Homemade Dog Food for Annie

As if I don't have enough to do lately I decided to start making Annie homemade dog food. She is almost 14, has hardly any teeth left in her mouth and is showing signs of possible diabetes so don't want her to eat that canned dog food anymore that is full of terrible things and I think made her sick when Dave was in the hospital this last time. I found this recipe online for diabetic dog food and made it up today. She loves it. I found a giant bag of legs and thighs at Walmart super cheap, and made enough for 3 batches. It freezes well they said so I am going to put it in the freezer with 1 cup a day servings for her so it should make enough for a few weeks at least. There was enough chicken legs/thighs left so I cooked some up for chicken and dumplings for us tonight besides. we all will be eating chicken tonight! The Dicalcium Phosphate is a nutrient supplement-I read up on it before making the dog food.  you don't have to add it, but I did.

Homemade Diabetic Dog Food for Annie:

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup cooked pasta-I used spaghetti noodles and cut them up
1-1/4 cup cooked chicken-I roasted it in the oven for about an hour using just legs and thighs
1/2 Tbsp corn oil sprinkled on the chicken
1/2 tsp salt-I just salted the chicken
1/2 cup carrots-I roasted them with the chicken-I actually added more like 3/4 cups for each batch because I wasn't sure how many to roast-I roasted 6 whole ones
1 teaspoon dilcacium phosphate

I ground up all the chicken and carrots (you don't have to do this, but I didn't want Annie picking out carrot chunks and eating only the chicken in chunks. Toss everything in a big bowl and mix well with your hands.  Separate into serving size bags and freeze or refrigerate for up to 3 days.  Annie only weighs about 20 lbs so 1 cup a day is about her size, plus she sometimes gets some meat snacks from Dave..

Goulash (Kim's recipe)

I got this recipe from Kim this week because she made it for their supper.  I had a pound of hamburger to use in the fridge, so threw it together for our lunch and leftovers-if like most of these kinds of goulash/hotdishs it probably will taste better as leftovers besides! It's pretty easy to put together, one pan!, and had all the ingredients in my cupboards besides which is always a big plus.  It does have some added veggies too, so one meal in a pan.  You can omit or add other vegetables too to your liking.

KIM'S FAMILY GOULASH:
One pound hamburger, browned well
one small or 1/2 larger onion diced
corn-I used about 1/2 can but you can use frozen/fresh as much as you like
carrots-I used one cleaned and finely diced
celery-I used one larger stalk finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves minced
32 oz can of crushed tomatoes
16 ounces of beef stock/broth
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz elbow macaroni

Add onions, carrots and celery to browned hamburger, simmer until onions are translucent.  Add all the other ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until elbow macaroni is tender and veggies are soft.

Grilled Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice, Grilled Pineapple and Cucumber Salad

I still am missing my Grilled meats etc from our Hawaii trip, so today I tried a new recipe for the above and it was awesome!  I definitely will make it again and again.  I never had made any parts of it, so it was a new experience, but the recipes were actually really easy and since you marinade the chicken for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours can be made way ahead.  I made it early this morning and let it sit all day until about 5:30 when I grilled it.  only needs to cook about 10 minutes a side, so fast.  Joe came over and was mowing and I had invited him to eat here and he also said it was really good.  Here's how to make the meal..

For the Grilled Hawaiian Chicken:
1-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark..I used light
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger (I used the already grated ginger in the tube by the herbs etc in the grocery store)
6 cloves garlic, finely minced or 1 teaspoon garlic powder-I used the powder-lazy

Instructions:
Place the opened chicken thighs in a shallow dish or a gallon sized Ziploc bag-that's what I did.
whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic and pour HALF of the marinade over the chicken in the bag so the chicken is evenly coated.  seal the bag and refrigerate 4-24 hours .
Refrigerate the remaining marinade until the chicken is ready to be grilled.

preheat grill to medium or medium high.  Bring the refrigerated marinade to a simmer in a small saucepan on the stove.  simmer for 5-10 minutes until it's reduced and somewhat thickened.  set aside.  In the meantime place the chicken on the preheated grill (discard the marinade in the bag/dish) and cook until thermometer reads 165 degrees at the thickest part..about 7-8 minutes a side.  during the last 3-4 minutes of cooking baste the chicken liberally with the reduced marinade.  can drizzle more on if desired when serving.

