Guest Blogger: I Love My Dog (so I cook her) Food--by Cherie Takemoto

This is my friend Cherie. We've been friends all our lives. You may remember her from our Peanut Butter & Jam Mochi post as well as my Umeboshi and Shiso Pesto post. As I've said before, this is my favorite photo of Cherie because I think it captures her perfectly. She always says, 'When you go to the ocean, you always have to go in and dip your toes!'

Cherie makes her dog Allie's food. She sent me these instructions because she was worried about my dog Dixie's health issues. Cherie says that making Allie's food has really improved Allie's health and she wanted to share her recipe. I thought it would be nice to share it here on FOODjimoto.com. Today, Cherie is our Guest Blogger.


I Love My Dog (so I cook her) Food--by Cherie Takemoto

I’ve turned into one of “those people”. You know, those people who pay way too much attention to their dogs. Our dog Allie, just turned 13. About a year ago, she was a mess. Her hair was falling out and she was lethargic. I tried all kinds of things with no success. I wondered if she might be allergic to the dog food. Even though it was high quality, I didn’t really know what was in it. When she even turned her nose up at the premium meat stuff, I wondered if her diet of all that mystery meat was bothering her. I decided to try making her food to see if it would make a difference. The base for my recipe is from Dr. Fox's recipe.

We got Allie when Pete was going to middle school and Margaret was going to high school. Dogs make the best friends. They will listen and seem to understand, even when nobody else does. Margaret would take Allie for long, long walks and Pete would read books to her.

Our neighbors, Tabby, John, Tommy and Michael watch Allie whenever we are out of town. Their dog, Clyde is also 13 years old. When Allie comes, Clyde tries to frolic more, but with his arthritic old bones, sometimes he is so miserable that he doesn’t even want to eat. Tabby has begun to mix some rice and beef into his food, but with our hot weather, that wasn’t even doing it for him. I brought over some of Allie’s semi-frozen food and the coolness and yumminess perked him right up. When Tabby asked me for the recipe, I didn’t have it because I often don’t measure things.

So this week, I’ve taken the time to figure out quantities and ingredients.

The night before, put 2 cups of brown rice and 2 cups of dried beans in a pot. Rinse them with cold water a few times and leave them overnight. Then add the barley, lentils, quinoa, konbu and prunes. Pour the oil on top and mix everything together.

Note: the proportion of rice, grains and beans is not that important. I heard that beans and rice make a complete protein, and whole grains are good for us so I like to mix a variety of things. When I started making her food, I added rinsed and drained canned beans along with the raw stuff so you can do that too if you don’t want to mess with starting from dry beans.



Add 9 cups of soup stock. I will often cook chicken stock with the leftover chicken carcass and use the stock. You can also just use boxed chicken or vegetable stock. I prepare the cooked mixture in the rice cooker set for brown rice. The beans may still be a bit crunchy for my tastes, but I think dogs like texture. You can cook it in a pot until the beans and rice are tender.






In another large pan, I start the raw things. First I wash and grate about 4 cups of carrots (leave the skin on). Then I’ll add a handful of dried fruit like cranberries. Today I used cherries. I’ll also throw in a couple of bananas.

I grind up the calcium and probiotics with a mortar and pestle. Then add the large can of pumpkin, 2 cups of yogurt, 4 T of apple cider vinegar and 4 T of honey. After that is mixed in, I’ll add 4-6 T of brewer’s yeast and 4-6 T of flax seed meal. I’ll add some scrambled eggs and about 4 cups of meat to the mixture and top it all off with frozen blueberries if I happen to have them.

When the rice is done I open the lid and toss in 1½ - 2 cups of oatmeal. I add this last because if you cook it with the beans it turns all gooey.

Now comes the messy part. I put both the hot rice/bean mixture in the sink next to the cool mixture. Then I mix things back and forth until it is pretty much mixed. It isn’t imperative that everything is completely mixed – a little variety in texture keeps it interesting for the dog. I have saved up quart yogurt containers and this recipe makes about 6 quarts. Start filling the containers leaving room for about 1 cup mixture at the top. You can also put them in portions in baggies or use 1 pint containers. Your choice.

I cut squares of plastic wrap, to place over the nearly-filled food. Then I fill the containers to the top. By doing this, you can lift out a semi-frozen portion later that your dog can eat cold or you can defrost it in the microwave. Allie likes hers semi-frozen.

