritional needs of a Pug are any different than those of a Rottweiler? Pugs & Rotties need different amounts of food, sure. But they ARE the same species (duh!). And unless your dog is sick, an athlete, about to have puppies, or is a puppy, their nutritional needs are the same.

pssst….You are more likely to buy a bag of food with your dog breed on it.

(Oh, yes you are).

For the love of DOG, I am begging you to not be that gullible.

And the FDA doesn’t regulate it to the extent you might think. They’re more about truth in labeling than quality inspections. What’s on the label has to be in the bag, listed in order of most to least. That’s about it, folks.

Did you know that there is no pre-market testing required for pet foods?

Let that sink in for a minute…

Our dogs are counting on us to make the right decisions for them in every part of their lives, but especially in what they trust us to feed them. How devastating to buy a brand dog food thinking you’re giving your fur-baby something healthy, and it makes her sick….or WORSE. All because that’s the path of least resistance. It takes about 30 seconds to open up that can or bag, scoop it in the bowl & be done with it. You’ve got more important things to do, right? I mean, Facebook just will not wait. (That’s right. I’m throwing shade. Get used to it).

Fortunately for me & mine, recalls due to contaminated food aren’t on our worry wheel any more.

Feeding what I know for certain is an all natural, HOListic, unprocessed raw diet to my dogs with fresh, local, organic produce & high quality, human-grade, raw meats takes the threat of recalls by manufactured food makers off my plate and out of their bowls.

I love my dogs (more than Pedigree or Iams does, I promise) and I love creating their meals with foods I know they enjoy, and from which I have seen them thrive.

For breakfast, mix:

2 Tbsp fresh baked, chilled pumpkin

4 Tbsp plain, organic yogurt

1 oz whole, rolled oats, uncooked

1 Tbsp raw, local honey

1/2 apple, diced.

YUM!

pugs & kisses,

Truman’s got a boo-boo, Honey.

Posted on by TayBham
all natural holistic animal companion health honey remedies

Did you know how awesome raw honey is?!

There are blogs all over the Internet that discuss the health benefits and dangers of raw, unpasteurized honey.

I mean, I knew local, raw honey helps with allergies.

But did you know you can apply it topically to heal wounds?

NEITHER DID I !!!

I was digging around trying to find something to help with the sore on Truman’s paw pad. I went through all those herbs (see previous post) trying to find one that might work. It felt a lot like the first time I tried to write a legal brief. I was only vaguely familiar with the vocabulary, and had no idea of its application or whether it would be successful.

So I kept hunting and read several accounts regarding raw honey to treat burns and other minor wounds.

According to this article in the Whole Dog Journal (by the author of my text book, CJ Puotinen)

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

raw honey is chock full of wholesome goodness, and has a wide variety of uses.

It contains vitamins & minerals including:

A, B-complex, C, D, E, and K, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, manganese, copper, and iodine among others.

  • It’s antimicrobial.
  • It contains an enzyme that kills harmful bacteria.
  • In clinical trials, honey was used as a wound dressing and was shown to clear infection, inflammation, pain and odor while speeding the growth of new skin cells.
  • You can serve it to your dogs mixed with their food, or right off the honey comb to help with allergies, digestion, sleep, or a sore throat.
  • You can mix it in an all natural shampoo.
  • The article discusses how to use honey with a diabetic dog for its medicinal benefits without dangerous elevations in blood sugar.You can infuse it with medicinal herbs to apply externally or take internally.

Or, you can just put a dab of raw honey directly on a boo-boo on Truman’s paw pad…

I was stunned at how much that sore shrunk in just 1 application. After 4 days, it’s almost completely gone. No cauterizing tool necessary.

From now on, I’m all about the honey for the boo-boo.

pugs & kisses,