COCONUT RICE:
1-1/2 cups jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk-I used lite and it was great
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the ingredients in a 5 qt saucepan or larger. Bring to a boil  over medium heat, stirring often to prevent sticking.  Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 16 minutes (I did stir it once during the time).  remove from heat, covered still and fluff after 5-10 minutes.

CUCUMBER SALAD:
2 cucumbers, very thinly sliced (I used my mandolin, but be sure to use the shield!)
1 small red onion (I just used a yellow one) sliced thin also with the mandolin
2 Tablespoons vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar)
2 Tablespoons sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
either some fresh finely chopped dill or 1/2 tsp (about) of dried dill weed


Mix all together until smooth and creamy.  Pour over sliced cucumbers and refrigerate until serving.  can be made earlier that day.  the cucumbers stay a little crunchy if sliced thin like recommended.

STRAWBERRY CHICKEN SALAD

Since I just went strawberry picking and still had some berries available, I decided to make this strawberry chicken salad for our lunch today.  I really liked it.  Dave, not as much.  (not surprising though, he likes everything boring..lol).  I am posting it because some day I definitely will make it again for a pot luck or party, so here goes!  This was my version of another recipe..

STRAWBERRY CHICKEN SALAD:

2 cups of shredded head lettuce or lettuce/greens of your choice
1/2-1 cup of Salad Pizazz mix (cherry cranberry pecano) to your taste.
6 oz grilled chicken breast
3-5 strawberries, washed and sliced.
2 oz feta cheese finely crumbled
strawberry vinaigrette (recipe below)

Strawberry vinaigrette ingredients:
1 cup ripe strawberries
1 cup rice wine vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp strawberry jam
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (just a few shakes of each)

combine strawberries, sugar, and vinegar and smash together (I used my emersion blender in a deep bowl, mix in jam and dijon, slowly add in oil, season with salt and pepper and blend together well.

set aside-you will only use a little of the finished dressing. Refrigerate remaining dressing.

ASSEMBLY:
Toss strawberries, greens and dressing in a large bowl (just add a little dressing, a little goes a long way and you can always add more later if desired)
thinly slice grilled chicken  and fan out the chicken on one side of the salad and top with candied salad pizazz mix and crumbled feta cheese .  serve immediately.  

Strawberry Freezer Jam

It's strawberry season here in Minnesota!  My daughter, Kim and granddaughter, Alana, did our annual trip to the strawberry fields yesterday morning before it got too hot (it's been humid and in the 90's) lately) and both got two ice cream buckets filled with huge beautifully ripe berries.  I decided I wanted to make a double batch of freezer jam this year with one bucket.  It's great on ice cream, toast, waffles and even to put in my oatmeal bars (recipe on this site also).  I might make a pan to take to work on Monday because everyone really liked them in the past!  This jam is super easy to make and I know some people use other type of fruit to make other flavors..I have never tried it though so can't say how it turns out.  It would be fun to try though with raspberries, blueberries etc.  I had some on toast with butter this morning and it was so so good! I have used other recipes in the past and it turned out kind of runny..tasted great, but kind of messy on toast, but this one IF YOU FOLLOW IT PERFECTLY comes out thicker -perfect to me.  Don't take shortcuts and make sure you have fresh Sure Jel and products and it should be great.

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM: I doubled the recipe and it turned out good. This is the single version:

1 quart fully ripe strawberries -these are when they are still whole. (when crushed they will be 2 cups approximately)
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1 box pectin (I use Sure Jel)

You will need CLEAN, DRY either plastic containers with lids or jars-I used jelly jars-they are 1 cup size and doubled the recipe and got 11 jars plus a enough to put in the fridge extra for trying it out.

Rinse strawberries gently with clean water (I put a few at a time in a strainer and sprayed clean water on them well and placed on a paper towels).  stem them and crush them (I stemmed them and placed them in a deep bowl, then just used my hand mixer and on lower speed just busted them up leaving some smaller chunks-worked great).  You need EXACTLY 2 cups of crushed berries.

Add sugar and mix well-LET STAND 10 MINUTES, stirring occasionally.

Mix water and pectin in medium saucepan; bring to a boil on high heat stirring constantly.  boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and add to fruit mixture; stir constantly for THREE minutes or until sugar is dissolved and no longer grainy.  it will thicken more as you stir.

Fill prepared containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops.  Wipe off top edges and immediately cover with lids.  If you spilled jam on outside of jars wash off with wet warm washcloth well once sealed.

Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

Your jam is now ready to use and can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or frozen for one year.  Thaw frozen jam in the fridge before using.