Keep whatever you will use in the next couple of days in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. You can take them out as you need them. Allie eats just about 1 cup in the morning and 1 cup in the evening so a quart container lasts for 2 days.

Ever since she has been eating this diet, she is more energetic and her hair has grown back.

I Love My Dog (so I cook her food) Recipe


Hot stuff
2 cups brown rice
2 cups dried beans
1 cup barley
1 cup lentils
3/4 cup quinoa
A little konbu seaweed (none if your dog has thyroid issues)
5-6 prunes cut into pieces
4 T grape seed oil,
safflower oil and/or coconut oil
9 cups soup stock

1½ - 2 cups uncooked oatmeal

Cold stuff
3-4 cups grated carrots
2 bananas
Handful of dried cherries, cranberries or raisins
1 - 22 oz can pumpkin
2 cups yogurt
4 T apple cider vinegar
4 T honey
6 calcium tablets with vitamin D
5 probiotic tablets.
4 T brewer’s yeast
6 T ground flax meal
Handful of blueberries
4 cups cooked meat (chicken from stock, hamburger, ground turkey, leftover meat)
3 scrambled eggs

Directions: Soak rice and beans overnight. Drain water and add the rest of the “hot stuff” through the chicken stock. Cook it in a rice cooker set for “brown rice” or cook it on stove until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is done. When finished, stir in oatmeal to the “hot stuff”. Next, grate the carrots, slice the bananas, grind up the calcium tablets and probiotic tablets. Mix the “cold stuff” together. When the “hot stuff” with oatmeal are finished, stir them into the “cold stuff”. Put dog food in six 1 quart plastic containers such as a carryout, large yogurt, or cottage cheese container until there is room for 1 portion at the top. Cover the food with plastic wrap and add the final portion on top of the plastic wrap so that you will be able to lift out a portion if it is not yet defrosted. Freeze until ready to use. Note: This recipe is my modifications to one suggested by a syndicated pet advisor named, Dr. Fox. My additions are the types of things that he often advises pet owners to add for pet symptoms. But everything is pretty healthy. In addition to Allie’s recipe, I give her a pet multivitamin and a small Omega 3 pill daily.

Dr. Fox’s recipe for dog food can be found at: http://drfoxvet.com/library/qanda/post/2012/04/29/i-have-two-small-dogs-i-feed.aspx.

Spam Musubi with Shiso

Shiso is one of my favorite herbs, right up there with basil. Here on FOODjimoto.com, I've added shiso to pesto in my Umeboshi and Shiso Pesto post, and to my mother's recipe for Stuffed Chicken Rolls with Shiso & Umeboshi.

This time, I've added shiso leaves to Spam Musubi.

For several years I've tried to grow shiso with no success until this year. I bought several packages of seeds from the Kitazawa Seed Co. I've included the links to the Kitazawa Seed Co.'s pages for the different varieties--take a look if you'd like to know more about shiso.

This is the green variety, above, called Ao Shiso. I couldn't grow it before, but this year I soaked the seeds in water for two days, drained the water and let the seeds sit until they cracked and a root formed. Then I planted them and they sprouted nicely! This variety is the one I've most seen in sushi bars.

The red variety, or Aka Shiso, is the variety used to color umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum) and also found in some tsukemono (pickled vegetables).

This variety is called Hojiso. The leaves are green in front and red in back. I haven't seen this one before and thought I'd try it. It grows fast, like basil.

This is Ayako. She is a relative visiting from Osaka, Japan. Ayako tried spam musubi for the first time at the Higashi Obon.

You may remember Ayako from the Chocolate Cupcakes--Magnolia Bakery's Recipe post that had some photos of Rick & Jessica's honeymoon trip to Japan, and their visit with Ayako's family in Osaka.

We decided to make some spam musubi the next day, since Ayako liked it so much!

Basic instructions on making spam musubi can be found on our Spam Musubi post.

To add the shiso leaves, simply place them on top of the rice before adding the spam. If you're really a fan of shiso like me, you may want to add them on top of the spam too.

Ayako made hers without shiso--turns out she is not a fan.

She took them to Auntie Tsuyuki's 98th birthday party.

It was fun making spam musubi with you, Ayako!

Itadakimasu!

When we picked up Ayako at the airport, she saw our sign, came up and introduced herself and greeted us with a big smile.

Ayako's father went to college in the US and lived here for several years. One of the things he wanted Ayako to try was a Tommy's burger, one his favorites.

