The Hazards of Homemade Dog Food

My freezer is rated for 700lbs of food.  There is no way that I have even a half that much in the freezer (upright).  Nevertheless when I opened the door, the @%#$^#!$^ some of the occupants of the first and second shelves came skidding out.  I was beaned on the forehead, my shoulder and my foot by about 30lbs of  food in various containers from 1 to 5 lbs.

I had a golf ball-sized knot on my forehead, and a bruised shoulder and foot.  I'm not so sure that I wasn't a bit concussed.  I surely cussed. Had I had red and white

striped socks on, I would have looked much like the wicked witch of the west with dog food on top of me rather than a house.  So while the freezer might be rated for 700lb or so, clearly the shelving is not quite up to the task.

On to recent shopping scores.  N&W Salvage is one of my favorite
shopping destinations--most particularly at Christmas time.  We don't give many gifts, but I like to find high quality well-priced items to give to folks.  I take my time going through the aisles, and armed with my smartphone, I look up interesting things that I spy to see if it is a good deal.  I would rather my husband jilt me than buy something that I could have found cheaper elsewhere!  Priorities!  The best deal that I EVER found were the 10" ScanPans for $19.99.  I bought them all (after I took one home, looked it up and gasped at the cheapest price I could find was $135 at discount). 

So while big scores cannot always be duplicated, there are still great and good scores to be had. To wit

•  Sable & Rosenfeld Mediterranean Olive Bruschetta for $2.99 (at least 1/2 price).  It is ever-so-good, particularly with cream cheese.  I made a layered cream cheese mixed with sour cream and then layered with drained Bruschetta and took to a party.  Great stuff to have around and to tuck in a bag to gift to others.
• 8" Galic Salt and Pepper mills.  Perfect to give as gifts and at a great discount @ $7.99 v. $22. A lagniappe from N&W was for them to put them in wine carriers.   Plus...some great large Comcast Bags to put my loot in.  I love that place.  I love the staff--they are friendly, and you can tell they truly enjoy their work.
• Sardines in tomato sauce:  2 for $1.  Sardines are a key ingredient in my dog food, so this was a great find.  Unfortunately, there was only one case of 25 cans to be had and a handful of others. 
• Taylor Scale:  $29.99 for $100 scale.  With weighing the dogs, the tap and step on the electronic scale just was not working.  I and keep it downstairs and do weekly weigh-ins for all but Angel, who we cannot lift.

I had to stop at Food Lion to get hamburgers for dinner.  Well, I was greeted by a meat case full of discounted ground round (85/15) that had been double tagged (markdowned twice).  The price of meat is exorbitant, and we eat more chicken/pork than beef due to the price. With a 2x markdown, the ground round was $2.20 per pound.  Exceptional. I put back my pre-made hamburgers at 4.69/lb and made patties when I got home.  I bought every package they had so that I could put it in my freezer to be beaned by it at a later date.

I also scored 2 Purdue Oven-stuffer Roasters on 2x markdown.  Hard to find chicken for .88/lb.  If that rolls out of the freezer on my head it will kill me.  Will store low...maybe get a broken foot.

Some of this will be dog food, some of this will be our food.  I'll have to boil the ground round to get the fat content lower--which makes it more cooked than raw.  Steve Brown in his Ancestral Diet, recommends very lean meats (93% for pregnant and lactating bitches and 90% for adults). Lean meat is expensive; fat is cheap.  His book is really informative to understand the role of fat and how the fat profile of meats that you use in your homemade diet affect the nutritional profile of your dog's meals. When nutrients are measured in percentages of calories consumed (and they are for pet nutrition), adding calories through fat dilutes the nutrition that is being fed.

No different than for ourselves.