Since I started cooking homemade dog food for my two dogs years ago, everyone has noticed and commented on how much better they look, and I get asked what are you doing differently. Since feeding homemade dog food I can see significant changes, such as glossier fur coats, more energy, and they also smell better.

Imagine eating the same chemical filled food, day after day, for your whole life. The build up of cancer causing chemicals and preservatives is bound to affect your health negatively.

Checking with your vet or a pet nutritionist first, before starting your pet on a homemade dog food diet is always recommended. Just as we enjoy a variety of foos, so do our dogs.

Make sure you don’t just suddenly give your dog his new homemade diet in one immediate change, as this will cause stomach upset in most dogs. Slowly change him over by daily increasing your homemade food, and decreasing the old food.

A well balanced homemade dog food should contain approximately 40% meat, 30% starch, and 30% veggie/fruit on a daily basis. To ensure a healthy nutritious diet just follow the basic formula for any combination of ingredients.

Get a good dog nutrition book, written specifically by an animal nutritionist, and read up on the proper kcals (calories) per day per pound of your dog, so you will know exactly how much to feed per day. Also there are many excellent homemade dog food recipe books available now, especially since the dog food recall killed so many of our beloved pets. Many more people are making their own homemade dog food, because we have become much more aware of the commercial dog food companies practices.

Organ meat (liver, kidneys etc.) and occasionally adding eggs are very good for your pet, and as we all know variety in our diets is always nice.

There are three important ingredients that must be included in your dog’s home made dog food every day.

1. 40% meat – chicken, beef, turkey venison or other lean meat of your choice.

2. 30% vegetable/fruit combo – cooked and pureed – you can use all one veggie, a variety of cooked frozen veggies or a mixture of veggies and cooked pureed fruits. You can use frozen, canned or fresh, whichever is handy and on sale.

3. 30% starch – white or brown rice, barley, oatmeal, macaroni or other pasta, or potatoes.

The easiest and quickest way is to make what I call doggie stew. Everything is thrown into one pot and steamed together until cooked. I use just a small amount of water to start to cook the meat, pasta and veggies. Cook the whole batch in a covered pot, and add water as it is absorbed. You don’t want it to be soupy when finished. Then I use a fork and shred the cooked meat and mash the veggies all in the same pot. Done and delicious.

I also give a calcium supplement, along with a few teaspoons of flax seed oil, or a vegetable oil such a canola, drizzled over the top. An addition of iodized salt is also good for your dog in a quantity depending on your dog’s weight.

Feed two meals per day, rather than one big one.

Your homemade dog food can be prepared in larger batches and frozen in the proper serving sizes, ready to thaw and eat. Any hot food should be allowed to cool down before serving your dog. I usually leave the mixture on the counter for 20 – 30 minutes, and it is close to room temperature by then. Your dog’s stomach can be upset if they eat food that is too hot.

Give it a try, and you will find that it is not as time consuming as it sounds, once you get into a routine, and your dogs will live longer healthier chemical free natural lives.

I am an animal lover and advocate of raising healthy, happy pets, as part of the family. I truly believe this starts with proper, adequate nutrition, which in turn extends your pets life. Check out what is the best of the best for you dog here:

http://www.recipes4gourmetdogs.com

Jane_Dinunzio

So many people want to know what is good food for a diet. When I say: “the complete guide to good food for a diet” most will probably think that I am taking a fat change here! It will surprise you though, to find that “good food for a diet” is not that difficult. Most common everyday foods are excellent weight loss food.

1. What is the secret then?

If you want to lose weight, you have to follow a well balanced diet combined with moderate exercise. This will ensure long term healthy weight loss.

2. But, I promised you a guide, so here it is:

Pig our on veggies, yes you are reading this right, pig out on veggies. Most vegetables are very low in calories and packed with nutrition. There are some though, that are better for fat loss than others.

* Green vegetables:

Most green vegetables are excellent for weight loss. Take note though, that peas are very high in carbs and must rather be considered a carbohydrate than a green vegetable. You also have to take care that you do not add calories with your cooking methods; for instance, spinach can be considered a free vegetable, but as soon as you make creamed spinach it becomes very high in calories and are completely unsuitable.

* Yellow vegetables:

Here you can go overboard. Carrots are a very good choice and even pumpkin, if you do not add anything can taste very good and be very satisfying.

* Salads:

Especially in summer, when salads really taste good, eat as much salad as possible. Here, once again, beware of adding calories. Most salad dressings simply crawl with calories. Make your own with fresh ingredients so that you can control what goes into it.

* Meat:

When it comes to meat, good food for a diet is mainly chicken and fish. Low fat beef and pork can be eaten in smaller quantities. As far as the chicken goes, try and stick to the ****** as it contains the smallest amount of fat, it is almost fat free. Once again, do not add calories with your cooking methods, grill or steam are the best.

* Legumes:

Legumes are excellent food for a diet. They are low fat, contains lots of fiber to make you feel satisfied and combined with small amounts of carbs they supply your body with complete proteins to use as building blocks.

* Carbohydrates:

Do not cut out carbs completely. Your body needs them to burn for energy. You have to cut down though and eat no more than five small portions a day. Keep to whole grains and low fat options. Remember that you can include rice, potatoes and peas here.

* Dairy products:

Here you have to be careful. Only eat low fat or fat free dairy products and beware of hard cheeses as they normally are very high in fat and crawls with calories! A good choice as food for a diet is fat free, unflavored, unsweetened yoghurt. Use it in your cooking and as salad dressings.

* Fat:

Normally fat can not be considered as food for a diet. Your body does need some fat, though, to be able to use the fat soluble vitamins so you need to eat about three teaspoons of fat or oil a day.

So, there you have your complete guide to food for a diet! I hope it will help you in your weight loss efforts.