Vegie Prep!

[Skruffy n Flea]

hello

i'm doing my best to ensure my dogs get the best but man, chaos is my life as i'm sure it is for most other ppl!

anyhoo, i reckon i can take some time each week to oscar up some raw veg BUT it won't last more than a few days in the fridge!

SO my question there is: can you successfully freeze minced raw veg!?? look, i'd just go ahead and do it just for the sake of experimentation but i'd rather not go to that bother only to lose it when someone here may already have that answer! my head tells me the defrosting of said minced raw vegs would render said minced raw vegs to mush!

SO my next question is: is mushed minced raw vegs okay!??! maybe i could add an egg!?!? but is that a good idea say 4 nites in a row?!?!

now, the next phase of this thought process and i know that cooked vegs aren't as nutritious as raw, but can i freeze cooked and or mashed vegs!?!?

and because i feed raw, is adding cooked vegs okay!??

listen, i'm not the cook in my household but i am the chief bottlewasher so the path of least resistance is my friend :D

what say you dolers!

[Crisovar]

Dogs pretty well need vegies to be mush before they can utilise them, so freezing is fine.

[Gretel]

Yes freeze away In meal sized portions. Dogs don't need a lot of veggies. Have you checked out the raw feeding thread?

[twodoggies2001]

I make up a very large amount of veggies in a single time and do freeze them in take away food containers. I do not add the egg. They get that separately. My veggies are put through the food processor as they need to be broken up for the dogs to get any value from them.

[Cheyd]

I grate my vegies and fruit (raw) and mix with the meat and a little garlic and freeze in small containers so Merlin eats fresh. We add chicken necks and a supplement when serving.

Merlin loves his food

Hardest thing is to remember to bring a food container out of the freezer each day!

[puggy_puggy]

I make up approx 10L of veggie/fruit slops, at a time, and freeze it in chinese take away containers.

[Red Fox]

I make up a huge bucket (whizzed up in the food processer in several batches) once every 4-6 weeks then freeze in ice-cube trays. I do the freezing in batches over 2 days using about 10 trays for each lot then tip the cubes into a big container and store in the freezer. Then I just take a out a few cubes each night to defrost :D

In use fruit, veg, eggs (inc shells), garlic, parsley, omega oil and a small amount of kelp in mine.

As far as it being 'mushy' it has to be mushy, it should be like slop!

[Skruffy n Flea]

thanks everyone for your replies and advice :D

i'm on the fly so i don't have time atm to take full note but i will get time thru the week i'm sure...

i gotta go reply in the parvo thread!!!

[Skruffy n Flea]

k, so i'm back and i've attempted to do right ... what a farken dilemma!!!

thanks sincerely to everyone that replied

so, here's the skinny: i first up oscar'd [read: finely chopped/minced] sweet potato, bok choy [or something similar] and carrot ... it wasn't slop so OH suggested i wack it thru the blender! did that but nothing was moving bar the bottom bits so he added some water, shook the jug, added some more, shook again 'til the glop started to fold...

anyhoo, i end up with this godawful looking but not vile smelling concoction and go ahead and add some to my dogs' evening meal ... this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise]...

so one dog [byron] refuses to eat what i put down and the other [bella, who generally inhales her food] only half-heartedly consumes! i managed to coax byron back about 15 minutes later and he had about half but then walked away ... bella left her bowl dirty; she always, ALWAYS i tell you, eats her food with gusto and licks the colour off the inside of her bowl!

i'm perturbed

so off i go to research and i find this DOL thread and thought i'd hit pay dirt!

so now i have a reasonable shopping list [before it was quite limited thank you raw feeding DOLers ] BUT the all-important question remains: what quantities of what products???

you have provided excellent advice already and gretel, i most certainly do intend to read that thread in its entirety :D it is very long!

but if you very experienced raw feeders could provide an answer to my question i would be most grateful

[Crisovar]

this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise].

What do you mean by barf here?

If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies .

[Boronia]

I put carrot, sweet potato, apples (remove the pips) and all the other raw veges through the grater attachment on the Moulinex Masterchef (yep I know it sounds fancy but it cost $8 from the charity shop 6 years ago! ), I then put all the grated stuff back into the Mouli as the grated stuff is pretty dry and using the chopper attachment (I make up heaps so quite a few loads are needed) I chop it all up again and adding the following to make it pretty sloppy...

Eggs (2) including shells, 1 whole sugarloaf cabbage, herbs, mustard, kelp powder,banana, sprouts that I have made a few days before, oranges...whatever you have really (not onion or avocado), I put in non pasteurised cider vinegar, flax seed oil & cold pressed extra virgin olive oil..Aldi have an Australian one..about $19 for 3L, and water so it will slop-up.

I put the resulting slops into plastic dishes and it all freezes ok. You can but small plastic dishes at Crazy Clarks, they sell 4 (I think) of the in a white onion bag thingo...they are cheap and the lids are really good and don't fall off.

I mix a big dollop in with their mince for thieir meals, they like it

[Skruffy n Flea]

this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise].

What do you mean by barf here?

If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies .

dr b's barf pattie [i call 'em bricks] ... i feed 1 quarter of 1 brick per dog and that generally is an overflowing soup spoon full...

thanks crisovar for the reply and the tip i'll see how i go by giving them just a taste of the vegie glop ... my understand was that to introduce a new food/flavour, add a little bit to their usual meal...

