Homemade chickpea dog food
Yesterday, I showed you how to cook chickpeas for pooches. Today, I will be showing you how you can make nutritious homemade chickpea dog food at home. (This recipe can also be made for cats. Just add the ingredients to a blender or food processor to make pâté.)
I prefer making homemade dog food and homemade dog treats for my sweet fur baby whenever it's possible, and it's as easy as throwing a pound of chickpeas into a crock-pot overnight to cook. When I wake up, all I have to do is finish stirring in a few essential ingredients and tah-dah, it's finished. There is no hurry, no mess, and no extreme prices! Plus, my dog Princess loves her homemade food.
Princess is a very healthy pooch. She weighs in at 89 pounds and all 89 pounds of her is pure muscle. Although, she still believes that she's still a little puppy. She was one out of five newborn puppies that I rescued eight years ago on September 25th. The rescue mission also involved me saving their furry mom that had been severely starved, badly beaten, and then left abandoned.
I began creating nutritious pet food years ago, because being a (non-profit) animal rescuer was extremely expensive. I continue to make homemade pet food and pet treats now, not only because it's still the least expensive way to go, but I also do it, because it's a healthy option and I can safely check the ingredients that are added to my pets' food. That gives me peace of mind.
Chickpea dog food
This recipe makes a little over eight pounds of dog food. Double the ingredients if you need more, half if you need less. The dog food can be kept frozen for up to one year and kept safely in the refrigerator for one week, maximum.
For more information about how to cook chickpeas, go back and read my article "Chickpeas for pooches."
Ingredients:
3 pounds (48-ounces) of cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) (Provides protein, magnesium, folate, potassium, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B, and vitamin C.)
3 pounds (48-ounces) of cooked meat (the meat can be salmon, beef, duck, chicken, turkey, lamb, venison, etc..) (Provides protein, taurine, an amino acid.)
2 pounds (10 carrots) of cooked diced carrots (Provides beta-carotene, fiber, and other needed vitamins.)
3-6 eggs, boiled or scrambled (Provides protein, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids.)
Egg shells ground up into a powder (Provides calcium.)
2 tablespoons of safflower oil, sunflower, canola oil, or corn oil (Provides certain essential fatty acids.)
Instructions:
Once you have cooked the chickpeas, meat, carrots, and eggs; mix them together. Add in your preferred oil; stir well.
Add the egg shells to a food processor, grind them into a fine powder; add to the chickpea mixture. Combine well.
Place the dog food in airtight containers or individual Ziploc bags. The chickpea dog food can be kept safely inside the refrigerator for one week, maximum. For longer storage life, place it inside the freezer.
Packaging the amount needed per serving for your fur baby for easy storage:
Serving size per your dog's weight:
Dogs of 3 pounds to 12 pounds need 1/3 to 1 cup serving size
Dogs of 13 pounds to 20 pounds need 1 cup to 1-1/3 cups serving size
Dogs of 21 pounds to 35 pounds need 1-⅓ cups to 2 cups serving size
Dogs of 26 pounds to 50 pounds need 2 cups to 2-2/3 cups serving size
Dogs of 51 pounds to 75 pounds need 2-2/3 cups to 3-1/3 cups serving size
Dogs of 76 pounds to 100 pounds need 3-1/3 cups to 4-1/4 cups serving size
Dogs that weigh 100 plus pounds need 4-¼ cups plus 1/4 cup per every 10 pounds over
Supplements:
All dogs need supplements when feeding homemade dog food. NaturVet All-in-One Dog Supplement is one that I use and trust.
Note:
One pound of dried chickpeas cooked makes three pounds, four-ounces of cooked chickpeas. I include that extra four-ounces in this recipe. So, once they're cooked, you'll have seven cups of chickpeas.
I find that it's much easier to measure the amount per serving, then package the homemade chickpea dog food per the serving sizes that I need.
This recipe can be fed to both dogs and cats. That's a genius perk! For feral kittens, I process the chickpeas and other ingredients together into pâté, and they love it.