HOME MADE DOG FOOD!

I have a few photos of the dog food we make every week for Dusty and Roman. I took them using the same camera I use every other day, downloaded them using the same method I use ever other day, to the same file I store them in every other day. For some reason today this computer has decided it is unable to read these photos, so without the benefit of a visual, I'll just tell you about the dog food. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

According to several articles I've read on the topic of dog food, it is best to feed your dog kibble. Best for their development, weight control, overall health and it makes for great lookin poop.

So called experts in dog food say that the first ingredient listed on the package of kibble should be a protien, like chicken or beef. The remaining ingredients are usually fillers or carbs.

Since my dogs are great con artists who have me wrapped around that little extra toe dogs have on their front legs, I not only give them kibble, I mix their kibble with other wet, more exciting and tasty stuff. I used to use canned dog food, but now use the following recipe, and they love, love, love it.

Ingredients:

1 package turkey legs/drumsticks

1 cup white rice

1.5 cups water

1 package frozen green beans, cooked

1 sweet potato, baked

1 squirt of PAM spray

Preparation:

Use your crock pot and PAM the bottom before beginning. Pour in rice and water, place turkey legs on top of the rice/water mixture and cook on low for long, long time, until turkey legs are brown and the rice is looking a little brown too. Minimum 9 hours on low. Let it cool (I usually put the whole crock pot bowl in the fridge over night, then the next day:

Place the rice in a large tupperware bowl and remove all the meat from the turkey leg bones being careful to remove all the slivered bones (dogs can choke on small slivery bones, so be careful to get them all. Mix the rice and turkey meat together. Cook the string beans in the microwave according to package directions. When finished, put the whole package into the bowl with the turkey meat and rice. Remove the skin from the baked sweet potato and slice in into the bowl and mix it all up. Mix half to 3/4 cup of this mixture with kibble and serve. Woof!

ALWAYS CURTSY WHEN YOU SNEEZE!

I made that up!! Then I created a blog with the same name.

Do I need another blog? No I don't, but I'm compelled to reserve the space here at Spit and Glue only for topics concerning this property and the challenges Sis and I face living here.

What does "Always Curtsy When You Sneeze" mean? If you don't know, you may not want to bother visiting http://www.alwayscurtsywhenyousneeze.com/, particularly if you don't like reading content indulgent in profanity or similar taboo behavior. It's not for everyone.

For those of you whose sense of decorum is pretty much non-existent, you're invited to visit ALWAYS CURTSY WHEN YOU SNEEZE! If I insult you, don't hold it against me, unless of course you think I might like having it held against me. In that case, ga'hed, hold it right here, up against me. You've been warned.

SPELT RIGHT!

Okay, now I'm just being a smart-alick! With one or two feeble attempts at bread making under my belt, using recipes that are so incredibly simple a child could do them. I'm on my second batch of whole grain spelt bread, and this time it even looks a little bit like a loaf. I have to say, this is good bread. Dense but moist, and best when toasted, it beats the heck out of having enriched white flour for breakfast every day. This stuff is hearty and it stays with you through the morning. Yesterday I had a piece of it with scrambled Egg Beaters, and I was full for many hours. Perfect!
Of course we had to try it on the Panini grill, and as you can plainly see, it too was a huge success. Sis is talking about getting a bread maker, but why go to the expense when you have me? Next I'll be getting into the Graham flour and with it, will try my hand at muffin making! Very exciting, no? I'm not board or anything, why would you ask?
Here's the recipe in case you too have a little time on your hands:

Be prepared, the Spelt flour is a little expensive, around $6.00 for a 2lb bag, but we pay $3.00 for an average loaf of Artisan bread, and this recipe makes two loafs, so it works out to be about the same.

Ingredients:
8 cups spelt flour
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 tbls molasses
2 tsp baking soda
4 1/4 cups milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, sesame seeds, salt, molasses, baking soda and milk until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden. That's it.

Hello SAG fans. Here it is just about one month since my last Spit and Glue posting. That's not to say I haven't been busy elsewhere on the blog front. Technical difficulties have me stumped over at Samwich365.com, but in spite of that, the site is growing and still a lot of fun.

Other "fronts" which I don't necessarily like to discuss here have kept me busy too, having amped up my efforts to make 2010 healthier (in multiple ways), I'm holding out hope, keeping my fingers crossed and doing all I know how to get on track and back in business.

One of my closest friends has used her influence to try and get me off the "white foods", and after several discussions, a little reading, the fear of God and listening to this old body, Sis and I are in sinc and on board with the whole idea.

We began by trading evening martinis or wine with dinner for green tea (in Sis' case coffee). We've cleared our respective cupboards of all things made with white flour and/or sugar, and have officially given up the search for whole grain bread in our little town, pathetic!

Pictured here are our first efforts at making homemade, whole grain wheat flat bread which last night paired masterfully with our famous shrimp and mayopeno salad (a little something we whipped up last summer for S365).

This was dinner. Flat bread efforts follow.

We did a Google search and found many recipes for whole grain, quick and easy flat bread. I won't publish this one, if you want it, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you.

As you can see, it's not a professional job, but with a little practical experience, it should be easy enough to master the art of flat bread making. The hard part will be changing eating habits that have gone unchecked for sugar, et. al. for many years. Any suggestions, friends? I'd love to hear them.