Alright, so I found myself in the kitchen the other day, actually making dog food. Yeah, you heard me. Dog food. With sweet potato, no less. My old boy, Buster, he’s been turning his nose up at his usual kibble. You know how it is, they get older, they get pickier. Plus, I started reading the labels on those expensive bags, and man, it makes you wonder what’s really in there. So, I figured, why not try whipping up something myself? Seemed like a decent idea at the time.
First off, I had to get the main stuff. Headed down to the grocery store. Grabbed a couple of nice, big sweet potatoes. They looked healthy enough. Then I needed some protein. Went with ground turkey – seemed lean, and Buster usually likes turkey. For veggies, I just got a bag of frozen peas and carrots. Keep it simple, that’s my motto. I ain’t trying to be a gourmet chef for my dog, just want him to eat something decent.
Back in the kitchen, it was time to get my hands dirty. The sweet potatoes were the first challenge. Gotta wash ’em, then peel ’em. Peeling sweet potatoes isn’t my favorite job, let me tell you. Some of those suckers are lumpy. Anyway, I chopped them into chunks. Threw ’em in a big pot with water, set ’em to boil until they were soft. While that was going on, I browned the ground turkey in a skillet. Just cooked it through, nothing fancy. Drained off the fat. Once the sweet potatoes were mushy, I drained them too.
Then came the fun part, I guess. Mixing it all together. I dumped the cooked turkey into the pot with the mashed-up sweet potatoes. Tossed in the frozen peas and carrots – they cook pretty quick with the residual heat. Gave it all a good stir. It actually didn’t look half bad. Sort of like a chunky, orange stew. Smelled a whole lot better than that dry, dusty kibble, I can tell you that much. For a second, I even thought, “Huh, wonder what it tastes like?” Didn’t go there, though. Not that desperate yet.
The moment of truth, of course, was Buster’s reaction. I let a scoop of it cool down properly. Can’t be burning the poor dog’s mouth. Put it in his bowl. He wandered over, gave it a good sniff, then another. And then, he just dived in. Chow HOUND. He licked that bowl clean. I haven’t seen him eat with that much enthusiasm in months, maybe years. It was pretty satisfying, I gotta admit. I made a pretty big batch, so I portioned out the rest into some old containers and chucked most of it in the freezer. Some in the fridge for the next few days.
So, yeah. Making dog food with sweet potato. It was a bit of an effort, not gonna lie. Took up an afternoon. But seeing Buster actually enjoy his meal, and knowing exactly what he’s eating, it felt good. I’m thinking I might actually do this again. Maybe try different veggies, or a different meat. Who knows? It’s probably cheaper in the long run too, though I haven’t done the math. At least my kitchen didn’t smell like a pet food factory for once. That’s a win in my book.