She also tried a double-double from In-N-Out. Afterall, if you come to Southern California, you have to have an 

In-N-Out burger, right?

We had a good time at the Higashi Obon with Bill and Nancy.

Ayako and Nancy even danced the bon odori.

Ayako leaves for Japan soon.

It was nice meeting you, Ayako. We had a lot of fun! Hope to see you again!

No printable recipe.

Rainbow Fruit Kebobs

Happy 1st Birthday to my granddaughter, Rachel! 

My daughter Karen went all-out with a rainbow themed party. For lunch we had tacos, complete with guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa, and various meats. Salad, tostada dip and spanish rice rounded out the meal. Amy made rainbow fruit kebobs--they were so refreshing on a warm day and popular with all partygoers.

 Simply skewer your favorite rainbow-colored fruits!

 This is Rachel with Kristin, a family friend. She is a fabulous baker and made a special rainbow cake just for Rachel since she is allergic to eggs.

Thank you, Kristin, for your baking talents and for taking time to bake this special cake--while you're in the midst of graduation!

Rachel's rainbow cake was rainbow colored on the inside, too!

 Happy 1st Birthday to this special little one!

 Jessica used her decorating talents to hang Karen's decorations with Rick. 

 Grandpa Gary is hanging little construction paper lantern-type balls.

 Karen also made these large paper flowers with crepe paper streamers attached and they were hung in the trees.

 So pretty!

 This is Karen's college friend Emily. She stopped in on her way home to Oregon from a New York vacation. How nice to see her!

Notice the edge of the chalk board on the tree?

This is the chalkboard Karen made for Rachel. It has all the little details of what Rachel's like at 1 year old!

This bunting shows a picture of Rachel each month--unfortunately I didn't notice two of the numbers are flipped up!

It's always a lot of fun when cousins get together!

 How old is Rachel? One!

The next day we went to the farmer's market. We ate our way down the street, stopping to sample fruits, and had a fun lunch sampling from several vendors.

All day, Raymond, Mitchell's dad, talked about treating us all to lobster tails for dinner--and lobster tails are something that I never buy--too expensive! By the end of the afternoon, the meal increased to lobster and steak--then when he and Mitchell's mom Candy came back from the store, they also bought some large shrimp and sweet corn!

 What a treat! Mitchell grilled everything, we ate outside on their new picnic table, and it all was so delicious! Thank you, Raymond and Candy for such a fancy and generous meal!

 The next day we went to the beach where Rachel put her toes in the ocean for the first time.

 Then we headed over to see the redwoods. Gary and Raymond drove together in one car and Mitchell drove all the girls. The drive was long, on a road with lots of twists and turns up and down the mountains, but Gary said he didn't even notice the drive, he was having so much fun talking with Raymond!

She's growing up so fast!

What a fun weekend!

No printable recipe.

Stuffed Jalapeño and Sweet Peppers

Once again, I was inspired by one of Ravenous Couple's photos--this one was Jalapeño Poppers in a Blanket. Check out the photo with the proceeding link--it looks so good, doesn't it? The key to cooking, though, is to make the dish to your taste. I am not a crust/bread lover, so after a couple of attempts making the stuffed peppers with puff pastry and also phyllo dough, I ended up with a topping of panko bread crumbs as my favorite.

 I liked just a bit of crunch on top with the panko bread crumbs.

 This is the stuffed jalapeño with phyllo dough. It was nice and crispy, but I don't have a lot of experience with phyllo sheets and it seemed like a lot of trouble.

I used a smaller piece of puff pastry than Ravenous Couple did in their recipe. Mine may not have puffed thoroughly because I may have stretched it a little while wrapping the peppers. I also added vegetables to the filling--the bacon and cream cheese alone was too rich for me, so I added chopped spinach, water chestnuts, onion and mushrooms to the cream cheese.

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers
1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers
4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed
1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cups diced mushrooms
4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter
or
phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

optional: 1 cup crumbled/grated queso fresco or jalapeño jack cheese

Straight jalapeños with a nice stem work well, although the stem is a little too tough to eat--makes the finished product look pretty, though. The sweet mini peppers work great for those that don't like spicy food. Cut them in half, trying to also cut the stem in half.

For the jalapeños, the seeds and the membranes inside are hot. I wanted a little heat, so I left most of the membrane but removed the seeds. With the sweet mini peppers, I removed all the insides, which left a nice pocket to fill.

