Boiled Bone Dog (or Cat) Treats

Halle

Step One: Make bone broth. I use the Balanced Bites recipe. It's simple and easy. Do not use onions to make your broth if you plan on feeding these treats to dogs. I'm not sure about cats, but I've heard that onions aren't good for dogs. The bones must be soft enough to grind, so if you're using bones from large animals (cows, bison, lamb, etc) make sure they have been boiled for a long time. You don't want to break your meat grinder!

Step Two: When you strain your bone broth, try to separate as much of the garlic from the bones as possible. You could omit the garlic to make this easier, but then your broth won't taste as good. The only vegetable I use to make broth is garlic. If you use carrots to make broth and they turn to mush and you can't separate them from the bones, it's ok. Garlic might not be good for dogs, but carrots are fine.

Step Three: Grind bones in a meat grinder. I use the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and it works fine. The bones are pretty mushy after boiling for 24 hours. Since I have a small dog, I use the coarse grind first and then run it through a second time with the fine grind. I've never tried a food processor for this.

Step Four: Line food dehydrator trays with parchment. Scoop pureed bone mush into desired size and shape. I like 1/8 cup for my 50 lbs pitbull and 60 lbs lab mix and 1 tsp - 1/2 a Tbsp for my 17 lbs pug. For fun, you can use cookie cutters to shape the treats. 

Step Five - Dry on 155 degrees for 12-24 hours depending on climate. I live in a vast desert wasteland so it doesn't take long for me.

Hazel and Jack

Step Six - make your pet happy.

Tomato Tortillas

Looking for a fun food? Are you at a loss for things to do with the plethora of tomatoes in your garden that you must use or preserve before their only fit use is to throw at mimes? Do you have an Excalibur dehydrator? If not, think about it. It's awesome. You want dense tomatoes for this recipe, I recommend heirloom. You don't want to use tomatoes that are too watery.

5 large heirloom tomatoes
1/2 a large onion
1 clove of garlic
dash of mexican oregano
dash of cumin
dash of chili powder (chipotle, cayenne, ancho, whatevere)
dash of smoked paprika
sat, pepper

You don't want to over do it on the spices because this will condense into a highly concentrated tomato leather. Line dehydrator trays with parchment paper or dehydrator liners (The parchment will be harder to peel off, so if you don't have patience, get the reusable liners) In a blender, combine all ingredients. When thoroughly pureed, pour into a 1 cup measuring cup (or 1/2 - 3/4 if you want smaller tortillas) and onto lined dehydrator trays. Spread into circles, about 1/4" thick. Dehydrate on 135 for about 12 hours. Dehydrating times may vary depending on climate. I live in vast desert wasteland, so my stuff dries quickly. Store in ziplock bags. You might want to put parchment between each tortilla to keep them from sticking.

Beef Jerky

Some like it hot, some like it hot.

Food doesn't get any more awesome than this. Beef jerky is a convenient, portable snack and what makes it better than other convenient portable snacks it that it's made of delicious red meat. And you can make your own paleo kits! I make mine with dried beet and sweet potato chips. Taste the rainbow.  My recipe is a bit spicy so if you don't like it hot, cut back on the cayenne.

2 lbs Flank Steak
1/3 cup Worcestershire
1/3 cup Coconut aminos
2 Tbsp Fig Balsamic
2 Tbsp Chipotle Tobasco
1 Tbsp Chili 9000
1 Tsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp chipotle powder

Slice steak into strips 1/2 inch thick. Combine all ingredients in a ziplock bag and mix up well. Marinate for 12-24 hours. Place strips on food dehydrator trays and dry at 155 degrees for 24 hours. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.