[Skruffy n Flea]

I put carrot, sweet potato, apples (remove the pips) and all the other raw veges through the grater attachment on the Moulinex Masterchef (yep I know it sounds fancy but it cost $8 from the charity shop 6 years ago! ), I then put all the grated stuff back into the Mouli as the grated stuff is pretty dry and using the chopper attachment (I make up heaps so quite a few loads are needed) I chop it all up again and adding the following to make it pretty sloppy...

Eggs (2) including shells, 1 whole sugarloaf cabbage, herbs, mustard, kelp powder,banana, sprouts that I have made a few days before, oranges...whatever you have really (not onion or avocado), I put in non pasteurised cider vinegar, flax seed oil & cold pressed extra virgin olive oil..Aldi have an Australian one..about $19 for 3L, and water so it will slop-up.

I put the resulting slops into plastic dishes and it all freezes ok. You can but small plastic dishes at Crazy Clarks, they sell 4 (I think) of the in a white onion bag thingo...they are cheap and the lids are really good and don't fall off.

I mix a big dollop in with their mince for thieir meals, they like it

thanks boronia

i considered adding egg but i didn't think it would defrost all that well! i'll do that next time!

i don't have a huge amount of freezer space but i'll check out those small plastic dishes

[Crisovar]

this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise].

What do you mean by barf here?

If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies .

dr b's barf pattie [i call 'em bricks] ... i feed 1 quarter of 1 brick per dog and that generally is an overflowing soup spoon full...

thanks crisovar for the reply and the tip i'll see how i go by giving them just a taste of the vegie glop ... my understand was that to introduce a new food/flavour, add a little bit to their usual meal...

Why do you need to feed extra vegies then?

ETA IMO you are making this too hard, it doesn't have to be difficult, the Patties and raw meaty bones and you are all good.

Edited April 26, 2010 by Crisovar

[Skruffy n Flea]

this meal is always raw, consisting tonight of one soup spoon of glop, more than that of barf, a smashed 1/3 of chicken neck and a 2-inch strip of beef [i think i feed 'em too much, gunna cut back, promise].

What do you mean by barf here?

If you want them eating vegies I wouldn't be giving them their tasty meat and bones at the same time till they start eating their vegies .

dr b's barf pattie [i call 'em bricks] ... i feed 1 quarter of 1 brick per dog and that generally is an overflowing soup spoon full...

thanks crisovar for the reply and the tip i'll see how i go by giving them just a taste of the vegie glop ... my understand was that to introduce a new food/flavour, add a little bit to their usual meal...

Why do you need to feed extra vegies then?

hello

one of my mutts has the potential for anal gland issues *lordy* so it was recommended i *up* his roughage...

[Crisovar]

I have found that the addition of the raw meaty bones is usually enough to help with the glands.

Some people use bran, but the bones seem to work here.

[Skruffy n Flea]

I have found that the addition of the raw meaty bones is usually enough to help with the glands.

Some people use bran, but the bones seem to work here.

thanks

i have introduced on a daily basis chicken necks cut up into say about an inch or so long and then i schmush 'em with the tenderiser [one tends to gobble 'em down if i leave it in its natural slender neck-like state ] ... i suppose in one day they'd each have consumed just over one full chicken neck each. will that help!??!

they also get a raw, but not very meaty, bone every day of the week too [but not weekends tho]...

again, thanks for your help

[Crisovar]

I have found that the addition of the raw meaty bones is usually enough to help with the glands.

Some people use bran, but the bones seem to work here.

thanks

i have introduced on a daily basis chicken necks cut up into say about an inch or so long and then i schmush 'em with the tenderiser [one tends to gobble 'em down if i leave it in its natural slender neck-like state ] ... i suppose in one day they'd each have consumed just over one full chicken neck each. will that help!??!

they also get a raw, but not very meaty, bone every day of the week too [but not weekends tho]...

again, thanks for your help

Have you tried larger bones for the gulper, chicken wings, lamb breast or larger necks like turkey but cut up to smaller portions?

[Skruffy n Flea]

I have found that the addition of the raw meaty bones is usually enough to help with the glands.

Some people use bran, but the bones seem to work here.

thanks

i have introduced on a daily basis chicken necks cut up into say about an inch or so long and then i schmush 'em with the tenderiser [one tends to gobble 'em down if i leave it in its natural slender neck-like state ;)] ... i suppose in one day they'd each have consumed just over one full chicken neck each. will that help!??!

they also get a raw, but not very meaty, bone every day of the week too [but not weekends tho]...

again, thanks for your help

Have you tried larger bones for the gulper, chicken wings, lamb breast or larger necks like turkey but cut up to smaller portions?

i went looking for turkey necks on saturday and guess what? scarcer than hen's teeth! i'm on a quest tho to find a local supplier because, yes, i felt it would be more difficult for bella to gulp!

i've used wings before but bella seems to have a delicate constitution when it comes to chicken skin and fat i think; she got the sloppies *yuck* ... i could try them again tho, see how she is now...

so, is lightly crushing chicken necks not so beneficial!??! i have basically taught bella to chew necks but i don't wanna take that risk without supervision and she tends to chew them crushed because they become more broad in shape...

thank you so much crisover