If you are feeding vegetarians or simply want to eat lighter, I used a package of Morningstar Farms frozen sausage patties instead of bacon for one batch of stuffed peppers. I thawed the patties, then roughly chopped them and pulsed them in the food processor until they resembled sausage crumbles. My husband, nor my parents, could tell it wasn't meat--the cream cheese makes it rich enough. If you're using bacon, cook, crumble  and set aside.

Whenever I roast garlic, I always make more than the recipe calls for, and keep it in the refrigerator to use in other recipes. Make roasted garlic by cutting the tops off whole heads of garlic, drizzling them with olive oil, wrapping them in foil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until a bit caramelized. Cool, remove skins and set aside.

Saute the diced onions and mushrooms in 2 teaspoons olive oil until wilted, let cool and set aside.

Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and add to a bowl along with the cooked onions & mushrooms, water chestnuts, softened cream cheese and garlic from 2 cloves of roasted garlic. Add the cooked bacon or sausage. Mix well. Season with freshly ground pepper and a little bit of salt if desired. The filling should be a little on the stiff side, it makes the peppers easier to fill. I think the cream cheese should be more of a binder than the main filler, but make it to your tastes. You can make the recipe a day ahead to this point and refrigerate.

Fill the peppers and add a clove of roasted garlic to each one.

Then add your topping--buttered panko bread crumbs, phyllo dough (if you don't like the richness of using butter, use an olive oil spray) or puff pastry (being careful not to stretch the dough). Top phyllo or puff pastry with a little cheese if desired.

If you're using puff pastry, add the cheese in the last 10 minutes of baking--the cheese will brown first and you'll want enough time for the pastry to properly bake--mine looks a little underdone here, but the cheese is nicely browned.

Bake in 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until breadcrumbs are lightly browned. It takes about the same amount of baking time for the phyllo or puff pastry too.

Itadakimasu!

***


We haven't had any Rachel pics in awhile--look how she's grown!

This weekend she bonded with her grandpa--he got the biggest smiles!

Gary's fun--he takes Rachel out to the courtyard to play.

 Rachel likes to swing.

She liked the rocking horse.

 Karen's friend Wendy came to visit with her two children.

 This is Colin.

And this is Claire. Claire is a bit of a dare-devil--she took the little rocking horse to the top of the slide and slid down!

 Claire has a lot of energy. I wish I had her energy!

Look! No hands!

 Clair loves roller coasters. Not just little ones, but BIG ones, too! Claire just turned FOUR!

 These two are all smiles!

 Gary tossed the ball and Rachel giggled and giggled.

 No, Gary, those aren't your toys! They belong to a little boy that lives in the courtyard also named Gary! We had a fun morning with Wendy, Claire and Colin. Thank you, Wendy, for coming to visit!

For dinner, Karen and Mitchell made us a gourmet feast! Gordon and Amy joined us for dinner--it's always so nice to see them. Sorry you are out-of-focus, Amy! I am working on my depth-of-field to get better and was unsuccessful here--I should have had Amy go around to the other side and stand between Gordon & Karen so she could be on the same focal plane as the others. Or, I could have closed down the aperture to get a better depth-of-field. I need more practice. You might remember Gordon & Amy from my Cinnamon Rolls Post.

Thank you, Karen, Mitchell, Amy, Gordon--and of course Rachel--for a delicious dinner and a fun weekend!


***

Stuffed Jalapeños and Sweet Peppers

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. jalapeño peppers

1/2 lb. sweet mini peppers

4 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1-10 oz. bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed 

1-8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cups diced mushrooms

4 heads roasted garlic, skins removed

1 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons melted butter 

or

phyllo dough sheets or puff pastry

1. Roast garlic by slicing off a bit of the top of each head, drizzling olive oil over the heads, wrapping them in foil and baking in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes or until soft and a little caramelized. Cool and remove skins.

2. Cook bacon strips until crisp, crumble and set aside. 

3. Cook diced onions and mushrooms until wilted, about 10 minutes over medium heat. Cool and set aside.

4. Thaw and squeeze spinach and soften cream cheese. Mix together with onions & mushrooms mixture, bacon and 2 heads of roasted garlic. Season with freshly ground pepper and salt (if desired).

5. Slice peppers in half, remove seeds and membranes (if desired) and stuff.

6. Top with panko breadcrumbs (mixed with melted butter or olive oil), phyllo dough squares or puff pastry.

7. Bake at 400ºF oven for 30-40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned and peppers begin to wilt.