Monday, September 22, 2008

Time to BARF

And by BARF, I don't mean hurl. That just wouldn't be appropriate for a blog! Ewwww.

BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food, or Bones And Raw Food, and today I made Nutmeg's meals for the month. Last year I got a consultation from Sabine at Better Dog Care, who provided me with all the meats, fruits, veggies and supplements I need to prepare for Nutmeg. All the fresh ingredients cost a grand total of $48.47. Chicken necks will cost me about $12 for the month, so all told Nutmeg is eating a healthy diet for about $2.00 a day.

Here are all the ingredients - all from the supermarket.


Assembling the food is labour intensive, but I've got it down to a smooth, 45 minute routine. First I mix the ground beef and ground chicken with cottage cheese in a big bucket.

Then the part of BARF that might actually make me... well... barf. I blend some beef liver in the food processor. Admittedly, it's kind of fun. But a gross kind of fun.


Next I whizz up some sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, lettuce, apple and banana.


The veggies and liver, plus eggs and grapeseed oil, all get added to the meat/cottage cheese mixure. Then the whole shebang is divided into four weekly portions which go into the deep freezer, to be defrosted as needed.
Then the fun part starts. As you can imagine, dear reader, BARFing does create quite a mess. Nutmeg is alwasy a big help.

Hey Nutmeg, I think you've got something on your face...

1 comment:

Jean said...

What a happy Nutmeg! Licking the bowls is always the very best part of "helping" in the kitchen.

I wish I could do raw because I do believe it is a healthier alternative than processed dog food of any kind. But with four dogs (two of them large) it would cost me about $12-$15 a day (not counting the cost of a food processor and a freezer!). But for those who can do it - way to go!
Good blog entry - I love how you show the steps photo by photo. It shows how easy it really is.