[Dailydrool] Crockpots, tofu herds and cooking for hounds!

[Michele S.]

Oh my doG!!! I laughed so hard I almost snorted coffee out of my nose when I read Conley's post about the great Tofu herds that used to roam the earth.  Since I was sitting in a waiting room waiting for the DH's truck to be fixed and everyone was looking at me like I had lost my mind made me then laugh at myself. And the looks on everyone around me faces trying to figure out if I had lost it and was about to do something crazy?  Love it!
I had to chime in on the subject of crock pots.  I have used them for years and love them.  But last year I asked the DH for a Ninja Crockpot/oven/steam cooker/roaster/stovetop.  I love this cooker and use it all of the time.  You can brown/sear the meat in it then add your both to slow cook, or sear, then put in the rack to roast/steam cook. You can even bake in it!!! You can also cook a 3 course dinner in it.  (example: rice, veggie and meat)...all in one pot!  And now that I have started cooking for the hounds since Colt's "L" word diagnoses, I use it even more. I do what Anita does and make a stew for the hounds to put over their kibble. .I cut back on the amount of kibble but supplement it with lean meats (chicken, venison, beef, pork, salmon etc) plus add veggies and green leafy veggies like kale, spinach, collard greens etc) To Ruger's meals I add his vitamin supplements (fish oil, vit B, vit C, vit E, probiotic, etc) I did this with Colt to but he has decided that he wants his vit supplements as a side dish mixed in with couple tablespoons of canned Wellness Core.  So I am thinking about taking some of the meat and veggies blending it into a canned food consistency to see if he will take his vitamins in that, in order to save a little bit of money, and take even more processed food out of their diets. 
Also if you are thinking about or are already cooking meats for your hounds here are some ideas/tips.  Get with the meat section manager of your grocery store to buy the "managers specials" these are meats that are still good but need to be sold and used or frozen quickly because they are approaching their expiration dates.  Warning...this might be gross to some folks but to country folks it is a survival method in order to put meat on the dinner tables: If you, your spouse or other family member can skin and butcher a deer, you might try this one.  In our county in Indiana we can get on a call list with the Co. Sheriff's Department to go pick-up a fresh road killed deer (picked up within hours of being hit).  Sounds gross, but there is nothing wrong with this meat. Notice I said fresh kill...nothing that has laid along the side of the road for a few days. I know that some northern states will also do this with moose, elk, and other hoofed animals that get hit by cars)...no need to waste this meat. It is good even for human consumption, you just have to soak out the meat where the animal was hit or in some cases dispose of that portion of the meat. It is free! You just have to go pick it up whenever and where-ever it may be and process it yourself. Which in most cases is in the middle of the night. But hey...Did I say free meat?  And most of the time you are able to get a lot of meat out of these animals. Depending on the animal and its size it could be a few weeks to even a years worth of free meat for you, your family or your dogs. Or if you know someone that likes to hunt get with them to work out a deal...maybe you buy their hunting license or tags and they give you the meat. When the boyz and I get back up to the farm we will be calling to be put on the call list with our county sheriff. Now that I am retired we need to cut cost where we can not to mention we will harvest a deer or two from our property for us and the hounds to eat...and hey deer/wild game meat is lean, free range and is about as organic as you can get. 
Love and drool to all.
Michele, Colt & Ruger at Howling Hound Acres
Women are Angels...And when someone breaks their wings..They simply continue to fly....on a broomstick...They are flexible like that...
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20131115/b6a78067/attachment.htm>